Chapter 529 – Entering the Palace in the Snowy Night (2/2)
Chen Changsheng thought it over, then said, ”If that were the case, wouldn't Zhexiu have to call me ‘brother-in-law’?”
Tang Thirty-Six roared in laughter, but then he thought of something and his smile vanished.
He looked at Chen Changsheng and said, ”You've actually figured out how to tell a joke, and it was actually really funny…you're definitely finished.”
Puzzled, Chen Changsheng asked, ”What?”
Tang Thirty-Six said to him with a sympathetic gaze, ”It looks to me that you really love this girl, or why else would your personality have changed so much? In the future, what's going to happen to you?”
……
……
Chen Changsheng lay on his bed, tossing and turning until it was late in the night, still unable to sleep.
After the age of ten, besides that period in the capital where he attracted starlight but failed to succeed in Purification, this was the first time that he suffered from insomnia.
Tang Thirty-Six's final words had seemingly ripped open the curtains of the window and caused the starlight to fall upon the snowy plain in his body, revealing with startling clarity every one of his emotions.
In this half-year after his departure from the Garden of Zhou, he would often think of her, whether he was sitting on the great banyan tree by the lake or amongst the massive stones of the Mausoleum of Zhou. However, what he did not understand was…that sort of longing had been a longing for what was missing, until today on the Bridge of Helplessness when he saw the white gauze fall and saw her eyes. Especially before in the restaurant, the image of her wrapped in a big cotton jacket, her small mouth sipping on wine and gnawing on ribs, was different from the Garden of Zhou, different from the stories. Yet it was incomparably true, truly good to see that appearance that made him want to get even closer to her.
Thus, this longing had fallen into reality and gained a real weight.
A longing that was true and had weight was called a yearning, and once one began yearning, it was difficult to sleep.
Chen Changsheng was a person slow to speak, but quick to act. In any case, since he wanted to see her and he couldn't sleep, he would just go see her.
Xu Yourong had told him to not let anyone know that they knew each other, so he could not take the normal way to see her, but instead had to sneak in to see her.
He got out of bed, put on his clothes, and flew through the window. He passed through the winter forest and used the key to open the secret door in the palace walls that had been concealed exceedingly well by ivy, and walked on in.
He opened the heavy door a crack. Looking into the palace grounds that were shrouded in darkness, he was rather nervous, so much so that even the whistles from his mouth were rather hoarse.
He was a youth that lived a very orderly life and rarely did this sort of thing. Although he had sneaked into the Imperial Palace several times, the circumstances now were rather different from those of the past. The Pope had just formally announced tonight that he was the successor to the Orthodoxy, and now he was infiltrating the Imperial Palace in the middle of the night. If he were discovered by anybody, it would definitely be a major event.
As the snowflakes slowly drifted down, the red walls and yellow eaves of the Imperial Palace were all draped in white.
The Divine Empress looked out the window at the snow, her lips turning into a mocking smile. She asked, ”Do you know when people are the most courageous?”
The confluence of north and south was imminent and the matters that required handling for each side had suddenly increased. Mo Yu had accompanied the Empress late into the night taking care of these matters and was rather exhausted. Upon hearing this sudden question, she gazed off vacantly for a moment before responding in a soft voice, ”When confronting death?”
”It's not wrong, but there is another situation…because of love.”
The Divine Empress looked out the window at the dark palace and continued, ”In other words, when driven by passion.”
The sky danced with snow and the light of lanterns was profuse. It seemed like daytime, not late night, in the Imperial Palace, causing black objects to appear all the more conspicuous.
When Chen Changsheng saw the Black Goat slowly amble out of the plaza covered in snow, he was filled with gratitude.
He told the Black Goat his reason for coming.
The Black Goat glanced at him twice and then turned and walked off. After quite some time, it pointed its horns at a certain palace hall and then turned around and vanished into the snowy night.
This palace hall's location was superb. It was not too remote, but it was very peaceful. Moreover, deep in the winter, this palace was still surrounded by green trees, which was highly unusual.
She was here? Based on the rumors, the Divine Empress doted on her, even more than she doted on the Princess of Ping.
Then if the Orthodoxy and the Imperial Court were to split and his martial uncle, the Pope, began to fight with the Divine Empress, she would definitely assist the Empress. What would he do then? Suddenly, he recalled those words of hers in the restaurant and realized that this really was a problem. He could forget it for a moment, but he couldn't leave it unconsidered forever.
The combination of snow and wind in front of this palace hall was quite cold. At the very beginning, his face had actually been quite hot, but now it was gradually beginning to cool. It wasn't because his passion had cooled, but he needed to be cool-headed.
He had come to see her, but he didn't move for a very long time. He had no intention of sneaking into this palace, only standing there.
He stood there for quite a while, unaware of the passing of time, until finally, a voice fell in his ear. It was her voice.
”You…what are you standing here for?”
He turned to the voice and saw that a window on the eastern wing of the palace was still bright. He walked over and saw her silhouette in the light.
She was sitting by a table next to the window, her hands holding a book.
It was late, but for some reason, she was not asleep, perhaps for the same reason he could not sleep.
”I…wanted to see you,” he said to her from the window.
On the other side, Xu Yourong's gentle voice asked, ”Didn't we just see each other?”
After hesitating for a few moments, Chen Changsheng replied, ”But…I can't sleep.”
Xu Yourong turned to the window, somewhat concerned. She thought, just what happened to make him unable to sleep?
It must be known that back in the Garden of Zhou, even when countless terrifying monsters were lurking in the sea of grass around him, he would very calmly fall asleep.
”What's happened?”
”It's nothing…it's just that I can't sleep when I'm thinking about you.”