Chapter 23
The round-faced woman brushed the ash from the cellar door before looking up at Gu Luoyan. There were stars in her eyes. "Miss, I've explored the secret passage. Everything remains the same."
Another woman stood beside her, her face expressionless. She said, "Master Guan is already waiting in the secret passage. Please come in, young lady."
Gu Luoyan looked at the two people in front of her. An unknown light flickered in her eyes. She nodded without saying anything and walked into the cellar.
Qiu Niang walked up behind Yu Gu Luoyan. She looked at the two of them, scanning them from left to right, and whispered, "Did anyone notice you when you came here?"
The round-faced woman smiled and said, "Don't worry, Auntie. Everyone in the Red Pavilion is heading towards the front hall right now, so he won't be able to see anything."
The cold-faced woman beside him also spoke up, "And we were very careful when we came here. Chuntao was in front, and I was behind. We carefully explored the entire route and didn't find anyone else."
"Okay," Qiu Niang nodded, and followed him up the wooden ladder to the cellar.
"Xue Yi, you go first, I will seal this place." The round-faced woman looked around, her hands moving non-stop, quickly cleaning up the grass ash on the ground.
"Hurry up and catch up, hurry up..." Xue Yi hesitated, looking at Chun Tao and finally said nothing. After giving her instructions, she went down to the cellar.
Chuntao wiped off the ashes and crouched on the ground, repeatedly checking the cracks in the cellar door for any stones stuck in them. The wind blew, illuminating the fire burning in the peach tree in the yard even brighter.
Chuntao propped herself up and looked back at Huoshu.
The blazing flames carried residual warmth, sparks scattered everywhere, and in a trance, it seemed as if I could see a person through the light of the flames.
——
When Yan Nanzhi left, Chuntao was only seven years old, about the same age as Gu Luoyan.
Chuntao's parents were poor and sold her to the Hong Kong Coliseum as a slave for a few bowls of rice.
Fortunately, the person Chuntao met was Yan Nanji.
Seeing that she was too young, the man was reluctant to let her do any heavy work. As a child, Chuntao's daily tasks were just flower arranging and grass cutting. But what did a child know? When it came to flower arranging and grass cutting, it was just a mess. When Yan Nanzhi called her for dinner, she would run back from the yard. Day after day, Chuntao actually felt that staying at the Hong Kong Coliseum was better than being with her parents.
Yan Nanzhi passed away one night.
Before leaving, Chuntao still remembered that Yan Nanzhi came to her room and hugged her.
Yan Nanzhi smelled very good and her hands were very soft. Chuntao liked to rub against her and she liked Yan Nanzhi very much.
Later, Chuntao fell asleep again in a daze.
Later, Chuntao was awakened by the sound of abuse.
The adults spread the news that Yan Nanzhi was trying to escape and that she was lowly.
Then someone said that Yan Nanzhi was dead.
When the South Courtyard was being investigated, many men with ferocious looks showed up, and Chuntao was so frightened that she kept crying.
Some old woman, who was extremely annoyed, slapped her in the face, and she finally calmed down.
Afterwards, Chuntao was sent to work for other concubines. Everyone looked down on her because of her status as a member of the Southern Courtyard, and she was forced to do the dirtiest and most tiring work. Chuntao spent ten years like this.
Later, Chun Tao was nearly beaten to death for stealing two rice cakes from Ji Zi's private kitchen. It was Gu Luo Yan who saved her.
Chuntao had seen Gu Luoyan as a child, peeking from behind the porch. She and the cat ran freely in the south courtyard, and she was raised in the care of the owner, a precious treasure that Chuntao envied.
When I saw Gu Luoyan again, she no longer had the smile she had when she was a child.
Red spider lilies were embroidered on Gu Ji's skirt, and golden threads woven into golden butterflies. Chun Tao knelt at Gu Luoyan's feet, and all she could see was the hem of her skirt.
Gu Luoyan took out a gem to redeem Chuntao. After she brought Chuntao back to her courtyard, she said to her:
"I remember you, when we were in the South Courtyard."
"You always seem afraid of me and don't like to play with us."
The next moment, she burst into tears, and all the depression that had lasted for ten years seemed to be dissipated in Chuntao's crying.
She missed Nanyuan, and even more so Yan Nanzhi. Now she finally saw the shadow of Yan Nanji in Gu Luoyan.
Gu Luoyan smiled and hugged her, patting Chuntao's back.
Gu Luoyan's voice was very soft, but for a moment Chuntao felt like an old friend had returned. She said to her:
"Go now! I have redeemed you. Leave the Hong Kong Coliseum and live freely from now on."
Chun Tao couldn't stop crying. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't help but ask Gu Luoyan at that time: "What about you?"
Gu Luoyan looked at her and gave a wry smile: "I can't leave. I want to take my sister's place and completely break through the walls of this red pavilion."
Chuntao remembered that day for a long time. So long that even now, when she sees the flames burning the peach tree, she still remembers it.
Chuntao didn't leave, she stayed.
Become a servant beside Gu Luoyan. A deadpool.
When Aunt Qiu came to give Chuntao the sachets, she also gave one to her. Aunt Qiu said, "The road ahead may be a dead end. The girl wants you to leave and not die."
Chuntao refused.
She ate a meat bun and then a vegetable bun, then smiled and said to Aunt Qiu: "If there is really a dead end ahead, let me go with you."
"My life was given by Yan Nanzhi and the young lady. If I really die, I will just consider it as paying it back to them."
Suqiu looked at her, her hands twisted together, but she said nothing in the end.
Finally, he answered, "Yes, our lives were given by Yan Nanzhi and the girl. If I die for them, I will have no regrets in this life."
——
There seemed to be a commotion outside the yard. Chuntao no longer hesitated. She jumped into the cellar and pulled up a thick rope.
Soon the mechanism above was triggered, and a huge rock rolled down. Chuntao dodged into the secret passage. The huge rock and sand completely buried the entrance to the cellar.
·
The secret passage was pitch black.
Only Xue Yi lit an oil lamp.
Xue Yi led the way, Gu Luoyan and Qiu Niang walked in the middle, and finally Chun Tao walked at the back.
This secret passage was crudely built. The walls were unpaved, cold and damp. Mud was everywhere; it was truly a shoddy affair.
But everything in this secret passage was the result of Gu Luoyan's ten years.
Ten years, ten years. Gu Luoyan has been famous in Mingjing for ten years.
It took Gu Luoyan ten years to transform from a dancer who could make a stunning dance into a place of her own in the restrictive Hong Kong Coliseum.
The Hong Kong Coliseum is full of brothel owners' spies, and although Gu Luoyan is the ringleader, she is just a caged bird.
But she refused to believe in fate, especially after Yan Nanji's death.
She spent ten years digging, shovel by shovel, to create a secret passage that led to the north and south of the Hong Kong Coliseum.
Only Gu Luoyan knew how difficult it was, how to avoid the museum owner, how to start construction, and how to transport materials.
This secret passage was the product of ten years of Gu Luoyan's hard work. He had been waiting for this day, a place to hide when he fell out with the madam.
The secret passage connects the north and the south, and there are dozens of exits scattered throughout the Red Pavilion, which can make Gu Luoyan and his party like ghosts in the confrontation with the Red Pavilion.
Xue Yi held the lamp and walked in front. She was undoubtedly the person who was most familiar with this secret route.
Five years, Xue Yi lived here for five years.
There were even several branch roads that were dug by Xue Yi on behalf of Gu Luoyan.
·
Xue Yi was once Xue Ji, the top performer at the Hong Kong Coliseum. She was considered one of the two best performers along with the Thousand-Year-Old Imperial Concubine in the palace.
The first is "The Concubine's Laughing Palace", the second is "Snow in the Red Chamber". At that time, there were two stunning beauties in the capital of Ming Dynasty, one was the exclusive property of the emperor, while the other was available to the whole world.
Xue Yi was originally the daughter of a merchant, extremely wealthy. The nobles in the city wanted to borrow her influence, and Xue Yi's father also wanted to curry favor with her.
So Xue Yi married the son of the Duke's mansion as a generous gift.
She became a concubine in the palace, a precious object to be played with. Until two years later, the Duke of Guo took control of the Xue family's wealth and turned around to kill Xue.
The beauty of the Xue family became an abandoned child.
It’s not fun to keep it in the backyard and play with it, so it’s better to sell it for a good price.
Xue Yi was sold to the Hong Kong Coliseum and became Xue Ji.
A year later, a woman who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting became the champion.
Her proud look became an excuse for men to conquer her.
Xue Ji had already accepted her fate. Perhaps it was a blessing to live a life of luxury as a champion. But as fate would have it, within a year, she developed an illness.
Her lower body was festering and she was exhausted. The madam smiled silently when she saw her and carried her to a side yard to die.
Xue Yi still remembered what the madam said when she last saw her:
"Useless thing." This shattered all her dignity and meaning as a human being.
Shae was supposed to die.
But he was saved by the newly appointed leader.
The child wasn't much younger than her; she'd heard about him since Xue Ji was the leader. Gu Luoyan was like a piece of jade, growing and polishing in the Red Pavilion.
By the time the jade came out, it was already extremely popular. However, because she occupied the position of the champion, no matter how bright and beautiful she was, she was just a name, not the champion.
Xue Ji used to be very proud of this. She sent people to suppress the Bone Ji in order to retain her position as the leader.
She was proud of being the leader, but now it seemed like it was all in vain.
Xue Yi was lying in the sackcloth. When she saw Gu Luoyan, she thought the child was here to take her life.
But the woman knelt down beside her, reached out and held Xue Yi's hands, which even the old women were unwilling to touch.
She looked at her and shed tears.
Xue Yi never thought that Gu Luoyan would call her like this:
"Sister, I'll save you."
Gu Luoyan called her sister. Even if they were two birds fighting each other in the red pavilion, she still called her that.
Xue Yi didn't know how she got better, she only knew that Gu Luoyan somehow got a lot of precious herbs for her.
Qiu Niang prepared medicine for her, and it took three months to heal her wounds. After the winter, the Hongguan announced that Xue Ji was dead, and she was transported into a secret passage by Gu Luoyan until she fully recovered.
After recovering from her illness, Xue Yi asked Gu Luoyan, "What exactly are you going to do?"
Gu Luoyan said: "I want this Red Pavilion to never be resurrected, and I want to set everyone in it free."
"That museum owner is not a human, he is a monster!" Xue Yi shouted, as if trying to wake Gu Luoyan up.
"So what if it's a monster? I'll kill it, no matter if it's a monster or a ghost." Gu Luoyan looked at Xue Yi and said:
"Do you know Yan Nanji?"
"Of course I know about the leader before me."
That was the second time Xue Yi saw sadness in Gu Luoyan's eyes. She heard her say:
"Yan Nanji's death-defying escape shattered the hopes of those who followed her to escape the Red Pavilion. The only way I can think of is to destroy the Red Pavilion and avoid following in her footsteps."
"Sister, I don't want to see hundreds of women coming here, being tortured to the point of death, and being mocked by the world."
Gu Luoyan held Xue Yi's hand in the dim secret passage. She choked up and said, "Gu Ji's ability is limited. I can't get you out of the Hong Kong Coliseum. I'm afraid that young man, you will have to spend the rest of your life in this dark secret passage. Do you blame me for saving you?"
Xue Yi looked at Gu Luoyan, her heart broken, and she too felt downcast. She reached out to wipe away Gu Luoyan's tears. She understood all too well the pain of being a princess.
Unlike maids and slaves, Jizi could neither be redeemed nor sold. Their lives were firmly in the hands of Zu Qianjiao, and only the madam could decide their fate.
Now that Xue Ji is dead, if she were to show up, she would either be killed or repackaged as Ji Zi.
Xue Yi no longer wants to go back to that kind of life.
——
Xue Yi wiped away Gu Luoyan's tears and said calmly, "Miss, how could I blame you? You saved my life."
"Girl, don't cry. Since you call me sister, then I am your sister."
"Whatever you want to do in the future is also what I, Xue Yi, want to do. Don't cry anymore, Luo Yan." A long-lost smile appeared on Xue Yi's face.
As she looked at Gu Luoyan, she thought of the scene where the woman saw her dying in the dilapidated house.
That was the first time she saw sadness in Gu Luoyan's eyes.
Gu Luoyan burst into tears and hugged Xue Yi in this cold darkness.
She cried and blamed herself: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I don't know what's wrong with me. When I saw you, it was like seeing my sister. Miss Xue Yi, please don't push me away. Let me hold you for a while, just a little while. I'm really too tired..."
Xue Yi didn't say anything. She hugged Gu Luoyan back and patted her back again and again.
She volunteered to be Gu Luoyan's hands and feet underground, paving the way for Gu Luoyan.
That day, Gu Luoyan came to her in person with a medicinal bath sachet.
Gu Luoyan was silent for a while, then said that there was finally a chance for her to escape, and asked Xue Yi if she was willing.
But one needs to destroy one's appearance in order to avoid being recognized.
Xue Yi just held Gu Luoyan's hand, just like Yan Nanzhi held her hand when she was a child.
She smiled and told her, "I am your sister."
"Luo Yan, you can't drive me away."
·
Xue Yi walked in front, holding the lamp, blocking all darkness in front of her and shrouding herself in the smoke of bones.
Qiu Niang walked beside Gu Luoyan, serving her as if she had served the former Ji Zi.
Chun Tao quickly caught up. She looked at the person in front of her and smiled. She became Gu Luoyan's shadow and lived with her.
Suddenly there was light not far away.
Guan Qing stood there, waiting for a long time.
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