Untouchable Lovers

Behind the dividing screen at the doorway, a girl who seemed to be around the age of 15 to 16 years old appeared in Chu Yu’s line of sight. Her beautiful face appeared to have been almost perfectly sculpted by the gods but with a timid demeanor. The girl claiming to be You Lan was dressed in a light blue attire and was carrying a copper basin while two other girls followed closely behind her. These two girls kept both their heads low and each of them held a folded towel in their hands.

After You Lan entered the room, she carefully cast a cautionary glance toward Chu Yu while placing the basin on the six-legged basin stand by the wall.

Chu Yu stalled her by taking the towel to soak in the basin and remarked, “Both of you may leave. You… You Lan, please stay behind!” She attempted to use a firm tone to call out You Lan’s name even though she felt immensely awkward doing so.

The two young ladies did not dare to object. They immediately rose up and bowed to Chu Yu, then slowly withdrew toward the door. Chu Yu commanded You Lan with an air of indifference, “You, come over. Come closer.”

A trace of uneasiness darted across You Lan’s expression as she slowly approached her to stand beside the bed and she knelt in a decorous manner, fearing she would anger Chu Yu.

The young lady’s easily intimidated attitude was of some consolation to Chu Yu’s frenzied heart because when she confronted the young man named Rong Zhi earlier, his mannerisms were neither haughty nor humble. Such an act made Chu Yu unable to grasp and control the situation at stake. She desperately wished to know who and where she was, and the fastest method to seek the answers she desired was undoubtedly to ask the people around her. Given Chu Yu’s cautious and reserved character and the fact that her questions might bring on suspicion, she decided that Rong Zhi was seemingly not easy to deceive compared to the fretful, honest, and frightened You Lan who definitely made the best interrogation target.

Not once did Chu Yu think that there would come such a day when she would be in such a state of flurried fearfulness that she was forced to seek reassurance and courage through another timid person. Nevertheless, this was an undeniable fact now.

She needed the courage to confront all of this.

Steadying her nerves, Chu Yu smiled faintly and questioned, “You Lan, how old are you this year?”

With a frightened expression, You Lan replied in a timid manner, “Princess, I’m 16 years old.”

Chu Yu hesitated for a moment. “How long have you been here with me?”

“Three months.”

Chu Yu’s effort to try and engage in small talk and inquiring was starting to work. Shortly after that, she cleverly directed the conversation toward the main topic. “I want to ask you about some matters. If you answer me well, I won’t treat you badly. However, if you dare to lie, deceive or hide the truth, you’ll be severely punished. Look at me and answer my questions!” Chu Yu raised the pitch of her voice to emphasize her last words in a cold tone that brooked no argument, adopting a terrorizing stance that forcefully expected obedience.

It was necessary to adopt different methods when dealing with different people although intimidating a girl who was far younger than oneself was rather mean. At this point, Chu Yu could no longer care so much.

Her final demand caused You Lan to cowardly flail momentarily. She did not dare to disobey her orders and nervously raised her face to look at Chu Yu. “Princess, please ask away.”

Seeing that she had pretty much achieved the effect she was trying to pull off, Chu Yu eased her tone and went straight to the point. “Who am I?”

You Lan felt dazed. She could not quite understand why Chu Yu had posed such a question. “You are the Princess.”

Chu Yu thought in her mind, ‘All of you keep on calling me ‘Princess’. It’s so discernibly clear that I don’t even need to question it.’ She blurted out the main point, “What I’m asking is, what’s my name? I demand that you state it now!”

You Lan hastily bent over on the floor. “I daren’t directly call out your name, Princess.”

Chu Yu nonchalantly responded, “Just say it when I ask you to. I won’t admonish you.” Despite how anxiously she wanted to know the answer, she had to keep up with an expression of indifference to refrain from revealing her nerves and giving herself away.

“Princess…” With a weak voice yet again, You Lan was trapped whether or not to reveal the name.

Given You Lan’s hesitancy, Chu Yu’s patience was exhausted. “Speak!”

There was a hint of resolute and coldness in Chu Yu’s yell which scared You Lan so much that a tremor coursed through her whole body. As she knelt on the floor, she quickly replied, “Princess, your surname is Liu and your given name is Chu Yu, conferred by Shan Yin.”

‘Shan Yin’s Princess Liu Chuyu?!’

One second.

Chu Yu’s mind turned blank as the vision in her eyes was swamped in black instantly.

‘Shan Yin’s Princess… Liu Chuyu?’

Yes, such a person did exist in history. Chu Yu knew who Liu Chuyu was.

In this era, there were the Throwing Fruit into the Car’s Pan An¹, the Bright Pearl Fine Jade (Mingzhu Meiyu)’s Wei Jie, as well as the Allusion to the Phoenix’s Murong Chong, the Side Cap’s Dugu Xin, the Beautiful Sound’s Prince Lanling, Guangling Absolute Sound’s Ji Kang, Lanting Preface’s Wang Xizhi, as well as Shan Yin’s Princess Liu Chuyu.

Majority of the princesses in history only had their conferred titles recorded but not their names. However, it was different in Shan Yin’s Princess Liu Chuyu’s case. This princess, who was born in the Southern region during the Song Dynasty, was remembered for more than a thousand years later though it was not because of any honorable reputation to be proud of. This name had been nailed onto the pillar of crime with the stigma of shame.

This Princess was well-known for the fact that not long after her younger brother Liu Ziye became the Emperor, she told him, “Although Your Majesty and I are of different genders, we are born of the same father. Why is it that you may have so many women, yet I can only stay steadfast to one partner, the Prince Consort? It’s so unfair!”

Although quite a number of women within the Imperial Palace secretly amused themselves by indulging in pleasures, to be as blatant as Princess Shanyin to openly ask the Emperor for men surpassed any kind of request. It was sheer guts and bravery, and not just on a mediocre level.

The President of the United States of America’s daughter would not even dare to act in such a way, yet Princess Shanyin acted in such a way that justified her behavior.

Unbelievably, as her brother and the Emperor, Liu Ziye thought her request was reasonable and well-grounded, so he made up for his blunder by meticulously handpicking 30 pretty young men and presented them to her for her enjoyment.

To Chu Yu, her identity as the Princess of Shan Yin became secondary, not to mention she almost forgot the shame and mortification she felt a moment ago. After confirming the era that she was now in, she found her entire soul suddenly in the midst of unrest and turmoil. She felt like the world around her had broken into pieces and collapsed.

‘A thousand years! Time is such a horrifying thing!’

Not only had she now been transported to a body that did not belong to her, but her circumstances had also undergone a drastic change!

Perhaps she ought to be contented. After all, she was supposed to have died, but she had been resurrected in such a manner. This life could be considered bestowed upon her.

But…

Her family and friends… Everything had been separated so far beyond. Even if Chu Yu tried her best to reach out her arm and stretched till it broke off, she would still be unable to brush a thousand years later to reach the image fragments of the 21st century.

She recalled Father’s deep and low voice. Though imposing while interrogating, it concealed the love he had for his family. Then, there was Mother’s rather long-winded chatter that held sincere and deep concern. Her siblings’ occasional snippets of conversations, and her friends’ laughter and mirthful expressions… They were all gone.

She was engulfed in such a tempestuous disaster!

So much sentimental attachments had been ruthlessly severed by time’s blade. The pain was akin to her blood dripping pathetically onto the ground.