Eternal Night - Chapter 86
How could she feel at ease if she didn't go to Yi Zhongtian's residence to take a look?
I don't know who I hate.
The rooftops in the rain resemble the backs of fish swimming in a lake, and the eternal night passes through them as if they were fish gliding across the water.
She only stayed at Zeya Inn for two hours, but that didn't hinder her from becoming familiar with Chendu. The Anguo spy had drawn up all the snack shops here clearly, naturally including the Left General's Mansion.
She drifted into Yi Zhongtian's mansion like a drizzle carried by the wind into the night.
Yongye dared not be careless, and instead held Liang's breath as they looked into the study lit by candlelight.
A single ray of light emanated from a crane-shaped lantern adorned with delicate branches and flowers. Half-hidden by a screen, the light still swayed occasionally in the breeze. Yi Zhongtian was actually painting.
Her movements flowed smoothly, like clouds and water. This painting style… “Mr. Beauty.” Yongye’s heart trembled. Why did she think of Mr. Beauty?
She recalled the poem she had recited when she mischievously tried to send the female doctor and the handsome gentleman to their deaths: "The beauty rolls up the beaded curtain, sits deep within with furrowed brows. Only tear stains are seen, but who knows whom she hates in her heart."
At that moment, there was a clear glint of tears in the beauty's eyes, and the sorrow that flashed in those beautiful eyes made Yongye secretly delighted and extremely proud.
When Mr. Mei Ren paints, he always has a habitual gesture. After each stroke, he likes to twirl the brush in his hand to create a pattern. Yi Zhongtian does the same; he flips the brush over before placing it on the brush holder.
He had clearly painted a beautiful woman in meticulous detail, and the jade sleeves were so lifelike that even the haughty expression on her face was captured perfectly.
Yi Zhongtian is around thirty, isn't the beautiful master about that age too? Yongye thought of the taciturn master in green robes and his unpleasant flute playing, and her heart ached. Could it be that the beautiful lady really admires Yi Zhongtian? That she frowns for him and sheds tears for him?
After finishing the painting, Yi Zhongtian stared at the portrait in a daze. Only after a long while did he carefully put the scroll away and leave.
The eternal night drifted into the room like raindrops carried by the wind. She hadn't forgotten the painting techniques taught by the beautiful teacher. After a moment's thought, she drew by the lamplight, her brush moving swiftly like the wind, and finally inscribed a sentence on the painting: "Wanting to shed my silk robe, the chill lingers; I don't roll up the beaded curtain, for the person is deep within. Butterfly Robe."
This handwriting is definitely Mr. Beauty's.
She carefully switched the painting, picked up the one from Yuxiu, tore it to shreds, tossed it aside, smiled triumphantly, and then blew out the candle with a puff.
The hall was plunged into darkness.
She had just carefully hidden herself when Yi Zhongtian leaped in.
As the lights came on, Yi Zhongtian's expression changed. His gaze shifted from the torn portrait to the portrait of the beautiful gentleman on the desk, as if he were in a daze. He paused, then walked outside despite the wind and rain.
Yongye followed him cautiously. She couldn't beat Yi Zhongtian, but she was extremely confident in her lightness skill. On this stormy night, Yi Zhongtian was already distracted, making it difficult for him to keep an eye on Yongye.
Yi Zhongtian leaped onto his horse and galloped away.
Yongye, having identified the direction, chased after them without hesitation. Were her handsome master and her master in green robes both in the Chen Kingdom? Was Youli Valley truly built by the people of Chen? Where were Qiangwei and Yuepo? She had to know the answers.
An hour later she arrived at the outskirts of the city. The rain was even heavier; the sky seemed to have cracked open, and water poured down endlessly. Even three zhang away, the rain was torrential, and no one could be seen.
Yongye stood in the rain, using all her senses to search. A faint neighing of a horse drifted in the wind, and she was overjoyed. With a light step, she galloped off.
A moment later, a glimmer of light appeared in the distance, and upon closer inspection, it revealed a rather large courtyard. The lakeside pavilion was brightly lit.
Without a second thought, Yongye leaped into the lake and swam across. She quietly surfaced from the bottom of the water, hugged the pillar, and raised her head.
The faint sounds were fragmented and torn apart by the wind and rain.
"...Great idea!"
"For...all these years..."
Yongye couldn't hear clearly, but with a determined heart, he used the half-rolled bamboo curtain to press himself against a pillar in the corner of the waterside pavilion. Through the gap between the bamboo curtain and the canopy, he could see everything clearly.
The man sitting on the couch inside the room was none other than her handsome husband.
Eight years had passed since they last met. Mr. Beauty's appearance seemed to have changed little, but there was a hint of vicissitude between his brows. His eyes pained Yongye. They were eyes full of deep affection, and any man who looked at them would feel pity.
Yi Zhongtian stood in front of her and threw her painting angrily at his feet: "Why? You want to send her to Anguo? She's only sixteen!"
The handsome gentleman picked up the painting and examined it: "This was Prince Chen's idea, and the princess did it willingly."
"Do I really need someone else to kill Li Gu? Is Li Gu's martial arts comparable to mine? Do I really need her to marry into the family to assassinate him? With her meager skills, she thinks she can assassinate Li Gu? I seriously doubt that the infamous Youli Valley would come up with such a terrible idea! I will never agree to this marriage! I will kill the Marquis of Yong'an! Even if Anguo wants to raise an army, do you think my Chen Kingdom is afraid of them?!"
Not to mention Yi Zhongtian, even Yongye doubted that such an idiotic idea could have come from Youligu. But Li Yannian really hoped that Yuxiu would marry into Anguo, and Emperor Yujia also hoped so. What was going on?
"Thirteen years ago, I was also sixteen. You were willing to send your fiancée to the Valley of Wandering, but now you can't bear to part with her?" The beautiful gentleman seemed like a flower washed away by a heavy rain, poignant and helpless. "When I left, she was only three years old. I actually lost to a three-year-old girl? Was I not as pretty as her? Was I not gentle enough? Or am I not a princess?!"
"Mr. Beauty will definitely know he tampered with the painting when he sees it. Will she tell Yi Zhongtian about it? Did Youli Valley not tell them her identity?" Yongye pondered nervously, his guard rising as he thought of Master Qingyi. The only person in the world who could possibly discover her whereabouts was Master Qingyi.
Yi Zhongtian looked at Cheng Dieyi for a long time before his tone softened: "Dieyi, we grew up together, I can't lie to you. She's the only one in my heart. No matter how much you sacrifice, I can't change my mind."
"That's not what you said back then." The beautiful lady smiled, her white gauze dress making her look exceptionally beautiful. Her movements were always so graceful, even her sad frown was pitiful.
Yi Zhongtian frankly admitted: "I have changed my mind. Even if you entered Youli Valley for my sake, used Youli Valley's power to disrupt An's internal affairs, and even used someone else to kill Duan Wang Li Gu, so that my Chen army could march straight into Sanyu Pass. So that I, Yi Zhongtian, could unify the Three Kingdoms for the Emperor and become famous throughout the world. Now I can only say that you are still a citizen of Chen, and you should be loyal to the King."
Mr. Beauty laughed, tears streaming down his face.
Yongye had seen women go mad, and she had seen women heartbroken. She had seen women jump off buildings, slit their wrists, or sit in the street and wail in anguish. But she had never seen Mr. Beauty laugh like that. He laughed as if he had just watched Tom and Jerry or Mr. Bean, laughing with unbridled joy. If it weren't for the tear stains on his face reflected by the candlelight, she would hardly have thought that Mr. Beauty was heartbroken.
"Let's just ignore our engagement, okay?"
Yongye opened her mouth wide and laughed silently. Rainwater rushed into her mouth, which she swallowed in one gulp. When the beautiful lady said this, she didn't sound like a forsaken woman at all. Her voice was sweet and charming, as if she was coquettishly pleading with her lover.
Yi Zhongtian stared at her intently and said, "Dieyi, I have wronged you, I will repay you in the next life."
The handsome gentleman lazily stretched out his jade-carved feet, slipped on his embroidered shoes, and stood opposite Yi Zhongtian.
The man before her was more mature and more terrifying than he had been back then. Those words of remorse flowed from his lips as if they were perfectly natural. How had she endured all those years of loneliness in the mountains? All for him, for a dream.
She pursed her lips and smiled slightly: "I've been waiting for this day, and I'm getting haggard from waiting... The marriage of the princess to the Marquis of Yong'an is just a pretext. What I really want is for her to enter Chen. As long as you control the Marquis of Yong'an, Li Gu won't dare to act rashly. The world in Anguo is about to change. Emperor Yujia has a terminal illness and won't last more than a month. Whether the Crown Prince ascends the throne or the First Prince tries to seize it out of anger, Anguo will be thrown into chaos."