C57 Part2

....

Murong Ci saw that Murong Yu hadn't "cared for" her at all ever since he had arrived at the Hall.

He hadn't even looked at her after he had come in, and she was quite relieved for it and gradually relaxed a little.

Suddenly, he turned his eyes around, staring at her with his eyes as cold as the frost of late autumn.

Her heart jumped instantly, and she felt that his eyes were not only cold, but it was simply freezing, like killing people with a stare, as if she had done something to him to be sorry about.

'Did I do something to you?'

She recalled the "instigation" she had done for her Sister a few days ago.

In fact, she believed it couldn't be really called an "abetment".

It could only be said that she was instructing her sister--

'The cooked rice can never go back to being raw again.

What's done can't be undone.'

Indeed, combining false and real, so that he wouldn't be able to argue for himself, was her advice.

And with his eyes and ears all over the Palace, Murong Yu must have heard that Zhaohua had been to the East Palace before coming to his Study Room...

Thinking of this, she did feel a little guilty...

'But so what?

She's my own sister!

Why should I help others instead of helping my sister!?'

So she glared at him with righteousness in her heart, with her chest tall, her abdomen closed, and her head held up --...

'What is done is done!

What can you do about it?'

Murong Yu's face was faint.

His slender fingers started writing something on the desk.

Although she looked from upside down, Murong Ci recognized it at a glance.

What he wrote was:

'Your Highness, you're really a caring "Brother" for your Sister.'

She blinked brightly, opened her lips and said silently:

"That is natural."

He pondered it for a while, and then continued to write on the desk, where the previous characters had been erased:

'I see that Your Highness won't deny it.'

She raised her eyebrows disdainfully and turned her head to look away,

'So what?'

He suddenly laughed, with his deep eyes glowing like a black jade, unpredictable.

*Tap tap tap*

He tapped the desk three times with his fingers.

Murong Ci turned her head to look at him.

Murong Yu opened his thin pink lips and said something extremely silently.

The mouth flapped, and although it was very slow, it was a bit long and elusive.

She froze for a long time before she figured it out.

What he said was:

'Your Highness, ※when you wrap yourself up in a cocoon, you can't blame this King for the consequences.'

'What does he mean by that?

※Be a cocoon?'

After thinking for a while, she still couldn't understand what he wanted to warn her about.

※※(N.B.) This is a famous saying,

作茧自缚, that has a double meaning:

One is literal, "a caterpillar wrapping itself into a cocoon to evolve into a butterfly", which is the meaning that Murong Ci understood;

the other one is metaphorical, and means "to get enmeshed in a web of one's own spinning" or "to be caught in one's own trap" or "to fall into a pit of one's own digging", which is the meaning Murong Yu is intending. lol

Murong Ci probably doesn't know the second meaning of this saying (that's actually adorable and cute) and can't understand Murong Yu's subtle warning:

"If you set a trap, be careful not to fall into it yourself!"

That's what he's warning her about...

I guess it will take her a bit to figure it out. ^^;;;; he he he

※※

All the young talents were struggling to write and answer seriously, and the Hall was so quiet that even the small noises of taking paper were so clear.

For Murong Ci it felt like years, but for the young talents it felt like time flew by, and half an hour had already past.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang in the silence of the Hall, a dull sound.

They saw the young talent that was seated in the fifth desk of the left column lying sideways on the ground, breathing quickly and panting violently.

The other young talents looked at the man in surprise, not knowing what had happened to him.

He Guang and other members of the Ministry of Etiquettes and Rituals rushed over immediately.

Murong Ci and Murong Yu walked over at the same time,

"What happened?"

They saw the young talent lying on the ground with desperate eyes, panting violently, as if it was very difficult for him to breathe.

Suddenly there was a sound of deep panting,

"Huff huff huff huff huff",

like as if in the next moment he would die because he can't breathe, which was very scary.

Murong Ci had seen patients with similar symptoms before, which seemed to be asthmatic.

"Quickly! Go to the hospital and call the Imperial Physician!"

Murong Yu ordered decisively.

"You take two servants with you."

The situation was urgent, and He Guang instructed his servant.

"It's better to take him to the side Hall first, so that the Literary Test will proceed as usual."

Murong Ci suggested.

With the Royal King here, He Guang looked at him subconsciously, and when he nodded slightly, he ordered several servants to carry the sick person to the side Hall.

However, just when several servants were about to do it, the short-breathing, sweating young talent suddenly stopped moving, lying quietly, lifeless.

He Guang trembled moving his hands to detect his breath.

His old face was pale and his short beard trembled.

Murong Yu quickly probed his breath and announced a terrible fact,

"He's not breathing."

The whole Hall was in an uproar.

The young talents couldn't help feeling scared, and started talking in twos and threes.

Murong Ci was a little dazed,

'Just like this, a living person died?'

"The test continues, Master He, supervise it here."

Murong Yu slapped his hands twice, and a black shadow emerged from nowhere, and flashed over respectfully.

It was one of Murong Yu's ※"Shadow Ghost Guard".

※※(N.B.) Just to clarify, Shadow Ghost Guards are those people similar to spies who move like shadows, invisible to the eyes, and are secretly hidden most of the time.

Shadow Ghosh Guards are always secretly guarding Murong Yu.

It's kind of similar to modern bodyguards, acting like a Ninja, hiding in the shadow, that is also doing all the secret missions of spying and gathering information for him.

They move in the darkness unseen to the eyes like a shadow, and are fast and elusive like a ghost.

I'd be referring to them later on as "Ghost Guard" or simply "Ghost" as a nickname also used in the novel.

Wuying(无影), in particular, is Murong Yu's most trusted Ghost Guard, and he already showed up in various chapters before, reporting about the Masked Woman. (Chapter 10 Part 3 in the novel)

He'll be an important character for the story later on, especially for Qin Ruo, Murong Ci's trusted subordinate. ^^

※※

Murong Yu ordered his Ghost Guard to supervise the Competition here instead of him, and then took a look at her and went to the side Hall.

The corpse was taken away, and Murong Ci followed.

....

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END of CHAPTER 57 PART 2

.....................to be continued