Untouchable Lovers-Chapter 196 - One Hundred and Seventy-Eight Irreparable
Chapter 196: Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Eight: Irreparable
Chapter 196: Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Eight: Irreparable
This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.
The Emperor was daydreaming, and as a Princess, Chu Yu had no choice but to keep him company in his stupor. With one standing and the other sitting, they spent who knows how long in that state, and just as Chu Yu was about to fall asleep, Liu Ziyue finally ceased his performance art of admiring the fish in the pond, turned to her, and said, “Sister, do you intend to leave me?”
Chu Yu was startled, and only then did she look into Liu Ziyue’s eyes. She saw the boy’s narrow eyes cold and grim, tumultuous cruelty roiling within their depths, as if the warmth and dependency from their previous encounters had been hidden away.
Chu Yu was somewhat frightened, not just by the young Emperor’s gaze, but also by his words—they hit the mark precisely regarding what she had recently been considering. Although she didn’t know exactly how much time she had left, her intuition told her that the day of change was gradually approaching. Even though no signs were apparent on the surface, Chu Yu had started to have Huan Yuan secretly contact the people she had previously sent out to build a network of safe houses, and she was preparing escape routes.
If something were to happen in Jiankang, she could flee immediately.
Suppressing her ominous premonition, Chu Yu stepped forward, raised her hand, and steadied Liu Ziyue’s arm, trying to calm him down, “Your Majesty, how could I possibly leave you?”
Before entering the palace, she had changed clothes and used spice to scent them. She knew this fragrance had an effect on Liu Ziyue, easing his tense nerves and making him more receptive to her words.
However, for some reason, this tactic did not yield the same effect today. Liu Ziyue’s expression did not relax; on the contrary, it turned cold in an instant upon hearing Chu Yu’s response. His features slightly contorted in a terrifying grimace. Chu Yu could not help but take a half-step back, and this half-step further provoked Liu Ziyue, causing him to shoot a hateful glare at her, “Sister, you’re lying.”
He said slowly, each word as if chewed and spat out with deliberation, “Sister, you’re deceiving me.” He grabbed Chu Yu’s shoulders, looking at her with pain and hatred. The cruel young Emperor was never one to silently endure grievances. The wrongs he suffered, he reclaimed through the misfortunes of others.
Liu Ziyue’s grip was unexpectedly strong, like steel clamping down on Chu Yu’s shoulders, causing her to cry out in pain, “It hurts! Your Majesty, what are you doing?”
But Liu Ziyue didn’t let go of her. He just coldly stared at her, his gaze icy, like a venomous snake eyeing its prey. After a while, while still gripping one of Chu Yu’s shoulders, he took a stack of papers from beside him and handed them to her, “Take a look.”
The stack of paper had been beside him all along, but Chu Yu had assumed they were petitions or something of the sort and hadn’t paid much attention. Now, a glance made her feel a chill in her hands and feet, preventing her from reaching out to take them: it was a stack of papers, roughly an inch thick, the size and color of the sheets varying. Some were old, others fairly new, and the topmost portion bore official seals.
Liu Ziyue, regardless of whether she had taken them, released his hold after extending the papers. They fell to the ground in disarray, occasionally lifted by a gust of wind and flipping a page.
These pages were… deeds to property.
Spread across various places, they were the legal proofs of residential ownership acquired under various names and identities.
These were the multiple hideaways Chu Yu had prepared as escape routes for the future, but now they were all in Liu Ziyue’s hands.
How had these been discovered? She had been very secretive and careful; she should have avoided his detection!
Seeing Chu Yu remaining silent as if in deep thought, Liu Ziyue grew even angrier, his grip tightening, almost as if he intended to snap her shoulder: “What do you have to say?” If Chu Yu had admitted to him, that would have been one thing—he could have forgiven her, thinking it was her idea of fun. But the fact that Chu Yu had just lied to him again was something he couldn’t tolerate.
In pain, Chu Yu snapped back to reality and managed a nonchalant smile, “There’s nothing to say, Your Majesty. It’s as simple as that. If Your Majesty doesn’t trust me, then so be it. If you did trust me, then no matter what you saw, you wouldn’t suspect me. Without your trust, a few pieces of paper could drive a wedge between us.”
Although she was still unclear about the reason, Chu Yu now knew that Liu Ziyue had developed a grudge against her. This rift would be difficult to mend anytime soon and might be impossible to repair in the future. All she could do now was try her best not to show any guilt, so that Liu Ziyue had no grounds for suspicion.
Liu Ziyue sneered, “The matter of you secretly setting up a private residence was reported to me by Tian Rujing. These land deeds were seized by Zong Yue, who led a search for them. Tian Rujing is the Heavenly Master, an outsider to worldly affairs. Could he possibly have any personal vendetta against you?”
Tian Rujing took action?
Upon hearing this news, Chu Yu was more surprised than when she first saw the land deeds, momentarily incapable of thought, stunned in place.
Didn’t that guy say he wouldn’t intervene? How could he go back on his word?
Her moment of distraction, in the eyes of Liu Ziyue, was precisely the behavior of someone who had been caught out and couldn’t refute it. Liu Ziyue felt an intense pain in his heart, and his emotions grew even more volatile. He pushed Chu Yu, who wasn’t ready for it, causing her to fall to the ground. Her palm scraped across the uneven stone surface, and a fiery pain instantly shot through her.
This was also the first time Liu Ziyue had been violent towards her.
Liu Ziyue’s face twisted, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, as if fighting to control himself. He imposed invisible restraints upon himself, as if the moment those restraints broke, he would be unable to stop himself from lashing out violently at Chu Yu. “Get out of my sight, now! Don’t let me see you again,” he yelled.
Chu Yu bit her teeth and slowly stood up. Seeing Liu Ziyue’s emotional state and knowing that communication was futile, she suppressed the urge to explain herself and turned to leave. Just as she was about to step out of the garden gate, she remembered something and paused, asking, “Your Majesty, I have one more question. All the land deeds are here, but where are those people?” Where were the people she had sent out to prepare her bolt holes?
Liu Ziyue stared at her, his voice cold and words hissing through clenched teeth, with a brutal sneer tinging the corners of his bloodied lips, “Killed.” He had ordered Zong Yue to kill them all, not sparing a single one.
Chu Yu felt a pang of pain in her heart, said nothing more, and did not linger.
As he watched Chu Yu’s figure disappear behind the wall, Liu Ziyue remained still for a long while until his contorted face slowly returned to normal, and he suddenly snapped to reality: What had he just done? Had he actually lost his temper at his sister?
His gaze fixated on a spot on the stone floor where there was a slight redness, and his mind was in turmoil: Had he even pushed her to the ground? Caused her to be injured?
Hadn’t he meant to speak courteously with his sister? How had he allowed anger to cloud his judgment after only a few words?
When he was with his sister before, he used to be not so easily angered, right?
Their actions had inflicted an irreparable wound between two people who were once inseparably close.
Liu Ziyue clutched his head in anguish: They were once so close and dependent on each other… how did it come to this between them?
