Ma femme escalade le mur

Chapitre 77

Duan Chen reacted like a cat with its fur standing on end at his touch. She turned and took two steps to the door, which wasn't latched to begin with. With a backhand slap, she slammed the door against the wall with a crisp "bang." Her clear, cold phoenix eyes slightly raised at the corners, and her slightly deep voice was a suppressed anger: "Young Prince, please have some self-respect."

The loud bang on the door jolted Zhao Ting back to his senses, bringing him back to his senses. Looking down at his outstretched arm, and recalling his earlier reverie, Zhao Ting cursed under his breath and turned to chase after the door: "Chen'er, I didn't..."

Before he could finish speaking, a clear voice rang out in the courtyard. At first glance, the tone seemed to contain a hint of mockery, but upon closer inspection, it was slightly cold: "Zhao Ting, Chen'er must be tired too. You've had enough of this day, so you should all rest."

Zhao Ting narrowed his eyes, meeting the slightly cold gaze of the person in the courtyard, his thin lips almost pressed into a line. Knowing that further words were pointless now, he whispered "Sleep well" to Duan Chen, then lifted his robe and left the room.

Zhan Yun's expression was not as gentle as usual. He stared intently at Zhao Ting as he walked out of the courtyard, only slowly relaxing the fist he had clenched in his sleeve. Turning back to glance at the tightly closed door, Zhan Yun quietly walked back to his room.

Duan Chen stayed in the room for a while, and thinking that the two people should have left, he opened the door and went out. There were people on duty in the Prince's mansion at night. As soon as Duan Chen walked into the corridor, someone quickly came up to him, bowed, and said in a low voice, "Where does Young Master Duan intend to go? The young prince and princess have already given instructions. Please do not hesitate to ask if there is anything I can help you with."

Duan Chen smiled slightly: "Excuse me, how do I get to the kitchen? I'd like to boil some water."

The man quickly waved his hand, appearing somewhat flustered: "The kitchen is dirty and messy, leave this to us. We'll send the water to Young Master Duan's room as soon as it's boiled." He then tentatively asked, "Does Young Master Duan wish to take a bath or..."

Duan Chen nodded: "Thank you for your trouble."

As dawn broke, Duan Chen, dressed in pure white, used his lightness skill to leave the outer city and ascend Yu Liu Mountain. He stopped halfway up the mountain under a large willow tree, panting slightly. Beads of sweat trickled down his temples, and his back was damp. A refreshing morning breeze swept by, and Duan Chen couldn't help but shiver slightly.

His breathing gradually stabilized, and the morning breeze quickly dried the sweat on his body. Duan Chen remained standing under the tree, his body seemingly nailed to the spot, stiff and motionless. His teeth clenched tightly on the inside of his lips, gradually absorbing a metallic taste. His misty eyes scanned his surroundings, but there wasn't a single person in sight, neither on nor off the mountains. Duan Chen clenched his fists, hesitated for a moment, and then walked stiffly toward the stone tablet in the distance.

As he gradually made out the familiar strokes of the name on the stone tablet, his eyes welled up with tears, and his heart pounded harder and harder, like a heavy hammer striking his heart, causing a dull ache and making his whole body tremble. Duan Chen bit his lip tightly, his phoenix eyes wide open, the whites of his eyes faintly tinged with blood red, and a tear fell with a "plop" onto his clothes, leaving a clear watermark. At the same time, a soft sob escaped his throat, like a cry of grief suppressed to the extreme.

With a low sob, tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string, falling in a flurry. Duan Chen walked to the foremost stone tablet, slowly raising his hand to gently touch the crimson inscription. The grayish-white stone was cold and rough. His slender fingers traced the strokes of the characters, stroking the hard, recessed carvings repeatedly, while his other hand, hanging by his side, clenched tightly, his fingertips digging fiercely into his palm. His body trembled violently, and finally, he released his grip, collapsing to his knees with a thud.

Tears streamed down his face, a silent, restrained effort. Kneeling silently for a long while, Duan Chen suddenly raised his neck, streaks of tears sliding down his collar. He took a deep breath and forced out a single, trembling word: "Mother—"

As dawn broke and the warm orange sun slowly rose, it couldn't penetrate the verdant pines and cypresses, nor warm the large expanse of cold stone tablets beneath them. Duan Chen knelt beside the stone tablets, his tears dried, but his phoenix eyes were bloodshot, and his eyelids were faintly red.

Her voice was slightly hoarse when she first spoke, and her words were somewhat incoherent, as if she were extremely unaccustomed to this kind of outpouring. Her voice remained low throughout, as if it would dissipate into the forest with a gust of wind: "Mother, I will listen to you. I will no longer think of revenge. You said the Princess is a good person, and I will treat her well, like my own aunt… I saw that grove of magnolias. The room I'm in now, Mother used to live in too… Mother, but I still hate the Zhao family. Father will scold me, won't he…?"

“But if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be like this. What good would announcing it to the world do? Would it bring everyone back? They’re the ones who killed, and they’re the ones who saved. Perhaps for the royal family, human life is the least valuable thing… Mother, I will remember what you said, and I will always stay far away from the royal family…”

Leaning slightly forward, she gently stroked the stone tablet with her fingers, her bloodshot eyes filled with longing, and her trembling voice carried a hint of uncharacteristic willfulness, "But I hate the Zhao family, I don't like that Seventh Prince. Although he saved my life back then... I don't like that Zhao Ting either. I will be good to the Princess, but I will ignore everyone else in the Prince's mansion, Mother, okay?"

"...Mother, Father, it's been so many years since I last came to see you, please don't be angry. I didn't want anyone to see me... I am Duan Chen now, and I didn't want that posthumous title of daughter of a general..."

“Father, I’m afraid the Jiang family will not have any descendants. I’m sorry… I don’t want to marry that Zhou Yufei. Besides, his family said back when you and I passed away that they had no relation to our family at all, and they didn’t acknowledge the marriage.”

"...Mother, I miss you so much..."

The last sentence, light as a morning breeze brushing through the trees, was soft and heartbreaking. He stumbled as he stood up, his hand instinctively gripping the edge of the stone tablet. His head was spinning, and his legs were stiff. A slight stinging pain shot through his palm, followed by a burning agony. Turning it over, he saw a long, thin cut, blood already seeping out, making his palm sticky. Duan Chen frowned slightly, looking at the stone tablet before him with a somewhat bewildered expression, standing silently for a long while.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, various stalls had already been set up all around. Seeing a stall selling wontons, Duan Chen hesitated for a moment, about to step forward, when a figure suddenly blocked his way, scrutinizing him carefully from head to toe, and then said with a half-smile, "Young master, would you like your fortune told?"

Duan Chen's eyes were still bloodshot, but his gaze suddenly turned cold: "No need." This man had been standing five zhang away, yet he had appeared before him in the blink of an eye—a feat only achievable with superior lightness skill. He wore a fake mustache, his face was sallow, and his lips were deathly pale, but his eyes were bright and clear, indicating profound inner strength. His robes, though tattered, were without a single patch. Duan Chen discreetly observed the man, knowing he was no ordinary person.

The man stroked his beard, a glint of meaning flashing in his eyes. "I think we should still use it. This young master seems to be plagued by many women lately, causing him considerable distress?" Seeing Duan Chen remain expressionless, the man's eyes darted around, and he lowered his voice, delivering a powerful dose of advice: "Although you suffered hardship in your youth and lost both your parents, you are a promising young man with many extraordinary encounters. You are destined for great wealth and fortune—"

Duan Chen's expression hardened, and a hint of ferocity flashed in his slightly red phoenix eyes: "Whose man are you? What do you want?"

The man quickly smiled to indicate that he meant no harm, and then boldly grabbed Duan Chen's sleeve and whispered, "Young master, come with me and let us have a divination done, and you will understand everything."

Duan Chen looked at the man coldly: "Let go."

The man suddenly put on a pitiful expression, cupped his hands and bowed to Duan Chen: "Young master, why don't you come with me to that stall up ahead for a fortune telling!"

Some people nearby had already noticed the two pulling at each other and were whispering among themselves. Duan Chen's expression remained unchanged: "Lead the way." But in his heart, he was thinking: even the Seventh Prince and the others didn't know much about him, so how did this person know about his background? And judging from his words, it seemed that he also knew something about his whereabouts in recent years.

The man arrived at a stall, gestured for Duan Chen to sit down, and handed him a pen: "Please write a character, young master."

Duan Chen didn't sit down. He just glanced at the man, took the brush, and wrote the character "Chen" on the laid-out Xuan paper.

The man frowned, then shook his head repeatedly, a hint of solemnity on his face: "Young master, this character is extremely inauspicious."

Duan Chen remained expressionless: "What do you mean?"

The man scrutinized Duan Chen's face and said, "I see your face is dark, and you seem to smell of blood. You must have been injured recently, right?" Seeing that Duan Chen still didn't seem to care, the man extended two fingers and lightly touched the words on the paper, slowly saying, "The smaller character on top is a reminder to be careful in all things recently. The character below is a warning that if you act improperly, it is very likely that..."

Duan Chen coldly replied, "To the end, a handful of yellow earth?"

The man nodded, his gaze towards Duan Chen hesitant, as if he were pondering something. Duan Chen curled his lips into a smile, his eyes icy: "Thank you for your guidance, sir. Now that the character analysis has been performed, please answer my question."

The man stared at Duan Chen for a while, then took out a wooden box from his sleeve and handed it to him with both hands. Duan Chen didn't even glance at it, simply putting it into his sleeve and turning to leave. The man hurriedly called out, "Young Master," and Duan Chen stopped, but didn't turn around.

The man hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "Young master, please be careful in everything you do."

Duan Chen's brow twitched, but he said nothing and strolled forward. He entered the city, where the streets were bustling with people. Duan Chen wandered aimlessly, took out a narrow wooden box from his sleeve, and gently flicked the satin cord. The box opened with a "click," revealing a layer of azure velvet inside, on which lay a white sandalwood hairpin.

The hairpin head was a six-sided snowflake, and where it connected to the hairpin body, a small character "尘" (dust) was clearly engraved. Duan Chen hurriedly took out the wooden hairpin and pulled up the velvet cloth inside the wooden box. Sure enough, a small piece of paper was revealed inside.

Unfolding the paper, one finds a few words written in bold, unrestrained handwriting: "A belated birthday gift for my Luo'er. Keep it safe and don't question it; it will prove useful in the future. Also, there's a bigger gift; I hope Luo'er likes it."

Duan Chen frowned, a series of thoughts flashing through his mind. His heart sank with each guess, and a chilling, overwhelming coldness gradually enveloped him. His consciousness began to fade, when he heard a familiar voice from not far away. The voice was clear and warm, like a spring breeze breaking through the ice, instantly pulling him from the abyss: "Chen'er, what are you doing here?"

Author's Note: Next update will be at 9 AM this Saturday, October 9th.

I'll be updating for the next few days, thank you all for your understanding!

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Chapter Six: The Seven Lives Cult • A Heartfelt Confession...

Duan Chen looked up at the sound and saw someone waving at him from not far away, anxiously weaving through the bustling crowd and walking quickly toward him. The person wore a wide, snow-white robe, with a matching belt embroidered with light blue auspicious cloud patterns at the waist. The jade pendant tied to it swayed gently with the fluttering of the robe, gleaming faintly in the sunlight.