Chapter 20: Please Don't Leave Me
Zhou Ling stared at her for a moment, and his mind flashed back to the area of Xicheng. The so-called "small shop" was actually located in a somewhat desolate place near the western suburbs. It was a stand-alone shop with no complicated streets or houses around it, and the view was extremely open.
He secretly weighed the options and concluded that, given the capabilities of his secret guards, even if the visible guards were removed, it would not be difficult to firmly control that area and ensure its absolute safety.
The next day, a seemingly simple blue-canopied carriage drove out of the palace and headed straight for the western city.
The restaurant stood alone in a three-story building with upturned eaves, appearing somewhat deserted. Zhou Ling indeed only brought Gao Xuan, the commander of his secret guards, with him. Gao Xuan, dressed in black, resembled the shadow of an emperor, silently and warily lagging behind a step.
The only private room on the third floor overlooking the river was already prepared. It was elegantly furnished, and opening the window revealed a view of the winding earthen city wall and the desolate countryside in the distance.
The waiter respectfully served several signature dishes, among which a steaming bowl of milky white soup noodles was specially placed in front of Fangru, its aroma filling the air.
Zhou Ling picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and his posture was as relaxed as that of an ordinary wealthy young man. However, his noble demeanor and the sharp look in his eyes as he casually glanced at the surroundings outside the window were completely out of place in this small, bustling shop.
Fangru ate the soup dumplings in small bites, finding them tasteless, her entire mind focused on the possible turning point that was about to arrive.
Her mind raced, calculating how she could use this opportunity to temporarily escape Zhou Ling's control, even for just a moment, so that she could contact her father and gradually work out a plan to help Gu Zhou break free from that dark and hopeless cage.
The room was quiet, with only the faint sounds of chewing and the occasional rustling of wind outside the window.
Suddenly, extremely light yet swift footsteps came from the stairwell. Gao Xuan's figure appeared outside the curtain like a ghost, but did not enter. He simply knocked lightly on the door frame twice at a specific frequency.
Zhou Ling paused slightly in her chopsticks.
Gao Xuan approached silently and whispered something in his ear.
Zhou Ling's expression remained unchanged, but the leisurely and lazy look between his brows vanished instantly, replaced by a layer of cold and murderous intent.
He put down his silver chopsticks, making a soft, crisp sound.
He turned to Fangru, his tone still gentle, but with an undeniable air of authority: "I have some urgent matters to attend to immediately. Please wait here and do not wander off." His gaze lingered on her face for a moment, deep and unreadable, before he stood up and quickly left with Gao Xuan.
The door to the private room was gently closed.
The gentle facade crumbled instantly. Fangru's heart pounded wildly in her chest, almost breaking her ribs.
An opportunity! This was the only opportunity she had been waiting for!
She almost immediately sprang up from the embroidered stool and rushed toward the window facing the street.
She suddenly pushed open the wooden window, and the street scene below shrank slightly. A cool breeze rushed in, blowing the stray hairs on her forehead.
The height of the third floor made her dizzy; jumping off was absolutely out of the question.
His gaze swept quickly and landed on the dining table covered with a simple cotton cloth.
Without hesitation, she forcefully ripped off the tablecloth, her movements swift and silent, and then pulled the lining cloth from the other coffee table as well.
Her fingertips trembled slightly with nervousness, but she still quickly connected the ends of the cloth together, tied them into a knot, and made a simple but sturdy rope.
She tied one end of the rope firmly to the heavy rosewood window frame, tugged hard to make sure it was secure, and then threw the other end out the window without hesitation.
The cloth rope swung in the air, its length just reaching below the eaves of the second floor.
Immediately afterwards, she quickly took off one of her soft satin embroidered shoes, estimated the angle, and threw it accurately.
The shoe landed conspicuously on the gray-tiled eaves extending from the second floor, as if it had fallen accidentally during a hasty escape.
After doing all this, she took one last look at the staged escape scene, took a deep breath, suppressed her panic, and turned to look around the private room.
In the corner stood a large elmwood cabinet used to store spare dishes and cushions. She quickly opened the cabinet door, squeezed in sideways, and gently closed the door, leaving only a tiny gap for observation and breathing.
The cabinet was cramped and filled with the smell of aged wood and faint dust mites.
Fangru curled up inside, holding her breath and concentrating, even the sound of her heartbeat seemed to be amplified infinitely, hitting her eardrums.
She heard the door to the private room being pushed open suddenly, heavy footsteps entering, followed by a moment of deathly silence.
"Where is he?" Zhou Ling's voice rang out, no longer the usual lazy or gentle tone, but cold and sharp as ice, with a hint of tension that was almost imperceptible.
"There's a strip of cloth in the window! I'll go after it immediately!" It was Gao Xuan's voice, taut as a bowstring, responding swiftly.
Immediately afterwards, a series of hurried footsteps rushed downstairs like a whirlwind, and the private room seemed to be empty in an instant.
Fangru's tense nerves relaxed slightly, and a glimmer of hope for success crept into her heart. She cautiously peeked out through the crack in the cabinet door, and only after confirming that no one was there did she very gently push the cabinet door open and step out.
However, the moment she turned around, her breath suddenly stopped.
The summer emperor, who should have been chasing after them, was now sitting at the same rosewood round table where he had just eaten, one hand casually resting on the table, his fingertips tapping the surface absently.
He had even calmly poured himself another half glass of wine, his eyes as deep as the night, staring intently at her, as if he had already anticipated where she would appear from.
That look in his eyes was the amusement and coldness of a hunter watching his supposedly clever prey fall into the ultimate trap.
Fangru was instantly overwhelmed by immense fear and the humiliation of being mocked!
The cautiousness and meticulousness of the past few days, the yearning for freedom, and the despair of being imprisoned again all erupted at this moment.
"Zhou Ling!" she screamed, her reason completely collapsing. She grabbed the nearest white porcelain wine glass and threw it at him with all her might!
Zhou Ling tilted his head slightly, and the wine glass flew past his temple, smashing against the wall behind him and shattering, splashing wine onto a corner of his dragon robe.
But this did not stop Fangru.
As if she had gone mad, she grabbed the plates and bowls on the table and threw them at him without a care, shards and food scraps flying everywhere.
"Kill me! Kill me now!" Her voice was shrill, tinged with sobs, but more like a desperate cry. "I can't take another day of this, being schemed against, imprisoned, and toyed with by you! Go ahead and do it!"
A sharp shard of porcelain grazed Zhou Ling's cheek, leaving a thin bloodstain with a bead of bright red blood seeping out.
The pain caused Zhou Ling's expression to change abruptly.
Shattered porcelain shards… sharp curses… a woman’s piercing cries… and that greasy,狰狞 (zhengning - ferocious/hideous) man’s face, clutching blood-stained shards of porcelain, approaching step by step… the deep, bone-revealing wound on the mother’s face, the gushing blood staining her tattered clothes, and staining his entire world when he was ten years old… finally, that cold, lifeless corpse lying in the filth of the alley…
Memories, like poisoned icicles, relentlessly pierced through the hardened defenses he had built up over the years.
The stench of blood and the feeling of despair seemed to fill his nostrils and throat once again, almost suffocating him.
He didn't speak, but stared at her with an extremely complex gaze. In it were the rage of an emperor being disobeyed, the shock of being startled by her hysterical appearance, and the deep wounds inflicted by her words "playing with her" and "kill her." But the deepest and most shocking thing was the intense pain from old, bloody wounds that he couldn't suppress, which almost overflowed from his eyes.
For a fleeting moment, Fangru clearly saw an almost tangible killing intent surge in Zhou Ling's eyes, cold and violent, as if it wanted to tear her apart completely.
She was so frightened that she stopped moving, froze on the spot, her heart almost stopping, thinking that she was about to be splattered with blood at any moment.
However, the terrifying killing intent receded abruptly like a tide, so quickly it seemed like her illusion.
He turned abruptly, the wide sleeves of his dark robe whipping up a chilling wind that swept across the mess on the ground, and strode away without looking back.
The heavy, swift footsteps pounded on the wooden stairs, each sound like a death knell of despair, striking Fangru's heart until it vanished completely.
The private room was deathly silent, save for the shards of metal scattered on the floor, the spilled food and wine, and Fangru's own uncontrollable, violent breathing.
The air was thick with an unsettling smell of food scraps and broken porcelain.
She felt completely drained and slid down the cold wall, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably.
The icy killing intent that surged in his eyes just now, almost devouring and tearing her apart, was definitely not fake.
In his eyes, she was ultimately nothing more than a plaything to temporarily please him, and could be easily destroyed once she tried to break free or even hurt his reputation.
It might even... implicate her cautious father, who lives far away outside the palace...
Overwhelming fear and utter despair engulfed her instantly, like ice water.
We can't wait any longer!
We must be reborn immediately!
This time, she wanted to seize that slim chance before he could kill her!
She raised her icy hand and eagerly touched the smooth purple jade prayer beads on her wrist.
Just as her fingertips gripped the beaded string and she was about to tear it off, a pair of arms suddenly and tightly embraced her from behind without warning!
The embrace came so suddenly and so forcefully, with an almost uncontrollable, violent trembling of loss and regain, seamlessly imprinting his cool ambergris scent and her familiar body temperature onto her back.
He held her so tightly that it hurt, as if he wanted to re-anchor himself, who had just been dragged into the abyss by the ghost of memory, onto her real and warm body.
Fangru froze in shock, her mind blank. She didn't hear any of his footsteps returning!
Zhou Ling buried his face deep into her slender neck, his heavy, hot breath spraying onto her most sensitive skin, sending shivers down her spine.
His voice was so hoarse it was completely distorted, stripped of all imperial majesty and coldness, leaving only a broken, naked emotion:
"Don't be afraid..." His arms tightened around her, making it almost impossible for her to breathe, as if he wanted to confirm her existence through this almost violent embrace and dispel the cold memories etched into her bones. "It's my fault...it's all my fault."
He repeated, his voice carrying a tone she had never heard before, a mixture of lingering fear and overwhelming possessiveness: "I forgive you... I forgive you..."
He paused, as if using all his strength, before whispering in her ear in a low, hoarse voice, filled with suppressed pain and deep longing—a voice she had never heard before:
"Fangru, don't leave me."
This sudden turn of events, this completely unexpected request, left Fangru utterly bewildered.
All the struggles, all the despair, all the plans seemed to be imprisoned and melted away by this heavy yet scalding embrace at this moment.
Her fingers, which had been resting on the prayer beads, seemed to have lost all strength, and slowly and weakly loosened.
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