Chapter 57

Because of the wariness in her heart, Nie Qinglin deliberately distanced herself from Ge Yun’er.

She declined several invitations with polite excuses.

Unable to coldly refuse her face to face, she instead did her best to avoid places where they might run into each other.

Though it was rare to find a true friend, unfortunately she was born into a royal family entwined with brambles, where one had to constantly discern sincerity, lest they fall into an abyss with no return.

As she lay idly beneath the crape myrtle tree in the palace garden, she suddenly found herself missing Qiao’er terribly… and also… Imperial Physician Zhang.

Life in the palace had been bitter, yes, but at least there were still people who truly cared for her.

Sadly, now even the simple pleasure of chatting at ease had become a luxury that was harder and harder to come by.

Sometimes she dreamed of herself sitting by the small window, with Qiao’er roasting sweet potatoes on the little stove beneath it.

In the dream, she only needed to stretch her neck and call out, “Sprinkle more sugar on it…”

But those days had truly gone forever.

Even if she really managed to escape, she could no longer go back to find them…

That household meant for bearing a child could not withstand the slightest disturbance…

Lately, although the Grand Tutor had been somewhat busy due to the strange disappearance of the iron ingots, he no longer avoided her as deliberately as before.

Still, perhaps disturbed by that elusive thief, he’d recently taken to bringing her out at odd hours to visit equally odd places.

Like tonight.

It was already the dead of night, and she had been about to rest and nourish her qi and blood when the Grand Tutor dragged her out to admire the moon over the lakeside.

The painted boat was exquisite, the moonlight enchanting.

If only it weren’t paired with a yawning beauty, the scene might have been even more picturesque.

The boat’s floor was laid with soft, fragrant southern wood.

Sitting on it felt dry and pleasant to the touch, and the aroma was delightful.

Though the lake had a bit of a fishy smell, it couldn’t penetrate the cabin, and even the flying insects were kept at bay by the waves of fragrance.

The Grand Tutor sat on the ground couch.

On the small tea table before him, a kettle warmed over a charcoal stove, sending wisps of steam into the air.

In the fine white porcelain teacups lay quality tea leaves, waiting for the hot water to unfurl their curled shapes.

Outside the window, the moonlight was just right, casting a silver glow upon the man’s upright and handsome figure.

Clad in white, he looked like an immortal descended to the mortal world, ready to ascend again once he had absorbed enough of the sun and moon’s essence.

Nie Qinglin sat beside him, somewhat listless, wondering what on earth the Grand Tutor was up to.

Looking around at the quiet darkness, apart from the guards holding torches along the lakeshore, there was not another soul in sight.

Her mind, a little foggy, suddenly remembered it was the end of June, the time when the ghost gate opened… Could it be that the Grand Tutor, burdened with too much blood on his hands, was now quietly setting sail to burn offerings for the dead in the deep of night? Looking at the lake, she was reminded of a certain legal case.

She had only learned later that the Grand Tutor had once ordered the beheading of Princess Yonghe’s green turtle.

After a string of yawns, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Eyes misty with tears from yawning, she asked,

“Grand Tutor… are we here to honor the spirit of the turtle?”

The Grand Tutor’s hand paused slightly as he poured tea.

His handsome face turned slightly away from the moonlight, shadows covering his features—immortal no more, but a grim King of Hell demanding souls.

“Of late, I’ve been quite bogged down with state affairs,” he said slowly, ignoring her nonsense.

“I thought I’d take the opportunity, with nothing pressing tonight, to keep Your Highness company. Does Your Highness find it dull, sailing on the lake like this?”

In truth, the Grand Tutor also found drifting on the lake to be quite dull.

It had all started when, with nothing better to do one day, he was flipping through a vulgar romance novel in the princess’s chambers.

Although the fast-paced coupling of the male and female characters appealed to him, this dragon pearl (meaning the emperor) was made of paper and such pleasures were not to be had.

But since his Guo’er enjoyed reading such tales, and seemed to envy the dynamics between men and women in them, he suddenly had an epiphany.

He ordered Nanny Shan to retrieve those few nearly worn-out volumes from the emperor’s chambers.

Reading them closely, he was struck by how all the male protagonists were eerily similar…impoverished scholars with lofty ambitions, all eager to bed noble maidens.

They had studied for years with no success, already enough to make the reader anxious.

Then they’d fall head over heels for a young lady, seize a chance through a matchmaking maid, swear eternal love under the moon, and go boating while drinking tea.

What amazed him most was that despite failing for ten years, if they simply loafed around every day engaging in trysts, once the young lady was thoroughly satisfied in bed and had her meridians unblocked, the scholar would suddenly come out top of the imperial exams.

These poor scholars, who could barely afford trousers, would then hold their heads high before snobbish in-laws who once beat them like dogs.

Wei Lenghou himself had risen through the imperial examinations.

Back then, he was exceptionally intelligent and had worked hard before the exams, never daring to slack for even a moment.

Who would’ve thought there existed such an effortless, pleasurable path to success?

Especially when he saw the maid passing letters between lovers, he immediately imagined the despicable physician using that lowly maid, An Qiao’er, to secretly pass love notes to the emperor.

What kind of people wrote these vulgar books! Didn’t their families have daughters? If they had well-bred, delicate daughters, were they all waiting around for desperate penniless scholars to ruin them?

Cursing their absurdity in his heart, the Grand Tutor also realized that after years of reading these ridiculous books, the emperor was likely already deeply poisoned.

A few women’s moral guides wouldn’t be enough to fix her.

So he thought: why not fight poison with poison? I’ll learn from these books and charm the beloved into cheerfulness.

But lately, he’d been too busy during the day.

He could only steal time under the moonlight to take this little beauty out on the lake to enjoy the evening breeze.

Alas, without the taste of sunshine, something essential was missing.

Seeing the dragon pearl yawning endlessly, the Grand Tutor suddenly felt utterly foolish for ever believing in that book and fit only to be used as firestarter.

His mood instantly soured.

No matter how sleepy Nie Qinglin was, she could still read such an expression.

She immediately widened her eyes and said, “How could that be? I’ve never gone boating on the lake at night before—such a delight… Grand Tutor, let’s hurry and burn the paper, don’t miss the right time!”

“……”

With a darkened expression, the Grand Tutor ordered the painted boat to dock.

He was the first to step ashore, took a few steps forward, then turned back, shoved aside the maid who was about to assist the princess, and personally lifted the somewhat clumsy princess into his arms and set her down on the shore.

Unexpectedly, once she was on land, the princess perked right up.

“Grand Tutor, if there’s no rush, why don’t we have a bowl of wanton at the stall up ahead?”

Because she had attended a dharma assembly before, Ge Yun’er had once strongly recommended that the wanton at that stall was truly delicious.

Now, catching a whiff of its aroma, her stomach growled fiercely.

This temple often had resident scholars studying here, and after long hours of reading, they would come here at night for some wanton as a late-night snack, so the little stall usually stayed open past midnight.

The Grand Tutor frowned at the mere sight of the stall.

He had always been extremely careful about what he ate and street food like this, unclean and unsanitary, would never enter his mouth!

But seeing the greedy look on the dragon pearl’s face, the Grand Tutor thought for a moment and then nodded.

Turning to the guards beside him, he said, “Go, invite the old man who sells wanton into my residence and have him prepare two bowls there.”

Nie Qinglin immediately regretted her suggestion.

Watching the old man, who was just about to pack up, being coaxed and half-threatened by the guards, she couldn’t bear it and said, “Forget it. Street snacks like this are only enjoyable by the roadside. Bring it into the residence and it becomes too formal and loses its charm. Let’s just head back to the palace.”

But the Grand Tutor didn’t move.

He frowned in thought, then took Nie Qinglin’s little hand and walked toward the stall.

“Two bowls of wanton.”

The old man, who had already been about to close shop, was startled when a handsome man in white robes brought along a dainty young lady asking for wanton. He was so spooked he almost leapt in place.

He suspected that the Dragon King of the lake had taken human form and come to claim food in the night, bringing along his carp-fairy consort.

But seeing the squad of guards behind them, his beard practically stood on end from fright.

“S-sir, I only have enough left to make one bowl.”

As he spoke, he quickly lit the fire and boiled the water, dropped the wanton in, and when they were done, ladled over a generous spoonful of red chili oil before serving it up.

A little eunuch tried to take the first taste, but the Grand Tutor waved him off, personally picked up a spoon, tasted one himself, and, finding it acceptable, handed the bowl to the princess.

“Tastes quite good. Eat up.”

At that moment, the Grand Tutor seemed to have shed the cold, aloof air of the court… Nie Qinglin suddenly felt a bit flustered and quickly scooped one into her mouth—

What followed was her face turning bright red as she broke into a fit of earth-shaking coughing.

Nanny Shan, nearby, immediately lunged forward and grabbed the old man by the collar, glaring with wide eyes, shouting, “Old wretch, what did you add in there?! Where’s the antidote?!”

The old man nearly cried on the spot.

“I always prepare food cleanly! My hands never touched the pot and I only added two spoonfuls of chili oil! The young lady must not be able to handle spice. Have some cold water to ease it!”

The Grand Tutor, with an arm around Longzhu’s waist, shook with laughter.

The oppressive mood from the boat ride finally dispersed.

Nie Qinglin was already choking so badly that tears streamed from her eyes.

She had never eaten such spicy food in the palace before and her tongue felt as though it were being scraped over nails.

Ge Yun’er’s words were not to be trusted! What was so delicious about this burning mess? The Grand Tutor was as rotten-hearted as ever.

To think she was actually touched by his taste-testing first, only for him not to warn her about the fire in that bowl!

The Grand Tutor, still smiling, accepted the little teapot offered by the eunuch and lowered his head to feed the tearful girl in his arms.

He failed to notice a deep, shadowed gaze watching them from afar…

Right beside the lakeside was Hanxiang Temple.

Its Sutra Library had windows facing the lake, now flung wide open.

A dark figure stood there at the window, silently observing the pair in the distance, who looked very well matched.

He had originally come here to meet someone, never expecting to run into someone who had no business being here at all…

In this silent and empty moment, Ge Qingyuan finally shed all his masks.

He watched with a cold smile as that high-ranking man held the charming young woman in his arms.

He closed his eyes slightly and drew a deep breath, as if he could smell the sweet fragrance unique to that woman.

If power had a scent, then surely this would be it?

That faint, cloying sweetness stirred every blood vessel in his body, like a thousand rushing rivers surging within, dragging him into a frenzy he could not control.

If the path to power came with such sweet rewards, how could any ambitious man not bend the knee?