CH 26

Like falling pearls on a jade plate, the sound of pipa cascaded down from the small embroidery floors (1), carrying the fresh coolness of clear water. No one knew about the origin of this tune, yet, like a creek flowing through the countryside, it lapped against the shore of their hearts, little by little.

After a moment of silent listening by the entrance, Zhou Zishu finally pushed the door open and went inside. The sound of pipa came to an abrupt halt, the lingering reverberation of its tune still meandering in the air while the maiden with the instrument in hands had already risen to her feet, gathered the sleeves of her robes together, and greeted with a bow.

Zhou Zishu responded hurriedly: "Miss Su, there is no need for courtesy."

Her makeup was light and graceful — at the corners of her eyes was a streak of rose color that faded toward the end; and, with a slightly upward slanting, it scattered into the cloudlike sideburns, adorning and accentuating the cheeks that were as fair as snow. Different from her singing voice, the sound that arrived when she spoke was rather deep and low; her voice did not carry the melodious and crystalline shrillness like those of other women — on the contrary, it was rather unusually titillating.

Her words were of tender thoughtfulness, her moves of decorous moderation — she bore no similarities with those bland and boring ladies, so-called maidens from families of nobility, who did not dare to take a single step outside, nor did she resemble the women from the red-lantern district, whose gestures were tastelessly awash in sensual gratification.

Zhou Zishu could not help but heave a sigh — What kind of man could ever resist a lady like this?

Helian Yi: "Qingluan, you go ahead and rest. I have a few words to say with Zishu."

With the instrument in her embrace, Su Qingluan retreated in silence; only then, Helian Yi gave a gentle nod of his head: "Zishu, take a seat."

Zhou Zishu sat down on one side and said with a smile: "Your Highness, you truly have great luck with the ladies."

Helian Yi seemed to have donned a smile, yet that fleeting trace that grazed his lips and vanished at once was more or less perfunctory. He lifted his gaze and stared out of the window, somewhat lost in his own thoughts. As a person who was always mindful of the situation, Zhou Zishu also did not make a single sound — all he did was to pour himself a cup of fruit wine, his eyes squinted in pleasure as the taste delivered.

It was not until a while after that Helian Yi finally returned to the conversation with a deep sigh: "The whole incident regarding Cai Jianxing is Beiyuan's meddling." It was not a question that he posed but an assertion.

Zhou Zishu responded with a smile: "It's rather hard to say. In any case, those performance troupes in the capital city have all caught up with the freshly told story about the concubine of a minister eloping with her lover after the husband met his doom. There are even rumors about how someone had actually seen the butler of the First Prince's Residence helping a pregnant woman get in the palanquin that day — after giving a careful look, they said it was indeed Lady Hu from the Cai Residence."

Helian Yi shot him a glare and remarked, his voice indifferent: "What are you pretending for? Wasn't that him who enabled you to devise this wicked prank to trigger an outburst of noises and heated discussions, filling this entire city with the rotten stench of foulness?"

Since Zhou Zishu already knew that this lord of his had always despised these sorts of things, all he could do was to let out a chuckle of resignation and say nothing else.

Helian Yi fell silent for a while before asking again: "Why in this world did he have to insist on chasing Cai Jianxing to a dead end like that? I have been thinking about this matter for several days and was able to have a general idea of what happened. But in the end, I still cannot fathom this entirely."

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Zhou Zishu casually commented: "His Royal Highness embraces great vision and foresight. If even the Crown Prince cannot fathom his intention, how is this commoner supposed to figure it out? However, His Royal Highness never does anything without justifiable reasons; plus, he knows how far to go and when to stop. Please don't worry, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Yet, Helian Yi could only flash a somewhat bitter smile: "What is there for me to even feel worried about? He is just a little devil who never wants to share more than half of the story. Now that he has matured after these past few years, even I myself can no longer see through him anymore."

Zhou Zishu was startled. Having wandered in the jianghu for a long time — even doing the kind of job that required painstaking vigilance like this — naturally he would also be someone whose heart was ladened with schemes and speculation. But, after all, he could not be compared with the people who had long immersed themselves in the royal court's game plan since childhood; thus, there certainly would be some occasions of negligence. The moment those words departed from Helian Yi's lips, Zhou Zishu immediately realized that what he had just said right then was a mistake — that one phrase "embrace great vision and foresight" absolutely could never be mentioned in front of the crown prince.

He dropped his gaze at once and replied in a soft whisper: "The prince devises these plans for your sake; if Your Highness can trust him..."

Suddenly, Zhou Zishu thought of Su Qingluan. Since he held no official ranks whatsoever, and in addition to his background as a person coming from the jianghu, Zhou Zishu usually paid no mind to trifle formalities — the number of times he had come along and accompanied Helian Yi to Su Qingluan's performance exceeded everyone else. There was one detail that had not quite caught his attention at first; yet as time went by, Zhou Zishu came to realize that when this young lady Qingluan stayed quiet, the side view of her face bore striking resemblance to one certain person. The thought struck him in the middle of his sentence, thus he decided to swallow the unsaid, latter half back inside.2

Helian Yi lifted his gaze and looked at the other man.

At that moment, albeit the usual expression of refined gentleness found in the crown prince's eyes, it actually had caused Zhou Zishu's heart to constrict in apprehension. In those abyssal orbs, there seemed to hide a deep well, and no one could ever see the bottom of it.

After all, His Highness the Crown Prince was still the heir apparent to the throne. Normally, he could go out of his way to be courteous to the wise and respectful to scholars; he could disregard ranks and statuses to drink wine and seek entertainment with all of these companions, but no one could ever touch what was in his heart.

Suddenly, a burst of laughter emitted from Helian Yi's lips, then in a low whisper, he said: "Imperial Father plans to issue a decree at his Longevity Ceremony, bestowing the marriage to me and the granddaughter of Grand Preceptor Song."

Zhou Zishu promptly commented: "So it has already been decided? Your Highness, congratulations!"

Yet, in a voice that was neither too fast nor too slow, Helian Yi inquired: "When I brought this up to everyone that day, other people were surprised upon hearing it; but your pair of eyes, on the other hand, wandered over to Jing Beiyuan. That, I do not understand."

Zhou Zishu's complexion turned completely pale: "I..."1

Cold sweat began to trickle down on his spine.

However, Helian Yi only heaved a sigh: "Look, I haven't even said anything. Why are you nervous already? Seriously, you people..."

He then raised his head and looked at Zhou Zishu before continuing with the question: "At that time, you must have been thinking, 'The person that the Crown Prince has been yearning in his heart is right in front of his eyes. What did he mean by saying these words? Could it be that he was trying to test that person's feelings?' Am I right?"4

When it comes to this kind of matter, there is no problem for one to know about it very well in their heart; however, they absolutely cannot let others see through these feelings. Zhou Zishu's thoughts staggered — he did not understand what Helian Yi was trying to accomplish by coming at it directly and laying bare the truth like that, thus could only take a step back to the side and drop on his knees: "This lowly commoner should have not made that outrageous, nonsensical guess. This... I deserve thousands of deaths, Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

Helian Yi let out a soft chuckle and said: "Get up, won't you? What are you getting worked up for? How major can this matter be? If you can tell by looking, it is what it is. It is not like I could order someone to gouge your eyes out."

Hearing those words, Zhou Zishu felt the terror creep up even more.

Helian Yi continued, his voice quiet: "Stand up. What else can I do? He is right in front of my eyes, and I watch him live a good life — that is enough. The kind of person he is, you probably already have somewhat understanding. If I really locked him up and kept him by my side, having him as... wouldn't that be awfully muddle-headed and incompetent of me? I am still able to distinguish the importance level between state affairs and personal relationships, still able to tell which one weighs more than the other. Don't think of me as the preposterous kind like that."2

Zhou Zishu breathed out a soft sigh of relief and finally rose back to his feet, yet he did not dare to sit down again.

Helian Yi continued with a sigh, "If he could cause less worry in others, even just half of how Qingluan was, and not making me upset all the times, how great would that be."

Heart filled with regret as I greeted the late arrival of spring,

Leaving you behind, your solitude amidst the fallen petals,

Grief-stricken, eyes followed the pair of swallows dashing away in the drizzle dance. (2)1

In the end, Helian Yi was still a level-headed man — if one had soon known that the sound of unremitting night rain like carriage bells' echoes would only beget resentment, why indulge in the fleeting moment of bliss and utter the love oath upon Mountain Li? (3)

There was nothing else but a fragmented afterimage, an eyeblink of reverie, a pang of yearning, lost in a mellow yet endless stream, drifting on and on. And, perhaps one day, the affection he had embraced during the time of youth would fade away in a scatter over the passing of years, and eventually vanish without any remaining trace.6

Helian Yi added: "His movements haven't been any modest these past few days, however... in the end, I still feel a little worried. You should secretly keep an eye on him more."

Zhou Zishu hurriedly bowed in compliance. With a gentle nod of his head, Helian Yi waved his hand dismissively: "You can go ahead and leave. I want to sit here by myself for some time."

Before Zhou Zishu's feet could cross the threshold, he had already heard the low voice of Helian Yi again from behind him: "Zishu, what happened today, it is only between you and me. If..."

Zhou Zishi abruptly turned his head around and saw that the young heir apparent to the throne was still sitting there, with half of his body shrouded in the shadow of the falling curtain, neither joy nor anger shown on his face. One could only see the pair of eyes abound with strictness as if he would devour the person across him alive. Zhou Zishu felt his heart shiver, and with a low voice, he answered: "Your Highness, when it comes to words that should not be spoken aloud, this lowly commoner is even more reliable in comparison to the dead. I beg Your Highness to rest assured."

It was only then that Helian Yi finally gave a few weary, dismissive waves of his hand.

Before anyone could realize, the palace had already been caught up in a whirlwind of activities. Helian Pei would reach the age of 55 for his birthday: whether good or bad, it was still a round number; thus, while the aftermath remnants of Wei Cheng's case had yet ceased from evolving, the atmosphere was nonetheless teeming with urgency. On the other hand, all the princes and other royal descendants, along with the civil ministers and military officials, had no other choice but to launch another round of racking their brains to find the right gifts.

Of course, it would be impossible for Helian Zhao at the celebration of His Majesty's Longevity to present the rare cat that Jing Qi had handed to him; otherwise, the validity of his "First Prince who encourages indulgence in pleasure" title would be inevitably confirmed. The gifts for His Majesty had to be those ceremonial and orthodox playthings like a thousand-year-old tortoise, "wishing his happiness be as immense as the Eastern Sea and his longevity be as great as the Southern Mountain." Thus, just a few days before the celebration, Helian Zhao had already entered the palace to pay his respect and conveniently presented the dancing kitten to his father.

He only mentioned how his own disciples had been able to procure the cat from some outlandish talent out in the town, yet he dared not to keep the treasure all to himself, thus wanted to bring it here in hope that it would help relieve Imperial Father's boredom and fulfill filial piety on Helian Zhao's behalf.

This demonstration of filial piety by using a pet could not make Helian Pei any happier — he immediately bestowed this son a handsome amount of rewards. If His Majesty had not had some bits of rationality left, he would have blurted out and granted Helian Zhao the title "Qin Wang (4) with the flavor of cats" on the spot.

Helian Pei inherently possessed a childlike temperament: as soon as he acquired something good, he would immediately want to run to every possible corner to show it off. He even left the palace specifically for a trip to Nan Ning Wang's Residence where he dawdled about for a meal and bestowed Jing Qi with an eye-opening performance featuring the rare cat. Before this creature was handed over to Helian Zhao, it had been fed and taken care of at Nan Ning Wang's Residence for over ten days, thus everyone there had soon got sick of looking at it. Yet at the sight of His Majesty being in high spirits, nobody was able to lay the truth bare — they even had to accompany him and feign interest for this creature of novelty, causing Jing Qi to be completely trapped in this absurd state of half laughing and half crying.3

These past few days, good and bad things continued to take turns and happen without an end. Undoubtedly, Helian Zhao had already beat Helian Qi with a step ahead — there was no need at all to mention what kind of joy had bloomed inside the former's heart followed by this result.

As the news of the Crown Prince's marriage was passed down, a certain old fox with his awfully keen nose began to heed the hidden force behind His Highness whose reputation had never been rotten at all.

Helian Qi finally understood what it meant for one "to act humbly and keep a low profile." The Black Sorcerer incident was hushed up under his hand; and while Jing Qi had entrusted Zhou Zishu with digging this up, to one's surprise, even the latter had yet been able to attain any results for the time being — this certainly showed how prudent and careful kind of person the Second Prince was.

About half a year had passed by — Lu Shen advanced to the Ministry of Revenue, thus, at last, was able to spread his wings and showcase his talent. On top of that, he had also received Jing Qi's help in seeding opportunities and accumulating resources — for a little while, his momentum could be considered to be high tides in the rising wind.

However, Nan Ning Wang's Residence had just acquired another "student". Since the day Jing Qi learned that Wu Xi only slept for four hours a day as the remaining time was all devoted to practicing martial arts, he no longer shamelessly attempted to drag the other person out to play and revel anymore. On the other hand, Wu Xi had become accustomed to dropping by Nan Ning Wang's Residence for a while every afternoon -—most often that was also when Jing Qi just woke up after a nap. All this time, Helian Pei had remained unsuccessful in finding a proper teacher for the young sorcerer; consequently, Jing Qi's lousy tendency of lecturing others was unleashed. Every time Wu Xi made his visit for a cup of tea, he would immediately take that open opportunity to ramble on and on.

Wu Xi was absolutely a good student — never had he failed to listen to Jing Qi while thinking about how the other person, at first glance, did not look much different in age. As long as the person was right, as long as they had the knowledge that he could learn from them, let alone Jing Qi, even if those had been words from a little maid whose job was to serve tea, he would still hold his breath and listen to her attentively, and not even once would he allow himself to carelessly interrupt.

Jing Qi had been an idle sloth for this entire life, but certainly not because he did not read — rather, he had already read all of these books before, thus no longer carried any patience to study them one more time. Whether it was Confucian classics, historical records, philosophical writings, or other miscellaneous works, there was none that he could not understand. In the past, he used to spend time in the palace to read books with the princes, and was still able to reach a certain level of accomplishment. Plus, his insights had always been in much greater breadth compared to those old scholars who only knew literary jargon and bogus talks. When he talked, none of his teachings could ever be considered insipid and boring, and he could cite any scriptures or classic works with perfect ease. During his talk, there were times when he would digress from the subject, going from the Four Books and the Five Classics (5) all the way to unofficially documented history before bringing it back to military strategy and political tactics.

Wu Xi continued to listen with such immense fascination.

However, every time he heard Jing Qi mention political schemes and tactics — perhaps for some reason that had to do with his own personality — Wu Xi often found himself somewhat stranded in perplexity.

That day, Jing Qi was indeed recounting stories that happened in the history; when his narration reached to the part about the power struggle among several countries from the previous dynasties, specifically at the mention of the technique of wartime diplomacy, he immediately exclaimed: "The so-called 'alliance' actually only exists among people who share the same goal for a defined period of time. There is no such thing as eternal enemies, nor is there a friend for life. In the beginning, we should act submissively and follow what was told. Once we have found the opponent's weakness, we must nail deep and directly into that vital point, or we must bribe them, rope them to our side, and make their attitude soften for us. We should not be too deliberate, otherwise, it will make ourselves look foolish and also make us fall into a disadvantageous position. Our actions must be quiet and discreet, making the matters seem like a pure coincidence."

Wu Xi nodded his head: "The same way you have handled Helian Zhao."

Jing Qi straightened his back and responded in soaring spirits: "Correct, but that is not enough. Do you know what else is missing?"

--- End of chapter 26---

Translator's note:

(1) Embroidery Floor (绣楼): the place where maidens did embroidery during ancient times.

(2) The idea behind those lines was based on the poem Linjiang Narcissi (臨江仙) by Yan Jidao (晏幾道).

(3) Based on the poem Tune of Lily Magnolia Flower (木兰花令) by Nalan Xingde (纳兰性德). The whole meaning is that if you already know that thing will not end well, don't start it in the first place. There is a story behind this poem actually, but I don't think I should post it here because it is quite spoilery at this moment...+

(4) 亲王 (Qin Wang) = Prince of the First Rank. It is the highest prince title that was granted solely to direct male-line descendants of the Emperor.

(5) The Four Books (The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Confucian Analects, and The Works of Mencius) and The Five Classics (The Book of Songs, The Book of History, The Book of Changes, The Book of Rites and The Spring and Autumn Annals)