Chapter 33 Anger [VIP]
Chapter Summary: Liu Shiyu's Helplessness.
As his words faded into the blazing fire, Xu Luchuan helplessly sank into the darkness, the evening glow fading. He closed his eyes heavily and collapsed onto Liu Shiyu.
"ah"
Xu Luchuan's fainting left Liu Shiyu feeling as if she had a fishbone stuck in her throat, yet she still managed to force out a muffled roar from her suffocating throat. She tried desperately to help him up, but was crushed by his weight, which was greater than her own.
Bai Chuan sheathed his sword and rushed over, quickly helping Liu Shiyu to her feet.
Liu Shiyu struggled to support Xu Luchuan's arm, refusing to let go even though her world was already shaky.
"Liu Zhichuang..."
"I kill you."
As day fades into evening, darkness swallows the light.
The screams from the well ceased as the fighting stopped; no one knew whether they had given up in despair or resigned themselves to their fate.
Liu Shiyu looked up at the burnt-out thatched house, her vision blurring. But she couldn't give up; she had to pull herself together. She still had so much to do.
Ignoring the stinging pain in her arm, Liu Shiyu spoke up: "Guihai, take Xu Luchuan back to the thatched hut first so the old man can treat his injury. Also, notify Lianyue to have Liang Cheng personally lead the county officials to rescue him."
"Yes!" Gui Hai responded and accepted Xu Luchuan's request.
Liu Shiyu stood before Xu Luchuan, who had collapsed beside Gui Hai, gently cupped his face, and bid him farewell: "Xu Luchuan, I promised you. After it's all over, I'll do whatever you want with me. So you must promise me too, you must live to see me again..."
"Do you understand?"
This time, there was no eye contact, no passionate response, only Liu Shiyu's lonely gaze. After taking that final look at them in farewell, she finally had the heart to let go.
"Go." Liu Shiyu lowered her eyes reluctantly. Gui Hai carried Xu Luchuan on his back. "This subordinate takes his leave."
Guihai is gone.
Liu Shiyu looked at Baichuan, the tenderness in her eyes vanishing, replaced by a sinister look: "Go to Yongzhou to find Wei Jingshan. I want to see him here within an hour."
After speaking, Baichuan didn't dare to delay for a moment and set off.
Right now, all that remained by the mine was a pile of corpses, and Lian Xing, who was still stunned and unable to calm down. Liu Shiyu dragged her tired body toward him, and as she approached, she slowly took the longsword from his palm, which was still dripping blood.
“Master…” Lian Xing stared blankly into the depths of the forest, his murmur filled with sorrow, “Don’t go.”
Liu Shiyu looked back at the empty forest, without the slightest panic or blame.
Inner demons are hard to cure. After the catastrophe at the Bodhi Sect, it seems that only Lian Xing was trapped there forever.
Liu Shiyu understood what Lian Xing was talking about, and she echoed, "Master, we won't go far. Lian Xing, don't be afraid. It's over, everything is over."
Liu Shiyu's reassurance seemed to have worked. Lian Xing's master vanished from his sight, and he gradually came back to his senses, looking at Liu Shiyu.
He greeted him as usual, "Your Highness."
Upon hearing this, Liu Shiyu reached out and patted Lian Xing on the shoulder, saying, "Go down and check on the people inside. Be sure to tell them not to be afraid."
As Liu Shiyu spoke, she handed the sword back to him.
Lian Xing nodded, took the sword, and sheathed it before turning to walk down the well. Because the well was filled with flying embers, Lian Xing dared not light a lamp. He could only rely on his keen hearing to discern his location. He groped his way deeper and deeper into the well.
Inoue Liu Shiyu, clutching his throbbing arm, sat down beside the ruins left by the burned-down thatched house. Looking around, he suddenly noticed a glimmer of life rekindling in someone's home.
But she was not afraid. She picked up a long knife from beside her feet, stood up, and walked forward.
"Help...me..." the man cried weakly, eliciting a cold laugh from Liu Shiyu. "If you wanted to live, why did you risk your life for him in the first place..."
"Tell me, who sent you?" Liu Shiyu knew the answer perfectly well, but still wanted to hear it from their own mouths.
"Within Yongzhou, the most expensive..." Even at this point, the man was still speaking in riddles.
Helpless, Liu Shiyu tore a strip of cloth from her skirt and tied it to his wound, saying sternly, "Playing dead might be your last chance to live. Do you understand?"
The man stopped speaking, and Liu Shiyu, carrying the long knife, staggered back to the ruins and sat down.
The long night was utterly silent, the valley eerily still. The rustling of the undergrowth was occasionally broken by wild animals. Liu Shiyu stood there, long sword in hand, feeling time slip by. Her mind was filled with the phantom of Xu Luchuan, so close yet so far.
Her worries and her grief were more agonizing than the long night itself.
I don't know how much time has passed, whether it was short or long.
As the flickering firelight illuminated his face, calls rose and fell incessantly in his ears. Liu Shiyu looked up and saw Liang Cheng rushing towards him with the county yamen's constables.
She didn't respond; she no longer had the strength to. She just sat there and waited.
Your Highness
Liang Cheng was the first to notice Liu Shiyu's presence and rushed forward.
Hearing the commotion, Huang Qi, the magistrate of Shou County, was so frightened that he scrambled to catch up. With this happening in his jurisdiction today, whether he could remain magistrate was another matter, but he didn't even know if he could keep his head.
When Liang Cheng arrived, he saw that Liu Shiyu was injured and asked in alarm, "Your Highness, are you alright? It's all my fault for being incompetent and causing Your Highness to be injured."
"Your Highness, I pay my respects."
The magistrate kept kowtowing to Liu Shiyu upon seeing him. He was so frightened that he didn't even utter a word of the words he had prepared on the way.
Liu Shiyu waved her hand at Liang Cheng without uttering a word of reproach. Then, turning to Huang Qi, she narrowed her eyes and sneered, "I cannot accept such a grand gesture from the magistrate. You should save your energy for kowtowing to the innocent victims suffering in the well."
Upon hearing this, Huang Qi was stunned and lay on the ground in a daze.
Liu Shiyu ignored him and looked at Liang Cheng, asking, "Did you bring any water or dry food?"
"I came in a hurry, and this is all I brought for Your Highness." Liang Cheng said, gesturing for his attendants to present the items. Liu Shiyu looked at the clean food in the basket but did not reach for it. "The area below has been set up with fire, so we can't light any lamps. The people in the well will probably only be able to be rescued after sunrise. Have someone send the items down the shaft."
Upon hearing this, Liang Cheng hesitated for a moment and then called out again, "Your Highness."
"Can't you understand what I'm saying?" Liu Shiyu looked at Liang Cheng expressionlessly, and Liang Cheng had no choice but to obey.
Just as Liang Cheng had sent the items down, a figure all too familiar to Liu Shiyu appeared before her in the woods. Wei Jingshan, having received the news in Yongzhou, fearing for Liu Shiyu's safety, had already set off alone, riding at breakneck speed through the night towards Yinshi Mountain ahead of the others.
The anxiety and unease he felt along the way finally dissipated the moment he saw Liu Shiyu. But he stopped running at the edge of the forest, just like his heart.
Liu Shiyu looked up and peered through everyone into the woods, where Wei Jingshan, gripping his sword hilt, gazed back at him from afar.
He lifted his foot and slowly approached her with the same deep emotion as always.
Wei Jingshan had many words of comfort in his heart, but when he spoke, it was always with a condescending reproach: "Your Highness, why did you put yourself in such danger today? Do you know what this will bring to His Majesty? What will it bring to Shao Yuan?"
Wei Jingshan's words were harsh.
Liu Shiyu couldn't help but smile. In their eyes, she was nothing more than a mere Princess Protector of the Nation. With Liu Zhizhou, Tang Wuzheng, Chang Andao, and countless subjects, Shao Yuan had them all. What could she possibly do to shake anything...?
Seeing that something was wrong, Liang Cheng tactfully dragged the county magistrate away.
As she spoke, Liu Shiyu drew her long sword and walked up to Wei Jingshan, confronting him. In a hoarse voice, she stated, "If I had stood by like them back then, what would that have brought to His Majesty? If everyone had remained aloof like you and them, what would that have brought to Shaoyuan?"
"I summoned you not to hear these things. And what I do is none of your concern."
Liu Shiyu's powerful counterattack left Wei Jingshan speechless.
He looked at Liu Shiyu but didn't say anything more.
Seeing this, Liu Shiyu looked away from his face and towards the direction of the woods, asking, "Did Prince Jing come along?"
"We should be there soon." Wei Jingshan seemed displeased, but still answered Liu Shiyu's question.
Liu Shiyu gripped his long sword tightly, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
"Liu Zhichuang has been a menace in Yongzhou for many years. Every year, countless memorials from the local government are sent to the capital to impeach him, but none of them reach the Shiguang Hall. If it weren't for Bai Tao discovering something amiss when he investigated Nan Yongcheng last time, we would still be kept in the dark."
"There are too many suspicious points about him. I want to stay and personally investigate this case."
Upon hearing this, Wei Jingshan immediately retorted, "No. The general has ordered you to return to the capital in three days, so you must set off tomorrow."
"What if I don't do as my uncle says and insist on staying?" Liu Shiyu found it amusing, but Wei Jingshan wouldn't listen to a word. "This is the general's order, Your Highness has no choice."
"So, does Your Excellency mean I should just let things slide? That those who do evil will not receive the punishment they deserve?"
Liu Shiyu was disgusted by Wei Jingshan's indifference, and Wei Jingshan noticed it.
But in their argument, someone always had to back down, and so Wei Jingshan once again made the mistake of giving in after thoroughly angering Liu Shiyu. He spoke in a deep voice: "I will stay. I will investigate this case. Your Highness, please return to the capital and report back. I will give Your Highness a satisfactory answer."
Liu Shiyu looked at Wei Jingshan and said in a questioning tone, "Lord Marquis, do you think General Tang will agree to let you stay?"
“If it concerns Prince Jing, the general will surely agree to let me stay. But Your Highness must return to the capital.”
This was Wei Jingshan's final compromise, and also the best solution.
They all knew it perfectly well.
But all of this left Liu Shiyu powerless. She was constantly hampered and denied in this way. When she wanted to resist, she was threatened in the same way. She had had enough; she longed to have the power to escape. But there were things she couldn't let go of.
Liu Shiyu neither denied nor responded.
Suddenly, another commotion came from the distant woods. Liu Zhichuang finally led his men, pretending to rush over. Upon seeing Liu Shiyu from afar, he excitedly called out, "Fifth Sister!"
Liu Shiyu remained unmoved. She simply stepped around Wei Jingshan, dragging her long sword on the ground, and walked expressionlessly towards Liu Zhichuang. If Liu Shiyu were the one injured today, she might not be so furious and frantic. But since the injured person was Xu Luchuan, Liu Shiyu could no longer control herself.
Wei Jingshan sensed something was wrong and quickly called out, "Your Highness."
One step, two steps, three steps.
Liu Shiyu exerted all her strength, but her chaotic eyes merged with the world around her, blending together with Liu Zhichuang's ferocious face.
Finally, darkness swallowed darkness, and she felt herself being caught in someone's arms.
She didn't want it all to end so abruptly, but when the pain in her arm spread to every nerve, her struggle could only go so far.
[Author's Note]
Here comes the little monument!
The Yongzhou storyline is nearing its end. Xiao Bei is starting to work hard to create some sweet moments! Keep it up!
Muah~ Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 20221201 21:54:48 and 20221203 20:45:48!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Ayi and Summer Clouds (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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