Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 526 The Princess Who Wants to Compilation 23

Yun Chu took a step back, his eyes sweeping over Liu Rufeng and Gu Tingzhou who were watching quietly, and he said casually, "Liu Rufeng, your ring-handled sword is too murderous and has lost its agility. Come here and demonstrate a few moves to Bai Mo, showing him the essence of 'hiding the edge.'" He instantly shifted the focus.

Liu Rufeng felt alarmed.

That's it again!

Take control of the situation without making a sound!

He immediately put on his usual, somewhat forced smile and stepped forward.

Yun Chu easily avoided his swift thrust and did not retaliate with a fierce counterattack as he expected. Instead, he used a smooth "force-releasing" technique to hit the vulnerable part of his arm.

"Killing is secondary, self-preservation comes first." Yun Chu's voice was steady and calm. "No matter where you are, the first thing to do is to protect yourself. Just like now," she said casually, her eyes sweeping meaningfully across the distant wall of the mansion, where the gleam of the Iron Feather Guard armor was faintly visible. "Only by being alive can you have the qualifications and value to investigate, right?"

The words were like needles, accurately piercing the essence of his identity as a spy.

Liu Rufeng felt a chill running down his spine, and the knife in his hand almost dropped from his grasp. "Your Highness... is a lesson."

He forced a smile and responded, his back instantly soaked in cold sweat and his heart was beating wildly.

The fear that she had completely seen through and ruthlessly exposed, as well as the implicit threat of "my life is in your hands" in her words, mixed with his forcibly suppressed distant thoughts of Huang Yunli and the pressure of the mission, stirred into a twisted and burning pain - this woman was an abyss, but also the only one who could give him a glimmer of "life".

Resistance and some kind of hidden dependence that even he hated were tearing him apart madly.

The courtyard grew increasingly desolate late at night, with a solitary moon hanging in the bleak night sky.

Yun Chu stood alone beside the Moon-Watching Pavilion, wearing only a thin velvet cloak, looking at the outline of the city blocked by lights in the distance.

The air was filled with the coolness of the night grass and a faint smell of blood.

There were almost inaudible footsteps behind me.

It was Shen Ji, holding an ancient seven-stringed zither in his arms, his posture calm, with a lonely beauty like a solitary moon - this was one of the few moments when he could maintain his true self in the mansion.

"Your Highness, it's getting late and the dew is heavy." He spoke softly, his voice less deliberately gentle than usual.

Yun Chu didn't look back, but just said "hmm" softly, his eyes still fixed on the silent darkness in the distance.

Shen Ji quietly laid out the cushions in the pavilion and placed the piano.

Without asking, his fingertips gently plucked the strings.

A low and cold overtone sounded, like a handful of cold spring flowing by. It was lonely, cold, and also concealed an unspeakable heavy mood - the suffering of the previous life, the confusion of this life, the prison in the mansion, the killing outside... all were beyond words.

The moonlight lengthened his elegant figure, making him look even thinner.

The song ended, and the tail sound lingered and dissipated into the cold wind.

Yun Chu then slowly turned around, her eyes set on his zither, then raised them again, staring directly at his silhouette, which appeared exceptionally clear in the moonlight, and said calmly, "The music is clear, but the mountain weighing on my heart is too heavy."

She paused slightly, looking at Shen Ji's eyes, which suddenly widened and were filled with emotion. "The mountains and rivers are vast, and the human heart can be a deep well. This mansion is but a small place, it cannot hold a true heart. It may be stormy outside... but the sky will clear eventually."

Her voice was soft, but it had a power that could penetrate the maze.

The strings hummed softly beneath Shen Ji's fingers. She understood... She could even hear the heavy shackles, the invisible "mountain"...

She actually said "I can't trap my heart"?

These words were totally inconsistent with the image of the licentious princess who only knew how to rob and plunder in his previous life!

The huge shock made him speechless for a moment, and he just stared at Yun Chu's eyes that were still clear in the dark night.

The iceberg in my heart quietly melted away its sharpest corner under the moonlight and these words, turning into an indescribable warmth and throbbing.

Behind the shade of flowers not far away, two figures stopped quietly.

Bai Mo listened quietly to the music and the last few words, with a deeper look of inquiry in his eyes. Yun Chu's words directly pointed to his "original heart" and were not false, which made his heart tremble even more.

Liu Rufeng clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her palms - was she really trying so hard to comfort that bastard Shen Ji?

The words "I can't trap my heart", "When the sky is clear"... made the twisted jealousy and panic of having nowhere to turn to burn even more fiercely in his heart.

He must find out what she wants!

How much value does this chess piece of mine have?

The moonlight flows silently, dividing the courtyard into light and shadow.

Yun Chu stood in the open, his eyes sweeping over the person in the shadow.

The cold autumn wind, carrying the Queen's pressure and the cold light of the Iron Feather Guards, could not blow away the intricate network of emotions that had quietly grown in the mansion.

Every sound of the piano, every breath, every encounter of gazes, are silently settling and fermenting, like the water plants under a deep pool, silently weaving vines leading to a picture of the future.

The mission of love value is to overcome it step by step in the daily life where thorns and warmth coexist.

***

The austerity and panic that had plagued Yujing for more than two months finally subsided after the main forces of the Xuanjiao remnants were eradicated by the Purge Division.

The suffocating blood-red haze that enveloped the imperial capital seemed to be gently covered by the first snow of winter. Although the coldness remained, at least the surface of peace had returned.

When the first real winter snow fell, Yun Chu set off, taking Shen Ji, Bai Mo, Liu Rufeng, and Gu Tingzhou to her hot spring villa in the suburbs.

The villa is built on the hillside, with halls and pavilions scattered around. Natural hot springs are brought into the house, and the warm current dispels the biting cold. Outdoors, there is a world covered in silver.

Goose-feather-like snowflakes fell silently, covering the stacked pavilions, ancient sturdy pines and the white mist curling above the hot spring water, creating a tranquility that was isolated from the world.

An exquisite dinner was held in the spacious flower hall of the main hall. Ground dragons, breathing warm air from their beastly mouths, warmed the room like spring, while outside the window was a glassy world of jade trees and beautiful branches.

Yun Chu seemed to be in a particularly good mood today. She wasn't as reserved and dignified as usual, but instead had a relaxed, even indulgent, languid air.

She no longer pretended to be obsessed with Gu Tingzhou's account report, nor did she test Bai Mo or Liu Rufeng, but just kept asking the servants to fill the glass with warm Western grape wine.

The crimson wine rippled in the white jade cup, reflecting her cheeks which were slightly flushed with warmth.

"Come on, fill them up!" Yun Chu raised his glass, his phoenix eyes smiling, his gaze glimmering with a hazy light that he never had in his usual time. "It's freezing cold outside, and we're here by the fire, enjoying the snow. Isn't that a pleasure?"

Her words were less calculating and distant than before, and more pure and passionate, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her.

Shen Ji sat quietly not far away, watching her become more and more defenseless after drinking several cups in a row. The complicated emotions in his heart became even stronger. There was doubt, but also a hint of indescribable relief.

Bai Mo held the wine glass, his cold eyes cast on Yun Chu's eyebrows and lips, trying to judge whether this drunkenness was real or fake, a new disguise, or a rare revelation of his true self?

Liu Rufeng greeted him with his usual deliberate smile, but his eyes were still alert. However, this alertness seemed less sharp under the warm influence of the alcohol and the relaxed atmosphere in the room.

Gu Tingzhou looked at the blushing Yun Chu, frowning slightly, but more worried: "Your Highness, drinking too much is harmful to your health..."