Chapter 110: Only for the Solitary Grave to Bloom Flowers

Miss Jun watched the swiftly moving figure ahead.

After walking for a while, a village became faintly visible in the distance.

They were still not far from the capital, at most a few miles.

There were only a few villages within a few miles of the capital.

Now in this direction...

Miss Jun stopped and looked around, then towards the front.

Lu Family Manor.

Lu Yunqi's ancestral home.

She had never been here with Lu Yunqi, but he had told her about it.

Was he going to Lu Family Manor?

Miss Jun watched the silhouette in the dim night.

Was there a way to deal with Lu Yunqi there?

What could Lu Family Manor have to counter him?

Miss Jun sighed inwardly.

Lu Yunqi had lost his mother at birth and his father at ten, with no relatives to protect him. He had survived by taking over his father's Jinyiwei job, barely keeping from starvation. He didn't even have a house in Lu Family Manor and had long stopped considering it home, except for the ancestral graves.

Ancestral graves.

Miss Jun was somewhat distracted.

After her own death, would she be buried together with her parents?

As the Crown Prince and her mother were interred in the Imperial Mausoleum together, would she be lying beside her parents' tomb for eternity?

Suddenly, Miss Jun thought of where she should go after sunrise, to take a distant look at the Imperial Mausoleum.

Her eyes felt a bit sore, whether from grief or just staying up all night, and she suddenly didn't want to follow Zhu Zan anymore.

After all, he wasn't really related to her.

She looked towards the front.

Her vision seemed momentarily foggy, like a drop of clear water falling into thick ink, then more and more clear water being poured in, the night fading, the dawn breaking light blue in the east.

The night was over, morning had arrived.

The figures in the faint blue light became clearer, prominent against the open field.

He suddenly stopped, and Miss Jun hesitated before standing in the dense bushes, motionless.

She no longer intended to greet him, nor let him spot her.

He did not turn back, but instead stretched out his hand and pulled off the beard on his face, revealing a smooth and handsome profile in the faint blue light.

It was indeed Zhu Zan, unchanged since the last time they met in Huaiqing.

He touched his face, furrowed his thick eyebrows as if dissatisfied, then rolled up his sleeves and stooped to pick the dew from the roadside grass, rubbing it on his face.

Over and over again, handful after handful, several times before he finally stood straight, touched his face and smiled with satisfaction.

If there were a mirror, Miss Jun did not doubt that he would take it out to carefully inspect his reflection.

Since leaving Huaiqing, he was unchanged, still so inexplicable.

Zhu Zan then wet his hands with dew again, straightened his hair and smoothed his clothing, which had become wrinkled and stained with blood and dust from the previous night's chaos.

Patting could remove the dust and wrinkles, but the bloodstains were a bit more troublesome. Zhu Zan seriously rubbed at the blood on the hem of his garment, but the stain spread even further.

Annoyed, he slapped the clothing, muttered something, gave up, straightened his clothing and his spine, and continued forward with large steps.

Did this man forget that he was still being pursued?

Or was he so sure that the Jinyiwei could not find him?

Miss Jun looked back, and even if no one was chasing at the moment, who could guarantee whether a trap lay ahead?

This Zhu Zan, even if caught, with the Duke of Chengguo around, the emperor couldn't really do much to him. What was the need for all this fuss and what was the benefit?

If you can leave the capital, then the emperor might as well not be the emperor.

The Duke of Chengguo, such a wise and excellent person, must be quite vexed to have such a son.

Miss Jun watched Zhu Zan through the bushes.

She didn't step forward to follow, thinking about turning around and leaving once he was far enough.

Yet Zhu Zan was slow to move away, unlike his swift, elusive movement the night before, strolling slowly and casually like an early-rising villager.

Miss Jun felt she was a patient person, tempered by her master's training, but she grew somewhat impatient.

She might as well turn around and leave. If he discovered her, so be it. What could happen? Was he the only one allowed in the capital or on this road? It would merely be a coincidence.

As she was about to turn around, she saw Zhu Zan stop at the end of the road.

The road naturally had no end; what was called the end was merely a bend or a downhill slope.

The light grew clearer, and so did Miss Jun's view, revealing not just Zhu Zan but also a wooden house beside the road.

Of course, a wooden house wouldn't just appear in the wilderness for no reason. In fact, it wasn't an ordinary wooden house, but one used by tomb guards.

Ordinary family graves might just have a gravestone or, better yet, a stele. Even better ones might include both front and back halls, albeit much smaller than those used by the living, to denote their difference.

The wooden house beside Zhu Zan was even better than those halls; it was specifically for the tomb guard.

Only the graves of nobles warranted a tomb guard, maintained and guarded by them.

Did Lu Family Manor have a noble's grave?

At this thought, Miss Jun's body stiffened suddenly, her hands clenching at her sides.

Lu Family Manor's nobles.

She emerged from behind the bush and hurried towards where Zhu Zan had been.

Her steps were still light and soundless, her expression still calm and amiable, as she ran forward into the gradually brightening dawn.

Zhu Zan had already disappeared at the end of the road.

Miss Jun stood at the end of the road.

She was wrong, the end of the road was neither a turn nor a descent, but really an end, beyond which there was no road, only a grave site—more precisely, a tomb.

There were not many graves in the tomb, just six scattered about.

They were neatly and cleanly kept, not even a stray weed in sight, and the pine trees in front of the tomb bore traces of recent pruning, indicative of the diligent care of the tomb guard.

And in front of one particularly grand and new-looking grave were offerings, clearly indicating that someone had worshiped there not long before.

Miss Jun looked at the tombstone, from her elevated position she could clearly see the words inscribed upon it.

Princess Jiuli Memorial.

My tomb, after all, it ended up in the Lu Family's ancestral cemetery.

Bound in life, and still bound after death.

Miss Jun's vision blurred a bit, and at the same time, the first rays of morning sunlight emerged from the earth, forcing her to clearly see in front of this tombstone.

Zhu Zan was still standing there, looking somewhat restrained as he reached out and touched it, then carefully took out two small bottles from his bosom.

What is he going to do?

What's in those bottles?

Is he going to destroy his own grave as revenge against Lu Yunqi?

How ridiculous, Lu Yunqi would not be upset; he'd be more than happy.

Miss Jun watched as Zhu Zan poured one small bottle onto the stone platform in front of the grave, the bright morning light making it look like a clump of dry, rotten leaves.

What is it? Is it meant to start a fire?

Miss Jun frowned slightly, then saw Zhu Zan pour out the other bottle.

This bottle contained a dark liquid.

Oil for igniting?

The liquid fell on the rotten leaves, instantly wetting them.

No fire ignited, no flames flared up; the rotten leaves merely spread out on the stone platform.

What is this about?

As Miss Jun's thoughts flickered again, she suddenly widened her eyes and opened her mouth in a gasp.

That clump of dried grass and rotten leaves had turned into a red color and blossomed out like a vibrant red flower.

Not just like a flower—it was a flower.

Miss Jun recognized this flower, though she had never seen it with her own eyes.

Northern Birch.

This was a type of flower that grew only north of Zhenbei, blooming on cliff faces, its brilliant blossom making the cliffs look like flaming clusters; yet once plucked, it immediately withered, rumored to only keep its vividness and longevity nourished by human blood.

Thus, many people there used this flower to express their affection, plucking it, cutting their own hands, and presenting the blood-stained flower to their beloved.

As a child, she was curious about that legend, flipping through books or asking those who had seen it to describe or draw it for her.

And she wanted to test whether it really could be nourished with blood, and with just a word from her father, despite its rarity, it could be brought to the capital.

However, her father, raised strictly by scholars and known for his kindness and compassion, would never allow her to do such a crazy thing—first, because he disliked bloodshed, and secondly, because he disliked the squandering of resources.

But she was just a child, unable to manage so many considerations.

Then she was kicked off the wall of Duke of Cheng's house and beaten, then the Duke of Cheng came to visit, and then she asked him to secretly send her a flower when the time was right, just to satisfy her curiosity.

Then she left the capital and traveled south, then she never saw the Duke of Cheng again, then her parents died, then she died as well.

She had forgotten this matter herself until now, seeing this flower.

The flower was picked up by hand and taken out of Miss Jun's sight.

Miss Jun watched the person holding the flower.

Zhu Zan raised his hand and steadily placed the flower on the tombstone.

The sunlight also burst from the earth at that moment, spreading over the red flower making it glitter resplendently as if freshly plucked.

He had traveled thousands of miles from the northern lands.

He had escaped his captors.

He had dodged and darted, fled north and south.

He had changed his name, disguised his appearance.

He had stormed the capital, killed Jinyiwei, and breached the city gates.

He had traveled by night, his face washed by the morning dew.

Was it all just to place a flower on this grave?

Miss Jun stood still, seemingly dazzled by the sunlight, unable to see clearly.

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Thanks to Southern Ice for rewarding Spirit Beast Egg.

Thanks to Indifferent Dust and Smoke for rewarding Xian Piao Yuan.

Thanks to the North Star HXL and Zize for He's Bi.

Thank you everyone, (づ￣3￣)づ╭❤～