Volume 11: The Lingering Warmth of Melting Snow
Chapter 21: An Open Secret
“That crystal… is indeed special.”
Lu Li was a little hesitant. Zhu Xi saw through his thoughts and let out a cold laugh. “If you’re not willing to talk, then don’t. I don’t need to go prying into your secrets.”
Lu Li took a deep breath. He had two choices at this moment: one was to continue to be perfunctory with Zhu Xi, and the other was to tell her the truth. Life’s choices always come suddenly, and no one will tell you the right answer, just as when Chu Xiaodong had asked him if he was willing to marry Chu Jingyi.
Seeing that Lu Li had no reaction for a long time, Zhu Xi didn’t say a word and pulled the blanket over herself to continue sleeping. Just then, Lu Li finally spoke: “Hey, Zhu Xi, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone the information I’m about to give you, including your grandmother or even Zhu Qiao.”
Zhu Xi lifted the wolf skin and looked at him intently. “I promise you.” Was Zhu Xi’s promise credible? If he only looked at the her from his past life, the answer would surely be no. But Lu Li was more willing to believe the her in front of him, more willing to believe the Zhu Xi he had seen with his own eyes.
“That crystal can reverse time and allow a person to be reborn, but there is a corresponding price to pay,” Lu Li said very slowly, as if giving Zhu Xi ample time to digest it.
Zhu Xi was stunned for a while, repeatedly observing Lu Li’s expression, and finally determined that the scumbag man was not playing a trick on her. “I don’t quite understand… what you mean.”
“What I mean is, I’ve died once and was reborn because of that Colored Stone you mentioned,” Lu Li said. “As for the Price, I still don’t know at the moment. Perhaps the disappearance of Shanzhu Village is related to the Price.”
Zhu Xi only spoke after a long while. “Continue. I believe you.”
“I had an accident in my past life, and that crystal just happened to be with me. The principle is unknown, the activation conditions are unknown. In short, I was reborn.” Lu Li still concealed Baili’s “role,” because that was Baili’s most disgraceful past, and it was enough that only he himself knew. “Then, in order to resolve the Price, I went to Shanzhu Village and found that someone had used the Reincarnation Crystal before me, and the method to resolve the Price was to have another person smash the crystal and transfer the Price to that person. After that, I was kidnapped by you.”
“Lu Li, since you said you don’t know what the Price is, then why were you in such a hurry to resolve it?” Zhu Xi’s logic was still very clear, and she immediately found the loophole in Lu Li’s words that had arisen from his evasiveness.
“…It’s because Baili was reborn with me. An Baili has almost lost her ability to move because of the Price. That’s why I tried to resolve the Price at all costs,” Lu Li said.
“In that case, it all makes sense…” Zhu Xi nodded. “It also matches what Grandma Zhu said. Is the truth really like this?”
Lu Li was stunned. “You don’t doubt me?”
“From a motivational point of view, since you chose to speak at a time like this, it wouldn’t be to deceive me. And… the matter of Rebirth may not be an isolated case.” Zhu Xi didn’t hide it from him. “In the ancient records of the Zhu family, it is mentioned that Emperor Zhengyuan was a ‘second-life person.’ There is such a saying within the Zhu family: Before Emperor Su’s uprising, when he went to Jiangnan to raise funds, he convinced the great merchant of Huizhou, Wang Jiahui, with the reason of being a ‘second-life person.’ Grandma Zhu said that Zhu Zhengyuan communicated with the gods in his dreams, glimpsed the afterlife, and thus knew of the great changes in the next thirty years.”
Lu Li was thoughtful. “That is to say, it was Emperor Zhengyuan who was reborn first and saved the crumbling Ming Dynasty? Then why did he suddenly disappear later, as if he never existed?”
A flash of light went off in his mind. “It’s the Price. It’s the Price!”
Zhu Xi nodded. “From all the evidence, your claim of Rebirth is not as absurd as it seems. You might be the second lucky one after Emperor Zhengyuan.”
Lu Li couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m the third. Baili is the second.” After thinking about it, this statement wasn’t right either. Mei Jinliu was the second.
“Forget about her. Just small-time stuff. I guess even if she could be reborn, she would just do some petty things, nothing more than love and romance.” Although Zhu Xi had never met An Baili, she was surprisingly able to easily pinpoint Baili’s characteristics.
Zhu Xi’s resentment toward Lu Li subsided a little. She shifted her position, making a space for Lu Li beside her. “You with the surname Lu, lie down and talk.” Zhu Xi was suddenly so polite to him that Lu Li was a little unused to it. He lay down beside Zhu Xi and saw her naturally and familiarly wrap her arm around his. “What was I like in my last life?”
“What?”
“What kind of person was I in my last life? Did I avenge the Yan family?”
Lu Li’s eyes were distant, and he was instantly lost in memories. “More than just avenging the Yan family, you practically reached the pinnacle of Shenzhou’s political system. But it’s a pity, your reputation was terrible. People all said you were a poison princess.”
“So that’s why you’ve always been prejudiced against me?”
“Yes.”
“What did they say about me?”
“They said you were a female tyrant. Your most famous act was after the summit in New Tokyo, when you gathered all the foreign nationals and minorities in Shenzhou under the pretext of a meeting, and then carried out a massacre. Afterward, you even coerced the Tokyo government to cover it up for you. It’s a pity that in the end, it was still exposed by a righteous reporter who risked his life.” That was truly a tumultuous time. Lu Li remembered that public opinion was in an uproar during that period, and the country was in a state of clamor.
“…” Zhu Xi fell silent.
“What’s wrong?”
“Would I… do something like that?” She was actually asking herself.
Lu Li’s heart was touched. “Maybe you would have before, but you definitely wouldn’t now. And, I’m more willing to believe that it was your grandmother who orchestrated everything back then.”
“Was Grandmother still alive back then?”
“Of course. The Yan Matriarch was called an old, undying monster. She had always lived well. She was probably eighty percent to blame for your bad reputation in your last life.” Lu Li’s level in his past life wasn’t high, and he couldn’t reach the top echelons of Shenzhou. He could only guess, but his intuition told him this guess was the truth.
“Then what about Zhu Qiao? How was she?”
“I don’t know. I never heard of such a person.”
“…Why didn’t you work a little harder in your last life? You couldn’t even find out about this…” It was half a complaint, half a coquettish whine. The next second, she seemed to realize her tone was inappropriate and quickly cleared her throat. “What else? Was I married in my last life? Who was he?”
“You were engaged three times. Your three fiancés all died suddenly before they even met you, and their property was all annexed by the Yan Matriarch.” Lu Li thought for a moment. “Does that make you a widow or single?”
“That’s good. The thought of marrying into those stinking, decaying aristocratic families makes me lose my appetite.” Zhu Xi showed a smile. “It’s good that they’re dead. They spent their days being unlearned and doing whatever they pleased. Even if Grandmother hadn’t made a move on them, I would have done it myself. Besides, what’s the difference between me being a widow and being single? Or is it that you have a particular fondness for widows?”
Lu Li was stumped. Indeed, to a man, a widow also had a special charm. He also cleared his throat, avoiding this soul-searching question. Zhu Xi asked a few more detailed questions, and after getting Lu Li’s replies, she no longer had any doubts about his claim of Rebirth.
“By the way, have you told Chu Jingyi about these things?” Zhu Xi suddenly asked.
Lu Li had wanted to say yes, but for some reason, the words that came to his mouth were: “I haven’t told her the details.”
Zhu Xi’s smile was brilliant. Lu Li couldn’t figure out why she was so happy for a moment. She took the initiative to straddle Lu Li and said with a smile, “As a reward for telling the truth, I’ll give you a few rounds.” Lu Li was a little worried. “Let’s not. I’m really worried you’ll get pregnant.” “You with the surname Lu, just come when I tell you to. Less nonsense.” “Hey, slow down. It’s going to get tired out…”
…
After a long time, Zhu Xi lay naked beside Lu Li, dazedly hugging his arm, as if she were tired. Lu Li looked at her hazy, sleepy face, a multitude of thoughts flashing through his mind.
“Hey, Zhu Xi.”
“…Mm…” Her voice was drawn out; she was really tired.
“We have to get back alive.”
“…I know…”
“We can’t just stay trapped in this wooden cabin anymore.” Zhu Xi had already fallen asleep. Lu Li’s last sentence did not receive a response. He rested one hand behind his head and secretly decided that he had to find a chance to make a change. He couldn’t just stay here and wait to die. A hunter’s cabin wouldn’t be too far from a main road. Otherwise, it would be inconvenient for the hunter to transport his prey. If he could find the main road, perhaps he wouldn’t be far from being rescued…
