Qiwu Ruins
Under the palace eaves, the soldiers who were changing shifts at night walked past in neat rows, but none of them looked up, as if they were oblivious to what was happening.
Gu Yi stood there quietly, waiting for her to finish laughing before saying, "I haven't seen Sister Zhongli in over forty years in the palace. Is there something funny that made you show yourself tonight?"
The woman known as Zhongli Xiaomei stopped laughing and said, "Yes, a little girl who can make the Young Master disheveled and rush to the city walls all night is certainly very interesting."
Gu Yi was speechless.
It turns out these old guys were incredibly bored after being locked up in the palace for over forty years.
Watching him make a fool of himself has now become their greatest pleasure.
It seems there are really too few interesting people and things in this palace.
He decided to put some pressure on the old folks, so they wouldn't have to shoulder all the pressure of the palace affairs alone. He said calmly, "She is the Lanling Assassin."
Zhongli Xiaomei spread her hands and laughed, "Which eye of yours saw her attempt an assassination? Did she use a knife or a gun? Did she shout for a fight or for the enemy to kill?"
Gu Yi: ...
Zhongli Xiaomei glanced at him sideways and said coolly, "To be honest, even if she tried to assassinate the Junior Tutor, it's none of our business. The truth is, as long as she didn't assassinate the Emperor, it's none of our concern. Otherwise, if the palace cooks fight each other or the soldiers brawl, does that mean we're in charge?"
Gu Yi: ...
He turned to return to the Chongji Hall of the former dynasty.
The Jinling Terrace in Chongji Hall is the residence of Gu Yi, the first person to establish this dynasty and the Junior Tutor.
Because he had no family or relatives and was all alone, and was trusted by the current emperor Xie Lang and crown prince Xie Tiao, who frequently consulted him on matters of state, large and small, he was able to reside in the palace as a court official. He was also the only one of his kind.
Just now, he rushed out of Jinlingtai and quickly took the shortest route to the inner palace to intercept that naughty girl.
From the moment she entered the palace, he was aware of every change in her daily location.
The feeling would be stronger if she thought of him.
...It was a feeling that was both strange and somewhat familiar.
After all, it had been a very, very long time since anyone had shared this kind of connection with him.
Gu Yi had just turned around when he found that Zhongli Xiaomei, dressed in flowing purple, had changed direction and blocked his way in mid-air.
Even through the ornate, dark veil, one could sense that she was smiling.
This woman must have been a stunning beauty in her youth.
After all, she has been living in seclusion in the palace for more than forty years, so she could not possibly be the young girl that her figure and temperament suggest.
However, Gu Yi always knew that Zhongli Wuyan hated being told she was old and loved being praised for being young. Her pursuit of agelessness and girlishness was a lifelong commitment, so he did not go against her wishes.
Gu Yi patiently waited for Zhongli to speak.
His greatest quality in life was patience. "Swift as the wind, silent as the forest, fierce as fire, immovable as a mountain." Most of the time, Gu Yi Shao Shi gave people the impression of being as immovable as a mountain.
Few people know that he also has a side that is as fierce as fire and as swift as the wind. However, if he judges that it is not yet the best time, he will remain calm and persistent.
Zhongli Xiaomei didn't say anything, just smiled and blocked his way in the air. It was as if she wanted to compete with him to see who would lose patience first if they just dragged out the whole night like this.
...
The answer, of course, is the one who has to attend court on time at cockcrow tomorrow morning.
Gu Yi coughed lightly and said, "Senior Zhongli..."
Unexpectedly, Zhongli Xiaomei immediately stepped aside gracefully, her clothes fluttering, and raised her sleeves to indicate, "Young Master, please."
The direction she pointed was not towards the Chongji Hall of the Imperial Censorate of the previous dynasty.
It was still the imperial concubines and palace women, as well as the Tangli Garden of the Music Bureau, which was located in the inner palace.
Gu Yi frowned slightly, and prepared to take a step.
Zhongli Xiaomei laughed and said, "The little girl was so frightened by you that she ran away without thinking." She listened intently, as if listening to the night wind.
But she still chuckled, "From what I heard, it seems she bumped into Qiwu Palace. The old woman there isn't as understanding and considerate as I am. She's the most unreasonable person and despises beautiful young girls the most..."
Before she could finish speaking, Gu Yi, his figure clad in a light robe and disheveled hair, had already sped off towards Qiwu Garden. Even in his haste, his movements remained composed, and he didn't forget to calmly leave a message in the wind.
"With her intelligence, your younger sister might not be a match for her."
A Qiu was truly stunned by Gu Yi's Jade Balance strike.
It wasn't that Yuheng hit particularly hard. Rather, it was the smooth, warm feel of Yuheng's pattern, the moderate force... and most importantly, the slightly embarrassed cough followed by the soft question, "Do you know you were wrong?"
A gentle yet stern tone.
A deep, resonant voice, as pure as gold and jade.
Deep within my memory, certain impressions flash by and suddenly emerge.
Where have we had similar conversations or heard similar voices?
She entered Lanling at the age of six and became a disciple of Wan Qiqing, the head of the Lanling Hall. Although her master was an elegant and talented man with unparalleled brilliance, he had never treated her with such gentleness and patience.
Most of the beatings she received in the hall were administered by her senior brothers.
Vague memories surged through her mind like a tidal wave, along with the unforgettable, stunning glance she had when she first met Gu Yi. These memories blended into a strange mix of emotions that surged forth, threatening to overwhelm her completely.
She really wanted to ask Gu Yi: Have I seen you somewhere before?
Regardless of whether he was second only to one person or above ten thousand others, regardless of whether he was her boss.
To her, he was always just Gu Yi.
As Gu Yi sped along, he felt a very strange sensation in his heart.
The little girl must be thinking about him.
That's understandable. He just got beaten up.
But... what's with this sudden surge of emotions, this dreamlike state of "thinking"?
She wouldn't have thought like that when she was little.
Gu Yi was completely baffled.
The next instant, he sensed that her "thoughts" for him had completely vanished, as if he had entered a realm of ice and snow.
The strange, cool fragrance wafting through the air instantly snapped A-Qiu back to her senses.
She found herself in an old palace garden that had been abandoned for many years.
Under the moonlight, the broken walls and ruins were covered with creeping fig vines, bearing clusters of fruit and exuding a rich fragrance.
Everywhere, the sparse shadows of sycamore trees are visible, and the steps are covered with fallen leaves, indicating that no one has swept them for a long time.
It's clear that this place used to be magnificent and grand.
Although the carved beams and painted rafters are covered in dust, their exquisite patterns are still faintly discernible. Every window has a unique design, delicate and translucent, allowing moonlight to shine in and casting vivid, picturesque shadows.
Even the blue bricks paving the ground are engraved with various patterns and characters such as "Eternal Happiness" and "May the Mountains and Rivers Be Peaceful Forever," stretching endlessly.
But what first caught A-Qiu's attention was a plaque, about ten feet long, carved from ebony. It lay quietly among the rocks and weeds in the garden, half of it already buried in the soil.
It appears that it should have originally been hanging on the lintel of this palace garden. But it was taken down and placed here.
Judging from how it's arranged, you can almost feel the conflicted state of mind of the person who placed it.
If you don't want it anymore, just throw it away or burn it.
But if you want it, why leave it here exposed to the sun and rain instead of simply hanging it back on the palace gate?
Filled with curiosity, A Qiu squatted down and gently patted the ebony plaque.
The master was a germaphobe, and all the assassins of Lanling were fond of cleanliness. No matter how much they wanted to see what was written on the plaque, they would never wipe it with the plain white sleeves of a Lanling assassin.
The palm strike was perfectly controlled, neither damaging the plaque nor damaging it, but just enough to cause the dust covering it to fall off, revealing the original characters carved on it.
A-Qiu was stunned when he saw it.
This plaque has been unseen for who knows how many years. After layers of dust and grime have peeled away, the four large vermilion characters that have been revealed are as vivid and bright as if they were just written.
"The Ruined Palace of Qiwu"!
The four characters are written in a cursive, unfinished style, without a beginning or end, and without a signature or recognition. Even after many years, one can still feel the writer's resentment and rage. To the side, there are a few scattered red dots, as if they were splashed there.
He must have picked up his pen in a fit of rage, wrote it down in one stroke to release his anger, and then smashed the pen and inkstone, throwing a box of cinnabar directly at it.
A-Qiu traced each character of the pen with his finger, feeling the writer's anger at the time, and the scene was vividly clear in his mind.
The most unusual aspect of this matter is that every dynasty had abandoned palaces and gardens. However, if they were truly to be abandoned, they could simply be closed off and locked up; there was no need to make a big show of it by inscribing the words "abandoned palace."
Just as there were deposed empresses throughout history, neither the emperor nor the palace women would usually refer to them directly as "deposed empress." Instead, they would refer to them as having been demoted or punished. Similarly, there were cold palaces throughout history, but the plaques of these cold palaces would never explicitly state the words "cold palace." This was always to maintain the dignity of the imperial family and to consider the feelings of those residing there.
Even those who are despised or weary still hope for a little good fortune and glimmer of hope.
How much hatred must the person who wrote this inscription have for the former owner of Qiwu Palace to put it into words and display it to the public?
Although the palace may seem vast, with a large number of people in the front and back courts, there are very few people who have the power to so openly vent their resentment.
The identity of the person who wrote the inscription is already quite obvious.
Although A-Qiu understood, she couldn't help but be a little stunned.
She was trained by her master to be an assassin. Although she could enter noble mansions as if they were empty and take the head of a general as if it were nothing, she had never touched people's hearts so directly.
I have experienced the sorrow and hatred in a person's heart.
Is this what human emotions are like?
Does the person sitting on the throne also possess such passionate human emotions?
The plaque was later taken down and carefully placed in the courtyard. It was neither truly hidden nor truly revealed. What conflicted feelings must have been in the heart of the person who later cleaned it up?
Ah Qiu was so engrossed in his thoughts that he became somewhat delusional.
As soon as a thought crossed her mind, she turned around abruptly and realized that something was very wrong.
In the shadows of the abandoned palace gate, an old woman with flowing white hair and a hunched back stood, her single eye flashing with a venomous blue light as she coldly stared at her.
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