Three-Day Heart Sealing Pill
Her first impression of the library: it was gargantuan.
It was gigantic like seven to eight units of houses combined. It was filled with bookshelves which books packed to the brim. There seemed to be no empty spaces at all.
Her second impression of the library: what a mess!
That was what Chu Yu realized after taking a better look at it. There were books, silk scrolls and bamboo scrolls on the bookshelves. Bundles of bamboo scrolls were wrapped in light green silk book covers and placed neatly on the bookshelves. They were clean with no visible dust, and there was a mix of faint book scent and sandalwood in the air. One could tell Rong Zhi put his heart into taking care of the library.
However, Chu Yu thought it was slightly messy because Rong Zhi had thrown them around. There was almost no sequence to the placement of the books, and both bamboo scrolls and books were put together. Although they were neat on their own, they looked a little slovenly as a whole.
Moreover, there was no categorization of content whereby everything was put together randomly. It was very inconvenient to look for something in there.
Her third impression of the library: it was diverse.
Chu Yu flipped through some books randomly and found out that the diversity of the collection in this library went beyond her imagination. Mountains and rivers, geography, politics, poetry, folktales, miscellaneous topics... There was almost everything.
Rong Zhi stood quietly at the library entrance and watched Chu Yu walk back and forth the bookshelves while she flipped through the books clumsily. He did not go up to help her. All he did was watch her quietly from where he was. There seemed to be clouds of unfathomable emotion lingering in his dark, abysmal eyes.
He said and did nothing. He only spoke slowly after gazing at her attentively for a long time. He guided Chu Yu to look for the poetry books she wanted by memory while helping her pick the poems.
"The seventh book on the second row, on the third column of the left bookshelf." Following Rong Zhi's guidance, Chu Yu found the book that he mentioned accurately. She secretly admired his memory tremendously. His head could be compared to a computer that could locate the book accurately despite the messy placement.
Chu Yu felt sore and numbness in both of her arms as she carried over 20 books with her. Just when she turned and wanted to get Rong Zhi to help, she saw him holding ten books strenuously as he spoke, "Princess, I can't take this anymore. Please share the load with me."
He walked over and stacked the ten books on top of the books Chu Yu was already carrying.
Chu Yu glared at him speechlessly while he looked calm as if it made sense for her to help. Recalling never having seen Rong Zhi carry anything heavier than a bamboo scroll, she figured he might be really weak. She then clenched her teeth and played the role of Popeye.
As Chu Yu walked out slowly carrying the books, Rong Zhi, who was pretending to look for more poems, stopped what he was doing. He looked attentively at her from an angle she could not catch him.
The air was filled with the scent of books. The young lady's face held an elegance that could deceive the entire world. However, the rather heavy burden on her hands did not change her elegance. Her expression remained bright like the winds in the mountain while exposing weakness in her eyes at the same time.
At that moment, Rong Zhi seemed to be seeing another shadow. It was blurry like it was flitting in and out of Chu Yu's beautiful face.
He pressed his palm against his heart without realizing it. The shadow vanished completely when Chu Yu walked out of the library, causing him to snap back to reality.
Who was the person that he had just seen?
***
Chu Yu was overwhelmed after flipping through the books for two days like a lunatic. She felt like she was back at university in her past life, where everybody would study hard and memorize the key points in the book before an examination. Surprisingly, she made it by using the last-minute method and did not have to sit for replacement examinations throughout her four years of university.
Chu Yu had gotten used to it and mastered such last-minute study methods. However, Rong Zhi, who had been watching her for the past two days, could not understand it. Finally, he could not take it anymore and asked her two days later, "Princess, why are you studying so hard?"
Chu Yu put the book down and rubbed her sore eyes as she replied, "I must do this. I was invited to a poetry recital. I must do some preparation."
Rong Zhi smiled amusedly. "I see. Are you going to write your own poem, Princess?" It was rather difficult to do that.
Chu Yu thought about it and replied, "It's uncertain for now, but I'll feel a little out of place if I'm the only one who can't write at the gathering."
Rong Zhi pursed his lips and said softly, "If that's your concern, it doesn't have to be this way. Just bring someone with you to the gathering."
"Who? You?" Chu Yu squinted and thought it was rather interesting. So, they were allowed to bring a secret weapon to the poetry recital?
Rong Zhi shook his head and chuckled. "Who am I even? I'm talking about that man, Huan Yuan. As long as you've got him with you, it's guaranteed that nobody would suspect that you don't write."
He paused before he proceeded to speak, "But Huan Yuan's identity shouldn't be revealed. Princess, you must be careful when it comes to this."
Rong Zhi walked to the end of the bookshelf as he spoke and placed his palm on the wall. A secret case popped out after he turned his palm. He took two porcelain bottles out from the secret case. One had mottled turquoise lotus patterns on it while the other one was crystal white.
Chu Yu opened her eyes wide a little anxiously and curiously as she stared at the two porcelain bottles. 'Could these be the legendary poison?'
Rong Zhi looked at the two porcelain bottles closely and held the one with the lotus pattern in his palm while putting back the crystal white bottle. "This pill's called the Three-Day Heart Sealing Pill. Consuming one will weaken the person's body for approximately three days. He'll be able to walk but not run, let alone use force. If you use this, you don't have to worry about Huan Yuan seizing the opportunity to escape."
"Will this harm his body?"
"Of course, it would a little. Huan Yuan will have to heal while being bedridden for half a month after three days to restore his health." Rong Zhi said very casually like it was no big deal as he handed the bottle over.
Chu Yu looked at him but she did not accept the bottle. "Did Huan Yuan offend you in the past?" If not, why would Rong Zhi persuade her to use such a horrible pill on Huan Yuan?
Suddenly, she recalled something. Since Rong Zhi had such great power in the inner court, did he do something to the scrolls with the male companions' records?
If that was the case, it made sense for there to be zero information on his record.
She remembered being told that there were a few male companions in the Imperial Residence who were killed for not following the rules. Was Rong Zhi the culprit?
Rong Zhi was stunned to hear that and he lifted his head to look at Chu Yu. There was cloudy emotions rumbling in those dark eyes. He usually looked unfathomable and elegant, but the shock and broodiness made it looked like the mask he had been wearing had cracked. He revealed a mysterious beauty on his face.
His expression had always been calm and elegant, hence the unusual fluctuation of emotion lent him a heart-stirring mysterious beauty. Chu Yu seemed to be lost in that moment and she only managed to snap back to her senses after a while. However, Rong Zhi saw the guilt in her eyes. Although she knew there was nothing that she should be guilty about, she could not help but feel that as he looked at her with that pair of eyes… Not only did she feel guilty, but her heart even skipped a few beats.
"Since you're unwilling to put Huan Yuan through pain, then get Yue Jiefei to watch him closely. As soon as he's out there, he'll definitely turn his back on you and become a weapon to attack you, Princess," Rong Zhi advised lightly. His odd expression was erased without a trace like it was just an illusion.
He put the pill bottle back where it came from. "I still have something to do, so I'll make a move first." He even skipped the most basic courtesy and left instantly without turning back.
No matter how slow Chu Yu was, she noticed Rong Zhi seemed to be mad now and she happened to be the reason for his irritation. However, she could not figure out why he was mad. All she wanted was not to hurt someone, so what was wrong with that?
What was the fuss about? Why could he not just tell her honestly? Why did he had to throw a tantrum at her?
Ancient people were truly ridiculous!