CH 98

The Gilded Cage Chapter 98

Down the Mountain - It's General Jin...and the Emperor. (2)

The second day was the second day of the first lunar month.

Chu Ning got up early in the morning and said goodbye to Xiao Yu.

Probably out of a guilty conscience, Xiao Yu would never prevent her from paying respects to her parents, let alone go alone with her.

She was happy and relaxed, and while it was still early, she took Cuihe down the mountain.

The snow that fell the night before had melted a bit, and the mountain road had already been swept clean. It wasn't difficult to walk, but it was extremely cold. She didn't take a palanquin and instead held a hot stove in her hands and chatted with Cuihe all the way to the flat ground. There, they finally saw the carriage and servants who had been waiting.

Zhao Yanzhou was standing beside the carriage, facing the cold wind. Although he was wrapped in a thick robe, he still looked a little pale. When he saw Chu Ning coming, he hurriedly greeted him and bowed his hands, "It's cold, Your Highness, hurry up and get on the carriage."

With that said, he lifted the curtain of the carriage for her with his hands.

Chu Ning looked at his red and swollen hands and quickly shoved the heater in her hands to him.

"Brother, don't freeze!"

She smiled at him, hurriedly boarded the carriage, stopped him from returning the hand stove, and said, "It's very warm in here, and if I keep holding that, I’ll start sweating and catch a cold."

Zhao Yanzhou looked at the bright smile on her face, and his usually solemn expression finally loosened.

He personally arranged the inside of the carriage. He first heated it underground with a charcoal fire and then stuffed two heaters under the pillows. It was indeed not cold at all.

"Understood, this hand stove is held by this minister for His Highness."

After he finished speaking, he lowered the curtain, turned his horse, and trotted in front of the carriage to lead the way.

The Chu family had lived in the capital for generations, so Chu Ning's parents were buried together near the Chu mausoleum in the suburbs of the capital. It took about half an hour to get there from Lishan, but the road was slippery, the carriage was slow, and it took almost a full hour of traveling before they arrived.

Chu Ning did not stop to rest and went directly to the tomb to pay her respects.

This was the first time she personally visited her parents' tomb after she learned the truth. Originally, she thought that she would have a lot of grievances and resentments to tell them, but after leaving Tangquan Palace today, she felt that her steps were brisk, and now that she arrived, she suddenly felt calm in her heart.

She was silent for a long time and finally kowtowed deeply on the futon under the mat.

Zhao Yanzhou waited not far away, looking at her back with complicated eyes until she turned around and approached. Then, he asked softly, "A'Ning, you seem to be in a good mood today."

He noticed that her face was not as deliberately docile and dignified as usual, and there was a light in her eyes that he hadn't seen for a long time. She even inadvertently called him "Brother", which brought him back to their childhood.

How long has it been since he saw her like this?

He couldn't remember, but he felt a soft wave in his heart, which also evoked her nickname.

Chu Ning was stunned for a while and then realized that she was lightened today because of her happiness.

"Yeah." She smiled and walked with him in the direction of the carriage. "It's probably because of my father. Maybe there will be a turning point."

She chalked it all up to this.

Zhao Yanzhou couldn't help turning his head to look at her, and there was a flash of bitterness in his eyes.

His cousin, his poor and lovely cousin, had already sacrificed too much for her deceased father. He wanted to persuade her that she didn't have to always remember grievances and hatreds, and she didn't have to do everything on her own. His uncle and aunt would definitely not want to see her like this.

But he had no position of protection, nor was he qualified to say such a thing.

He could only secretly hate that he couldn't solve these things for her and had to rely on her sacrifice to get a place near here.

He opened his mouth and said abruptly, "As long as you take care of yourself."

...

They had a simple meal in a restaurant together, and after a short rest, they headed back.

However, after less than half an hour, the originally clear sky gradually became gloomy. The north wind whistled past, gradually bringing snowflakes.

Another snowstorm, from small flakes to large ones.

By the time the carriage reached the foot of the mountain, the snow had already covered the fields, and it had accumulated thickly on the layer that had not yet melted, almost reaching one’s ankles.

The top of the mountain was colder than the bottom of the mountain, and there was naturally more snow. After a while, it became hard to talk.

Zhao Yanzhou frowned and stopped the carriage, and personally took two people up the mountain road to explore the road. It took him a moment to come back.

"Her Royal Highness, there is a lot of snow on the mountain road, making it difficult to travel. I'm afraid we won't be able to get back today."

Chu Ning stuck her head out of the window and looked at the storm that had no signs of stopping. She nodded and said, "Then find a place to stay at the foot of the mountain."

The group then returned along the road in the snow, and found the Seven Saints Temple at the foot of the mountain to stay temporarily.

Buddhism and Daoism were dominant religions in the Liang kingdom, and their temples could be seen everywhere. Although this Seven Saints Temple was not far from the foot of Lishan, it was a little far from the town where the people live. There were temples in the palace city, and ordinary people didn’t really make the journey here, so the conditions inside were a little rough.

When Chu Ning entered, she did not reveal her identity, but the Daoist priests saw that she was dressed in luxurious clothes and had an extraordinary bearing, so they gave her a relatively spacious room.

There was only one table, one couch, and one candlestick in the room. The couch was spacious and used for both sitting and sleeping. The surrounding walls were old-fashioned bluish-gray, with cracks and bumps, and it was even peeling off in a few places.

Fortunately, she was not picky. After thanking him, she asked Zhao Yanzhou to pay some money and went into the room to rest.

It was cold, and the charcoal stove that she brought out had already been burned out. The Daoist priest in Guanzhong was poor, and there was no good charcoal that could be put in the house for heating.

Cui He went out of the house to make some food for her, and when she came back, she looked a little strange, "Your Highness, there is another person in Guanli."

"Who is it? Can we recognize him?"

On such a snowy day, who else would come to this place? Were they also prevented from going further on the way back to the palace?

Cui He leaned into her ear and whispered, "It's General Jin... and the Emperor."