On the altar, the man wearing an intricate periwinkle mask raised his hand.
The fanatical believers before the altar quieted down in an instant. Su Zhenzhen subconsciously and carefully raised her eyes, only to see Venerable Changchun lift his trailing robe and sit down cross-legged.
Looking at this posture, could it be that he is about to hold a brainwashing assembly?
"Yesterday, I had a dream."
The man's voice echoed across the empty altar.
The believers prostrated themselves on the ground, hands clasped together, listening quietly.
Su Zhenzhen imitated them, nervously clasping her hands together.
"I dreamed of starved corpses filling the fields, and exposed white bones scattering the wilderness."
Low gasps sounded all around.
Su Zhenzhen looked to her side; the man next to her was crying, his face covered in tears.
"I dreamed of that tyrant sitting upon the dragon throne, a throne built from the piled-up bones of our millions of commoners. I prayed to the heavens to take pity on us. The Heavenly Dao gave me guidance. I saw that tyrant's head chopped off, and I saw that tyrant turn into stark white bones, gnawed by wild dogs."
"I saw that after the tyrant's death, you and your families will no longer suffer from hunger, poverty, or illness."
"I, guided by the Heavenly Dao, will lead you to slay the tyrant, escape the sea of suffering, and transcend your hardships..."
Periwinkle petals gathered around the man. The dim green light around them had unknowingly turned into a faint white glow, shining upon him. Intricate scriptures were branded onto his robes, making him look as pure and holy as a descending deity.
He raised his hands, and his wide sleeves moved without any wind, blowing up countless periwinkle petals.
Under the worshipful and crazed gazes of the crowd, Venerable Changchun rose into the air.
"Follow me..."
"Follow me..."
"Follow me..."
Venerable Changchun's voice echoed in the cave. Su Zhenzhen watched as the people around her, their eyes red, reached out their arms to welcome the periwinkle petals filling the sky.
The one kneeling at the very front was likely a minor leader among these people.
He suddenly stood up and shouted to the crowd, "Follow the Venerable, kill the tyrant, and transcend hardships!"
After he shouted this slogan, the believers behind him responded in unison.
Su Zhenzhen also quickly raised her hand and followed, "Follow the Venerable, kill the tyrant, and transcend hardships!"
Su Zhenzhen absolutely never expected that Shen Yanci actually wanted to lead these believers to kill the tyrant.
These were all commoners. They didn't even have decent weapons, and even if they did, they hadn't received any professional training.
Facing the Imperial Guards and Zhou Changfeng's iron cavalry, they would only be throwing their lives away.
Wait a minute, who is that person?
When the main group arrived at the Gusu posthouse earlier, Su Zhenzhen had only caught a glimpse of him from afar.
At that time, this middle-aged man was still wearing an official uniform.
If she remembered correctly, this was the Prefect of Gusu.
Su Zhenzhen finally knew why Shen Yanci was so confident.
Even the Prefect of Gusu had been tricked into joining him.
After the mobilization, Venerable Changchun lifted his robe and descended, fluttering away, leaving behind these inspired believers.
A woman wearing a Daoist robe with her hair in a small bun came forward holding a red-lacquered tray.
The crowd successively took out the gold, silver, and jewelry they carried on them.
Su Zhenzhen: ...
The person collecting the money brought the lacquered tray in front of Su Zhenzhen.
It was piled high with silver notes and jewelry; even those farmers from just now had taken out a staggering amount of wealth.
Su Zhenzhen gritted her teeth and took out one tael of silver.
The person collecting the money: ...
After the brainwashing assembly ended, Su Zhenzhen followed the flow of people out.
She wasn't tall, and she blended into the crowd. After shuffling out of the cave inconspicuously, the crowd dispersed.
Su Zhenzhen carried her bamboo basket on her back, no longer in the mood to go dig for goldthread roots.
Ever since Su Zhenzhen transmigrated into this book, she had always been careful and cautious. The only time she exposed herself was to save Mu Dan.
She didn't want to get involved in these cannibalistic political struggles.
She felt that things were getting more and more out of control.
Because the tyrant didn't die according to the original plot, Su Zhenzhen also didn't know how the ending of this book would change.
If possible, she only hoped to stay far away from the plot and live her own peaceful life.
The morning mist in the mountains dissipated. The autumn sunlight was very nice today.
Su Zhenzhen stood in the mountain forest, raising her eyes to look at the sky.
The blue sky was as clear as if it had been washed, stretching for thousands of miles without a cloud. The oppressive rainy weather that had lasted for days finally cleared up.
Su Zhenzhen thought of Mu Dan. Although they had only met by chance, the two of them could be considered to have experienced life-and-death tribulations together.
She didn't know his thoughts—whether he was willing to stay away from all these rights and wrongs and power struggles with her, and find a quiet place to live together.
If he was willing, she wanted to leave with him.
Such a thought popped up in Su Zhenzhen's mind, but she suddenly realized that she didn't understand Mu Dan at all.
She didn't know his past, nor did she know what he wanted for his future.
If two people wanted to be together for a long time, talking about these things was inevitable.
Su Zhenzhen carried her bamboo basket back to the small courtyard inside the Gusu posthouse.
The weather was fine, and Sushan was sitting in the yard licking its fur.
Seeing Su Zhenzhen return, it happily rolled on the ground to welcome her.
Su Zhenzhen carried her bamboo basket and opened the door to the main room. The room was empty; Mu Dan wasn't there.
She sat down in deep thought.
Judging from what she heard today, this believer riot was definitely going to happen.
If she wanted to leave, this riot was an opportunity.
During the riot, the two sides would fight, and the guards' defenses would be lax and chaotic. If one or two maids and eunuchs escaped, no one would care at all. Even if they counted heads later and couldn't find them, they would at most be registered as missing or dead.
During a riot, it was very normal for a few people to die.
Su Zhenzhen stood up and began to pack her things.
She packed the easy-to-carry items into a small bundle, and then stuffed all the valuable things into a palm-sized pocket, sewing it inside her clothes.
Her embroidery skills were truly terrible, but as long as it was sewn securely, it would be fine.
What is this?
Su Zhenzhen found half a jade pendant in her makeup box.
Looking at the pattern on the jade pendant, she remembered that this was given to her by her pen pal. The jade pendant was heavy, and wearing it would affect her escape. Su Zhenzhen thought for a moment and still stuffed it into her bundle.
After packing, Su Zhenzhen looked at these herbs and medicine bottles that she couldn't take with her. She picked out some daily wound medicines and stuffed them into her bundle, deciding to distribute the rest to the other eunuchs and maids.
Sushan sat at the door watching Su Zhenzhen bustle about, raising its paw to lick it.
Su Zhenzhen's gaze fell upon it. She walked over, reached out to pat Sushan's head, and then pulled out a front-carrying bundle, putting Sushan inside to test it.
Mm, not bad.
Sushan was a very well-behaved cat. Even when stuffed upside down into the bundle by Su Zhenzhen, it didn't resist, but instead started licking its fur inside.
Although it was a bit mischievous on normal days, it was good that it was obedient at crucial moments.
After trying a few more times to let Sushan adapt to the bundle, Su Zhenzhen let it out.
The courtyard walls were high, and there was nowhere to climb around. As long as she kept an eye on it and didn't let it slip out of the courtyard gate, it would be fine.
Things were almost all packed up.
When Mu Dan came over tonight, she would talk to him about this matter.
The setting sun was like molten gold, and the evening glow dyed the sky. In a little while, the sun would completely go down.
A knock came from the courtyard gate.
Just now, when Su Zhenzhen was packing her things, she had casually bolted the courtyard gate.
She quickly called out, "Coming."
Su Zhenzhen unbolted the door, a bright smile rising on her face, only to see a man in white standing before her.
"Zhenzhen."
It was actually... Shen Yanci.
Su Zhenzhen stood at the courtyard gate, looking at Shen Yanci, who was dressed in plain casual clothes and stood there with an elegant demeanor.
As the male lead, Shen Yanci's face was naturally extremely handsome. The setting sun poured over from behind him, making the rosy clouds his backdrop.
However, Su Zhenzhen could only think of the way he had just acted like a charlatan on the cave altar.
So crazy.
But she had to admit, as a scholar, Shen Yanci was quite skilled at inciting people's hearts.
Just now, when Su Zhenzhen was kneeling there, she was genuinely shocked by his performance.
"Lord Shen."
Su Zhenzhen lowered her head and curtsied.
Shen Yanci's gaze swept across her face. Although the man had a smile on his face and looked gentle and refined, his eyes were extremely cold.
"Zhenzhen, there is a matter I have pondered for a long time, and I haven't dared to tell you."
Then don't say it, she didn't want to hear it at all.
"I know you have formed a partnership with a eunuch. I originally didn't want to disturb your life, but I have been restless day and night, feeling that I must tell you this matter." Pausing for a moment, Shen Yanci was about to continue when his gaze suddenly stopped.
Su Zhenzhen followed Shen Yanci's gaze and looked back.
Sushan had somehow dragged out half a jade pendant from somewhere.
Looking further back, the bundle she had just packed had already been rummaged into a mess by it.
She really couldn't leave it to play alone.
"Apologies, Lord Shen, I am a bit busy."
Su Zhenzhen really didn't have the energy to deal with Shen Yanci.
She couldn't figure out why Shen Yanci would specifically come looking for her at such a critical juncture.
What could a low-level spy like her help him with?
Su Zhenzhen's wrist was grabbed from behind.
She was forced to turn around, seeing the fake smile mask on Shen Yanci's face crack. "That jade pendant looks quite valuable."
Su Zhenzhen followed Shen Yanci's gaze and saw that half a jade pendant.
It was the half given to her by her pen pal.
"A friend gave it to me. This servant doesn't know if it's valuable, but something a friend specifically gifted is naturally a precious item. The cat is mischievous and accidentally dug it out. This servant still has matters to attend to. If Lord Shen has nothing else..."
Before Su Zhenzhen could finish speaking, Shen Yanci, who had been standing properly at the door, suddenly stepped sideways and walked in.
Hey, do you have any manners!
Shen Yanci walked straight into the courtyard.
Although Su Zhenzhen had only lived in this courtyard for a few days, her things were already scattered everywhere.
Sachets hung under the eaves, gathered herbs were drying in the courtyard, and a pile of bottles and jars could be seen in the room.
Sushan darted around the room with that half jade pendant in its mouth. The jade pendant clinked against the bottles, making a crisp sound.
"Stop, Sushan."
Su Zhenzhen could no longer care about Shen Yanci. She rushed in hurriedly, picked up the troublemaking Sushan, and temporarily locked it in Mudan's room. Then she put the jade pendant away and finally set the knocked-over bottles and jars upright.
Finally, she took another look at the clothes and bedding piled everywhere.
Forget it, it wasn't her crush anyway, so it didn't matter.
After finishing all this, Su Zhenzhen looked up and found that Shen Yanci hadn't left yet.
He stood in the courtyard. The setting sun shone on his face, making it impossible for Su Zhenzhen to see his expression clearly.
Then, the man turned around and left the courtyard.
Sick.
Su Zhenzhen couldn't care less about why Shen Yanci came over. She had to repack the bundle that Sushan had messed up.
Su Zhenzhen walked out of the courtyard, picked up the things Sushan had dragged into the courtyard, then turned around, raised her eyes, and suddenly noticed something was wrong.
Although it was already autumn, there were many mosquitoes and bugs in the courtyard. Su Zhenzhen had been making this basic insect-repellent sachet.
She liked to hang the sachets up in a row.
The distance was about one meter apart.
Looking at the spot where a sachet was missing, she frowned and looked down to scold Sushan. "Your doing again."
"Meow..."
Sushan squatted on the ground and meowed at her, its tail sweeping across the floor.
"No dried fish for you today."
"Meow..." Sushan stood up and rubbed against Su Zhenzhen's calves.
Su Zhenzhen said, "You can only have one."
Shen Yanci returned to his own courtyard.
The room was empty, with almost none of his belongings. It was entirely furnished with some basic furniture provided by the Gusu relay station. In the wardrobe, there were only a few sets of his clothes, along with some books he had brought himself on the bookshelf, and writing materials on the desk.
Shen Yanci stood blankly in the room for a while, walked to the bed, and reached under the pillow to take out the sachet that had already lost its scent.
He brought the sachet close to his nose. Only when he buried the tip of his nose into the sachet could he smell a faint trace of the scent.
Mint, mugwort... and something else he couldn't identify.
Shen Yanci took out another sachet from his wide sleeve. This was the one he had just taken from Su Zhenzhen's courtyard.
He placed this sachet under his nose.
The exact same scent.
Sachets were things that could be custom-made. Everyone liked different scents, so the resulting sachet scents were naturally different. And even if exactly the same materials were used, slight differences would arise due to varying proportions.
Even if the sachets were a coincidence.
There was also that half jade pendant.
Shen Yanci reached up and covered his face.
Why did it have to be her?
Anyone else would have been fine, why did it have to be her?
The setting sun sank below the horizon, and a soft knocking sound came from the courtyard gate.
Three short, one long. Three short, one long.
Shen Yanci's expression turned stern, and he stuffed the two sachets in his hand under the pillow.
The next moment, the door to his courtyard was opened, and a hunched old man wearing a black cloak appeared in the courtyard.
Shen Yanci opened the room door and stepped forward to support him. "Old Sir."
The two entered the room together.
Wei Jingyuan raised his hand and took off the hood on his head, revealing a heavily scarred face. His long gray hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin. His gaze swept around Shen Yanci's room before finally landing on his face. "Initially, I thought Liu Jingxing had some talent, which is why I let him stay by your side. I didn't expect that in just a short year, our situation would turn into this."
Shen Yanci stood there with his head lowered, saying nothing.
Wei Jingyuan continued, "I have already disposed of him."
Shen Yanci subconsciously looked up, wanting to say something, but ultimately didn't speak.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, indecision will not accomplish great things." The old man seemed to see through Shen Yanci's unspoken words. "Pawns that should be discarded must be abandoned without hesitation, otherwise the only one harmed in the end will be yourself."
Shen Yanci kept his head down and said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you for your teachings, Old Sir."
Wei Jingyuan leaned on his cane and limped over to Shen Yanci's side.
Shen Yanci hurriedly pulled out the armchair behind the desk and invited the old man to take the seat of honor.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, you have forgotten again. I am the subject, and you are the ruler." Wei Jingyuan's voice suddenly dropped low, and he tapped the cane in his hand forcefully.
Shen Yanci's hand gripping the armchair paused. He pursed his lips, turned sideways, and sat down on it himself.
Wei Jingyuan nodded in satisfaction, then stood there and continued, "The believers have finished assembling this time. How is the palace maid I asked you to find?"
"I heard she has a very good relationship with that tyrant. The Jin Yi Wei in the Gusu post house and Zhou Changfeng's iron cavalry are truly difficult to deal with. We must bring that tyrant to a place advantageous to us before we can make a move."
After Wei Jingyuan finished speaking, seeing Shen Yanci's silent demeanor, his expression turned cold. "Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Shen Yanci seemed to have just snapped out of a daze. He looked up, his eyes meeting Wei Jingyuan's with a hint of bewildered helplessness.
Wei Jingyuan took a deep breath.
He walked up to Shen Yanci, stretched out his own hand, which was also covered in mottled scars, and gripped Shen Yanci's wrist tightly.
"Your Highness, back then, I risked my life to save you from the rebels. I had my own son wear your clothes and stay in the palace, only to be hacked to death by the rebels and his body left exposed in the wilderness."
"My wife, my parents... all of them died at the hands of the rebels to protect you."
Shen Yanci's hand began to shrink back, but Wei Jingyuan kept pulling him forcefully, refusing to let him retreat.
"Your Highness, you are all I have left now." A sinister look seeped into Wei Jingyuan's cloudy eyes as he stared fixedly at Shen Yanci.
Looking into Wei Jingyuan's eyes, Shen Yanci's pupils trembled subconsciously, and he replied as always, "I know, I know, Grand Tutor..."
But Wei Jingyuan refused to let him go. He held Shen Yanci tightly. "Your Highness, nothing can stop us from succeeding. Even if this body of mine turns into a malicious ghost, I will help Your Highness ascend to the supreme throne."
"That position belongs to us in the first place."
"This is our Great Yan's empire."
"If I hadn't been afraid of arousing Lu Linze's suspicions back then, I absolutely would not have let him leave an heir... We used so many methods back then; this tyrant really is tough to kill, to have survived until now."
Lu Linze was the late emperor.
An emperor obsessed with Taoist magic and immortal arts, who was willing to sacrifice the life of his own biological son for the sake of so-called immortality and avoiding disaster.
Having said this, Wei Jingyuan turned his gaze to Shen Yanci. "Your Highness, so many of our people have been rooted out. That tyrant must have already suspected you. This upcoming battle is a matter of life and death. Today's success or failure, everyone's lives, and our years of planning all rest on your shoulders."
Shen Yanci sat in the armchair, looking as if he had been hollowed out. With pale lips, he nodded, "I understand, Grand Tutor."
Wei Jingyuan took one last look at Shen Yanci, then raised his hand to put on his hood, turned, and left.
Only after watching Wei Jingyuan completely disappear from sight did Shen Yanci dare to gasp for air.
He sat there with a pale face, reaching out to cover his mouth, unable to stop himself from dry heaving, just like when he was a child.
He thought he had been cured of this affliction, but in reality, he hadn't.
"Ugh..."
Every time he saw the mottled scars on this old Grand Tutor, Shen Yanci inevitably thought of the palace coup back then.
There was blood everywhere, corpses and mangled flesh everywhere.
The old Grand Tutor had been slashed many times, but he still shielded him and ran out.
Shen Yanci saw his blood-soaked body, drenching his official robes.
"Hah... hah..." Shen Yanci's breathing began to grow difficult. He struggled to stand up from the armchair, then stumbled to the bed, reached out to take the sachet placed under the pillow, and pressed it hard under his nose to inhale.
As the scent of the sachet filled his nostrils, Shen Yanci finally felt like he could breathe in a breath of fresh air.
Clutching the sachet, Shen Yanci sat on the edge of the bed.
The feeling of suffocation gradually dissipated, and the scent of mint and mugwort lingered in the room.
Shen Yanci's gaze fell on the half-open window.
The sun had set, and the darkness was thickening.
The courtyard was quiet. After entering autumn, not even the chirping of insects or croaking of frogs could be heard.
Shen Yanci inevitably thought of Su Zhenzhen's little courtyard from earlier.
As soon as he walked in, he felt very comfortable.
It was a reassuring sense of comfort, like a child wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Warm, soft, and quiet. Even in the midst of autumn, one could feel a healing vitality like spring. It wasn't very strong, but it flowed through the heart like a babbling brook, quietly leaving a trace as it nourished everything.
Shen Yanci took out the white porcelain bottle hidden at his waist, opened it, and took a tranquilizing pill from inside. Then he slowly stood up, quietly closed the window, took a book from the bookcase, and opened it.
There were many slips of paper tucked inside.
They were all the records of his conversations with that person, accumulated back then in the Temple of the Medicine King.
These pieces of paper, that Temple of the Medicine King, had become his place for a brief respite.
During those days, he didn't even have nightmares.
Shen Yanci clenched the medicine bottle tightly.
But why did it have to be her?
-
Su Zhenzhen waited until dark before she saw Mu Dan coming in from outside carrying a glazed lantern.
The young man's cheeks were still swollen. Su Zhenzhen poured him a small cup of coptis juice and had him hold it in his mouth.
Lu Hexu frowned in resistance.
"Bitter."
"Good medicine tastes bitter. Open your mouth."
Although resistant, he opened his mouth.
After he took the small cup of coptis juice into his mouth, Su Zhenzhen told Mu Dan to count to sixty in his head.
The bitter coptis juice brought a tremendous shock. Lu Hexu looked up at the ceiling.
He suddenly felt that his previous inability to taste anything wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Finally enduring the sixty seconds, the young man lowered his head to spit it out, but Su Zhenzhen quickly covered his mouth.
"Swallow it."
[She feels like a demon.]
With his mouth covered, the young man turned his head to look at her with red eyes. The bitter coptis had forced tears into his dark eyes, which were on the verge of falling.
[Is it really that bitter?]
The next moment, Su Zhenzhen's jaw was pinched.
Realizing what the young man wanted to do, Su Zhenzhen immediately dodged backward, but she still couldn't escape.
Although Lu Hexu had swallowed the coptis juice in his mouth, the bitter taste had not yet dissipated.
He pried open the woman's tightly shut lips, his tongue forcefully entering. His thumb pressed against the corner of her lips, and his fingertips rested against her teeth.
[So bitter.]
[Good heavens, why is it so bitter.]
[Is this the power of ultra-pure wild mountain coptis?]
"Enough..."
Su Zhenzhen mumbled indistinctly, but the young man kissed her even deeper, until the root of her tongue felt numb.
[Bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter, I'm going to cry...]
The young man finally let her go. The pad of his finger brushed past her eyelid, his pale fingertip stained with a thin layer of tears.
His lips, moistened by the liquid, looked glossy. Lu Hexu opened his mouth, his tongue sweeping lightly over his fingertip.
"Salty."
Tears are naturally salty.
"But you look like you're sweet."
When the young man said this, his expression was calm, as if he were stating a fact he believed in, rather than a simple, ambiguous, and cheap flirtation.
"Your face is like Sushan, white and soft."
Lu Hexu ground his teeth, looking as if he wanted to take a bite, but his swollen cheeks and aching wisdom tooth made him temporarily abandon the idea.
Su Zhenzhen blushed.
As expected, sincerity and a pretty face are the ultimate weapons.
Ah, so bitter.
Su Zhenzhen hurried to rinse her mouth, then popped a few candied fruits in to wash away the taste.
Ah, even the base of her tongue felt numb from the bitterness.
Having both eaten their candied fruits, the two of them lay resting under the eaves.
"Mu Dan, have you ever thought about the future? What kind of life do you want to live?"
The future she envisioned included Mu Dan.
If they were lucky enough to escape this massive whirlpool, they could find a place and rent a courtyard. They could raise Sushan, keep little fish, grow lots of flowers and plants, and tend a vegetable patch. She could earn a living by treating patients and gathering herbs in the mountains to sell. As for Mu Dan, maybe he could become a confectioner and open a sweet shop, considering how much he loved sweet things.
"No." The young man lay on the rocking chair with his eyes closed, his expression indifferent. "I've never thought about having a future. However, there are many people I want to kill. I cannot let them live."
Su Zhenzhen froze for a moment. She opened her mouth but didn't know how to reply.
It was true. Most people who became undercover spies had tragic and dark pasts.
Perhaps this body of hers also harbored an unyielding obsession, which was what led her to become Shen Yanci's spy.
But she didn't have one.
She was going to run away soon.
