Chapter 50 Imperial Edict

In the afternoon, Chu Ran took a leave of absence in advance. While waiting, he first checked the packages he had packed, and then looked to see if there was anything else he had forgotten to bring.

He watched helplessly as the sun moved from the east to the west, from a brilliant golden light casting its rays on the earth to an orange sunset hanging on the horizon.

The sun is about to set.

It's time to set off.

Chu Ran put the bag on his shoulder, stood up, and walked out the door facing the setting sun.

He ran all the way to the palace gate. Li Fu conveyed the message that the palace gate had been secured inside and outside, and Chu Ran only needed to take out his badge and the palace guards would release him.

Chu Ran reached into his sleeve and handed the badge he had prepared long ago to the guard at the palace gate.

The guard took it, took a look at it, and was about to let Chu Ran go.

Chu Ran looked at the wide-open palace gate, his heart beating uncontrollably. Faintly, he saw a carriage parked in the distance, standing quietly in the gorgeous afterglow of the sunset, and with his nose, he seemed to be able to smell the breath of freedom and vastness between heaven and earth.

Chu Ran subconsciously took a step forward, and that step seemed to have already stepped out of the palace gate.

"Wait a minute!"

Suddenly, a shout came from behind, and the man shouted again, "Eunuch Chu! Wait a minute!"

Chu Ran turned around and looked at the people rushing over from afar. The person leading the group was wearing a blue eunuch's uniform. It was the eunuch Xiao Yingzi who served him in Qiluan Palace.

Xiao Yingzi jogged all the way, quickly and slowly, and finally came to Chu Ran. He first supported his knees, panting and slowed down for a while.

Chu Ran lowered his eyes and stared at the imperial edict in Xiao Yingzi's hand.

A bad premonition suddenly came to Chu Ran's mind.

After Xiao Yingzi recovered, she stood up and opened the imperial edict. She was originally going to read it to Chu Ran, but in the end she gritted her teeth and stuffed the edict into Chu Ran's arms.

"Well, take a look for yourself."

Chu Ran took the imperial edict in a daze. He ignored what was written at the beginning of the edict, but the last sentence of the edict seemed to be magnified countless times and was deeply imprinted in Chu Ran's eyes.

The imperial edict read: Eunuch Chu Qinglin must not leave the palace for the rest of his life unless he dies.

It was as if a huge mountain was pressing down on Chu Ran's head, making him unable to lift his head. After a long time, he finally turned his eyes away from the imperial edict with a heavy head. His hands holding the imperial edict trembled uncontrollably, and when he opened his mouth, he found that his lips and voice were also trembling.

"Is this an imperial decree issued personally by the Emperor?"

He felt like he was having a nightmare, his mind was so confused that he couldn't come back to his senses. Is this fake? Is this not true? The emperor had barely seen him and couldn't even pronounce his name, so how could he issue such an imperial decree?

Xiao Yingzi nodded, her expression indescribable.

"The eunuch who serves the emperor just came to issue the decree in person. After reading it, I hurried to look for you."

He didn't know why the emperor issued such an order, and he didn't ask Xiao Yingzi.

How could Xiao Yingzi know something that he himself didn't know?

The matter has been settled, and even if we find out the whole story now, it cannot change the final outcome.

Chu Ran turned around and looked at the carriage outside the palace gate.

Li Fu got off the carriage. He seemed to have a premonition of something. He looked at Chu Ran from a distance for a while and wanted to move forward, but was stopped by the guards beside him.

From a long distance, Li Fu just stared at him.

After a while, Li Fu moved his legs and wanted to continue moving forward.

The corners of Chu Ran's lips turned downwards, revealing an expression that looked like he was both smiling and crying.

Then Li Fu stopped moving. A moment of blankness suddenly appeared in his cold and deep eyes.

Chu Ran turned his back, and the heavy vermilion palace door slowly closed behind him, until there was a heavy muffled sound, and the palace door closed gently in front of Li Fu's eyes.

Although Xiao Yingzi didn't understand what was going on, she knew that Chu Ran was planning to leave the palace when she saw him carrying such a heavy bag.

Xiao Yingzi sighed, patted Chu Ran's arm to comfort him, then turned around and left.

As soon as Xiao Yingzi's figure disappeared at the end of the palace corridor, Chu Ran could no longer hold back the expression he had managed to maintain, and tears seemed to burst out in the blink of an eye.

But the tears finally rolled around in his eye sockets. Chu Ran raised his arms, wiped his eyes vigorously, took a deep breath, suppressed the tears, turned around, took two steps at a time, and ran up the palace wall.

Li Fu was still standing there, not leaving.

But they were too far away, and the sky was gradually darkening. Chu Ran couldn't see Li Fu's expression clearly. He could only see a small figure, standing alone and quietly at the junction of day and night.

Chu Ran held the white marble railing in front of him with both hands, took a deep breath again, and shouted in the direction of Li Fu: "On the way to Yunzhou, be careful! Be very careful! Someone wants to hurt you! Do you hear me! Fourth Prince! Fourth Prince! Li Fu! You must be careful! I wish you a safe journey!"

After yelling at the top of his lungs, a breath of cold air choked his throat. Chu Ran covered his chest and coughed several times.

He didn't know whether Li Fu heard him or not. Chu Ran was very anxious. When he wanted to shout again, the empty wind brought Li Fu's hoarse and distorted voice.

"good--"

Chu Ran breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense expression relaxed.

He waved at Li Fu and smiled at him, even though Li Fu could not see the expression on his face at this time.

But he was also genuinely happy for Li Fu.

He thought that Li Fu had finally escaped from this cage and he could be completely free like an eagle soaring over the grassland.

After shouting, Li Fu was still standing there and did not leave. Chu Ran stared at Li Fu's figure which became increasingly obscure and unclear. When he came to his senses, Chu Ran found that his face was already covered with tears.

He didn't want anyone to see him like this, especially Li Fu.

Chu Ran turned around, leaned against the palace wall and slowly sat down. His surging emotions were like the rising tide of the sea, which swallowed him up completely in a moment. He was swept away by the waves and sank into the sea, in pain, suffocating, and crying so hard that he couldn't breathe.

In just one day, Chu Ran completely switched between being full of hope and completely despair. He experienced these two extreme emotions to the extreme.

Hope is always good, but if there is no hope, he might still be able to live in a daze, but after seeing hope, he saw it completely shattered in front of him like a bubble. For a moment, he didn't know whether he was sad about the shattering of hope, or even sadder, because he might not be able to see Li Fu again for many, many years.

The sun fell behind the cliff, and above the dark sky hung a cold half moon.

Chu Ran's face was full of tears, and the cold wind made his face stiff.

He rubbed his face vigorously with his palms until it turned red, and then he struggled to get up from the ground.