Chapter 62 Believe Me? He only asked: "Your life, for you..."
"Zijing!"
Upon seeing that tall, slender figure, Yu Nie happily lifted her skirt and stood up, her eyes sparkling with joy, her beautiful face radiating obvious delight.
Dressed in night clothes, Huan Xun blended almost seamlessly into the darkness of the dimly lit palace. Unless one was deliberately looking for him, it was impossible to detect where he was.
The lamps in the hall had already been extinguished by Yu Nie when he got out of bed to spy on Bai Zhiwei's whereabouts. The two lamps embedded in the pillars were blown out.
It was a lucky accident, but her actions actually helped a lot, preventing the people inside the house from being spotted by the patrolling guards outside.
She hurried up to him: "Why are you here? How did you get in?"
He pulled off his mask, and her hazy outline could be vaguely seen: "Flying over eaves and scaling walls, that's how I got here." He spoke lightly, his tone slightly raised, deliberately lowering his voice.
She knew all too well that dodging the layers upon layers of guards was no easy task.
"I just told Cuiwei that I was thinking of finding some time to visit you, and I didn't expect you to come so soon." She immediately felt a sense of smooth sailing and further assistance. It was undoubtedly a good omen.
“I heard everything.”
"I heard you." She took a half step forward, the bright moonlight streaming through the window, illuminating her open and honest eyes: "Then you must have also heard me say that you are the person I know and trust most in Jian'an City?"
To an outsider, these words might sound ambiguous, but to her, they were the most natural and sincere words. There was no shyness, no need to hide anything, and nothing to be ashamed of.
He overheard her entire conversation with Cuiwei while he was hidden behind the curtain.
The moonlight, like water, made her eyes shine brightly, like pearls washed by a clear spring.
Staring into those undisguised eyes, Huan Xun showed no other emotion, his knuckles almost imperceptibly rubbing the short blade at his waist.
“I heard you.” His voice was calm and even. “So… here I am.”
"Tell me..." he asked her directly, "What exactly happened after I left Huaiyuan? How did you transform into Princess Shunhe?"
To dare to commit such a heinous act as "switching the crown prince with a cat" right under the emperor's nose is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. Based on his understanding of her from her time in Huaiyuan, given her life-cherishing nature, she would never have dared to do such a thing.
There's a high probability that someone else is manipulating everything behind the scenes.
Seeing that the two had important matters to discuss, Cuiwei observed their expressions and said to Yu Nie, "Princess, this servant will stand guard at the door to prevent anyone from coming and disturbing your reunion with Lord Huan."
Yu Nie nodded slightly: "Yes, thank you for your hard work, Cuiwei. Go ahead."
Once Cuiwei's footsteps faded into the distance, the hall fell silent.
She looked up at him, feeling awkward standing a few steps apart as they talked.
She raised her hand to indicate, "Sit down and let's talk."
Huan Xun didn't say much and sat down at the table with her.
Seeing that she was about to pick up the teapot to pour tea, he stopped her and took the teapot from her hands, saying, "Let me do it."
Just as Yu Nie was about to say, "You are a guest," the teapot was naturally taken from him.
She pursed her lips slightly, her eyes lowered, revealing an undisguised smile.
He lowered his head to pour tea, and the aroma of tea filled the air with the soft sound of water.
Noticing her gaze, he looked up and asked in a deep voice, "Little Taoist priest, what are you laughing at?"
"It's nothing." She rested her chin on her hand and looked at him, her smile still bright. "It just reminded me that, whether in Huaiyuan or here, Zijing, despite his high position, never liked to delegate. Even something as small as pouring tea, he insisted on doing it himself."
He filled the two empty teacups with tea, picked them up, and replied as if jokingly, "Now that you, young Taoist priest, are a princess, how can I, a mere subject, allow a princess to pour tea for me?"
"What princess or not, in front of Zijing, I am just Rong Yunie." Her voice trailed off with a hint of coquettishness, completely unaware of how intimate her words were.
He lowered his eyes and drank his tea, his expression unreadable.
The moonlight drew a hazy line between the two of them. His gaze swept over her smiling eyes from above the rim of the cup, then quickly returned to his own.
Unaware of his underhanded probing, she made small talk for a while before getting down to business: "Zijing asked me how I suddenly became a princess. To be honest, I have a lot to say..."
As she spoke, she recounted the whole story.
She recounted clearly how she originally planned to go to Longdao, but unexpectedly encountered Zhao Huayan and Nie Lanting along the way. She explained how she knew their identities and how she cleverly devised a plan to help them escape.
She didn't even hide the fact that she bought saltpeter, but when it came to its real purpose, she changed the subject and said it was for alchemy.
Taoist priests used saltpeter to refine elixirs, which was a very common practice at the time. Huan Xun did not question this much.
"Gu Xiangzhi of the Imperial Horse Administration clearly had other ways to extricate himself from this matter, but for some reason, he chose the most dangerous method instead, making me replace Hua Yan. Even though he said it would save the lives of others..."
She confided her earlier suspicions to him: "But I think this person actually has other motives."
Huan Xun listened quietly to her words, and the teacup fell onto the table with a soft, gentle sound.
Gu Xiangzhi… Her answer was like a heavy stone falling, confirming the long-held suspicions in his mind.
Such a momentous event must have been orchestrated by someone in the shadows, and his thinking was not wrong.
However, he never expected that the mastermind behind this was someone from the Imperial Horse Administration.
Huan Xun was not actually very familiar with Gu Xiangzhi. The two had only met a few times within the palace walls.
For a eunuch in his early twenties to rise to the position of Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Horse Administration and become a favorite of the emperor, his methods and shrewdness must not be underestimated.
Yu Nie said solemnly, "The day of the marriage alliance is getting closer and closer. There's not much time left. I can't stay here any longer. I have to find a way to escape."
She looked at him, her eyes shining like tempered stone, each word carrying an unwavering resolve: "I will never stay here."
The will to survive that bursts forth in a person in dire straits can overflow from their eyes. This is an understanding etched into his mind after seeing too many pairs of dying eyes.
And at this moment, such a flame was burning clearly in her eyes.
However, in his view, it's not just humans who behave this way; wild animals in the mountains and forests do the same.
Now, she's a bit like... a leopard, the first leopard he ever saw in his life.
Beautiful, but sometimes dangerous.
“You’re right. Of course, the people from the Imperial Stables wouldn’t be so kind.” He stroked the rim of the cup, round and round, and she noticed that this seemed to be a habitual little gesture of his.
“Gu Xiangzhi…” He paused, his tone certain: “What he is hiding behind him is undoubtedly a significant secret.”
She pressed further, "Can Zijing find out?"
Seemingly realizing that her words might be causing trouble for others, she added, "Never mind... I'll just look it up myself. It's too much trouble for you. I originally came to you hoping you could give me some advice, and I'll carry out the rest."
Seemingly mocking her naiveté, his tone carried a subtle sarcasm: "Jian'an is not Huaiyuan. Zhao Huayan is a pawn personally chosen by the Emperor. Her marriage is related to the Emperor's grand plan for the future. Do you know how many eyes are secretly watching your every move, Daoist?"
His gaze fell on her face, and he asked in succession, "You said you would do it yourself... How does the Taoist priest plan to do it? Will you use water that ignites upon contact with water to dissipate it, or the firefly powder that can hunt down criminals in the dark, or the alcohol that you spent so long to concoct?"
She was taken aback by the question.
These items, which he mentioned so casually, were all her most secretive tricks. She had originally planned to secretly borrow some from him, just in case.
But hearing him say that, she suddenly realized that even with these things in hand, she might not be able to escape the people chasing her.
"How to carry out this..." she stammered, lost in confusion. "I don't know either. I can't even find a way out of this Hongzheng Pavilion. How am I supposed to evade the Imperial Guards' pursuit? I..."
Before she could finish speaking, he suddenly leaned forward, the moonlight casting a dark shadow on his black eyelashes.
His gaze locked onto her: "Do you...believe me?"
She met his gaze, her eyes meeting his unfathomable depths. There was only an almost frank invitation there, as if he had already prepared everything, waiting only for her to give a definite answer so he could lead her away from this beautiful but lifeless hell.
Gazing into his eyes, a strange impulse suddenly welled up within her. To gamble meant a chance of survival; not to gamble meant certain death.
She had to choose one: give birth.
"I..." Once she made up her mind, it wasn't so hard to say the answer in her heart. She smiled and said, "Of course I believe in Zijing."
She continued, "But the only thing I want to say to Zijing is that no matter what method you use, if things are exposed, you must only involve me and never involve others, including yourself."
Huan Xun was not surprised by this answer.
This lack of surprise stemmed not from his understanding of her, but from his deep knowledge that people with weak hearts are often the most adept at sacrificing themselves to protect others.
He wouldn't dismiss such a sacrifice with contempt. He simply asked, "Is your life unimportant to you?"
Hearing this, Yu Nie lowered her eyes to look at the teacup on the table and chuckled as she replied, "It's because I'm a coward. I can't bear to see others lose their lives because of me. I can't be indebted to such a great debt, let alone bear it. Besides, I can't watch the people I care about die for me. Rather than end up in that situation, I'd rather suffer the consequences alone."
Hearing her words, he lowered his gaze.
After a long pause, he finally looked up at her, his voice low and his playful expression carrying an undeniable certainty: "I will not let you die."
Perhaps it was because his expression was too sincere at the moment, and the determination in his eyes was almost overflowing, that she couldn't tell whether his words were true or false.
At that moment, her heartbeat suddenly went out of control and began to beat faster and faster.
"son……"
Before she could finish speaking, Cuiwei rushed in from the doorway in a panic: "Princess... someone's here..."
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