Chapter 34 The Escape: A Suffocating Heartbeat and Trembling
She originally thought that Zhou Ling would surely die if he fell into the hands of the Baiyang Society, which is why she dared to risk imitating the imperial edict to release Gu Zhou.
With the dynasty about to change hands, who would bother to investigate the authenticity of a letter?
To everyone's surprise, Zhou Ling not only returned alive, but also wanted to pursue the matter!
Now, the whereabouts of the Buddhist beads that could ensure her reincarnation are unknown. She has lost her greatest support and can only pretend to be friendly with Zhou Ling for now, and then plan for the future.
...
Under the close escort of the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, Fangru returned to the Shen residence.
Upon reaching the gate of the mansion, she stopped and said to the deputy commander, "General, please wait. I would like to have a private conversation with my father. Please wait outside the mansion."
The deputy commander looked troubled: "His Majesty's decree requires us to protect the young lady..."
Fangru frowned slightly, suppressing her panic. She adopted the air of a future imperial concubine, her voice soft yet undeniably firm: "His Majesty has granted me permission to return home to visit my family, which means he trusts me. I am about to enter the palace, and the general insists on eavesdropping on my private conversation with my father. Could it be that he intends to embarrass me later?"
Upon hearing this, the deputy commander stiffened. Considering His Majesty's unusual attitude towards this woman, he ultimately dared not offend her too much and could only clasp his hands and say, "This humble general would not dare. Please go ahead, young lady. This humble general will wait outside the mansion and must depart for return before Shenshi (3-5 PM)."
"Thank you for your trouble, General." Fangru secretly breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and quickly entered the mansion.
Father Shen had been anxiously waiting in the flower hall. Upon seeing his daughter, he immediately came forward and looked her over carefully: "Ru'er, you're finally back! What happened these past few days? Why did you disappear with His Majesty?"
“Father, don’t worry,” Fangru said, taking her father’s arm and trying to keep her voice calm. “We were kidnapped by the traitors of the Baiyang Society and are being held in a woodshed.”
"What?!" Father Shen exclaimed in shock. "Are you injured? His Majesty..."
“My daughter is alright,” Fangru shook her head, the image of Zhou Ling standing in front of her flashing before her eyes, and her tone paused slightly, “Your Majesty… he protected my daughter very well.”
Upon hearing this, Father Shen's expression became complicated. He dismissed those around him and lowered his voice, saying, "Ru'er, there are many rumors circulating outside, all saying that you have a close relationship with His Majesty. Tell your father, what are your true thoughts? If you have no feelings for His Majesty, this matter must be clarified as soon as possible, lest it ruin your life!"
Looking at her father's worried face, Fangru knew she could no longer hide it. She took a deep breath, her voice trembling, "Father, I... I'm afraid I can't clear things up."
She steeled her resolve and whispered, "To save Gu Lang, I forged His Majesty's personal letter at the Xuanji Banquet and falsely conveyed the imperial edict, which is how Gu Lang was rescued from the Ministry of Justice prison."
"What?!" Father Shen was struck dumb, his face turning deathly pale. He staggered back a step, pointed at Fangru, and after a long while, he lowered his voice in anguish and said, "You! How dare you be so audacious! Forging an imperial edict is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"
He was both shocked and angry, and couldn't help but secretly blame Gu Zhou. If it weren't for him, his daughter wouldn't have taken such a risk!
"At the time, I thought His Majesty was in grave danger..." Fangru explained urgently, then her face hardened with determination, "Father, His Majesty knows about this. Although he hasn't acted yet, retribution is inevitable. We can't stay in the capital any longer. I must leave immediately and go to Jiangnan to seek refuge with my maternal grandmother!"
"Escape?" Father Shen shook his head repeatedly. "All the land under heaven belongs to the emperor. Where can you escape to? It would be better... better for me to go and beg His Majesty right now. I'll risk my old face and beg His Majesty to show leniency for... for the sake of the hardships you shared with him..."
“It’s no use, Father!” Fangru interrupted him, a bitter look flashing in her eyes. “His Majesty might… might spare me on a whim, but what about Gu Lang? If His Majesty knows that I left for Gu Lang, he will surely be furious with him, and Gu Lang will undoubtedly die!”
She recalled that night in her first life, when the candlelight flickered red, and the ambiguous scent of ambergris filled every corner of the bedchamber.
Zhou Ling held her in his arms, not with the majesty of an emperor, but with a languid warmth after a passionate possession. His fingers idly twirled her hair, his breath hot and dangerous against her ear.
“Tell me,” his lips almost touched her earlobe, his voice husky with a hint of satisfied satiation, “my Ru’er, what is your wish at this moment? Hmm?”
At that moment, she was trapped by this intimate and heart-pounding posture, her whole body stiff, yet she had to force herself to relax and lean against his chest.
She could feel the burgeoning heat beneath his clothes and his steady heartbeat—the calm of a conqueror after confirming ownership.
She dared not mention herself, and could only transform her deepest fear into a humble plea, her voice trembling almost imperceptibly: "Your Majesty... I have no other request, I only wish that Your Majesty... will never harm my family."
Zhou Ling stopped moving.
He stepped back slightly, raised his hand, and gently stroked her tense cheek with his knuckles, his eyes deep and unfathomable, as if examining whether a precious possession was worried about the safety of its appendage.
Then, he chuckled softly, a laugh filled with an air of complete control.
He pulled her close again, with such force that it seemed he wanted to meld her into his very bones, and his words of promise were accompanied by a heavy kiss on her neck, almost a nibble:
"Very well, I agree. As long as you stay by my side and behave yourself, your family will naturally be safe and sound."
Fangru pulled herself out of her memories, her eyes filled with even more bitterness.
That brief confrontation that night, that promise made under the power imbalance—but that was a distant past life. In this life, he is violent and unpredictable. Does that promise still stand?
She dared not gamble. "Only if I leave and completely sever my ties with Gu Lang will His Majesty perhaps find it boring and stop pursuing the matter of Gu Lang."
Looking at his daughter's pale yet resolute face, Mr. Shen felt a mix of emotions, and his resentment towards Gu Zhou, who had repeatedly put his daughter in danger, intensified.
He sighed heavily, knowing full well that his daughter was right; staying in the capital was indeed fraught with danger.
"But Ru'er, this journey has been so long, and you're a young woman all alone..."
"Father, rest assured, I have my own plans." Fangru held her father's hand tightly. "There is no time to lose. I must leave before His Majesty strengthens his defenses. The Imperial Guards outside the mansion will only wait until Shenshi (3-5 PM). This is my only chance."
Father and daughter looked at each other in silence, a heavy atmosphere of worry and helplessness filling the air. The father's eyes were filled with heartache and anxiety, but knowing his daughter's mind was made up, he could only say in a trembling voice, "Ru'er, everything... must be done carefully!"
"Take care, Father!" Fangru kowtowed heavily, suppressing the stinging tears in her eyes, and resolutely stood up.
Without the slightest hesitation, she quickly returned to her boudoir, changed into the coarse cloth clothes of an ordinary maid, and used dust to slightly conceal her outstanding appearance. Taking advantage of the servants changing shifts, she slipped out silently through the most secluded back door. A fast horse, already prepared, was tethered to a tree at the alley entrance.
However, after mounting her horse, Fangru tightened the reins, but instead of looking at the official road leading to Jiangnan, she looked in another direction, at the abandoned area on the outskirts of the city where she and Zhou Ling had been imprisoned.
Go to Jiangnan?
Living under someone else's roof, hiding his identity, he was forever separated from his father and Gu Zhou.
No!
She gripped the reins tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.
On what grounds?
Why should she flee like a loser?
She, Shen Fangru, is someone who has experienced four lifetimes of reincarnation and holds the opportunity for rebirth!
The Buddhist prayer beads bracelet that allowed her to turn the tide was only temporarily lost. As long as she found it, she would still have the power to turn things around!
So what if Zhou Ling is the emperor?
He was violent and suspicious, but he was also only human.
But she possessed a trump card that he could never have imagined.
In this life, she will no longer passively endure suffering, nor will she stand by and watch the people she cares about suffer!
She wants to take back the prayer beads, she wants to use the advantage of her rebirth, she wants to... defeat him!
It's not about running away, but about conquering, and then honorably protecting everything she wants to protect!
A fire she had never felt before, a mixture of resentment, ambition, and determination, burned fiercely in her heart.
She turned her horse around and, without hesitation, spurred it to gallop towards the former stronghold of the Baiyang Society.
The wind ruffled her hair, revealing a desperate glint in her clear eyes.
She was going to retrieve the bracelet that the henchmen had pawned.
That place is the turning point of everything, and it will surely become the starting point of her new chapter!
Fangru, relying on her vague memory of the terrain around Beijing, carefully avoided the official roads and chose to travel along the side roads.
However, as she approached the city gate, her heart sank. Her portrait was prominently displayed at the city gate, along the city wall, and even outside the teahouses along the way. The words "Wanted Criminal Shen Fangru" on the wanted posters were glaringly obvious.
Soldiers, armed with weapons, patrolled back and forth, checking passersby; the atmosphere was tense and grim.
"What kind of notorious bandit are they trying to catch with this kind of fuss?"
People were whispering among themselves by the roadside.
"Who knows? I heard it was a woman who committed a heinous crime, enraging the emperor..."
Fangru lowered her straw hat, her palms sweating, and hurriedly led her horse into a nearby grove of trees.
Zhou Ling moved too fast!
He actually launched a city-wide manhunt for her!
Fortunately, she didn't hear any news from passersby about her father or Gu Zhou being imprisoned, which relieved her slightly, but her inner panic only increased.
As dusk fell, dark clouds gathered, and soon a torrential downpour began.
The rain blurred the view and washed away the muddy road.
Fangru was soaked to the bone, cold and hungry, but dared not linger.
She remembered that there was a pawnshop nearby, which used to be one of the strongholds for the Baiyang Society to sell stolen goods.
She risked sneaking into the town, found the pawnshop, pretended to pawn items, and subtly inquired about the situation.
"Shopkeeper, I heard that the Baiyang Society recently acquired a lot of good stuff?"
The shopkeeper, a lean old man, glanced at her and said in a low voice, "Why are you asking this, young lady? Those unlucky things have already been dealt with. There's a batch of decent quality items that we'll transport out of the city tonight when the rain lightens, to avoid any unforeseen complications."
Fangru's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly asked where the shipment was going.
The shopkeeper gave a vague answer, only saying that they were going west.
Fangru dared not ask any more questions, fearing it would arouse suspicion, so she left behind a piece of inexpensive jewelry and hurriedly departed.
West!
That's the direction of the abandoned mountain villa where she was kidnapped!
Among that batch of jewelry, there is a high possibility that her Buddhist prayer beads were among them!
As soon as the rain subsided, Fangru immediately mounted her horse and rode westward along the muddy official road.
The night was deep and the road was slippery. Anxious, she urged her horse to go faster.
However, at a steep bend, the horse's hooves suddenly slipped, and both horse and rider instantly lost their balance, neighing in alarm as they rolled down the steep hillside beside the road!
The violent impact and pain struck, and Fangru's vision went black as she completely lost consciousness.
In a daze, she felt as if she had fallen into another time and space.
That was the first imperial palace, where the royal garden was fragrant with flowers and bathed in bright sunshine.
She was dressed in a gorgeous palace gown, laughing as she strolled among the artificial hills and pavilions, with Zhou Ling behind her, his eyes brimming with arrogance and passion.
"My beloved concubine, stop running! I've caught you!"
He laughed loudly, his voice slightly breathless from the chase, yet filled with the joy of certain victory.
"Your Majesty cannot catch me!" She turned around, smiling charmingly.
Finally, at the end of a secluded path hidden by rose bushes, he caught up with her.
With a swift movement, he precisely encircled her slender waist, the powerful force causing her to spin half a circle before they both tumbled onto a thick, soft patch of grass nearby.
Sunlight filtered through the intertwined branches, casting shimmering shadows on his handsome face. His breath, rapid from running, brushed warmly against her neck.
She let out a soft cry and fell backward amidst the blooming flowers and green grass, her smoky-colored skirt spreading out like a blossoming flower.
His strong body immediately covered her, half his weight pressing down on her, the other half supporting her with his elbows, trapping her firmly beneath his figure.
All around was silent, save for the sounds of breathing and the rustling of leaves and flowers.
He lowered his head, his gaze burning like two flickering flames, from her slightly disheveled hair to her chest heaving with each breath, finally locking onto her shimmering eyes.
His eyes held an undeniable, domineering possessiveness, a burning desire that seemed to devour her, and an intense, overwhelming doting affection.
"Now...where can you run to?" His low, husky voice carried a hint of amusement and a dangerous undertone as he traced her jawline with his fingertips and slowly lifted her face.
Then, the kiss landed.
It wasn't a gentle, fleeting kiss, but a deep, predatory one. His burning lips and tongue pried open her teeth, entwining and sucking, as if trying to seize all her breath and soul.
The sunlight was dappled, and the warmth of his body emanated from where our skin touched, mingling with the fresh scent of grass and earth and the faint smell of sweat secreted during arousal, creating a primal and dizzying atmosphere.
The touch was so real, so hot, and filled with a destructive passion that even in her coma in the distant future, she felt a suffocating palpitation and trembling.
"Hmm..."
Fangru suddenly woke up from that beautiful dream, her forehead covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.
She opened her eyes, and what came into view was not a cold, damp hillside, but an exquisitely embroidered tent roof, with a soft and comfortable brocade mattress beneath her.
A faint sandalwood scent filled the air.
She struggled to sit up, but the movement aggravated her injuries, causing her to groan in pain.
"Young lady, you're awake?"
A clear voice rang out, and a well-dressed maidservant quickly stepped forward to help her up.
Fangru then realized that she was in a luxuriously furnished, warm and cozy room.
On the other side of the room, at a table, sat a handsome man in a brocade robe with a gentle demeanor. When he saw her wake up, he put down the book in his hand, looked over with a smile, and his eyes were filled with concern and inquiry.
"How are you feeling, young lady? I happened to be passing by the foot of the mountain when you fell off your horse, so I rescued you."
The man's voice was gentle and polite, but it instantly put Fangru on her guard.
Where is this place?
Who is this person?
How long was she unconscious?
Has Zhou Ling's arrest warrant reached here yet?
Countless questions flooded Fangru's mind in an instant.
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