(Edited by littlegremlin)
Recap
“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.
___
November 18th, winter solstice, light snow.
Chu Zhuo doesn’t like this season. The grass and trees withered; everything was silent; he would die in winter; and he would not be able to wait for the day when everything would revive.
But the footsteps of winter would not be delayed because of his wishes. Chu Zhuo woke up and heard the whistling wind outside the window. He put on a coat and got up from the bed. He opened the window and saw the flying snow outside. The ground was covered with a thin layer of white, which fell last night.
Winter is here.
The biting, cold wind blew, making his heart a little desolate. Chu Zhuo coughed heavily a few times, and the whistling wind in his ears suddenly stopped. A hand reached out and closed the window.
The cuffs of that hand outlined a blooming red lotus. Chu Zhuo lowered his eyes and took a look, and he knew who the visitor was.
“Are you dissatisfied with your life and want to be blown to death by a gust of wind so that our wedding can become a funeral?” Rong Yu spoke bluntly.
Chu Zhuo raised his head and said, “On a happy day, don’t say unlucky words.”
“Don’t let me say unlucky words, but you are looking for death.” Rong Yu didn’t shy away from those things: “This wedding has been prepared for so long; don’t let you give me any accidents.”
Chu Zhuo shook his head and chuckled, “No.”
“I have to get through today. So that you’ll belong to me completely, and I’ll belong to you completely.”
Rong Yu’s eyebrows jumped, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this sentence was setting a flag.
“It snowed last night.” Chu Zhuo said.
Rong Yu: “I saw.”
Chu Zhuo sighed: “The day is not chosen well, and you still wanted to get married in autumn.”
“What can I do? There has only been one auspicious day recently, and it happened to be in the winter solstice.” Rong Yu looked at him and asked, “Are you not satisfied? Do you want to regret this at the last minute?”
It can’t be that the sun in this world has premarital phobia again, right?
Chu Zhuo shook his head again. “Nothing is wrong.”
“Last year, it was also on a snowy day like this.” Chu Zhuo’s face showed a nostalgic look. “The first time I saw you, I liked you very much at that time. It’s good to get married on the same snowy day.”
Rong Yu snorted: “You were attracted to my beauty.”
“I wasn’t attracted to your beauty.” Chu Zhuo said seriously, “I was attracted to you.”
Rong Yu said indifferently, “Okay, stop talking nonsense, and change your clothes quickly.”
_
The wedding was held according to Rong Yu’s ideas, which were very different from the traditional etiquette of this era. Chu Zhuo didn’t ask and let him do what he wanted.
Considering the weather and physical condition, the wedding ceremony was kept simple. Chu Zhuo needed to rest now, so the noisy rituals and music were omitted, and the process of standing on the high platform in the open air to listen to the Empress’s edict and kneeling by the ministers was directly canceled. There were not too many outsiders participating; it was just a wedding for the two of them.
But the scene was absolutely grand, and people would not feel that it was a little bit disrespectful.
The ministers felt that His Majesty was simply treating the marriage as a trifle. Since ancient times, marriage between a man and a woman needed to be on the stage. When has there ever been a male Empress? Besides, how can an emperor or empress not wear black robes when getting married, not announce the Empress’s title, and not be worshiped by officials? There are no ancestral rules, it was just like playing house.
They will not recognize such an Empress.
Some people think that such a wedding that does not follow the rules is too ridiculous, which shows that His Majesty is not sincere about Master Ji but just playing around. Some people also think that the fact that His Majesty broke the rules for Master Ji, does not mean insincerity but simply giving away his heart.
What outsiders think is none of their business. Chu Zhuo and Rong Yu did not need to be recognized by others. How could Rong Yu care about the opinions of a group of ants in the small world? Chu Zhuo is not choosing an Empress but just wants to be tied forever to his beloved.
“I’ve said this before.” Rong Yu had talked about the marriage process many times before and emphasized it again today: “I don’t bow to heaven and earth; I don’t bow to my parents; I don’t bow to the Emperor—but you are the Emperor this time; I will make an exception and bow to you three times. Do you understand? Don’t make me bow to those unnecessary things.”
Chu Zhuo chuckled. “I understand; you only bow to me.”
“Yes, that’s what I mean.” Rong Yu said proudly.
Chu Zhuo thought the little lotus was so cute.
In the palace decorated with lights and colors, a pair of young men in red stood facing each other, stared at each other, bowed three times, and promised to spend their lives together. Then they were sent to the bridal chamber and buried together.
The candlelight flickered in the bridal chamber. Chu Zhuo cut off a strand of Rong Yu’s hair and tied it with the one he cut off: “I have long wanted to marry you, and today I finally got my wish.”
Rong Yu picked up two glasses of wine and asked him, “Are you happy today?”
“Happy.” Chu Zhuo smiled. “It is the happiest day of my twenty so years.”
“That’s good.” Rong Yu nodded. “Drink the wedding wine.”
The two of them took a pose to drink the wedding wine together. Chu Zhuo was about to drink, but Rong Yu suddenly said, “This holds the water of misfortune”
Chu Zhuo paused.
“People say I am a disaster. If you drink this wine, you will be locked together with me, the disaster. Isn’t it also a cup of misfortune?” Rong Yu looked at him.
Chu Zhuo smiled and drank the wine in one gulp: “It is clearly the sweet rain after a drought.”
Rong Yu watched him drink it; his eyes clouded with a deep sorrow, and he tilted his head back to drink his own cup.
“Go to sleep.” Rong Yu smiled slightly. “After drinking the wedding wine, it’s time to rest now.”
Chu Zhuo grimaced, and a trail of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, staining his lips bright red. His smile faded, a trace of disbelief flashed across his eyes, and his body softened. “I said that the poisoned wine would be replaced with real wine, and I also reminded you that this is a cup of misfortune.”
Rong Yu caught his falling body, curled his lips, and said, “I have always been a madman. Instead of letting you go ahead of me with illness, I might as well kill you with my own hands.”
“I’ll drink this wine too, and we can go together. If we can’t be together while alive, then ghost marriage is also a good choice.” Rong Yu said, and blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.
Chu Zhuo wanted to raise his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his lips, but he had no strength and whispered, “Little Lotus…”
“Shh——” Rong Yu stretched out an index finger and pressed it against his lips. “Go to sleep.”
Chu Zhuo looked at him for a long time, with a myriad of emotions in his eyes, but he couldn’t say a word. The hand with the real gold ring dropped down, his eyes closed, and it became quiet as if he were asleep.
Rong Yu lowered his eyes. “You think that letting me live is loving me, but unfortunately, I think that letting you die is loving you.”
Rong Yu awoke in the coffin, Chu Zhuo lying beside him.
Emperor Chu’s tomb was a magnificent edifice, filled with countless treasures of inestimable value. Rong Yu finally saw the inscription on the tombstone: Chu Zhuo, Little lotus.
It did not specify which emperor’s tomb this was. There were only these five words on the tombstone, just like the signatures of their paintings, nothing more.
The main chamber of the tomb was adorned with paintings signed by Chu Zhuo and Little lotus.
The painting closest to the coffin was a maple leaf. The people in the painting were all dressed in red, standing in the maple forest with their fingers clasped together and their eyebrows and eyes tender.
The red clothes that Rong Yu usually wore were buried with him, and the most precious one was a golden brocade robes, which he wore himself.
Following the will of Emperor Chu, the officials buried the two of them together. They only changed the robes into black for Emperor Chu, which was in line with the status of an emperor. As for Rong Yu, no one cared about him. If Chu Zhuo had not left a will to bury him together, he might have been crushed to ashes.
Rong Yu lowered his eyes and looked at the man beside him who was poisoned by him, as if he had seen the eerie white bones of his previous life through thousands of years.
The Blood Jade Bracelet spoke, its voice numb: You said you had a plan. Was it to kill him?
‘Yes,’ Rong Yu confirmed.
‘You heartless fiend!’ the Blood Jade Bracelet exclaimed.
“He will not survive this winter, and Ji Yu’s soul lamp will not continue burning after a few days. If I don’t kill him, he will send me away first instead. And he’ll think I am leaving him. Which do you think is more cruel?” Rong Yu sneered, “Don’t bother with his broken heart.”
The Blood Jade Bracelet was stunned.
Yes, the previous times the Great Demon King left before the Lord God, causing the Lord God to search for him everywhere… This time, it was the Great Demon King who let the Lord God leave first.
So, should it thank the Great Demon King for killing the Lord God?
No, little bracelet, has it been brainwashed to this extent?
Rong Yu certainly would not take the real poison, because then it would be Ji Yu who would die. But at least, thanks to his actions, Chu Zhuo’s final memory was of his beloved Little Lotus dying for love, rather than remaining in the world under someone else’s protection.
“Ji Yu’s identity is dead, and you don’t have to struggle anymore.” Rong Yu said, “You are free.”
After a moment of silence,.
‘Ji Yu’s soul lamp has been lit,’ the Blood Jade Bracelet announced.
Rong Yu said to Ji Yu in the soul lamp, “Don’t wear such conspicuous clothes when you leave Chu State. There are plain clothes prepared in the tomb. Remember to change into them. Xianyun will come to pick you up. There are many precious papers, pens, and pigments in the burial objects. It doesn’t matter if you take them all. Change out of the golden brocade robes.” Rong Yu glanced at Chu Zhuo and said, “Put it in the coffin to accompany him. I will wait for him to give it to me in the next life.”
“Got it.”
A young man materialized within the tomb.
Ji Yu bowed. ‘Thank you,’ he murmured.
As Ji Yu appeared, the red-robed figure in the coffin transformed, becoming a soul body of exquisite beauty.
‘Tell me,’ the Blood Jade Bracelet said, its voice laced with a familiar weariness, ‘what will you take this time?’
Rong Yu’s gaze swept over the paintings adorning the tomb walls. ‘A painting,’ he declared.
‘The one with the maple leaf?’ the Blood Jade Bracelet inquired.
Rong Yu shook his head slowly.
He took away the painting of Chu Zhuo pushing a swing for him under a peach tree.
‘Does this one hold a particular significance?’ the Blood Jade Bracelet wondered.
Of all the paintings, the devil chose this one.
Rong Yu carefully stored the painting away. ‘It has the meaning your master gave it,’ he replied.
The peach tree, young and vibrant…
The son is wed, a fitting match for his lineage.
_
Ji Yu was born into a noble family in Zheng State, and he was an outlier among the nobles. Zheng State was a small country, but the noble class was arrogant and absurd. Ji Yu has been incompatible with those dandy boys since he was a child. He hated that they sought the pleasures of life and pretended to be flattering. He yearned for the free and easy mountains and rivers and was intoxicated with piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
He shunned social gatherings, preferring the solitude of his small courtyard where he could lose himself in his art. Surrounded by hypocrisy, he found solace only in his paintings, which notably never featured human subjects.
His family was distant and uncaring. When Emperor Zheng offered him as a concubine to Emperor Qi, his father remained silent. Such indifference from his own kin left Ji Yu with little hope for warmth or compassion from others.
A shadow guard had been assigned to protect him, but Ji Yu knew it was merely a duty. He scoffed at the notion of true loyalty. Did such a thing truly exist?
Though the shadow guard had protected him for years, Ji Yu couldn’t bear to involve him in his dangerous plot. He concocted a reason to dismiss the guard before making his attempt on Emperor Qi’s life.
The flower grew in the snowy mountains and was rare in the world. Ji Yu had never seen it before. He asked Xianyun to pick it up for him on the pretext of wanting to see what the flower looked like. But in fact, there were not many people who could pick that kind of flower, so this was really a difficult statement.
He had never dared to dream that he would not only survive, but also find the happiness he had always longed for.
At that time, he had not yet recognized the other person; he had fallen into a long sleep.
How could he not know after being reborn?
Why did he come back?
Why did he die for his master?
Had he truly risked his life for a mere whim, a fleeting request? And why had he guarded that flower until his dying breath, as if protecting a precious treasure?
Is it worth risking his life to complete a mission?
Far from the capital, while Ji Yu painted in the serene mountains, he often pondered this question.
As the world returned to its normal rhythm, those ‘false’ memories faded, and Ji Yu gradually forgot that someone had assumed his identity and altered his destiny.
Doubts would sometimes surface, questioning the reality of his rebirth, but the memory of the white flower, clutched protectively in that person’s arms, remained vivid and undeniable.
He felt an irresistible urge to paint the flower.
Xianyun stared at the painting, astonishment etched on his face.
He had risked his life to retrieve the flower for his master, only to return and find him gone. The flower had long since withered, so how could his master possibly have painted it?
“Xianyun.” Ji Yu asked him, “You were ordered by the Ji family to protect me. Now that I have lost my identity, why do you still follow me?”
Xianyun replied, “I protect you not because of orders, but because my heart desires it.”
“Your heart desires it…” Ji Yu added another wild crane to the painting and chuckled, “I like the free-spirited days like now. What about you?”
Xianyun said, “Master likes it, then I am happy.”
Ji Yu nodded. “We are all free now, so there is no need to call me master anymore; just call me Ah Yu.”
“Okay, master,” Xianyun responded instantly. Then, correcting himself, he stammered, “Okay… Ah, Ah Yu.”
“Xianyun.” Ji Yu suddenly said it again.
“I want to draw you.”
…
In world no. 5497, Ji Yu, the son of destiny, was able to avenge his hatred, paint all the wild cranes and capture the eternal beauty of his world, lit up the fourth lamp.
___
T/N: (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)(˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)(˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)(˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)(˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)(˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥) bittersweet
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