Одинокий город закрыт

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I lay on the table, preparing to write a reply to the fox, and also to tell him about my latest discovery, being the slowpoke I am. I couldn't write more than two words. Anyway, Night Wind would definitely report everything to him, big or small. That fox, if he had even a modicum of sense, should know my current situation and the state of the six kingdoms without me even saying it. Besides, the fox always has an excess of brain cells; why should I waste my energy and effort? It's just making things difficult for myself.

So I unfolded another sheet of paper and wrote five characters in a flowing style: I'm fine, don't worry! I've practiced calligraphy since I was little, initially learning Yan Zhenqing's regular script, then falling in love with Liu Gongquan's style. For a time, I even practiced Tang Yin's "Falling Flowers Poem," so my handwriting here didn't tarnish the name of "Prime Minister." After finishing, I looked at it and felt something was missing, so I wrote a line in small regular script in the lower left corner: I'll settle the score with you later regarding the Phoenix Orchid Jade Pendant! This line was so small it couldn't be smaller. I was just trying it out as a joke. After all, he's the emperor, and I'm his nominal boss. It seems I have some guts to say such things, but not writing anything wouldn't quell my anger. I didn't have the courage to write it openly, so I decided to do it this way. Anyway, if the fox sees it, it will show how cautious and fearful I was when I said this. If he doesn't see it, so be it. Will he not see it? A line of small black characters on a white sheet of paper, he'll definitely see it, hehe! And also, should I write a reply to the fly as well? Although he has spies around me, it's still different when someone writes a few words in person than when someone else says them! But it seems the fly hasn't written to me, so I have no reply. Oh well, he must be too busy to bother him right now. I'll let him know first when I've accomplished my mission.

I handed the letter to Ye Feng and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Ye Feng, why haven't Yun Hui and the others caught up yet?" That scarred man was already ahead of us guarding the city gate, so why haven't Xiao Bai and the others arrived yet? That shouldn't be the case.

"Reporting to the young master, the city gates were closed early today, and they didn't have time to enter the city, so they stayed outside the city."

"Closing the city gates early?" I suddenly had a bad feeling. The experiences of the past few days had made me much calmer when faced with problems. Coupled with the analysis just now, I had to be more cautious: "Night Wind, go and find out about when the city gates close."

The night wind obeyed and quickly disappeared from my sight. This time I saw it clearly; it flew out of the window. But it was so fast that if I hadn't been watching closely and staring intently, I would have thought it had vanished into thin air.

I lay on the table, staring at the flickering candlelight, lost in thought. The city gates closed early; something must have happened. Could it be because of me? I recalled our "reunion" at the city gate—my changed expression, Ling'er beside me whom he hadn't seen before, my deliberately lowered voice, my strange laugh, and the way he looked at me then—it wasn't hard to tell he hadn't recognized me at all. Had I really let him escape so easily?

No, I suddenly stood up. The scarred man didn't recognize me immediately; it was only because of the situation in the carriage and my face that he was temporarily confused. But I hadn't changed my clothes at all; they were still the same clothes he had seen before—my usual clothes were all white silk robes, even my winter clothes were made of silk, and the auspicious cloud trim on the cuffs and hem was embroidered with silver coins on both sides. Such clothes were probably beyond the reach of ordinary nobles; one glance was enough to leave a deep impression. Although Ling'er's actions of throwing herself into my arms concealed my identity somewhat, anyone paying a little attention would have noticed. Closing the city gates early was probably something the scarred man realized only after he left, and seeing that our carriage was already far away, he made such a decision. He was someone close to the Fourth Prince, and this was the capital; closing the city gates early was just a small matter for him. So what were they going to do after closing the city gates?

I was startled and opened the door, calling out "Ling'er!" She ran from the next room to me in a few steps.

"Ling'er, help me change my face right now, and bring me some of your clothes. You need to disguise yourself too. Destroy the clothes you wore during the day, along with all my clothes." I pulled Ling'er into the room and slammed the door shut. I said urgently, "If you can contact Ye Feng and have him come back immediately, you need to disguise him as well."

Clouds Drunk, Moon Slightly Asleep (Revised Edition) Volume Two: Where Has the Sky Grown and the Waters Been Wide, Yet the Weather Is Not Cold (Part One)

Chapter word count: 3777 Update time: 08-12-21 16:21

The weather is cool but not yet cold (Part 1)

The news that Ye Feng brought back was pretty much what I had guessed before. They had sent people to take my portrait and inquire around. The portrait was exactly what I looked like after my last disguise.

I sneered inwardly. Knowing I'd already disguised myself, didn't you ever consider the possibility of doing it a second or third time? Perhaps you didn't think of it, but rather you simply didn't dare to paint my true appearance—the real face of the Prime Minister of Longyao Kingdom—onto anyone's face and ask around. It seems your hostility towards me, or rather, towards Longyao Kingdom, is only expressed in secret, Fourth Prince. Today's actions are likely just your private maneuvering. Your impatience clearly indicates that King Tianqing is still weighing his options; it seems my chances of success on this trip are quite high.

I gazed at the delicate beauty in the mirror, then at the pretty Ling'er beside me, and was quite satisfied with our appearance. Fourth Prince, you've gone to such lengths just to capture me, haven't you? Now, dressed as a woman, I stand before your people in the most accurate representation of myself, and let's see if they still recognize me!

“Night Breeze, check out of the room first and pay him the full amount for the day. Ling’er and I will wait for you by the carriage. Tonight, we’ll stay at the best inn in Tianzhou.” I gently took Ling’er’s hand and slowly walked towards the carriage, my voice clear and melodious. Ling’er said that I had been taking voice-changing drugs regularly before, but fortunately the dosage was small and the frequency was not high, so apart from my voice becoming a little deeper, it didn’t do much harm to my body. She gave me a pill, and my voice returned to its true form, sounding very much like my voice from the 21st century.

The Yun family gave me medicine, but I didn't notice it at all. Perhaps they added it to my daily food. When did this start? And no one around me has mentioned the change in my voice. Putting aside others, could it be that Cui'er and Hong'er knew all along? I pondered this to myself as I boarded the carriage. We can't stay at this inn any longer. If someone comes to the innkeeper with a wanted poster, our whereabouts will definitely be exposed. I'll have Ye Feng check out first. Once we're out of the inn, I'll have Ling'er change his face. Tonight, we'll stay at the Tianxiang Inn.

The carriage sped through the night streets. The night wind, which drove the carriage, had acquired a kind of honest, wooden face. Ling'er beside me didn't even look at me, fiddling with the bottles and jars again. I twirled the seven-colored glass bracelet on my left wrist with my right hand, and ripples of emotion stirred within me: When did I become able to think so calmly and comprehensively? Clues I had previously overlooked were gradually surfacing. Was it really the environment that forced me to grow up? I couldn't help but smile bitterly. Why did I have to go through this or live a peaceful life? Now, I could only swallow my tears. The key was how to enter the palace and see the Emperor. Should I openly request an audience, or should I first contact one of Fox's secret agents and ask for their help? I felt that neither method was good, especially the latter. I really couldn't trust these so-called secret agents. They were far away, unseen and unheard. How could Fox guarantee their loyalty? I've questioned the stubborn ideas of people in this era before. How can those so-called servants be willing to go through fire and water for your master's every word? What sustains this loyalty? Is it just a contract of servitude? Or an experience of being helped? I don't dare to trust people I haven't met or interacted with, haven't looked into their eyes up close, and haven't felt their hearts with my own.

That night I checked into the Tianxiang Inn, which I heard was the best inn in Tianzhou. Although there were people checking my documents, I was unsurprisingly easily dismissed. By the way, this place is quite strange. Not only are the languages and writing systems interchangeable among the six kingdoms, but I also heard that the silver notes from the Silver Moon Bank that I was carrying were accepted in all six kingdoms. This surprised me greatly. I didn't expect that in this backward place, banks had already achieved universal deposit and withdrawal. It seems that not all banks can offer universal deposit and withdrawal, but the Silver Moon Bank's business is so large and successful, with countless branches in all six kingdoms, that's why it enjoys this privilege, making it a veritable leader in the financial industry.

The next morning, after waiting in the room for some time without any news of Xiaobai and the others, I took Ling'er and Yefeng and decided to go out for a walk. Yefeng hadn't read the letter Fox gave me, and judging from his expression, he probably didn't know that Fox wanted me to abandon the Yun family. So why hadn't Xiaobai and the other two come looking for me yet? That shouldn't be the case. Could it be that I'm disguised and they don't recognize me? But shouldn't there be guards with them? Even if the guards don't recognize me, they should at least recognize Yefeng, right? Wait, it seems Yefeng is disguised too!

"Xiao Ye, why haven't those three people from my family found me yet? Are the secret guards with them? Are you sure they can still find us after we've become like this?" I turned to look at Ye Feng, then pointed to my face, utterly confused.

Just as Ye Feng was about to say something, my gaze swept past him and I caught sight of Yun Hui, who was missing an arm, and Yun Bai, who had short hair, walking away in the opposite direction with their backs to me.

Oh dear, you really can't think about people during the day. Look, speak of the devil and he appears.

"Xiaobai, Xiaobai, Yunhui..." I called out to them, waving as I ran towards them. Damn it, when they heard me call, they just stopped and didn't turn around or run after me. Hmph, are they angry because I abandoned them and ran away alone yesterday? So petty!

"Watch out!" Ye Feng shouted, and his body flew towards me like an arrow.

But it was too late. Before I could even figure out what was happening, I saw a flash of silver light. I looked down and saw a short knife stuck in my chest. Following the hand that had come off the hilt, I slowly looked up and breathed a sigh of relief. A smile appeared on my lips as I muttered to myself, "Thank goodness, you're not Yunhui!"

I stared in astonishment at the man with the missing arm, then noticed the long scar on the left cheek of the person who had appeared not far behind him. I closed my eyes and slowly fell backward. Fox, and Qinglin, I never imagined that our parting at Qianzui Residence would be our last. You must, you must live well in this world with the Dragon Yao Kingdom!

My body felt as if it were floating? Was my soul leaving my body? I slowly opened my eyes, taking one last look at this strange world that seemed so distant and unattainable. Was it an illusion? Or had I already arrived in heaven? I smiled, tears welling up in my eyes: "Immortal, you've finally come to take me home!"

I reached out to touch the face of the person in front of me, but my hand fell limply halfway up before my vision went black and I lost consciousness.

Exhausted by the alternating images of my parents and the fox and fly in my mind, I struggled to open my eyes and found myself in a world as white as snow. Heaven? Yes, I was dead, stabbed to death by the man whose back looked like Yunhui. Thank goodness he wasn't Yunhui, or how could I rest in peace? I was too careless after all, and I finally paid the heaviest price for my recklessness. My once-proud cleverness had ultimately lost to those ancient people. I was unwilling to accept it; I hadn't finished what I promised the fox, I hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye. When I was ready to go home, I didn't have the chance; now, when I had something to hold me back, I was suddenly taken from this world, just as suddenly as I arrived. Was it a dream? Or was fate playing another cruel joke on me?

"You're awake?" A clear, slightly deep voice interrupted my thoughts.

I turned my head and saw a pair of clear, serene eyes, like black gemstones. The smile in those eyes shimmered like ripples on a black gemstone. He was dressed in pristine white, his long, ink-black hair casually draped over his shoulders—pure, ethereal, and otherworldly. Such a person should only exist in heaven. I looked down at myself again; I was still wearing the same clothes, but the knife in my chest had vanished without a trace. Truly a celestial being, not even a drop of blood remained on my clothes. I struggled to my feet, seemingly without difficulty. Perhaps in heaven, all worldly cares would be erased, leaving only my most complete and authentic self. I smiled sweetly at him: "It seems my life as a human was ultimately one of great virtue. I always thought I would go to hell after I died!"

"Why would you go to hell?" He sat on the edge of the bed, looking at me with a smile as warm and bright as the sunshine in March.

"Because I used to swat mosquitoes without hesitation whenever they flew past me. I'm afraid that such killing would create too much karma, and I might not be able to be reborn as a human in my next life, maybe even as a mosquito, haha." I chuckled to myself, then tilted my head and asked, "Why didn't the immortals just send me home? Last time, it must have been one of your colleagues' mistakes that made me wake up in another dimension?"

"Where do you live?" He still looked at me with a smile, his eyes crinkling into crescents.

"Huh? There are things the immortal doesn't know?" I asked him, puzzled.

“There’s nothing an immortal wouldn’t know, but I’m not an immortal.” His smile finally spread, and if he was just a budding flower, he was now a fully blooming flower.

"Huh?" He's not an immortal? From the first moment I saw him, I thought he was an immortal. And it was precisely because he was an immortal that I treated such a stunningly handsome man with a normal attitude. After all, immortals should be ethereal and incomparably handsome, and they wouldn't tolerate any impure thoughts from mortals. But he said he's not an immortal? I scrambled out of bed and nimbly ran to check every corner of the room. Then I ran to the windows and doors to get a general look at the surroundings. Yes, this is the legendary paradise in my heart! I ran back to the bed I had been lying on when I woke up and asked again, still puzzled, "This is clearly a fairyland, there's no mistake."

"It's a fairyland, but it's a fairyland on earth." He watched me run around, and then watched me climb back onto the bed and sit up again, his smile never changing.

Huh? I really can't process this. It's clearly a fairyland, so why has it become a paradise on earth? Uh, I admit I can be a bit stubborn sometimes, especially when I've already made up my mind about something. If external forces suddenly contradict that, I can't quite grasp the situation. At times like this, I have to slowly come to my own understanding. If external forces forcefully intervene, I'm afraid I'll develop a resistant mentality and become even more stubborn. Like last time, I assumed the fox and the fly were lovers, which led me to misunderstand some of their strange behaviors, making them a laughingstock, and failing to nip their budding romance in the bud. In the end, because I was completely unprepared, the fox took advantage of me. 5555, did I make a mistake again this time? What did I just say?

"You? Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly, though I already had the answer in my heart.

"I'm sure." His eyes sparkled with laughter, like little stars—no, long stars.

"Where is this place? And who are you? Why did you kidnap me here?" I jumped out of bed with a "whoosh," quickly ripped off the white gauze curtain covering my head, pointed at the fake immortal, and asked tremblingly.

I'm so confused. What time is it? I'm such a busy person. So many people are looking for me, so many people are worried and sad because they can't find me, and so many people are hoping that I'll come back to do something important. How could he do this to me in this situation?

Clouds Drunk, Moon Slightly Asleep (Revised Edition) Volume Two: Where Has the Sky Grown and the Waters Been Wide, Yet the Weather Is Not Cold (Part Two)

Chapter word count: 4322 Update time: 08-12-21 16:21

The weather is cool but not yet cold (Part 2)