A Figure on Jade Steps in the Wind and Snow 28

Chapter 28: Borrowing an Angle

Shen Zhishu was a little astonished. A map instantly unfolded in her mind, connecting all the times Jiang Yu had asked for her help in the past, and she came to an obvious conclusion—

“The person outside is the one who drugged and monitored you before?” Shen Zhishu frowned.

“Not her herself, but her spy,” Jiang Yu said.

“A mere spy can have such a strong killing intent?”

“This person belongs to a… killer organization, so her killing intent is strong. But she is not here to assassinate me, just to monitor me on that person’s orders.”

“Stop, Your Highness is making me a little dizzy,” Shen Zhishu crossed her arms and asked in confusion, “What’s the harm in telling me who that person is? What if I can help you solve it?”

But Jiang Yu just shook her head.

…It was this attitude of refusing to speak even if it meant death again.

Shen Zhishu took a deep breath, picked up a teacup, and gulped down a cup of cold tea. She was a little out of temper with the person in front of her. She ran a hand through her hair and asked in a deep voice:

“Then what does Your Highness expect me to do next?”

Jiang Yu said, “Act in another play with me.”

“Still pretending to be in love with each other, with deep affection?”

“…Yes.”

The winter plum blossoms in the sky-blue glazed porcelain vase on the table were blooming happily, so happily that they were a little eye-catching.

Shen Zhishu’s gaze shifted from the small mole at the corner of Jiang Yu’s eye to the stamen of the flower, circled around, and then lightly shifted back.

She slammed the cup on the Eight Immortals table, and suddenly curled her lips into a laugh, but there was no clear and gentle joy in her eyes.

The smile did not reach her eyes.

She said slowly, “Your Highness seems to always be so matter-of-fact.”

“Hmm?”

“You take it for granted that I will help you,” Shen Zhishu leaned forward and looked directly into Jiang Yu’s eyes. “But what if I don’t agree?”

Jiang Yu’s breathing slowed for half a beat. After a moment, she blinked, “I can give you whatever you want.”

“Anything at all?”

“Anything at all.”

Shen Zhishu shook her head, “But Your Highness does this every time, and in the end, I can’t ask for anything from Your Highness. Besides, Your Highness has not been honest with me, so I have been in the dark about this matter, like a pawn sacrificed for no reason in a chess game, blindfolded and pushed forward, unable to turn back, and not knowing the truth…”

She paused, leaned back in her chair, and said softly, “I don’t lack anything, and I’m not interested in helping Your Highness anymore.”

“I can give you…”

“Your Highness,” Shen Zhishu let out a light laugh, “Haven’t you understood yet?”

She stood up, suddenly walked behind Jiang Yu, and leaned over the back of the chair, “If Your Highness tells me the truth, I will naturally be willing to help Your Highness. Otherwise—no deal.”

Jiang Yu lowered her head, her voice as indifferent as her face, “Anything else is fine, but this is really not.”

“Why not? Is it because of that person’s identity, or is there something that Your Highness finds difficult to say?”

Jiang Yu shook her head, “I can’t say.”

“Then there’s really no way,” Shen Zhishu straightened up, gripping the back of the chair. “Your Highness can solve it yourself. This subordinate will take my leave first.”

Actually, she was also a little angry.

Angry that the Eldest Princess was stubbornly refusing to say anything, and also angry that she had plunged headfirst into this mess without even knowing the people and the situation clearly.

After all, judging from Jiang Yu’s behavior of refusing to speak even if it meant death, this mess was probably very tricky.

She used to be a too kind fool, but today, this fool was not willing to play along anymore.

This farce should end here.

She turned to leave, and her wide sleeve swept past Jiang Yu’s face, but was suddenly grabbed by someone.

“Hmm?” Shen Zhishu looked down at the Eldest Princess’s trembling eyelashes, “Has Your Highness thought it through?”

“I…” The Eldest Princess’s low voice was tinged with a hint of imperceptible hoarseness, “I promise this is the last time. General… please help me.”

“Jiang Yu,” Shen Zhishu was genuinely angered into a laugh, “You always have this attitude, why should I help you? Just because you are the Eldest Princess, second only to one and above ten thousand? No one can disobey you, and everyone has to revolve around you, right?”

“A thousand taels of gold will be sent to the General’s Manor tomorrow.”

“…I don’t lack gold and silver. What I have now is enough for me to live a carefree life. Why should I be used by you in a daze?”

Jiang Yu fell silent. After a long time, she said in a soft and delicate voice, “…It’s not using.”

“Not using?” Shen Zhishu narrowed her eyes and looked at her, “A transaction that is not for mutual benefit is using. I have not gotten what I want from it. Are you going to tell me that you are doing all this for me? Or are you going to say that you are in love with me, so you are putting on this show for me to see?”

The incense in the copper censer had already burned out, standing quietly in the corner, emitting an ethereal and formless smoke.

The atmosphere in the room was as lifeless as the cold incense ash.

Shen Zhishu looked at Jiang Yu, who was silent, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly. Just as she was about to say a few more sarcastic words, she suddenly heard a rustling sound from outside.

Then, something seemed to flash past the window.

“Who?” Shen Zhishu asked sternly.

But she saw Jiang Yu grab her by the neck and then, with a burst of force, pull her down abruptly.

Shen Zhishu was caught off guard and was pulled down a few inches, her face about to collide with hers.

The scent of cedar was overwhelming, as if she had once again stumbled into the cedar forest of the Northern Desert.

Shen Zhishu was stunned for a moment. After a moment, her wandering thoughts were pulled back by the Eldest Princess’s clear and light voice.

“Last time. I promise,” Jiang Yu said, moving her face a little closer.

Their breaths intertwined.

The flickering candlelight fell on those light eyes, outlining a few absurd and ambiguous amorous feelings.

The neck, exposed by the upward tilt, was snow-white and delicate, like a silent invitation.

Shen Zhishu knew what she wanted to do—

The “spy” outside was watching. The Eldest Princess wanted to kiss her to put on a show for that person.

Jiang Yu had been refusing to say who was monitoring her… but it was actually not hard to guess.

The Eldest Princess of Nan’an, second only to one and above ten thousand, would only fear one person—the current Emperor, Jiang Chu.

She was using her, who had no connection with her before, as a shield in front of the Emperor, and she kept saying that it was not using…

It was ridiculous. The most ridiculous thing in the world.

But this was just a guess.

It needed to be confirmed.

Shen Zhishu’s gaze shifted from the small mole at the corner of her eye to her moist cherry lips. She thought, she actually didn’t mind playing along with this Eldest Princess for a few more rounds to see what she was up to.

The red candle had already burned down by more than half, and the sound of the water clock came from the end of the alley.

Shen Zhishu narrowed her eyes, suddenly raised her rough hands, and grabbed the back of Jiang Yu’s neck, which was exposed to the air.

The Eldest Princess’s whole body trembled, and her eyelashes trembled, like a withered butterfly resting on a cold plum branch in a swaying rainy night.

Shen Zhishu looked down at the butterfly, and after a long time, her head sank down—

They didn’t kiss.

She borrowed an angle.

Her lips landed on the side of the Eldest Princess’s face, and her falling ponytail happened to block their faces.

The tip of her nose touched her cold earlobe, and Shen Zhishu said in a deep voice:

“No next time.”

…

**

That spy belonged to the “Blood Fiend,” a trusted subordinate trained by Jiang Chu, whose purpose was to help her deal with matters that were not easy to handle in the open.

She quietly sneaked into the palace that night and rushed to the Hall of Diligent Governance.

Jiang Chu rubbed her brow and slammed the memorial in her hand on the table, “Did they meet again tonight?”

“…Yes,” the spy answered truthfully.

“What did they do tonight?” Jiang Chu leaned back in her chair.

“Kissed, and… had intercourse.”

After reporting, the spy carefully raised her head.

Her master’s face was sharply defined by the candlelight, and at this moment, it was uncertain, and her emotions were unclear.

The spy lowered her head again and waited anxiously for a long time before she finally heard her master’s voice—

Jiang Chu squeezed out a sentence from her throat, “I know, you may leave.”

As the spy was leaving the hall, she passed by a snow-white figure.

She saw that the person had a head of white hair and was wearing a white robe, in stark contrast to her own black night clothes—

It was the State Preceptor.

The State Preceptor had been coming very frequently these past few days, she thought.

It seemed that ever since the Eldest Princess and General Shen “hit it off,” the State Preceptor’s figure could always be seen in the Hall of Diligent Governance late at night.

She bowed respectfully and was about to leave when she was suddenly stopped by the State Preceptor.

The State Preceptor asked in a low voice, “Did they again…”

As she spoke, she put her thumbs together and bent them slightly.

The spy nodded.

They did it again…

The State Pre-ceptor let out a long sigh of relief and said, “I have a good idea of the situation, you may leave first.”

The surroundings were a little too quiet. The pine branches, weighed down by the snow, could not hold on and shook off a clump of accumulated snow. A sparrow hopped down from a branch and chirped a few times with a strained voice.

The State Preceptor heard a light cough from the Hall of Diligent Governance, and then the person inside asked in a deep voice, “Is A’Li here again?”

The State Preceptor strode in and bowed hastily, “May Your Majesty be well.”

“What’s there to be well or not?” Jiang Chu said, and then opened another memorial.

The State Preceptor narrowed her eyes.

She did not sit on the carved yellow wood chair on the side, but walked straight to the desk, suddenly raised her arm, and covered Jiang Chu’s fingertips, which were holding the vermilion brush.

“It’s cold,” the State Preceptor said. “Your Majesty has been in the Hall of Diligent Governance all day, right? Have you had your three meals on time?”

Her voice was so soft it was almost a whisper.

“Of course,” Jiang Chu raised her head, looked directly into the State Preceptor’s eyes, and sighed deeply, “A’Li, in the end, you are the only one who truly cares about me.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” the State Preceptor said with a light laugh. “How many consorts in the courtyard are hoping for Your Majesty’s favor.”

“Them?” Jiang Chu waved her hand and pointed to the dragon throne under her, “They are hoping for the person sitting on this, not Jiang Chu.”

The State Preceptor’s eyebrows furrowed deeply, and her light color suddenly became a little deeper.

She suddenly put her arm around the back of the chair, lowered her head, and asked, “Your Majesty’s words are a little harsh today. Are you in a bad mood?”

Jiang Chu closed the memorial and laughed self-deprecatingly, “A’Li, you are asking the obvious again.”

The State Preceptor didn’t answer, her arm gently lowered and rested on Jiang Chu’s shoulder.

Jiang Chu said, “I once thought that as long as I watched her grow up safely, I would be content. But she has grown up, and I think again, how wonderful it would be if she could stay by my side forever, with only me in her heart and eyes.”

“I am a selfish older sister, am I not?”

The State Preceptor’s hand slowly moved up and covered Jiang Chu’s eyes.

“Your Majesty is tired,” she answered irrelevantly. “Shall we go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation?”

Jiang Chu did not answer for a long, long time.

The State Preceptor’s palm gradually became moist. She lowered her head and saw Jiang Chu leaning against the dragon throne, her shoulders trembling slightly.

She thought, the Emperor had been bound to this position for too long, and had been required to not show her joy or anger. Gradually, even her crying had become silent.

After half an incense stick’s time, Jiang Chu stopped crying.

She removed the State Preceptor’s hand and said in a hoarse voice, “Forget it. The Blood Fiend doesn’t need to follow anymore.”

She paused and continued, “Actually, I already knew the answer. I just stubbornly refused to believe it, thinking I could deceive myself.”

“Now that I think about it, what if it’s fake? Without Shen Zhishu, there will be Chen Zhishu, Li Zhishu.”

The State Preceptor’s hand hung in mid-air. After a moment, it fell heavily and rubbed Jiang Chu’s head.

Jiang Chu closed her eyes, her voice like broken jade:

“A’Li, I’m so sad. It’s like after happily drilling out of an ivory tower, only to see a scene of devastation and yellow sand filling the sky.”

“I only wish I had never lived in this ivory tower and had seen the desolate wilderness from the beginning.”

“The wilderness is desolate, but weeds can always grow in the desolation, just like oases can always appear in the desert.”

The copper censer in the corner was filled with the scent of sandalwood, which was trying to cover something up.

Jiang Chu suddenly opened her eyes, turned around, and grabbed the State Preceptor’s sleeve—

“Without A’Yu, I can still live a good life, right? If I mark a few memorials, I won’t be sad anymore, right?”

“A’Li,” she said, “Hold me.”

“Hold me, please, alright.”