Chapter 63
After a long while, Gu Xiyan’s body went completely limp and weak as Lu Chenglian lifted her out.
At this moment, even Gu Xiyan’s fingertips were drooping, her eyes unfocused.
She did not quite understand why he had so many tricks. Moreover, these tricks seemed somewhat rigid, as if he insisted on maintaining certain poses for the matter to be considered complete. This reminded her of the various rituals during the New Year festivals—those meaningless yet mandatory observances.
She felt somewhat awkward and wanted to resist, but he became even more intense because of those poses. The darkness in his eyes deepened, as if he wanted to swallow her whole.
She truly did not understand men…
Lu Chenglian held her, wiped her slightly, wrapped her in a large cloak, and pressed her head against his shoulder, letting her lie prone.
He whispered in her ear, “Hold me.”
Hearing this, Gu Xiyan took a moment to process his meaning before raising her arms to hug his waist.
Lu Chenglian said in a low voice, “So obedient now?”
His voice was very hoarse, exhaling hot air onto her cheek.
Gu Xiyan protested by twisting her waist.
Lu Chenglian held her tighter, mounted the horse, and walked forward slowly and deliberately.
At this time, the full moon had tilted westward, and the stars in the sky shone brighter.
Amidst the rhythmic clip-clop of the horse’s hooves, Gu Xiyan felt somewhat sleepy. She leaned weakly against Lu Chenglian’s chest, her eyes half-closed.
Lu Chenglian rested his chin on her hair and asked in a low voice, “Sleepy?”
Gu Xiyan murmured confusedly, “Mn.”
Lu Chenglian asked, “Did you not sleep for a long time yesterday? Why are you sleepy again now?”
At this moment, Gu Xiyan was spoiled and arrogant. She could not tolerate even a single unpleasant word, so she immediately pinched his lower back with her nails.
Lu Chenglian’s expression remained unchanged, only looking at her helplessly.
Gu Xiyan snorted lightly. “Yesterday’s sleep was for yesterday, and today’s sleep is for today. How can you compare them like that?”
Seeing her spirited little appearance, Lu Chenglian laughed. “Not sleepy anymore?”
Gu Xiyan hit him. “I want to go back. I want to sleep!”
Lu Chenglian smiled and said, “Look, there are stars in the sky.”
Gu Xiyan said, “How could there be no stars in the sky—”
She intended to argue with him a few more sentences, but she stopped halfway.
Because she saw the sky full of stars.
The sky was a deep azure blue, with stars scattered throughout, each shining brightly, clear and cold.
Gu Xiyan raised her face and stared blankly at the stars. The mountain terrain was open and desolate, and the starry sky was vast. She felt that she was so insignificant. In the boundless universe, she was merely a speck of dust, disappearing with a blow of wind.
In this boundless vastness and loneliness, she even had an illusion that there was no one else in heaven and earth, only him and her.
If heaven and earth froze here, and all things returned to silence, he and she would surely turn into tightly embraced stubborn stones, sinking into the boundless primordial chaos. Millions of years later, after the changes of seas and mulberry fields, on some occasional day, someone would fish them out.
Then someone would say in surprise, “Look at these two stone figures, they are entangled together!”
In this absurd reverie, the horse had stopped at some point, and the man behind her pulled her deeper into his embrace.
Gu Xiyan murmured, “How good it would be if you and I were not human…”
Lu Chenglian’s chin lightly rested on her hair, and he asked hoarsely, “What do you hope we are?”
Gu Xiyan extended her fingertips from under the large cloak. The moonlight was like water, casting a faint halo on her translucent white fingertips.
She smiled and said, “We could be a breeze, a mountain sparrow, roaming freely in the vast world, unrestrained.”
Following their hearts, going with their nature, no longer confined by the shackles of the human world.
Gu Xiyan had to admit that during these two days of temporary stay in this separate courtyard, life was exceptionally quiet and peaceful.
Lu Chenglian still had matters to handle and would not accompany her all the time, but he would return in the evenings to have dinner with her. Afterward, the two would share intense affection and rest together.
Night after night, it was never enough.
In a daze, Gu Xiyan even had the illusion that this was her husband, and they were a harmonious couple singing in unison.
But everything was an illusion, which would eventually be broken.
On this morning, he was to send her back.
Hearing this, Gu Xiyan looked up. He was also looking at her.
Because he was backlit, she felt his expression was dark and unclear.
This reminded her of that glass window, the one-way glass window.
So she turned her face away淡淡ly. “Mn, you have handled everything, right?”
Her voice was very light, as if they were discussing a trivial matter.
Lu Chenglian said, “Yes.”
His voice was very low, seeming somewhat heavy.
Gu Xiyan lowered her eyes, thinking that perhaps he was also reluctant. After all, the feeling of being together was too sweet. Snuggling, blending, both enjoying the ultimate intimacy between men and women.
Who would want to give up such pleasure?
However, she still suppressed her thoughts and said, “Then let us do it as soon as possible. Is it today? When do we depart?”
Lu Chenglian roughly explained his arrangements to her. Due to this incident, both Enye Temple and Baiyun Nunnery had to bear responsibility. Especially the abbess of Baiyun Nunnery; if things went wrong, her future would be ruined, and she might even lose her life.
He had already controlled this abbess. To clear her name, the abbess naturally cooperated to the best of her ability.
Now Gu Xiyan needed the abbess to prove her innocence, and the abbess also needed Gu Xiyan to clear her name. It was a perfect match, mutually beneficial.
Lu Chenglian said, “Rest assured. The abbess is now like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. She is begging us and would not dare to say much. She does not know the key points here. It was after her hundred pleas that I gave her this way out. As for the Prince of Duan’s Residence, Ling Heng has arranged everything.”
He explained, “Ling Heng seems unreliable usually, but he actually handles matters properly.”
Gu Xiyan said, “Mn, that is good.”
The two discussed the upcoming arrangements. As they spoke, they suddenly ran out of words, and both fell silent.
Some birds were chirping outside the window, chattering away. But the room was too quiet, so quiet that it became uncomfortable.
Just then, the sound of bells faintly rang from outside, accompanied by the sound of carriage wheels. Gu Xiyan understood that this was the carriage coming to pick her up. She listened carefully. Soon, the carriage arrived near the separate courtyard. With a long shout from the driver, the bell sounds stopped.
Outside became quiet again.
Gu Xiyan asked, “Should I go now?”
Lu Chenglian said, “Yes.”
Gu Xiyan no longer looked at him. She took a veiled hat from the side and put it on.
As she was tying the strings of the veiled hat, she heard the man suddenly ask, “Do you want to go back?”
Gu Xiyan’s actions paused. Through a layer of thin gauze, she looked at that man.
That man was also looking at her.
Through this layer of thin gauze, she could clearly see every expression on his face.
But she knew that he could not see her clearly. This was the advantage of the veiled hat.
Thus, she developed a subtle sense of superiority, as if she had won, as if the positions of the two had been reversed.
Looking at that handsome face, she asked, “Third Master, what do you mean by this? Do we need to delay for a few more days?”
She deliberately misinterpreted his meaning, which obviously made him feel helpless.
He frowned slightly. “That is not what I meant.”
Gu Xiyan asked, “Then what did you mean? Whether I want to or not, I must go back…”
Lu Chenglian fell silent. He pursed his thin lips, his dark eyes silently watching her.
Although their bodies had been intimate and blended like water and milk, there was always a layer of paper window between them, a window paper that neither could pierce.
When their gazes connected for so long, the atmosphere in the air began to change, becoming unusual. It was like a bamboo basket storing seasonal fruits, brewing a sweet and sour, rich aroma due to long storage.
After a long while, Lu Chenglian finally spoke first, his voice sounding somewhat difficult. “What about you yourself? If you could choose, would you want to go back?”
Hearing these words, Gu Xiyan’s heart paused.
She looked at him silently. Through the thin veil, that handsome face became hazy.
She knew this was what he meant, but she did not expect him to actually ask it.
They each had their own obsessions and their own paths home. His reputation, his good name, her chastity, her life.
Now that he asked this question, how was she to answer?
Gu Xiyan silently pursed her lips and remained speechless for a long time.
After a long while, Lu Chenglian averted his eyes and said淡淡ly, “Let us go. Everything is arranged.”
Speaking thus, he strode out the door.
Gu Xiyan wore ordinary coarse cloth clothes and put on a veiled hat before boarding the carriage. After some bumping, the carriage arrived at a courtyard house outside Baiyun Nunnery. The house was not large, but there were soldiers guarding the outside, indicating strict security.
Gu Xiyan was led into the house and met the abbess.
The abbess indeed looked terrified. Seeing Gu Xiyan, she kept chanting “Amitabha,” begging Gu Xiyan for help, and saying that Gu Xiyan was a kind person and that good people receive good rewards.
Gu Xiyan naturally accepted this and roughly asked about the abbess’s experience, instructing her to remember the story.
Looking at the abbess, she said, “This matter is serious. If any wind leaks out, your life will surely be lost.”
The abbess was naturally frightened and almost knelt down directly to Gu Xiyan.
Gu Xiyan signaled her not to panic. After asking carefully, she learned that the military had strictly investigated the events in the nunnery that day, treating her as a rebel bandit. She had suffered some hardship and now only sought to survive.
Gu Xiyan was completely relieved.
She thought that compared to this abbess, she was inside the glass window, while the abbess was outside.
The person inside the window was clear at a glance, while the person outside the window was disoriented.
At present, the two settled down in this courtyard house first. The servants in the house had been arranged by Young Heir Ling Heng earlier. Each one appeared disciplined, proper, and tight-lipped.
Gu Xiyan thought about this situation. The people from the Prince of Duan’s Residence dared not speak much. Moreover, they only thought she was with the abbess, so they were not afraid of their gossip. The abbess was scared stiff, and since it concerned her own life, she was not afraid of her speaking randomly either.
With the abbess of Baiyun Nunnery and the servant women of the Prince of Duan’s Residence accompanying her, she had no worry about her reputation.
As for the rest, it depended on Lu Chenglian. Now that military troops were stationed in the mountains to create chaos and confusion, the Prince of Duan’s Residence could not blame her. On the contrary, she could blame the Prince of Duan’s Residence for choosing the wrong timing, causing her fear and anxiety.
Thus, her heart became even more settled. She had already planned the upcoming events: how she should act when seeing people and how to cover up this absurdity.
In the evening, people from the Jing Duke’s Residence arrived. There were quite a few, led by Zhou Qing’s wife, who chattered endlessly, circling around Gu Xiyan, asking this and that. Following Lu Chenglian’s instructions, Gu Xiyan only said that there had nearly been an incident in the nunnery, but fortunately, Young Heir Ling Heng’s troops were there, settling both the abbess and herself down.
Zhou Qing’s wife privately questioned the abbess and those servant women, but they all managed to deflect the inquiries.
Gu Xiyan watched coldly from the side, knowing that Zhou Qing’s wife dared not cause trouble.
She was a chaste woman. If her reputation was damaged, Zhou Qing’s wife would be the first to suffer the consequences. So in the end, they were all grasshoppers tied to the same rope. Even if there was anything inappropriate, Zhou Qing’s wife would have to conceal it for her.
When everything was finally settled, Zhou Qing’s wife came over to pay respects and smiled apologetically. “Who would have thought that bandits would suddenly appear? The Young Mistress must have been frightened.”
Gu Xiyan sighed. “Sister Zhou, I was indeed frightened. I was even afraid that I would not return to the residence alive. At that time, I was thinking that it was fortunate that I had asked Sister Zhou to return first. Otherwise, would Sister Zhou not have been implicated by me?”
Hearing this, Zhou Qing’s wife’s heart skipped a beat in fear.
While smiling apologetically, she subtly examined Gu Xiyan but saw no clues.
So she became even more attentive and said, “It is because the Young Mistress is considerate of me. I must know what is good for me.”
Gu Xiyan smiled. “Sister Zhou is too polite. In the past, I received your care. In the future, if anything happens, I will still need your completeness.”
Zhou Qing’s wife repeatedly said, “You are killing me with kindness.”
Amidst such laughter and conversation, the matter passed. Gu Xiyan clearly knew that the rope tying her, the abbess, and Zhou Qing’s wife together had become stronger. No one could think of running away.
Soon, Qiusang and Chunlan also arrived. As soon as they saw Gu Xiyan, they burst into tears, especially Qiusang, who hugged Gu Xiyan and would not let go.
Gu Xiyan recalled the experiences of these short few days. First, survival after disaster, then indulgent sweetness. All of this was simply inconceivable for a widow of the inner quarters, feeling as if suspended in mid-air by iron chains.
Now it was good. She had finally landed and felt secure.
After everyone met and recounted the experiences of these few days, Qiusang obviously guessed something but did not ask. Chunlan was young after all and had fewer schemes, so she did not think much.
Due to this incident, it was naturally not suitable to stay in the mountains for long. The Duke’s Residence sent carriages to pick them up. In less than half a day, the group returned to the front of the vermilion-lacquered gate.
Gu Xiyan changed into a small sedan chair covered with green silk and entered the Duke’s Residence through the side gate.
As soon as she stepped into these high walls, the long-lost atmosphere rushed toward her face.
Inside the towering courtyard walls, with glazed shadow screens and nine-bend corridors, the servant women held their breath, hurriedly following beside the sedan chair to welcome her. The family servants and pages stood with hands hanging down from a distance, not daring to lift their heads.
This was the Jing Duke’s Residence, a high-ranking family in the capital, majestic and solemn, with strict family rules, completely different from the casual wild charm of the mountains.
She had gone out for a trip and had now returned.