Children are under a lot of pressure

Life proceeded as usual. Ah Shi went out to study and read every day. In the court, the prime minister and the Mu family began to make frequent moves. The Mu family's military commanders were naturally involved, but the prime minister's arrangements for personnel were always rejected by the crown prince. Ah Shi, on the other hand, had not yet found an opportunity to appear in court...

Finally, to silence public opinion and to ensure that Ah Shi could legitimately stand in the court, the prime minister decided to let Ah Shi take the imperial examination himself. To avoid suspicion, the prime minister did not interfere in the examination process at all this time. Ah Shi could only rely on his true abilities to pass the exam, and only by passing it could he proceed with his plans.

Ah Shi spends all his time in the Prime Minister's library, studying so hard he's oblivious to the world around him. Several times when I went there, I saw Ah Shi with a lifeless face, fiercely repeating the book in his hands... He looked like he wanted to devour the book...

I was afraid that something might really happen to Ah Shi, so I simply brought him out of the Prime Minister's residence and rubbed his face: "Wake up, wake up, Auntie will take you to play."

"Really?" A glimmer of light appeared in Ah Shi's lifeless eyes: "Where are we going? Where are we going?"

"Whatever you want to do, I'll go with you wherever you want to go."

"Really? I want to go to a brothel..."

A brothel? Going to a brothel for drinks? But seeing Ah Shi's expectant look, I agreed: "Okay! Let's go."

"I also want to visit the military camp."

Military camp? Military camps involve military secrets... I gritted my teeth and agreed: "Okay."

"I also want to go boating on the lake."

"No problem!"

He asked me many questions, and I agreed to each one. He was quite happy: "Thank you, Auntie. Let's go to the brothel then!"

He really wants to go? I felt a little embarrassed, but wanting to help him relax, I decided to take him anyway: "Do you know which brothel has the best girls?"

"I don't know! But why don't we go take a look?" Ah Shi raised an eyebrow at me: "A brothel must look very luxurious."

After searching for a long time, we finally stopped in front of a magnificent and huge gatehouse. It was a three-story wooden building. On the second floor, two women were sitting facing each other drinking tea. There were no vulgar girls waving handkerchiefs and calling out, "Sir, come in and sit down." Instead, there was an elegantly dressed woman playing a pipa tune under the eaves...

Ah Shi put his elbow on my shoulder: "Auntie, this building must be really nice. It looks incredibly elegant. Aren't most brothels just vulgar? This one is definitely better!"

A servant guarding the gate saw us and came forward, bowing very politely and asking, "Is this your first time here?"

Is it that obvious?

The servant bowed slightly and invited us, "Please come in, gentlemen. Since this is your first time here, you can listen to some music that you find pleasing to the eye first. Once you're more familiar with the place, you can find music you like."

"That makes a lot of sense!" I nodded to Ah Shi. Ah Shi glanced to the side, then turned back to me and smiled, "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense."

At this point, the servant continued to ask, "May I ask if you two prefer the pipa, guzheng, flute, or shakuhachi?"

"Shakuhachi? I've only ever heard of that instrument. Do you have any musicians in your building?"

"Yes, my young master Xiaoyun is a master of the shakuhachi, but I don't know if he's free today."

“Oh,” I nodded, “then if it really doesn’t work, we’ll find another one.”

As soon as the servants led us into the 'Xufeng Tower,' they conveyed to the welcoming maid: 'This is the first time you two guests have visited, and you seem quite interested in Young Master Xiaoyun's shakuhachi.'

"Oh dear!" The mother slapped her thigh and smiled obsequiously, "Young Master Xiaoyun is free today, so I'll take you both upstairs."

As we followed the brothel's mother up to the second-floor room, we were having tea and snacks when someone pushed open the door and came in.

He was dressed in white, with several large white flowers sewn on his clothes. Although it might seem a bit 'florid' for a man to wear such a floral garment, the pure white flowers, scattered only in a few places, actually toned down the gaudiness. The man had clear, bright eyes, a smile playing on his lips, making it seem as if he were not in a brothel, but standing in a lush mountain wilderness…

The mountains and fields? I suddenly thought of those hands that brushed over the flowers. Why am I thinking of Bai Er? I shook my head and looked at the man in front of me.

The man, holding a shakuhachi, bowed to us and said, "I am Xiaoyun. Do you two have any favorite pieces?"

"No, I've never heard of the shakuhachi before. Just play whatever you like."

“Okay,” Xiaoyun nodded and began to play the shakuhachi.

A calm and resonant voice gradually approached, as if revealing a pond of withered lotus flowers...

Just as I was listening intently, I heard the sound of soldiers marching in unison downstairs, followed by silence. Not long after, I heard the sound of a sword scraping against armor. Then the voice came up into the restaurant, accompanied by our mother who was there to greet us. I heard her repeatedly trying to stop the newcomer: "Sir, sir, what are you doing? Our Xufeng Restaurant is a legitimate place to do business!"

"Huh? Is someone coming to check the building?"

Curious, I went outside and saw Mu Li approaching with a frosty expression. He ignored my mother, who was following and explaining, and walked straight towards me. I unconsciously took a deep breath and took a step back. He drew closer and said in an extremely cold voice, "Xu Yi!"

"Uh..." I hurriedly pointed to my brow, immediately shifting the blame: "I came with Ah Shi!" I pointed to the side, only to find that there was no one beside me anymore. Behind me, through the wide-open door, stood only the aloof Xiao Yun, the light in his eyes gone, as if he were used to this scene...

Muli followed my gaze and saw Xiaoyun inside the door. Xiaoyun, oblivious to the danger, smiled at him. Muli's eyes were full of disgust. He grabbed my hand and pulled me downstairs, saying, "Come back with me first!"

He walked downstairs rather quickly, and I couldn't keep up with his pace. I was afraid of falling, so I tugged at him and said, "Muli, slow down."

He stopped, turned to look at me, his eyes full of displeasure: "You!"

"I...I really was with Ah Shi!"

Muli glanced at his mother beside him speechlessly, then picked me up and strode downstairs. After he put me down, I heard Xiaoyun from the second floor call out to me, "See you next time, girl."

This guy really knows how to stir things up! I could only nod awkwardly, "We'll see, we'll see."

"Say it again?" Mu Li pinched my chin, forcing me to look up and meet his eyes. "You want to do it again?"

"I'm not coming!" I quickly changed my mind: "Absolutely not coming!"

Having received my assurance, Mu Li gently patted non-existent dust off my dress, then glanced at Xiao Yun standing by the railing upstairs, his expression icy. Xiao Yun, to her dismay, nodded and bowed to Mu Li… Seeing this, my mother quickly stepped in front of Mu Li to block his oppressive gaze, forcing a smile: “Sir, our Xufeng Tower is a legitimate business. With you making such a big fuss… how can I do business?”

"His Majesty is currently rectifying the political situation, so it would be best if you closed your business for a few days!"

"No, sir! This lady only came to listen to music, she didn't do anything! How much silver are we losing every day? Sir, please spare our lives!"

After a long pause, Mu Li finally relented, pointing at me and saying, "You're not allowed to come here again."

"Yes!" The mother next to her wiped the sweat from her face. "Please don't come, or I'll have to close down!"

"Fine! I didn't want to come here in the first place!"

Muli pinched my cheek in a huff, then led me away in a grand manner.

After the officers and soldiers all withdrew, Xufeng Tower seemed to return to the peaceful moment before I set foot there.

His men bowed to Mu Li and then led the soldiers behind them back.

I couldn't see Ah Shi anywhere, so I asked Mu Li, "Have your men seen Ah Shi?"

"No, I only saw you!"

"That brat, he actually got away!" I rolled my eyes and said to Muli, "Say one word, and I'll see where he went."

"umbrella."

“The umbrella is composed of six strokes, which represents the Kan trigram, water, and danger, and signifies the north. He should be in the north. The umbrella also has the character for ‘person’ with an inverted tree, so he is either on a boat or fishing.” I looked at Mu Li: “Let’s go, to the north.”

After saying that, I mounted my horse and rode directly north of the city.

After riding for a long time, we finally saw a large lake. We found Ah Shi fishing in a very secluded spot to the north. I went straight up to him and slapped his straw hat off: "You little rascal, you can use sound to strike the west now?"

He hurriedly caught the straw hat and gave me an embarrassed smile: "Auntie, you came so fast!"

"What are you doing? You just ran off without saying a word?"

"I... just want to go fishing by myself."

"Can't you just tell me that? If you said you wanted to go fishing alone, would I stop you from coming?"

"But I like this feeling of escaping, Auntie. It always feels like I've escaped from a cage, and it's all about freedom."

Okay, it seems the kid is under too much pressure. I breathed a sigh of relief: "Alright then, let's pretend we didn't find you. You can keep fishing by yourself."

"Really? Auntie, you're so kind!"

"Don't run anymore, we'll be waiting for you right behind us."

“Okay,” he nodded happily, put the hat back on his head, and continued fishing.

I pulled Muli back, retreating to a spot behind the lake where we couldn't see Ashi anymore, and waited for him to finish fishing.

There were no pavilions or anything like that on either side, so I simply sat down on the ground and stared blankly at the sky.

Kuri sat down with me, pulled me into his arms, and leaned close to ask, "Do you like listening to the shakuhachi?"

"This isn't over yet?" I shook my head. "I'd only heard the name of this instrument before, and the servant who led the way said that someone could play it, so I said I'd listen."

"Xu Yi..." He tightened his grip on my arms, "We've only just gotten together, and you've already gone to a brothel?"

"Ah Shi, it's Ah Shi!" I promptly shifted the blame: "He said he wanted to go to a brothel, and I saw he'd been studying so hard lately, so I agreed to go with him. Turns out he led you here and then ran off on his own... By the way, how did you know I was at a brothel?"

He pressed his cheek against mine and said only two words: "Secret."