Chapter 196. Prince Yan…
Arc 7 : Last Nightmare
Du Yan frowned, feeling that things were a bit troublesome. The fact that the things on the desk had not been tidied up was secondary. The key point was that the things he was going to use to gain Cheng Yu’s trust had not been finished.
There was only one line of words on the notebook, and with the opened locker and the inkstone beside it, it looked like a theft scene.
He wonders if Cheng Yu will immediately order a full-scale search and arrest of the thief who dared to break into the governor’s office when he comes in.
Du Yan was thinking about what to do next while waiting for Cheng Yu to arrive.
What Du Yan didn’t expect was that after dawn, it was not Cheng Yu, by no means he waited for, but the cleaning servant who came in.
The servant cleaned the outer room first and then entered the inner room. When they saw the situation on the desk, they were stunned and almost dropped the cleaning tools in their hands.
“You, go and take a look. Is the locker opened?”
One of them took two steps forward, stood on tiptoe to take a look, and then stepped back with a tearful face.
“It’s over, it’s over. Who is so bold as to overturn the governor’s desk? We are all finished.”
No matter how scared the two servants were, they had no choice but to go out and tell the housekeeper what happened.
Soon, the housekeeper and the captain of the security team who stayed in the mansion came over.
Both of them had followed Cheng Yu for a long time and knew Cheng Yu’s style of doing things, so they directly sealed off the inner room and did not enter without permission.
The housekeeper stood outside and looked at the situation inside, his expression was not very good.
He thought for a moment and said to the captain of the guard: “We still need to find someone to notify the governor.”
The captain of the security team was a member of the army. He shook his head and said: “You know how the governor acts. He won’t bring back any important official business, and there is no theft outside. It seems that an important person is coming to the governor’s mansion today. If we disturb the governor for such a small matter, I’m afraid…”
The housekeeper is a servant of the Cheng family. He has watched Cheng Yu grow up, so he naturally knows Cheng Yu better.
Seeing that the captain of the security team was confused, he explained: “The things in that combination locker are more important to Young Master than anything else in the entire mansion.”
The housekeeper looked serious and continued: “I suggest you send someone to the Governor’s Mansion as soon as possible, otherwise if the young master finds out about this and fails to report it in time, we will all be in trouble.”
Seeing this, the captain of the security no longer hesitated and nodded and said: “I will go to the Governor’s Mansion now.”
After the captain of the security left, the housekeeper did not leave but took people to guard outside, and the whole mansion was immersed in a tense atmosphere.
Du Yan, who triggered this incident, was in the painting, feeling a bit amused and helpless.
He was only thinking about whether Cheng Yu would really do as he imagined and searched for the entire city, causing chaos.
At this moment, Du Yan remembered something. When he was sucked into the scroll, he seemed to still be holding the brush in his hand. He swept his gaze at the desk and the surrounding floor, but he couldn’t find the brush.
Could it be that the brush was brought into the painting by itself?
Unfortunately, Du Yan only has consciousness now and has no feeling at all. Even if the brush is in his hand, he can’t feel it.
If he could really bring something into the painting, with Cheng Yu’s meticulousness, he would definitely find clues, and then things would be much easier.
About an hour later, Cheng Yu pushed the door open and walked in.
“Cheng Bo, what’s going on?”
(*Cheng Bo = Uncle Cheng)
The housekeeper stood up and explained the previous events to Cheng Yu in detail.
After hearing this, Cheng Yu’s already unpleasant face became even gloomier.
He said directly to the adjutant behind him: “Go ask the person on duty yesterday what happened last night. How could they allow someone to break into the office?”
The adjutant took the order and left, while Cheng Yu entered the inner room and stopped in front of the desk.
Cheng Yu saw the notebook spread out on the table at a glance, and his expression became even uglier.
The things recorded in these notebooks are the softest part of Cheng Yu’s heart. It is suddenly dug out by someone, which makes him want to kill someone.
From Du Yan’s perspective, he could see that Cheng Yu’s shoulders and back were tense, as if he was trying hard to control his anger.
Fortunately, Cheng Yu had been in a high position for a long time and had strong control. He stood there, took a few deep breaths, and calmed down.
Cheng Yu reached out and picked up the notebook but found an extra line of handwriting after his last diary entry.
I am Prince Yan.
Cheng Yu’s expression changed slightly. Was this sentence an answer to the last question in his diary?
He pondered for a moment and said: “You guys go out first.”
The housekeeper led everyone out of the office, and Cheng Yu sat down and studied the line of words for a long time.
Others might think that this line of words that suddenly appeared in the diary was a joke, but Cheng Yu became suspicious.
Cheng Yu has a photographic memory and a strong observation ability. He can recognize any handwriting he has seen before when he sees it again.
The handwriting of this line of words in front of him is very familiar.
Cheng Yu pondered for a long time and finally remembered where he had seen the same handwriting.
The Cheng family is a large family, and many things have been passed down for countless generations. There is even a huge library in the clan, which contains many precious ancient books.
Cheng Yu had seen the scriptures in the library. Because the scripture was so old, it was so damaged that it was almost impossible to know the complete content. All they know is that it is related to the ritual of offering sacrifices to heaven.
However, Cheng Yu remembered the handwriting that he could barely make out, which was exactly the same as the mysterious handwriting.
“Prince Yan…”
When Cheng Yu uttered these three words, he felt a familiar and lingering feeling rising from the bottom of his heart, as if he had called someone thousands of times.
He closed his notebook, looked up, and saw the inkstone on the desk and the empty space on the brush holder.
There is one wolf-hair brush missing from the brush holder.
Cheng Yu looked around and found that the wolf-hair brush had fallen under the painting brought out from the tomb.
He was slightly startled. The painting was placed at the innermost part of the office, some distance from the desk and not close to the window.
How did this brush end up here?
Cheng Yu picked up the brush, then looked up and looked at the painting carefully.
Just one glance and Cheng Yu’s expression changed drastically.
What’s this situation! Cheng Yu carefully examined the painting every day, remembering every detail of the person in the painting, even every wrinkle on the clothes.
Now the clothes of the person in the painting are slightly different. On her sleeves, a line of ink spots appeared, and judging from the shape, it seemed that a brush fell on it and then rolled down.
Cheng Yu looked at the brush that fell under the painting and fell into deep thought.
He has done some research on ancient paintings, and there is a big difference between ink marks that have been there for a long time and those that have been newly applied.
The ink stains on the sleeves of the person in the painting are old, and they were not painted on by someone last night. Instead, it seems that they were originally stained on the sleeves and then painted into the painting.
Cheng Yu suddenly remembered the dream he had last night, which was somewhat erotic but also terrifyingly real. He stared at the painting for a long time and finally whispered something.
“Is that you?”
Cheng Yu stayed in the office for a whole hour, but after a careful search, he could not find any traces of anyone sneaking in, which made him even more confused.
At this moment, the adjutant happened to come back to report.
Cheng Yu asked: “How is it?”
The adjutant said: “I have questioned the people who were on guard and patrol yesterday and found nothing unusual. Their statements are all correct. According to the tree analysis, it is almost impossible to sneak in from outside. Maybe we can consider the possibility of an insider. How about?”
The adjutant didn’t finish his words, but the expression on his face showed the underlying meaning.
Cheng Yu waved his hands and said: “Not for now.”
After the adjutant left, Cheng Yu called the housekeeper over again.
He said to the housekeeper: “Cheng Bo, can you help me with something?”
The housekeeper nodded and said: “Young Master, just give me your orders.”
Cheng Yu raised his hand and handed the letter he had just written on the table to the housekeeper, saying: “Please go to the clan to get something for me and bring the letter to my ShuGong. He knows what to do.”
(*ShuGong= Great Uncle, grandfather’s yonger brother)
After explaining everything, Cheng Yu sat alone at the desk for a long time.
When night fell, Cheng Yu picked up his pen and began to write in his diary.
Du Yan, who was in the painting, was very concerned about what Cheng Yu wrote, but from Du Yan’s perspective, he could not see the diary at all.
He always felt that Cheng Yu seemed to be deliberately hiding it from him, not letting him see any words.
Du Yan tried in vain for a moment and decided to give up. He would be able to see it anyway. The reason was simple. Cheng Yu did not change the password when he locked the diary back.
However, in the following days, Du Yan was unable to come out of the scroll.
He was confused. Could it be that the rules of the world restricted him? Because he had revealed his identity in the diary without permission, he could no longer get out of the scroll in this way?
What’s even more strange is that no one has come to the office room since that day, including Cheng Yu.
It was not until three days later that Cheng Yu appeared in the office again. He still did not enter the inner room but met the housekeeper who had rushed back from his hometown in the outer room.
Although Du Yan couldn’t see Cheng Yu’s face from that angle, his conversation with the housekeeper completely answered his doubts over the past few days.
After the housekeeper handed the sandalwood box to Cheng Yu, he said worriedly: “Young Master, you don’t look well.”
Cheng Yu seemed to be anxious to see what was in the box, and replied perfunctorily: “It’s fine.”
After all, the housekeeper watched Cheng Yu grow up, and he was not as afraid of Cheng Yu as others. He continued to persuade: “I heard from the people below that you didn’t rest well these few days, and you have been guarding outside the office to catch that thief?”
Hearing this, Du Yan suddenly realized. No wonder he couldn’t come out of the painting these days, it turned out that Cheng Yu didn’t sleep well at all.
Not sleeping well means he will not have dreams, and if there are no dreams, Du Yan naturally won’t be able to come out.
He just felt that it was a bit ridiculous. The current situation of the two people was really comparable to that of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. No, maybe it was even worse than that of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
Right now, it is better to let Cheng Yu confirm his existence. Otherwise, if this continues, Cheng Yu will drive himself crazy.
Fortunately, the housekeeper was very reliable. Under his persuasion, Cheng Yu finally agreed to go back to his room to have a good rest. However, when he left, he took the diary out of the password cabinet and took it away.
That night, Du Yan finally came out of the scroll.
He didn’t waste any time and went straight to the next door.
The diary was placed next to Cheng Yu’s pillow, which was convenient for Du Yan.
He placed one hand on Cheng Yu’s hand and opened the diary with the other hand.
Du Yan was slightly stunned when he saw the words Cheng Yu left above.
Prince Yan? But in my dream, you are Princess Yan.
“……”
Du Yan was silent for a moment, then picked up the brush brought from the office and began to write.
“If you continue the dream of proposing the eldest princess, you will know that I am Prince Yan. If you want to resolve the doubts in your heart, you should not stay outside the office every day…”
Du Yan did not directly tell Cheng Yu that he could come out of the painting if he dreamed because human subconsciousness is very strange. If Cheng Yu deliberately wanted to dream of Du Yan, he would not be able to do so.
In order to prevent such accidents from happening, Du Yan decided to proceed step by step and be cautious.
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