45 - Cat and mouse game

Chapter 45 – Cat and mouse game

Shangguan Yan smiled but her smile seemed quite weird which made Qiu Dan raise his guard.

“Actually, I was only just asking. Since you don’t know, I won’t ask anymore.” She said.

When Qiu Dan heard, he felt secretly relieved. It would be best that she does not ask. Since Lord Di did not tell her, how can he leak even half a word?

“Come, let’s practice fist fighting to learn from each other.” She suddenly changed the topic of conversation and suggested that they spar with each other. Then she started to prepare for the fight and flexed her muscles.

Qiu Dan was stunned and had a bad feeling in his heart. Hurriedly and politely, he refused.

“This is absolutely impossible. Now, Madam is of noble status, Qiu Dan is afraid of hurting Madam.”

“You’re not requested to hold a knife or a spear. Since both of us come from Yamen, it’s only an exchange of moves with bare hands…….Be on guard!” Without giving him a chance to speak, she suddenly shot a move at him. Qiu Dan quickly blocked and then stared solemnly at her.

“Madam……..” He was reluctant to fight.

“Your reaction is good.” She shot out a fist punch again and then delivered several more punches in a row but Qiu Dan was able to block and dodge her moves.

“Madam!” He solemnly called her again and this time, his voice had a deeper tone, indicating that he truly did not wish to fight.

“Be careful! Receive strike!”

The moves that Shangguan Yan shot out were not courteous and her fighting force was fierce. It was not the first time that she and Qiu Dan fought. She had once fought with him when she was in the Qin Mansion but it was just that she was the maid, Ma’er, at that time. Qiu Dan did not hold back his punches and the two of them had fought intensely. In the end, she had lost but she also succeeded in pulling a sly trick on him.

Now that she is the Governor’s wife, Qiu Dan dared not counter with forceful strikes and it was just what she wanted.

Well, it’s only fighting, so who cares whether it’s a fair fight or not?

Today, she is well-prepared as she is wearing a tight-sleeved blouse and long pants. Since she cannot get the answer she wants, then practicing her fist-fighting will still give her satisfaction.

“Madam, don’t fight anymore!”

“It’s just a fighting session to exchange pointers. If you are a man, then don’t be such a sissy!”

Hmph! For every day that he persists in not telling her, she will keep looking for him to practice fist-fighting. It does not matter if she cannot beat him because she knows Qiu Dan will never fight back. This identity of the Governor’s wife is truly useful. Even if she is unsuccessful in extorting a confession, she is still able to beat this famous constable until he flees and it gives her a powerful majestic feeling!

Qiu Dan’s face darkened. Fighting session to exchange pointers? Does he dare?

He knows better than anyone else how much the Lord loves his Madam. If Madam is to lose a strand of hair or suffers the slightest injury, he will definitely have to bear the consequences.

Madam had made it clear that she was deliberately making things difficult for him.

Since he can’t tell her nor beat her, so why can’t he flee?

“This small one still has important matters to attend to, so this small one won’t disturb Madam any longer. Goodbye!”

“Ah! Constable Qiu, don’t run away!”

If he doesn’t run, it would be weird! As a constable, he has always been the one who chases people but now he is being chased and has to flee, and moreover, he mustn’t be caught as well!

With embarrassment, Head Constable Qiu sucked in a breath and leaped away as though the soles of his feet were oiled to make his escape.

Now, Qiu Dan is very afraid of seeing Madam. Whenever he follows Lord Di back to the mansion to carry out errands, Madam will always find an opportunity to ‘exchange pointers’ with him.

He cannot win because if he wins, Madam will continue to fight with him.

Then what about losing? Even if he loses, Madam will become more demanding and catch hold of him to force a confession out of him.

This is getting to be a real headache……..if he can’t offend the Madam, then he can at least protest to Lord Di, right?

Unexpectedly, Lord Di only gave him words of comfort. “Avoid as far as you can.”

Qiu Dan did not give up and suggested that Lord Di should tell his wife the truth. In that way, the Madam will not interrogate him again.

In the beginning, it was Lord Di who sent him to follow the Madam after which he found out about Divine Doctor Zhao and that Madam had taken medicine to change her looks.

However, Lord Di disagreed and instead warned him with words containing mysterious principles.

“Some things don’t need to be pointed out bluntly. If it is too frank, there will be less joy. This Officer left something unpredictable for Madam to admire. This is called a romantic appeal.”

Qiu Dan’s face turned green.

Is this his stern and strict Lord who upholds justice? He actually said the two words ‘romantic appeal’? Moreover, my Lord, your romantic appeal can’t be built up based on this humble one’s suffering!

Lord Di stretched out his hand to pat Qiu Dan on the shoulder and said to him sincerely. “This Officer knows that you have suffered. Don’t worry, this Officer will not treat you badly.”

After the depressed Qiu Dan had left, the corners of Lord Di’s mouth lifted into a mysterious smile.

The so-called ‘romantic appeal’ was just a random reason he came up with as no one knows his actual thoughts. The reason he allowed Yan’er to force a confession by using the excuse of fighting was only to give her something to do.

As he had just been promoted to the post of Governor, other than being busy with government affairs, he had to hold discussions with the Third Division and preside over prison cases. Therefore, he was unable to keep an eye on his wife all the time.

Yan’er is a person who cannot keep idle. She has her own opinions and ambitions. If she had been born a male, she will certainly have a successful career. However, she is a woman and is also the Governor’s wife.

If he is to explicitly forbid her from taking risks while investigating cases and forbid her from focusing too much attention on her businesses, she will surely feel unhappy.

If she feels restricted, her heart will leave sooner or later. He had to tie a rope around her heart, at the same time, prevent her from finding out and the only way is to find something to distract her.

When she is distracted, he will feel at ease, therefore, he can only make Qiu Dan suffer a grievance.

Di Jing went back to his desk then sat down and looked at the files on the desk. He picked up the brush and then paused. He was thinking that the Emperor would also find his household matters interesting when he gets to hear about them. He had deliberately released a little more information to Qiu Dan so he can report to the Emperor!

The corners of his lips curved slightly and Lord Di continued to play the role of a loyal subject.

However, in the following days, Qiu Dan suffered. Every day, Shangguan Yan would force him to play a cat and mouse game with her. He could only take the opportunity when he returned to the imperial capital to deliver his report to the Emperor and bring it up with the Emperor to see if he would empathize with him.

Unexpectedly, the Emperor found it so amusing that he burst into loud laughter.

“This Shangguan girl is very interesting. Zhen likes her a lot. No wonder Di Jing begged Zhen to bestow him a marriage with her. Just avoid that girl and see what other tricks she can come up with.”

Qiu Dan became even more depressed. Even the Emperor said the same thing and he could not disobey, so rubbing his nose, he left the palace.

As one of the Four Great Constables, he worked for Lord Di and the Emperor and has no regrets. But he was chased by the Governor’s wife all day long and after enduring this for a long while, he could not stand it anymore.

Qiu Dan sighed. He brought along a jug of wine to drink as he sat alone on the roof tiles to look at the sky to relieve his boredom. At this time, Ao Yuanjie also used his qinggong skills to jump up and join him.

“Hey, I just know you’d be here. You didn’t even look for your brother when you have good wine to drink. How can you enjoy this alone?!” Without a word, Ao Yuanjie snatched over the wine jug from Qiu Dan’s hand and poured the wine directly into his mouth but the next moment, the wine was spat out with a puff!

“What kind of wine is this? Why is the taste so terrible?!”

Qiu Dan immediately snatched the jug back. “If it tastes terrible, don’t drink.” After speaking, he took a few swigs of wine.

“What’s the matter? It looks like you have something on your mind.” Ao Yuanjie sat cross-legged next to him and asked with concern.

“It’s nothing.” Qiu Dan continued to drink.

Ao Yuanjie hooked his arm over Qiu Dan’s shoulder and said loyally. “If you have any problem, just tell your brother. Is it because there’s a case bothering you? Or is the clue broken? Brother, I’ll help you deal with it.”