Chapter 249: Chapter 227: A Song of Ice and Fire Chapter 249: Chapter 227: A Song of Ice and Fire Chu Yu had just been discussing with Huan Yuan how they could get a clear view of the person inside the carriage, but unexpectedly, the very subject of their discussion suddenly appeared before her.
Could it be that he was coming to see her?
Looking at the carriage, Chu Yu felt a wave of confusion in her heart. If the person inside was Rong Zhi, she hadn’t even decided what expression to face him with.
As the carriage drove up to the door, Chu Yu instinctively stepped back two paces, but contrary to her expectations, the carriage did not stop. Instead, it continued forward. The guards by the carriage glanced at her warily, but after confirming that a frail young master and a child posed no threat, they looked away.
So, they were just passing by.
Chu Yu breathed a sigh of relief and couldn’t help but laugh at herself for being sowhat narcissistic. She had no utilitarian value to Rong Zhi now, so why would he co here? Most likely, even if they passed each other by, he wouldn’t bother to spare her a glance.
Just as she was about to head back inside, Chu Yu took one last look in the direction the carriage was headed and was surprised to see that it had stopped in front of a mansion next door!
The Chu Garden where Chu Yu was now living had been purchased in advance by Huan Yuan as a backup plan. He had arranged for people to take care of the place in Northern Wei before Chu Yu and the others arrived and later nad it Chu Garden.
Both sides of Chu Garden were vacant mansions, but not long after Chu Yu and the others moved in, the mansion to the left also welcod new residents. Unlike others around, the entrance didn’t display the owner’s surna or title indicating ownership, only a blank plaque hung there.
The owner of the mansion hardly ever left, and all household chores were managed by a few stewards. Apart from the occasional servant going out to procure goods, the main door was always firmly shut. In the garden adjoining their properties, Chu Yu sotis slled dicine wafting over from behind the wall, suggesting that there might be a sick person in the household.
Chu Yu had never intended to be neighborly or nosy, and even though she had lived here for two or three months, she knew nothing about this new neighbor.
Yet, could this new neighbor possibly have connections to Rong Zhi?
The carriage stopped in front of the Naless Mansion, and then a guard went up to knock on the door. The carriage drove straight in as the door opened, despite there being a threshold that wasn’t exactly carriage-friendly. Normally, the person inside should have gotten off and walked in, but instead, he chose to remain hidden, allowing the guard to lift the carriage by a few inches to cross the threshold before carefully setting it down.
Not even willing to walk a few steps, didn’t Rong Zhi seem too lazy and pampered to that extent?
Though fraught with doubts, one thing was crystal clear in Chu Yu’s mind: she must ascertain the true identity of the person inside the carriage, otherwise her mind could not be at peace. It was not because of Rong Zhi but because Jiran was involved.
Now, she had two possible courses of action. The first was to use brute force to storm in, attack the carriage, and hope to catch a glimpse of the person inside. The second was to sneak into the neighboring mansion. Surely, if the person could ride a carriage into the garden, he couldn’t possibly ride it into the house as well?
Of course, Chu Yu had also considered peeking over the wall, but firstly, that would make her too visible, and it would be embarrassing to be knocked off the wall if discovered; secondly, their mansion wasn’t an ordinary small quadrangle with all anities like pavilions, towers, waterside pavilions, and gardens. Although not as expansive as the original Princess Mansion, it would take about ten minutes just to walk from the front gate to the back gate opposite. If she wanted to peek over the wall, she’d first need to develop x-ray vision and a telescope to peer through garden obstacles and from a distance.
Ever since that carriage first visited the Naless Mansion, Chu Yu had Liu Sang place a small stool by their doorway to sit and monitor the comings and goings of guests at the neighbor’s house, doing so for half a month.
The carriage visited every two or three days, sotis in the morning, sotis in the afternoon, staying for two hours each visit, but never revealing the person inside’s true face within Chu Yu’s viewable range.
Chu Yu had tried to discreetly use money to bribe the servants of the Naless Mansion to gather information or facilitate her plans. She had even had her people, disguising their identities, kidnap servants from the mansion when they went out shopping. However, no matter whether she threatened or bribed, the opponents were immovable in their poverty, unyielding in their valor, much like martyrs, showing Chu Yu what it ant to be unswervingly loyal.
Just when Chu Yu was preparing herself for a long battle, the opportunity to uncover the mystery presented itself to her much sooner than expected.
It was an ordinary afternoon, Chu Yu, as usual, sat in the garden worrying. The vivaciousness of spring around her almost seed to overflow. Gazing unconsciously at the blossoming flowers in front of her, Chu Yu suddenly rembered she had been in this world for over a year now—from last spring when the apricot blossoms filled her hair to this mont, where this year’s flowers outshone the last.
Unknowingly, she had grown accustod to everything in ancient tis—clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—all tinged with the air of this era. She hadn’t changed the era, but the era had changed her.
Furthermore, she had fallen for soone, and then told that person it was best they never et again.
Her heart slightly darkened, and even the clear, beautiful spring in the garden couldn’t lift Chu Yu’s spirits. At that mont, she saw two people standing at the garden gate—one was Huan Yuan; the other made Chu Yu start in surprise: “Hua Cuo?”
How had he co to be here?
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Huan Yuan, Hua Cuo was still clad in red. Looking at that vibrant color, Chu Yu couldn’t help but recall the scene a few months ago in the snowy field, where he had bitterly and sorrowfully cursed during his falling-out with Rong Zhi.
Several months later, Hua Cuo had undergone a drastic change in deanor. The old Hua Cuo, even when he had harsh words for her, still gave off the air of a heated fla—proud and unrestrained. But now, that fla seed to have solidified and cooled, and although a smile hung on his lips, his eyes seed to hold ice that wouldn’t lt for a thousand years.
His personality had almost completely reversed.
From extre passion and naivety to extre coldness and hatred.
All or nothing, love or hate, Hua Cuo’s thinking was so simple and direct. His love and hate were so intense and profound that even Chu Yu, who faced similar circumstances, felt sowhat inferior.
Of course, Hua Cuo still had one thing that hadn’t changed, and that was the emotions in his heart, which he displayed openly on his face, whether it was his past defense of Rong Zhi or his current hatred toward him, without concealnt or disguise.
Huan Yuan had accidentally discovered Hua Cuo’s whereabouts while gathering information in Luoyang City. Rembering what Chu Yu needed to do, he managed to find Hua Cuo, explained the situation to him, and then brought him along.
Hua Cuo had once mixed with the leader of the assassins, He Jue, for a while. Although He Jue disdained using assassination thods, this didn’t an Hua Cuo wasn’t versed in them. Being by Rong Zhi’s side, he had learned plenty of secretive tactics—using Hua Cuo for undercover work would be most fitting.
Chu Yu had few warriors by her side, and the only two capable of fighting, Liu Sang and Amman, were too naïve for such tasks. But with Hua Cuo’s arrival, everything was settled.
After a brief explanation from Huan Yuan, Chu Yu nodded to Hua Cuo and said, “Then I must trouble you, and thank you for your willingness to help.”
Hua Cuo replied indifferently, “You need not thank , I’m not doing this for you.”
He glanced up at the wall adjacent to the Naless Mansion and frowned upon slling the dicinal scent from beyond the wall. “Before I find out who is inside that carriage, I need to check who is living in this mansion!”
Without waiting for Chu Yu to respond, he leapt agilely over the wall.
A red figure flashed on top of the wall and then disappeared.
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