Chapter 24
As it approached midnight, Yue Mingming felt very uneasy in the room.
What on earth did Zhao Congyun want to do by asking her over at this time... Could it be what she was thinking?
Yue Mingming bit her lip and reflected, wondering if she had been fawning too much recently, causing Zhao Congyun to have some misunderstandings.
Or maybe he was confined at home, unable to go to Yaoyue Tower for entertainment, and was bored, so he set his sights on her?
Bastard...
Yue Mingming sighed and dove into the pile of clothes on the bed. She had found all these dresses to try on, but after looking at them over and over, she couldn't find anything that suited her taste.
Blushing, she stuffed a low-cut skirt back into the closet, thinking: What kind of clothes can express a tactful refusal?
*
Zhao Congyun opened the door and frowned slightly.
Yue Mingming was wearing a black night suit and greeted him with a smile.
Zhao Congyun himself was wearing a navy blue brocade robe with silver embroidery faintly visible at the collar and cuffs. A simple white jade pendant was hung around his waist, giving him a reserved and low-key look.
Yue Mingming looked at his tall and straight figure outlined by the brocade robe, swallowed quietly, and was about to go into the house, but Zhao Congyun raised his hand to stop him.
"The carriage is ready, let's go."
"..." Yue Mingming blushed and asked in confusion, "Where are you going? Didn't the emperor forbid you from leaving the house?"
Zhao Congyun glanced at her nightgown, his eyes flashing, but he finally said nothing and strode towards the side door.
Yue Mingming followed behind happily, feeling very nervous, wondering what this man was going to do tonight.
In front of the door stood an ordinary horse-drawn carriage, one of the common sights on the street. Uncle Dong had already been waiting in front of the carriage, bowing his head and saying, "Everything has been arranged. We can set off at any time."
Zhao Congyun nodded and got on the car first. Then he lifted the curtain and said to Yue Mingming with a half-smile, "You look neatly dressed. You shouldn't need anyone's help. Climb up by yourself."
Yue Mingming: “…”
It’s not that she couldn’t go up, but Zhao Congyun’s smile made her feel a chill down her spine.
Offended him again?
How could this man be so easily offended?!
"Where are we going?" Yue Mingming noticed Uncle Dong deliberately driving the carriage onto a side road as the carriage was moving, and asked worriedly, "It's curfew now... What if someone sees us and complains to the emperor?"
"Why, are you worried about me?" Zhao Congyun asked.
Yue Mingming said sincerely, "I'm more worried about myself... I just received the pardon order today, and I followed you around tonight. What if the emperor changes his mind?"
Zhao Congyun was so angry that he laughed: "Don't worry, we've already informed the patrol camp. No one can take your life away."
He said that last sentence seriously.
Yue Mingming stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say. Zhao Congyun chuckled and said, "If you hadn't been staring at me since we got in the car, you would have discovered what we were going to do."
"Huh?" Yue Mingming's cheeks flushed, and he remembered to take a closer look at the car.
This carriage was not as luxurious and spacious as the one Zhao Congyun usually rode in. The two of them felt a little cramped inside, but it was tidy and clean. The carriage had been scented in advance and had a small heater installed to keep out the night wind and autumn dew. The thoughtfulness of the person in charge was revealed everywhere.
Although Uncle Dong is reliable, he can't be so pretentious. I think it must be Zhao Congyun's personal arrangement.
Yue Mingming was about to praise when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a neatly arranged pile of things and was stunned.
There were incense burners, lotus lanterns and a lot of paper money.
She lifted the car curtain. It was pitch black outside and she couldn't tell where she was, but she could smell the damp steam.
Yue Mingming was always worried about his brother Yue Chen. Because of his criminal status, he had no tombstone or grave, and even his body was left unburied, so he became a wandering ghost on Yu Lake.
"Are we going to...the pier to pay our respects?" Yue Mingming's throat tightened and he tried to steady his voice.
Zhao Congyun said calmly, "Those who survived will feel better if they do what they can."
After a pause, he asked again: "Would you be scared if you went back to that place?"
Yue Mingming shook his head: "I'm not afraid."
The same night, the same Jade Lake, and the person who accompanied her this time made her feel extremely at ease.
"Thank you."
"Yeah." Zhao Congyun smiled lightly, as if he didn't care at all, but his eyes and brows were much gentler than when he left.
The carriage finally stopped. Uncle Dong found a quiet place near the dock to stay. After the two of them got off the carriage, Uncle Dong left alone, carrying some incense burners and paper money.
Yue Mingming looked confused, and Zhao Congyun explained, "He went to pay tribute to the dead secret guards."
Only then did Yue Mingming remember that there were several people whose names she didn't even know who died tragically because of her that day.
Her eyes dimmed for a moment, and Zhao Congyun saw it but did not say anything to comfort her.
He silently came to the water's edge, lit a lotus lantern with his own hands and placed it in the water, watching the dark current carry away the light, and finally swaying and disappearing in the distance, then he let out a low sigh.
"Have a safe trip."
Yue Mingming squatted beside him, and imitated him by throwing a lantern into the water, and said softly: "Brother, don't worry, I will protect myself, and I will not forget you."
Can you receive this lotus lantern?
Yue Mingming didn't know what would happen if an NPC died... would they disappear completely, or wake up in another world? At this moment, she suddenly had a little extravagant hope. If this world was a game for her, would it be the same for Yue Chen?
Her voice was muffled. She cried for a while, then suddenly laughed again: "Next time, I must choose a protagonist, the kind that has a lot of people's love and can't die no matter what."
"Forget me, forget everything that happened here, and start over."
Zhao Congyun watched her talking nonsense quietly, and for some unknown reason he stretched out his sleeve and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
He was extremely cautious and actually began to regret the moment he reached out his hand, fearing that such an action at this moment would seem abrupt.
Sure enough, Yue Mingming trembled slightly. Zhao Congyun thought she was going to avoid him, so he immediately pulled his hand away and said, "I'm sorry... I'm not..."
But the girl grabbed his sleeve and wiped his face without any courtesy: "Huh? Not a thing?"
This time it was Zhao Congyun who froze.
"...My clothes are dirty, is it okay?" Yue Mingming smiled with tears in his eyes, looking crazy.
Zhao Congyun saw that she was helping him out, his brows relaxed, and the corners of his lips curled up: "It's okay."
He was probably crazy, as he actually thought the girl crying and sobbing was beautiful.
They lit the incense burner and burned a lot of paper money. The damp night breeze was dried by the firelight, and the warmth rushed over them, like a lingering hug, like an unspoken farewell.
The fire gradually died down, and Uncle Dong came over from a distance and reminded us, "It's time to go back."
Before getting in the car, Yue Mingming looked towards a certain direction of the lake for the last time. She had felt the deep suffocation, coldness and despair there. She wanted to leave these feelings here and never return, but she knew that once you have experienced something, you can no longer pretend that it does not exist.
They will be diluted by time and overwhelmed by more and deeper feelings, but they will never disappear.
Yue Mingming thought that this game world had left too many traces on her, and she couldn't just quit and pretend nothing had happened.
"I will have fun until the day I leave."
*
After the Yuhu worship, the emperor changed his mind, and Zhao Congyun was finally able to leave the palace and attend court as usual. However, he seemed to have truly changed his ways, never visiting Yaoyue Tower again, and even repeatedly turning down banquets and dinners.
The emperor was delighted and announced that he would personally choose a princess for his brother.
Many people in the court who wanted to curry favor with the powerful had been hesitant before, but now seeing the emperor's attitude and realizing that Zhao Congyun was a prodigal son who had turned over a new leaf, they all asked others to hint at how gentle and virtuous their daughters were.
As for Li Pingru, she was angry for several days when she found out that she had been tricked by Zhao Congyun. Recently, she came to her senses and started to frequently go to the palace, acting coquettishly and trying to please the queen. Her purpose was of course to get her promoted.
The dispute over Princess Jia became the hottest topic in the capital for a while.
There was a lively debate outside, but the real owner was very annoyed.
Zhao Congyun returned from court with a gloomy face and only ate two bites of breakfast before dropping it.
Uncle Dong looked at his expression and said with a smile, "There's a sweet-scented osmanthus soup in the kitchen. It was ordered by Madam Yue herself. Would you like to try it?"
Zhao Congyun was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his eyes and sneered, "It definitely wasn't ordered for me... She must have wanted to eat it herself! I can't do something like begging for alms! You don't have to speak in a roundabout way to say good things for her."
Uncle Dong sighed secretly.
Ever since returning from the worship, Yue Mingming has been hiding in the house all day long, claiming that he has obtained the secret manual of martial arts and studied martial arts to the point of forgetting to eat and sleep, and he has stood up Zhao Congyun several times.
There were so many people in the court who coveted the identity of the princess and put pressure on her openly or covertly. Zhao Congyun was exhausted both physically and mentally from dealing with all of this, but he couldn't even catch a trace of Yue Mingming.
Zhao Congyun naturally refused to humble himself and ask her to show up, and even ordered Uncle Dong not to say anything. But gradually, he felt a sense of grievance that he had never felt before.
The whole world was trying to curry favor with him in order to become a princess, but the person he most wanted to appear didn't say a word.
Didn't she say before that she wanted to be a princess?!
The more Zhao Congyun thought about it, the angrier he became. He put the tea bowl down heavily, and scared the person who came to deliver the soup so much that he stopped in his tracks.
"Why are you so angry so early in the morning? What's the matter?" A long-unseen voice sounded. Yue Mingming stood at the door with a playful smile on his face, sticking out his furry head.
The girl's face was flushed, as if she had just finished running 800 meters. There was a slight bead of sweat on her forehead. Her dress was mismatched and her hair was somehow loose and messy.
Only a pair of eyes are sparkling.
Zhao Congyun's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and the emotions that had been accumulating for days suddenly disappeared.
"What are you doing here?" He asked with a cold face, trying to suppress the corners of his mouth.
Yue Mingming shook the food box in his hand. "I'm bringing you some osmanthus soup... Xing'er picked the fresh osmanthus flowers herself, and the kitchen made it using the recipe from my hometown. I have to ask you to try it!"
Zhao Congyun glanced at Uncle Dong uncertainly, and Uncle Dong smiled broadly, as if to say, "I didn't lie to you."
Yue Mingming handed him a bowl first, then filled one for himself. He turned around and said, "Uncle Dong, you have a share too. The small kitchen is reserved for you!"
"OK!"
Uncle Dong said he couldn't wait to try it, and took the opportunity to leave, leaving only the two of them and the room filled with the fragrance of osmanthus.
"If you have anything bothering you, tell me about it," Yue Mingming said.
Zhao Congyun suddenly asked her, "Do you still want to be a princess?"
"Huh?" Yue Mingming was stunned for a moment.
"I remember you said yourself that you wanted to be a princess, so I..."
Zhao Congyun seemed to feel something was wrong and reluctantly swallowed the second half of his words. After a pause, he slowly said, "I can't be the only one who takes your words seriously."
Yue Mingming stared at him, blinking his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking.
Zhao Congyun couldn't stand her staring at him, so he lowered his eyes and whispered, "...I'm not blaming you, I..."
"I think so!" Yue Mingming suddenly interrupted him, "I might not have been clear-headed before, but now it's different. I'm serious!"
Zhao Congyun had never seen such a serious look on Yue Mingming's face. He was slightly startled, and said seriously: "Okay, then it's a deal!"
He only needed this one sentence to deal with the threats and inducements from the whole court.
Yue Mingming asked: "So, is this what's bothering you?"
Zhao Congyun said calmly, "You don't need to worry about it."
Yue Mingming smiled softly. "The Emperor will hold a banquet in the palace in a few days to select a princess for you. Li Pingru has already established connections with the Empress, and the Empress's decree has been drafted. I'm afraid the Emperor won't be able to easily offend the Empress when the time comes."
"Li Pingru has a good chance of winning this round, and you can't think of a good solution, so you're annoyed, right?"
Zhao Congyun was helpless: "Did Uncle Dong tell you that again?"
Yue Mingming shook his head and said, "It's really not this time! I have my own sources!"
Zhao Congyun frowned: "Who is it?"
Yue Mingming smiled and said, "Of course it's the real boss himself. Li Pingru is eager for me to know so that she can see me throwing a tantrum and rolling around in anger. That'll make her happy!"
"So... are you angry?" Zhao Congyun scooped up a mouthful of soup and asked casually.
"I'm angry! I'm so angry!"
The sweet scent of osmanthus filled his lips and teeth, and then a light sweetness passed through his throat and reached his internal organs. Zhao Congyun nodded with satisfaction and praised, "This soup is good."
Yue Mingming also took a sip and agreed, "That's right... Well, I think I'm in trouble."
"I was so angry that I ran to Li Pingru and beat her up before going to the kitchen."
Zhao Congyun paused while scooping the soup: "You... hit her?"
"Hmm." Yue Mingming took another sip and smacked his lips. "Her face was disfigured and her ankle was sprained. She definitely can't leave the house. Forget about that party."
Zhao Congyun thought silently for a moment: "It is indeed a big disaster, it is a bit troublesome."
The next second he finally couldn't help but laughed softly.
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