Untouchable Lovers

Chapter 179: Chapter 162: Summoning the Soul for No Reason

Chu Yu had just seen Xiao Bie and left Chu Garden with him, sitting in the carriage together. Xiao Bie stared at her fixedly, his gaze unwavering.

Chu Yu pretended not to notice Xiao Bie’s gaze, turning her head to look at the scenery outside the carriage. After a while, she heard Xiao Bie’s voice, “Many things have happened during the days you were gone.”

His words instantly made Chu Yu’s heart tense; she frowned, already aware that such complications were inevitable. After all, she had been abducted and had disappeared for quite some time; changes were bound to occur whether within the Mansion or from Liu Ziyue’s side.

From the tone of Xiao Bie’s words, things did not seem too promising. Chu Yu was mentally prepared to face the worst scenario, whether it involved the little emperor killing another relative; she could withstand it.

“Go on.”

Xiao Bie thought for a moment, then lowered his eyes and said, “Because you were abducted, the Emperor was furious, causing a stir throughout the city. At the same time, your disguised identity as Yu Ziyuan’s male counterpart was discovered.”

After waiting a while for Chu Yu’s response and getting none, Xiao Bie raised his eyes in surprise, only to find Chu Yu looking calm and composed, even carrying a slight smile in her eyes, as if waiting for him to continue.

She… How could she seem not at all upset?

Worried that Chu Yu was forcing a smile, Xiao Bie comforted her, “Actually, not many people know about this; only the aristocratic young men who had past dealings with the Princess are aware. They have suppressed the matter, and apart from no longer using the tea and fans you gifted them, there hasn’t been much uproar.”

Xiao Bie omitted the significant details, not mentioning the real cause of the outcome. The reason why the incident remained within such a limited circle was because those nobles didn’t want to publicize their past associations with Shan Yin’s Princess.

But even though Xiao Bie hadn’t mentioned it, how could Chu Yu not understand? She scoffed lightly and said, “They disdain to associate with this Princess, but do I regard them so highly?” Indeed, among the aristocrats like Wang Yizhi, there were those who were captivating, but most were just mediocre and boring. Chu Yu now had better ideas. If the path through the aristocracy was cut off, so be it; she wasn’t particularly bothered by it.

As for others’ praises and criticisms, they were even less significant to her; not to mention that she wasn’t truly Shan Yin’s Princess. Even if she were, as long as she led a comfortable life, why should she let others affect her?

The only pity was that she had thought she had already altered the course of at least two things in history, such as tea and fans, having even made arrangements with aristocratic workshops to produce tea crafts on a large scale. Now, it seemed, she was back to square one.

Waving her hand, Chu Yu told Xiao Bie not to mention it anymore, “These trivial matters need not concern us. During my absence, has there been any movement in the Princess Mansion?” She was going to ask about the Imperial Palace too, but then she remembered Xiao Bie was just an aristocrat fond of playing the zither, likely not too involved in political affairs, so she decided to leave that question unasked.

Xiao Bie looked at Chu Yu for a while before slowly saying, “I have spent most of my time in Chu Garden and did not pay much attention to the outside world. Princess, if you wish to know the situation of your own house, you will soon find out; why bother asking me?”

Chu Yu smiled wryly, thinking to herself that he was right; knowing in advance from others and seeing with her own eyes were just a matter of sooner or later.

However, Xiao Bie’s tone sounded strangely awkward, didn’t it?

As the carriage gradually approached the destination, Chu Yu couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous. However, as she alighted from the carriage, the surging emotions in her chest were instantly frozen by the scene before her eyes: Beneath the trees at the entrance of the Princess Mansion, several white banners fluttered in the wind, and white mourning drapes hung on the door. This arrangement clearly indicated someone in the Princess Mansion had passed away.

Worry leads to chaos. Without further thought, Chu Yu rushed directly to the door and asked a guard randomly, “Who left the mansion?” She suddenly remembered an issue she had continuously overlooked. She knew how irritable Liu Ziyue could be and how much he was attached to her. She had been abducted right at the entrance of the Princess Mansion. Knowing that, Liu Ziyue, in his rage, might have displaced his anger onto the people in the mansion…

No wonder Xiao Bie had not told her the truth earlier. How many people in the mansion had actually died?!

The more Chu Yu thought about it, the more frightened she became. She didn’t care that the guards looked at her as if they had seen a ghost; she walked past them and headed straight into the mansion, Xiao Bie following behind her with a cold laugh.

As she moved through the Princess Mansion, she saw white banners hanging almost everywhere. The servants and attendants she encountered all stood motionless, staring at her. No matter how anxiously Chu Yu asked them, they all just stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, unable to utter a word.

Chu Yu had no interest in lingering with them; the possibility that Rong Zhi might not come back alive weighed heavily on her mind. Seeing this scene now, whether it was Huan Yuan, Liu Sang, or even Liu Se and You Lan, she couldn’t let go of the people she had once interacted with for a time, regardless of who had died.

In the distance, the main hall, almost completely covered by white mourning banners, echoed with faint crying. Chu Yu’s heart twisted in pain. Her steps, already brisk, broke into a run as she crossed the wind-blown mourning banners and rushed into the hall, which had been turned into a memorial hall.

A circle of people surrounded the room, almost all dressed in mourning garments. Hearing someone burst in, one of them turned around, but his gaze froze upon seeing Chu Yu, and like a statue under an immobilization technique, he just stood there, stunned.

The first to turn around was Liu Se; he stared at Chu Yu with big, fear-filled almond eyes. After a while, others also turned around and collectively stared in surprise.

Huan Yuan, Liu Sang, Amman, Yue Jiefei, Liu Se, Hua Cuo… You Lan, Chu Yu counted the faces. Almost everyone was there; except for looking sad and haggard, they seemed not to have suffered much mistreatment.

Just then, many people rushed into the memorial hall like a gust of wind, almost pushing Chu Yu aside. They were the maids and guards of the mansion, and as they entered, they shouted toward Huan Yuan, “Young Master Huan, the Princess has returned to life!”

The faint-hearted maid was trembling with fear, “The Princess has become a ghost and returned! Showing up in broad daylight, she must be a very fierce ghost!”

Chu Yu stood to one side, rolling her eyes. She now realized what was going on: the memorial hall had been set up for her, and the bizarre reactions of everyone along the way were because they thought they had seen her ghost, frightening them out of their wits.

These uneducated kids.

While shaking her head and sighing, Chu Yu looked towards Huan Yuan and the others, thinking to herself that it was excusable for the working masses, who hadn’t much schooling, to make such a mistake. You all must understand by now that I’m not dead, right?

Before Chu Yu could speak, Liu Sang suddenly burst out crying and threw himself at her, exclaiming, “Princess, have you come to take me with you? There’s no point in living if you’re dead!”

Xiao Bie slowly walked in just in time to see this scene, the corner of his mouth curling into what looked like a smile or perhaps a sneer.

Chu Yu’s head buzzed, and she truly wished she could faint on the spot.