Chapter 5: Old Things (1)

If the assassin really lurked in the mansion, he would probably target weak women. The girl frowned slightly, feeling quite worried.

"Don't even mention me. Look at how frail you are. The first target of bad guys is a girl like you who can't even wear clothes. You must prepare some self-defense weapons."

"The bedroom is up ahead. I'll go rest first." She said goodbye softly as she saw the elegant room appear on the stairs. After entering the room, she closed the door naturally. "I'm afraid I won't be able to leave the house for the next two days. I'll need Ying'er to look after me."

"Don't worry, I may be a bit clumsy, but I'm very righteous!"

She waved goodbye lightly. When the maid heard that the nanny had come to report that the girls were ordered to go to the piano hall to attend classes, she hurried away.

Following the maid's shout, the girls in the mansion entered the school one after another, and the pavilion area became quiet. Chu Qingluo waited leisurely until she reached her bedroom, feeling especially quiet.

There was no one outside the window, and the place she was looking at was empty. She went to the window and looked out at the spring scenery, without even drawing the curtains.

She raised her red lips lightly, and felt a shadow flash behind her. She said indifferently: "Ningzhu, come out. I am temporarily under house arrest. No one will come to my room."

Hearing this, the woman appeared from the darkness, holding her sword across her chest. The moment she saw her, she bowed her head in submission.

Thinking of the tall and strong man in the house in the south of the city who died cleanly and neatly, Ningzhu admired the princess in front of her.

The phoenix eyes stared at the heroic woman, who was sitting leisurely on a stool, her eyes half open and half closed, wanting to hear what she was going to say next.

The master's thoughts were unpredictable. Ning Zhu quickly suppressed her barely perceptible smile and spoke her thoughts without concealing anything. "I'm thinking that Feng Yi, after years of tossing and turning, even after being transferred from the Weilin Army to the Palace Guard, still couldn't escape the princess's clutches."

"I remember all the times he bullied my mother and stabbed her in the stomach with a sword." Chu Qingluo pointed to a jade pot and slowly poured tea into it, her eyes turning a little colder.

"It was such an easy death for him..."

If she hadn't been concerned about someone breaking into the yard, she would have stabbed that person thousands of times, leaving him bloody and disfigured beyond recognition...

As soon as she stopped pouring tea, hatred spread out. The spring flowers were blooming outside the windowsill, but her rosy face was dim and her jade fingers clenched the teacup.

Ning Zhu stood respectfully, then thought of his master's previous instructions. His brows furrowed, and he replied solemnly, "I have sent people to search the back mountains, but they can't find the dagger your master mentioned. I suspect the dagger may have been picked up by the Mr. Qu you mentioned."

The gentleman in this mansion seemed to be keeping out of everything and paying no attention to other people's affairs, but he still took the dagger...

But as a music theory teacher, what use would that item have for him...

Recalling how the master had left the magistrate Li speechless when he came to visit him several hours ago, Chu Qingluo became even more suspicious. She pondered for a few moments and decided to wait and see for a while.

"I understand. Let's put this matter aside for now." She relaxed her brows slightly and said in a deep voice, "How many people have Fu Zhao summoned so far?"

"Since the fall of the country, there are very few people left in Long Dynasty." The tragedy when the city gate was breached has not yet dissipated like clouds and smoke. Ning Zhu answered in a low voice, and the hand holding the sword made a slight sound when it gripped the hilt.

"What has been recovered so far...is less than half."

This road is arduous, as difficult as ascending to heaven. Only by taking risks can there be a glimmer of hope. Chu Qingluo's face was calm, and her eyes seemed to ripple slightly. "You don't have to worry about the affairs of Si Yuefu anymore. Just continue to explore the whereabouts of the others."

"But it is Her Majesty's order to protect the princess. We will protect her until our death."

The delicate beauty in the boudoir should have been pampered and enjoying a life of luxury, but now she has been displaced and has been hiding for many years before finding this place. How can we leave her alone...

After hearing this, Ningzhu suddenly knelt down and spoke solemnly.

She peered through the long window, her gaze settling on the solemn and inviolable Qin Hall. "You are not here to learn Qin. If you remain in and out for extended periods, you will surely be noticed. From now on, you will not set foot in the mansion again without my permission. Exercise caution."

"I obey your orders..." Ning Zhu responded in a conciliatory tone after a long silence. Then, he said firmly, "If we can find more people from Fuzhao, I will help you achieve the great cause of restoring your country."

Restoring the country is easier said than done...

When I silently recited this word in my heart, some of the hatred I felt finally turned into self-mockery.

Chu Qingluo looked quietly at the small and elegant room she was in. It seemed that she could hardly remember what the Gui Palace and Lan Palace looked like in the past...

Fu Zhao was a secret guard secretly trained by her mother during her lifetime. He was always loyal to her. Until the fall of the Long Dynasty, her mother gave him a final order, to take her, the only princess of Long, out of the imperial city and protect her for the rest of her life.

In the end, my mother left nothing behind, only this scattered Fu Zhao.

She unconsciously lowered her eyes and sighed, "The Fuzhao faction was founded by my mother. As the Northern Zhao princess, she came to Long State as a foreign marriage partner. The reason she cultivated the secret guards was to protect her own life..."

"In the end, it was all used on me, but my mother wanted to share life and death with my father. How foolish..."

Leaving her alone in the world, she didn't even know where to start missing him. Chu Qingluo trembled her slender fingers, and the tea in the cup spilled out.

The hatred has never faded over the years, and I dare not forget the national hatred and family feud for a moment.

She dreams of it at midnight, and it haunts her every day. She will make Daning repay her a hundredfold for all the suffering she has endured...

Ning Zhu was silent for a long moment. After a moment, her brows softened and she said soothingly, "Don't worry, my lord. Entering the Music Bureau is the best way to infiltrate the Imperial Palace. My lord has already entered the palace, and entering the palace is just around the corner."

Only if one can enter the palace walls can one get close to the important officials and nobles of the Daning Dynasty, and resolve this hatred step by step.

She continued to gaze at the elegant hall from afar, puzzled, and said, "But... Mr. Qu will only select students with superb qin skills to perform at the palace banquet."

"I heard that the banquet list of the Music Bureau was decided by Mr. Qu alone." After thinking deeply for a while, Ning Zhu hesitated to speak and reminded others with deep meaning.

She pondered calmly, carefully considering the meaning of these words. If Qu Han paid close attention to her, her name would be on the list, which was a sure thing...

If she had intended to seduce him, causing him to secretly fall in love with her and collude with him, it would have been a clear path to revenge...

In addition, she was not fully aware of the internal situation of the Daning Dynasty. With the guidance of an official, she could avoid many detours.

Chu Qingluo pondered for a moment, then replied absentmindedly, "You mean... as long as he agrees, I can be included on the list."

"That's true," but the rumors still lingered in his ears. It was not easy to make Mr. Naqu interested and moved. Ning Zhu paused slightly and said hesitantly, "But I think this move is difficult to implement. The master still needs to consider it..."

Afterwards, she calmly sent Ningzhu away without saying much, and sat alone by the window admiring the scenery, her mind already lost in thought.

After admiring it for an hour or two, she felt bored, so she drank all her tea, picked up her pen and began to copy the words in the book, trying to calm herself.

However, the fire that burned in the palace seemed to take root and spread in a corner of her heart, and could no longer be eradicated. She wrote back and forth absentmindedly several times, staring at the words in the book in a trance.

She copied several times until it was dark and the crescent moon hung on the willow branches. Then she put down her ink pen and lay alone on the couch.

Now that she had some free time, Chu Qingluo carefully looked at the private room she was in. The furnishings were extremely simple, elegant and quiet, like a room full of orchids and lilies.

The white wall is clear and bright, and it is comfortable whether sitting or lying down. I inexplicably think of that person's face that is not stained by the dust of the world.

She is as bright as the moon, and teaches music in the Music Bureau. She is untainted by worldly affairs and deserves the title of exiled immortal... That pure and flawless jade must be tarnished by a person full of resentment like her.

She thought quietly like this and then fell asleep.

In the dream, flames shot up into the sky, the palace was filled with smoke, and the surrounding buildings and walls were burning. Endless arrows shot through the window paper into the walls and beams, and a huge fire raged.

The imperial city of Long State seemed to have been broken.

Outside the palace, faint cries drifted in the air, and the sounds of weapons approached. She stood quietly before her mother, watching her personally tend to her and change her clothes, her sobs and tears streaming down her face, her whole body trembling.

"Ling'er, please leave quickly..." Concubine Zhao wiped the tears of the crying girl in front of her, smiled calmly, and gestured for her to leave quickly, "You don't have to worry about your mother anymore..."

"No, I want to take my mother with me..."

Two lines of clear tears fell uncontrollably like rain, she cried like a pear blossom in the rain, knowing that if she let go, they would be separated by the Yin and Yang and would never see each other again.

"Mother wants to go with your father..." Zhao Fei looked at Ning Zhu who was obeying orders with gentle eyes, and her expression darkened, as if she gave an order silently.

"There are not many people in this world who have seen your appearance, but mother is different. Mother will be a burden to you..."

The gentle expression on her face completely faded. Concubine Zhao looked at her sternly and repeatedly warned her: "Fu Zhao will protect you and help you escape from the palace. Don't look back. Do you understand?"

The sound of footsteps was approaching, and the enemy soldiers had already invaded the harem garden. The palace maids in the garden screamed miserably, and the quiet palace corridors were dyed crimson.

Ning Zhu frowned and pushed open a bright window. A small path appeared before her eyes. "Princess, if you don't leave now, you may not be able to leave!"

Tears were still rolling in her eyes, her eyelids were red, and she bowed solemnly.

"Ling'er is gone, mother... take care."

She listened to her mother's words seriously, without looking back, and followed Bu Ningzhu out the window.

But after she had taken two steps, she heard the Daning general break in. Someone beside her brought her to the window and told her to be silent and to escape quietly.

But the noises in the hall could be heard clearly, and each sound was like a knife cutting her heart. She suddenly widened her eyes and could hardly take a step.

"Who is this lady? She is so beautiful. Why not bring her over and let the brothers have a taste of her..."

A man laughed lewdly, sheathed his sword, as if he had put away his vicious edge, and presented his graceful figure to the soldiers who accompanied him.

The guards who followed him laughed heartily and offered another plan: "I think we can present it to the general. He will like this..."

"You thieves, I will perish with you!"

When Concubine Zhao saw Jing, she suddenly pulled out the dagger hidden in her sleeve, with a fierce look on her face, and stabbed forward suddenly, resisting to the death and trying to take the lives of the soldiers.