Untouchable Lovers

Chapter 138: Chapter 128: Returning to See East Mountain

Goodness, how erotic!

Chu Yu turned her head and was astonished to find this was her initial thought.

The carriage that had been clean and orderly was now a complete mess!

Two pieces of clothing were haphazardly strewn on the carriage floor’s fur blanket, and the boxes and desks previously arranged inside were overturned. However, what shocked Chu Yu the most were Rong Zhi, who was sticking close behind her, and Xiao Bie, who lay inside: Rong Zhi had taken off his outer garment and was wearing only a single layer of clothing. His hair, black as ink, cascaded loosely from his shoulders, the soft locks subtly lifting at the corners of his eyes conveying a certain allure. The slight parting of his neckline revealed an exquisitely graceful and smooth neck, also marked with several suspicious red spots that resembled lip prints.

Rong Zhi now seemed as if he was possessed by the essence of Liu Se and Mo Xiang.

Xiao Bie was almost in the same state, lying a bit further inside the carriage with his hair in disarray and his eyes looking dazed. His outer clothing had been removed, revealing a small section of his chest, and his uncovered skin displayed red marks. His appearance, usually cold and handsome, now emanated an irresistibly seductive charm, like a flower on a high peak waiting to be picked.

Rong Zhi’s arms reached out from behind to encircle Chu Yu’s waist, his sleeves pushed up to expose his fair wrists that gleamed like jade. He glanced at Shen Qingzhi carelessly and then leaned on Chu Yu’s shoulder, laughing softly, “Princess, didn’t you say we were going to leave the city to catch that little fellow? Why aren’t we moving forward?”

This, this was just like some, some scene where people get caught doing that in a carriage!

Seeing this situation, Shen Qingzhi’s face immediately darkened, and his mind spontaneously conjured up the scene inside the carriage before it stopped: a beautiful youth and a handsome young man, both disheveled and cuddling at Chu Yu’s side while she held one in an embrace and kissed one, then kissed the other… Though he had already heard about the Princess’s reputation, he hadn’t expected it to be this preposterous.

The moment Rong Zhi pressed against her, Chu Yu’s mind went blank for an instant, hearing only her own heartbeat that was faster than the falling rain. Suppressing her panic, she pretended to be calm, allowing Rong Zhi to hold her as she turned towards Shen Qingzhi and said indifferently, “General Shen, all of the people from my mansion are here in this carriage. If you wish to search, you had better be quick. A disobedient servant has escaped from my mansion and already left the city. I must chase him down. The more time we delay, the further he will get.”

She was quick to react, promptly inventing a plausible excuse, claiming they were after a runaway concubine.

Shen Qingzhi’s expression froze. Despite being accustomed to the turmoil of battlefields, the chaos of such a private life still felt alien to him, revealing a significant generational gap.

After ordering a search of the soldiers from the Princess Mansion, which turned up nothing irregular, Shen Qingzhi, filled with strong disapproval of Chu Yu, gave way and cleared the road.

As the carriage started moving again, Chu Yu let down the carriage curtain, and the strong façade she just put up instantly relaxed, and she collapsed powerlessly into Rong Zhi’s arms.

She looked up at Rong Zhi, and their eyes met, a trace of shared amusement flitting across both their gazes: “Ha.” In the low laughter was the satisfaction of a successful prank.

How in sync they were, how amusing.

Thinking back on Shen Qingzhi’s expression made Chu Yu want to burst into laughter, but upon reflection, her performance seemed somewhat familiar—as if taken right out of a manga, a novel, or a television series. When a female protagonist is being pursued, she encounters the male protagonist and pretends to be lovers with him or hides in his bed, using affairs of passion to mask the truth. It’s just that in her case, the roles of the man and woman were slightly reversed.

As she pondered this, Chu Yu suddenly remembered she was unconsciously leaning against Rong Zhi, who was in nothing more than a single layer. The closeness between them was ambiguously intimate, and she quickly but casually righted herself.

Rong Zhi let out a slight smile.

Upon taking another careful look at Rong Zhi, Chu Yu noticed he had also done something to her face—he had lightly drawn on some eyeliner at the corners of his eyes, making them turn up and create an illusion of seductiveness. Xiao Bie had been treated similarly, with slight modifications to his appearance.

“`

After the curtain was lowered, Xiao Bie hurriedly grabbed the clothes piled on the ground and clumsily pulled the collar up to cover the exposed spring light on his chest. He draped the outer garment over himself and, upon looking up, saw Chu Yu lying in Rong Zhi’s arms, their gazes locked as they smiled at each other, his expression suddenly became slightly dimmer.

It wasn’t long before Chu Yu left Rong Zhi’s embrace and sat to the side, watching the two of them dress. After putting on their outer garments, they also had to rub off the rouge on their skin. Although surprised at the speed of Rong Zhi’s deception, she could roughly figure out the process, which was nothing more than messing up the interior of the carriage, taking off their clothes, letting down their hair, using pigments to draw at the corners of the eyes to create a seductive look, and then using the rouge prepared in the carriage to dot impressions on their bodies to mislead others into thinking that they had just been engaged in certain activities.

After all, Shan Yin’s Princess’s reputation was already tarnished, so if it could be used, Chu Yu did not mind tainting it further.

Rong Zhi’s actions were not without purpose; the shocking scene disrupted Shen Qingzhi’s composure, causing him to lose his cool demeanor and accurate judgment. He didn’t search everyone carefully, merely instructing his subordinates to wrap things up hastily, which made him overlook the coachman who was right in front of them and instead concentrate his attention on the rear.

The way Rong Zhi played with people’s minds could be described as very cunning.

However, Chu Yu smiled at Xiao Bie and said, “Brother Xiao has been put in a difficult position. We had no other choice but to do this, and I appreciate Brother Xiao’s cooperation just now.” She wasn’t bothered by it, and Rong Zhi probably didn’t care either, but since Xiao Bie was always serious, Chu Yu feared that his nerves couldn’t handle it and thus spoke to comfort him.

Xiao Bie’s lips curved up faintly as he said, “Given the situation, what’s more, the Princess is doing this to help me. The young gentleman has impressive skills; I greatly admire him.” Although he felt extremely awkward and uncomfortable, he also knew that what they did was crucial for getting through the challenge they had just faced, and he tried not to take it to heart.

The carriage continued towards the outskirts of the city, encountering several groups of soldiers along the way, but none posed the same obstruction and scrutiny as Shen Qingzhi had, and they proceeded until they were about ten miles outside the city to the north. After asking the guards to fallback a distance, Chu Yu lifted the front curtain and smilingly instructed Liu Chang to stop the carriage and hand the reins back to Yue Jiefei.

Liu Chang stood outside the carriage while Chu Yu sat inside, looking at him with a smile, “This should be safe enough. Imperial Uncle, now that you are leaving Jiankang, do you have any other plans?”

Liu Chang stood by the carriage, his expression laden with sorrow, “There’s no place left for me here. What else can I plan for but to flee this land?”

With Yue Jiefei standing nearby, Chu Yu wasn’t worried about him overhearing as she bluntly said to Liu Chang, “Then that’s for the best. Escape this country and never come back. My help today doesn’t mean I have decided to betray His Majesty. I just didn’t want him to cause too great a sin of bloodshed among kindred. I hope the Imperial Uncle understands.”

After some thought, Liu Chang said, “I understand this naturally, and should the day come when I have the opportunity, I will repay today’s kindness. Perhaps you won’t heed this, Chu Yu,” he said, using the Shan Yin Princess’s name, “and perhaps what I’m about to say may be unpleasant, but I still want to advise you, His Majesty’s side is not a place to stay for long. Staying beside such a tyrant does not guarantee you long-lasting peace.”

Knowing his genuine concern for her, Chu Yu’s heart warmed as she smiled, “I’ll keep that in mind. Imperial Uncle, take good care on your journey.”

As she watched Liu Chang slowly walk away, Chu Yu turned to Yue Jiefei with a cold smile, “You must not speak of today’s event. Consider it a condition for me helping you find Tian Rujing, agreed?”

Yue Jiefei was absent-minded, but hearing what Chu Yu said, he hesitated before nodding firmly, “Alright!”

Since they were already outside the city and had an agreement with Yue Jiefei, Chu Yu ordered people to disperse and search.

Tian Rujing had left the city from the north, so Chu Yu and her party also started from the north, braving the stormy weather. However, at this time, Tian Rujing was at the foot of East Mountain, in the east of the city.

His clothes clung tightly to his body, leaving no space between the wet fabric and his skin. His feet stumped in puddles mixed with mud and sand. The strong wind blew against him, and the rain poured down on him, chilling him through like a piece of ice.

Tian Rujing merely stood still, not knowing how much time had passed; he slowly tilted up his head, lifted his wet and cold face, and looked at East Mountain in front of him.

“`