Robe blanche - Chapitre 99
Despite my worries, I was also utterly exhausted. Before I knew it, I had fallen into a deep sleep in my chair. When I woke up, I was back in my own bed. I sat up abruptly, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. It took me a while to open my eyes, and I saw someone asleep on the table, the candlelight almost burning their hair.
I got out of bed, moved the candle a little, and gently lifted the person's head, turning their face towards me. I was startled and quickly let go—how could Shen Haoyu be here? I quietly went outside; the moon had already moved west, it was already past midnight. I went to Zinuo's room; it was dark inside, but I could faintly hear even breathing. I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. I then quietly went to Song Zhixuan's and the others' door; everything was normal there too. My heart finally settled back into place.
The night was so cool; a gentle breeze ruffled my hair. I strolled into the courtyard, bathed in moonlight. How wonderful… everyone was here.
I heard soft footsteps approaching, and when I turned around, I saw Shen Haoyu. He had just woken up, and his hair was a little disheveled. Seeing Shen Haoyu walking towards me, I quickly stepped forward and bowed: "Young Prince!"
Suddenly, Shen Haoyu reached out and pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly. I tried to break free, but it was no use. Afraid of waking the others, I could only softly call out, "Young Prince!"
"How could you be so silly? Do you know how scared I was?" I felt Shen Haoyu bury his head in my hair, his warm breath seeping through my thin clothes onto my shoulder. I moved my neck uncomfortably: "Young Prince, please tell me what happened, okay?" The voice that came out was unusually... gentle, as if I was afraid of frightening the person on my head who had never been so soft before.
After a while, Shen Haoyu finally let go of me. I looked up and saw him turn his face away somewhat awkwardly before walking to the stone bench under the flower trellis and sitting down. Without hesitation, I followed him and sat down opposite him.
"Um, I just woke up and I'm still a little groggy," Shen Haoyu suddenly said, his tone a bit unnatural. I chuckled inwardly, but still respectfully replied, "Yes, Huai'en understands. I was also groggy for a while when I first woke up."
"Hmm." Shen Haoyu nodded seriously. "I wanted to go to you to ask you something, but you were sleeping, so I waited and waited, and then I fell asleep too."
"Huh, I was wondering too. Turns out I was in the main hall." I couldn't help but ask, "Young Prince, where was I when you returned?"
Shen Haoyu looked at me suspiciously, as if I really was confused and still hadn't come to my senses: "Of course it was in your room. Zinuo went to see you and said you were fine, so everyone went to rest."
Did I return to my room before they came back? A figure flashed through my mind. Was it him, the Third Prince, who was closest to me? But... my face flushed slightly again.
“Oh,” she shook her head, trying not to imagine what it would have been like, and continued, “What happened to you after I left?”
Shen Haoyu suddenly raised his voice again: "You still say that..." In my haste, I covered his mouth and said, "Shh, don't wake everyone!" Then I quickly let go and apologized: "I'm sorry, please forgive me!"
Shen Haoyu glared at me before speaking again, his tone filled with undisguised dissatisfaction: "Who told you to run off like that by yourself? Didn't I tell you? You can only do what I tell you to do. Why do you always ignore what I say? I am your master, you know?"
I forced a smile and said, "Yes, Your Highness, Huai'en knows he was wrong and will never do it again. What happened to you afterwards?" I pressed on relentlessly. This guy is definitely not good at studying literature; he always misses the point. I've asked him the same question so many times, and he still hasn't answered it.
“You ran away like an idiot, and Zinuo ran out too to distract some of the people. We wanted to go save you, but you both ran too fast. By the time we were ready to chase after you, you were already gone. So we went to Zinuo's place. There was a big battle, and everyone died. Then we searched everywhere for you,” Shen Haoyu said.
Thankfully they went to Zinuo's place, otherwise, I really can't imagine what would have happened. But I still couldn't help but curse, "Why did they come back directly? What if we run into the rest of them again?" Those people are all dead, and the price we paid must have been quite high. How could we possibly deal with the others if we encountered them again?
Shen Haoyu glanced at me, his eyes filled with a multitude of emotions, but in the end, he said, "They got away. Seeing that their companions were all dead, they went back."
It seems that King Min and his companions didn't know who their companion had encountered, and, worried about their own safety, left first.
The next day I learned that of the thirty-odd people who went out together the day before, only a dozen or so had returned. My heart sank. If they had abandoned me and Zinuo, they would probably all have survived. But I feared I would never see Zinuo again. Torn between these choices, I chose to stay with my loved ones…
Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn. Chapter 84
Chapter word count: 3928 Update time: 09-08-26 09:51
After this battle, Shen Haoyu's defenses were reduced by half, so he gave up on going out and temporarily put aside his previous work. He only drew two partial maps and handed them to Du Zhai as the results of his work during this period. He also described in detail the situation that Min Wang and his men had encountered. Du Zhai then sent new men to carefully investigate whether there were any other hidden paths outside the city, in order to prevent any unforeseen events.
I still can't easily let go of this matter. Although it wasn't entirely my fault, it still bothers me...
The next day, as soon as I saw Zinuo, I gave him a good scolding. If Zinuo hadn't revealed his whereabouts, those people probably would have all chased after me, and those guards wouldn't have been needed...
Zi Nuo looked at me with a sorrowful expression: "Are you just going to let me watch you go to your death? I can't do that. Besides, if they all go, do you think you can escape that far and just happen to escape to that cliff edge?"
I was speechless. Yes, emotionally, Zinuo really couldn't do it, and if it were Zinuo, I wouldn't be able to either; logically, I stumbled down the wrong road by mistake, and with countless coincidences, I barely escaped with my life. Now that things have come to this, it seems that saying anything is useless.
However, I stared at Zinuo and said in what I thought was a very serious tone, "Let's not bring this up again, but if we encounter a similar situation in the future, we can't act on emotion. We have to carefully calculate how to minimize the losses and how to save more lives." If my life could be exchanged for many others, would I? Didn't I already make that choice when I jumped from the tree?
Zi Nuo snorted: "From now on, please take care of yourself first, and don't always presumptuously make choices that you think are good for everyone."
I smiled helplessly: "Alright, alright, Zinuo has grown up. From now on, I'll listen to your opinions more often."
Zinuo curled her lip, turned around and left. Did my words sound so insincere?
After a few days of peace, the imperial court issued another proclamation, demanding that Shizhou be captured within five days to boost morale. Everyone knew that the longer the battle dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for the Youjing Dynasty. But could Shizhou be taken so easily? If it were, why wait until today? Let alone Shizhou, which city had been recaptured without paying a heavy price?
Perhaps, with this kind of pressure, they might actually be able to take over Shizhou.
Shen Haoyu and Shen Zexuan spent most of their time at the city garrison, leaving early and returning late every day. Shen Zexuan seemed quite tired, while Shen Haoyu was slightly better, perhaps because he was less worried.
That day, the two of them surprisingly didn't go to the city magistrate's mansion for the meeting. Instead, they suddenly decided to go boating. After all, there was a large, nameless lake right behind the house, so boating wouldn't be too difficult. When they arrived behind the house, they saw a large expanse of green grass, several tall sycamore trees, and a small stone dock by the water. A small boat was tied to a wooden stake, which seemed to have been left by the original owner.
It was still early, and the sun wasn't too strong. Looking up, the vast lake shimmered, with several small boats bobbing on its emerald surface—probably the homes of nearby residents. There were no lotus flowers on the lake, but lush aquatic plants grew on its surface, preventing it from feeling too empty.
The boat was really small; once Shen Zexuan and Shen Haoyu got on, there wasn't much space left. The people on the shore exchanged glances, unsure who should go on. "Huai'en, you come," Shen Haoyu said.
"But I can't row a boat," I said, shaking my head. Although I was also interested in boating, since the wind on the lake was quite strong and it was very cool.
Shen Haoyu's face darkened again: "Are you going to ignore what I say again?"
I quickly forced a smile, not daring to say anything more, and hurried onto the boat. Due to the uneven weight distribution, the boat swayed, and I almost fell into the water. Shen Zexuan caught me with lightning speed, while Shen Haoyu's expression grew even more grim. He picked up a bamboo pole and steered the boat away from the shore, and it seemed to be working quite well.
Looking back at the shore, Zi Nuo, Song Zhixuan, and Lin Zhao all looked a little strange, but mostly worried. Not to mention them, I was also very worried. In this situation, it was hard for anything good to happen.
As the boat drifted further from the shore, Shen Haoyu put down the bamboo pole, sat down, picked up the oar, and began to row in a rather serious manner. Shen Zexuan said leisurely, "I'm really lucky today to have Yu row the boat himself."
Shen Haoyu said with a forced smile, "It's been a long time since I've gone boating with Third Brother. The last time was when we were in the Imperial Garden before Third Brother left the palace, wasn't it?"
Shen Zexuan nodded in agreement and said, "I didn't expect it to have been so long. I really miss it."
"The weather is really nice." Shen Haoyu looked up at the sky.
Listening to the two brothers reminiscing, I really didn't know why Shen Haoyu had called me up here. I didn't need to know how to row a boat, and being here was just interrupting their conversation. I sighed quietly and sat down to the side like a statue.
Along the shore, almost every household had a small dock in their backyard, which was really convenient. As we got closer to the center of the lake, there was a delicate little boat with a canopy. Although it was small, it was still much larger than ours. Faint sounds of a zither drifted over, lingering in the wind, but not very clear.
"It sounds like the 'Riding the Wind' piece," Shen Zexuan said, frowning slightly as he listened intently for a while.