Chapter 54 Why so unfamiliar?

Chu Ran woke up at dawn the next day, but he did not close his eyes. He just listened to the sound of rain outside. After a long while, the sound of rain outside became smaller and smaller, and only the sound of dripping water could be heard in his ears. Chu Ran struggled to get up from the bed.

The first thing Chu Ran did after getting up was to open the window.

After the rain, the sky cleared up. The osmanthus tree in the courtyard was washed by last night's rain, and the leaves became fresher and greener. The air was filled with the fresh scent of soil and plants. Chu Ran took a deep breath, and not only did his chest become open, but his mind also became much clearer.

He turned around to wash, put on his clothes, and when everything was ready, Chu Ran walked to the window again.

Um?

The window was actually open.

When did someone start living in the attic opposite? He remembered that when he came in last night, there was no one living there.

Chu Ran stared at the opposite side for a while and saw someone walking back and forth in the room, but he couldn't see the face clearly.

That’s it.

Chu Ran was about to close the window when the person opposite him happened to walk towards the window.

Chu Ran raised his eyes, and his gaze met the other person's.

Chu Ran was stunned for a moment.

I haven't seen him for many years. His tall and handsome figure, sharp facial features, cold face, and increasingly deep and cold eyebrows. For a moment, Chu Ran almost thought he had recognized the wrong person.

Apart from some minor similarities, it was like he had become a completely different person, so different that Chu Ran could hardly recognize him.

Chu Ran stared at each other, nodded calmly at Li Fu, then lowered his head and closed the window.

He walked down the attic and went to Li Dingning's room downstairs. Li Dingning had just woken up, and Chu Ran helped him dress and wash. The master and servant had breakfast together. Then someone knocked on the door and asked them to pack up and get ready to leave.

Chu Ran quickly packed up his things and walked to the door to prepare for the gathering, but he only saw the second prince Li Jinheng and Chu Siqian who had been following him.

Li Dingning asked curiously: "Second brother, where are the others?"

Li Jinheng said, "They left first. My second brother knew you didn't leave, so he waited for you here."

Li Dingning was deeply moved. He said, "My second brother still cares about me. Let's go too."

Chu Ran couldn't help but secretly thought in his heart, this Li Dingning is really stupid, couldn't he see that others were deliberately selling him out?

The young eunuch came over leading two horses, and Li Dingning helped himself to a horse and sat on it. Chu Ran was about to lead his own horse, but when he looked up, he saw someone walking out of the yard with his head lowered and his sleeves rolled up.

Behind him were two men dressed in formal attire. Each of them had a knife on his waist, with straight backs and sharp eyes. If they had not been tempered in the military camp since childhood, they would not have had such demeanor.

Li Dingning stared at the stranger who suddenly appeared in a daze for a while, then cast a questioning look at the second prince Li Jinheng.

Li Jinheng's eyes were also fixed on Li Fu.

"Fourth brother?"

When he went out this morning, Li Jinheng heard that in addition to their group, the Prince of Dingbei, who came from Yunzhou, also stayed here last night.

When Li Jinheng went to his fiefdom, Li Fu was only five or six years old. Now when they meet again, he has become an adult. Even though he has guessed the other party's identity, Li Jinheng dare not be sure.

"What? He is the fourth brother?"

Li Dingning looked at Li Fu in surprise.

Not to mention that his appearance and height have changed drastically compared to before, even his entire demeanor and bearing are completely different from before.

It was Li Jinheng who reacted first. He walked forward with a smile, patted Li Fu on the shoulder and said, "It's been a long time since we last met. I almost didn't recognize you. You look more energetic now, fourth brother."

Li Fu looked at Li Jinheng in silence. After a moment, a cold arc appeared on the corner of his mouth. "Your Highness, you called me the wrong name. My last name is Qin, not Li."

Li Jinheng was stunned for a moment, then he laughed a few times, "This is all for outsiders to see. The blood relationship cannot be erased. In my heart, you have always been my fourth brother."

Li Dingning had also gotten off his horse, but he did not step forward. It was not because he did not want to, but because he did not dare, and he was also a little embarrassed.

It's been so many years since we last met. Li Fu is now tall and strong, looks fierce, and looks like he wants to keep people away. Even when Li Fu was still in the palace, they didn't talk much. They are brothers, but their relationship is only slightly better than that of strangers.

Li Jinheng seemed casual and easy to talk to, but what Li Dingning was thinking was all written on his face, and he couldn't pretend to be so warm.

Chu Ran stood quietly and insignificantly at the end of the crowd, holding a horse rope in his hand. The rope was rough and he pulled it so tight that his palms felt a burning pain.

Li Jinheng was still greeting Li Fu with a smile, but Li Fu's deep gaze passed through the others and fell directly on Chu Ran.

Chu Ran also looked at Li Fu for a while, but in the end he couldn't look at him for a long time. He quickly shifted his gaze away and pretended to stroke the horse's mane.

"Fourth brother is also planning to go to Beijing, right? Since it's on your way, let's go together."

On the way back to Beijing, the two princes and Li Fu walked in front, while Chu Ran and his servants followed behind them.

Chu Ran deliberately walked slower and ended up at the back, but along the way, as long as he raised his head, his eyes would fall on Li Fu in front of him.

Li Fu's shoulders were stronger and broader than before, and his waist was also full of strength and toughness. Chu Ran felt that he could hold Li Fu up with one hand before, but now, if Li Fu punched him, Chu Ran felt that he might die.

He stared at Li Fu's back, and his mind began to wander. Suddenly, Li Fu turned his head, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, he happened to glance at Chu Ran, who was startled and subconsciously sat up straight.

As soon as Chu Ran sat down, Li Fu shifted his gaze back.

Chu Ran frowned, not understanding what he meant by that look just now. But he heaved a sigh of relief, thankful that Li Fu didn't keep his gaze on him for too long.

It was in the afternoon when the group entered the city.

At the city gate, Li Jinheng said goodbye to everyone. He said that Chu Siqian had injured his legs and he wanted to send Chu Siqian home personally.

Li Dingning and Li Fu walked forward for a distance. Originally, Li Jinheng was between them, but Li Dingning didn't feel anything. But now that Li Jinheng was gone, leaving him alone to face Li Fu, Li Dingning felt that every minute and every moment of their journey seemed to have become torment.

He kept thinking, why didn't Li Fu leave yet? Wasn't he supposed to go to the palace to report on his duties tomorrow? He was almost at the palace gate now. Was he going to follow him into the palace?

Finally, when they were still a few hundred meters away from the palace gate, Li Fu, who had hardly spoken all the way, finally spoke.

"Fifth Prince."

“Ah? Ah!”

Li Dingning immediately came to his senses, reined in his horse and turned to look at Li Fu.

Li Fu said: "I want to say a few words to Eunuch Chu."

Li Dingning glanced at Chu Ran and nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, of course."

He coughed dryly, and then shouted to Chu Ran who was several steps away from them: "Hey, Xiao Linzi, I'm going back to the palace first! You...you can come back later!"

Before Chu Ran could figure out what Li Dingning meant by this, Li Dingning had already fled away on his horse in a flash.

Chu Ran:?

What does it mean?

Why did Li Dingning abandon him and run away?

Before Chu Ran could react, he saw Li Fu riding a horse towards him.

Chu Ran stayed where he was, not daring to move.

After Li Fu stopped within half a step of him, Chu Ran called out hesitantly, "Prince."

Li Fu's originally dark gaze on him became even colder.

Chu Ran couldn't help but sweat as he held the rope in his palms.

What's wrong? Did he say something wrong? Why are you looking at him like that?

"Why are you so unfamiliar?"

"Um?"

Chu Ran's expression was blank and confused for a moment.

Did he call him wrong? He used to call him that way. No, he used to call him Fourth Prince, but now he calls him Crown Prince, and there seems to be no difference.

Chu Ran didn't understand what he meant, so he thought about it carefully and asked tentatively: "Then should I call you, Fourth Prince?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Fu's expression became even colder and more silent.

"Why didn't you continue writing letters?"

Chu Ran didn't know why he asked this. Wasn't it because he didn't reply first?

In the first few years, they exchanged letters frequently, but since some time ago, the letters Chu Ran sent to Yunzhou never received a reply.

Chu Ran didn't know whether the letter was never delivered, or whether Li Fu read the letter but didn't want to reply, or simply was too lazy to read his letter. But no matter what the reason was, in the end, Chu Ran never received a reply from Li Fu in the next two or three years.