Chapter 82: Cup of Misfortune

Recap

If Chu Zhuo didn’t mention it, Rong Yu really couldn’t remember this person. The shadow guard is the shadow of the master. No one will remember a shadow. Xianyun got a name because of Ji Yu’s whim. In the end, sending Xianyun away was also Ji Yu’s last act of mercy.

Even Ji Yu himself didn’t pay much attention to this shadow guard, so Rong Yu naturally couldn’t extract him from the original owner’s vast memory.

But now, when he searched for this person, Rong Yu immediately matched his eyes with the masked assassin who appeared at the execution ground when Ji Yu was tortured, stabbed Ji Yu’s heart with a knife, and then committed suicide.

The assassin’s bloodstained hands protected a clean flower.

___

Rong Yu asked, “Why is he with you?”

According to the original plot, after Xianyun was sent away, Ji Yu castrated Emperor Qi, threw him into prison, tortured him, and was sentenced to Lingchi*. When Xianyun arrived, Ji Yu was already living a life worse than death and had said, “Kill me” directly. Xianyun then killed him with a knife and then committed suicide with his master.

*(refresher: death by a thousand cuts)

Now Rong Yu is here, and Emperor Chu has “resurrected from the dead,”  so the course of things is naturally different from the original. He did not die on the execution ground, and Xianyun is alive and well now, but since Rong Yu traveled through time, Xianyun has never come back.

It turned out that he was detained by Chu Zhuo.

Chu Zhuo said unnaturally, “You have me to protect you; why do you need a shadow guard?”

So it was still his fault.

After Xianyun came back from picking flowers, he heard that the palace had changed. Emperor Chu broke through the state of Qi and put the Qi royal family into prison. Xianyun didn’t care whether Emperor Qi was dead or alive, but he was worried about Ji Yu’s safety. He was afraid that Ji Yu would be harmed by the Chu army, so he risked his life to sneak into the palace to find out about Ji Yu.

After the palace was taken over by the battle-hardened and well-trained Chu army, its defense was improved by several levels. Xianyun’s whereabouts were exposed, and he was sent to Chu Zhuo as an assassin who wanted to assassinate Emperor Chu.

Chu Zhuo never said a word to the assassin who wanted to assassinate him and wanted to just kill him directly. But because Xianyun was found near Yuqing Palace, Chu Zhuo was more concerned about Rong Yu’s safety than himself, so he personally interrogated Xianyun and asked who instructed him.

Xianyun replied that no one instructed him, and he just wanted to know whether Ji Yu was safe.

Chu Zhuo asked Ji Yu who he was.

Xianyun said that he was Ji Yu’s shadow guard.

A shadow guard who was loyal to his master.

Chu Zhuo immediately sent someone to check, and the news he got was true—the assassin was indeed Ji Yu’s shadow guard, who grew up with him and has been protecting him for so many years. The shadow guard’s ability is limited, and Ji Yu’s life is not very good, but without his protection, life will only be worse.

Seeing that Xianyun has protected Ji Yu for so many years, Chu Zhuo did not kill him, but he did not allow him to go back to protect Ji Yu.

Xianyun said anxiously, “Why can’t I see master?”

Chu Zhuo glanced at him indifferently and said, “He is my man now. Do you think a shadow is also worthy of having improper thoughts about the master?”

Chu Zhuo also loves someone; how could he not see that Xianyun’s eyes could not hide the concern and care when he mentioned Ji Yu? That is clearly a manifestation of love for someone.

Maybe Ji Yu did not notice the feelings of this little shadow guard, and in the eyes of the shadow guard, his master is everything to him.

With his strong possessiveness, how could he allow a man who has improper thoughts about Little lotus to protect Little lotus closely? The past years have made him extremely jealous, but he has no way to care about it. From now on, it is enough for Little lotus to have him by his side.

Xianyun was so angry when he heard this that he wanted to rush up and fight. Of course, he could not beat Chu Zhuo. Chu Zhuo caught his sword with only two fingers* and drove him out of the palace. After that, Xianyun persisted in sneaking into the palace and mustered to see the master with his own eyes, but he failed every time.

*(

source: bleach)

Later, probably because of the rumors that Emperor Chu loved Master Ji, Xianyun’s frequency of sneaking into the palace gradually decreased, and he finally seemed to give up.

Master found his happiness. That person could give him everything in the world, and he no longer needed a shadow.

Xianyun lived in a thatched cottage on the mountain outside the capital of Chu. From here, he could see the palace from afar. He continued to protect his master in this way.

Protecting the master is the lifelong mission of a shadow guard.

He thought that life would go on peacefully, but suddenly one day, Emperor Chu came to the door in person.

Xianyun had mixed feelings towards Chu Zhuo. He thanked Chu Zhuo for killing Emperor Qi, saving his master from suffering, and doting on Ji Yu. But as a man, he didn’t have a good impression of his rival.

Chu Zhuo said as soon as he entered the room, “Are you jealous of me?”

Xianyun: “…Yes.”

Of course, he was jealous of this man for being able to have Ji Yu.

“I’m more jealous of you.” Chu Zhuo chuckled. “You’ve been guarding him for eight years, but I’ve only had him for one year. I want to be with him for the rest of his life, but I can’t even do this, so I have to entrust him to you.”

The emperor, who was high above, said self-deprecatingly: “The world envies me for my status as the emperor, but I envy you for being his shadow and being able to accompany him for the rest of his life.”

Xianyun was puzzled: “What do you mean?”

He didn’t wait for Chu Zhuo’s answer, because Chu Zhuo suddenly turned pale, sat on the chair, pressed his hand against his chest, his eyelashes trembling, and his expression was painful.

This man, who was so strong that he could catch a sword move with his bare hands when he first met him, was now so fragile that a child with a sharp weapon could kill him.

Xianyun didn’t do it. He knew that this man could protect his master better than he could.

Chu Zhuo recovered and smiled.

“As you can see, I am going to die soon, and I can’t protect him anymore.”

Xianyun’s pupils shrank.

“The group of old foxes in the court have been dissatisfied with your master for a long time. I was the one who supported him before. Once I die, they will kill him. If I let him go in advance, he will be hunted down to the ends of the earth.” Chu Zhuo carefully considered everything after his death. “So… I asked Doctor Chu for a fake death drug and left a will. If I die, I will poison Master Ji and ask him to be buried with me. He will wake up from the coffin after taking the fake death drug. My tomb was completed a few days ago, and someone built a secret passage. This is the map of the tomb.”

Chu Zhuo handed him the map: “You take him out of the secret passage. By then, he will be a dead man in the eyes of the world. No one will be watching him anymore. The world is so big, you can go anywhere. You can take the gold, silver, and jewelry buried with him in the mausoleum, but they are all his. He likes these things; you can’t let him down.”

“I used to worry about you being by his side because you love him.” Chu Zhuo said calmly, “From now on, I will only worry about you being by his side, and it’s also because you love him.”

“I hope he won’t fall in love with someone else, but I hope you can get what you want.” Chu Zhuo said softly before leaving, “If he falls in love with you, he won’t be so sad for the rest of his life. But I won’t be very happy underground.”

_

“Are you done?” Rong Yu raised his eyebrows.

Chu Zhuo nodded. “That’s all.”

Rong Yu: “You’ve really arranged everything for me.”

“Little Lotus…”

“So,” Rong Yu said, “is this the reason why you detained my people?”

Chu Zhuo was stunned. “What do you mean, your people?”

“Xianyun ah.”

Chu Zhuo’s face darkened. “I am yours.”

“You can’t even stand this simple statement.” Rong Yu sneered, “How dare you let someone take me away and want me to fall in love with someone else? Chu Zhuo, can you stand it?”

“No.” Chu Zhuo answered without thinking. He looked at Rong Yu and slowly lowered his eyes. “But this is the most comprehensive arrangement I can make.”

“Have you ever asked for my opinion when making these arrangements that you claim to be comprehensive?”

“…No.”

“Then it can’t be considered comprehensive.”

“…”Chu Zhuo murmured, “What should I do then?”

“What do you mean? Just get married quickly.” Rong Yu said casually, “As for the cup of poisoned wine, please replace it with the real one.”

Blood Jade Bracelet: No, Great Demon King, you can’t poison the original owner! Although your bodies are different, your living states are synchronized. If you die, he will die too!

Rong Yu: Shut up.

How could he not know this?

Blood Jade Bracelet: Then you still…

Rong Yu: I have my own plans.

Chu Zhuo frowned. “Little Lotus, you should live well.”

“Let someone fall in love with you and then let go, and let the person who loves you live well; this is the most poisonous curse I have ever heard of in the world.” Rong Yu looked at him indifferently and said, “I have seen 3,728 kinds of torture, and none of them is more painful than this. I think that if I hate someone very much, I will use this method to retaliate against them.”

The devil has been born in the world for so many years, and he has seen countless means; of course, he usually imposes them on others.

He has only suffered one kind of torture in his life, called lovesickness.

Chu Zhuo lowered his eyes.

“If this is what you think of as hatred,”

He smiled and said, “Then I hate you.”

Rong Yu’s slender hands clenched into fists.

He said coldly, “I really hate you now.”

Chu Zhuo felt a little bitter in his heart. But what can he do? How can he say, “Little Lotus, I love you; will you accompany me to die together?” Such words.

Someone who loves you will not say this.

“Now, we hate each other.” Chu Zhuo smiled gently. “Are we still getting married? Only two people who love each other can get married.”

“Okay.” Rong Yu stared at him coldly, and after a while, he whispered angrily, “Let’s get married in the afterlife together.”

On the eve of the wedding, Rong Yu stood in front of the desk, picking up the brush to slowly complete the unfinished painting.

This painting was painted in the maple forest that day. Rong Yu painted Chu Zhuo, and Chu Zhuo painted Rong Yu. The maple forest behind was only half painted, and Chu Zhuo had heartaches, so the painting was never completed.

Rong Yu hated incompleteness. He held the brush and wanted to finish the red maple forest. But he never knew how to paint the scenery, and the leaves he painted were incomplete, like dead leaves withering in the wind.

A hand suddenly held his, holding the brush and dropping it, adding a thick and colorful stroke to the paper.

Rong Yu didn’t look back at the person behind him. “Let go; don’t you know we are in a cold war now?”

“We are getting married tomorrow.” Chu Zhuo’s voice came over. “Do you still want to have a cold war?”

“I really want to take you to travel around the world and draw all the scenery we will see together.” Chu Zhuo sighed lightly, with a regretful tone. “I never thought there was only such a maple forest, and I didn’t even go out of the palace.”

“Travel through mountains and rivers?” Rong Yu thought of Yan Zhao trapped in Yuexi Mountain in the last world who couldn’t get up or down and sneered, “Forget it, I’ll count my blessings not to get lost if I follow you.”

“Why would you think of me like this?” Chu Zhuo justified himself by saying, “I have traveled all over the world with my cavalry and fought in all kinds of terrain. I can find a way out in the deep mountains and deserts. My sense of direction is amazing.”

Rong Yu: “Oh.”

Then he couldn’t even find a way to get down a small Yuexi mountain.

“But…” Chu Zhuo said again, “I hope that after I die, I will be a ghost with a poor sense of direction. If I can’t find the road to the underworld, then I won’t enter the reincarnation path. I will not be able to drink Meng Po soup and I will never forget you.”

Rong Yu’s hand trembled, but fortunately, Chu Zhuo held it and didn’t ruin the painting.

“What’s wrong?” Chu Zhuo let go of his hand. “The maple forest is finished. Be careful not to ruin the painting.”

In the painting, the red leaves are in the frosty sky, the layers of forests are dyed, and the red sun shines into the deep forest. A pair of lovers stand side by side under the golden light; their red clothes are like fire, their eyebrows are tender, and their hands clasped together wearing real golden fire matching bands.

Rong Yu wants to tear up the painting now.

It sounds so nice, but in the end, he still forgot about him.

But he really did have a poor sense of direction.

It’s fucking ridiculous.

___

T/N: …(˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥) will I ever stop pasting this crying emoji after every chapter?

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