Chapter 37 A desolate land, barren and barren, yet peach blossoms reflect the beauty of human faces…
Shen Guitang carefully put away the hair in her palm, picked up the nails scattered around the coffin, and took out the short dagger on her body to hammer the nails into the original nail holes one by one with the handle.
After he restored the coffin, Hengbo finally composed himself. Apart from his reddened eyes, there was no trace of him having cried.
Shen Guitang returned the imperial edict that Hengbo had dropped, which she had picked up along the way. Hengbo only remembered that she had this item when she saw the bright yellow blob.
This was something her mother had specifically told her to keep safe before she left to rescue her father, but she and Qingxuzi stared at it all night and still couldn't figure out what was so special about it.
Later, they found her mother's body in a mass grave. Since the body was difficult to take away, she and Qingxuzi could only secretly cremate it. She then used the imperial edict to wrap the ashes.
She took the bright yellow brocade that Shen Guitang handed her, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into the bundle on her back.
Her nonchalant attitude made Shen Guitang chuckle. What was a royal decree that most people considered as divinely ordained was nothing more than a piece of cloth that was slightly more useful to the little princess.
Having finished her business here, or perhaps having just finished crying, Hengbo suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. She curled up into a ball in a corner, her head resting against the stone wall, nodding off like a chick pecking at rice.
Shen Guitang couldn't bear to see her looking so pitiful, so he squatted down in front of her, exposing his back to her without any defenses, and said, "Go back to the main hall, you can rest for a while."
Hengbo didn't move, but stared blankly at his back.
Shen Guitang didn't urge her, and just squatted on the ground without caring about his image, waiting for her to be in a daze.
Finally, a pair of slender arms wrapped around his neck, and a soft, delicate body gradually leaned against his hard back. His muscles stiffened for a moment, then slowly relaxed.
Adjusting the person on his back, Shen Guitang walked steadily on the dimly lit stone bricks. Feeling a breath brush against his skin, he finally couldn't help but break the somewhat unbearable silence: "Why didn't you make a move just now?"
Hengbo knew he was asking her why she hadn't killed him to silence him, since she had considered doing so when her identity was exposed.
But why didn't they seize such a good opportunity? Killing someone is all it takes; a sword is enough. Besides, wasn't that person already offering their neck for execution?
Was it to avoid disturbing the peace of the person in the coffin with blood? Or perhaps, she simply believed he wouldn't harm her?
She shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either, and only realized that he couldn't see her movements after a long while when she didn't hear a reply.
So I simply rested my head on his shoulder and let myself drift off to sleep.
Shen Guitang did not receive an answer from Hengbo, but she sensed the unreserved trust in Hengbo's intimate actions.
He couldn't help but slow down again.
The dim candlelight, the dark corridor, the damp stone bricks, and the pungent odor—none of these unbearable elements could diminish the spring-like gleam in his eyes.
A desolate land where not a blade of grass grows, yet peach blossoms and beautiful faces herald the arrival of spring.
...
Ji Run, who was huddled behind the dragon throne, was filled with anxiety. When he saw someone coming out of the side hall, his heart jumped into his throat. Only after he saw that the person was Shen Guitang did he feel relieved.
Just as he was about to complain to Shen Guitang about how worried he was being all alone, he received a look from Shen Guitang stopping him.
Ji Run then noticed that the person on Shen Guitang's back had fallen into a deep sleep. However, Ji Run felt very wronged because a servant had been gagged.
They've been brothers for so long, and I'm even willing to let him get involved with the Ji family's connections, yet in his heart he's not even as good as a servant?
Besides, isn't this Lord Shen being a little too considerate to his servant?
As he was secretly grumbling to himself, he saw Shen Guitang gently place the person on his back onto the dragon throne. Midway through, the servant girl named Xiao Cui opened her sleepy eyes, and Shen Guitang even soothingly touched her forehead, saying softly, "Go to sleep."
Ji Run, who only dared to lean quietly against the back of the dragon throne, opened her eyes wide in disbelief, unsure whether to rebuke Shen Guitang for his audacity or praise his benevolence towards his subordinates.
He looked at Hengbo sleeping soundly on the dragon throne, then looked down at his own aching back and couldn't help but feel a pang of envy: he, a man surnamed Ji, had never even sat on the dragon throne!
Ugh, I should have sneaked on it myself when those two weren't around.
Shen Guitang ignored the various expressions on his face and found a corner close to the dragon throne to rest.
...
After sleeping for about an hour, Shen Guitang suddenly opened his eyes when he sensed someone approaching. He saw that it was Hengbo, who had just woken up, who was holding the outer robe he had taken off the night before and was trying to cover him with it.
He stood up, took the outer robe and put it on, then shifted his gaze to her injured foot: "How are you feeling today?"
Upon hearing this, Hengbo slightly moved his ankle and nodded to indicate that he was fine.
She then took out pancakes and a water bag from her bundle and gave them to Shen Guitang.
This time, Shen Guitang didn't even frown. He took the pancake and snuggled up in the corner with Hengbo to eat it. After they finished eating, Ji Run's snoring finally stopped. He turned over, wanting to continue sleeping, but his head hit the sharp edge of the dragon throne. He cried out in pain and finally woke up.
He glanced around and spotted Hengbo's still-puffing cheeks. He quickly patted his stomach and leaned over, saying, "What are you eating? Give me some too."
Shen Guitang handed him the water pouch with only two mouthfuls of water left, and lied without changing his expression: "There's only half a pancake left for my injured servant to eat. Let's bear with it for now. I'm sure the court will receive the news and send someone over by tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Ji Run hugged her stomach and sat down dejectedly. With her back to them, she muttered loudly and resentfully, "I didn't get any of yesterday's roast chicken, and I can't even have a bite of today's pancake."
A look of doubt appeared in Shen Guitang's eyes, but before she could ask him, she received a strong accusatory look from Hengbo beside her, as if she was accusing him of secretly eating roast chicken without sharing it with her.
Shen Guitang had no choice but to use his wide sleeves as cover, and magically took out a few candied fruits wrapped in oil paper from his sleeve pocket, and secretly stuffed them into Ji Run's hand when she wasn't paying attention, as a way of appeasing her.
He then walked around to Ji Run's front and asked, "Brother Ji, are you perhaps hallucinating from hunger? I haven't seen a single chicken in the past two days, so where did you get this roasted chicken from?"
Ji Run was furious when she saw that he not only refused to give her food, but also lied to her.
Ignoring his clothes, he lay prone on the ground and reached under the dragon throne, muttering, "Watch me find the chicken bones, then what will you say?"
Seeing that he didn't seem to be faking it, Shen Guitang's expression became serious. When he actually pulled out some chicken bones that were still attached to the dragon throne, Shen Guitang's brows furrowed even more tightly.
He exchanged a glance with Hengbo, who had come over to watch the commotion, and both of them got the answer from the other's solemn expression.
There is someone else here!
Having finally found the evidence and waiting to see Shen Guitang speechless, Ji Run, seeing the two of them acting like this, finally sensed a storm brewing.
He was so frightened that he rubbed his hand, which had just touched the chicken bone, hard on his clothes, his voice trembling: "This, this really isn't what you ate? Please don't try to fool me."
Shen Guitang squatted down and carefully examined the bones on the ground, even sniffing them. "They haven't gone bad. The bones haven't been here for more than two days. The other bones were gnawed clean, but this one still has a lot of meat left, which means that the person who ate the roast chicken encountered an emergency and didn't have time to finish it."
He stood up and speculated, "This person must have been eating chicken here. Then the strongman opened the door of the imperial mausoleum, and the eternal lamp in the hall was lit. The person was frightened and hurriedly stuffed the bones under the dragon throne and hid."
Ji Runzheng was even more surprised and frightened because he thought the guess made sense: "So, this person was actually here before we found the tomb entrance. But the imperial tomb was sealed more than ten years ago, so is he a human or a ghost?"
Shen Guitang slung Hengbo back over his shoulder and strode toward the back hall without turning his head, saying, "We'll know whether it's a person or a ghost once we go and see."
Ji Run hesitated for a moment, and the two people ahead were already several feet away. He could only grit his teeth and jog to catch up.
Hengbo lay on Shen Guitang's back, her expression slightly unnatural. After a night's rest, she was already able to walk independently with difficulty. But as soon as Shen Guitang bent down, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, and by the time she realized it, she had already taken several steps.
After a moment of hesitation, she accepted the situation with a clear conscience, since not having to walk on her own was really comfortable.
Shen Guitang felt the body on her back suddenly tense up and then relax. She knew exactly what the woman was thinking and smiled, "Just think of it as me liking to carry you."
These were rare, sincere words from him, but Hengbo only thought he was worried that she was embarrassed. She was still thinking to herself that Shen Guitang was actually a warm-hearted and considerate person.
At this moment, Ji Run caught up with them. He pointed in the direction of another side hall that they had never been to before, looking puzzled. "Why don't we go there and look for it?"
In his view, since that person had fled in a panic, either the side hall or the rear hall was an option, so why was Shen Guitang so determined to go to the rear hall?
Shen Guitang didn't keep him in suspense. "Lord Ji probably doesn't come to the outskirts of the capital often. There are villages two or three miles south of this back hall. If you're wondering where this chicken came from, it can only be from some passageway connected to the back hall."
He said this to give Ji Run a lot of face, since Shen Guitang had never been here before. But he couldn't just say that Ji Run had taken over the construction of the mausoleum but hadn't even looked at the map of the mausoleum area carefully.
Ji Run took it as a compliment and said somewhat awkwardly, "Brother, you are so clever. With you by my side, I feel much more at ease."
However, it seemed that fate disapproved of his hypocritical appearance. After walking through the long, dark corridor for about a quarter of an hour, the eternal lamps on the stone walls were not lit.
Logically speaking, the time it takes for the ever-burning lamp to be rekindled by people is not important, and it is impossible for half of it to still be burning while the other half has burned out completely.
Looking at the endless darkness ahead, Ji Run immediately had second thoughts. Although this was the ancestral grave of his Ji family, the blood ties to the deceased buried here were already very weak. It seemed like a bad deal to risk his life just to join in the fun.
However, Shen Guitang clearly had no intention of turning back, and since he had just said those words, wouldn't it be a slap in the face to go back alone now?
He hesitated for a while, then finally made up his mind: Fine, I'll just have to accompany you even if it costs me my life!
While he was struggling with his inner conflict, Shen Guitang had already walked to the lamp closest to them among the extinguished eternal lamps.
By the dim candlelight beside him, Hengbo used his shoulder to prop himself up and stretched his neck to get a better look.
A moment later, she gestured for Shen Guitang to take a few more steps forward, and then confirmed it in the same way.
After learning the reason from Hengbo, Shen Guitang stood there in deep thought for a moment.
Seeing that Ji Run, who had followed him, was completely unaware of the current situation, he explained to him, "The candle oil for these ever-burning lamps has all been taken away. It seems that the back hall really is where that person is hiding. However, there is no light, so we need to be careful along the way."
Ji Run nodded with a droopy round face and followed them closely, even secretly pulling on Hengbo's half-length belt, thinking no one was watching.
Hengbo glanced back at him and, seeing his pitiful, terrified appearance, let him be.
The group walked another hundred paces in the dark, but it was very quiet along the way, and nothing happened. Ji Run couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief, and even had the leisure to joke: "Could it be that the funds allocated by the emperor back then were insufficient, so the Ministry of Works simply saved some money on candle oil?"
Shen Guitang frowned in the darkness. Apart from Hengbo, who had physical contact with him, no one would know that he had been tense all the way, never relaxing for a moment.
The three walked for several dozen more feet, and apart from the increasingly strong damp, earthy smell, nothing unusual happened.
Ji Run, whose heart had been pounding the whole way, finally felt completely at ease and even tried to persuade Shen Guitang: "Brother Shen, I think you're just too suspicious. In my opinion, there's nothing here at all."
Shen Guitang ignored him, his face, which no one could see clearly, growing even more solemn. He put Hengbo down from his back, then squatted down and felt around on the stone bricks for a while.
Ji Run sensed that they had suddenly stopped and was about to ask what was wrong.
Suddenly, Shen Guitang stood up, picked up Hengbo, and quickly turned back along the way they came. His voice was colder than ever before: "Let's go back. This is not the way to the back hall."
However, at that moment, a hoarse and dry croaking voice suddenly rang out behind them: "You've all arrived at my doorstep, aren't you going to come and see the gift I have for you?"
At the same time, a volley of arrows shot rapidly toward the back of the group.
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