Hoping that an old friend will appear
The shadow returned from around the corner, and for some reason, he was carrying a warm yellow rabbit lantern. In the dim, flickering light of the lantern, the two shadows were stretched long and thin, overlapping on the cold snow.
Zhiwei's heart pounded again. She suppressed her excitement and watched the shadow approach step by step.
The light illuminated the cold, hard lines of the shadow mask's edge and a small section of its chin. An impulse made Zhiwei almost unable to control herself. She reached out, her fingertips trembling slightly, wanting to touch the mask that was so close to her.
The shadow took a step back, avoiding her touch.
"Is it you?" Zhiwei's voice was choked with sobs and urgency that she herself was unaware of, as she tried to communicate with the eyes behind the mask.
She was met only with silence and the mournful sound of the night wind whistling through the bare branches.
The anticipation and excitement in her heart gradually cooled in the silence, transforming into a hint of offended defiance. Zhiwei took a deep breath, deliberately turning her tone cold: "Li Tai assigned you to me, so you are my guard. How can I not answer my master's questions?"
She stepped forward, reaching out her hand decisively, swiftly reaching for his face—
This time, the shadow froze in place, without dodging.
With a soft "click," the ties on the mask were pulled off, and the object that concealed her face fell into Zhiwei's hands.
The lantern light shone unhindered on the face of the shadow, a completely unfamiliar face of a man bearing the marks of time.
His features were ordinary and unremarkable, except for his eyes, which, amidst the interplay of light and shadow, swiftly flashed a complex and elusive emotion before returning to a deep, silent pool.
It wasn't him.
All her hopes were instantly crushed. Ice water was poured over her body, and the color drained from Zhiwei's face. Disappointment weighed heavily on her heart.
He is not him, the shadow is not him, Zhu Mingyu is gone.
The mask fell to the ground in the snow.
Silence, a deathly silence. The two stood in the snow, looking at each other without saying a word. After a long while, Shadow handed the rabbit lantern in his hand forward and said in a hoarse voice, "It's dark at night, young lady, please carry this to light the way."
The voice was still as rough and unpleasant as ever.
Zhiwei smiled and said, "No need." She turned around, quickly wiping her eyes with her sleeve, her voice already calm, "I know the way myself."
After saying that, she didn't linger and stepped into the darkness ahead, her slender figure quickly swallowed by the night.
The shadow, carrying the rejected rabbit lantern, stood silently in place, watching the frail figure recede into the distance until it became a blurry dot.
After a long while, until the footsteps were completely gone, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the alley next door. It was Li Tai, who had returned.
He walked to the shadow's side and sighed, "Why bother? The way she looked just now...it broke my heart. If you can't bear to part with her, why not acknowledge her?"
"Didn't you crawl back from hell precisely because you wanted to see her one last time?"
Li Tai's words were few, dissipating in the wind. The man called "Shadow" didn't answer immediately, but simply raised his hand, his fingertips gently peeling away the finely crafted human skin mask behind his ear, slowly revealing his true face beneath—
With sharp eyes and a more rugged chin after the roundness of his jawline, even with the marks of time, he could not hide the handsome features that once belonged to the nobility. Who else could it be but Zhu Mingyu?
Zhu Mingyu stared in the direction where Zhiwei had disappeared, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty, his voice low and weary: "Recognize each other? And then what?"
“Li Tai, what we’re doing now is dancing on the edge of a knife, gambling with our lives. My brother… he’s a true emperor now, his mind is unfathomable, and Wang Miaoxiao is a venomous snake, coiled tightly around me. What am I now? A ‘dead man’ who should have died in Siam.” Zhu Mingyu’s lips curled into a bitter smile. “If I acknowledge her now, can I provide her with a life of luxury, or can I protect her? Once our affair is exposed, it will only become a death warrant, dragging her into an abyss of no return.”
Back then, Zhu Mingyu almost died in a collusion between Wang Miaoxiao and the Siamese. If he hadn't been lucky enough to not drink much of the drugged wine or inhale much of the drugged smoke, and had managed to walk to the street with his burns to ask strangers for help, he would have indeed died in a foreign land.
The man who saved Zhu Mingyu was an old man who lived in the suburbs of Beijing and made a living by selling charcoal. Fortunately, he was kind and took Zhu Mingyu in. Zhu Mingyu stayed at the old man's house for half a year. Poor farmers have no money and he didn't have any valuables. His wound kept getting infected. He had no choice but to go up the mountain to pick some herbs. Later, he accidentally fell into a valley and broke his leg.
In short, he met a kind person. Zhu Mingyu stayed until the old man passed away before returning to China, acting as a relative to the widowed and childless old man in his final moments.
Zhu Mingyu's tone was resolute as he said to Li Tai, "This is for the best. I can watch over her from the shadows and protect her, even if it's just a small thing, it's better than me showing up rashly and putting her in danger again."
Li Tai remained silent for a moment, then patted his shoulder helplessly: "Fine, you have a point. It's just that you two are suffering."
"You've gone to a lot of trouble to take me in, which must have been quite a risk," Zhu Mingyu said, looking down at the bright rabbit lantern in his hand. He then smiled and said, "Here, take this lantern."
As he spoke, Zhu Mingyu was about to hand the little gadget in his hand to Li Tai, but Li Tai pulled his hand away: "Hey, I'm not your flirting tool."
"If you don't want the person, fine, but you're using them to curry favor!" Li Tai rolled his eyes, took the lamp from Zhu Mingyu's hand, and punched the preoccupied Zhu Mingyu in the chest. "Let's go, you big romantic, we still have important things to do."
——
Time flows by like water, and before you know it, it's the Great Cold.
The palace had been thoroughly cleaned and prepared to welcome the Emperor. Zhiwei, leading Shaoyang, had been arranging rooms for the dignitaries several days in advance. After the fire at Kunning Palace, many things had been put on hold, but the purpose of this year-end visit to the palace was to offer sacrifices to Heaven, a major event for the nation that could not be taken lightly.
Zhiwei held a brush and marked items on the list of items reported by the palace servants. Hearing that Wan Zhen'er had also come with the emperor, and considering that she had just recovered from a serious illness, she instructed Shao Yang, "Make sure there is enough charcoal in the Noble Consort's room, so that the noble lady doesn't get cold."
"Yes." Shao Yang got up and went to do it after hearing the words.
After giving her instructions, Zhiwei turned around and entered the main hall and warm pavilion prepared for the emperor.
The room was warm and cozy. Zhiwei personally made the bed, checked the softness of the quilts, and added a special calming incense to the gilded incense burner in the corner.
A faint fragrance wafted out, and she lowered her eyes to look at the wisp of smoke, her expression indifferent, revealing no emotion whatsoever.
The sound of approaching hooves broke the tranquility of the palace.
Zhiwei and Shaoyang tidied their clothes and quickly went out to greet them.
A cold wind swirled with snowflakes, stinging our faces with a chilling dampness. The procession stretched out, led by a magnificent black horse. Zhiwei squinted; it was Zhu Liji's beloved steed, "Black Lightning."
Actually, the "black car" is a bit old, but it is still a BMW, and its power is not diminished.
Two people were sitting on the horse.
Ahead stood Zhu Liji, draped in a dark cloak embroidered with gold, his figure still upright. And in his arms, he held a red figure.
The woman was not dressed in elaborate palace attire, but in a sleek riding outfit with a snow fox cloak over it. Her black hair was simply tied up, revealing a delicate yet somewhat wild profile.
It was Liu Cainu, who killed a horse with her bare hands at the palace gate that day and was later selected to enter the palace.
She turned her head to the side and said something to Zhu Liji, which made Zhu Liji lower his head and smile, and then wrap his arms around her even tighter.
The two lovers, deeply in love, walked through the snow, their sweet affection completely oblivious to the grand procession and the swirling snow behind them.
The sound of horses' hooves stopped outside the palace.
Zhu Liji nimbly dismounted first, then very naturally reached out his hand to Liu Cainu, who was still on horseback. Liu Cainu smiled sweetly, took his hand, and lightly leaped off the horse. When she landed, she seemed to slip, let out a soft cry, and leaned softly into Zhu Liji's arms.
"Your Majesty..." Consort Liu's voice was soft, with a hint of panting from being startled, "You're sweating profusely, you must be careful not to catch a cold."
As she spoke, Liu Cainu raised her sleeve and naturally wiped the thin layer of sweat from Zhu Liji's forehead. Her gaze was gentle, and her movements were extremely serious, as if the person in front of her was not the emperor, but her ordinary husband who accompanied her day and night.
As Zhiwei watched the interaction between the two, she felt a sense of familiarity. As she watched, she thought of the late Empress.
Equally considerate, with eyes only for their loved one.
Zhu Liji did not move aside as Liu Cainu did, but only whispered, "It's alright."
When their eyes met, their brows and eyes were filled with tenderness that could not be concealed.
Zhu Liji then put his arm around Liu Cainu's waist and chuckled, "My dear consort, be careful. The snow is slippery. I'll walk with you slowly later."
Zhu Liji raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the people who stood respectfully to greet him. His gaze lingered on Zhiwei for a moment, then his smile faded slightly, and he regained his imperial aloofness. He simply ordered, "Rise, all of you. Pinghai, make arrangements so that Consort Liu can stay in a side hall closer to me."
"Yes, sir." Pinghai quickly bowed in response.
She was already a beauty, yet she rose through the ranks so quickly, never stingy with her position.
Zhiwei lowered her eyes, led the palace servants to silently bow and stand up, and stepped aside to make way.
As the cold wind blew by, the emperor, accompanied by a beautiful woman, walked past her, carrying with him a complex scent of cold air mixed with warm fragrance. He lowered his head even further.
It was a calming incense she had made herself, and Zhiwei pursed her lips.
My fingers curled slightly inside my sleeve, touching the old wound on my wrist, a numb, cold sensation.
While she was still in a daze, she suddenly felt a gentle breath behind her ear. Startled, Zhiwei turned around abruptly and saw that Wan Zhen'er had silently appeared behind her at some point.
Wan Zhen'er was wrapped in a thick fox fur coat. She was probably still recovering from her illness, as her face was pale. However, her eyes held her usual mockery as she glanced at the two figures who seemed oblivious to everyone else and curled her lip in disdain.
"An old cow pretending to be a romantic."
"I can't bear to look," Wan Zhen'er said.
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