Chapter 463 - 332: Departure (Part 3)
"What?" He muttered dazedly.
And as he stood there bewildered, Miaoyan had already walked into the snow. Her voice, slightly hoarse yet charming, drifted through the wind and snow, carrying a plea in every word:
"Cheng Yu, I want you to live, you must live for me, you must survive."
Cheng Yu felt his heart being clenched tightly. Only now did he understand something; he and Rong Miaoyan seemed to have fallen into a crisis. But what had happened exactly?
He could only instinctively follow to shield the girl with an umbrella until, unknowingly, they arrived at Qianyuan Hall.
The snow fell even harder, echoing throughout the heavens and earth with the despairing cries similar to those uttered by birds in their final moments.
Cheng Yu looked up ahead and saw that the heavy hall doors were already opened to the width of one person. By the door stood Zhang Fengcai, whose black hair and clothing were stained white by the snow, as if he had been waiting for them.
"Greetings, Your Highness Princess, the Emperor has been waiting for a long time."
Upon seeing Miaoyan, Zhang Fengcai’s eyes narrowed, and he spoke respectfully.
Rong Miaoyan didn’t speak; she walked steadily inside, step by step.
Cheng Yu followed along dumbfounded, with countless questions in his heart that he couldn’t utter and didn’t know how to ask.
He wanted to ask why they should "confess" tonight’s matters to the Emperor; he wanted to ask if Miaoyan and Young Master Gu were not friends, why would she voluntarily disclose Young Master Gu’s secrets; he wanted to ask... He was one of the Inner Supervision people, serving the Princess, yet now followed the Princess to meet the Emperor and had encountered Zhang Fengcai—had he become a betrayer of the Inner Supervision?
"Your Highness Princess..."
A weak voice sounded, but Miaoyan’s steps did not pause in the slightest, as if she hadn’t heard.
Cheng Yu didn’t call out "Miaoyan"; he was still accustomed to calling Rong Miaoyan "Your Highness Princess," always remembering four years ago when the Princess saved him from a perverted old eunuch, seeing the compassion and gentleness in the girl’s eyes.
The Princess might have already forgotten the snowy scene as she saved him.
It’s better forgotten, lest such a lowly and unbearable event soil the Princess’s eyes; he remembers her kindness, and that’s enough.
Cheng Yu muttered,
Your Highness Princess,
I too wish to live well for you,
But it seems,
I can only accompany you this far.
Rong Miaoyan walked into the pitch-black Qianyuan Hall, and as Cheng Yu tried to follow her inside, Zhang Fengcai raised an arm to block him.
"Take this person!" Zhang Fengcai said coldly.
Cheng Yu didn’t resist, allowing Zhong Liang and several eunuchs to restrain him.
"I want to ask... the Princess won’t be harmed, will she?" Cheng Yu asked hoarsely.
Zhang Fengcai lowered his gaze, a hint of sympathy flashing in his eyes, and said, "Though the Princess made mistakes, her personal visit to explain and make amends ensures that the Emperor would naturally be reluctant to trouble her."
"That’s... good."
Cheng Yu closed his eyes satisfied.
At this moment, a sound of porcelain shattering came from inside the hall, the doors shut suddenly, rendering any sound from within inaudible.
An hour later, Zhang Fengcai personally escorted four Red-robed Commanders of the Inner Supervision to retrieve Gu Lan from the Imperial Court and moved her to confinement in a side hall of Yongming Palace.
Lin He saw Young Master Gu, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, and lowered his head, not daring to reveal any emotion.
"Young Master Gu, your identity truly surprises people." Zhang Fengcai bent forward, sighing.
Gu Lan raised an eyebrow: "Does it?"
Zhang Fengcai deliberately said, "No, it’s not Young Master. I should address you as... the daughter of Dingyuan Marquis."
Gu Lan’s gaze was calm like still water; she followed the Inner Supervision with light steps, leaving the Imperial Court where she had lived for half a month.
Zhang Fengcai’s expression changed; he couldn’t believe that no one in this world fears the unknown. Thus, he scrutinized Gu Lan’s face more closely, trying to detect a hint of hidden emotion to prove that Gu Lan too felt fear.
However, the youth’s face remained expressionless, seeming as if she had foreseen everything, or perhaps had been numbed by the torment of the Heart-devouring Incense.
Zhang Fengcai let out a frustrated grunt and said, "You didn’t know, did you? Your female identity was revealed to His Majesty by Princess Ning’an."
Gu Lan’s eyes remained unperturbed, like a calm, deep lake.
Zhang Fengcai suddenly felt that Gu Lan before him was so similar to the former Fifth Young Master Rong—both equally... impervious.
As she walked out of the Imperial Court, Gu Lan paused in her steps.
She stopped, turned to take a deep look at the gloomy, desolate palace.
The brief half-month stay at Rong Heng’s childhood place came to an end here; thinking that after tonight, she would never again lay on Brother Hang’s bed, Young Master Gu finally couldn’t help...
but laugh out loud.