Chapter 10: In the Mire

Xue Xiyang sat cross-legged in front of the musical instrument. His peach blossom eyes swept over the people below, paused at Qiandeng, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face as he winked at her.

Seeing that there were many students below, as he expected, Yu Guangling, Meng Lanxi, Jin Tang and others had not arrived. He did not mind, but just smiled at Qian Deng and said, "I got stained with mud just now, so I was late in changing. I hope that teachers and students will forgive me."

The doctor presiding over the meeting said with a smile, "How dare I? It's the prison that failed to clear the blockage in time. I hope Xue Lecheng won't despise me."

Xue Xiyang smiled slightly, raised his hand and gently stroked the strings of the zither, and said, "The art of the zither goes back to the ancient times, reaches the vast wilderness, and reflects human nature. The ancients felt the subtleties of the human body and the interest of the mind, so they played the zither to let their bodies run wild..."

As expected of the Minister of Music, he taught the whole class, playing and explaining at the same time, explaining in simple terms, from Confucius's composition of "Yi Lan Cao" due to his misfortune to Cai Yong's recognition of the burnt ends by hearing the burning wood, and talked about everything from music to instruments, from ancient times to the present, and finally said goodbye with a song "Yangguan Sandie".

Moreover, his clear voice made people feel clear-headed and transparent. The chief priests, doctors and students were so engrossed in listening that they clapped their hands in praise.

The one-hour lecture time was up in a flash, but everyone was reluctant to leave.

Xue Xiyang left the table with his zither, politely declining everyone's invitation to a banquet. He simply looked at Qian Deng and smiled faintly, saying, "I'm going back to the palace now. Today is the day for the palace eunuchs to give instructions, and I want to listen to the instructions with the county lady. We can't delay."

Seeing him mention so naturally and even with a bit of pride that he was staying in Lingling County Lady's backyard, everyone was speechless and could only say goodbye to him with a wry smile.

Before the crowd dispersed, Xue Xiyang approached Qiandeng and lowered his voice to a whisper, smiling, "I think the county lady seems quite interested in today's music theory class. If you're interested, you can come and discuss it with me. Xiyang will definitely be there to welcome you..."

"No need. I came to the Imperial College to borrow books. I didn't know you were here to give me a lecture until I was dragged here." Qian Deng was already accustomed to his flamboyant behavior, so she naturally declined. "My mother recently passed away, so I shouldn't be listening to Shao music."

"I didn't think it through." Xue Xiyang showed a hint of guilt, looked at the rain outside, and asked, "I came here by car today. Do you want to go back together?"

"Okay, okay. I'm fed up with this endless rain. My shoes are always wet every time I go home." Shangluo saw that it was raining outside the window again, and quickly waved to Qiandeng to go together.

As soon as he got off the podium, he saw Jian Anting searching for Yu Guangling among the dispersing students. Shang Luo waved and asked, "Brother Jian, have you found Brother Yu?"

Jian Anting frowned and said, "No, that's strange. Where did Guangling go?"

"We clearly saw him walking towards the library from upstairs. It's only a few steps away, where could he be going?" Shang Luo looked towards the library in surprise and asked, "Brother Jian, you also came here this way later. Didn't you see Brother Yu?"

Jian Anting shook his head: "Could it be that he turned back halfway and didn't want to attend the lecture anymore?"

Hearing him say this, Xue Xiyang's smile was filled with a hint of mockery, and he said, "Forget it, let's go first."

"Okay." Shang Luo pouted and was about to leave with him, but Jian Anting suddenly thought of something and asked, "Brother Shang, did you see Guangling walking towards the library from upstairs?"

"Yes, we all saw it, but we were talking about other things later, and when we looked back, he was gone."

Qian Deng also nodded: "Indeed."

"So he didn't go over to the podium, and I didn't see him come back, even though I was standing outside the library. So, did he go to the library?"

"It's possible. That nerd, Brother Yu, wouldn't have been reading in there until now, right?"

Jian Anting shook his head helplessly, turned and walked towards the library, and said, "I'll go take a look."

The three of them followed behind him. Shang Luo twirled the umbrella in his hand and said to Xue Xiyang, who was holding the zither, "Brother Xue, you just said that the sound of the zither loses its clarity when it encounters moisture. So, don't let your zither get wet in the rain!"

Qiandeng glanced at Xue Xiyang's zither bag, and remembered that when he wanted to enter the palace that day, he sat in the wind and rain and played the zither for two and a half hours. He was afraid that the zither had been broken by him.

Xue Xiyang stroked the zither bag and smiled, "Don't worry, my zither bag is made of oil silk cloth, rainwater can't easily seep in. As long as it doesn't fall into the water..."

When they were talking about this, they were walking to the alley between the two bookstores. They saw a bright red out of the corner of their eyes and unconsciously glanced inside.

Xue Xiyang's body froze there, the zither in his hand loosened, and fell into the puddle on the ground along with the zither bag.

"Brother Xue, why are you..."

Before Shangluo could finish his surprised words, Qiandeng had already raised his hand, covered his eyes, and hurriedly turned him to the side.

In the alley, a body was lying face down in a puddle.

Due to heavy rain for several days, the streets were filled with muddy water, which had now turned blood red. The dead seemed to have drowned in a pool of blood, lying motionless in this horrible blood red.

Shangluo was confused and was about to raise his hand to pry Qiandeng's hand away when Jian Anting's voice trembled slightly beside him: "That dress... is... is it Guangling?"

Qiandeng stared at the corpse and felt that it looked a bit like Yu Guangling, but he couldn't believe it. He just looked at the corpse lying in a pool of blood, his mind blank for a moment.

"Maybe... maybe it's not him?" Jian Anting's face was pale, and he waded into the water with a trembling body, and walked into the alley shakily. His dragging posture seemed particularly stiff.

When he reached the body, he took a deep breath and raised his trembling hands to grab the face-down corpse.

Because he was too panicked, he grabbed several times before he finally turned the body over. Looking at the face in the mud, he trembled and lost his voice for a long time before he screamed in panic: "It's... It's really Guangling!"

Regardless of the blood and mud, he picked up Yu Guangling's upper body, turned around to look at them, and panicked: "Hurry... Hurry and carry him out..."

Qian Deng looked over his shoulder and saw the body of Yu Guangling he was holding. Seeing that it was already stiff and pale, he stopped him from dragging it: "Don't move. Wait until the officials arrive!"

Jian Anting was stunned for a moment, then seemed to wake up from a dream. He loosened his grip and let Yu Guangling fall back into the bloody pool. He stood up, staggered backwards, and fell to the ground.

He was so frightened that his hands and feet were powerless. He struggled several times in the mud and water before finally standing up. He held the wall and retreated, holding his clothes soaked in blood. His face was pale and only rapid gasps came out of his mouth.