Chapter 35 A Thousand Years of Legacy: "He died so young."
After speaking, Lu Xiuyi turned around and jumped.
Following the instructions of the Prince of Yu, everyone quickly pulled up the long rope and tied it to a large tree in the distance. To prevent any problems, everyone held the rope tightly.
The raindrops, as big as beans, poured down rapidly, and the rain seemed to be getting even heavier. Everyone held their breath, staring intently at the spot where Lu Xiuyi had fallen into the water. The current, amplified by the rain, surged even more violently. By the time the water reached the shore, no one could tell whether the water on their faces and bodies was rain or river water.
After an unknown amount of time, the turbulent river suddenly splashed, and Lu Xiuyi's head emerged from the water.
The tension in everyone's hearts immediately eased, and Prince Yu shouted, "Pull! Pull it quickly!"
Before the words had even finished, everyone exerted their strength together.
But just then, a huge rock suddenly rushed down from upstream, and everyone's hearts jumped into their throats.
Chu Ze panicked and blurted out angrily, "Quick, quick, pull the young master up!"
Unfortunately, the terrain was too steep and the water flow was too fast. Before the echo of Chuze had even faded, the boulder had already rushed down.
The rope stopped the boulder, leaving them stuck in a limbo, unable to go up or down. The group could only furrow their brows and grit their teeth. But before long, bang! Due to inertia, the group fell backward.
The rope broke!
The boulder rolled downstream and away.
The river surface was now only filled with surging water like smoke and dust; there was no sign of anyone else.
Chu Ze was the first to react and immediately rushed to the riverbank to jump in. Prince Yu rushed over and grabbed him in time, shouting, "You can't swim. Jumping in will only add another life to the river."
"Let me go, what do you know? Get the hell out of my way!" Chu Ze roared with a ferocious expression. His voice was hoarse from the force of his shouting, and tears mixed with rainwater on his face, instantly blurring his vision.
Prince Yu couldn't hold him down. Seeing this, everyone snapped out of their shock and rushed over to hold Chu Ze down tightly. But in the next instant, a surge of grief overwhelmed him, and Chu Ze fainted.
***
The moonlight was like a ribbon, and the silver frost covered the ground, as if draped in silver gauze. The cicadas in the trees stopped their chirping, replaced by a chorus of croaking birds, and the lamps in the Pillow Flower Studio were ablaze with light.
Madam Yuan ordered someone to summon Meng Shuang, and everyone else withdrew, allowing the mother and daughter to have a private conversation in the room.
Meng Shuang sat on the side.
Madam Yuan leaned against the lamplight, holding an embroidery frame and embroidering acacia flowers: "I heard you embroidered a pair of shoes for Yin'er."
Meng Shuang replied softly, "Yes, the shoe uppers are already embroidered."
“Yin’er has already found a home. Regardless of what kind of person that young Marquis Lu is, at least he’s presentable on the surface. Shuang’er, you should hurry up too.” Madam Yuan put down her embroidery frame, took her hand, and said earnestly.
Meng Shuang asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by that, Mother?"
Madam Yuan sighed, "Although Madam Qin mentioned that she had discussed with Marquis Chengyi about proposing marriage, she has yet to arrive. I wonder if it's because of the Emperor's bestowal of marriage the other day. If that's the case, we've already promised Yin'er to them, so they should be coming to our door soon. But if not, Shuang'er, we'll have to be prepared for both possibilities."
Meng Shuang was quick-witted and perceptive. She immediately understood what Madam Yuan meant when she said, "Mother means that I should also get along well with Madam Lu."
“That’s exactly what I mean,” the orange candlelight illuminated Madam Yuan’s slightly wrinkled face, her eyes sharp. “Even if Madam Qin is kind to you, Young Master Qin is too opinionated and may not listen to his mother. On the contrary, Young Master Lu Jiayan, I saw today that he had some feelings for you, and Madam Lu is also very satisfied with you.”
Recalling the man she had seen during the day, though he was upright and noble, Meng Shuang still hesitated: "But, but isn't he just the adopted son of Marquis Jiangyang? Even if he isn't adopted, he certainly won't inherit the title of Marquis in the future."
Princess Minghua's only legitimate heir is still alive. How could the Emperor allow the position of the Marquis of Jiangyang's heir to fall into the hands of others?
Upon hearing this, Madam Yuan quickly glanced outside and lowered her voice, saying, "Silly girl, look around the world, which adoptive father or mother would love their adopted son like the apple of their eye? These are just things said to outsiders to save face for the officials."
Combining the gossip she had heard before, Meng Shuang instantly realized what was going on.
Marquis Jiangyang, Lu Huaiyuan, was originally from a fallen noble family. Later, through his own abilities, he passed the imperial examination with top honors, becoming the most outstanding scholar of his time. He thus successfully pulled his family, which had fallen into dire straits, back to prosperity. Unexpectedly, on the day of his public parade, Princess Minghua fell in love with him at first sight and declared that she would marry no one but him.
The late emperor had no choice but to agree to the marriage. However, it was rumored that Lu Huaiyuan had a childhood sweetheart. The two were deeply in love and their love was so intense that it tore their hearts apart. Lu Huaiyuan had even promised that the day he passed the imperial examination would be the day he would marry her. Later, Princess Minghua intervened and forced the two to separate.
After hearing what Yuan said, Meng Shuang felt that the rumor was somewhat credible.
After a moment's thought, Meng Shuang continued, "Even so, it's common knowledge throughout the capital that the two Lu brothers are at odds. Now that Fourth Sister is going to marry Lu Xiuyi, what if our daughter marries Lu Jiayan? How will we sisters get along in the future?"
Madam Yuan gently poked her forehead: "Thanks to your mother's constant teachings, how can you not understand? What man in this world can resist the allure of a beautiful woman? If you and Yin'er can both capture your husbands' hearts, why worry about not being able to resolve the rift between them? Besides, things are still undecided, and it's uncertain who you will marry. If everything goes smoothly and Madam Qin persuades Young Master Qin to marry you, this trouble will disappear. Right now, you just need to prepare for both possibilities. As for what to do next, we'll see!"
Meng Shuang thought about it. Lu Jiayan was pleasing to her eye, and he wasn't as arrogant as Qin Musui. Marrying him would be a good thing. Besides, as her mother said, if she and her sister really married the two brothers, wouldn't they be able to resolve the rift between them with gentle words and soft talk?
After considering this, Meng Shuang stood up and curtsied slightly to Madam Yuan: "Mother's considerations are thorough, and I will certainly obey."
After whispering their conversation, seeing that it was getting late, Madam Yuan told Meng Shuang to go back to her room to rest.
Qingliyuan.
After having a good meal at Xunmanlou, Meng Yu and Huaiyin, seeing that it was still early, went to listen to a short opera performance before leisurely returning home.
Aunt Shen and Madam Yuan returned from Lin'an Temple half an hour ago. Huaiyin was still excited about listening to the opera excerpt and excitedly described to Aunt Shen how wonderful the opera was.
The three joked around for a while, then went back to rest.
***
"Boom!"
The sound of thunder beside her ear startled Meng Yu awake.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she vaguely sensed a figure darting past the door. Startled, she sat up abruptly, quickly lifted the curtain, and went barefoot to open the door.
A person soaking wet suddenly appeared outside her door, their head hanging down, water dripping and obscuring their face. Meng Yu was startled and instinctively shouted, but no sound came out.
Just then, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and the person slowly raised his head, revealing a familiar pale face. His eyes, like those of a venomous snake, stared at her intently, and a slight smile appeared on his lips: "Meng Yu, I've come to pick you up."
It is Lu Xiuyi.
The man reached out his hand, and Meng Yu glanced at it. His hands, which were originally well-defined, were now abnormally swollen from being soaked in water, and gleamed a terrifying camellia white in the night.
She was so frightened that her face instantly turned pale, and she retreated step by step.
"don't want."
Meng Yu suddenly opened her eyes. The plain-colored curtains floated above her head. She stared blankly for a while, as if she remembered something. Suddenly, she tensed up, lifted the curtain, and looked towards the door.
The door was tightly shut, the moonlight outside the window was as white as frost, and everything was quiet.
Where is the thunder? Where are the figures?
It was all a dream.
She's gone mad. Why would she have such a dream?
Evil lives on for a thousand years. People like Lu Xiuyi live longer than anyone else.
Meng Yu let out a heavy sigh of relief, only then realizing that her back was already soaked with cold sweat, sticky and stuffy, and that a layer of cold sweat had also appeared on her forehead, slowly trickling down her temples.
After a while, she felt really uncomfortable, but she didn't want to wake Huaiyin and Zhimian, so she got up and went to the kitchen to fetch a basin of water to wipe herself down and changed into a new nightgown.
The cool water instantly dispelled her sleepiness when it soaked her skin. Meng Yu opened her eyes and lay on the couch, her mind still replaying Lu Xiuyi's face from her dream, leaving her terrified.
With the window closed, Meng Yu felt stuffy and breathless, so she got up and opened the window. A hazy white light shone in and covered the floor.
Meng Yu looked up and saw the crescent moon, silvery like a pool of water, hanging quietly in the inky sky. She took a deep breath, feeling a little more comfortable, before lying back down on the couch.
Before long, it got light.
Ning Sui bribed the same maid from last time again, asking her to secretly send a message, still inviting her to meet at Xiazhen Pavilion.
The small ink bottle that Meng Yu always carried with her had run out of ink. After receiving the letter, Meng Yu hurriedly went back to her room, filled the bottle with ink, and then put it back in her pocket.
Since she had just left yesterday, Meng Yu couldn't come up with any reason to tell Yuan Shi. She could only say goodbye to Aunt Chen, then she and Huai Yin changed their clothes and quietly slipped to the back door, climbed a tree, and jumped over the wall to get out.
When they arrived at Xiazhen Pavilion, Ning Sui was already waiting in the same elegant room as last time.
"Freshly brewed Tieguanyin," Ning Sui poured a cup of tea into her teacup, the steam rising and disappearing into the air. "The shopkeeper said it's newly acquired, so please have a taste."
Meng Yu smiled, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and wrote back, "The tea is fragrant and mellow, delicious. It's been a long time since I've seen you. What have you been up to lately?"
Speaking of recent events, Ning Sui sighed and said listlessly, "Stop talking about it. My brother can't stand me being idle, so he's been making me train troops in Dongying day and night. I'm so tired that my whole body aches and I haven't had a good night's sleep."
Meng Yu frowned slightly: "I heard that the Eastern Camp is strong and well-equipped. It's fine for them to train on weekdays, but why do they have to train day and night like this?"
Ning Sui reached behind her back and patted her back, frowning as she said, "In a few days, the East and West camps will have a live-fire exercise. If we lose, my brother will lose face and who knows what he'll do to me."
Meng Yu lowered her head and quickly wrote: "When I was in Xuzhou, I heard that the Western Camp was always inferior to the Eastern Camp. If that's the case, why do you need to worry about it?"
“You said it yourself, it was before. Things are different now since Lu Xiuyi took over the Western Camp,” Ning Sui smiled bitterly, but then she seemed to think of something and casually mentioned with some emotion, “To be honest, Lu Xiuyi, that playboy, could be considered a general. Who would have thought that he would die so young after just one trip to Yuezhou?”
Bang!
Meng Yu was drinking tea when she suddenly heard this, and the teacup in her hand slipped and fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
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