The Princess and Her Rough-Rider Khan
Chapter 293 Can’t you just endure it for a bit?

Chapter 293: 293 Can’t you just endure it for a bit?

The man led the way in front, with Jinwu holding a lantern beside him to light the path for Yelu Yan and Li Xianyun.

The moon was hidden behind the clouds, and the stars were barely visible. The surroundings were pitch-dark. In the distance, the flickering light of torches seemed like stars that had fallen into the fields.

Seeing the path was difficult to navigate, Yelu Yan wrapped his arms around Li Xianyun’s slender, soft waist and lifted her up.

Li Xianyun looked up at him and gently punched his solid chest with her little fist, whispering, "Put me down."

"The path is difficult to walk on, you might dirty your shoes and socks," Yelu Yan provided his reasoning.

"No, I am a man now," Li Xianyun whispered, her panting breath showing her annoyance was indeed endearing.

At present, she was "a man," and two men hugging each other, what would that look like? The farmers might jest if they saw. And there were so many maids and guards around, hugging and embracing was truly embarrassing.

Seeing her anxious and complaining demeanor, Yelu Yan had no choice but to put her down and took her soft little hand in his.

Li Xianyun slipped her little hand out of his rough palm like a loach and gave him a sidelong glance.

But Yelu Yan didn’t care about those details and tried to take her hand again.

Li Xianyun slapped his hand back in haste, giving him a reproachful look with a lowered voice, audible to just the two of them, "Can’t you hold back for a while?"

Youlan and Zhuo Ma saw Li Xianyun hit Yelu Yan and exchanged glances, barely able to suppress their smiles.

Zhuo Ma thought to herself that the only person who dared to hit the Khan was the Princess herself.

The corners of Yelu Yan’s mouth curved into a big arc as he leaned in and tilted his head toward her, "I cannot."

Li Xianyun huffed lightly and kept her little hands behind her back to avoid his grasp.

Yelu Yan’s mouth held a smile, and he indulged her, affectionately letting her be.

The group walked along the edges of the fields.

The pathways were narrow and the soil was loose, slippery underfoot, clearly the result of cut corners and shoddy workmanship.

Yelu Yan’s expression turned sour.

To develop agriculture, he had overruled objections at the Imperial Court at great effort, subsequently allocating substantial funds, and yet these officials used the money to cut corners, deceiving and shirking, which was indeed despicable.

Along the difficult path, Yelu Yan watched over Li Xianyun attentively at all times.

Either supporting her arm or holding her waist, he was careful to prevent her from slipping or losing her footing.

Their intimacy surpassed that of simply holding hands.

Initially, Li Xianyun was reluctant to his overt closeness, but as the path was truly treacherous, she let him look after her.

Yelu Yan flatly inquired, "Who built these field ridges?"

The man guiding them continued while walking, "The master from the County Government Office recruited a group of people. They built them, and they dug the ditches as well."

The man paused, then continued, "This is a cushy job, they provide three meals a day, plus there’s a daily wage of twenty wen. I also went to apply, but there were too many applicants, and I wasn’t selected."

A daily wage of twenty wen was quite substantial.

Hearing this, Li Xianyun had a rough idea of the situation and turned to look at Yelu Yan.

In the faint lantern light, his face was solemn, fury barely concealed.

His angry expression was quite formidable.

It seemed Yelu Yan had also figured out what was going on.

Noticing Li Xianyun looking at him, Yelu Yan turned and gazed at her, pulling up a smile. He knew that his expression was severe and didn’t want to scare her. To reassure her, he said, "It’s fine."

"Mhmm."

It took the time it would take to drink a cup of tea before the group arrived at the area where the ditches were being dug.

Yelu Yan saw that the ditches were narrow and shallow, and the people responsible for digging were lackadaisical in their labor; some sat on the field ridges, others stood in the fields chit-chatting.

Upon noticing Yelu Yan and his entourage, the crowd fell silent, preoccupied with observing Yelu Yan and Li Xianyun.

One was tall and handsome, with an extraordinary bearing; the other had elegant and graceful features, both exceptionally good-looking men.

Especially Yelu Yan, whose mere presence, without uttering a single word, exerted a powerful pressure, making it apparent that he was a person of high authority and status. They didn’t dare continue their idle chatter and picked up their shovels to continue digging the ditches.

However, all these ditch diggers were delicate and tender-looking, handling the tools clumsily, clearly not genuine farmers.

They must have secured their positions through connections, just to laze around and earn a day’s wage.

Yelu Yan’s face was grim, his tiger-like eyes blazing furiously. He had been preoccupied with Imperial Court affairs recently and had taken a trip to the Border Market. Coming and going, he had spent nearly half a month away, neglecting supervision of the agricultural matters, allowing some people to exploit the gaps.

He glanced at Jinwu.

Jinwu immediately understood and approached a man, "Brother, where’s the one in charge here?"

The man acted as though he heard nothing and continued to dig the ditch.