Chapter 531: Entering the Palace on a Snowy Night
This was a truly speechless answer.
Just as Tang Thirty-Six had said, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were truly two people who left others at a loss for words.
Perhaps precisely because of this, Xu Yourong didn't seem too surprised when she heard Chen Changsheng's answer, nor was she angry—in fact, she was quite satisfied.
He only remembered that after dusk he was supposed to go to Fushun Road to eat bean curd fish, even though they ended up eating beef bones instead. He only remembered the words he had spoken in Zhou Mausoleum, so he divided the gold and silver treasures into two piles and used the larger half to buy that grassland downstream of the Red River, even though she had nothing to do with the Xiuling tribe. He only remembered promising her to break off the engagement, so he didn't hesitate to ask His Holiness the Pope to forcibly annul the marriage contract, even at the cost of public criticism in the capital—though this matter now seemed foolish, and he was now anxious about how to get that marriage contract back...
Getting some things wrong didn't matter, forgetting some things mattered even less. As long as some things were remembered, that was enough.
Because of Chen Changsheng's answer and the fragrant beef bones in the iron pot, Xu Yourong felt no regret whatsoever about her act of passing him that note on the Bridge of Helplessness.
She said softly, "I ate very well. Thank you."
With these words, she stood up, put away that piece of grassland, picked up the yellow paper umbrella from the ground, and walked out of the shop.
The clamorous, lively sounds instantly surged in. Chen Changsheng was momentarily stunned as he watched her lift the curtain and leave. Suddenly remembering that he still had the most important thing to give her, he quickly chased after her. The cold wind hit his face, snowflakes drifted through the night street, but where could he still see her figure?
He looked at the string of ten stone beads on his wrist, thinking that such an important thing must not be forgotten next time.
Beside him came the shop owner's voice: "Customer, there's still half a pot of beef bones left. Do you want to pack it up or eat a bit more?"
Chen Changsheng turned to look and saw the shop owner's expression seemed somewhat uneasy. After a moment's thought, he realized the man was worried he might skip out on the bill.
The shop owner rubbed his hands together, watching him nervously.
...
...
Carrying the packed beef bones, Chen Changsheng returned to the National Teaching Academy.
The winter forest by the lake looked somewhat eerie in the night, though the snow lines weighing down the branches somewhat diluted this feeling. From deep within the forest came low, thunder-like sounds, and occasionally a few extremely thin, lightning-bright lines would drift out—that was Xuan Yuan Po practicing his skills.
Su Moyu was in the library guiding the new students. Zhe Xiu, whose injuries were gradually healing, was somewhere under a snowdrift honing his spirit and will. Only Tang Thirty-Six was nowhere to be found, not even in his own room, but waiting in Chen Changsheng's room for him.
This wasn't just because he was extremely curious about Chen Changsheng's whereabouts, nor because his obsession with probing others' secrets had reached some universally detestable level, but because the thing he now held in his hands had to be personally delivered to Chen Changsheng before he could rest easy.
Even if he were the richest man in the world, if he lost that thing, he couldn't afford to compensate for it.
Because it was the divine staff representing the authority of the National Church—no matter how rich you were, you couldn't buy it.
Tang Thirty-Six had been sitting in the room for a long time, thinking about the awkward scene earlier in the Li Palace, recalling those gazes as sharp as real swords. Even now, he felt a soreness in his back. And thinking about Chen Changsheng somewhere enjoying himself at this moment, his mood grew worse and worse.
So when Chen Changsheng returned to the room, what he saw was naturally a very unpleasant face.
For some reason—perhaps because he was hiding the truth—seeing Tang Thirty-Six's expression made Chen Changsheng uneasy. He placed the food container on the table, pretended not to see him sitting on his bed, pretended he had no cleanliness obsession at all, and said very carefully, "The beef bones from Fushun Road taste really good."
"The Pope's divine staff tastes even better."
No matter how unpleasant Tang Thirty-Six's face was, it couldn't get much uglier, but the deliberate indifference representing anger was easy to read.
Chen Changsheng took the divine staff, quite surprised. Although Tang Thirty-Six had predicted this matter beforehand and warned him, he still hadn't quite expected it.
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him coldly and said, "Aren't you going to explain yourself?"
Chen Changsheng glanced at him and said, "Just had a meal with someone. Nothing major."
"But it's still something you can't talk about?"
"Mm."
"Then who did you eat with?"
"Can't say that either..."
Chen Changsheng was nervous, thinking about sitting across from Xu Yourong drinking wine earlier, but the corners of his mouth involuntarily lifted slightly.
Seeing this scene, Tang Thirty-Six sucked in a cold breath and said, "A woman?"
Chen Changsheng was startled and asked, "How did you figure that out?"
Tang Thirty-Six sneered and said, "Look at you, all spring breeze and emotions written all over your face. Only Xuan Yuan Po wouldn't notice."
Chen Changsheng was a bit embarrassed, not knowing how to respond.
"Three days. Three days at most." Tang Thirty-Six looked at him through gritted teeth and said, "I'll definitely find out what's going on with you. You just saw Xu Yourong and weren't captivated, but instead went to meet some other girl. I'm really curious how extraordinary she must be."
Chen Changsheng was somewhat puzzled and felt a vague sense of dissatisfaction, asking, "Why couldn't I have gone to meet Xu Yourong?"
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him expressionlessly and said, "Xu Yourong would meet you privately? You might as well tell me you're Su Li's illegitimate son."
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, "If that were the case, wouldn't Zhe Xiu have to call me brother-in-law?"
Tang Thirty-Six burst out laughing at this, then thought of something and his smile abruptly vanished.
He looked at Chen Changsheng and said, "You've actually learned to tell jokes, and they're really funny... You're truly finished."
Chen Changsheng was confused and asked, "What?"
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him sympathetically and said, "It seems you really like that girl. Otherwise, your personality wouldn't have changed so much. What are you going to do in the future?"
...
...
Chen Changsheng lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep even as the night grew deep.
Since he turned ten, except for that period when he first entered the capital and couldn't successfully draw down starlight to cleanse his marrow, this was his first time suffering from insomnia.
Tang Thirty-Six's final words seemed to tear through that window paper, letting starlight fall onto the snowy plain within his body, illuminating all his feelings with perfect clarity.
In the half year since leaving Zhou Garden, he often thought of her—whether on the big banyan tree by the lake or among the giant rocks of Zhou Mausoleum. But what he hadn't understood was that missing was missing the missing itself. Only today, when the white veil fell on the Bridge of Helplessness and he saw her eyes, especially earlier in the small tavern, bundled up in that big cotton coat, sipping strong wine, gnawing on bones—different from Zhou Garden, different from the legends people told, yet incomparably real, real in her beauty, so much that one wanted to draw close.
Only then did this missing settle into reality, gaining true weight.
A real and weighty missing is called longing. Once longing begins, sleep naturally becomes difficult.
Chen Changsheng was a man of few words but swift action. Since he couldn't sleep anyway, and since he wanted to see her, he would go see her.
Xu Yourong had told him not to let anyone know they had ever known each other, so he couldn't see her through normal channels. He would have to sneak in.
He got up, dressed, floated out the window, crossed the winter forest, took out the key, opened the secret door on the palace wall perfectly concealed by green vines, and walked in.
Pushing the heavy door open a crack, looking at the layers of deep palaces under the night, he was so nervous that even his whistling came out hoarse.
He was a disciplined young man who rarely did such things. Although he had secretly entered the imperial palace several times before, the situation now was different from before. Only last night had His Holiness the Pope formally announced to the entire continent that he was the successor of the National Church, and now he was breaking into the palace at night. If discovered, it would truly be a disaster.
Wind and snow drifted slowly, painting the red walls and yellow eaves of the palace white.
The Saintess looked at the snowflakes outside the window, a faintly mocking smile on her lips, and said, "Do you know when people are boldest?"
The unification of north and south was imminent, and matters in all aspects had suddenly multiplied. Mo Yu had been accompanying the Saintess in handling affairs until late at night and was already somewhat tired. Hearing this question, she was momentarily stunned before reacting, saying softly, "When facing death?"
"Not wrong, but there's another situation... because of love."
The Saintess looked at the night palace outside the window and said, "Or rather, lust makes one bold enough to defy heaven."
The sky was full of dancing snow, light overflowed, and the palace seemed like daytime, not deep night, making dark things somewhat conspicuous.
When Chen Changsheng saw that black sheep slowly walking across the snow-covered square, he felt a surge of gratitude.
He told the black sheep his purpose.
The black sheep looked at him twice, turned and walked toward a certain place. After who knows how long, it raised its horns toward a certain palace ahead, then turned and disappeared into the snowy night.
That palace was in an excellent location—not too remote, yet very quiet. Moreover, in the deep winter season, there were many green trees around it, which was unusual.
She lived here? So the rumors were true. The Saintess doted on her, even more than on Princess Ping.
Then if the National Church and the imperial court split in the future, and Uncle Pope fought with the Saintess, she would definitely side with the Saintess. What should I do? Suddenly, he remembered what she had said in the small tavern and realized this was indeed a problem—one that could be temporarily forgotten but not ignored forever.
Wind and snow raged before the palace, and it was cold. His face was hot at first, but then gradually cooled. Not because his heart had grown cold, but because he needed to calm down.
He had come to see her, yet for a long time he made no move, no intention of sneaking into this palace. He just stood there.
After who knows how long, a voice reached his ears—her voice.
"You... what are you doing standing here?"
He looked toward where the sound came from and saw that a window on the east side of the palace was still lit. He walked over and saw her silhouette reflected by the lamplight.
She sat at a table by the window, holding a scroll in her hand.
The night was deep, yet she hadn't slept. For some reason, perhaps the same reason he couldn't sleep.
"I... wanted to come see you," he said to her through the window.
Xu Yourong said softly from the other side of the window, "Didn't we just meet?"
Chen Changsheng hesitated for a moment, then said, "But... I can't sleep."
Xu Yourong turned to look out the window, somewhat uneasy, wondering what had happened that could keep someone like him from sleeping?
After all, back in Zhou Garden, even with countless terrifying beasts lurking in the sea of grass around them, he could still fall asleep peacefully.
"Did something happen?"
"Nothing... I just couldn't sleep from missing you."
...
...
(Tonight, Xu Yourong's name is An Hong.)