Gu Fu advised Wen Xi to go find Tang Mumu and explain everything in person.
Wen Xi took the advice seriously. After returning from the Lantern Festival banquet, he wrote a letter and had it sent out the next day. Then, he pondered how he could leave the city to visit Tang Mumu, who was now staying at a villa.
Wen Xi attempted to make preparations in secret, planning to sneak out. However, on the first day, he was discovered by his eldest brother, Wen Jiang, who summoned him to the study.
“Impressive, you’ve learned to run away from home,” Wen Jiang said, having taken time out of his busy schedule to confront Wen Xi directly, revealing his little scheme.
Wen Xi was startled and made a desperate attempt to deny it. “Who said I was running away? I just feel a bit troubled lately and want to… want to go out of the city to clear my mind. Yes! Doesn’t our family have a hot spring villa in Qishan? I want to go soak in the hot springs!”
Thinking quickly, Wen Xi felt both pleased and regretful. If he had thought of this excuse earlier, he could have done it directly, using the hot spring villa as a pretext and then secretly leaving from there. It would have been much simpler than sneaking out from home.
Wen Jiang sneered, “If that’s the case, why are you being so secretive?”
Wen Xi lowered his head, quickly spinning a story in his mind. “I was afraid Mother would nag endlessly and then insist on sending a bunch of people to follow me.”
“Enough,” Wen Jiang interrupted, tossing the book he was holding onto the table. “You’re going to see Seventh Miss Tang. Don’t think I don’t know.”
Realizing he couldn’t hide it, Wen Xi decided to plead with his eldest brother. “Big brother, just let me go this once.”
Wen Xi rarely showed such sincerity and thought it would take a lot of effort to convince his brother. To his surprise, Wen Jiang suddenly relented, saying, “I can help you, but you must take my people with you. Otherwise, I’ll inform the city gate guards, and you won’t be able to leave the city, even if you sprout wings.”
That simple?!
Overjoyed, Wen Xi agreed immediately, forgetting that among his three brothers, Wen Jiang was the one who had tricked him the most and the hardest.
With his eldest brother’s approval, Wen Xi no longer needed to sneak around. He hurried back to pack his luggage and sent people out to buy supplies, preparing two large carts full of items to bring to Tang Mumu, thinking that life outside the bustling capital might be less luxurious and he didn’t want her to suffer any discomfort.
After Wen Xi left, Wen Jiang instructed his men, “Find some clever ones to disguise as maids of Seventh Miss Tang from Earl Lin’an’s residence. Then go find Xie Zichen from the Xie family on Fude Street, Wei Shaoqing from the Wei family, Xiao Ran, the son-in-law of the Duke of Bian, and Lin Yi, the young general from the Southern General’s residence. Tell them that Seventh Miss Tang is ill and on her deathbed, and she wants to see them one last time.”
……
Qitian Tower.
The Imperial Preceptor finished reading the reports presented by the Secret Cabinet and, learning of Wen Jiang’s actions, said calmly, “Use the same method to get the hostage from Fuyao Kingdom to go as well.”
Recently, Fuyao Kingdom had been frequently making suspicious moves. The court was looking for an excuse to deal with the hostage from Fuyao to intimidate his motherland. Leaving the capital without permission was a sufficient crime.
The spies from the Secret Cabinet accepted the order and left.
The Imperial Preceptor continued to read the reports, no longer as leisurely as before.
Because Gu Fu came to visit him every day after curfew, as agreed, his sleep quality and duration had improved significantly. Consequently, he could no longer spend the night reading endless reports without sleeping.
He used to deliberately save tasks for the night to pass the time, but now it was different. He had to complete his tasks during the day, which was pressing, but having a fixed sleep schedule made him feel much better and reduced the frequency of taking medicine.
If there was any downside, it was…
“How is it?” Gu Fu sat by the railing, holding a konghou in her arms. The vast starry sky behind her made the scene look dreamy and otherworldly, like a fairyland.
The Imperial Preceptor, seated at the desk, slowly returned to his senses, facing a table full of musical scores.
How to describe it? Whenever Gu Fu played a tune, he felt as if he were under a spell, akin to being poisoned with a hallucinogen.
He had never heard someone play a piece of music so poorly, yet Gu Fu, as the one playing the konghou, seemed completely unaware and was even filled with an incomprehensible confidence.
Last time, he mentioned it wasn’t the konghou’s problem. Gu Fu didn’t think it was her playing and assumed it was the pieces she chose, so she gathered many scores and declared she would learn them all.
Fearing that listening to Gu Fu’s playing would make him deaf, the Imperial Preceptor asked, “Would you like to learn another instrument?”
Reluctantly, Gu Fu replied, “The konghou sounds nice.”
The Imperial Preceptor said, “It depends on the person.”
Not everyone can make a konghou sound pleasant.
Gu Fu thought for a moment and agreed, “True, some people even find the suona pleasant. It mostly depends on personal preference.”
The Imperial Preceptor said, “…That’s not what I meant.”
Gu Fu looked at the Imperial Preceptor with a genuinely inquisitive gaze.
Just as the Imperial Preceptor was about to harshly point out that Gu Fu’s konghou playing was akin to torture, a young attendant ran upstairs and reported, “Master Imperial Preceptor, His Majesty has arrived.”
The Imperial Preceptor was not surprised. With his recent regular sleep schedule and reduced medication, it would have been odd if the emperor didn’t come to inquire.
However, Gu Fu suddenly jumped up and asked the Imperial Preceptor, “Where should I hide?”
The Imperial Preceptor was stunned, feeling something was off. But because Gu Fu’s expression was so earnest, he couldn’t quite register that there was no need to feel guilty. So, he actually found a hiding place for Gu Fu: “Go to the sixth floor.”
The seventh floor of the Qi Tian Tower was where the Imperial Preceptor usually stayed, the fifth floor housed the young attendants, and the sixth floor was his bedroom, just beside the staircase.
Gu Fu quickly ran down the stairs and hid in the Imperial Preceptor’s bedroom. It was then that the Imperial Preceptor realized that their relationship was entirely innocent. There was no need to act like two people caught in a secret tryst by an elder.
So, he stood up and went downstairs to call Gu Fu out of his bedroom. But as he reached his bedroom door, he heard the emperor’s voice from the staircase leading to the fifth floor: “Wang Xi?”
The Imperial Preceptor halted.
Originally, it was nothing. But if he were to call Gu Fu out of his bedroom in front of the emperor, it would be difficult to explain.
The Imperial Preceptor lowered the hand that was about to open the door, thinking: Forget it, let it be for now.
The emperor appeared at the staircase, smiling as he asked the Imperial Preceptor, “Why did you come down specifically to greet me?”
The Imperial Preceptor didn’t respond to this, instead following protocol to bow to the emperor.
The emperor quickly stepped forward, raising his hand to stop the bowing. “Hey, how many times have I told you, there’s no need for such formalities between us brothers.”
Hiding in the bedroom, Gu Fu heard this and was a bit surprised: brothers?
Only then did Gu Fu remember that she had only asked Mu Qingyao about the Imperial Preceptor once. She knew that the Imperial Preceptor was twenty-five years old with naturally white hair, but she didn’t know anything else. Not his background, and not his name.
The emperor and the Imperial Preceptor went up to the seventh floor together.
The emperor hadn’t visited for a while and immediately noticed that things had changed a bit. There were many new items.
For instance, the wine jars in the corner, the wine bowls on the display shelf, the qin by the railing, and the music scores on the table…
A young attendant came forward to tidy up the table, but the emperor said, “No need, let me take a look.”
The young attendant quietly stepped back, and the emperor sat down at the table, glanced at the music scores, then looked at the qin outside and asked, “The imperial physician said you’ve been sleeping well lately. Is it because you’ve found something you enjoy?”
The Imperial Preceptor stood aside and replied, “No.”
The emperor beckoned him over, “Come, sit down and talk.”
Only then did the Imperial Preceptor sit down, slowly arranging his robe, and said to the emperor, “Your servant has found a good remedy that can cure my insomnia.”
The emperor’s eyes lit up, “What kind of remedy?”
The Imperial Preceptor glanced slightly towards the staircase entrance and then turned back, “I’ll show it to Your Majesty next time.”
There was a hint of helplessness in his tone that even he hadn’t noticed.
But the emperor did notice and couldn’t help but feel happy—his brother finally seemed more human.
The emperor mainly came to inquire about the Imperial Preceptor’s health. After asking, he wanted to stay a while longer and chatted aimlessly with the Imperial Preceptor.
It wasn’t until he saw a hint of fatigue on the Imperial Preceptor’s face that he realized he had stayed too long. He felt both regretful for his negligence and happy that the Imperial Preceptor truly didn’t suffer from insomnia anymore. He quickly got up and left, urging the Imperial Preceptor to rest early.
Finally seeing the emperor off, the Imperial Preceptor returned to the sixth floor and opened his bedroom door.
The Imperial Preceptor’s daily needs were all meticulously managed by the emperor, resulting in a life of extreme luxury.
However, this bedroom, arranged by the Imperial Preceptor himself, was not only spacious but also very simple.
Gu Fu emerged from the Imperial Preceptor’s room and asked him, “What did His Majesty want with you?”
The Imperial Preceptor planned to take this opportunity to tell Gu Fu about his insomnia and how she could cure it. So he said to Gu Fu, “Let’s go upstairs and talk.”
The two of them ascended the stairs.
Gu Fu recalled how the emperor addressed the Imperial Preceptor and asked, “Why does His Majesty call you ‘Wangxi’?”
The Imperial Preceptor replied indifferently, “His Majesty bestowed the name Wangxi upon me.”
Gu Fu responded with an “Oh” and then asked, “What’s your actual name?”
The Imperial Preceptor stopped in his tracks and looked back at her, “You’ve known me for quite some time now. Have you never asked anyone what my name is?”
At that moment, the Imperial Preceptor was standing at the top of the stairs on the seventh floor, looking down at Gu Fu, who was still on the stairs. His expression and gaze were calm and indifferent, seemingly no different from usual. But Gu Fu keenly sensed—
He was unhappy.
Translator’s notes:
Suona, also called dida, laba or haidi, is a traditional double-reeded Chinese musical instrument. It has a conical wooden body (like a horn), and a distinctively loud and high-pitched sound, and was used frequently in Chinese traditional music ensembles, particularly in those that perform outdoors.
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