Chapter 66 066 What right does Duan Lansheng have to control her in this lifetime...?
Lu Yuanyuan snapped out of her daze and looked up at the well opening above, where a figure moved in the thin mist. She clenched her fingers, pinched the strange snake slough in her hand, and after thinking for a moment, put it into her storage ring.
She could have easily ignored it. There were countless secrets hidden within the palace. This unexpected discovery had absolutely nothing to do with her mission. However, a nagging feeling lingered, preventing her from pretending she hadn't seen anything.
Lu Yuanyuan put away her storage ring, untied her outer robe, tucked the cat into the robe, and nimbly climbed up the well wall. With a few light pushes, she climbed out of the dry well.
As soon as she popped her head out, a pair of large hands grabbed her arm. Yue Hong pulled her up to the top of the well.
Today, Yue Hong wore a white brocade robe with a gold belt, his head bound with a jade crown, and the robe was embroidered with butterfly wing patterns. However, even with such a refined appearance, he could still be easily distinguished from the noble sons in the royal city who were indulging in pleasure with beautiful women. The battlefield had tempered his frivolity, and the sharp edge he once displayed had been concealed, replaced by a more mature and ruthless aura.
“This kitten is stuck in the well and can’t get out. I’ll go down and get it.” Lu Yuanyuan took the kitten out of her clothes, her gaze passing over Yue Hong’s shoulder. She saw the two palace maids kneeling outside, trembling and pale as paper. She immediately understood that the two were frightened by Yue Hong’s sudden appearance and his murderous aura.
Lu Yuanyuan was both amused and exasperated. She pinched a furry cat paw, scratched Yue Hong's sleeve, and said, "It's okay, it's okay. I wanted to help myself. Let them go."
Yue Hong chuckled and waved his hand. The two palace maids, as if granted a pardon, one stepped forward and took the cat, while the other returned Consort Xie's cloak to Lu Yuanyuan. Lu Yuanyuan's hands were covered in mud and grime from climbing the well. Seeing this, Yue Hong reached out and took the cloak. The two palace maids seemed even more frightened, timidly bowed, and ran away.
Once the surroundings quieted down, Lu Yuanyuan turned her head to look at Yue Hong and teased, "How did you know I was down in the well?"
"I was just passing by and recognized my mother's clothes." Yue Hong folded the cloak and hung it on his arm, then snorted coldly, "Next time something like this happens, you don't need to go down the well yourself. Just send someone else down. This isn't the first time Ninth Princess's cat has run off like this."
"It's nothing, just helping out." Lu Yuanyuan asked casually, "By the way, this palace looks like it's been abandoned for a long time. Who lived here before?"
Yue Hong looked at the outline of the eaves hidden under the dark sky: "This is the former residence of my aunt, Princess Manjushri."
Lu Yuanyuan was stunned.
What a coincidence! The princess who was born in Xiangcheng, whose temples are located in various places and who is worshipped by many people, was given the title Manjushri.
Because the feng shui of that princess temple was quite peculiar—the temple itself was designed according to the shape of an exorcising magic array, but the princess statue in the very center was carved from poplar wood, a material believed to attract evil—Lu Yuanyuan had a deep impression of this princess. It turned out that this "cold palace" was actually her residence within the imperial palace.
The eerie snake slough at the bottom of the well, like a small hook, tickled her nerves. Lu Yuanyuan nodded calmly and said, "I've heard of it. You were very young when Princess Manjushri passed away, weren't you?"
Yue Hong didn't hide anything, shook his head and said, "Although she is my aunt, we are actually not that far apart in age. I am only four years younger than my aunt."
Having finally finished her introduction, Lu Yuanyuan got to the point: "So, what other impressions do you have of the princess? Have you ever seen her keep snakes, or anything like that?"
Calling it snake breeding is an understatement; this thing isn't a snake's molt at all, it must be something left behind by a demon.
Yue Hong seemed somewhat surprised: "Raising snakes?"
Lu Yuanyuan had already prepared her explanation and said calmly, "Yes, before in Xiangcheng, I saw some people making vows at the Princess Temple. They said that they had been bitten by a snake and had been suffering from a chronic illness. Since they visited the Princess Temple, their health has improved a lot. At that time, I wondered if the princess might have kept snakes when she was alive?"
“As far as I remember, my aunt was not in good health and rarely appeared in public. She rarely even attended palace banquets and never kept any pets.” Yue Hong paused, then suddenly smiled. The light was dim, but he was still very handsome. “But you can’t be sure. I didn’t see my aunt much when I was a child.”
That's right. If we do a rough calculation, when Princess Manjushri died, Yue Hong was just an eleven or twelve-year-old kid. How could he remember so many other people's stories?
More importantly, there is no evidence to prove that these snake skins were left over from Princess Manjushri's time. Perhaps they were secretly thrown into the well after this place became a cold palace?
No, that logic doesn't seem to hold water either.
If you don't want people to discover these strange snake skins, then burning them to ashes or digging a hole in the mountains to bury them would be safer than just throwing them into a well.
If this thing is related to a princess, how could a princess who rarely leaves her home come into contact with such things?
But it's not impossible. Because the design of that princess temple contains many hidden secrets.
Lu Yuanyuan felt like she had gotten herself into trouble and was now in a mess.
However, Yue Hong seemed unaware of the situation. It would be strange to continue focusing on the topic of snake keeping, so she smoothly changed the subject: "Oh, I see. It's a pity she can't go out every day; isn't her life very boring?"
Yue Hong hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding: "Yes, although my grandfather dotes on my aunt, often sending people to the palace to perform and entertain her, and presenting her with rare treasures gathered from all over the country, however..."
When it came to elders, he didn't finish his sentence, but he implied that he agreed with her view.
Lu Yuanyuan said, "Princess, your health is not good. Have you ever been in contact with cultivators before? Perhaps you can find a way to help her."
She asked this in an attempt to subtly inquire whether Yin Xiaozhu might have ever been to Yong Kingdom. However, Yue Hong still shook his head: "I don't know either, but after my aunt passed away, a long period of Buddhist rituals were performed."
Unable to get any more information, Lu Yuanyuan had no choice but to stop the conversation, saying, "Alright, let's not linger here any longer, let's go. It's getting cold after dark, I'm going to get a cloak for Consort Xie, she must have been waiting for a while, I'll go and give it to her now."
Yue Hong immediately said, "Let's go together. I was originally planning to go and pick up my mother as well."
Just then, Lu Yuanyuan suddenly felt a strange, loose sound coming from under her feet. After coming up, she had been standing on a flat brick next to the well, but unexpectedly, due to years of disrepair, it couldn't even support her weight. With a sudden jolt, the brick, along with dust, crashed to the bottom of the well.
In a flash, Yue Hong grabbed her and pulled her towards him. The force was too great; Lu Yuanyuan didn't fall into the dry well, but instead slammed into him. They both landed hard together.
No, to be precise, only Yue Hong fell hard. Because Consort Xie's cloak covered his head and face, serving as a human cushion for Lu Yuanyuan.
Lu Yuanyuan clearly heard a muffled groan coming from under the cloak. Her heart skipped a beat, worried that she might have pressed on his newly healed wound, and she quickly scrambled to her feet. However, in her haste to get up, she used her experience to pinpoint the location and pressed down, only to find that she hadn't pressed on the hard, cold stone floor she expected. At the same time, Yue Hong suddenly gasped.
Lu Yuanyuan: "..."
Oh no. She seemed to know where she had pressed down. Worse still, at that moment, a subtle change occurred.
Seriously? You're pressing so hard, doesn't it hurt? How can it...?
Lu Yuanyuan froze for three seconds, then quickly withdrew her hand and got up. Almost instantly, Yue Hong ripped off the cloak covering his head and face. His face was flushed, his eyes shimmering with a drunken glint, and he bent his legs in an attempt to cover up his embarrassment.
Of the thirty-six stratagems, feigning ignorance is the best. Lu Yuanyuan coughed, pretending nothing had happened: "Luckily, our clothes aren't dirty. Let's go."
"You..." Yue Hong blushed, her lips trembling, an unspeakable embarrassment swirling in her voice. It was unclear whether she genuinely hadn't noticed or was pretending nothing had happened. Only after Lu Yuanyuan turned around did she quickly bend over, covering herself as she stood up.
Fortunately, after enjoying the cool breeze in the deserted garden and arriving at the warm pavilion, all the strange occurrences had disappeared.
Lu Yuanyuan walked under the lamp and, through the curtain, suddenly heard voices coming from inside, and there was more than one person.
Lu Yuanyuan was taken aback, quickly lifted the curtain and went inside, only to find that Qi Chang and Duan Lansheng were both there, talking about something. Seeing her enter, they all looked at her simultaneously. Duan Lansheng's expression softened, and he greeted her, saying, "You're back."
Huang Ying, standing to the side, witnessed the entire change in his expression: "..."
"Why are you here?"
Duan Lansheng said, "The deployment of defenses is complete. We heard you were here, so we came to find you."
With a soft tinkling sound, the curtain behind her was lifted again, and Yue Hong slipped in. Upon realizing that she had been with Yue Hong the whole time, Duan Lansheng stopped speaking, his face darkening.
Seeing everyone's stunned expression, Lu Yuanyuan quickly explained, "Your Highness, my hands got dirty on the road. They were covered in dust, but thankfully my cloak wasn't dirty. And then I happened to see His Highness the Third Prince."
Upon hearing this, Duan Lansheng grabbed her wrist in front of everyone, opened his palm to examine it, and asked in a low voice, "How did you get this? There's so much black ash."
Lu Yuanyuan didn't want anyone to know the secret in the well for the time being, so she said, "It got dusty on the wall, I'll wash it off later."
Upon seeing this scene, Yue Hong frowned slightly, paused for a moment, and looked rather unpleasant. However, he said nothing and walked to Consort Xie first, unfolded the cloak he was holding, and draped it over his mother's shoulders.
Cui'er knelt down to help Consort Xie adjust the tassels on her cloak. Her gaze inadvertently swept over the tassels, and her hand trembled, letting out an involuntary exclamation: "Your Highness, what happened here..."
Upon hearing this, everyone turned their gaze away from Lu Yuanyuan's dusty hands and followed Cui'er's line of sight to Yue Hong's crotch.
Yue Hong's robe was pure white, which looked fine in the dark, but under the light, even the slightest stain was very noticeable.
At that moment, a dark, dusty handprint was clearly imprinted in the center, its position subtle yet its shape distinct.
Yue Hong: "..."
Everyone: "..."
As if by unspoken agreement, after a moment of deathly silence, everyone's gaze once again turned to Lu Yuanyuan's hand.
Lu Yuanyuan: "..."
Under everyone's gaze, she was speechless and wanted to disappear into a hole in the ground. Just then, she suddenly felt her wrist being squeezed tightly.
Duan Lansheng stared at the black palm print, then suddenly turned to her. His dark blue eyes seemed to be burning with fire, and whether it was an illusion or not, she could see some unbelievable anger and grievance in them.
Suddenly, Duan Lansheng released her wrist, his face dark, and turned to leave through gritted teeth.
.
The infiltration operation around Consort Xie proceeded smoothly from the second day onwards.
After attending the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet, Consort Xie stayed in her palace, reading, writing, and painting, without going out. As her personal maid, Lu Yuanyuan also stayed at home, hardly having any contact with the other Shushan disciples who served as her guards outside.
She only saw Duan Lansheng once when they were exchanging things through the door. Their eyes met briefly, and he didn't say a word, just stared at her.
For a moment, Lu Yuanyuan felt as if the other person was waiting for her to speak. But she didn't say anything, finished explaining, and closed the door. Recalling the guy's expression at the end of that day, she felt a strange amusement, and a touch of irony.
He's probably angry, but what's he angry about?
It couldn't possibly be jealousy. In her past life, she had actually seen Duan Lansheng with this expression before, after she had married him by accident.
At that time, she mistakenly thought that Duan Lansheng had fallen in love with her. But as it turned out, Duan Lansheng's apparent concern stemmed only from his obsessive-compulsive disorder and strong sense of boundaries. Even if she wasn't the wife he wanted to marry, he would instinctively place her within the boundary of "his own possessions."
Just like a vase in his room, just because he doesn't like it doesn't mean he welcomes others to covet it, because it's already his.
This is likely related to the instinct of wild animals to mark their territory; they have a particularly strong sense of territory.
In her past life, she was quite pleased with herself for it. But in this life, she won't fall into the same trap again.
Moreover, in this life, Duan Lansheng and she didn't even have that forced marriage relationship; they were just friends.
His reaction was probably for a similar reason to his previous life—because his own moral standards were too high, he couldn't tolerate any impropriety, so he especially disapproved of his friends' inappropriate behavior.
It's not that this is inexplicable. But it always reminds her of her extremely embarrassing self-delusion in her past life, which isn't exactly pleasant, so she's not particularly keen on explaining it.
Moreover, on second thought, what right does Duan Lansheng have to meddle in her private affairs?
Wouldn't it be even more satisfying to make Duan Lansheng unhappy?
Lu Yuanyuan chuckled and from then on, she ate her meals as usual and lived her life as usual, deliberately ignoring Duan Lansheng's reactions.
Of course, Consort Xie couldn't stay cooped up in the palace forever. A few days later, news of a great victory over the Yan army arrived from the border, and the emperor was overjoyed. To ease the recent tense atmosphere, he decided to hold a polo match in the palace.
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