Leak-proof
She had only said it casually, but Gu Yi was shocked upon hearing it and blurted out, "That's not how it is!"
A-Qiu was stunned by his outburst, and after a moment she asked, "Then what exactly... is it?"
Gu Yi looked at her and said, word by word, "It is because I cannot gain your complete trust and reliance that I cannot protect you by my side, nor can I protect this great land behind us. That is why you had no choice but to come here personally for this purpose."
A Qiu had never expected Gu Yi to be so frank and open. She also hadn't expected that he was so aware of the subtle, underlying resentment she felt towards him.
But the next sentence filled her with doubt.
Gu Yi said, "But Qiu, believe me, everything will be different after tomorrow."
He paused, then said clearly, "I will give you an explanation."
Is the explanation he's referring to... the one she thinks?
Even though it was in the dark, A Qiu blushed involuntarily, but immediately forced herself to think about something else.
She replied insincerely, "If we survive until tomorrow, we'll talk about it then."
As soon as she finished speaking, she remembered that Gu Yi and she had a connection through the Heart-to-Heart Flower Gu. She was afraid that Gu Yi already knew what she was feeling, and she immediately felt even more embarrassed.
To change the subject, she immediately remembered something and suddenly said, "Gu Yi, there are a total of sixty-four people performing 'Shao' and 'Wu,' but we only have sixty-three people so far. Is the last one you?"
Upon hearing this, her attention was completely drawn to the question, and she raised her head, looking directly at Gu Yi without any hesitation.
There are 63 people, but one person is still missing.
And at that very moment, he personally arrived at the Zichen Palace.
She couldn't think of any other possibility besides him.
Therefore, the dancer who arrived last, carrying the heavy responsibility of assassination, was Gu Yi himself.
That's why he told her not to make a move tomorrow.
Because of him.
Perhaps it was because her eyes held too much undisguised concern.
Gu Yi's usually deep and somber gaze, seemingly filled with endless thoughts, suddenly brightened, and then he looked directly into her eyes with unwavering determination.
That undisguised, burning gaze was a direct question to her: Do you still care about me this much?
Gu Yi was always reserved and composed. A Qiu had never seen him look at her so directly and domineeringly. Even with her calm and collected demeanor, she was suddenly flustered and immediately lowered her head.
He chuckled softly beside her ear. A Qiu felt her ears burning.
She was somewhat exasperated, her defiant nature flaring up again, and she raised her head once more, saying, "A dignified Junior Tutor of the State, to personally risk his life to assassinate Huli Jin..."
She only got halfway through her sentence before being captivated by Gu Yi's gaze.
She was about to say, "Is it something really funny?"
But the words stuck in my throat, and I couldn't say them out.
Gu Yi's gaze held a tenderness she had never seen before, a tenderness that reflected her image.
Gu Yi said softly, "It wasn't me."
At the same time, he exerted force on her hands and silently pulled her behind him before she could resist.
A Qiu was suddenly startled to hear the faint sound of a hem of clothing rustling through the night wind. Although extremely faint, she managed to catch every detail.
Tomorrow is the coronation ceremony, and it is already late at night. Apart from Gu Yi and her, two people from the Southern Dynasty with ulterior motives, who else is walking around Zichen Palace at night?
She instantly came to her senses and realized that when Gu Yi pulled her, she had misunderstood his intention and tried to resist.
Gu Yi chuckled softly, his voice brushing against her earlobe as he said, "This person must be here tonight for something very important. Should we go check on him?"
I don't know if I was bewitched by him, or if I suddenly felt that I didn't want to part ways with him like this.
Because we don't know if everyone will still be alive tomorrow.
A-Qiu nodded and obediently replied, "Okay."
Both were top-notch experts of their time, and their ability to pinpoint locations by sound and track targets silently through the night sky was remarkable.
The man being pursued was also highly skilled, but clearly, lightness of movement wasn't his forte. His greatest strength lay in his familiarity with the palace's geography. He moved through beams and roofs as naturally as if he were in his own home, always accurately avoiding patrols and finding secluded, deserted paths within the palace grounds.
All that could be seen was that the man was dressed in black, and his agility was evident in his leaps and bounds. However, the direction he was heading was towards Chunhua Garden, where A Qiu and the others were, after entering the inner palace.
A Qiu's heart immediately filled with suspicion. Before Gu Yi could say anything, she quickly followed him a few steps closer. This person's intrusion into the palace so late at night was no accident. And at this moment, the sixty-three envoys from the Southern Dynasty could not afford to make any mistakes.
Gu Yi said in a gentle voice, "Don't worry, your senior brother is no ordinary person either. This person's skill is clearly inferior to his."
This was to reassure and remind her that Gongyi Xiu was still stationed at the villa, so there was no need to be too nervous.
Reminded by him, A Qiu indeed slowed down her pace and mood. Gu Yi caught up from behind and walked alongside her.
She felt that it had been a long time since she could walk side by side with Gu Yi like this, with him guiding her in everything.
She even had an unrealistic delusion that this journey could continue indefinitely, and that the sun would never rise tomorrow.
Gu Yi said softly, "He went to Cuiyu Pavilion."
For the past two days, A Qiu has been under semi-house arrest with everyone else at Chunhua Garden, and knows nothing about any other place. She has no idea where Gu Yi is referring to.
Gu Yi grabbed her by the waist and led her straight to a garden on the west side of Chunhua Garden.
They managed to evade a patrol squad of soldiers.
He then clarified, “This area is where dancers and musicians gather, roughly equivalent to our Tangli Music Bureau, the difference being that they are arranged according to different ethnic groups rather than music troupes.”
He added, "The Emerald Feather Pavilion is the highest-standard and largest palace in this area. You can probably guess who lives there without me having to tell you."
A Qiu's mind raced, and she blurted out, "Long live the Princess!"
Gu Yi smiled and said, "You still remember her."
For some reason, despite the tense moment before the big battle, he was as relaxed as if nothing had happened, and even in a better mood than usual, and had time to chat with her about everyday things.
A-Qiu was taken aback by the ease in his tone, and then said with a slightly uneasy feeling, "You seem to know quite a lot about her."
Gu Yi's familiarity with the Zichen Palace could be explained by the fact that he had visited this former Luoyang palace before. However, his equally thorough knowledge of the personnel and architecture of the Zichen Palace's music and dance department was clearly the result of deliberate effort.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yi smiled for a moment, then said seriously, "Perhaps it's because she's the only mutual acquaintance between us in this palace. Seeing her reminds me of the time you spent at Jinlingtai, so I've taken a few extra glances at her whenever I have a spare moment."
Then he said, "I didn't arrive here much earlier than you, so I haven't been watching her all the time."
A-Qiu almost choked on his answer.
This answer was perfectly sound and flawless, with no problems whatsoever.
She paused for a moment, then finally couldn't resist her curiosity and asked, "Do you know how she successfully entered the palace and became Lady Zilu? She was completely rejected in our Southern Dynasty."
Gu Yi coughed slightly and said reservedly, "She is not an important person. We have not sent anyone to specifically track and collect information about her movements, so the answer is, I don't know."
A-Qiu looked lost and slightly disappointed.
Seeing this, Gu Yi immediately said, "But if we follow her tonight, we should learn many of her secrets. Let's go!"
Before she could protest or resist, Gu Yi had already wrapped his arm around her waist and was heading straight for the most magnificent building at the very top of the palace.
A certain part of the building, which had been completely dark, was suddenly lit up.
This was certainly not to welcome them.
As A Qiu leaned against Gu Yi, she felt warm and cozy, and a strange sense of drowsiness rose within her.
Gu Yi had held her like this many times before. She was already used to the warmth of his embrace and the scent of snow-covered pine needles under the sun.
It was only much later that she realized it was because Gu Yi's embrace was the cradle that lulled her to sleep when she was a child.
Determination can make someone forget someone. But the repressed memories and shadows of the past will still remind her how much she once liked him and depended on him. From childhood to adulthood, that has never changed.
Gu Yi's voice sounded like a soft sigh, yet also low and restrained, as he said, "Go to sleep if you want. Tonight I will hold you and take you with me. I will never leave you behind, no matter where we go."
The voice turned low for the second half of the sentence.
A Qiu thought somewhat bewilderedly that at that time, she was abandoned, and Wan Qiqing took her away;
Later, a decision was made to exile her from Jianzhang Palace;
Gu Yi, he must have some regrets.
There was no place for her near him.
But now that she could return to his side, in this unfamiliar foreign palace, no longer the Jianzhang Palace where everyone knew them, she just wanted to be closer to him, even closer.
Perhaps these are the only moments they will have left in their lives to rely on each other.
She finally reached out and wrapped her arms around Gu Yi's waist, burying her head deeply in his chest.
She felt Gu Yi shudder, and then, with even greater restraint, he hugged her tightly.
Even so, she could still clearly hear the sounds coming from inside the building.
It was the soft sound of a door opening and closing, and someone slipped into a room.
Gu Yi held her in his arms, but did not slow down his movements at all, following her with extremely fast and steady steps.
They pasted it onto a wall, while the room was lit by flickering candlelight.
A familiar female voice rang out softly; it was Princess Wansui. She asked, "Where is what I asked for?"
The one who slipped into the room must have been a man in black who travels through the palace at night.
A soft sound came from behind, like something being put down.
The man in black said, "The item is here, but you must get things done for me tonight."
The man lowered his voice, but A Qiu recognized it perfectly because she had seen him not long ago.
The moment she heard the person's voice, all her drowsiness vanished, and she immediately became alert, saying, "I'll lie down on the beam; I can see better then."
Gu Yi said in a low voice, "Okay, be careful." At the same time, he increased the force in his hand and threw her upwards.
Using the force of his throw, A-Qiu swiftly climbed onto the roof, silently lifted a tile, and peered into the room.
A bronze palace lamp shaped like mountains and rivers illuminated the entire room from a horizontal table, casting a huge shadow on the wall.
Confronting Princess Wansui was none other than Prince Ning, Hulü Guang, dressed in black.
Between the two, on a small table, lay a thin booklet.
The cover was made of plain yellow silk, and it was clearly very old. The four characters on it were clearly visible to A-Qiu's eyesight, and they were written with strong, sharp strokes, as if carved by a knife and axe.
The Records of Frost and Flowers.
The brushstrokes of these four characters look extremely familiar.
A flash of inspiration struck A Qiu, who remembered that this was the writing method of the Mo Yi family that Hulü Guang had mentioned during the Southern Dynasties.
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