Chapter 267
writer:Yuzu In May      update:2022-08-09 18:05
  The snow on Laojun Mountain was getting heavier and heavier. It was too dangerous to go down the mountain at night. Lu Chen and Qiao Jinniang rested in the side room for a night. There were no empty rooms in the side room of the Taoist temple. The imperial guards and guards who did not need to keep watch went to the houses of the nearby villagers. Gu Ming walked for a while and saw a luxurious and palatial civilian house. It was really strange to have such a luxurious house in the Deep Mountains. Gu Ming knocked on the door. The person who opened the door was a beautiful woman who was dressed like a fairy. Gu Ming said, “We followed master to the old gentleman’s temple to offer incense. There are no extra rooms in the old gentleman’s temple. Is it possible to stay here for a night? We will definitely give you a lot of thanks.” “I’m sorry. My master has a strange personality. He doesn’t like to see outsiders. There is a village not far from here. Many visitors who come to offer incense are staying here. Why Don’t you go to the village and ask about it?” Gu Ming said, “Alright, thank you, miss.” After the beautiful girl closed the door, Gu Ming instructed the secret guard, “Go and investigate the background of this master.” It was hard to say if there wasn’t something fishy about building such a large mansion deep in the mountains. Perhaps it was some other manor where a prince was discussing matters. …… The next morning. Early in the morning, she was woken up by the sound of the Taoist priests practicing their martial arts. After Qiao Jinniang woke up, she washed up and walked outside to watch the Taoist priests practice. Each of them was only wearing a thin Taoist robe, which made Qiao Jinniang feel a chill. Lu Chen came over and draped his cloak over her body. “The road was cut off by the heavy snow last night. The guards have already gone to the snow path. I’m afraid we’ll have to leave tomorrow.” Qiao jinniang said, “Alright.” It was inevitable that the mountain would be sealed by the heavy snow. Qiao Jinniang could smell a fragrance from afar that carried a stench, but also a fragrance. She heard that Qian Yi had bathed for an entire night yesterday, but he had probably not been able to wash away the foul stench on his body. He deserved it. Gu Ming hurried over and said to Lu Chen, “Your Highness, your subordinate has finally found the person who wrote the forbidden book, Layman Qiuyue.” Qiao Jinniang heard recluse Qiuyue say, “Where is she? She is skilled in writing, and her books are full of surprises. I must pay her a visit.” Lu Chen frowned. “Visit her for what? She made up the story that Zhou Siming and I have a romantic relationship, and she also wrote about men and women. It is forbidden books in the first place, and it would be too good for her to go to jail.” Qiao jinniang said, “The books she wrote are harmless. Nowadays, most of them are written by scholars and beautiful women, but her story is very strange. She’s not allowed to go to jail.” Lu Chen asked Gu Ming, “Where is she?” Gu Ming replied, “Not far from the old gentleman’s temple. She’s hiding in the deep mountains. It turns out that her books were printed in the Deep Mountains by herself. No wonder so many booksellers and officials couldn’t find her.” “In that case, let’s go and have a look,”said Qiao Jinniang. “It’s a pity that I didn’t bring those books with me. Otherwise, I would have asked Layman Qiuyue to stamp my private seal!” Lu Chen said, “Don’t worry. When she’s in prison, there will be plenty of time to stamp your seal.” “Don’t,”said Qiao Jinniang. “You can’t burn the bridge after crossing the river. Didn’t you enjoy reading them? Layman Qiuyue didn’t write anything about usurping the throne.” Lady Qiao Jin and Lu Chen arrived at Autumn Moon House. After knocking on the door, a servant girl came to open it. The servant girl saw Gu Ming and said, “Didn’t I tell you yesterday that my master is a loner and doesn’t receive guests?” Lady Qiao Jin went forward and said, “I have read every book of Recluse Autumn Moon’s works. I learned that Recluse Autumn Moon is in this immortal residence, so I came to pay a visit.” The servant girl frowned and said, “There is no recluse autumn moon here!” Just as the servant girl was about to close the door, Lu Chen ordered the guards to open the door, he said, “Recluse Autumn Moon wrote more than ten banned books, and in the book, he used me and Zhou Siming as the models to write the good words of Longyang. His crime will not be forgiven.” As soon as Lu Chen finished speaking……, a petite woman rushed over and knelt down repeatedly. “Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, please forgive me. Your Highness, my family has both elders and children. I really can’t go to jail!” Qiao Jinniang looked at the kneeling woman and said, “So you’re a woman?” Qiu Yue nodded and said, “Yes, it’s hard for women to work in this world. That’s why I write these books to earn money.” “It’s hard to get even ten taels of silver for a book, yet you still earn money to survive. The Jade in your courtyard is like a flower, and the coral is like a fake tree. Even fairyland is not so luxurious,”Lu Chen said, “Men, take her away and seal up those banned books.” Qiao jinniang hurriedly advised, “Don’t. At most, she can donate the money earned from the banned books to those widows and widows. She looks like she’s only seventeen or eighteen years old.” Qiu Yue repeatedly kowtowed to Qiao Jinniang. “Thank you for Your Mercy, Madam. I will definitely repay you well in the future.” Lu Chen saw that Qiao Jinniang had the heart to defend her and said, “You can not write banned books in the future.” “Yes, I will. I will definitely let His Highness take a look at the book when I write it in the future.” Qiao jinniang said happily, “This is a good relationship. Your book is hard to buy even for ten taels of silver in the black market. It’s a deal.” Qiu Yue said repeatedly, “Since the two of you have come to my humble abode, please come in. I will prepare some thin wine to entertain the two of you and the military lords.” Qiao Jinniang felt that it was a bit too much to say that it was a humble abode. She thought that the eastern palace was already considered a luxury, but it was not as good as the luxurious residence of Recluse Qiu Yue. The floor made of jade was covered with gold leaf. Every step she took, her shoes would be stained with a layer of gold powder. The porcelain cups used to serve tea were all rare crafts. Even the tea was a rare dragon well in Lin ‘an. Looking out of the window, there was a lake in the mountains. Qiao Jinniang said with a smile, “Layman Qiuyue’s life here is better than that of an immortal.” Qiu Yue said with a smile, “I don’t deserve it, I don’t deserve it.” Qiu Yue poured good wine for Lu Jing and Qiao Jinniang. Qiao Jinniang said with a sniff, “This wine smells mellow and strong. It’s a rare good wine.” Qiu Yue said, “It’s just a small wine. Madam likes to send you a jar when the time comes.” Qiao Jinniang saw a stack of white paper beside the wine table and said, “This is your newly written notebook. May I have a look?” Qiu Yue offered it with both hands, her hands shaking nervously. Qiao Jinniang flipped through some of it and saw a poem. Qiu Yue used a pen to draw a line and then changed it. “Here, you wrote that things are different. If you want to cry, why do you have to cross it out?” Qiu Yue said, “I felt that this line of poetry was inappropriate, so I crossed it out.” “This is a good poem. It’s best to use it here. It’s such a good quote. It’s a pity to cross it out,”Qiao Jinniang said. “Why don’t you use it?” Qiu Yue said in a low voice, “Absolutely not.” “Why?”Qiao Jinniang asked curiously. Qiu Yue said with a troubled expression, “I just can’t use it. This isn’t a poem I wrote. Naturally, I can’t use it.” Qiao jinniang said, “But you also wrote a lot of poems in your book. Why Can’t I use it?” Qiu Yue didn’t know how to explain and was in a dilemma. Lu Chen glanced at Qiu Yue and said, “The Crown Princess defended you, but you still want to hide it? It seems that you still want to go to jail?” Qiu Yue knelt on the ground with a thud. “Your Highness, I, I didn’t mean to hide it, I……” Qiu Yue was so frightened that she actually fainted. Qiao Jinniang could not help but complain to Lu Chen, “Why are you scaring her?” Qiu Yue’s servant girl went to invite a Taoist priest in the Taoist temple to give Qiu Yue two injections. Only then did she slowly wake up and see Qiao Jinniang standing by her bed. She said gently, “Don’t be afraid. The crown prince is just scaring you. Is there anything you have to hide? Why Don’t you tell him? Otherwise, His Highness will think that you are hiding something and lock you up in the prison.” Qiu Yue said slowly, “If I tell the truth, I don’t think you and the crown prince will believe me.” “I believe you.” Qiu Yue said, “I wonder if the Crown Prince Consort has read that book I wrote about the fate of rebirth.” Lady Qiao said, “I have read it. That is a woman’s soul returning to another woman through a corpse.” Qiu Yue pursed her lips and said, “Although this matter is extremely absurd, it really happened to me. I originally came from a different world. After coming to this place, it is somewhat similar to the world I lived in a thousand years ago, but there are also some differences. Some characters from a thousand years ago are here, but some are not here. That sentence just now was written by an ancient person in my previous world who was known as the number one talented woman in a thousand years. I don’t know if this talented woman will be born in a few hundred years? But I definitely don’t dare to use her poems and take her name. As a writer, I hate it the most when others steal my own blood and sweat. Therefore, I will never steal other people’s blood and sweat.”