Chapter 86: Rotation Duty
Xiang Ning emerged from the bath with flushed cheeks and a look of complete satisfaction, carrying a basin filled with clothes.
Long Chen came out from behind, rubbing his middle and ring fingers over and over as he sighed, “I really ought to cultivate the two-finger technique. This is too exhausting.”
Still massaging his fingers, he slowly strolled toward the sleeping chambers of the Western Palace’s Empress, Di Luoxi.
Once inside, he heard the voices of Xuan Yi and Qing Yue arguing.
Long Chen found it strange. Why was Xuan Yi quarreling with Qing Yue?
He stepped in and saw Di Luoxi reclining on the couch, watching Xuan Yi and Qing Yue bicker at each other, both red-faced with anger.
“What’s going on here?” Long Chen asked in confusion.
Seeing him enter, Di Luoxi said, “All right, stop arguing. Let him decide.”
At once, Xuan Yi and Qing Yue seized Long Chen’s arms and cried, “Little Dragon, choose me! Choose me!”
Long Chen stared blankly. “Choose what? What is this about?”
Di Luoxi laughed. “What do you think it’s about? They’re fighting for your favor.”
Long Chen looked even more bewildered. “For my favor? Whose favor? Mine? I’m a eunuch!”
Two peerless beauties fighting over a eunuch for his favor. If word of that got out, people would laugh themselves to death.
Di Luoxi turned over and smiled. “This morning they called Zhang Qian over and said they wanted to take turns on duty. From now on, the three of them would rotate as your guards. Zhang Qian refused, and they talked at her all day before she finally agreed. But now there’s another problem: which one of them goes first?”
Long Chen was speechless. No wonder he hadn’t seen Zhang Qian all day. So this was what they’d been arguing about?
“My two beauties, what’s so worth fighting over in a eunuch like me? I can’t give you anything anyway.”
Long Chen was truly at a loss for words.
Xuan Yi and Qing Yue simultaneously took his hands, touching his fingers as they looked at him with fervent eyes. “But don’t you have fingers?”
A thousand curses rose in Long Chen’s heart, but none of them could be spoken aloud.
Had the harem become this lonely?
“I’m a proper eunuch. What you’re doing is wrong,” Long Chen said with solemn dignity.
Xuan Yi and Qing Yue both shot him a contemptuous glance and said, “Today you must choose one. Tonight, it’s either her or me!”
The tone was plainly threatening.
“Your Highness, this...” Long Chen felt that whichever one he chose, there would be problems, so he simply let Di Luoxi decide.
Di Luoxi waved a hand. “Don’t ask me. They want you.”
Long Chen was speechless. “Then all of us together.”
“Eh...”
Even Di Luoxi and Zhang Qian were struck dumb.
Xuan Yi and Qing Yue felt the matter had still not been settled and refused to agree. “No. Choose one.”
Long Chen said, “You’re both good sisters. Why tear each other apart over a eunuch? What a waste.”
“Your Highness, they’ve always been like sister flowers, eating, sleeping, and going to war together. Why must they fall out over me?”
Di Luoxi thought about it and found that she was right. If their harmony were damaged, they would not get along well in the future.
It was easy to fall out; reconciliation was the hard part.
“Fine, then both of you can go together. He has two hands, so that should be enough.”
Di Luoxi spoke the most indecent words in the most solemn tone.
Only then did Xuan Yi and Qing Yue stop arguing.
Long Chen broke free from the two of them and sat on the couch. Di Luoxi’s long legs immediately stretched over and lightly brushed against his own.
“Your Highness, the commander for Linjiang City still hasn’t been decided. Shouldn’t we suggest someone to His Majesty?”
After Shui Han’s death, they had originally intended to hand the post to Zhang Ke, but Zhang Ke’s personality was not quite suitable.
Di Luoxi said, “I already spoke to Mother Empress. She is still choosing candidates, and the Ministry of Personnel is assessing them.”
Long Chen nodded. “Linjiang City and Caishi City are the forward positions against Southern Liang. The commander must be highly cultivated and possess strategy. People like that are not easy to find.”
A great river separated Eastern Zhou and Southern Liang. Linjiang City and Caishi City were like Eastern Zhou’s bridgeheads south of the river—able to advance or retreat, attack or defend. The garrison commander had to be both brave and resourceful.
“Actually, Mother Empress very much wanted you to go and guard Linjiang City. I disagreed.”
Di Luoxi’s leg slid back and forth beneath Long Chen’s navel. It was one of her little wicked pleasures; knowing he was a eunuch, she liked teasing him there.
Long Chen let her continue and said, “Is it because Your Highness can’t bear to part with me?”
Di Luoxi admitted it openly. “Yes. I can’t bear to let you go.”
Long Chen smiled. “So Your Highness feels that you cannot go a single day without me?”
Di Luoxi drew one leg back and raised her knee, parting her nightgown so that the tender spring light of her body lay directly before Long Chen.
“Yes. Not a single day without you.”
Long Chen reached out with practiced ease, but Di Luoxi pressed her legs together and laughed in rebuke, “Those two will be sleeping with you tonight. Do you still have the energy?”
Seeing the feral eagerness in Xuan Yi and Qing Yue’s eyes, Long Chen immediately changed the subject. “This time we seized Caishi City, killed Murong Xiao, and broke Shangguan Wei. Great Zhou’s power has reached an unprecedented height. I’m afraid those people from the Heaven Association will stir up trouble again, so we must prepare early.”
The Heaven Association loved nothing more than maintaining balance in the world. Whichever nation grew strong, they suppressed it.
When Southern Liang had been powerful before, the Heaven Association had helped Eastern Zhou and Western Xia strike at Southern Liang.
Now that Eastern Zhou’s strength was on the rise, the Heaven Association would likely make a move against Eastern Zhou.
The playful expression vanished from Di Luoxi’s face as she fell into thought. “You’re right. I was too busy being happy and forgot about that troublemaking pest.”
“They’ll probably just refuse to trade with us and reduce our commercial taxes. But they’re doing business with you now. Would they cut off their own source of income?”
Long Chen nodded. “That’s what I think too. Fortunately, we’re trading with the Heaven Association. They should come to negotiate. As for how it will be handled, we’ll know once we talk.”
“The Heaven Association won’t only suppress us; they’ll also help Southern Liang and Western Xia. We mustn’t underestimate them.”
“I expect they’ll make a move within the next two days. Let me think of how to deal with it.”
Di Luoxi stretched her long leg into Long Chen’s embrace and said, “No wonder Mother Empress wants me to learn from you. You really do think things through.”
These past two days, Di Luoxi had been immersed in her joy and had not considered the consequences, but Long Chen was already thinking about countermeasures.
“A person without foresight will surely face immediate worries. Everything must be considered in full.”
Long Chen said gravely.
Di Luoxi pointed at Xuan Yi and Qing Yue, giggling. “Then you should think about tonight first.”
The two women were already impatient. “Your Highness, it’s late. We’ll go rest first. Little Dragon has been tired all day; we’ll attend to his rest.”
Without giving Long Chen time to resist, the two of them lifted him and carried him away.
Zhang Qian was uneasy, fearing Long Chen might be worn to the bone, and hurried after them.
Long Chen was carried into the room and tossed onto the bed. Then the door was locked from the inside, leaving Zhang Qian blocked outside.
“Hey, don’t go too far!”
Zhang Qian kept pounding on the door.
Qing Yue called through the door, “Go back. We know our limits.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Qing Yue impatiently leaped up, while Xuan Yi had already thrown her clothes to the floor and burrowed into the blankets.
“Little Dragon, we’re here.”
The two of them let out lewd, impish laughter like little demons.
Long Chen felt as though he were Tang Sanzang who had stepped into a demoness’s lair.
“Looks like tonight will be hard to end well,” he sighed, then said with resolute determination, “My two elder sisters, will you take turns, or come together?”