Chapter 34
Seeing the other party slowly approaching, Zhao Congyun couldn't move his feet - it was not that he didn't want to run, but at this moment he was already covered in cold sweat and couldn't exert any strength.
Zhao Congyun's brain was working rapidly. He knew very well that Meng Xun, as the leader of the Qilin Guard, was quite capable, and the killer he hired must be experienced. Even if Meng Xun was in good health, he was not sure of escaping successfully.
So what he was worried about was not his own safety, but how to prevent Yue Mingming from being exposed!
He knew she was in this room.
If she gets impulsive and can't help but help, with her kung fu skills, she would be committing suicide!
Zhao Congyun hoped that Yue Mingming would be more understanding and hide himself obediently, but a dark thought suddenly arose in his heart:
If she shows up regardless of her life, does it mean... that I am still important to her?
He couldn't help but imagine that little possibility.
While he was distracted, the hand pulling the curtain had reached out to him. Zhao Congyun subconsciously raised his arm to block it, but the other party easily broke free. He lost his balance and stumbled into the bookshelf, knocking down a pile of ancient books and scrolls, and the room was immediately filled with dust.
Meng Xun was in a good mood and showed a grin that showed he was confident of winning, but unfortunately, the next second, his smile froze on his face.
Somewhere in the room, there was another rustling sound... It was obvious that the noise was not caused by anyone in front of him!
Could it be... that there is someone else in the room? !
"Who?" Meng Xun shouted, holding his sword, feeling an inexplicable chill on his spine.
Beneath the pile of books, Zhao Congyun's heart was in his throat. He began to regret having such a selfish thought just now...
Fool, don't come out!
…………
Chuck, chuckle... As if in response to Meng Xun's words, the room was filled with sudden laughter, like a woman with a very shrill voice, or like a naughty child.
"You're playing tricks! Come out here!" Meng Xun was already feeling guilty, and his voice couldn't help but tremble.
No one knew that Meng Xun, the always wise and brave commander of the Qilin Guard, was actually afraid of ghosts!
The laughter not only did not stop, but became even louder. Meng Xun could no longer bear it, so he drew his sword and threw it in the direction of the laughter. With a "whoosh" sound, the blade tore through the clothes, and a black shadow fell straight down from the beam.
At that moment, Zhao Congyun was so frightened that his soul almost left his body! His vision went black, and he crawled on the ground with difficulty towards the sound, but someone stepped on his palm with a smile.
The other party squatted down slowly and put the curtain around his neck: "Don't worry, I'll send you on your way!"
Meng Xun walked over and picked up the scabbard, only to find that what fell down was not a person, but a woman's clothing.
He was slightly startled, but soon recognized that this was not an ordinary dress, but the "Snow Dance Fairy Dress" that was popular in Beijing many years ago!
This was Concubine Li Guifei's favorite brocade skirt, and it spread from the palace to the outside, becoming a huge hit. Later, when the relationship between the emperor and the concubine changed, the skirt also suffered. The late emperor not only had all similar styles in the palace burned, but also issued an edict that anyone wearing or keeping it would be guilty of treason. From then on, the Snow Dance Flowing Fairy skirt disappeared completely.
Why did such a forbidden item appear in the palace, and in Concubine Li's Yongshang Palace?!
Meng Xun broke out in a cold sweat.
His companions were still waiting for his final instructions, but Meng Xun remained silent, staring at his clothes and shivering. The man asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Meng Xun swallowed hard, rushed over, grabbed Zhao Congyun's collar and said, "You know there's someone hiding here, right? Who is it... If you tell me the truth, I'll leave you with an intact body!"
Zhao Congyun felt a little relieved when he learned that it wasn't Yue Mingming who had fallen. He looked coldly at the pale-faced Meng Xun and sneered, "If you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door. Commander Meng is so scared, are you feeling guilty?"
"Bullshit! What am I afraid of!" Meng Xun cursed.
However, a long female voice echoed from the beams again: "Meng Lang...is that you? After all these years, I finally found you! Why did you let those stinky Taoist priests perform a ritual to prevent me from coming?"
"You... who are you? Why do you know all this..." Meng Xun was visibly panicking.
"I'm Luwu from Wutong Pavilion... Have you forgotten?" the woman sobbed, "Have you even forgotten our child, Nuo'er?"
Nuoer... This name was like a thunderclap, shattering the last bit of Meng Xun's sanity.
That was the name he casually said to Lu Wu when they were in bed together before he sent her to have an abortion. There was no way anyone else could know it!
After that night, Lvwu drank the abortion pill without knowing it and died of blood loss. For several days afterwards, Meng Xun had the same nightmare: Lvwu came to him with the child in her arms, calling "Nuo'er" over and over again to the swaddling clothes in her arms.
This was once his deepest fear. Even when he asked a Taoist priest to perform a ritual, he avoided talking about it, for fear that if he said it out loud, the child would really exist.
Until this moment... the nightmare reappears!
Before the woman finished her words, another dark shadow pounced on him. Meng Xun frantically tried to push it away, but ended up tripping. Zhao Congyun reached out to catch it and stuffed it into his arms without even looking at it: "Commander Meng, this is yours!"
It was an ugly but cute rag doll, and it was obviously a child's toy.
Meng Xun completely collapsed and threw the doll away screaming, "Get out of here! Don't come to me, bitch!"
His unfortunate companion was stunned when he saw Meng Xun suddenly go crazy, running around the room with his piss and butt dripping, shouting words that no one could understand.
At this moment, someone patted his shoulder gently.
Even though this man was brave, he was frightened to death the moment he turned his head - a woman with a bloodshot face and disheveled hair was squatting on the desk, staring at him with a smile.
"Ahhhhhh!" He screamed and stepped back, but forgot that the curtain in his hand was still wrapped around Zhao Congyun's neck. With this pull, the curtain tightened and Zhao Congyun's breathing was immediately choked.
Zhao Congyun instinctively struggled violently, but his lungs felt empty, not a breath of air coming in. The sounds around him grew farther and farther away, and just as he was about to fall into the endless darkness, he felt his neck suddenly loosen, and he fell, panting, into a familiar embrace.
"Are you okay?" Yue Mingming called him anxiously.
Zhao Congyun hugged her tightly and was speechless.
The next second he realized that he should let go and let her leave quickly. By the time the two of them realized they had been tricked, she wouldn't be able to escape!
In a trance, I heard someone shouting, "Brother Meng, it's that woman who's causing trouble. Wake up and don't be fooled!"
It seems that the killer is quite strong-minded. When he saw Yue Mingming rushing to rescue Zhao Congyun, he immediately realized that this was her real purpose of pretending to be a ghost.
He picked up the knife and rushed over with anger and hatred!
Yue Mingming shouted "Hold on to me", hugged Zhao Congyun and rolled towards the bookshelf. Another pile of books fell down, temporarily blocking the killer's sight. When the dust settled, he wanted to look for Yue Mingming and Zhao Congyun again, but found that the two had disappeared out of thin air before his eyes!
Could it be that the woman was really a ghost?
The killer and Meng Xun looked at each other in horror, and the hairs on their bodies stood up again.
*
Yue Mingming rubbed his waist and climbed up. He went to check on Zhao Congyun's injuries first: "How are you? Did you get hurt?"
Zhao Congyun shook his head and grabbed her red hand: "Are you hurt?"
Yue Mingming smiled and said, "It's just rouge." She pointed at her cat-like face and said, "I put it on to scare them!"
Zhao Congyun silently wiped her palms with his sleeves, and after a while he said, "Don't do such dangerous things again. If you do this... I can't afford it."
Yue Mingming was unconvinced and asked, "Do you want me to watch them kill you?"
Zhao Congyun seemed not to want to argue with her about this unanswered question anymore. He looked around, and when his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could vaguely see that it was a square secret room.
"Did you discover this? I grew up here, and I had no idea there was such a secret room in Yongshang Palace."
Yue Mingming nodded and explained, "I wandered here and saw some women's clothing and cosmetics. Then I noticed your name on the bookshelf, so I leaned over to take a closer look. I bumped into something and the bookshelf made a noise. It sounded a lot like the secret room mechanism in Shenyuan... I was about to check when those two people came in."
She suddenly thought of something and sighed, "You're really good at kicking someone when they're down... You actually stuffed the doll directly into Meng Xun's arms. He must have been scared to death!"
Zhao Congyun smiled rarely. "When I took it, I knew what it was. Seeing that you acted so seriously, I naturally had to cooperate."
"Do you know that doll?"
"…My mother sewed it for me when I was a child."
Yue Mingming was startled and slapped his thigh, saying, "Oh no! I hope it's not broken... I'm sorry, I'll definitely help you find it when we get out!"
Zhao Congyun said calmly, "No need. I threw the doll away the day my mother left Yongshang Palace. I no longer need it."
Yue Mingming listened to him calmly, but he felt uncomfortable in his heart. Just when he was about to open his mouth to comfort him, he suddenly thought of a question -
"You said you threw the doll away? Then why is it in this room?"
Zhao Congyun was also stunned. He frowned and shook his head. Yue Mingming shuddered suddenly and couldn't help but lean closer to Zhao Congyun.
Zhao Congyun noticed her fear and hesitated for a moment before gently covering her hand. "Don't worry... According to what you said, the items on the bookshelf with my name on them are most likely homework I did or books I read in the past, plus my mother's clothes... It seems like someone is specifically collecting our old belongings."
"Don't you think... this is terrible?!" Yue Mingming was in tears.
Zhao Congyun shook his head slightly, already having a guess in his mind. He asked, "Do you have any fire sticks with you?"
Yue Mingming took out a small item given to her by Uncle Dong from her waist and handed it over, saying, "Is this it? I don't quite know how to use it..."
Zhao Congyun took it and lit it, and the secret room suddenly lit up. Yue Mingming huddled behind Zhao Congyun and took a quick look around. The surroundings were clean, with no ghosts or people around.
In the most conspicuous place in the secret room hangs a picture of a beautiful woman dressing herself. In the painting, spring flowers are in full bloom and the woman is lazily leaning against the window, dressing herself and drinking. Although her face is not visible, just looking at her back is enough to captivate people.
Zhao Congyun pulled Yue Mingming over slowly, looked at her silently for a long time, and said softly, "This is my mother."
Yue Mingming thought of the rumors about Yongshang Palace and guessed, "Was it your father who painted it?"
Zhao Congyun's eyes stopped at the red seal that signed the signature: "Yes, it's him."
Yue Mingming suddenly understood: "It's your father... He hid your and your old things here!"
"He's secretly missing you... You've been saying that their relationship is falling out and they'll never see each other again... Doesn't he regret it?"
Zhao Congyun lowered his eyes and remained silent.
The late emperor lived alone in Yongshang Palace for a long time in his later years. Was it in this unknown room that he reminisced about the love he had missed in his life?
Yue Mingming curiously opened an exquisite wooden box placed next to him. Inside was a thin roll of silk, carefully tied with a red thread, which looked extremely precious.
"What's this?"
Zhao Congyun untied the red string and unfolded it, on which was written a paragraph of text.
His expression changed slightly, and he said in a hoarse voice, "This is... the engagement letter from my father to my mother."
Seeing that Yue Mingming didn't understand, Zhao Congyun explained, "Mother is only a concubine, not the empress, and not considered father's legal wife... Logically, he shouldn't write such things."
"It doesn't make sense."
But what about Yu Qing? He didn't understand before, but now he understands his father more than ever.
"Oh... on your side, the letter of appointment is very important!" Yue Mingming expressed his understanding.
Zhao Congyun sighed, "Yes... With this engagement letter, the two of us can worship heaven and earth and have a simple wedding."
Seeing his melancholy expression, Yue Mingming felt an inexplicable stir in her heart and blurted out, "Tell me honestly, after you knew I wanted to be a princess... did you write this for me?"
Zhao Congyun didn't answer, but asked: "Is it still important to talk about this now?"
"Important! Extremely important!"
Zhao Congyun paused and said reluctantly, "...I wrote one casually."
Yue Mingming grabbed his sleeve, his eyes gleaming, "Let's worship Heaven and Earth together! Right now!"
Zhao Congyun: …………
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
