Three Steps: From Assassin to Empress - Chapter 45
Chapter 45
A beautiful silk lantern was shot down from the pitch-black sky with a swoosh, slowly coming to rest on a treetop. The archer carefully retrieved it, and it was passed from hand to hand until it was delivered to the last person.
It was an ordinary silk lantern, with a white and a gold figure painted on the surface. A wish paper was tied beneath it, and the small bell at the bottom gently tinkled.
A hand with clearly defined knuckles untied the wish paper and flipped it over. The man lowered his gaze to the sharp handwriting. The assassin’s script was just like him: sharp and unrestrained.
The paper was filled with a lot of words. The emperor read it quickly, his mind lost in thought for a long time.
He wouldn’t allow Ying Xiu to have any secrets he didn’t know about, which was why he had ordered his men to retrieve this lantern.
He hadn’t expected Ying Xiu to be so greedy. On one small wish, he had written so many names.
He wished for these people to be safe and happy, rambling on and on until he finally wrote about Xie Zhou:
He wanted to be with Xie Zhou forever.
In the darkness, the silent emperor suddenly spoke. “Tell me, will a wish on a shot-down lantern still come true?”
The official standing by was startled. It was common knowledge that the emperor didn’t believe in spirits or deities, so how could he ask such a thing? A cold wind blew down his neck as he pondered how to answer, but then he heard the emperor say:
“Repair this lantern and send it to Hanshan Temple. Tell them to enshrine it properly.”
Hanshan Temple was one of the few monasteries that survived after the emperor killed monks and eradicated Buddhism. It was barely worthy of being called the greatest temple in the Southern Dynasty.
The official didn’t dare to ask more. He carefully picked up the lantern, his eyes scanning the red wish paper, hesitating whether to take it with him.
The emperor didn’t even look at him. His fingertip gently pressed down on the paper, indicating for him to leave.
The official’s back was almost slick with cold sweat. He held the silk lantern with extreme care and quietly backed out of the room.
The candlelight crackled and sputtered. The flickering light shone on the young emperor’s cold, beautiful profile, calm and icy.
He took one last look at the names on the wish paper before summoning the Xuansijing. “Keep an eye on these people. Don’t let them die, and don’t let them have a chance to see Ying Xiu again.”
He could not tolerate these people.
The commander of the Xuansijing stared at the names on the paper, accepted his orders, and left.
An attendant appeared silently and reported in a low voice that the young master had arrived.
The folding door of the East Pavilion suddenly rattled. The youth poked in a fluffy head, looking left and right, his eyes finally stopping on the retainer. “Xie Zhou, aren’t you going to sleep yet?”
Seeing that there was no one here but Xie Zhou and an attendant, Ying Xiu opened the folding door and walked in, habitually sitting in his usual spot beside him.
On the long table in front of Xie Zhou were many official documents. The style of these documents was completely different from those of the Wang family of Langya. They were even more solemn and mysterious. Ying Xiu had never seen the material of the silk scrolls before.
He accidentally glanced at them from the corner of his eye and quickly looked away. How could he peek at the secrets of the Xie clan of Jiankang?
The retainer didn’t seem to mind. He casually picked up a memorial and asked Ying Xiu, “Do you want to see?”
Ying Xiu shook his head vigorously, showing no interest. Xie Zhou smiled and said casually, “The Qiang envoys have arrived in the capital to meet the emperor. The emperor has agreed to open up trade between the North and South.”
The livestock and horses of the Northern Qiang people would circulate to the South, and the grain of the Southern water villages would be transported to the North. Soon, Qiang merchants would arrive in succession.
The North-South trade had been discussed in the market for several months. When Ying Xiu heard that the matter was finally settled, a smile appeared on his face. “This is a good thing. The historians all say that the current emperor is a tyrant, but I don’t think so.”
The youth’s smile faded, and a hint of worry appeared in his eyes. “I heard that the northern grasslands are already covered in snow. The Qiang people have no choice but to lead their tribes to migrate south, killing each other to fight for land. I only hope that they are truly here just for trade.”
Ying Xiu was far-sighted and often saw things that others didn’t notice.
Xie Zhou gently stroked his hair, his gaze deep and distant, as if he could already see the coming war.
“No matter what their intentions are, it doesn’t matter.”
The voice from above was as calm and indifferent as usual, but Ying Xiu heard something unusual in it. He felt as if he had overlooked something, and a faint unease settled in his heart.
No longer wanting to discuss the matter, Ying Xiu hugged Xie Zhou tightly and nestled in the retainer’s arms, his thoughts gradually drifting away. He wondered how his father was doing now.
Although his father was a master of martial arts, he was getting on in years. If he lived alone and got a headache or a fever, or ran into any danger, what would he do?
Later that night, after Xie Zhou had fallen asleep, Ying Xiu quietly got up and went to the window. He hastily wrote a message and then released the owl.
He asked a few of his old acquaintances to help him look for his father’s whereabouts. His father was nine feet tall, with a strong nose and a straight back. His features had both the fierceness of the Qiang people and the elegance of the Southern Dynasty people.
When he was a child, he didn’t understand, but now he could guess that his father was likely a mix of Southern and Qiang bl00d.
That was why he lived hidden in the mountains and didn’t dare to show himself to the world.
As he watched the owl fly away, a question that Ying Xiu had always ignored suddenly came to mind. His father had Qiang bl00d, which was obvious from his appearance, but he, as his father’s son, had no resemblance to him at all.
It had been four years since he had parted with his father, so he had never thought about this layer before. He couldn’t even unravel this simple secret.
Ying Xiu’s face was a little pale. Just now, he understood everything. He wasn’t his father’s biological child at all.
Maybe even his deceased mother, who his father had spoken of, didn’t exist.
Then who were his biological parents?
Ying Xiu couldn’t help but feel uneasy. For seventeen years, he had been slow to realize that he had never seen his own biological parents.
…Should he go look for them?
The two windows were not closed. The night wind blew in, rustling the hair by Ying Xiu’s temples and making the back of his neck feel a little cold.
He instinctively looked down and saw in the blurry candlelight on the floor that, in addition to his own shadow, there was a long, tall shadow behind him.
“…Xie Zhou?”
The youth’s voice was a little dry. It seemed that his secret had been discovered, and even his tone was off.
The person behind him seemed to have moved. The youth didn’t look up, but watched the shadow on the floor gradually walk toward him, slowly, covering his own delicate shadow.
“It’s so late. Why aren’t you asleep yet?” The retainer was already behind him. His tone was calm and clear, as if he hadn’t noticed his distraction.
Ying Xiu stammered, “I got up to get some moonlight.” It was a clumsy lie. After he said it, he suddenly realized how absurd his words were. He wanted to explain, but after a moment of hesitation, he fell silent.
Without caring about his lie, Xie Zhou gently prompted, “What were you thinking about?”
Tell the truth.
For some reason, this thought suddenly appeared in Ying Xiu’s mind, as if something bad would happen if he didn’t tell the truth. He hesitated for a moment and said vaguely, “I was thinking about the past.”
“When you lived in Guangling?” The voice from above was gentle and calm. The retainer made no attempt to hide his knowledge of his past. “Or,”
He paused, and as the youth’s surprise grew, he continued, “The days you lived in the mountains when you were little?”
The tightness in Ying Xiu’s heart suddenly eased. Just for a moment, he had even thought that Xie Zhou would mention his foster father. But he had never mentioned his foster father to Xie Zhou.
“Something like that,” Ying Xiu said, looking up, no longer staring at the dark shadow that was enveloping him. “I suddenly remembered something and couldn’t sleep, so I got up for a walk.”
He still hadn’t told the truth.
Xie Zhou gazed at Ying Xiu, his deep, cold eyes unreadable. “You can tell me anything.” I will help you and give you everything you want.
It was quiet all around. Not even the chirping of birds could be heard. The wind raged outside, but the room was quiet and sullen.
Ying Xiu avoided Xie Zhou’s gaze and pulled his clothes tighter. The soft undergarment was wrinkled, revealing a hint of his collarbone underneath.
“I…” He was silent for a moment, wondering whether he should tell Xie Zhou about his origins. It was so bizarre that even he didn’t understand it.
What if, what if Xie Zhou found out that his father was of mixed bl00d and had an issue with him…
Ying Xiu imagined a scene where Xie Zhou and his father met and didn’t get along, and he couldn’t help but feel worried for them.
After a long hesitation, Ying Xiu still said nothing. He changed the subject. “It’s a little cold. I’ll go close the window.”
With that, the youth quickly turned around and walked toward the window. He pulled the casement window closed with both hands.
The moonlight disappeared.
The light in the quiet room became a little dim. The candle gradually melted, and the features of the people in the room were no longer clear.
Ying Xiu turned his head and saw Xie Zhou standing in the gloom. His white robe was hidden in the deep darkness. The lamplight flickered, and only his robes shimmered faintly.
His heart suddenly leaped. He felt inexplicably uneasy. He took a small step and ran toward the figure in the darkness, grabbing Xie Zhou’s hand and leading him toward the bed.
As soon as he touched the other’s fingertips, Ying Xiu was caught off guard by the cold. The retainer’s palm was icy, with no warmth.
…Was he sick again?
Ying Xiu was worried. He quickly pulled Xie Zhou onto the bed, then jumped off to look for a hand warmer. He lit it and hurried back with the hand warmer in his arms.
Just as he lifted the bed curtain and was halfway inside, he was suddenly pulled in. The hand warmer he was holding also fell, rolling under the bed with a thud.
“What are you…” Ying Xiu was about to ask him what he was doing, but he was pressed down onto the soft quilt. His spine almost ached from the fall.
In the darkness, the retainer clamped his hands and feet. His eyes were calm as he asked, “What were you just doing?”
Doing what… what was he doing?
His chaotic mind struggled to understand what Xie Zhou was saying. Ying Xiu said loudly, “I went to get you a hand warmer so you wouldn’t get cold.”
Xie Zhou was good in every way, except that he was a bit too clingy. He would ask him what he was doing just for turning around.
The retainer’s dark hair was all over the place, revealing a hint of a beautiful, hazy color in the darkness, which made it difficult to see clearly.
The retainer was born with a cold, beautiful look. In the daytime, the coldness was dominant, making him appear especially dangerous and icy. At night, the beauty was revealed, leaving Ying Xiu mesmerized and forgetting to struggle.
…
What do you think will happen now that the emperor has Ying Xiu trapped?