Ne vous appuyez pas contre la rambarde ouest pour profiter pleinement de l'automne clair - Chapitre 57
A deep unease washed over him again. He placed his hand on Dongfang Lie's wine jar, forcefully stopping him from pouring the wine. "Lie!"
Slowly lifting his eyelids, which had been drooping for who knows how long, Dongfang Lie's eyes, which had just regained focus, began to lose focus again upon seeing Chu Xuyao. He snatched the wine jar away, and his weak and hoarse voice drifted into Chu Xuyao's ears, "Go."
The moment he looked up, Chu Xuyao noticed that his eyes were bloodshot. Chu Xuyao's confusion and unease deepened, and he pressed his large hand firmly on Dongfang Lie's shoulder. "Lie, what exactly happened?"
"What happened...yes, what happened, what happened..." He murmured absentmindedly, as if possessed, his lips trembling as he repeated Chu Xuyao's question. After a long while, so long that Chu Xuyao could no longer resist shaking him awake, he suddenly threw his head back and burst into wild laughter, "Hahaha...what happened? Nothing! Just the elimination of the traitor, the traitor...haha! You know, Xuyao! I no longer have to worry about anyone persecuting my empire, no longer! Because she's finally dead, she's dead! Hahaha..."
My heart suddenly pounded wildly. "Lie, who...who died?"
"She's dead, she's dead! I forced her to her death, forced her to her death..."
"Lie! Explain yourself! Who died!" Chu Xuyao's fingers dug deep into Dongfang Lie's flesh, his cotton cloth twisted with extreme panic. He shook Dongfang Lie's shoulders violently and roared in a hoarse voice.
"My moon is dead, dead, and will never return..."
It felt as if all the blood in my body had been drained in an instant!
He suddenly knelt on one knee, his iron hand trembling as he placed Dongfang Lie's body directly on the floor. Chu Xuyao urgently met Dongfang Lie's unbearable and desolate eyes. "Dongfang Lie! You're not joking! This joke isn't funny at all! Tell me, you're lying to me, you're lying to me! Tell me where that woman is! Where is she! Lie! Tell me! Tell me now!"
"Yes, why isn't this a joke? Why did the moon leave me? Why..."
The iron hand slid down limply...
On a small wooden bed, two meters long and one meter wide, Dongfang Yao lay on her side in a white silk quilt, her left arm stretched out to the other side of the bed, her right hand hovering in the air, occasionally touching the empty space, moving up and down as if caressing a real person...
"Wife, do you like me?" Dongfang Yao blinked her beautiful eyes and tilted her head to look at the inside of the bed.
"Oh, if you're not saying anything, then I'll take that as you agreeing, my dear wife!"
"Wife, let's go to the street tomorrow, okay? Please... We've been married for so long, and I haven't given you a token of our love yet! I'll buy you one tomorrow! Wife, what do you like? A hairpin? Earrings? Jade beads?"
"No! My wife doesn't like these overly feminine things! I bet she prefers swords, fine knives, things that men use, right, honey?"
“My wife isn’t saying anything,” Dongfang Yao said, gently patting the empty air. “Is my wife angry with me? Wife, please say something, please? Please, just one sentence, just one sentence, let me hear your voice…”
"Wife, please don't ignore me. I know I was wrong. Please don't leave me..."
"daughter in law……"
A single tear silently rolled down his thin cheek. In the desolate, quiet dormitory, only his heart-wrenching, uncontrollable sobs echoed…
At midnight on the seventh day of the eleventh month of the tenth year of the Rende reign, the Emperor purged the remnants of the Liu Kingdom's rebellious faction, and 244 traitors were executed on the spot. Rumor had it that these traitors were all highly skilled in martial arts, each capable of taking on a hundred men, and their methods were ruthless and cruel, slaughtering countless palace guards! That night, the palace was awash in blood. Palace servants used well water for seven days and seven nights, barely managing to wash away seven or eight tenths of the horrifying pools of blood. Even years later, in some hidden corners of the palace, observant people could still see the dark red bloodstains left behind… This night was later known as the Bloodstained Midnight.
At three-quarters past midnight, Liu Rongyue, the daughter of a traitor who had attempted to flee with Prince Yao, was driven to the brink of extinction. She and her accomplice, Murong Yuyan, jumped off a cliff together, their fates unknown.
Too many strange things happened after the Bloodstained Midnight Incident. The most astonishing of all was that Prince Yao, who had been mentally impaired for twenty years, miraculously regained his sanity during this upheaval! Rumors circulated that Liu Rongyue was a plague star reincarnated, born to bring misfortune upon Prince Yao. Otherwise, why would Prince Yao suddenly become mentally impaired shortly after her birth, only to recover from his dementia immediately after her death?
The second strange thing is Chu Xuyao, the master of the number one manor in the world. For some unknown reason, after the Bloodstained Midnight Incident, he seemed to have severed ties with the emperor overnight, having always been on good terms with him. Since then, he has never set foot in the capital, let alone entered the palace! Because some villagers had seen him lingering at the place where Liu Rongyue and her faction were forced to jump off the cliff, standing with his hands behind his back facing the cold wind, muttering to himself, as if he were saying something to the people at the bottom of the cliff... Therefore, there were rumors that Chu Xuyao had an ambiguous relationship with Liu Rongyue, the daughter of a traitor, and that they had even been having an affair. So when he learned that she had been forced to jump off the cliff, he was furious and severed his friendship with the emperor that had lasted for more than ten years, never to speak to him again.
The third strange occurrence was the transformation of the reigning emperor, Dongfang Lie. After the incident, Dongfang Lie became unpredictable and easily angered almost overnight. He would be all smiles one moment and then erupt in fury the next over the smallest things! Countless palace servants and even concubines were whipped, flogged, or even killed on the spot for being targeted by his wrath. A dark cloud hung over the palace. In the court, civil and military officials lived in constant fear, spending each morning court session in trepidation, lest a careless word or action anger the capricious emperor and put themselves in danger of execution. They simply couldn't understand how the once benevolent, wise, and virtuous emperor had become so cruel and tyrannical.
Volume Two: The Resolute Heroines' Chronicle, Chapter One: First Entry into Yangcheng
"Stop thief..." After a deafening shout, a gray figure darted through the dense crowd, chasing after a short man who was also running wildly ahead, yelling angrily, "Don't run! You damned thief! When I catch you, I'll chop you up!"
The chilling, harsh words sent shivers down the spine of the short man in front! Gathering all his strength, he ran even faster!
Upon seeing this, the gray figure behind immediately turned red-eyed, took a deep breath, widened its pupils, and chased after him at a speed one and a half times faster than the smaller figure in front!
The chase between the two became the most bizarre sight on the streets of Yangcheng. Yangcheng was the most prosperous district in the Southern Kingdom, and the more prosperous the place, the more frequently these pickpockets operated! Therefore, this scene of catching a thief was not uncommon for the residents of Yangcheng. But what made this scene so bizarre was... well, if you saw the gray figure chasing the thief, you would surely share the same sentiment as the people of Yangcheng... These thieves are despicable these days! They even steal from beggars!
Closer and closer! The distance between the two was shrinking, and it seemed that the gray-faced man was about to catch up with the sprinting little guy. A sinister smile appeared on his face: You little brat, you're dead!
Extending its black claws, the gray shadow moved with lightning speed, aiming straight for the smaller figure in front. Unexpectedly, the boy seemed to have eyes in the back of his head; he leaped and dodged, quickly sidestepping the merciless claw, then, still shaken, took off running! The smaller figure was lucky to escape being caught, but the vengeful black claw, unable to retract in time, could only continue its forward momentum without turning...
Damn it, I grabbed the wrong person! He angrily let go of her hand, spat on the ground, and rubbed his fists together, ready to give chase.
But the next moment, the gray shadow realized that its flailing legs were gradually losing their footing from the ground. When it turned its head, it found that the back of its collar had been grabbed hard!
"What are you doing! Let me go! If you delay me from catching the thief, I'll curse your mother!" Gray Shadow roared angrily, his eyes wide with fury.
"This brat, he thinks he's right for getting his clothes dirty?!" Tuoba Jie suppressed the urge to slap him to death and said coldly, "You've dirtied my clothes!"
Following his gaze, the gray figure glanced briefly at the black mark on his red robe, then curled his lip indifferently: "Oh, I'm really sorry! Alright, I've apologized, you should let me go now!"
His narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes flashed with a chilling light! Disheveled, covered in grime, his face and skin ashen, dressed in gray clothes and tattered gray shoes… Looking at the boy he was carrying, a man utterly disgusted. If it weren't for his current status, given his personality, he would have surely turned this arrogant brat into dust!
Gray Shadow craned his neck to look at the short figure running ahead and disappearing into the distance, his throat practically burning with anxiety!
"I've already apologized, what more do you want! I'm warning you, don't push your luck! My patience has its limits!" Damn it, that was all she and Yu Yan had ever owned!
Indeed, this gray figure was Rongyue, who had miraculously escaped death. After falling off the cliff that day, she thought the fall would be her final resting place, but she never imagined that the bottom of the cliff would be a vast ocean connected to the outside world! Supporting Yuyan, who couldn't swim, she swam with all her might, hoping that passing ships would see them. As fate would have it, two days later, just when she was about to lose all hope, a ship bound for Yangcheng in the Southern Kingdom rescued them from the brink of despair. Arriving in Yangcheng, penniless, they had no choice but to pawn the bell jewelry on Yuyan's wrist, receiving only twenty taels of silver in return! But unexpectedly, all their possessions were stolen by a despicable thief! Without silver, how would they survive?
Ha! What did this kid say? His patience has limits?! How dare he talk to him like that? He really doesn't want to live!
Once the short man had disappeared, Rongyue's anger flared up, and she pointed her ire at Tuoba Jie: "Pay me back! Twenty taels of silver and not a single copper coin less!"
"Twenty taels of silver?" The voice was laced with gritted teeth. "Do you know how many taels of silver your soiled clothes are worth?"
"It's just a piece of clothing, how much could it be worth? Besides, it's just dirty, I'll wash it for you!"
"You'll wash it? You're even capable of washing it?! The best-cut clothes in the world cost over ten thousand taels of silver, do you dare to wash them?"
Clothes costing over ten thousand taels?! That expensive? Enough for an average family to live on for a lifetime!
“Spendthrift…” Rongyue muttered under her breath, glancing at the red robe with gold trim. Tuoba Jie caught her disdainful tone.
Anger flashed across his alluring yet sinister face. His narrow phoenix eyes narrowed again, a strange, deep red swirling within his dark gray pupils! His red robe billowed, and even those several feet away could feel the chill emanating from him! Sensing the murderous aura emanating from his lord, a man in a gray-blue short jacket beside Tuoba Jie leaned close to his ear and whispered a warning: "My lord, there are too many people here, be careful not to reveal our identities..."