Scharlachroter Regen überflutet die Stadt

Kapitel 67

The hairpin tightened again, she gritted her teeth, and suddenly opened her eyes.

She released her hand instantly, meeting his gaze the moment she did so.

The person by the bedside chuckled as always, and in the dim candlelight, that figure was as hazy as when he first met him, as if it weren't a real person.

My vision suddenly blurred.

His whole body trembled, even his voice trembled, "It's you—"

Chapter Twenty-Three: Confusion

He was still smiling, his eyebrows curving ever more.

His unrestrained laughter left me with mixed feelings.

Surprise, relief, shame, embarrassment, and confusion mixed together.

I sat up, clutching the brocade quilt, and waved the hairpin in front of his eyes: "Laugh again! Laugh again and I'll pierce your throat."

He grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear, "Wouldn't that be a terrible injustice to me? Good Seventh Sister-in-law, don't get agitated."

"You also have to tell me what's going on."

He rolled his eyes and casually leaned against the foot of the bed. "I still want you to explain to me what's going on, sister-in-law. Did you serve the Emperor well and then plead for me?"

"I don't."

Unable to gauge the emperor's temperament, they naturally dared not plead for him again.

Lu Xiu was taken aback, then finally became more serious. After thinking for a moment, he said, "A few days ago, my father came to see me and said that he no longer had me as his son. He also asked me what my wishes were. I said of course I had one; I wanted to roam the martial world freely. My father then said he would let me go somewhere else to have some fun. I was supposed to take a boat to Qiongzhou tomorrow, but someone from the side palace came to deliver an imperial decree saying that the Emperor would bestow a woman upon me tonight, and I could take her with me tomorrow. He really is my father; he even knows to give me a maid to serve him."

The more he spoke, the more it sounded like a joke. His words were evasive, and I found them both real and unreal.

"so what?"

Lu Xiu raised his eyebrows. "I won't be able to return to the capital from now on."

That's Lu Xiu. He managed to describe a miserable exile as a carefree life in the martial world.

The intention of exiling Lu Xiu to Qiongzhou was to drive him to that remote place and cut short his chance at becoming a king or general.

But the Emperor's sudden action... could it be that he senses something is about to happen in the capital?

Lu Xiu was an unstable factor for the Emperor. Was his exile a strategic move for future plans, or something else?

Lu Xiu's words were ambiguous and full of doubts; clearly, he had not told the whole truth.

Given our friendship, he has no reason to hide anything from me, unless he promised someone else to do so.

But what are they hiding?

I pondered his words over and over, searching for any flaws, but Lu Xiu was the kind of person who was good at making jokes, and the emotions he expressed were still those of a joke.

"Is Your Majesty leaving me to you?"

"What do you think?" Lu Xiu smiled. "You don't think he had good intentions? Well, I think so too. Maybe he was just thinking of me, the unfilial son who lost his wife and house, because he was celebrating his brother's wedding. I might be benefiting from my brother's good fortune."

I didn't believe Lu Xiu's explanation. As he got into it, I just listened to his amusement and casually replied, "Oh, which prince is taking a concubine now?"

“This time it’s not taking a concubine, it’s marrying one,” Lu Xiu said, glancing at me intentionally. “It’s remarrying.”

The word "remarriage" reminded me that among all the princes in the capital, only Prince Ningshuo the Seventh Prince is qualified to remarry.

"It's less of a second wife and more of a formal marriage," Lu Xiu added, seemingly unintentionally. "But Grand Commander Yao is concerned about his reputation, so we held a wedding banquet for him and formally married him."

I nodded, saying nothing and not allowing myself to think any further.

Because I have no right to think about anything.

"The beds in the palace are so comfortable. It's been so long since I've had a good night's sleep." Lu Xiu deliberately broke the awkward silence, turned over, and lay down on the inside of the bed.

Long past my sleepiness, I rolled out of bed, put on my robe, and walked to the window. I pushed open half of the window and looked at the sleeping palace in the darkness. Could there be some restlessness hidden beneath such tranquil silence? I couldn't sense it.

I still habitually go to the back hall to work before the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).

When they entered, only a few maids from the inner palace were discussing Yao's promotion to the rank of concubine, saying that it was Lu Li who had requested the imperial decree.

I am not surprised. Ever since I learned that Yao was the daughter of the Grand Commander, I had expected this day to come sooner or later.

Now, the time has come.

The emperor was most afraid of his sons having contact with generals and commanders. If his sons held military power, he would be restless all day long.

But things are different now. With generals stationed in the field and heavy troops unable to protect the capital, only the city's defense forces under the Grand Commander remain. The emperor cannot afford not to show goodwill. If the city's defense forces were to change course again, the capital would fall, and a coup would be inevitable. This is something that worries the emperor even more than his own son holding military power.

Suddenly, I recalled Yao Shuhuan's aggressive demeanor that day. She was such a simple woman. I'm really curious whether she can hold onto the position of the legitimate heir of the Ning Prince's Mansion.

Tea was prepared, but Eunuch Chang did not appear to summon them.

The tea went cold, cup after cup, so I kept changing it.

The maids around him were not as efficient as before, seemingly absent-minded, sometimes gossiping and sometimes teasing each other.

When the time of Mao Shi (5-7 AM) still hadn't come, I finally couldn't resist taking some tea and snacks to the East Hall. I noticed that the maids coming and going along the way were not the ones I used to know.

As soon as I stepped into the East Hall, I saw that the place where Eunuch Chang usually stood had been replaced by another eunuch.

"Young lady." Eunuch Liu approached in a few steps. "What are you doing here?"

"Why am I not here?" I laughed. "I'd like to ask Eunuch Liu how he ended up here, and where is Eunuch Chang?"

"Isn't the young lady accompanying the Emperor?" Eunuch Liu hurriedly replied, "Since Eunuch Chang is accompanying the Emperor, it's my turn to guard here."

"Accompany the emperor?" I was confused; it wasn't the season for hunting or imperial tours yet.

"Yes, just last night, the palace procession, the imperial guards, and five thousand city guards all accompanied the Emperor to the Lin'an Palace. The Emperor said he was going there to recuperate and would be staying permanently, and all the servants who were used to serving him went with him. You are the Emperor's closest maid, so why would you stay behind?"

"Why did you suddenly say you wanted to stay at the imperial palace?"

I feel that from last night until now, many things have become unclear, and what I used to see clearly has become blurry.

"This was decided by the masters, so this servant has no idea," said Eunuch Liu, looking troubled.

"How many masters, big and small, accompany the emperor?"

"It seems that only Consort Lin and Consort Xie from the inner palace went with the emperor. Consort Ding declined to go, citing feeling unwell. Accompanying them were the Fifth Prince and his entire family. It was quite a grand procession, judging from the commotion last night. This morning, the Chaoyang Hall seems much quieter."

Liu Gonggong's words gradually faded from my mind; all I knew was that something had been left unsaid.

Was all of this deliberately done to keep me out of the way? If so, I should have been kicked out of Chaoyang Palace long ago, or at least transferred away like Xiaoyu. The emperor naturally doesn't like having other people's spies around him, but I'm confident that I'm not any prince's spy.

A thought suddenly jolted me awake: it wasn't that the emperor was hiding something from me; something had happened—the emperor was keeping it from the whole world!

I was still stunned when I heard a soft cough coming from the warm room.

My first thought was, "The emperor has moved away, so how come there are still people in the East Hall?"

I strode forward, but Eunuch Liu quickly stopped me, saying, "Miss, you cannot go in without being summoned."

I hurried past Eunuch Liu and almost ran through the small gate until the all-too-familiar warm pavilion came into view, at which point I stopped in my tracks.

There was no one serving in the warm pavilion. The person holding the memorial sat on the soft couch in the warm pavilion, not in the main seat where the emperor usually sat, but in a side seat.

The embers in the stove had long since gone out, but he didn't ask anyone to rekindle them, instead immersing himself completely in the pile of memorials on his desk.

When he saw me, there was no surprise in his eyes; he merely glanced at me out of the corner of his eye before returning to his memorial.

Eunuch Liu finally caught up and said from behind me, "His Majesty has ordered the Seventh Prince to enter the palace to act as regent during this period."

This is the reason why he is now in the warm pavilion of the East Hall of Chaoyang.

"Serve tea." He lowered his head, turning one memorial to the throne and then another.

I was still lost in my own thoughts and completely ignored his three words. He didn't mention it again, but it was Eunuch Liu who nudged me, and I finally snapped out of it and quickly served tea.

His right hand, still holding the vermilion brush, held the teacup in his left hand and casually took a couple of sips.

"Put it down and back off."

This sentence doesn't even require them to look at me.

I consciously stepped back, but Eunuch Liu slipped away faster than anyone else. I retreated to the curtain of the warm pavilion and suddenly felt I should say something.

"I wish you—" I fiddled with the plate in my hand, then gritted my teeth, "a happy marriage."

Having said that, she lifted the curtain and stepped out without looking back.

"I came here just to annoy you," he cursed inwardly.

As soon as I stepped out of the East Hall, I saw Lu Xiu standing below the hall with several bundles on his back, looking quite serious. When he saw me come out, he waved to me.

I walked towards him, and just a few steps away, he tossed me a package. "All done? We should go."

"Yeah, I just disgusted him." I slung my bag over my shoulder, wandered around the square, looked in all directions, and tilted my head to look at Lu Xiu. "So, I'm just going to elope with you like this?"

Lu Xiu raised his eyebrows and puffed out his chest, grabbed my sleeve, and dragged me along with long strides. "Well, let's elope."

That day, Lu Xiu and I chatted and laughed all the way from Chaoyang Hall to Xuande Gate, as if we were not leaving that treacherous, oppressive palace.

Which way do we go after we leave?

"South."

"Xiao Xiu, how are we going to survive in Qiongzhou?"

"I cheat you out of money, and you do the hard labor."

“…” He glared at him.

"I'll do the hard labor, you farm the land."

“…” Stare at him again.

"I'll farm the land, you'll have the babies."

"..." Continue to kill him with your eyes.

"I gave birth to your child, and you're just trying to scam me out of money." Lu Xiu lost his temper.

"Deal." I clapped my hands. "Good boy, little cultivator."

The midday sun was warm, and the wind felt gentle on my face.

I stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the place where the sky meets the sea.

Lu Xiu stood at the stern of the ship, watching the imperial city gradually disappear into the distance.

Lu Xiu said he was finally leaving this place, and I said I, Yan Zheng, had finally come out alive.