Empress with No Virtue- Chapter 85

After spending two days of relaxation, Ji Wu Jiu and Ye Zhen Zhen decided to depart of the capital. Due to the inconvenience of using the water route, they chose the horse carriage. Originally, Ye Zhen Zhen was afraid of bringing the group of assassinators to JiangYin, but Ji Wu Jiu knew that his guards are not just for show, so he welcomes the assassin gladly, which made Ye Zhen Zhen relaxed abit.

However, they no matter how they calculated they would have not though of the disasters from nature.

After two and a half days journey on their horse carriage, they decided to rest and have something to eat. They stopped the horse carriage by the side, and laid a mat under a big tree. The weather was humid and hot, Ye Zhen Zhen was a little tired from the long journey so Ji Wu Jiu let her first take a nap under the big tree.

However, suddenly from the west direction a huge noise appeared, and the ground started to shake. Ji Wu Jiu got cautious and started to investigate. Ye Zhen Zhen got shocked till she stood up, “What happened?”

Ji Wu Jiu’s gaze fell to the west direction, his eyes going bigger and bigger, from his eyes Ye Zhen Zhen managed to see an approaching line. This line is growing bigger and looks more like a shining wall, rushing towards their direction.

Its incoming flood!

Ye Zhen Zhen felt her heart almost stopping, she started to shiver, not knowing how to react.

Ji Wu Jiu grabbed her and rushed towards the horse carriage.

However they were one stop slower, the horse got scared, and ran away with the carriage!

No matter what, humans would not be able to catch a running horse. Even if they did, it wouldn’t do any good now. Ji Wu Jiu turned around while pulling Ye Zhen Zhen, “Go up!”

Luckily the tree that they chose to rest earlier on was the biggest around. Ye Zhen Zhen grabbed on to the tree and started to climb up. Ji Wu Jiu grabbed her waist, and using the tree branch to gain some momentum he got the both of them to the highest place on the tree.

Ye Zhen Zhen felt that she flew up, shivering while grabbing on to Ji Wu Jiu’s waist, not daring to move, and not daring to look down.

Ji Wu Jiu made her stand properly on the branch afraid that her legs will lose strength drops down accidently. Seeing that her expression was very pale, he consoled her “Zhen Zhen, don’t be afraid. I will protect you”

How can she be not afraid, she is scared to death now. She peeped through the leaves to look far, the flood water is like a scary monster rushing through under them towards the east taking with it everything within its reach.

Almost everything is covered now. The whole place was white, and it seem like there were in the middle of a big pot of boiling water.

But that wasn’t the most scariest thing, what’s worst is that the water level is slowly increasing.

Ye Zhen Zhen once again felt the danger of death coming. The last time she felt this type of danger was during the hunt where she met the tiger, but that time Ji Wu Jiu amanged to save her. But now the person who saved her is standing with her, facing the same type of danger.

“Your majesty, we…..will we die….” Ye Zhen Zhen asked while grabbing on to his clothes.

“We won’t” Ji Wu Jiu answered calmly and firmly, looking towards the direction where the sound came from, “There should be a river nearby, just now the loud sound was most probably a landslide, that’s why the river water rushed in. The sound was very clear just now, so it means we are not too far from the breach that’s why the water level raises fast.”

“Then what should we do now?”

“We continue to look for higher grounds, don’t worry nothing will happen”

Ye Zhen Zhen knew Ji Wu Jiu was just consoling here. He is the king of the nation, controlling lives of many, but the natural power or disaster that they are facing is so mighty, that they are nothing worth to be mentioned about.

They are already at the top. There is no more place for them to put their legs if they move up, and the tree branches are too thin, they would not be able to sustain the weight of the both of them. Both of them grew up in the north, and only learnt how to swim, but never faced a rushing river before, and can only depend on their natural instinct to survive.

Although it was the first time he saw floods like this, Ji Wu Jiu knew that with the current condition of this flood, no matter how good one is with martial arts, if you are enveloped within the waters you can only wait for death to arrive.

Therefore, their only option now is to wait a top the tree, to wait for the water to stop raising, or to wait for people to help them. His guards are all 1 mile away it seems like they have also met with the flood, who knows if they are still alive to save the emperor.

He can only let the heavens decide.

Ji Wu Jiu laughed bitterly. If today they really met with misfortune, then he would be the one and only emperor in history to be drowned. To say that he was not afraid of dying was fake, but what is more is he is unwilling, cause he was only 21, and within his hands is the entire nation, and his ambitions, if they all are gone in within this flood. He will be not be able to accept it.

Also there is Zhen Zhen. He just only have a nice and sweet beginning with her, after going through so much together, it was not something simple. She is his official wife, he is already prepared to spend the rest of his life with her. They will spend their time together like normal couples, occasionally bickering, but reconciling very fast of course. Her temper is not very good, but that is not a problem, as long as he has a good temper. He is willing to pamper her, adore her, protect her, as long as she has him in her heart. He was thinking of how he will be growing old with her, with lots of children and grandchildren.

But now, all this beautiful thoughts are cold and bitter in front of the flood.

His Zhen Zhen is going to be swallowed by the waters soon.

Ji Wu Jiu felt his heart being cut through just by that thought. He cannot accept that ending, he will not accept it!

Ye Zhen Zhen was looking around all this while, while speaking to Ji Wu Jiu, “if only there were some sort of floating objects of wood that could pass by, if there is then there is still hope”

The water is now only half a meter away from them, and still rising.

Ji Wu Jiu grab on to Ye Zhen Zhen’s hands, and suddenly said, “ Zhen Zhen, did I tell you this thing before?”

“What?” Ye Zhen Zhen asks him.

“The twenty years that I have lived before I met you was truly stagnant. Obedient and rule complying, no rise and fall of feelings, and only left with piles and piles of work. Teacher Ye said, playing will make one worthless. Imperial father said, I was born to work for the nation, as part of the royal family, we should not fall into the depths of love. That time I thought I would just be a non-feeling and boring emperor, and I didn’t even dare to hope for more. Until I met you.”

Ye Zhen Zhen hugged him, face directly on his chest

He continued, “In my life, everything new and happy was given to me by you. After meeting you, only did I find out, that life could be spent like this, so interesting. That’s why it doesn’t matter who I was, that decides how I life, but it was who I meet that will make my life wonderful. Zhen Zhen, I am very lucky that I found you, you are the grace given to me by the heavens.”

Ye Zhen Zhen rubbed her eyes while saying, “I, I also like being with you actually. Although you were quite boring in the beginning, but you treat me very well. I am a stubborn person, bad tempered, cunning, and lawless, but you accepted it all. My mom said, all men love gentle and caring women, if there is a man that could continuously accept me for all the mistakes I have done, then it could only mean that he adores me till his bones, so I must treasure him. Now I really want to treasure you, but its too late…” Ye Zhen Zhen couldn’t take it anymore and finally started crying in his arms.

Ji Wu Jiu’s eyes started to heat up, holding on to her shoulders lightly, “Not too late, definitely not. The fact that you are willing to tell me now, I am very happy, worth dying for.”

Ye Zhen Zhen sniffed’ You cannot die, how can you die, … you are the emperor, no matter who die, also you can’t die!”

JI Wu Jiu consoled her, “Death is decided upon, nothing we can do about it. Even if died the sky would not change, as long as the nation is still there, new emperor will appear”

“But! I don’t want you to die. “ I don’t want you to die!”

Ji Wu Jiu looked at her, her eyes already full of tears. Enveloping her into his arms even further, sighing, he said “ I also don’t want to die”

“But we will both die” Ye Zhen Zhen cried.

“That is good too, then we won’t be alone in the roads to afterlife”

“En, if we die, then so be it” Ye Zhen Zhen dried her tears, seeing that death is creeping near, she become more acceptive about it. “Eighteen years later we will be someone again!”

Ji Wu Jiu laughed, lifting up her face, “ In our next life, we will be a married couple again ok?”

“En!” Ye Zhen Zhen nodded, with a slight smile, “In the next lifetime, you must be my wife!”

“ok” Ji Wu Jiu replied, giving her a peck on her forehead. ‘

Ye Zhen Zhen moved upwards a little more and took a look at the back of Ji Wu Jiu, suddenly her eyes grew bright, pointing towards that direction, “That is a piece of wood!”

Ji Wu Jiu looked back and said “ I think so”

“We are saved! We are saved!” Ye Zhen Zhen shouted towards the wood, “Come over here, quick!”

Ji Wu Jiu looked at her laughing, is that piece of wood your pet, would it come here just because you called it?

But…. To have hope is also good.

Holding on to her waist, to avoid her dropping, and continued to allow her to speak to the wood.

Ji Wu Jiu cannot help but to accept that Ye Zhen Zhen was someone who was once stir fried in the pot of luck, most of the time her luck is really beyond understanding. That wood was being moved by the rapid waters, and its original route wasn’t even towards them, but after a little wave, it turned a little and slowly floated towards their direction.

Ji Wu Jiu held on to Ye Zhen Zhen’s waist, and tried to bring in the wood. Now the water is already at their thigh level, so both of their footing was not very stable.

Ye Zhen Zhen accessed the wood and frowned, “This is a little small, will it be able to carry 2 person?”

The wood was trying to float away along with the waters so Ye Zhen Zhen was trying her best to hold on to it.

“Can” Ji Wu Jiu calmly replied again, “You get on it first”

“o”, Ye Zhen Zhen got on to the wood with his help, “Come up quick”

“Wait abit, let me secure you to the wood first, first lie down.” Ji Wu Jiu said, while removing his robes and tore it to use as ropes, securing Ye Zhen Zhen to the wood.

Ye Zhen Zhen laid down on the wood holding on to his waist, and said, “Its ok already, quickly come up, I will hold you”

Ji Wu Jiu suddenly pulled off her hands.

Ye Zhen Zhen suddenly feel something is not right, “What are you doing? Quickly come up”

“Zhen Zhen, live on.” He smiled, like the march spring.

Ye Zhen Zhen understood what he wanted to do, anxious she shouted, “Ji Wu Jiu, what are you doing! You get up here quickly, it will be able to hold on, you quickly come up! If not you let me down!” Using her strength at best to hold on to Ji Wu Jiu.

Ji Wu Jiu hold her hands, while another hand held on to the wood, getting ready to push it. He released her hands the moment he pushed the wood away.

Ye Zhen Zhen got thrown off along with the wood. She was surpised, shocked and angry. Her hands trying her best to move it back to the original position, while crying out, “Ji Wu Jiu you bastard! You bastard!” Not being able to move because she was stuck to the wood, so no matter what she did, she was still floating away.

JI Wu Jiu waved at her, and said something, looking at her. Listening to the sounds of the rushing water,  she couldn’t make out what he said.

The water has already reached his waist level, and he was no longer able to stable himself on the tree branch, and was at the end pushed into the rapids tumbling along.

Ye Zhen Zhen kept on crying till her view was blurry. After wiping of her tears, she was no longer able to see him in view….