Chapter 49 Chapter 49 Confession
As night falls, a few cold stars are scattered in the distance, casting a faint light, and the sky and the earth are dim.
The fireworks danced restlessly in the dark night, the flames flickered and licked the paper clothes in the basin inch by inch, turning them into curled and charred pieces.
After a long silence, Zhe Rou lowered her eyelashes, but still exerted force to pull her hand away, "Ming Qi, you and I are not the same kind of people."
She lowered her head slightly, her dark black hair loosely tied into a bun, revealing a slender neck. A few strands of hair fell down and gently brushed against her neck.
Xie Yunzhou's Adam's apple rolled.
After a moment's silence, he said in a hoarse voice, "Nine Mother, I want you to live a happy life, to laugh all day long like before. If anyone else comes, I won't be able to rest assured."
As he spoke, he pulled his lips into a smile, raised his eyes and looked directly into her eyes: "Jiu Niang, let's not talk about the past anymore. From now on, your path is my path.
Since you've decided to let go of the past and start over...why not look back at me, okay?"
Zhe Rou was unexpectedly met with his clean, fiery, and somewhat stubborn gaze. She opened her lips, and the words of rejection were on the tip of her tongue, but suddenly something seemed to block them, and she couldn't say them for a moment.
She was heartbroken by Lu Chen and was in a miserable state. When she had no one to turn to, it was Xie Yunzhou who protected her everywhere and helped her leave. He gave her a foundation to live on without asking for anything in return, allowing her to breathe.
Humans are not plants or trees, so who can be heartless?
How could I not be moved at all?
There is actually some weakness hidden in her nature, so she wants to escape, is afraid of being alone, and also craves the warmth of stability.
But she had just struggled to escape from a heart-wrenching relationship, and she was at a loss as to the way forward.
After leaving Lu Chen, she wasn't sure if she would ever fall in love with someone else. She only knew she couldn't waste the rest of her life on him. Whether she was attracted to him or not wasn't important; she just wanted a warm home, to live an ordinary life, and to have a sweet and adorable child.
It didn't matter if they were boys or girls, as long as they were connected to her by blood, they would stumble along behind her on their short legs, tug at the corners of her clothes, lift their little faces and softly call her "Aniang"...
If Xie Yunzhou was just an ordinary civilian without so many ties, perhaps she would really try to move forward.
But he is not.
For people like him and Lu Chen, there are many things in this world that are more important than love: family, status, power, future, reputation...
Even if he doesn't want to, but because of his status and being in the situation, he is inevitably forced to be forced into a situation where he has no choice but to fight and make trade-offs.
A cold night wind blew through the alley, sending swirling clouds of fine dust rising into the air, and the bitter smell of burning grass and trees filled the air.
Zhe Rou lowered her eyes, rubbed her arm with her hand, and whispered, "Mingqi, my father and mother's graves are still in Taozhou. Northern Xinjiang is my homeland, and I probably won't live here for long... Sooner or later, you will return to the capital, marry, and start a family. With your noble status, you should be paired with a noble lady. You really shouldn't waste your time on me."
Xie Yunzhou could vaguely see that she seemed to be hesitating and struggling. He frowned and wanted to say something else, "Jiu Niang..."
"Mingqi, I know you treat me well." Zhe Rou shook her head and interrupted him.
She stared at the dancing flames in silence for a long moment, her throat slightly choking. "Lu Chen used to treat me very well."
But what's the use?
It's not equal. She gave her heart completely to him, but he could easily weigh the pros and cons. When she wanted to leave, he would ignore her wishes and use all kinds of means to force her to surrender and make her unable to resist.
"I'm different from him." Xie Yunzhou suddenly spoke up and repeated, "Jiu Niang, I'm different from him."
Zhe Rou pursed her lips and said nothing.
Sparks crackled, making the surroundings flicker, and the shadows of the two people swayed, appearing and disappearing from time to time.
Xie Yunzhou suddenly raised his eyebrows and looked at her, "If one day, I am no longer a small prince, but just an ordinary commoner, would you be willing to look at me?"
Zhe Rou was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "What nonsense are you talking about."
Xie Yunzhou glanced at her sideways, hummed a faint "hmm", and smiled: "Who knows, one day in the future I might anger the emperor and be punished to become a commoner. When that happens, I'm afraid I will really ask Jiu Niang to take me in."
Zhe Rou thought it was just a joke, so she just smiled and said nothing.
The Lianghuai Salt Transport Incident broke out, and the capital city was in turmoil. Lu Chen became increasingly busy in recent days and rarely returned home. Even if he did, it was already after midnight.
"No news yet?"
Nan Heng didn't dare look at him, lowered his head, and replied, "I have searched all the prefectures along the Huai River, but still can't find any trace of my wife."
Lu Chen fell silent.
He had assigned the most capable people around him to search for the person, but for several months, there was still no news at all.
He said hoarsely, "Keep searching. Search every pharmacy, big or small, to see if there are any female doctors practicing medicine, women making or selling medicine, or if there are any men with foreign accents suddenly selling medicine. Also, find out who's in the palace outside the capital; I'll be very useful to them."
Nan Heng quickly responded yes.
"Call a few more people to keep a close eye on everyone in Duke Xu's mansion. In a few days, it will be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the eldest princess will go to Daxiangguo Temple to burn incense and distribute porridge. If anything happens there, Zhou Xiao will definitely send a message to Xie Yunzhou. I don't believe he won't reveal some clues."
Hearing this, Nan Heng struggled for a moment, then hesitantly asked, "My dear, that's the eldest princess. Are you really going to do it?"
Lu Chen raised his eyes calmly. His eyes were calm, yet so cold that it made people's hearts tremble.
Nan Heng was startled and didn't dare to say anything more.
He could vaguely tell that it had been more than four months since his wife left that night. As the days passed, although the man's face was no longer as anxious as before, and he became more and more calm like deep water, his heart was like a hard bow that was gradually being drawn to full length.
He seemed to hear the bowstring creaking as it was tangled, and he didn't know when it would break.
Lu Chen went straight back to the main house in the east courtyard.
Pingchuan had already prepared hot water. When he walked into the clean room, the candlelight was dim, steam was rising, and the white gauze screen was hazy and half-transparent.
The iron buckle of his belt made a crisp clanging sound when it hit the carved wooden table. Lu Chen tore off his clothes carelessly, clasped his slender knuckles around the edge of the bathtub, and sank tiredly into the water like a crossbow without a spring.
There was silence all around. The warm moonlight outside the window quietly seeped in through the window lattice, casting a few strands of cold silver light.
For no reason, he was reminded of the jade bracelet on her snow-white wrist, which slid across his palm like cool mist.
The veins on his forehead suddenly jumped. Lu Chen closed his eyes, leaned his head back in the bathtub, and his handsome Adam's apple kept rolling and rising.
I remembered the time when I leaned against her and made love here, with waves of hot water, mist hanging in the air, and sweat dripping down.
Thinking of her slender fingers tightly pinching the wall of the bucket, her fingertips turning white from the force, he covered her from behind, and the pair of jade bracelets hung on her thin white wrists, jingling and swinging with her movements, occasionally hitting the wall of the bucket, making a crisp sound.
Or he would turn her soft body around, letting her soft arms tightly wrap around his neck, the cool body of her bracelet pressing against his sweaty back, gradually being warmed by his hot body temperature.
The jade bracelet was soaked with someone's sweat, becoming slippery on her wrist. Her slender neck tilted back, and she moaned in a broken voice, "Lu Bingyan..."
Images piled up in my mind, and I could hear faint moans and gasps in my ears.
The fire in his heart burned in waves, and he was thirsty more and more. However, he begged for it but could not get it. Instead, the fire turned into a sharp blade that pierced his heart and lungs again and again, almost making him feel unbearable pain.
"plain."
Unable to tell whether it was dryness or pain, Lu Chen could no longer bear it and called out, with drops of water sliding down his rolling Adam's apple, "Pour some tea."
But no one responded from outside the gauze screen.
After waiting for a few breaths, Lu Chen frowned impatiently. Just as he was about to open his eyes, a familiar apricot blossom fragrance suddenly wafted into his nose.
"My dear..."
There were light footsteps coming from behind, accompanied by a timid and gentle female voice.
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