Bai Lu stayed in the memorial hall for half an hour before coming out. As soon as he stepped out, he saw Chu Ya still standing in the yard, unchanged.
Bai Lu wiped his eyes, adjusted the expression on his face, and walked towards him as calmly as possible.
Seeing Bai Lu coming over, Chu Ya smiled gently and did not ask him what he was doing inside. Instead, he changed the subject very thoughtfully, “It’s still a bit cold today. Do you want to put on some extra clothes?”
Bai Lu shook his head. After walking over, he suddenly turned back. Without looking into Chu Ya’s eyes, he just whispered: “Do you know how my mother died?”
“Sorry, I’m not too sure…”
At first, Chu Ya only investigated the matter thoroughly. After confirming that Bai Lu had taken advantage of him, he quickly confronted him. As for the cause of his mother’s death, he only knew that it was Chu Shen who caused it, but he did not know the specific details.
Bai Lu casually found a step and sat down, looking at the uneven outline of the pavilion in the distance, “My mother… is what you call the escort girl, but no matter what others say, I love her very much. She is the one who worked hard to raise me.”
“That day was my birthday. It was almost the coldest day of winter. My mother said she would bring me a cake in the evening, so I sat on the sofa. In order to save the electricity bill, I guarded the door with the light dark and waited until it got dark. , when it snowed heavily in the middle of the night, and when I was so sleepy that I fell asleep, what I finally waited for was the news of my mother’s death.”
“Later I found out that my mother wanted to come back from work early that day, but a customer asked her to accompany her and forced her to drink many bottles of spirits. She was drunk on the way home because no one saw her. , just freezing to death in the snow…”
“That guest is Chu Shen.”
Chu Ya’s face changed slightly, “A-Bai…”
Bai Lu paused, his voice a little hoarse, “Chu Shen is powerful, and he didn’t intentionally kill anyone, so he didn’t receive any punishment in this case. I’ve been resentful for a while, why are so many people drunk in the world? , but she was the only one who got into trouble?”
“Later I realized that I actually killed her.”
Chu Ya already understood what he meant, and her heart ached vaguely, “A-Bai, don’t say that.”
Bai Lu seemed not to have heard what he said and continued: “When the sanitation workers found her, she was just wearing a down jacket and a skirt from the nightclub underneath. She came back in such a hurry that she didn’t even have time to put on her clothes. Actually, it was just to celebrate my birthday…”
Bai Lu’s throat was choked up, and his voice was already crying, but he still tried his best to suppress it. His shoulders were shaking violently, “It’s all for me…”
Chu Ya reached out and hugged him over, patted his back and comforted him in a low voice: “It’s not your fault. You were still a child at that time and it has nothing to do with you.”
He knew that Bai Lu had a bad life as a boy. After his mother passed away, he was once so decadent that he seemed to deliberately destroy himself. He hung out with the delinquent youths who lived on the streets for several months, and was later sent to prison by the police. He went to an orphanage and was able to finish high school.
After graduating from high school, he worked several jobs, and later became an underground boxer, probably so that he could vent his anger in the ring and violence.
Chu Ya stroked the thin body that was trembling slightly in his arms. This appearance was really completely different from Bai Lu’s previous life, but many of his habits were exactly the same. He didn’t want to cry in front of others, and no matter how uncomfortable he felt, he could only grit his teeth and endure it.
Ichimo suppressed his emotions, concealed his vulnerability, and refused to cry even when he was in pain. He was covered in sharp thorns because he wanted to look powerful so that he would not be bullied.
After all, he has lived in this dangerous arena and society for several years in this almost cruel way of survival.
Chu Ya sat with him outside the memorial hall for two hours that day. During this period, the two of them had almost no conversation, but they could clearly feel each other’s presence. This was probably the meaning of companionship. Even if they didn’t say a word, they could still feel each other’s presence. Give comfort to the other person in silence.
The day after Qingming Festival, Bai Lu immediately regained his composure like a normal person and never mentioned what happened that day. Chu Ya guessed that he probably didn’t want to touch the scar in his heart anymore, or that although he was sad, he didn’t want to show it.
I don’t know whether it was because I was grateful to Chu Ya for doing this for him, or because Chu Ya’s words that day, “It’s not your fault, you were still a child at that time” touched him and made him consider himself and others, and be considerate of Chu Ya. Given the situation, Bai Lu’s attitude towards Chu Ya has obviously improved these days, at least he is not so venomous.
After the Qingming Festival, the Shangsi Festival will come soon. During this festival, people will hold purification bathing activities. They go to the waterside or the countryside in groups. The same is true in the palace. During the Shangsi Festival, a grand spring outing banquet will be held. , go on a trip to the beautiful countryside to enjoy the spring mood.
On this day, both the concubines in the harem and the ministers and their families in the court are eligible to travel with the Holy Emperor, which is known as the joy of monarch and ministers.
Chu Ya didn’t want Bai Lu to have contact with others from the bottom of his heart, because he was essentially a jealous and possessive man, but he also knew rationally that he couldn’t be held captive like a possession, as it would stifle him. .
Therefore, Chu Ya wanted to let Bai Lu go out to relax and play with active young people, so he specially asked the ministers to bring their children of appropriate age at home to travel together.
Chu Ya’s original intention was to find some playmates for Bai Lu that he could talk to, but when the ministers heard this, they immediately changed their minds.
Those who had daughters at home felt that His Majesty was deliberately trying to enrich the harem, so they felt happy and hurriedly asked their daughters to dress up and learn palace etiquette in advance, hoping to be favored by His Majesty on the Shangsi Festival and fly to the branches to become phoenixes.
Those who have sons at home feel that His Majesty is preparing to recruit talents and select young and wise ministers for the court during his travels, so they quickly ask their sons to prepare well and study the classics day and night in order to win His Majesty’s favor at the Shangsi Festival, Become a minister of one side.
In short, His Majesty’s words, which were neither light nor heavy, caused quite a stir in the palace. Only the person involved, Bai Lu, was completely unaware, and he might not even recognize the word Shangsi Festival at all… and it is very likely that he does not know this word at all.
Chu Ya didn’t explain much to him, just told him that he would take him out to play in the countryside on that day.
Bai Lu looked at him inexplicably, “Leaving the palace? Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away?”
Chu Ya did not give a direct answer, just smiled with a hint of meaning.
It wasn’t until the morning of the Shangsi Festival that Bai Lu knew the meaning behind Chu Ya’s smile.
The team of His Majesty’s outing is really too huge, with nearly a hundred large and small carriages, and the number of people is almost close to a thousand. In addition to the courtiers and their families, there are also the concubines in the harem and their attendants. There are also two hundred palace maids, two hundred eunuchs, two hundred guards, one hundred cavalry, imperial kitchen, imperial doctor, musicians, dancers, etc., a total of one hundred people.
So many people, so many pairs of eyes, if Bai Lu can really escape from them, then he would be a god.
Bai Lu was speechless, “It’s just an outing, do we need so many people?”
In the TV dramas, isn’t the emperor just taking two little guards and going straight to the mountains and waters?
Chu Ya smiled, “After all, half of the court officials have come, and we still need to be cautious about security.”
Just as he was saying this, a luxurious carriage, drawn by six spirited horses, stopped steadily beside them. The emperor drives six, and the carriage pulled by six horses is called the imperial carriage, which only the emperor can ride.
Bai Lu looked back and saw that the other carriages were either pulled by four horses or only two horses, and none of them were as magnificent as the one in front of him.
Geng Qing didn’t know where he came from, and respectfully said, “Your Majesty, the team is ready to depart at any time.”
Bai Lu: “Why are you everywhere?”
In front of His Majesty, Geng Qing always pretended to be very serious, bowed respectfully, and said, “Your Highness, I am responsible for overseeing the entire team. If you have any needs, just tell me.”
Bai Lu shrugged, turned around, and got on the carriage.
After getting on the carriage, Bai Lu couldn’t help but wonder. Isn’t Geng Qing just an ordinary second-class guard? How could Chu Ya entrust such an important task to him?
Lmao, "In front of His Majesty, Geng Qing always pretended to be very serious…"