Free Web NovelChapter 165: Chapter 164: Tranquil Mind
Princess Nanyan followed her inside, startled, "What’s wrong?"
Du Yunluo slightly raised her chin, signaling Princess Nanyan to look at the silver incense ball.
Princess Nanyan froze for a moment, leaned forward to sniff it, and said, "Do you find this scent unusual? Ah Bi said the Princess asked the Empress Dowager for the spice, she brazenly went to ask for it, and Suiyu gave her a bit."
Ah Bi is the palace maid serving Princess Nanyan; she was the one in the carriage with Mu Lianhui and Princess Nanyan in the morning.
Suiyu is beside Princess Yunhua; it was Suiyu who brewed tea for Du Yunluo during the day.
Du Yunluo pursed her lips and shook her head, whispering to Princess Nanyan, "Don’t light it. The scent I smelled at the Princess’s place wasn’t this one. Inside here..."
Before finishing her sentence, Ah Bi had already returned.
Du Yunluo quickly closed her mouth, Princess Nanyan squeezed Du Yunluo’s palm, signaling she understood.
Du Yunluo returned to her room.
The palace maid wanted to assist her in lying down, but she was wide awake, sitting in a trance at the couch by the north window.
To be precise, the scent from the silver incense ball was one she hadn’t smelled in fifty years, yet perhaps due to the deep impression it had left, upon smelling it again, familiarity rushed over her.
Then, she quickly recalled its source.
It was remarkably good calming incense, and once lit, even those with heavy thoughts and shallow sleep could slumber obliviously.
Du Yunluo had used it before, during the first couple of months after Mu Lianxiao’s passing, when she couldn’t sleep at night; without this incense, her mind couldn’t escape the anguish, and her body would have collapsed.
The incense was given to her by Mrs. Xu, the third wife’s of the Xu family.
Mrs. Xu said she had been using it for over ten years, starting from when her husband died in battle and her son went missing; gradually, she managed to sleep for a few hours, no longer stared wide-eyed waiting for dawn.
Mrs. Xu also mentioned that many in the household used this incense for sleep; it wasn’t harmful to the body, and even the widow children, even Madam Wu, used it.
Du Yunluo relied on this incense to get through the first few years; later on, perhaps her heart became still and dead, and although she slept lightly, she no longer needed the incense.
Unexpectedly, she smelled this calming incense at Princess Nanyan’s place tonight.
Outside, a muffled thunder sounded, and in the blink of an eye, a torrential downpour began, with fierce winds roaring, even drowning out the sound of thunder.
Du Yunluo jumped in fright; she knew it was going to rain heavily but didn’t expect such a fierce storm.
Seeing the palace maid sitting at the table, guarding her, dozing off, Du Yunluo planned to get some sleep.
The palace maid opened her eyes suddenly, startled, came over to help her undress, when suddenly there was a gentle knocking sound.
In the wind and rain, all other sounds seemed exceptionally faint; Du Yunluo momentarily thought she had misheard. She raised her eyes to see the palace maid look towards the door in confusion, so she said, "Go check."
The palace maid complied, holding a lamp, approached, and when at the door, the sound became clearer; indeed, someone was knocking.
When she opened the door, before she could see who it was, the door panel was swaying violently in the wind; had the palace maid not been quick, it would have slammed heavily against the wall.
The visitor stepped in, turned to help close the door, then removed their cape.
Du Yunluo looked closely and exclaimed, "Princess!"
Princess Nanyan gestured for silence and hurried to Du Yunluo: "I had no choice but to turn to you. Ah Bi has fallen asleep."
Du Yunluo raised her eyes, looked at Princess Nanyan in surprise.
Ah Bi fell asleep so quickly, not even knowing Princess Nanyan had gone out, proving the silver incense ball was continuously lit, that...
Princess Nanyan extended her left hand and pulled up her sleeve.
Bruising was all over.
Du Yunluo’s eyes suddenly tightened: "You..."
"If I hadn’t done this, I would have fallen too." Princess Nanyan shook her head heavily.
The scent was not unpleasant, but it was overpowering; had she not been prepared and gritted her teeth, she would have snored like Ah Bi; although she tried hard on herself, she was still drowsy from its effect, luckily, the wind and rain hit her face when she got out, clearing some of her sleepiness.
"Does the Princess want to squeeze in with me for the night?" Du Yunluo asked her softly.
Princess Nanyan smiled faintly, helplessly saying, "Who else could I turn to? I don’t know who is behind this, but it’s certainly not you."
Du Yunluo glanced at her sideways: "Aren’t you afraid I deliberately lured you here?"
"You wouldn’t," Princess Nanyan said with certainty, "You might not be able to save me, but you wouldn’t be a helper to the Princess."
Facing each other, Du Yunluo was momentarily unsure how to respond.
She admitted that Princess Nanyan was absolutely right; she wouldn’t assist Princess Yunhua in forcing Nanyan into the Duke Zhen Guo Mansion.
Du Yunluo had suffered such hardships before; upon seeing Nanyan kneeling before Buddha, she momentarily thought she saw herself.
Having been reborn in this life, though reluctant to get involved in these godly confrontations, Du Yunluo asked herself if she could be so cold-hearted and indifferent.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have warned Princess Nanyan.
"It’s just calming incense, leaving people unable to wake, with no other use," Du Yunluo sat back on the couch, speaking blandly, "There must be more planned for tonight."
"So I’m hiding with you; were it not for the fierce wind and rain, I wouldn’t have managed to sneak out unnoticed by the guards on either side," Princess Nanyan said, finding a chair to sit on. She turned to the palace maid standing cluelessly and said, "Just go to sleep."
Du Yunluo shook her head: "Bring the chessboard; I’ll play a game with the Princess."
The palace maid timidly complied, fetched the chessboard and chess pieces, pouring tea for the two as she whispered, "I haven’t heard anything, nor seen anything."
Princess Nanyan curved her lips; she rotated a white chess piece at her fingertips without looking at the maid: "You’re not young anymore; you’ll be leaving the palace in autumn, right? Just endure for another half a year."
No one spoke further; pieces landed on the chessboard one by one.
Outside, the wind and rain gradually ceased, leaving only distant thunder.
Time moved past midnight, the chess game reached its second round.
The lighting inside was kept extremely dim, aside from the two sitting across each other and the chessboard in between, everything was concealed in darkness.
Du Yunluo held the chess piece, in deep thought.
Compared to the first round where both were distracted and placed pieces randomly, by the second round, they had calmed, each move slowed significantly.
"Ah—" A scream tore through the night’s silence, making Du Yunluo’s hand tremble, causing a piece to fall onto the chessboard with a plop.
Princess Nanyan was also startled, almost knocking over the chess container.
The scream awoke those sleeping; outside began to brighten gradually as someone lit a lamp.
Princess Nanyan also picked up a snuffer to trim the lamp’s wick: "Should we go out and take a look?"
"Better to wait," Du Yunluo took a deep breath.
Princess Nanyan paused, then nodded back to her senses: "Waiting is good. Let’s see what this drama unfolds."
