Chapter 163 Bathing, are you still reading?
“Your Highness…” Luo Yichen advised softly, “Miss Guan seems to have suffered quite a fright. In a few days… I will accompany you to see her. It is really not advisable to take any more risks tonight. Returning to the palace would cause too much commotion. Why don’t you… rest at my home for a while, okay?”
"Your home?" Mu Chenbi asked, "Aren't you afraid of alerting your family?"
Luo Yichen chuckled, "Your Highness, have you forgotten? Two years ago, when I was promoted to leader of the Black Hawk Guard, the Imperial Household Department allocated me a house not far from the palace, in Qingwa Lane. The house is simple but elegant. There's even wine kept warm at home. It's so cold outside, drinking some wine can warm you up."
Mu Chenbi's face darkened. "Who said I was going to drink?"
“This…” Luo Yichen mustered his courage, “Your Highness’s breath still smells of alcohol, and my nose… isn’t stuffy either.”
"How dare you..." Mu Chenbi flung open his clothes and strode away, "Aren't you going to leave?"
Luo Yichen hurried after him, savoring the Crown Prince's every move. Suddenly, his vision blurred. He had seen something he shouldn't have. Would his eyes be gouged out tomorrow? It seemed he should persuade the Crown Prince to drink a few more cups and get drunk so he would forget what happened tonight.
"Guan girl," Wan Qixi called to Guan Ye in a low voice, "Mu Chenbi didn't come with you, no one is chasing you, why are you walking so fast?"
Guan Ye seemed not to hear Wan Qixi's voice, and her steps quickened even further.
"Guan girl," Wan Qixi said, quickening his pace to walk alongside Guan Ye, "You saw the murderer, didn't you?"
Guan Ye paused slightly but did not stop. Wan Qixi bit her lip and said softly, "You also know...where he escaped to?"
“I don’t know, and I didn’t see it either,” Guan Ye interrupted angrily. “How could I have seen the murderer that so many of you couldn’t catch? Besides, if I really saw who the murderer was, would he have let me go? I’d probably be a corpse by now.”
"Whether you saw it or not, you know in your heart." Seeing that the gate of Xingguo Ward was not far away, Wanqi Xi slowed down. "Let me give you a piece of advice: Rongdu is a deep place, and the situation can change in an instant. You should take care of yourself and try to get out unscathed. Don't get involved in this mess and end up in a terrible situation."
Guan Ye stopped in her tracks. "You're trying to persuade me? Then why are you caught in the middle of this mess? Do you want to be doomed forever?"
Wan Qixi, concealing his sword, chuckled dryly and said, "I've lived for several more years than you. What storms haven't I weathered? I've seen so much that I'm no longer afraid. If I were going to die, I would have died long ago. Heaven has allowed me to live peacefully to this day. I'm incredibly lucky and have a long life. I can escape unscathed no matter what happens."
"Thank you for reminding me," Guan Ye said calmly.
"Stay close to that guy named Ajiu," Wanqi Xi shouted again. "He seems like he's got a tough life; he might be able to protect you for life."
Guan Ye turned to look at him, "You used to find everything about me disagreeable, so why are you suddenly taking me into consideration?"
Wan Qixi twirled the horizontal sword in his hand, stroking the blade as if an old friend were still there. After a moment, Wan Qixi slung the sword over his shoulders, turned his back with a flourish, and said, "If anything happens to you, who will do business with me? In the Ghost Market, you are the one who understands me best. You even borrowed my sword before. I'm leaving."
Wan Qixi walked lightly and disappeared into the long street in no time. Guan Ye heard Wan Qixi's words echoing in her ears. She had only known Wan Qixi for a few months, but today's heartfelt words made her feel like she had known an old friend.
Old friends? Everyone's dead, what old friends are left? Guan Ye didn't have time to think about it; she had more important things to do.
Before Guan Ye even approached the east wing, she could already hear snoring coming from inside. Feng Shisan was snoring the loudest; she wondered how the others could sleep. Guan Ye clenched her fist and pounded on the door, making a loud, drum-like banging noise.
"Who is it?" Yawning incessantly, Guan Ye recognized Ji Fang's voice and pounded even harder.
The door opened from the inside, and Ji Fang, his mouth slightly agape, rubbed his eyes and saw that it was Guan Ye. He thought he was dreaming and waved to close the door. "You must have gone to the wrong room to get up in the middle of the night. This is our room. Your room..." Ji Fang pointed outside, "It's over there."
Guan Ye pushed Ji Fang aside and strode straight towards Lou Cangyu's bed, her hand reaching for the empty mattress. "Where is Lou Cangyu?"
Ajiu put on her coat and lit the oil lamp. "Guan Ye?" Ajiu threw down the tinderbox. "What's wrong? What happened?"
Seeing Guan Ye covered in blood, Ji Fang turned pale with fright, his head spinning and he almost fainted. "What... what's going on here? Where did all this blood come from?"
Guan Ye's hair was disheveled, she was covered in dust, her clothes were stained with blood, and her outstretched hands were also covered with congealed bloodstains. After confirming that the blood was not Guan Ye's, A Jiu helped her sit down, smoothed her stray hairs, and looked her over again and again, "What happened?"
"Where is Lou Cangyu?" Guan Ye stared intently at Lou Cangyu's empty bed.
Awakened by the noise, Xiao Ma and Feng Shisan saw what was happening before them and immediately sprang to their feet. Feng Shisan slapped himself across the face, howling in pain, thinking he was dreaming.
Xiao Ma glanced at Lou Cangyu's empty bed, "Cangyu... hasn't been coming back to stay occasionally lately..."
"Not returning home at night? That's probably him." Guan Ye's mind flashed back to the last scene the man in black had left her with—he moved like a rabbit, like a ghost, heading straight towards the inner ward, leaping into the air and vaulting over the high wall of the inner ward. If Guan Ye remembered correctly, that was where the Jingwu Pavilion was located…
"Say something!" Feng Shisan's temper flared. "What happened? Where did the blood on you come from? Why are you asking about Lou Cangyu? What happened to Cangyu? Could it be..." Feng Shisan's muscular body trembled slightly, "...is Lou Cangyu's blood?"
"Thirteenth Young Master!" Ji Fang cried out, "Pah, pah, pah, please stop!"
"Let Guan Ye speak slowly." A Jiu picked up the teapot and poured Guan Ye a cup of tea, watching her drink it slowly. He stroked her back with his palm and held her cold wrist tightly with his other hand. "Take your time and speak slowly. There's no rush. We're here, nothing will happen."
—"Song Mian is dead."
"Song Mian is dead?" Xiao Ma exclaimed in shock. "Song Mian? Which Song Mian? It's him..."
"Someone's dead?" Ji Fang's voice trembled with tears. "Someone really died? Song Mian, is that... the one who fries fried dough cakes? The Song Mian who jumped into the sea and survived?"
After Guan Ye recounted the whole story, the people sitting around fell silent. Xiao Ma looked suspiciously at Lou Cangyu's bed, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he opened his mouth but didn't say anything.
"Could it be... Lou Cangyu?" Feng Shisan voiced everyone's thoughts. "He only uses his words to scare people... to kill someone... that's too much, isn't it?"
“I didn’t want it to be him either.” Guan Ye opened her blood-stained hand. “I touched the wound on Song Mian’s neck. The wound was smooth and went deep into the artery. I could tell it was from a sharp sword. The person who used the sword was extremely fast. They must have cut his throat without hesitation…” Guan Ye’s palm trembled, as if she could feel the blood dripping from Song Mian’s neck again, seeping from between her fingers until… the last drop was gone.
“He’s not the only one in Rongdu who knows how to use a sword,” Ji Fang stammered. “We’re all swordsmen too, aren’t we? This isn’t the first time Cang Yu has stayed out all night. Who knows where he’s off to have some fun? We’ll just ask him when he comes back at dawn. Murder? Guan Ye, you must be overthinking it. Cang Yu was just saying it. How could he kill someone?”
“You haven’t seen Song Mian for years, maybe he’s made some enemies.” Feng Shisan said, but his confidence was a little lacking. “Ji Fang is right, we’ll know when Cang Yuming comes back. Let’s call it a day… let’s call it a day.”
Xiao Ma glanced at A Jiu and said to him, "Guan Ye is frightened. Why don't you take her back to her room? Look at all the blood on her... wash her up and rest quickly. We'll talk about everything else when it's light."
“A-Jiu…” Guan Ye tugged at A-Jiu’s sleeve, her eyes glistening with tears.
As Guan Ye walked out of the east wing, she glanced back at Lou Cangyu's bed. This glance sent shivers down the spines of Feng Shisan and Ji Fang. Smelling the lingering stench of blood in the room, Ji Fang rolled into bed, pulling the covers tighter and trembling uncontrollably.
"No way." Ji Fang's teeth chattered. "Cang Yu would dare to kill someone? I don't believe it unless it's me."
"He... how could he have the guts?" Feng Shisan got up and walked to Lou Cangyu's bed, dusting off his bedding. "Even I, Young Master Shisan, wouldn't dare, how could he?"
"What if Lou Cangyu really did it?" Xiao Ma said in a sinister voice, "He already harbored resentment that Song Mian was still alive..."
Feng Shisan glared at him, "Then tell me, why did you have to kill him now of all times? The New Year is just around the corner. Even when slaughtering pigs for a major festival, you have to be careful about the date. How much more so when it comes to killing people?"
Xiao Ma closed his eyes and remained silent, calculating the days to come. The day after tomorrow was the day he had agreed to leave with the Mei siblings. Xiao Ma didn't want to get involved in any more trouble. Why Song Mian died, and who killed him, was something Xiao Ma didn't want to know.
In the quiet room
Ajiu brought several buckets of hot water and poured them into the bathtub. She tested the water temperature with her hand, then looked up to see Guan Ye sitting there, lost in thought. She walked closer, gently rubbing the bloodstains on Guan Ye's face. The blood had congealed into scars. Ajiu bent down to examine them closely, then took a towel, dipped it in hot water, and gently wiped Guan Ye's cheeks. The white towel blurred with patches of blood, and the large bloodstains on Guan Ye's clothes revealed the gruesome state of Song Mian's death. Thinking of the danger Guan Ye had endured that night, Ajiu felt a lingering fear and suddenly pulled Guan Ye tightly into her arms.
"Ah Jiu," Guan Ye whispered.
"I'm here." Ajiu kissed her hair hard. "From now on, you're not allowed to leave my side even for a moment."
Guan Ye hugged A Jiu tightly. "He really... looks a lot like Lou Cangyu. He climbed over into the inner chamber and went in the direction of Jingwu Pavilion."
Ajiu cupped Guan Ye's face in her hands, her dry lips touching her forehead. "I don't care who he is, you absolutely can't get hurt. Look at you now..." Ajiu pretended to be disgusted and frowned. "The water's almost cold, aren't you going to wash up?"
Guan Ye's cheeks flushed crimson. "How am I supposed to wash if you're not leaving? Why don't you just get out?"
Ah Jiu's eyes were deep, and she gently stroked Guan Ye's flushed face with her palm. "It's not like we haven't seen it before, why are you blushing? Fine, I'll go back then, you should get some rest." With that, she started to leave.
"A-Jiu..." Guan Ye hesitated, but even with her courage, the sight of Song Mian's death was still vivid in her mind's eye. The room was dimly lit, and the oil lamp would go out before she finished bathing... which would be even more terrifying. Thinking this, Guan Ye's mouth could no longer be controlled. "A-Jiu, don't go."
Ajiu smiled knowingly. "I'll stay outside your door, okay?" Guan Ye nodded emphatically. Ajiu smiled and walked out, closing the door behind her. She leaned against the doorframe and sat down on the floor. "Just call me if you need anything. I won't go anywhere. I'll stay right outside."
Through the slightly ajar door, Guan Ye could vaguely see A-Jiu's back leaning against the door. Guan Ye felt relieved. She took off her blood-stained clothes, and the large patches of bright red were shocking. Guan Ye shuddered and her legs went weak. Her knee hit the bathtub with a soft thud, startling A-Jiu, who turned around and asked, "What happened?"
With a turn of her head, the girl's slender, fair body came into view. Their eyes met, and they both froze for a moment. Guan Ye, who was the first to recover, suddenly slid into the bathtub, scooped up a pool of hot water, and splashed it at A Jiu. "Are you still looking?"
"Me!" A-Jiu said, somewhat annoyed. "I didn't mean to, it's just... I was worried something might happen to you..."
Guan Ye was both embarrassed and angry. "You're out there, what could possibly happen to me?"
"Fine, fine." Ah Jiu was too lazy to argue with her. She put her hands behind her head, leaned against the door and closed her eyes, and said, "I'll just sit here and not move. I won't look, ask, or care about any noise inside. Is that alright?"
Guan Ye hummed softly through her nose, immersing herself in the hot water. She sighed contentedly, deliberately making some noise as she tilted her head to examine A Jiu's figure. Seeing that he was true to his word and remained motionless, she felt a surge of dissatisfaction.
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