Chapter 97
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Chapter 97:
Prime Minister Gu took the initiative to walk forward, arranging for the officials of the Court of State Ceremonial to escort all the Cabinet Ministers out. Li Chunzhou noticed that many people’s eyes were on her, with curiosity, suspicion, and even a hidden anticipation.
Li Chunzhou glanced questioningly at Li Zhexuan, seeing a similar confusion in his eyes. Li Zhexuan gave her a reassuring look, lazily leaned back and closed his eyes to examine all the operational rules of the world.
Prime Minister Gu turned to Li Chunzhou and suddenly said, "Come with me."
Li Chunzhou looked at her aged appearance with mixed feelings, her gaze always landing on Prime Minister Gu’s mustache.
Gu Chenxin noticed her staring and chuckled, volunteering, "It’s a fake mustache glued on."
He led a few people to another palace, where Jian Hou and Qi Leyuan were waiting for her.
When Qi Leyuan saw Li Chunzhou, he excitedly jumped up and ran over with little chicken feet, shouting, "Lady Chun! You’re back! I missed you so much!"
Watching Li Li still in the form of a chicken, Li Chunzhou silently smiled, realizing the first question in her mind – players like her also retained memories from the previous lives.
Liang Yongyuan was guided by two palace servants, lingering beside Li Chunzhou as if having a baby bird syndrome.
The two servants observed with silent expressions, resembling wooden figures.
Qi Leyuan flew onto Li Chunzhou’s shoulder and, seeing Liang Yongyuan’s appearance, whispered softly in her ear, "Do you know him?"
Li Chunzhou nodded and briefly recounted what had happened during that time.
After listening, Qi Leyuan looked sad and patted Li Chunzhou’s head with his wings, comforting her by saying, "Don’t be too angry. Look at this little chubby guy, he’s scared. It’s not easy for anyone to look like this."
Upon hearing his words, Liang Yongyuan looked even sadder. Prime Minister Gu sighed and covered His Majesty’s ears. Li Chunzhou looked at Qi Leyuan and softly said, "You didn’t spare him either."
Qi Leyuan glanced at Liang Yongyuan and apologized insincerely, "Sorry."
Li Zhexuan casually said on the side, "Try to avoid causing trouble in the future."
Prime Minister Gu took the initiative to explain to Li Chunzhou, "Before you returned, we had been together with this Mr. Qi all the time."
"Thank you for taking care of Li Li." Li Chunzhou said gratefully, but Prime Minister Gu just smiled and waved his hand.
Jian Hou returned to the human body he had before, his face expressionless and his eyes slightly golden, saying, "The formation used to summon us back from the past timeline was set up by them."
Li Chunzhou was surprised and looked at Prime Minister Gu. Just as she was about to ask something, Prime Minister Gu understood her and gestured for her to look at the little chicken on his shoulder.
Li Li felt proud of himself for his great achievement and said proudly, "That’s right, thanks to me! And a few experienced players who survived and understand formations."
"Where are the others? Are the other players not here?" asked Li Chunzhou.
"Hmm…" Qi Leyuan seemed to have been expecting this question and had prepared an answer. "Including me, there are fifteen players left. They have all gone to different places in Daliang. Oh, by the way, the huge barrier is still there, but it seems that the restrictions on skills and items have disappeared. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to reach the border within thirty days."
Jian Hou said to Li Chunzhou, "This was probably calculated by the Time Beast before, so there’s nothing to worry about."
Li Chunzhou didn’t seem very surprised by this and just nodded, then asked, "Why are they going to the border?"
"Because we need to make some preparations," Qi Leyuan said helplessly. "To ensure that we can survive here after the Dungeon ends."
Li Chunzhou held Li Li in front of her, while Qi Leyuan looked around and said, "Actually… we can’t stay in this Dungeon World for long in our current identities, because players are not natives and will be rejected by the world’s consciousness. Once thirty days are up, when you leave, we will be sent back to the Main God System."
"But when I leave, the Main God System will realize that this Dungeon World has a bug, and all your memories in this world will be accessed… So, that’s why you have to stay in this world?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Qi Leyuan nodded vigorously.
"But even if you stay in this world, the Main God should have the ability to find you," Li Chunzhou thought carefully and felt that this approach might not solve the problem at all.
Qi Leyuan closed his mouth, as if he was also thinking about this question.
"Don’t worry," Jian Hou took over, "I will help them rewrite the code, so the Main God won’t recognize them."
Li Zhexuan’s gaze swept over everyone’s faces, then quietly withdrew.
"Oh…" Li Chunzhou reluctantly agreed, then asked, "What about Ming Xiang…?"
"Yes, she went north, and left a letter for you before leaving." Qi Leyuan flew to the table and brought back a letter with his mouth.
Li Chunzhou opened and read the letter, which indeed sounded like Ming Xiang. Li Chunzhou said with some regret, "Did she leave so early? We haven’t had a chance to meet yet…"
"There will be more chances in the future." Qi Leyuan kindly nudged Li Chunzhou with his head.
Li Chunzhou hung her head dejectedly, absentmindedly responding.
"Shall we go back?" Li Zhexuan took Li Chunzhou’s hand with his slender hand, but was suddenly stopped by Prime Minister Gu.
The gentle Prime Minister Gu looked at Second Prince and said, "Or should I say, ‘Crown Prince’? There’s something I forgot to tell you. Princess Yongying has been waiting for you to return. If you’d like, you can go meet her."
Li Zhexuan raised his head, his eyes moved. Besides losing some of his consciousness when he traveled back in time, he also bore the burden of having Mi Hongbao’s complete body.
In other words, Mi Hongbao’s existence in this world has completely disappeared.
Every cell and particle in Mi Hongbao’s body no longer exists. Only his genetic information and consciousness remain inside Li Zhexuan’s body.
After returning from the year 614 in Daliang, he transferred his consciousness into the body of the Second Prince.
Although Li Zhexuan is no longer truly Mi Hongbao, he feels responsible to visit his mother.
Even though he wears Liang Changfeng’s face, with a little illusion, it’s not impossible for Madame Mi to see Mi Hongbao again.
Li Chunzhou looked up at Li Zhexuan and said, "Axuan, you go ahead. Li Li, Jian Hou, and I will go back together."
Li Zhexuan gazed at Li Chunzhou with his dark eyes for a moment before nodding calmly and saying, "Okay."
Li Chunzhou turned to Liang Yongyuan and told him to work hard and be a good emperor in the future before being stopped by Prime Minister Gu as she was leaving.
Prime Minister Gu smiled and asked Li Chunzhou if they could talk privately.
Li Chunzhou agreed naturally, and Qi Leyuan on her shoulder tried to eavesdrop on their conversation. Prime Minister Gu smilingly gestured to some pretty palace maids, who politely and skillfully took Qi Leyuan off Li Chunzhou’s shoulder.
Feeling her shoulder lighten, Li Chunzhou naturally had no objections.
Prime Minister Gu personally led Li Chunzhou to the Imperial Garden pavilion. After a moment of silence, Prime Minister Gu smiled and said, "Lady Chun, you haven’t changed at all. I thought I mistook you when we met at the Spring Flowers Tower last time, as you didn’t seem to remember me at all."
"So, you also have memories from the previous cycle, don’t you?" Li Chunzhou immediately seized on the information in her words. "Do other people also have memories from the previous cycle?"
"Are you referring to that strange memory?" Prime Minister Gu shook her head. "His Majesty and I have memories because the warlock named ‘Jian Hou’ performed a spell yesterday. As for other people… I think they probably don’t."
Li Chunzhou neither agreed nor disagreed, accepting this explanation.
Prime Minister Gu quickly added, "What are you going to do next? Because you seem a bit lost. Do you want to talk to me about it?"
Li Chunzhou looked at Prime Minister Gu, who smiled gently and said, "I am not the same person I was thirty years ago. If you don’t want to see me as a friend, you can see me as an elder."
Feeling the understanding in her eyes, Li Chunzhou blurted out, "I… I don’t want to leave."
Leaning on the stone table with her elbows, she covered her eyes with her hands and said, "I don’t want to leave this world, or leave all of you, but…"
"But you have to leave," Prime Minister Gu said knowingly, "and it may not be easy to escape. Jian Hou told me that your current energy may not guarantee your escape from the pursuit of the Main God."
Prime Minister Gu gazed at Li Chunzhou with a kind expression. The marks of thirty-plus years were evident on her face, yet her eyes still held the same wisdom and insight as before. Gu Chenxin, looking at Li Chunzhou’s dismayed face, suddenly said, "Lady Chun, you were not like this before."
Li Chunzhou was stunned, wanting to defend herself, but in the end, she remained silent.
"Do not waver in your thoughts, escape, flee," Prime Minister Gu fixed her gaze on Li Chunzhou, a determination in her eyes that made her look suddenly younger by a dozen years. "Isn’t this what you wanted all along?"
"As for the rest, don’t worry," Prime Minister Gu’s expression softened again, as she said, "There is always a way when there is a will."
Li Chunzhou was dazed for a while, unable to understand why Gu Chenxin had so much faith in her, especially when she herself was unsure if she could successfully escape to the outside world.
As Li Chunzhou walked back from the Imperial Garden, she looked up and saw the oak tree. Its flowers had mostly fallen, leaving only lush green branches and leaves. Speckled light shone on her face, and suddenly Li Chunzhou said, "I’m sorry for leaving without saying goodbye…"
"It’s okay, because I also helped Mr. Qi," Prime Minister Gu turned to her and smiled, "I should take some responsibility for you leaving suddenly… even though I knew it would make you disappear back then. But it was necessary… I can only apologize to our former Majesty and myself."
Li Chunzhou looked at her, pursed her lips, and remained silent.
But as if performing magic, Prime Minister Gu naturally pulled out a green mango from her sleeve, and Li Chunzhou looked at her in surprise.
Prime Minister Gu said, "This was brought as tribute from officials in Hainan. Thirty years ago, that place was still uncivilized wilderness, so you’ve never tasted this fruit. But now you can, Lady Chun, go ahead and eat."
Until they left the palace gates, Li Chunzhou kept her head down, silently stroking Qi Leyuan’s feathers. In thirty years, more than just Prime Minister Gu and Liang Yongyuan’s ages and appearances had changed; everything in Daliang had changed imperceptibly.
The carriage stopped in front of the Spring Flowers Tower. Li Chunzhou held Jian Hou’s hand as she jumped down from the carriage and faintly heard singing. Perhaps because there was no accompaniment, the voice was clear and melodious. Li Chunzhou followed the sound and finally saw a person standing under the roof of Xiangru Court from a distance.
He sang with great passion, and Li Chunzhou was captivated watching him, but she did not take a few steps closer for fear of disturbing him.
Petals of June snow fell as the wind blew, and a melodious voice drifted intermittently with the breeze, "Your return is like reuniting shattered mirrors, do not disappoint the longing in bed. Plain tea and simple meals are better than golden treasures, may we cherish each other for this life…"
When the music ended, Li Chunzhou’s face lit up with a big smile, raising her fair face, waving her hand and shouting, "Brother Yan!"