Untouchable Lovers-Chapter 204 - 184 Thousand Pieces of Gold in the Hanging
Chapter 204: Chapter 184: Thousand Pieces of Gold in the Hanging Hall
Chapter 204 -184: Thousand Pieces of Gold in the Hanging Hall
Chu Yu suddenly woke in the middle of the night, her face wet with tears.
She had a very sad dream, in which she desperately chased after her distant family, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t catch up to them. Surrounded by the long-missed skyscrapers, the city’s severe air pollution seemed irrelevant; after all, it was the place of her birth and upbringing. No matter how much fresher the ancient era might have been, she still longed for that polluted air.
As her family vanished into the distance, the surrounding scenery faded too, eventually transforming into boundless darkness that swallowed her whole.
Then she awoke.
Although the specifics of the dream were now blurred, only a fraction retained, that feeling of despair, forever out of reach, continued to linger in her heart, inescapable.
The things she had forced herself to forget, because of discovering Tian Rujing’s wealth, were now vividly and deeply recalled, to the point where she couldn’t help but shed tears in her dream.
Chu Yu sat silently, her eyes fixed on the darkness of the room, until her emotions had gradually calmed and the tear stains on her face had dried. She then let out a soft breath and muttered to herself, “Really, haven’t I told myself not to be weak anymore?”
It was unclear whether it was early in the night or the latter part, but the quiet calm of the air made it hard for Chu Yu, having been startled awake from her dream, to fall back to sleep. So she got up from her bed and looked back: apart from Tian Rujing’s influence, perhaps switching beds so abruptly tonight also contributed to her nightmare.
The bedroom had been overtaken by a small mound of earth. If she were to sleep there, she’d smell the fresh, moist scent of soil. While not unpleasant, Chu Yu, who could afford a better sleeping environment, was reluctant to settle for less and thus had moved her sleeping area to a couch in the side hall used for rest.
The chill of the night had seeped into the room, and seeing as the side hall wasn’t the best place to spend the night, Chu Yu, wrapped in a brocade quilt, slowly walked toward the bedroom. When she saw the mound of earth almost reaching the rafters, she felt an odd sense of relief.
The room’s opulent and elegant decorations were incongruous with the mound of earth, and the scent of the soil diffused through the air, overpowering the indoor incense.
Chu Yu looked on for a while, and finally, she couldn’t help but smile: He Ji probably never dreamt that she would choose such a barbaric, such a clumsy method to escape, right?
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Unable to count on Tian Rujing for the time being, the best plan for now was to find a way to escape first.
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In the Imperial Palace, there was someone else who couldn’t sleep, just like Chu Yu. That person was the imprisoned Liu Yu.
At this point in time, unless one could foresee the future, it was unlikely anyone would imagine that one day he would ascend the Dragon Throne and rule over half the land.
Because this future Emperor was in an extremely wretched and miserable state.
His body was crisscrossed with whip marks left from that morning when Liu Ziyue lashed out in a bad mood. The chill of the autumn night was deep, and his thin garments provided no protection against the cold. Having passed out from the beating earlier in the day, he missed his meal and now felt pain, hunger, and coldness simultaneously. Locked in an iron cage, his meals were leftovers, his bed was hay and straw, and he never had a comfortable day.
The two princes locked up with him had already fallen asleep despite the harsh conditions. After so many days, they had grown increasingly accustomed to the torment, managing to sleep soundly even in such circumstances.
Liu Yu shifted his body, trying to warm his frozen limbs, but this movement pulled at his wounds, causing him so much pain that he closed his eyes and drew in a sharp breath. And when he opened his eyes, he saw someone standing before the cage.
The person was cloaked in a black cape, his face and entire body almost completely obscured by the night-colored garment, showing only a sharp and beautiful chin.
Upon seeing this person, Liu Yu found unexpected strength, disregarding the pain in his body. He grabbed the edge of the cage and urgently whispered in a hoarse voice, “You’re here. When can you get me out?”
The person squatting down looked at Liu Yu, and a cold voice came from under the hood, making Liu Yu feel even colder, “This is the Imperial Palace, heavily guarded everywhere. It’s already difficult for me to come and go alone, how could I possibly take Prince Xiangdong away?”
Liu Yu felt a wave of dejection upon hearing this, he let go of the bars, his body slumped to the ground, “If you can’t, then why did you come to see me?”
The person took out three folded inner shirts made of fine wool from their bosom, and gently placed them on the ground in front of the cage, speaking softly, “I’m here to tell you that I’ve found your trusted men, Ruan Dianfu and Li Dao’er. These two are very loyal to you. In time, I will bribe the people around the Emperor, and on some future day, when an opportunity arises, we’ll depose the Emperor and you can claim the throne…”
As he spoke, Liu Yu’s eyes gradually widened.
The person quickly finished speaking, then lowered their head and bowed slightly to Liu Yu, “However, before that happens, please, Prince Xiangdong, take care of your life. Only if you survive, will there be a future to speak of. These clothes, when worn under your garment, are not easily noticeable by others. If it were otherwise, it would be easy for the Emperor to know that someone is helping you in secret.”
Upon hearing the person’s words, hope was kindled again in Liu Yu’s heart, but looking at the three identical shirts on the ground, he was somewhat puzzled, “I alone cannot wear three shirts, where should the other two be placed?”
The person was about to turn around and leave, but stopped upon hearing his question and let out a sound that seemed like a snort of laughter, slowly saying, “Don’t you still have two nobles by your side? It wouldn’t be right to show favoritism.”
Watching the person walk away, Liu Yu quickly took off his outer garment and picked the thickest looking inner shirt to wear underneath. He immediately felt much warmer, but looking at the other two, soft and warm to the touch, he somewhat reluctantly didn’t want to just give them away. So, he forced himself to put them on as well, which made his figure look much bulkier, and his upper body uncomfortably tight. He had to quickly take them off and, looking at his two brothers sleeping beside him, he whispered softly, “Your gain.”
Just as he was about to wake the two of them and secretly add the clothes, he suddenly remembered that the three of them shared everything from eating to living to suffering together. If he had more clothes on, others may not know, but he couldn’t hide it from these two. If only he got to wear them, it would inevitably lead to jealousy. Wasn’t that person giving three pieces all at once also to seal their lips?
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The desolate autumn wind blew through the Princess Mansion, through the Imperial Palace, out of Jiankang City, across the border between Southern Song and Northern Wei, until it reached a desolate little village in Northern Wei, rustling the thin clothes of Wang Yizhi.
The place where Wang Yizhi was located was a plain much further north than Jiankang. Here, the autumn was more intense and chilling, lacking the gentle waters and mountains of Jiangnan. The boundless expanse of the plain bestowed a vast spirit, allowing the wind to blow unobstructed.
Wang Yizhi didn’t care about the constant cold wind blowing against him. He was very leisurely, sitting casually under the eaves of a mud hut, his eyes gleaming with a light-hearted smile, as if he was enjoying the night view.
Yet on this night, without stars or moon, there wasn’t much of a night view to speak of, only the dark and seemingly boundless night spreading across.
This darkness reminded him of Rong Zhi’s eyes, equally pitch-black and profound, seemingly bottomless.
Unable to help but smile, Wang Yizhi felt a cool dampness brought by the wind drift onto his face. He tilted his head and quickly reached out his hand to catch something in the air, grasping a few drops of rain.
Gradually, the drops became denser, and the autumn rain wasn’t fierce. It just drizzled down, just like the desolate autumn, bringing an even deeper chill.
When Wang Yizhi arrived, the little village was already empty due to the raids of bandits. Now, within dozens of meters around him, besides himself, there was only one other living person inside the house.
He was dressed in coarse hemp, and his wandering journey had added a weathered look to his face. But at this moment, Wang Yizhi seemed more at ease and happier than when he was in Jiankang. Even the desolate autumn rain couldn’t stop him from smiling.
The rain continued to fall, wetting the edge of the eaves and forming drops that trembled, then dropped from the foot-wide eaves, landing on the tip of Wang Yizhi’s shoe. At the same time, he heard the approaching clamor of footsteps from afar, and the smile in his eyes deepened.
“They’ve finally arrived.”
Biting wind, cold rain, dark night, so many cannot sleep.
