Untouchable Lovers-Chapter 159 - 142: The Person You Can’t See

Chapter 159 -142: The Person You Can’t See

The pinholes were extremely fine, and when indoors, one couldn’t see them at all; it was only under the sunlight, when the light shone through, that they appeared before Chu Yu’s eyes.

And the pinholes formed a character.

Chu Yu’s eyelids twitched, and remembering that Hua Cuo was beside her, she quickly pretended to casually tuck the piece of paper into her sleeve and returned to the carriage with Hua Cuo.

They had originally planned to visit Wang Yizhi and then enter the palace. Chu Yu did not intend to change her plans. Upon entering the Imperial Palace, she stopped again, took out the piece of paper, and confirmed the character against the light once more.

Chu Yu furrowed her brows, and after a long time, she slowly folded the paper and meticulously stored it away with a bit of confusion.

What was Wang Yizhi trying to tell her?

Why use such a covert method to hide that character within the message?

Shaking her head, Chu Yu temporarily suppressed her questions, rallied her spirits, and went to meet Liu Ziyue. After exchanging pleasantries that siblings would, Liu Ziyue brought up the shortage of personnel and his plan to promote all officers by two ranks to fill the power structure void created by the execution of several ministers who had been assisting in the administration.

Chu Yu was not very familiar with the personnel changes in the government, but when Liu Ziyue mentioned a shortage of officials, she suddenly had an idea and said, “Your Majesty, may I recommend someone for you?”

The person Chu Yu intended to recommend was naturally Huan Yuan. At this point, she had become enemies with at least half of the heirs of the noble families in Jiankang City, and she had almost lost the last bit of faith she had in Liu Ziyue. Now, recommending Huan Yuan was purely out of self-interest: letting Huan Yuan have some control over the military would add a layer of security for her in case of any future turmoil.

Liu Ziyue had executed several officials, leaving many positions vacant. Seeing that Chu Yu was actually interested, he let her freely choose, and after comparing various positions, Chu Yu selected the position of “Dan Yang Yin” for Huan Yuan.

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This position, to put it plainly, was essentially the local governor of the capital, responsible for military command, civilian administration, recommendations for appointments, and jurisdiction over criminal litigation, as well as involvement in court politics. While the rank of this position might not be very high, it was exceptionally important, being an official close to the Emperor.

What Chu Yu coveted were precisely these three words: “close to the Emperor” and the control over the capital’s nobility.

Although as a woman, Yu Zichu was now hardly able to take a step in the circle of elites, Yu Ziyuan’s literary talent was still widely celebrated. Coupled with Chu Yu’s previous efforts to pave the way for him, bestowing such a position on him was also justifiable.

After discussing and finalizing this matter with Liu Ziyue, Chu Yu felt relieved and took the opportunity to also bring up the possibility of the imperial examination system. Currently, the selection of officials was done through recommendation, which easily led to a vicious circle of nepotism, with officials typically chosen from the high-ranking and influential families around the country. This system left many talented but low-born individuals unable to enter the heart of the government—this was why Chu Yu had previously sought to ingratiate herself with those aristocratic families.

But now, if she looked at it from a different angle, even if she fell out with those nobles, wouldn’t she still be able to make her way?

Liu Ziyue’s rough and domineering style alarmed Chu Yu, but amidst her alarm, Chu Yu also saw another perspective—a glimmer of hope to break the monopoly of the aristocratic families on government power: the imperial examination.

In the twenty-first century, more than a thousand years later, the imperial examination might be considered a backward selection system, but now, in just the few centuries after the birth of Christ, the system was actually very advanced.

Chu Yu had not initially considered this aspect, mainly because her impression of the imperial examination was not too favorable. But after rethinking it from a different angle, she realized how far off course she had gone: rather than trying to please those aristocratic families, it would be better to directly help the Emperor strengthen central power and keep the authority for talent selection in her own hands.

Chu Yu’s heart raced faster the more she thought about it. If she could just restrain the little emperor’s violent and capricious nature, this plan might be feasible. After all, she had already figured out an exit strategy and decided to boldly give it one last try.

Liu Ziyue found Chu Yu’s description intriguing. It sounded fun to him and would also strike at the Gate nobles, which perfectly aligned with his own desires; the only concern was the strong backlash that could come from the aristocratic families once the system was implemented.

After all, it would damage their interests.

Although Liu Ziyue was impulsive by nature, he had made some progress over the days. He recognized the potential and challenges of this system and didn’t rush to make a decision within a single day. As for Chu Yu herself, she was not very familiar with the specifics of the imperial examination. She vaguely understood that it involved selecting scholars from various areas to become officials through examinations, but she needed to carefully consider the details of how the examination would be conducted.

When she walked out of the Imperial Palace, Chu Yu felt relieved because she hadn’t mentioned the assassination of the three princes to Liu Ziyue. The note left by Wang Yizhi made her see her past narrow-mindedness and weakness. She simply wasn’t the type of person who was ruthless and decisive in killing, nor was she a cunning strategist adept at machinations. Although she possessed a vision that transcended a thousand years, she might not necessarily have the wisdom to match. Forcing herself to become such a person could easily backfire.

Recognizing her shortcomings was a good thing.

Chu Yu thought, don’t do things that cause you pain and grief. She wanted to live, to live comfortably and stably. If doing so meant carrying an unbearable guilt on her conscience, then what was the point of such a painful existence?

After returning to the Princess Mansion and changing into men’s clothing, Chu Yu hesitated before deciding to have Hua Cuo stay at the mansion. Instead, she took Amman and Yue Jiefei with her. After a period of recuperation, Yue Jiefei’s injuries had mostly healed. Although not fully recovered, he was at least fit enough to engage in a fight if necessary.

The carriage stopped in front of Jianchusi, and Chu Yu took a deep breath to calm her unease before stepping down from the carriage.

The paper Wang Yizhi had left for her had pinholes forming a single word: “Ran.”

“What ‘Ran’? Chu Yu thought of Jiran, who was close to Wang Yizhi, and so she came to this temple.

Why did Wang Yizhi pass on the message to her in such a convoluted and secretive way? Who did he not want to see it? Chu Yu wasn’t sure, but during those days, the person who had been with her every day was Hua Cuo. Although she was reluctant to suspect Hua Cuo, she still decided to keep her distance, following the principle of ‘better safe than sorry’.

And then she came to look for Master Jiran.

Perhaps she could learn from Master Jiran what Wang Yizhi wanted to tell her.

However, just as Chu Yu got off the carriage, she saw a group of people standing in front of Jianchusi, pointing and discussing something as if they were talking about a recent incident.

A sense of foreboding came over Chu Yu. She rushed over and grabbed someone to ask, only to learn that an assassin had recently visited Jianchusi. The assassin killed several monks and then burst into the room of Master Jiran, who had no quarrels with anyone. Moments later, there was no one left in the room, only a pool of blood.

The assassin, reportedly, had his face covered with a black cloth and was dressed all in black.

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Meanwhile, in Muxue Garden, a figure in black stood in front of Rong Zhi, his silhouette tinged with a blood-red glow in the setting sun.