Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Chun Zhi, where are you going?

Chun Zhi did not know how Lu Jing Yun had lured away the people who were tailing them.

The carriage rolled through the streets, and everywhere she saw scenes she knew by heart. Chun Zhi had lived in Linshui Town for ten years. She knew every corner, and many of the people on the street were her old customers.

Now she was leaving. She felt a deep pull in her chest, yet she did not dare lift the curtain. She only took a quick look whenever the wind flipped it up. [Every glance made her even more unwilling to leave.]

Lu Jing Yun saw her reluctance and said softly: “Prince Chang’an is only in Nanzhou to inspect things. He will return to the capital soon. If you want to come back to Linshui Town later, you can.”

He did not believe Prince Chang’an would value Chun Zhi that much. Right now the prince would not let go only because the feeling was still new. Once he went back to the capital and married wives and concubines, he would naturally forget the Chun Zhi of Linshui Town. By then, Chun Zhi could return without trouble.

Chun Zhi did not feel comforted. Even if she could come back, who knew in what year or month that would be. [If it were only me, I would not leave.] But she was carrying a child. She could not afford to provoke Prince Chang’an. She could only hide.

Seeing she still said nothing, Lu Jing Yun drew three hundred taels in silver notes from his sleeve and tried to reassure her: “Take these notes. Think of them as what I owe you. You will be on your own. You must take good care of yourself.” He pushed the notes into her hand as he spoke.

Chun Zhi remembered he had once promised to repay her ten thousand taels of gold. Now he had given her a total of only six hundred taels in silver. She tucked the notes into her sleeve.

Lu Jing Yun paused. He had feared she would refuse. When she accepted so quickly, he suddenly did not know what to say.

Chun Zhi said: “You failed me before, yet today you risked yourself to help me.” She thought they would likely never meet again, so she added: “Let us call it even.”

Lu Jing Yun said: “I owe you far too much. This account cannot be even.”

Chun Zhi lifted her eyes to him, feeling he seemed different, though she could not tell how. When he had first come back to Linshui Town, he looked determined to cling to the powerful. He would rather fail her than miss his chance to rise above others. Now he looked a bit regretful.

“It does not matter whether it is even or not,” Chun Zhi said. “Lu Jing Yun, we will probably never see each other again.”

Lu Jing Yun stared at her, stunned. He knew she was leaving, yet the words we will probably never see each other again still pierced his heart. In truth, he had already lost Chun Zhi. For days, regret had almost swallowed him whole. He began to think that even if they could not be husband and wife, they could still be like brother and sister. No matter what, the years they had depended on each other were real. But Chun Zhi was unwilling. She did not want to look at him or speak to him. Now she even wanted to cut off any thought of meeting in the future.

He gazed at her and even had a wild thought: he could carry her off and hide her in a place only he knew, where no one but him could ever find her.

Just then, the carriage reached the ferry.

The coachman pulled the reins and called: “Whoa,” and the carriage stopped.

“I am going,” Chun Zhi said, and at once lifted the curtain and stepped down.

Lu Jing Yun reached to stop her, but only brushed a corner of her sleeve. It slid across his palm. He held nothing.

Chun Zhi did not look back. She walked straight to the ferry.

“Chun Zhi!” Lu Jing Yun lifted the curtain and called her name.

Chun Zhi did not turn around. She found the boat master, bought a black-canopy boat, and poled away from the dock by herself.

Linshui Town was a land of rivers and canals. Chun Zhi had lived there since she was nine and had long ago learned how to pole a boat. She carried a good amount of gold and silver. On a big boat, she feared meeting river bandits. With a small boat, she could go wherever she wished. Even if people came searching, they would not find her at once.

Lu Jing Yun’s carriage stayed where it was, watching as Chun Zhi’s boat drifted farther and farther away. At last she became a tiny black dot and then vanished from sight. Only then did Lu Jing Yun say to the coachman: “Return to the Lu Residence.” The coachman answered: “Yes,” and drove away from the ferry.

Two hours later, at the Nanzhou Post Station, a Shadow Guard hurried back to the Courier Lodge to report: “Reporting to the prince, Miss Chun Zhi is gone!”

“Gone?” Huo Zheng had been discussing with several officials how to bring down Prince Ning. When he heard the report, he stood up at once. The officials understood and took their leave.

“What do you mean gone?” Huo Zheng asked the Shadow Guard.

The guard explained how they had been drawn away: “An hour ago, Lu Jing Yun went to Peach Blossom Lane. After he left, Miss Chun Zhi disappeared.”

A hard tightness pressed in Huo Zheng’s chest. He knew better than anyone how much Chun Zhi disliked Lu Jing Yun. Yet to avoid him, she would rather let go of her anger toward Lu Jing Yun.

“Where did Lu Jing Yun go after he left Peach Blossom Lane?” Huo Zheng asked.

“The Lu Clan’s carriage circled all the main streets of Linshui Town,” the guard said. “In the end it seemed to head toward the ferry.”

“The ferry…” Huo Zheng’s heart clenched. He realized at once that Chun Zhi meant to leave. When she had helped Yu Zhu escape, the plan had been to leave Linshui Town by boat, to go anywhere under heaven.

“Prepare boats. Go to the Linshui Town ferry at once,” he ordered.

He dropped everything and set out with all the Shadow Guards. Under Prince Chang’an’s banner and in the name of the Magistrate’s Office, they quickly questioned the boat master. They learned Chun Zhi had bought a black-canopy boat and had already gone downstream for several hours.

Traveling by water with the current was much faster than a carriage on land. Huo Zheng took the fastest boats and led dozens more behind him. A strong wind rose. With the wind at their backs and the current beneath them, the boats flew.

Though it was still afternoon, the sky changed. The river heaved, and wind and rain were on the way.

Chun Zhi left the canal and entered the broad river. As the sky darkened, she aimed to pull in and land. Then she saw it: on the far water, where there had been almost no boats, dozens of fast boats appeared. They cut the waves at great speed. Dark clouds swallowed the sun. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled. She felt afraid and had a very bad feeling.

Those fast boats rode the wind and closed in at once. Chun Zhi stood at the bow, the gale nearly knocking her off balance. On the nearest fast boat, a man in fine robes stood at the prow. It was Huo Zheng. Even in a rush, he looked as regal as a dragon and phoenix. He was the stranger Huo Zheng, not the Huo Qi Chun Zhi had known.

When that fast boat drew level, Huo Zheng leaped, skimming across the water. He landed on the stern of her black-canopy boat and asked in a low voice: “Chun Zhi, where are you going?”