Chapter 93 – Blame It on the Autumn Rain
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Immediately, Chen Changsheng"s anxiety somewhat lessened, because he saw that waterfall of black hair. It wasn"t because it was a woman, but because an a.s.sa.s.sin would not be so easily found out, much less sleep on another person"s bed.
As a few remaining drops of rain lightly pattered against the window, that person turned around in bed, still asleep. He could barely make out that her ears were plugged with the softest silk. Her appearance was still as tender and beautiful as usual, but perhaps because her eyes were closed in deep sleep, she did not give off an arrogant demeanor or aura of cold.
Chen Changsheng was deeply shocked as he stared at the beautiful face. No matter what, he had never imagined that he would see Mo Yu. As the person most trusted by the Divine Empress of the Great Zhou, she should be extremely busy. How had she appeared in his house in the Orthodox Academy and was even sound asleep in his own bed?
Mo Yu was truly asleep, and for some reason, she was sleeping very soundly. Perhaps because she did not need to think about plots or schemes while sleeping, she seemed very relaxed. She was softly snoring and would occasionally extend her slightly wet tongue to lick the corners of her mouth. She was not deliberately enticing anybody, just seemed as innocent as a child.
Chen Changsheng creased his forehead, unable to understand this no matter how much he thought. Seeing Mo Yu"s face still holding a few traces of makeup, he thought in astonishment, this beautiful woman with the heart of a snake actually has this sort of innocent and exhausted side.
He returned his dagger to its sheath. If Mo Yu had come to kill him, it wouldn"t matter even if he was holding the Frost G.o.d Spear. He extended a hand to gently push Mo Yu"s body through the blanket. Even though it was separated by the quite thick blanket, the feeling felt through his fingers was still extremely clear, a tender elasticity.
The moment his finger fell on the blanket, Mo Yu opened her eyes.
She had not been sleeping this early morning sleep for too long, but she slept very well, much better than she had ever slept in the Imperial Palace or in the Little Orange Garden. This made her very satisfied. She squinted her eyes until they were like the leaves of willows by the lake, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happiness.
And then she saw Chen Changsheng. As she recalled where she was and what she had come to do, why she had fallen asleep, her eyes slightly chilled. The happiness in her eyes was like the reflection of willow leaves in the waters of a lake, shattered by a thrown stone and leaving not a single trace behind.
Her expression became extremely serious, exuding both grace and an incredible cold.
She blinked her eyes to completely wake up. She became calm as usual, not laughing or cold or graceful, only calm.
In a very short amount of time, she went from an innocent child to a cold figure of power and then to an ordinary woman, freely transforming from one to the other. At this sight, Chen Changsheng felt rather sorrowful, thinking inwardly, wearing so many faces, will you still be able to remember what your true self is like at the very end?
"What time is it?" Mo Yu asked.
Chen Changsheng told her.
Mo Yu looked out the window, seeing the autumn rain wet the slightly yellowed leaves, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain. She commented, "The sound of autumn rain striking against the window is truly good for sleep."
Saying this, she walked to the bronze mirror by the window and seated herself. She took a wooden comb from her sleeve and began to tidy her hair. Her actions were very natural, with no awkwardness or tension in sight. It was like this was not the Orthodox Academy, but her own bedroom in the Little Orange Garden.
Chen Changsheng moved his gaze away from the beautiful belt of her palace dress and fell upon her face in the bronze mirror. Seeing those traces of makeup and that inerasable exhaustion, he said, "You seem very tired."
Only a person exhausted in both body and mind would sleep with such soundness and relaxation. He was very sure of this.
The hand Mo Yu was using to hold the comb momentarily went stiff and then continued to move along her black hair as she teased, "What does a little child know?"
In her view, Chen Changsheng was just a little child.
Chen Changsheng replied, "Even a little child won"t run off to someone else"s house to sleep."
Mo Yu"s hand went stiff once more.
"I heard that the Orthodox Academy would be lively today, so I came over to take a look. I didn"t expect it to be so dull, so I fell asleep."
She calmly explained, but it was truthfully difficult to not be somewhat embarra.s.sed. However, she could not let Chen Changsheng see her embarra.s.sment, or else she would feel even more embarra.s.sed. It was just like how the first thing she had done upon waking up was attributing the soundness of her sleep to the gentle pattering of the autumn rain.
In reality, she herself did not understand why she had fallen asleep, and even on Chen Changsheng"s bed. Her only theory was that Chen Changsheng was just a little child and also had nothing much to do with the affairs of the Imperial Court, so she very easily became relaxed, and also the scent of these blankets…it was so nice as to be unreasonable.
It was like the scent of the sun, but not intense. Like the scent of the autumn rain, but not damp. Like the scent of a fruit, but not sticky. In brief, it was a very nice smell.
Mo Yu came to her senses and realized that she was thinking too much. Slightly frowning in perplexity, she examined her face in the mirror. She became somewhat displeased and said, "I didn"t expect that a young man like you would place such a large mirror in your room. You don"t normally put on makeup, and you don"t seem like a person that cares about external appearances."
"A bronze mirror can help one straighten their attire, and it can also help straighten their mind," Chen Changsheng explained.
"Reasonable." Mo Yu paused, then continued combing her hair.
After a few moments, her black hair became supple as it was before. She extended a finger towards the window. It was clearly some distance away from the outside, yet a ball of water still formed on the fingertip.
This was a very beautiful sight, and if an ordinary person who did not understand cultivation were to see it, they would think it incomparably mystical.
Chen Changsheng knew that this was the formidable control Star Condensation experts had on their surroundings, but he did not know why she had done this.
Mo Yu gently pressed her fingertip between her eyebrows and slowly rubbed. The remnants of her makeup descended with this water, like a flowering tree shedding countless bits of powder after being struck.
Only then did Chen Changsheng understand that she had displayed her formidable cultivation and nigh perfect control just so that she could wash off her makeup… He felt that women were truly difficult to understand. On this matter, he had a very different view, but after thinking about it, he decided to restrain himself.
"Do you know what the Empress said?" Mo Yu asked as she removed last night"s makeup from her face.
Chen Changsheng fell silent. Earlier, he had said to Tang Thirty-Six that he wanted to know the Divine Empress"s position. Now, the Divine Empress"s position was about to appear, but he suddenly didn"t want to know.
"The Empress said, "Children just like to mess around.""
Without turning around, Mo Yu continued, "Although you are also a child, the Empress was naturally not speaking about you."
Chen Changsheng understand that up until today, the Divine Empress might not have even known who he was. The child she was speaking of was naturally Luoluo.
"The White Emperor couple entrusted Her Highness Luoluo to the Empress. The Empress is her elder and must teach her, so Her Highness Luoluo must obey. Previously, Her Highness studied in the Orthodox Academy, acknowledging you as teacher. All this can be regarded as a child messing around, and the Empress would not care, but in the Ivy Festival, all of you messed around too much."
Mo Yu looked at the youth through the mirror, finishing, "The Empress does not want Her Highness to continue messing around with you."
Chen Changsheng lowered his head and stared at the floor in silence.
"Don"t think that you could really borrow Her Highness"s power. With just a single sentence, you could lose everything. You must be clear on this point."
"I never had anything in the capital, so I have nothing to lose."
"And your life? That you"re able to appear in front of me somewhat surprises me. It seems that Tianhai Shengxue is much more cautious and less daring than when he lived in the capital…right, you don"t know that fellow. Don"t be fooled by his ordinary appearance—when he truly goes crazy, Tianhai Ya"er doesn"t even have the right to carry his shoes. If he hadn"t been sent to suffer for a few years at Snowhold Pa.s.s, with his temper of the past, you would definitely have died this morning in front of the Orthodox Academy"s gates."
Chen Changsheng raised his head and looked at her face in the mirror, saying, "Officer Tianhai"s temper is still very bad. This morning, he truly wanted to kill someone. The reason I can stand right here is not that he displayed kindness or mercy, but that he couldn"t kill me…"
He added, "Just like two nights ago when I took out the marriage contract in Weiyang Palace, it wasn"t because of my lady"s sympathy, but because my lady had no way of stopping me."
Mo Yu arched her brows, somewhat unhappy.
"I forgot to tell my lady, Guardian Jin is now the Orthodox Academy"s gatekeeper…Tianhai Shengxue won"t have the chance to take even one step into the Orthodox Academy. If my lady wants to do anything else, my lady might need to personally appear and not act as you are now, chatting a few words in the aftermath."
Mo Yu"s forehead creased even tighter.
"You don"t usually talk this much."
"I also find it strange. Whether it was in front of Weiyang Palace, or in the abandoned garden, or right now, whenever I meet my lady, I find myself speaking a lot more."
Mo Yu turned around and quietly stared at Chen Changsheng. For some reason, she shook her head.
She did not understand—this youth was clearly ordinary to the extreme, but why did Princess Luoluo regard him with such importance? Even Xu Yourong had sent a letter speaking of this person. No matter how outstanding Chen Changsheng"s performance was at the Ivy Festival, she still did not understand.
But what puzzled her the most and what she cared about the most was still that matter.
"Just how did you get out of the Tong Palace?"
Chen Changsheng did not answer, only looked at her.
At this moment, Mo Yu"s face was completely clean of makeup. Her skin was white and tender as if new, her appearance elegant, her eyes graceful. She looked even more like a twenty-some-year-old young woman.
But she was not some young woman who had no understanding of worldly affairs, she was the extremely shrewd number one female official of the Great Zhou.
Her figure was visible behind all these matters, from Luoluo leaving the Orthodox Academy for the Li Palace Academy, to the Tianhai clan"s a.s.sault in the morning.
She was the instigator behind the curtains, the Orthodox Academy"s greatest enemy at the moment.
"Some people believe that you and the Orthodox Academy represent something, but you and I both know that this is only a misunderstanding."
She looked at Chen Changsheng and said, "When Xu Shiji sought my a.s.sistance, his daughter also just so happened to send a letter. I racked my mind but couldn"t think of a way to take care of the matter, so I threw you into the Orthodox Academy, intending to let you do what you wished. However, I didn"t expect that you would get to know Her Highness Luoluo and thus crawl out of this graveyard."
Chen Changsheng agreed, "Yes, that"s exactly how matters stand."
Mo Yu"s expression gradually grew cold. "I just casually did something and ended up stirring these ripples, but what does that matter? I don"t care whether the Orthodox Academy continues to exist or not, I only care about the fact that my view has not yet been realized."
Chen Changsheng asked, "What are you intending to do?"
"As things develop, they often ultimately return to the very start. So it is with this matter…we started with the marriage contract, so let us end it with the marriage contract. Take out the marriage contract, annul the engagement of your own will, and start over. This is your best choice."
"Xu Yourong herself has already admitted to this engagement."
"Did you ever think of why she wanted to admit to this engagement"s existence? Do you really think she actually likes you? Do you really think that a girl like her would marry someone she didn"t know just because of the words of the matchmaker and the orders of her parents? Or do you think that she"s a person that really cares about promises?"
Mo Yu stared at him and said, "You can discuss the Dao with Gou Hanshi, so you"re naturally a smart person. Two nights ago when you saw the White Crane bring that letter, you should have already guessed at her intentions, so why do you pretend as if you didn"t know? Being treated as a memorial archway, could you not be ashamed?"