Chapter 232: Chapter 232
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After combing his hair, he turned around, and while grinning from ear to ear, asked, “How do I look?” His eyes were dark and hollow, as the moonlight illuminated his face with a thin veil of whiteness. He seemed ever so handsome with his long and narrow eyes and tall nose, along with his porcelain-like face. He exuded the aura of royalty, yet a glimpse of death spread from within the center of his eyes, as his complexion turned an unnatural white, like white jade covered with dust.
Chu Qiao forced a smile. “You are exceedingly handsome.”
Li Ce frowned and asked, “Are you praising me?”
Seeing Chu Qiao nod, he then smiled happily, like how he had when he first met her.
“Li Ce,” Chu Qiao tried to suppress the sadness in her heart as she asked softly, “do you have any wishes in your heart?”
“Wishes?” Li Ce frowned and thought for a while before lightly laughing, “I have none.” His breath suddenly started to grow light and hurried. Stretching out at her, Li Ce lightly asked, “Qiaoqiao, let me hug you.”
The wind outside suddenly got stronger and blew open the small window. The moon colored the huge hall a milky white, and the surroundings were all polished; white like snow. Wind blew from the Tai Qing pond from afar, bringing with it a waft of a lotus aroma. Chu Qiao’s throat seemed to have been bitten by someone and hurt significantly. Kneeling on the ground, she leaned into his bosom, as tears rolled down her face, wetting his clothes. The breathing on the top of her head gradually vanished, like the sakura blossom that had fallen, without any sound left. With the moon shining from the side, it was as though time had reversed, as the attractive man in crimson clothes, with his jet black hair, landed behind her, asking her, “Are you not stopping?”
Time was like a dream, and as the grandiosity faded away, only a vast emptiness was left.
Chu Qiao’s eyes were like a piece of amber that shimmered alone, glimmering with a dying light. With her hollow eyes, she sat up and look over. He merely sat there silently with his head slanted as though he had sunk into a deep dream.
The fragments of memories started to fall apart, as the man who had been covered with a facade of royalty and wealth had shed his disguise layer by layer. Whether it the beautiful women he had courted, or the luxuries he had enjoyed, all but loneliness had vanished like the dying lights of a setting sun, dissolving into the darkness of the night.
The doors to the room suddenly opened, and the pale moonlight illuminated her figure. One could see a crowd of officials and ladies kneeling in the distance.
Sun Di stared at her, with a question in his trembling eyes. She stared back at him, completely without a soul in her eyes, and her entire body felt numb. Ultimately, she still slowly nodded.
“The Emperor has pa.s.sed on––”
A cacophony of crying pierced the skies and rocked the palace. The horns of grieving pierced through the night fog.
Lifting up her head, Chu Qiao’s thin clothes fluttered in the wind. In the empty sky, she seemed to see a clean face with a pair of long eyes smiling slyly at her like a fox.
A servant rushed over from an alleyway and quietly reported to Sun Di. They were too far, but the wind still blew traces of their words into Chu Qiao’s ears.
“When the grieving horns sounded… Smashed head onto a table corner… Full of blood, can’t be saved… Ultimately…is the mother to the emperor….”
In the frosty moonlight, Chu Qiao’s blood seemed to have frozen, as a stream of clear tears rolled down her cheeks yet again, dripping onto the ground of this palace that had seen too many lives and deaths.
The street of the Tang Capital seemed ever so beautiful, as a refreshing aroma of lotuses diffused into the atmosphere carried by the wind. The trees swayed in the wind like the torso of dancers. With the arrival of dusk, the birds flew back to their nests, and the crimson-colored world seemed like it had been colored in blood.
With the tragic pa.s.sing of the Tang Empire, everyone wore simple mourning clothes, and even the lanterns were hung up with white cloth covering them. Walking on the streets, one could even smell the desolation. As the sky dimmed and light gave way to the darkness, the round moon rose in the distant sky.
It had already been one month since Li Ce’s pa.s.sing, and it was now a festival known as the White Moon festival. Zhuge Yue had sent his men countless times to fetch her away, yet she stubbornly remained. A lingering thought remained in her mind, causing her to be unable to leave freely. Occasionally, she would wake up in the middle of the night covered in cold sweat. With Li Ce leaving, he brought along with him the music and parties in the palace, as the vast palace sank into a dest.i.tute silence. Walking in the long and narrow pathways in the palace, one could even hear one’s heartbeat. The rhythmic beating would continuously remind her of the fact that some people had left, and that there are still some who are alive, and that there are still some things that she had yet to do.
She had walked this path with Li Ce before. That night, as she woke from her coma, he was like a big boy as he held her hand, and pa.s.sing through nine layers of gates, many gardens, and even pa.s.sing through layers of ornamental mountains, they exited the palace. Sharing one horse, he sat before her, chuckling while pointing out the direction. Not only that, he would occasionally turn back to laugh at the guards who were worried like ants on a hot plate.
In the blink of an eye, things had changed, and some things, some people, had vanished into the river of time. The streets of today were nowhere as busy as that day, and was silent everywhere; only a few shops remained open. In the middle of national mourning, all festivities were canceled, and civilians no longer headed out of their house. Without customers, naturally, the shops would not open. The usually bustling street turned into a ghost town, with only the withered leaves falling through air, occasionally falling onto her pure white clothes.
After walking for very long, she reached the noodle shop that Li Ce had ate with her in. Surprisingly, they were still open, but there were no customers. The man was sitting on the chair and seemed like he was almost going to fall asleep. Seeing that she had entered the shop, he jumped up, and after carefully inspecting her, he wiped a table clean and signaled for her to sit down. His wife still looked the same, and the pa.s.sage of time seemed to have left no trace on her face. She always exuded the same diligent aura. Walking before Chu Qiao, her eyes remain unfocused, yet she smiled and greeted her, “Missy, it has been a long time.”
Chu Qiao was taken aback, and asked, “You remember me?”
“He could recognize, and had called me out.” The lady sincerely smiled and pointed to her husband standing behind her. Blushing lightly, the man smiled, revealing a row of neat, white teeth.
“Where is that Mister? It has been long since he last came here.”
That woman suddenly asked, still smiling with her eyes looking like two new moons. Wind had blown from the other side of the street. The man immediately took a step up, blocking the dust from his wife. That stream of motion seemed ever so natural.
Chu Qiao was a bit surprised by the man’s actions, and for a moment she forgot to reply to the female owner. The woman continued to ask, “Missy? Missy?”
Chu Qiao turned to her, and lightly smiled. “Oh, he headed to a distant place.”
“Oh.” The woman nodded. “Then, when will he come back?”
As the autumn wind continued to blow, and the leaves piled up in corners, Chu Qiao’s heart froze up bit by bit. Her complexion turned pale, and she felt a choking sensation in her throat. After thinking for a moment, she softly replied, “He moved away, and perhaps he will never come back.”
The woman could not see Chu Qiao’s expression and wanted to continue to ask, yet she was tugged on by her husband. This intelligent lady immediately understood, and turned around and left. Before long, a bowl of steaming noodles was served, along with a plate of beef and half a plate of prawn dumplings. Even from afar, one could smell the vinegar.
Chu Qiao picked up her chopsticks, and after wiping it with her handkerchief, she started to eat. The noodles were boiling hot with diced spring onions sprinkled over the top, giving off a pleasant aroma. Chu Qiao ate slowly. It had been too long since she had eaten a proper meal, and her stomach was flipping with acid, as though she was about to vomit.
“The dumplings will get cold quickly,” a crisp voice sounded out. Chu Qiao turned around and saw a girl who was about ten-years-old, she looked extremely familiar. Looking at the female owner, Chu Qiao could instantly remember this girl, and she called out, “Qian’er?”
The kid frowned, and completely serious, she asked Chu Qiao, “You know me?”
Chu Qiao smiled and did not speak much. The child sat on the chair next to her and asked, “You came here to eat before?”
“Yes.” Chu Qiao nodded.
A familiar sound of aninstrument resounded. Chu Qiao lifted her head, only to see that the shadow puppet play at the corner of the street started performing again.
“Do you like to listen to those plays?” the kid asked.
Chu Qiao could not help but smile gently as she caressed the kid’s hair while asking, “You are still interested in those plays?”
“I am here with my parents every day, and there was nothing I could do anyways. Hearing your accent, you must not be a local. Can you understand what they are saying?”
Chu Qiao shook her head.
The kid quickly suggested, “Then let me explain the story to you.”
“I heard you tell me the story before.”
“It is a new show!” The kid explained, “It is a show from last, last, last, last, last month, a new show!”
Seeing her enthusiasm, Chu Qiao had no choice. “Go ahead, tell me the story.”
The singing began, and it certainly sounded like it was different from the past. Not only that, but there were more singers and more instruments, yet their business seemed like they were failing. The surroundings were empty, with only two toddlers rolling around before the stage without a single proper audience. They still carried on the performance with the utmost professionalism. The shadow of a lively shadow appeared on the screen. Even from afar, one could see the intricate designs of the facial features.
“He is the Prince.” It was the same introduction, only that the prince now was different from in the past, as the intricate craftsmanship could suggest, along with much more detailed instruments. No matter how one look at it, one could tell that it was no longer a poor group.
At this time, another shadow appeared.
“That is a lady,” the kid explained seriously. “There was a time that the prince headed out of his country and encountered this lady. The lady knew martial arts and beat up the prince. The prince was rather angry and wanted to take revenge, but later, something happened, and the prince fell in love with her.”
In these years, the kid had clearly improved in her storytelling abilities. Lifting her head up at Chu Qiao, the kid asked, “Do you want to know what had happened?”
Chu Qiao’s hand that was holding her chopsticks froze, and she stiffly nodded.
Proudly, the kid smiled and continued, “There was a time that they met an evil person, and the kind lady saved the prince a few times. The prince thought that this lady was so honorable, he wanted to bring her back to be his wife. Unfortunately, the lady did not like this prince but liked someone else. Later on, she left with that person.”
At this time, another person appeared on the stage. This figure was different from the other two, and the puppet was poorly made, as it did not even wear clothes, and in its hand, there was a wooden stick.
“But that man was a bad man. Not only was he unreasonable, but he was also ugly and poor, and liked to bully others. In the end, the lady suddenly came to her senses, so she left this man.”
At this time, another character appeared on the stage.
“The lady fell in love with another person. But this man was not good either. Not only was he arrogant, but he was also a bully, and very ugly. He might even have some special interests as he had been particularly close with another prince in the country. In any case, this new man could very well be a crazy person.”
And with that, the young girl heaved a long sigh and continued, “Finally, the lady grew up, and finally realized her mistake again, and with all her determination, she left the second person as well and came back to look for the prince. The prince had already risen to power and became the Emperor. Not only was he handsome, but he was also rich and well disciplined. He was kind and sincere. The lady was regretful and cried and knelt before the house of the Emperor, pleading to marry him. In the end, the Emperor reluctantly agreed.”