Chapter 129: Despairing and Sinister Eyes

The room was completely empty!

How could a perfectly fine person just vanish into thin air?

Qin Wanru stepped out from behind the screen and paced around the chair where Chu Liuchen had been sitting moments ago, truly flustered. The room was small and easy to survey at a glance, so where had the Prince of Chen, who had just been holding the upper hand with a playful smirk, gone?

"Come here!" Chu Liuchen's voice suddenly drifted from behind her.

Qin Wanru started, spinning around, but saw no one. She cast suspicious glances left and right before her gaze finally settled on the draped curtains hanging nearby.

"Are you coming or not?" The displeased voice sounded again. This time, Qin Wanru saw clearly and realized the sound was indeed coming from behind the curtains. She was struck with surprise; looking at the layout of the room, it was truly unimaginable that someone could hide there.

She hurried over to the curtains, reached out to pull one aside, and saw Chu Liuchen standing with his hands behind his back at the entrance of a small door. She followed him inside. Sensing her movement, Chu Liuchen stepped through the hidden door, and Qin Wanru followed, only to discover a small staircase behind it.

Chu Liuchen stepped onto the stairs, and after a moment of hesitation, Qin Wanru followed.

The staircase turned, leading them to an upper floor. Once they arrived and entered another door, she found a room nearly identical in layout to the one below: a writing desk by the window and a screen dividing the space. Most surprising were the curtains of the same color hanging in the corner. Had Qin Wanru not remembered clearly, she would have thought she had returned to the room below. The only slight difference was the orientation of the large chair in front of the desk.

This was actually a three-story pavilion. Qin Wanru couldn't help but marvel at the craftsmanship of the royal family. When she had looked at it from the outside, she had assumed it was only two stories, but it actually concealed a third level within.

"Where is the debt?" Chu Liuchen sat in the large chair, tapping his fingers on the table as he asked.

Qin Wanru reached out and handed over the debt note she had been clutching tightly. Compared to Prince Yue, Chu Liyue—who had been angered, threatened, and had even failed to protect his own attendants—Qin Wanru suddenly felt quite fortunate that she was merely being blackmailed for some money.

"Why is it so crumpled?" Chu Liuchen pointed to the paper Qin Wanru had placed on the table, patting it with disdain.

"This... I was careless earlier..." Qin Wanru bit her lip, offering a submissive explanation.

"Forget it. Don't let it happen again. This is your only chance. Later, I will send someone to follow you and collect the person," Chu Liuchen remarked, raising an eyebrow.

Qin Wanru silently observed his exquisite face, which carried a hint of youthful naivety, and decided it was best to say nothing.

*As if there will be a next time?*

*Certainly not!* However, this man did not play by the rules. She didn't know when he might blackmail her again, so it seemed she needed to earn more money.

"What do you think of my room?" Chu Liuchen stood up and beckoned to Qin Wanru, looking quite like a child showing off a treasure.

Qin Wanru walked over helplessly. Standing beside him and looking out, she immediately noticed that the view from here was excellent. Compared to the casual glance from the second floor, the scenery outside was much clearer. In the distance, she could even see Chu Liyue following a small eunuch as he walked away. His figure looked hurried, and he appeared utterly displeased.

In another direction, Qin Wanru saw two palace maids. Their attire did not look like that of the servants in the Prince of Chen’s mansion; she had seen this style of palace maid uniform many times in her previous life. She could tell at a glance that they were walking slowly in a different direction than Chu Liyue, seemingly heading toward the palace through a small side gate of the Prince of Chen’s estate. She wondered if they had been sent by the Empress Dowager.

Her gaze swept over the area and then involuntarily fixed on one spot. A wave of sorrow crashed over her, and her fingers trembled as they rested on the windowsill; her body leaned closer to the ledge against her will.

That spot was where she had lost her life in her previous life.

It was there that Shao Yanru had testified that she had strangled the Sixth Prince, and it was there that she had been cut in half at the waist. Below the high steps, near the lake, there was a rockery. On these very steps, she had seen Chu Liuchen. Everything that followed was a blur; she only remembered that she hadn't died immediately and that something had flashed before her eyes.

A sea of blood, a vivid, splashing sea of blood...

"Qin Wanru, what is wrong with you?" A cold voice echoed in her ears. Her hand was grabbed tightly and shaken forcefully.

Qin Wanru felt immense pain. She was in agony!

The pain of being cut at the waist was so intense she felt she couldn't breathe. No... was she even breathing? She had already been executed, hadn't she?

The violent shaking only made the pain worse, unbearable. The voice in her ear seemed to try to break through the bloody mist, but each time it was pulled back, dragging her soul down into the deep, empty abyss of a blood-drenched hell. She was in so much pain!

"Qin Wanru!" A sharp, stinging pain in her hand made her gasp. The bloody vision before her eyes instantly receded, leaving only Chu Liuchen’s cold, piercing gaze.

His skin was almost translucent, and his eyes were different from most—they were pure black. Every ray of light that entered them seemed to be locked away, devoid of any vitality. It felt as if space itself was distorted in a suffocating way. Through those eyes, she saw only despair and chilling terror.

These eyes were somewhat familiar—no, perhaps they were very familiar.

Qin Wanru raised her hand instinctively, suddenly overcome with such agonizing grief that her face contorted.

"Qin Wanru, what is wrong with you?" Her face was slapped lightly twice. Qin Wanru closed her eyes, steadied herself, and slowly opened them again.

It was still Chu Liuchen’s face, but it seemed slightly different from before. There was gloom and displeasure in his eyes, but not the despairing deadness. His expression was cold, but it no longer carried that suffocating distortion.

"Qin Wanru, are you bewitched? Why are you staring at me? Do you think I’m good-looking and have taken a fancy to me?" Chu Liuchen patted her small face again, a rogue-like smile appearing on his lips.

"Your Highness, I... what just happened?" Qin Wanru rubbed her brow, her face drooping. Her head throbbed with a dull ache. She looked at him again, truly not feeling that there was anything familiar about him from her previous life, other than having seen him from afar.

"Who knows what's wrong with you? Maybe you were just mesmerized by me!" Chu Liuchen said as if it were a matter of course, though his eyes were chillingly cold where she couldn't see.

Just a moment ago, he had clearly seen a sea of red in her normally clear, limpid eyes.

Could it be that something here reminded her of an incident in her own household? Could it be that that woman, the Di woman, had started causing trouble again after arriving in the capital?

"Your Highness, I think I fainted for a moment!" Qin Wanru lowered her head, still rubbing her temple. She truly didn't know what had happened, and it felt bizarre in hindsight. Were those memories from her previous life, or just a random imagination? The memories were fragmented and blurred, making it hard for her to distinguish reality from illusion.

"Then go back. If you have the money, settle your debt with me first!" Chu Liuchen said nonchalantly. His gaze fell on her face, and he suddenly swatted her hand away. Then, to her astonishment, he reached out to touch her fair forehead.

"No fever, no heat. You look worse off than me!" After a brief touch, he pulled his hand back, his expression becoming meaningful.

"Your Highness, may I walk around your courtyard?" Qin Wanru asked, hesitating.

"Walk? What is there to walk around for? This Southern Palace is no good place!" Chu Liuchen looked impatient. His long lashes cast eerie shadows on his pale, translucent lids, and his eyes turned frigid.

"Then... may I take my leave?" Seeing his mood souring again, and feeling a dull headache, Qin Wanru thought there would be other opportunities later and decided not to rush. She asked tentatively.

Chu Liuchen turned back to his large chair and waved his hand. Qin Wanru bowed carefully and retreated. After descending the stairs and passing through the hidden door, she found Xiao Xuanzi standing at the entrance of the second floor with a smile. Seeing her emerge, he hurried forward to bow.

After bowing, he pointed upwards sneakily and asked in a low voice, "Second Miss, is our master in a better mood now?"

Qin Wanru looked at Xiao Xuanzi with a strange expression. The master was odd, and so was his servant. How could Xiao Xuanzi tell that the temperamental Prince was in a good mood?

She shook her head.

"Not good? That can't be, he even brought you upstairs!" Xiao Xuanzi scratched his head in surprise, glancing suspiciously toward the curtains.

Qin Wanru didn't know how he had reached that conclusion. Her head was still spinning, so she simply nodded at him and walked past him toward the ground floor.

Downstairs, Yujie emerged from the shadows. Seeing Qin Wanru’s usually pink, delicate face deathly pale, she was startled. She rushed over to support her and asked in a low voice, "Miss, what happened?"

"Let's go, we're leaving!" Qin Wanru felt the object in her sleeve; it was still there, but now was not the best time. She whispered her command.

Although Yujie had questions, seeing that Qin Wanru didn't want to talk, she hurried to help her outside. A small eunuch volunteered to lead the way.

They returned to the carriage, and just as it was about to depart, a breathless voice called out from behind: "Second Miss, Second Miss... please wait for this servant!"