Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Li Zhu was jolted awake by a piercing rooster crow.

“...What on earth was that racket?”

She blinked her eyes open, disoriented.

Before her, a smoke-colored, diamond-patterned silk canopy hung. Her hand brushed against the bedding, feeling a smooth, delicate texture—it seemed to be Shu brocade.

But on closer inspection, the quilt was camellia red, while the sheet was crab-shell blue.

This garish combination of bright red and green was utterly devoid of aesthetic appeal.

She then surveyed the room.

Within the chamber, there were no scrolls or books to be seen.

Instead, there were exquisitely crafted lacquered tables, dressing tables, and screens. Though not a matching set, they filled the modestly sized bedroom to the brim, glittering with a golden sheen.

A long moment passed.

Li Zhu, who had been sitting dazedly on the bed, suddenly remembered.

The night raid, the pursuit, the red leaves, the corpses, and…

…that bandit chief who looked exactly like Pei Yinzhi.

He had said his name was Pei Zhaoye.

Li Zhu abruptly rose.

Ignoring her aching body and the unhealed sword wound on her leg, she hurriedly got off the bed. She noticed her clothes had been changed; she was now wearing clean, fragrant new garments.

But she had no time to dwell on such minor details.

A set of robes hung on the clothes rack. Li Zhu clumsily put them on, picked up the crutch someone had left by the door, and pulled it open.

“Changjun! What are you doing here!”

Li Zhu could hardly believe her eyes.

Changjun was tied to a pillar under the corridor!

She rushed over to untie him:

“Who tied you up!? Your injuries…”

“What a bunch of shameless bandits!”

Changjun ripped the cloth gagging his mouth and angrily exclaimed:

“They actually said you’re their future chieftain’s wife! They wouldn’t let me into your room and tied me here all night!”

Though Changjun had been struck by an arrow, he hadn’t lost much blood, so his injuries were less severe than Li Zhu’s.

After having the arrowhead removed and his wound bandaged the previous night, he had immediately set out to find Li Zhu.

But as soon as he reached Li Zhu’s door, he saw the three of them emerging together. That woman named Dan Zhu had tied him up without a word!

“Princess, this is a bandit stronghold. It’s not safe to stay here long…”

Li Zhu glanced around. Seeing that it was still dark and no one was nearby, she pulled Changjun back into the inner room.

Closing the door, Li Zhu pondered for a moment before speaking seriously:

“I’m afraid we can’t leave.”

Changjun urgently asked, “Why? That bandit is utterly audacious! When I arrived last night, I saw people moving liquor—they might really be preparing a wedding banquet!”

He expected the princess to be terrified, but instead, she merely paused in surprise.

Then she blinked, her expression a mix of curiosity and anticipation:

“He’s serious about this…”

“Princess! Do you understand the gravity of the situation?!” Changjun exclaimed in shock.

“Oh, yes, I know, I know.”

Li Zhu said solemnly:

“However, any bandit stronghold, from the mountain top to the base, must have multiple checkpoints and sentry posts. Your injuries aren’t healed yet, and my leg injury makes me a burden. Without the Chieftain’s permission, we can’t leave this Red Leaf Village. That’s the first point.”

Changjun calmed down a bit.

“Secondly, I think the Chieftain isn’t an unreasonable person. While you were unconscious, he clearly had tacitly agreed to send us down the mountain. If we rashly try to escape on our own now, it will only cause trouble.”

“Another point: although Fang Jian and his men are dead, two days have passed—the news of my attack must have spread. At the very least, it won’t be a secret among the officials in Yiling and Wanjun. For the sake of the bigger picture, the Qin clan likely won’t rescue me. They’ll only ensure my death is swift and clean, to protect the Empress.”

Hearing this, the young eunuch’s face turned as pale as paper.

The princess now had only him by her side. If anything truly happened, he would be guilty beyond redemption.

“Then… Princess, what should we do next…”

Li Zhu pressed a finger to her lips:

“Shh—remember to call me Lady Shen once we’re out this door.”

Changjun nodded vigorously.

“First, let’s assess the situation in this Red Leaf Village. Though they are bandits… precisely because they are bandits and were chosen by the Empress as scapegoats to kill me, they definitely won’t collude with the Qin clan. In fact, they might be our only reliable allies right now.”

After hearing Li Zhu’s words, Changjun seemed to come to his senses, his tense body relaxing.

In that case, for now, this Red Leaf Village was the best place for them to hide and recover from their injuries.

“Since the Princess has made up her mind, Changjun will simply follow your orders.”

“Good,” Li Zhu said with gravity. “First, help me with my hair. Xuan Ying isn’t here—I don’t know how to style it.”

“…”

While Changjun helped her comb and style her hair, the two huddled together to refine their cover story, making the identity of the daughter of the Shen family, medicine merchants from Luoyang, more convincing.

Once groomed and ready, they stepped out.

Walking past a ginkgo tree outside the door, Li Zhu and Changjun walked one after the other across a creaking wooden bridge.

Both had long resided deep within the palace, with the farthest they had ever ventured being trips to the Shanglin Garden for sightseeing and hunting. Though the imperial gardens were grand and the scenery delightful, after a while, it was all just man-made landscapes.

But Mount Yu was a completely different scene.

The soft morning light filtered through layers of emerald green, pale gold, and crimson-red maple leaves, spilling onto the stream filled with fallen red leaves.

The untouched natural scenery held a unique, refreshing beauty.

Changjun said, “There really is a sentry post over there. Prin-... Lady, I’ll go ask them where the Chieftain is.”

Li Zhu nodded.

While Changjun went to inquire, she stood by the bridge admiring the view.

After a while, however, Li Zhu started to feel something was off.

The mountain bandits scattered throughout the woods—those standing guard, moving supplies, practicing martial arts, or resting on stone steps—had all suddenly fallen silent, giving her intense, heated looks.

Li Zhu had never been stared at by so many eyes at once, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

“...Changjun, is the hairstyle you gave me too strange? Xuan Ying always said you were clumsy and never let you do her hair. I should’ve had you practice more with them!”

Changjun, who had just returned, glanced around and said a bit helplessly:

“Lady, it’s not about the hairstyle. Even if you shaved your head, these rude ruffians would still stare at you like this!”

Li Zhu hurriedly hid behind Changjun.

Changjun shielded her like a mother hen protecting her chick, moving crab-like, forward and glaring back at each of the leering gazes one by one.

“What are you looking at! Keep staring and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

The seventeen-year-old eunuch lowered his voice to scold them.

Instead of being intimidated, the bandits burst into laughter.

“Young master, as a man, why do you sound like you’re talking with your butt clenched!”

Li Zhu instantly flared with anger.

Just then, an amused voice rang out from a small building nestled against the mountainside:

“What are you all looking at?”

The raucous laughter around the bridge gradually died down.

Amid the red maple leaves, a faint azure figure could be glimpsed, speaking slowly:

“Keep staring, and I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

The woods fell completely silent.

The weight of the stares on her vanished instantly. Li Zhu lifted her head and, through the layers of red leaves, saw him looking at her.

“They say it’s unlucky for the bride and groom to meet before the wedding. Why has the young lady come here on her own?”

His slightly rising tone carried a teasing lilt.

Li Zhu was momentarily dazed.

Feeling somewhat better today, the ringing in her ears had faded. Almost the instant she heard his voice, she felt a lump form in her throat.

Since his death, two springs and autumns had passed in the mortal world. She thought she would never see him again in this lifetime.

“...I have something to say to you.”

Her voice was soft and almost vulnerably gentle, devoid of any anger at being teased by a stranger.

The person in the small building fell silent.

Her reactions always took him by surprise.

“Alright,” he said again. “Wait there for a moment.”

Soon, two men came down the slope carrying a bamboo sedan chair to fetch Li Zhu.

One of them fawned:

“The Chieftain said the lady injured her leg. He didn’t want you having to walk on the mountain path and specially sent us to carry you.”

“Nonsense! What ‘lady’!”

Disgusted by their frivolous tone, Changjun deliberately put on airs, eyeing their bamboo sedan with critical disdain.

When the princess went out, she rode in a golden-rooted carriage drawn by six horses!

“Such a crude and simple bamboo sedan isn’t fit to carry our princess…”

“I appreciate your help.”

Li Zhu happily climbed onto the sedan.

Changjun: !!!

“Princess!”

Li Zhu blinked innocently: “But my leg really hurts.”

Unable to argue with the princess, Changjun could only glare coldly at the two sedan bearers:

“Carry it steadily! If you jostle my princess, watch your heads!”

The bamboo sedan creaked as it made its way up the mountain.

Li Zhu didn’t really care whether a sedan was made of gold or bamboo.

What mattered most about such external things was whether they served their purpose. If they couldn’t help but instead caused trouble, no matter how luxurious, they were nothing but a curse.

The Emperor’s golden-rooted carriage was like that.

Her consort was also like that.

At the mountaintop, the sky grew brighter, the autumn colors deeper, and the ground was carpeted with layers of maple and ginkgo leaves.

That familiar, tall figure stood in the courtyard before the small building, gently stroking the leaves of an orchid plant.

His handsome profile overlapped with the person from her dreams, though he looked much younger.

Li Zhu felt as if she were seeing the scenes of the past once again.

In his previous life, he would often admire the orchids in her study.

When Li Zhu noticed this, she took note. On his next birthday, she specially gifted him a pot of white orchid worth a small fortune. He was indeed delighted, cherished it dearly, and personally wiped its leaves every day.

People said Tan Xun was the elegant gentleman among orchids in Luoyang.

But in Li Zhu’s heart, her husband was the true orchid—noble in character, above worldly concerns.

Tears filled Li Zhu’s eyes again.

Whether he was called Pei Yinzhi or Pei Zhaoye, she knew that the man before her was her husband.

He had once traveled to the frontier for her sake, saving her from the hardship of a distant marriage.

He had also given her power, to redress the wrongs of her youth.

When the sedan chair landed, Li Zhu, using her cane for support, walked slowly toward him.

“…Who put this pot of chives here?”

Giving the orchid leaf a light flick with his finger, Pei Zhaoye asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Chieftain, these aren’t chives. They were brought down from the canal boat yesterday.”

His subordinate answered:

“The Second-in-command said the pot alone is worth at least a gold coin. However wealthy that delicate lady might be, she wouldn’t use such an expensive pot to grow chives. It must be some precious plant…”

If it was brought from the canal boat, it was surely meant for Pei Yinzhi.

“What’s so precious about it? It looks exactly like chives.”

Pei Zhaoye scoffed:

“Pull out these worthless chives… take them to the kitchen and make a dish of scrambled eggs with chives. Keep the pot and plant some bright, colorful flowers—anything would look better than chives.”

Rich girls have no taste—treating a few chives like treasure.

Thud—!

A cane flew over and landed at Pei Zhaoye’s feet.

“Who’s there!” The subordinate drew his sword in alarm.

Pei Zhaoye slowly looked up.

The autumn scenery in the mountains was dazzlingly vibrant, the fiery red leaves making the young woman’s snow-white complexion and ink-black hair stand out even more.

She stood against that intense backdrop, her dark eyes wide with anger, yet…

…breathtakingly beautiful.