Thou was originally an excellent person. Although the youth didnât say the four words that followed, Chu Yu could complete the idiom without even using her brain cells: why follow the thief.
She could be absolutely sure now.
The youth in blue knew the Princess of Shanyin, or, he had had some unpleasant experience with her.
Watching the youthâs figure, Chu Yu thought a little evilly: as for what unpleasant experience he could haveâŚâŚ with the Princess of Shanyin, what else could it be?
After failing to call back the youth in blue after multiple attempts, Pei Shu walked to Chu Yu with a conflicted expression and said, âBrother Zichu, although brother Xiao isnât all that social, he is definitely not unreasonable. Have you offended him before?â
Chu Yu shrugged, and laughed indifferently: âWho knows? Maybe not, maybe yes, but I donât remember.â
Unable to acquire any clues from Chu Yu, Pei Shu went and apologized to the others. Without the person playing the zither, the poetry banquet lost half of its gracefulness. The others all came to Huan Yuan, and after some small talk, left one by one.
Even though that youth in blue had seemed to be situated in a completely separated space, his influence on the poetry banquet was far greater than Chu Yu expected. Just like these people before her; they all admired Huan Yuanâs literary talent deeply, but seemed to have some misgivings and werenât willing to converse deeply; once getting to know each other a little, they all bid farewell and left.
One by one, everyone left. The lively mountain top suddenly became empty, with only several people still remaining. Wang Yizhi stood up slowly, then walked up to Huan Yuan slowly; after glancing him up and down carefully, he smiled, then turned to Chu Yu and chuckled: âInteresting.â
Chu Yu raised her brows and replied: âWhat do you mean?â
Wang Yizhi laughed, âYou ask me, but who should I ask?â He suddenly turned around, and walked down the mountain in big strides.
The last that left was Pei Shu. Gazing at Chu Yu, he said after a long hesitation: âBrother Zichu, let me also bid farewell.â
Chu Yu smiled faintly, âPlease do whatever is convenient for you.â Seeing that Pei Shu was leaving, she remembered something, and asked: âLast time you mentioned a Master Thousand-Gold; why have I not seen him? Which one was him?â
Pei Shuâs eyes widened, and he sighed after a slight pause: âNow I believe that you really donât remember. For that brother Xiao who just left because of you, he is Master Thousand-Gold, Xiao Bie.â Sighing, he said goodbye and left.
Yue Jiefei, who was beside them this whole time, let out a deep breath. He pulled out the clumps of cloth from his ear: finally.
A slight breeze was blowing.
Rong Zhi set down the last go piece that finalized the situation, and stood up: âItâs about time now.â
Because of leaving in a hurry, none of those low tables or silk cushions had been taken up. Chu Yu instructed Yue Jiefei to move the several tables near her, together with the desserts on them, to the pavilion.
Sitting in the pavilion, she faced the slightly strong mountain wind and overlooked the city Jiankang beneath them. This city had a chaotic beauty of prosperity.
Chu Yu was a little dazed. Suddenly, she felt a gentle tug on her sleeve; without needing to look back, she knew it was Liusang. Among all that were here, only he would use such a way to attract her attention.
A soft rumble sounded behind her. Hearing it, Chu Yu turned around in surprise, and only after verifying that this sound came from Liusangâs stomach, did Chu Yu remember that she had been eating all the food alone this whole time, while the others had had nothing.
She subconsciously supposed that if Liusang and the others got hungry, they would reach for food themselves, but she forgot the identity of this body and its relationship with them; without her permission, they wouldnât make any move before her.
Smiling and pushing the plate towards Liusang, Chu Yu said: âIf youâre hungry, just help yourself.â Although her tone was gentle, a solitary feeling that even she herself couldnât notice tinted her voice.
But Liusang noticed. He didnât reach for the desserts, instead just gazing at Chu Yu: âPrincess, are you not happy? If youâre not happy coming out, then letâs go back.â Then another thought appeared in his head, âDid those people a moment ago make you unhappy?â
Chu Yu smiled, then reached out her hand to pat Liusangâs head: âWhat do those people have to do with me? What do they have, that they could make me unhappy?â Smiling faintly, her gaze extended into the distance, into the pure, clean blue of the ever-extending sky.
Even if she was the Princess of Shanyin now, so what?
What does the destroying of her reputation by others have to do with her?
Huan Yuan, who had been standing beside them, looked towards Chu Yu when he heard this. But all he saw was that elegant young girl with a gaze so calm, an openness he had never seen before.
Chu Yu was just going to say something else, when her body was jerked and pushed aside, followed by Liusangâs voice, whose tone almost changed, exclaiming next to her ear: âCareful.â
Weapons and blades clashed together, resonating with an ear-piercing sound.
Chu Yu stumbled a few steps and came to Huan Yuan, who was standing in a corner. She held onto a pillar in the pavilion for support, and turned around only to see that several people appeared in the mountain top pavilion some time she didnât notice. They were all tall, agile, wore bamboo hats, and had on straw rain capes. Chu Yu had no idea when they even sneaked up the mountain.
But what was more important, was that they all had a sword in their hands.
The identity of the newcomers was obvious: they were assassins.
There were a total of five assassins, all dressed uniformly and cooperating excellently; three of them busied Yue Jiefei, while two hopped over him and pounced straight towards Chu Yu, who was in the pavilion.
The shining blades coming close, the air instantly became cold and murderous.
Chu Yu was just going to faint when Liusang blocked right in front of her, and speedily drawing out the dagger in his sleeve, blocked the newcomers. A moment ago, it was also Liusang who pulled her from away the center of the pavilion, and pushed her to the slightly more remote corner.
Seeing that Liusang was so young, the enemy didnât really pay attention, just casually flinging his sword around; but when the sword met the dagger Liusang flicked his wrist, and sharply and accurately cut horizontally across, actually making that person back up a step, while that personâs companion came forward and blocked Liusangâs slash, or else blood wouldâve already been shed.
The two assassins were both astonished, and after shooting a glance at each other, swung their swords and attacked again. But this time they didnât dare underestimate the enemy anymore.
Chu Yu was also very surprised. She had thought that Liusang was just a child who didnât really know anything, but now, when she looked at his side profile, although it was still young and immature, it could already give off a determined and decisive feeling.
But even though Liusangâs swordsmanship was very good, he still lacked experience. So after several matches, one of the assassins found a loophole and broke through his line of defense, and pounced straight towards Huan Yuan and Chu Yuâs direction.