Chapter 23: Living Together

  Until Tao Ying was kicked off the bed and Lin Qingxian had caught his breath, he struggled to free himself from the ropes binding him. His face red with shame and anger, he shouted at Tao Ying: "Damn swindler, untie me!"

  "Why bother getting up?" Tao Ying groaned as he crawled up, and in front of Lin Qing, he rubbed his crotch - this place had just been kicked by Lin Qing's two feet, fortunately not very hard.

  "Why should I untie? Of course it's to let me go, are you going to secretly detain a good family's daughter?" Lin Qing shouted with a red face.

  "I'm a deserter, don't forget that you're still a fugitive of the Xuzhou government's wanted list. Now that I've finally caught up with a beautiful woman in this era, how could Tao Deputy Director, who loves to open office supply invoices at entertainment venues, just let me go?"

  "I am a woman, not a deserter." Lin Qingyan's face turned red as she argued: "Women are not soldiers, so I'm not a deserter either."

  "Who says women can't be deserters?" Tao Ying, who had read some ancient books during this period, immediately retorted: "The 'Shang Jun Book' clearly states that the three armies are: strong men as one army, women as one army, and the old and weak as one army. Last time when Cao's bandit attacked Xuzhou, our Xuzhou army also organized some women to go up to the city wall to fight, so you may be a woman, but since you have registered with my Junzi Army, you are a soldier of my Junzi Army, and now you are also a deserter of the Junzi Army."

  "This……" Lin Qing was refuted by Tao Ying, and he was speechless. After rolling his big round eyes, Lin Qing continued to argue: "I registered in your noble army with a fake name, hometown, and address. My real name is not Lin Qing, nor do I live in Xuzhou Shigu Street. The deserter you are looking for is the Lin Qing who lives in Xuzhou Shigu Street, not me."

  "Another serious crime, impersonating a soldier and falsely reporting your native place!" Tao responded with a loud clap of his hands, then leaned in close to Lin Qing's face, smiling slyly as he said: "Alright, I'll give you an opportunity. Tell me your real name, where you're from, what official position your father holds in Xuzhou, and I might consider letting you go, and temporarily not pursue the crimes of impersonating a soldier and deserting."

  "What do you want to know my real name for?" Lin Qing tried her best to avoid Tao Ying's scorching gaze, and asked in puzzlement: "Also, how did you know I'm a daughter of an official family?"

  "It's too simple, just look at your clothes and you'll know. Tao Ying smiled and said: "Do you still remember our first meeting? At that time, you were wearing a brand new cotton robe, a brand new silk-faced long shirt, and even carrying a precious sword with gold and pearls inlaid on it. How could ordinary civilians afford the cost of such attire? And when you served as my personal soldier, from your familiarity with official documents, I could also tell that you must be an official's daughter who often came into contact with official documents!"

  Lin Qing widened her lovely eyes, and after a while, she muttered unclearly, then fiercely asked Tao Ying: "What did you ask my name and family for? What's your intention?"

  "An is certainly kind-hearted." Tao Yingxiao said: "Without asking clearly about your name and family background, nor asking clearly what official position your father holds, with surname and first name, how can I send a matchmaker to propose, and visit the door to ask for marriage?"

  "Hu... nonsense!" Lin Qing was indeed frightened by Tao Ying's straightforwardness, and she kicked him away with her leg, her face red with anger, scolding: "Stinky lecher! Who wants to marry you? Bah! Bookworm! Are you worthy of this young lady?"

  "How can we not match?" Tao Yingli said straightforwardly: "Although I, Tao Ying, am not talented, I am at least the second son of the governor of Xuzhou and the military commander of Xuzhou. I have a bright future ahead of me! And you, born into an official family, are in your prime and exceptionally beautiful, it's no exaggeration to call you the second beauty of Xuzhou - isn't the second son of Xuzhou paired with the second beauty of Xuzhou a match made in heaven, a perfect combination of talent and looks?!"

  "Pfft! Pfft! Pffftttt!" Tao Ying said with a smirk, and Lin Qing's face turned red with anger and embarrassment as she let out a loud "Pfft" in response. However, after Tao Ying finished speaking, Lin Qing's anger flared up again, and she couldn't help but ask, "Who is the number one beauty of Xuzhou?"

  "Of course... " Tao Ying was about to respond to Mei Zhen, but changed his mind and asked with a smile: "Lin sister, as the daughter of an official family, you must have interacted with other famous ladies in Xuzhou City. Have you met Cao Ling, General Cao Jiao's beloved daughter?"

  Lin Qing's reaction was quite strange, staring at Tao Ying's wicked smile for a long time before finally answering: "I've seen you, what's up?"

  "Haven't you noticed, that Miss Cao seems to be even more beautiful than you?" Tao Yu teased: "Her skin is whiter than yours, her waist is thinner than yours, and she looks prettier than you. You're only slightly inferior to her, so you can only be the second beauty of Xuzhou."

  "What does that mean?" Lin Qing was still a bit confused at first, but as soon as he understood, he suddenly became furious and kicked his legs out, sending Tao Ying flying with his four limbs in the air. He bellowed: "You stinky bastard! How dare you use all sorts of tricks to insult my looks? Am I that ugly?"

  "It seems like a bit..." Tao Ying was originally going to make a joke, but seeing Lin Qing's furious struggle to get out of bed and kick himself, Tao Ying quickly apologized: "Okay, okay, no more joking. Comparing your lovely sister to that Jurassic dinosaur is a bit overboard."

  It's okay, Lin Qing didn't understand what Jurassic dinosaur was, Tao Ying narrowly escaped a disaster. However, Lin Qing did not let go of Tao Ying and kicked him again. But this time, Tao Ying didn't want to lie down and take the beating. He jumped up with a fish-like movement, grabbed Lin Qing before he could react, and hugged him tightly. Lin Qing was frightened and shouted loudly, "You stinky pervert! What do you want to do? Let me go! Help! Help!"

  Unfortunately, Tao Ying's more honest younger brother Tao Ji had already set off early to prepare for the new campsite of the Junzi Army in Wuyuan County. The old Tao family's loyal followers, the Dan Yang soldiers, who lived next to Tao Ying's bedroom, had also heard the sound of a woman coming from Tao Ying's room earlier and now heard Lin Qing's cries for help - they quickly covered their heads with their quilts and continued to sleep. So no matter how loudly Lin Qing shouted or how pitifully she cried out, not a single person came to rescue poor Lin Qing or punish the vile Tao Ying.

  "Little beauty, even if you shout until your throat is hoarse, it's useless. If someone could save you, they would have come in already, why wait till now?" At least a month had passed since Tao Ying had last touched a woman, and he steeled himself to take advantage of the situation. Not only did he hold her tighter, but he also brought his mouth close to Lin Qing's ear, sucking on her pearl-like earlobe.

  It was also at this time that Lin Qing, who had always thought Tao Ying was just a weak scholar, discovered that she had been deceived again. That was Tao Ying's arms were quite powerful and her movements were very agile. Her two arms not only strong and powerful, but also made it impossible for Lin Qing to struggle free even with all his might. Her body was also agile enough to dodge the kicks from Lin Qing's half-free legs every time. In the end, one of Lin Qing's tender legs was even clamped between Tao Ying's legs. Lin Qing was so ashamed and angry that he struggled and shouted: "Damn you, I want to kill you! I must kill you!"

  "Possible, but would you prefer to be killed after being raped?" Tao Ying smiled slyly and said: "Little beauty, you have two choices. One is to honestly confess your real name and family background, so I can propose marriage, or we can first make the raw rice into cooked rice, and then even if you insist on not saying it, I won't mind."

  "Despicable villain! Despicable villain! You damned scoundrel!" Lin Qing cursed loudly, struggling with all her might but to no avail. Lin Qing suddenly burst into tears, "Waaah... waaah... you stinking scoundrel, let me go, let me go! If not, I'll bite my tongue and die, I'd rather die than be bullied by you... Waaah..."

  Lin Qing's crying was also a lucky hit, hitting Tao Ying's soft spot and making the deputy director, who had been blinded by desire, gradually calm down. In the past, when Deputy Director Tao did this kind of thing, it was usually about throwing money at women to make them love him or directly throwing money at them to make them surrender. He had never dared to do anything as forceful as this before - after all, it would affect his career and future prospects. So, for the first time, Deputy Director Tao encountered a woman who struggled and cried in his arms. Lacking experience, Tao Ying could only let Lin Qing go and even took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears, comforting her by saying: "Okay, don't cry, I was just joking with you."

  "Are you kidding me? You scoundrel, treating me like this and it's just a joke?! Lin Qing cried out in anger, her small face covered in tears, deeply moving.

  "It's not that serious, is it? It's just a hug and a kiss, it can be considered as being frivolous?" Tao Ying habitually shrugged his shoulders, adding that what he said wasn't entirely nonsense. The concept of sex during the late Han Dynasty was indeed more open-minded, and Tao Ying's actions weren't excessively improper - if this were to happen in the Western Jin Dynasty a few decades later, even if Tao Ying had stripped Lin Qing naked and admired her while snuggling with her, it would still be considered an elegant affair.

  "This isn't even considered light, what is?!" Lin Qing cried out in anger: "What kind of woman do you take me for? Those shameless courtesan girls who let you stinky men bully them at will, those high-class prostitutes?"

  "Alright, alright, I admit I was wrong to suspect you. Is that enough?" Tao Ying spread his hands in a helpless gesture, "It's my fault for not being dignified enough, it's my loss of gentlemanly demeanor. Can't we just drop it now?"

  "It was your fault from the beginning!" Lin Qing cried out again, then turned her body around and ordered: "Untie the ropes on my body."

  Tao hesitated, thinking that if he let this beautiful woman go, it would be a waste. On the other side, Lin Qing burst into tears again, and Tao had no choice but to untie her ropes. As soon as she was free, Lin Qing pushed Tao away, wiped away her tears, and rushed out the door. Tao quickly called out: "Miss Lin, where are you going?"

  "Mind your own business!" Lin Qing cried out loudly.

  "I don't want to care about it either." Tao Ying said with a bitter smile: "But now it's already the third watch, the city gate is closed, and there are beasts and wolves everywhere outside. It's not safe for you to go out now."

  Lin Qing stopped in her tracks, her expression both hesitant and wronged, even more pitiful and touching than before. Tao Ying took advantage of the situation to say: "How about this? I'll bring some guards and send you back home, okay?"

  "Good...". Lin Qing subconsciously wanted to respond, but immediately reacted and said viciously: "Not good! Don't think about entering my house!"

  "It can't be helped then." Tao Ying spread his hands and said: "In that case, you sleep on the floor, I'll sleep on the bed. Wait till dawn tomorrow and you can leave again."

  "What's the big idea, I sleep on the floor and you sleep in bed? I want..." Lin Qing's face first turned red with rage, then he became even angrier and shouted: "Who wants to share a room with you?"

  "Sorry, I'm leaving tomorrow and there's no more room. " Tao Ying continued to spread his hands and said with a pained expression: "A good person will see things through to the end, even if it means losing out. You sleep on the bed, I'll sleep on the floor - but let me make one thing clear, don't you dare try anything sneaky after I fall asleep!"

  Lin Qing almost wanted to strangle Tao Ying to death, but after calming down with great difficulty, Lin Qing hesitated for a long time before finally storming onto Tao Ying's bed, wrapping himself tightly in the blankets and waving his small fists threateningly: "If you dare to mess around, I'll make you pay!" After issuing the warning, Lin Qing leaned heavily against the pillow, but as soon as the back of his head touched it, he let out a blood-curdling scream like a slaughtered pig, then immediately sat up and clutched at the back of his head in agony.

  "What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable there?" Tao asked with concern and good intentions.

  "What's wrong? Isn't it all because of you, you stinky slut?! Lin Qing shouted again with a sobbing tone, "The back of my head is swollen from being hit, it hurts!"

  "Let me see." Tao Ying stood up to take a look at Lin Qing's injury, but as soon as he approached, Lin Qing kicked him again with a red face and scolded: "Get away from me, you damn pervert!"

  "It doesn't matter if you don't look at it." Tao said menacingly: "But don't blame me for not reminding you, the swollen place on your head will go bald if you don't apply medicine quickly, don't blame me."

  "Will I lose hair?" Lin Qing's small face turned a bit pale.

  Tao nodded and said: "I've encountered this situation before, I bumped my head and got a lump, the hair on the swollen area all fell out, it took a long time to grow back to its original state."

  "Then why don't you hurry up and get the medicine?" Lin Qing was thoroughly anxious, shouting loudly: "Quickly, if my hair falls out and becomes unsightly, just wait and see how I'll deal with you!"

  Tao Ying shrugged, honestly turned around to fetch the medicine, and then moved the oil lamp next to Lin Qing, letting Lin Qing turn around to check her wound. As a result, upon closer inspection, indeed, on Lin Qing's lovely occipital bone, a big lump had formed, fortunately without bleeding. Tao Ying could only ask for Lin Qing's consent, untie her tied-up hair, and carefully apply the medicine for her.

  Lin Qing's hair was very long and beautiful, smooth and soft as black silk. If you gently grasped it with your palm, it would quickly slip away from between your fingers. As he stroked such beautiful hair, the tip of his nose caught a whiff of Lin Qing's sweet, innocent fragrance. Tao Ying unknowingly turned into Deputy Director Tao again, and his left hand, holding the medicine bottle, quietly reached out towards Lin Qing's slender, snowy white neck. But before his hand even touched Lin Qing's skin, Lin Qing's cold voice had already sounded in Tao Ying's ear: "Dare to touch me once, and I'll kill you!"

  "Big sister, what did you say?" Tao Ying hastily withdrew her magical claws and foolishly smiled: "I didn't touch you anywhere!"

  The words had not been spoken yet, when Tao Ying suddenly discovered a sharp object was pressed against his lower abdomen. He lowered his head to take a look and saw that Lin Qing had somehow picked up the treasured sword he had placed beside the bed. The sword was already out of its scabbard, and the icy tip was lightly trembling on a certain part of Tao Ying's body that was eager to move. Tao Ying's small face also turned somewhat pale, and he trembled with fear as he said: "Big sister, be careful, this sword is a bit sharp."

  "It's good that you know your limits." Lin Qing sneered coldly, and then hummed: "You stinky rascal, I didn't misjudge you after all. You're indeed a fake gentleman who gets ideas from seeing beauty and judges people by their appearance. Luckily... luckily I was careful!"

  "Big sister, what do you mean by that?" Tao Ying was truly confused this time, feeling that Lin Qing seemed to have an underlying tone, but couldn't quite make out what the underlying tone was.

  "Don't tell you." Lin Qing was even more pleased, and threatened: "Stinky rascal, I'm going to sleep now. If you're smart enough, just lie down on the ground quietly and don't move! Otherwise, even if you are the second son of the Governor of Xuzhou, I will still slaughter you without mercy!"

  The sharp sword was placed in a position more important than the head, and Deputy Director Tao, of course, made a very smart choice to answer honestly. Then, under the threat of Lin Qing's sword, he obediently got out of bed and slept on the sheepskin that had been laid out earlier. However, Lin Qing apparently didn't quite trust Deputy Director Tao's character, so he used a rope to tie him up through the sheepskin before finally feeling at ease and sleeping soundly on the bed, saying with a smile as he lay on his side, "Good, I can finally sleep with peace of mind."

  Tao had to continue smiling bitterly, and could only lie down on the mat, sighing: "Good people have no good reward! I let you stay for a night with good intentions, but as a result, I myself have to sleep on the floor. It's hard to be a good person!"

  "Preposterous! You're a good person?!" Lin Qing's face turned red with rage, and he drew his treasured sword, saying: "Don't think I don't know your situation. Tao Ji took 300 of the Junzi Army and left yesterday. Now your camp is full of empty rooms, but you insist there are no empty rooms and try to trick me into sleeping in your quarters. What kind of heart do you have?"

  "Huh? This girl isn't stupid, is she?" Tao Ying was amused and asked: "Big sister, how do you know my situation so clearly? And why did you follow me today?"

  "I won't tell you." Lin Qing pouted her small mouth and continued with a stubborn expression that was impervious to persuasion.

  "You didn't say, but I understand." Tao Yingxiao said: "You must have heard that I'm going to Wuyuan County and are worried that it will take a long time to see me again, so you came to send me off and want to see me one more time, right?"

  "Nonsense!" Lin Qing's face was a bit flushed as she rebuked, "Who came to see you off? Who wants to meet with you again?"

  "Then why did you follow me?" Tao Ying laughed even more wickedly, "And, since you clearly knew that there were many empty rooms in my camp, why did you still deliberately fall for it and stay in my room to rest?"

  Lin Qing was thoroughly tongue-tied, and after a long while, he brandished his treasured sword and bellowed: "I didn't think of Tao Ji leaving just now, so I fell for your trick. If you utter another nonsense word, I'll chop you off immediately!"

  "Alright, alright, I won't talk nonsense, I won't talk nonsense." Tao replied repeatedly, but his laughter became even more sinister and ill-intentioned.

  "Don't laugh!" Lin Qing's face burned with embarrassment as Tao Ying laughed, his heart racing wildly. He gripped his sword tightly and growled, "Shut your mouth and go to sleep!"

  Tao Ying obediently shut his mouth, shrinking his head into the blanket, and continued to chuckle softly. Lin Qing's face grew redder and redder, so she threw down her sword, pulled over the quilt, wrapped it around her head, and covered her ears, determined not to listen or think about it. Fortunately, Tao Ying seemed to have tired himself out and stopped intentionally provoking Lin Qing. With a wounded head, Lin Qing was exhausted and soon fell into a drowsy sleep...

  When Lin Qing woke up again, the sun had already risen to the top of the eastern mountain. He stretched his waist comfortably and called out "Tao Ying" again, but there was no response. When Lin Qing turned his head in surprise, he saw that the ground was empty, and Tao Ying had disappeared without a trace. Lin Qing's heart skipped a beat as he hastily put on his shoes and rushed out of the door. However, he found that the entire Junzi military camp was deserted, with no people or flags in sight, only an empty barracks remained.

  "Are you leaving? Why didn't you tell me?" Lin Qing's heart suddenly felt as empty and desolate as Junzi Army's camp.

  "Huh? That's not right?" Just after being sentimental, Lin Qing suddenly discovered that something was off - her clothes seemed to have been touched by someone, especially her intimate underwear, and the knot tied wasn't even her favorite bow! Upon discovering this, Lin Qing first let out a sharp cry, then her face turned bright red again, and she couldn't help but grit her teeth, "Damn pervert! You just wait for me——!"

  (PS: Pure Wolf is absolutely useless when it comes to writing about women's feelings, this chapter set a record for the slowest typing speed of Pure Wolf - every time he could only type a few lines before getting stuck, his brain was all tangled up, so he had to write later chapters to change his mood, and spent a whole week on it... until just now he finally managed to finish it...)

  It's okay, after opening this up, Pure Wolf finally found some feeling in the female plot, and later on, the plots about women are much better. I don't dare say it's comparable to the great gods, middle gods, and small gods, but at least it can be guaranteed to be interesting.