Hibiscus as a Painting

Chapter 211

The night was dark and gloomy, and not a single star could be seen in the overgrown Su Ran Palace.

Zi Jin lay on the table, staring at the dark sky outside the window. She didn't know how many days she had been locked up; she only felt that she hadn't eaten anything in a long time. If it weren't for the bowl of water she received every day, she was afraid she would have starved to death here.

Perhaps due to prolonged hunger, Zi Jin felt her sense of smell had become increasingly acute; the musty smell on the bed became unbearable. Eventually, she could only fall asleep slumped over the table. These past few days, plagued by hunger, heat, and poor sleep, Zi Jin felt that if things continued like this, she would soon be saying goodbye to this place forever. What was truly unbearable was the thought that she would ultimately starve to death—how shameful, how humiliating, simply unacceptable!

On another note, the people in the palace are so cruel. There are so many leftovers in the palace; even if they don't give us the good food, they could at least give us something ordinary. Why do they insist on feeding us spoiled food? We only get one meal a day, and whether it's rice or steamed buns, they're always spoiled, and sometimes they're even moldy. Now I truly understand the hardships Jun Chi endured as a child.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, Zi Jin suddenly sensed something amiss. She cautiously looked towards the door. A dark figure appeared in the lamplight, and upon recognizing the person, Zi Jin's eyes lit up with ecstatic joy: "Master's wife!"

Qiu Baifeng, who had been standing in the darkness for a long time, looked at the disheveled person in front of her with tears in her eyes. It had only been two months since they parted, how could she have become so thin and unrecognizable? Qiu Baifeng quickly stepped forward, hugged Zi Jin's head, and choked out, "Girl...you have suffered so much."

Gradually, the ecstasy in Zi Jin's heart was replaced by a deep sense of grievance. She leaned against Qiu Baifeng's chest, and the panic, helplessness, and fear she had endured for the past two months rushed over her in an instant. She hugged the person in front of her tightly and finally cried out softly.

Qiu Baifeng gently supported Zi Jin's disheveled hair with one hand and patted her back with the other: "It's alright, it's alright, your master's wife is here... your master's wife is here. It's all your master's fault. I was only thinking about your master and forgot about you... I'm not afraid anymore, I'm not afraid anymore..."

“Master…Master has been captured by Jun Lin, and he’s locked up…locked up by his collarbone…I can’t find him anywhere, I can’t find Master…It’s all my fault, all my fault…I’ve dragged Master into this…”

Qiu Baifeng coaxed softly, "Don't worry, girl, your master is fine."

Zi Jin looked at Qiu Baifeng through teary eyes: "Really?"

Qiu Baifeng nodded repeatedly and whispered in Zi Jin's ear, "It's true, your master's wife wanted to inform you a long time ago, but the palace where you lived was unusually heavily guarded, and there were many experts lying in ambush all around. Your master's wife had no chance to get close to it, and she was afraid of alerting the enemy. On the third day after the old emperor's death, your master's wife found out that you had been imprisoned in the Cold Palace, and it took her several days to find this place."

Zi Jin froze, her mind reeling: "The old emperor is dead?... Jun Ying... Jun Ying... is he dead?"

"Girl! Girl!"

Zi Jin suddenly snapped back to reality, her eyes filled with indescribable grief and confusion: "How...how could he? When? When did this happen?"

Qiu Baifeng was taken aback for a moment before realizing what Zi Jin was asking: "The burial took place yesterday, so it should be about seven or eight days ago."

Zi Jin sat there, stunned, the man's various faces flashing through her mind: smiling, calm, panicked, sorrowful, fearful, desperate, pleading… each image both distant and vivid, yet always present. No matter the time, there was never a trace of anger on that calm face. Whether then or now, this man had never shown her a hint of anger or resentment, simply standing quietly behind her, silently enduring, without complaint or regret. He had once been the only person in the world who had selflessly and unconditionally stayed by her side, even in leaving, so quietly. Did he know that she hadn't had a chance, hadn't had a chance to look at him more, hadn't had a chance to thank him, hadn't had a chance to tell him how grateful she was? How could he just leave so quietly…?

“Girl, don’t be sad. Life and death are in the hands of fate. This is not something that people can control… Girl and him…” Qiu Baifeng looked at Zi Jin with worry, hesitating to speak.

Zi Jin wiped away her tears, concealing the emotions in her eyes, and looked at Qiu Baifeng again: "Master's wife, don't worry, I'm not sad. Jun Ying, he's had such a hard life... He's finally free. I just... I just..."

Noticing Qiu Baifeng's concerned expression, Zi Jin paused and asked again, "Master's wife hasn't said how Master is now?"

Seeing that Zi Jin was unwilling to say more, Qiu Baifeng did not press the matter: "Your master is imprisoned in the Qi residence."

"The Qi family? The Qi Yongyue family?"

Qiu Baifeng said, "Yes, he is the young emperor's personal bodyguard. His family's security is not strict, and he treats your master well. It's not difficult to rescue your master, but the silver chain is not easy to open. Although the iron chain is made of rare material, it can still be forged open with a divine weapon. However, the hook that locks the collarbone is an exquisite lock ring. That lock ring is so ingenious that without the key, the collarbone can only be severed."

"If the collarbone is cut, how can this person live?!" Zi Jin exclaimed in alarm.

A look of worry appeared in Qiu Baifeng's eyes as she said in a low voice, "Only by finding the key can we save your master. I have searched the Qi mansion several times, so I think the key should be in the hands of the young emperor."

Zi Jin nodded thoughtfully: "It should be in Jun Lin's hands... I'll figure out a way to get the key. Master's wife must protect Master secretly."

Qiu Baifeng wiped away Zi Jin's tears: "The girl has been tortured to this state by him. What can we do? I've already thought of a solution. I'll find an opportunity to kidnap the young emperor and force him to hand over the key."

Zi Jin said urgently, "We must not do that! Jun Lin has been extremely arrogant since childhood. If we force him, he would rather perish than bow down... Master's wife, don't worry. As long as the key is with Jun Lin, I have my own way... Master's wife, give me ten days. If I can't get the key back in ten days, we'll think of another way."

Qiu Baifeng thought for a moment, then touched Zi Jin's unusually thin face: "Your master can see that the young emperor still likes you. Arrogant people always respond better to gentleness than force. If you confront him head-on, you'll only suffer. Your master doesn't want you to submit to him, but at the very least, you need to protect yourself and wait for your master and master to come and take you back, right? Girl, listen to your master, don't be stubborn, and don't let yourself suffer any more."

Zi Jin smiled reassuringly: "I understand. It's getting late, Master's wife, you should leave quickly, it wouldn't be good if we were discovered."

Qiu Baifeng glanced at the sky outside the window, then looked at Zi Jin with concern: "Girl, listen to your master's wife, don't make yourself suffer too much. Take this incense stick. If you get the key, find a secluded place, light this incense, and place the key near the incense. Your master's wife will then be able to retrieve the key. Your master's wife is going back now."

Zi Jin sniffed the incense in her hand: "Is this the legendary Bee Arrival?"

Qiu Baifeng smiled and nodded, then leaped out of the window and disappeared into the night.

Love and hate leave no trace, deep affection is hard to wait for; the descendants of the gods, three generations of marriage and resentment fill the river, watching the tide rise and fall amidst the wind and rain (Part 8)

(Part 8) Zi Jin lay drowsily on the table. Ever since she learned the method to rescue her master that day, Zi Jin had been thinking about going out. She thought it would just be a matter of saying a few kind words to Jun Lin, but she never expected that she would not even have a chance to see Jun Lin. No matter how much Zi Jin pleaded with the people at the door, they were all beyond their duties, either ignoring her or making sarcastic remarks. In the end, Zi Jin slipped the jade hairpin that Granny Lu had put on her head that day through the crack in the door and said all the nice things.

She had thought that the priceless hairpin would surely win her heart, but it was quickly returned. Seeing Zi Jin's tact, the man spoke frankly to her. It wasn't that he was unwilling to help her, but rather that she had offended someone she shouldn't have—someone the guards couldn't afford to offend. Although he had offended E Yi, the guards weren't eunuchs. While none of them wanted to offend the only Imperial Noble Consort of the Yue Kingdom, why were they so afraid?

After pondering for several days, Zi Jin suddenly realized. The guards' stubbornness wasn't due to fear of E Yi, but rather Qi Yongyue. E Yi was the Prime Minister's eldest granddaughter, and Qi Yongyue was the Prime Minister's eldest grandson. These two were siblings, and Qi Yongyue was now not only the commander of the palace guards in the Moon Kingdom, but also Jun Lin's most favored disciple. Which of these guards wasn't planning for the future? Who would easily throw away their promising future for a mere jade hairpin?

Having sorted everything out, Zi Jin stopped thinking about it and forced herself to eat the food that had been stale for days. Now that she knew how to rescue her master, she couldn't let herself starve to death in despair. But the food was truly unpalatable; every time she ate a little, she would vomit even more. Even so, Zi Jin gritted her teeth and ate as much as she could.

As night fell, Zi Jin lay curled up on the table, shivering uncontrollably. For two days now, she had been feeling dizzy and alternating between chills and fever, and she could no longer see her surroundings clearly. Since the kerosene in the small lamp had run out, the eerily dark Su Ran Palace had been completely shrouded in darkness. Zi Jin had long lost the ability to distinguish between day and night; only the chirping of crickets outside the window reminded her that it was night. She couldn't endure it any longer; if this continued, she wouldn't last more than a few days.

Zi Jin desperately hugged her hands and feet to warm them, but her arms were too short, and there were always places she couldn't cover. She was trembling uncontrollably, her mind was a complete blur, and she had a strange hallucination, as if someone was calling her.

Zi Jin struggled to open her eyes, only to see a blurry figure. She couldn't make out who it was, but she could clearly feel his anxiety and heartache. This person felt very familiar to her, as if she had known him for a very, very long time. Zi Jin forced a reassuring smile at the figure.

Prince Anle rushed over and embraced Zi Jin, who was curled up on the table. His deathly pale face was filled with pain; his heart-wrenching expression was as if someone had stabbed him in the heart, leaving him unable to die. He held the frail person tightly in his arms, holding him so tightly that he wanted to meld into her flesh and blood.

Zi Jin felt a warm sensation, smiled dreamily, and then leaned closer to the warmth, tightly embracing the source of heat.

Prince Anle picked up the person in his arms, stepped out the window, and left. His once alluring peach blossom eyes were now filled with a cold and murderous look. The indescribable hatred and killing intent on his face seemed to freeze everything around him. As if sensing the deep killing intent of the person holding her, the half-conscious Zi Jin frowned and uneasily rubbed against the person's chest.

As he lowered his eyes, the coldness in Prince Anle's eyes was replaced by pain, and a soft, bittersweet feeling welled up in his heart. He gently stroked the filthy face of the person in his arms and said softly, "Don't be afraid, I'll take you out."

Having already lost most of his martial arts skills, and now carrying someone in his arms, Prince Anle gritted his teeth, strained his mind, and painstakingly dodged the patrolling men. It took them the time it takes for three incense sticks to burn before they finally reached the depths of a small grove northeast of the imperial city.

The anxious hermits rushed forward. Seeing that King Anle's pale face was covered in sweat, the hermit leader tried to take the person from his arms, but King Anle rudely blocked him.

King Anle glanced at the returning group and said coldly, "Change the route. We must reach Nanyang City before dawn."

The hermit leader said, "I think Your Highness is not yet fully recovered and has exhausted yourself tonight. It would be too much for you to travel to Nanyang overnight. Moreover, Nanyang is a well-known city in the Yue Kingdom, so it would be easy to enter but difficult to leave. If we accidentally alert them, it will be even more difficult to leave the Yue Kingdom. It would be better to proceed according to the original plan. The countryside and villages are always much safer than entering the city."