[Bonus Chapter 2] Not Waiting (Part 2)

In the end, I was unaware that my soul had been severed, and only dreams remained to accompany me.

Love, once begged for, is like a forced marriage. Tang Feng, who desperately pleaded with Emperor Yun for a marriage decree in the palace, received only news that Zhou Ziliang had angrily gone to guard the border. Madam Zhou looked at Tang Feng apologetically, "Little Feng, I'm so sorry! Ziliang... Ziliang went to the border... But don't worry, your aunt will definitely bring him back, okay?! Little Feng!" Tang Feng's pupils dilated, and he stumbled, only to be pulled back by Madam Zhou. He mumbled a few thoughtless words, "Really? It's alright... As long as he's happy, he doesn't need to worry about me, it's alright... It's okay." Tang Feng staggered down the steps, his legs giving way, almost causing him to kneel. Fortunately, Liu Yiwan reacted quickly and caught him. "Young Master... are you alright?" Seeing the distraught Tang Feng, Liu Yiwan was startled. Tang Feng waved his hand, "Go back! Don't wait anymore, I want to be alone." Then, Tang Feng pulled away from Liu Yiwan's hand and swayed towards the street.

Tang Feng stood at the spot where Zhou Ziliang had taken him to safety in the carriage years ago, unable to come to his senses for a long time. "When it rains, it pours; when the boat is late, the wind blows; these past few years have been full of bad luck, good things have turned into misfortune!" A shout snapped Tang Feng out of his daze. He turned around and looked around before finally recognizing the person who had called out to him. The man wore a Taoist hat and a blue robe, holding a Bagua fan, with the words "Divine Calculator" written beside him. Tang Feng slowly walked over and pointed to himself. "Were you calling me?"

"Who else could be having such bad luck here but you?" The old Taoist priest patted Tang Feng's forehead with his Bagua fan, then pointed to the seat in front of him. "Sit down, sit down, don't just stand there! I don't rip people off here, a fortune telling is only three coins." Tang Feng sat down on the stool with some doubt and cautiously asked, "Sir, can you tell my love life here?"

"Of course, promotions, wealth, and career advancement, as well as marriage, children, and family members—all these can be calculated. However, your divination is not very good... Look, the East Four is repairing the West, and the West Four is repairing the East. Auspicious stars have turned into inauspicious stars. Although both the external and internal aspects are auspicious, it's all useless. You two are inherently incompatible, destined to be together but not to stay together, a deep affection that won't last! Tsk tsk tsk, oh dear, young master, please don't cry!" Tang Feng tried hard to hold back his tears, his face turning red, and finally managed to say, "Thank you, sir! But I wonder if you can resolve this?"

"The one who tied the knot must untie it. To put it bluntly, you two are bound together by your own actions. Otherwise, it would be a completely unrelated matter. Now, I can borrow your soul to help you." The old man stroked his beard. "Borrow your soul?"

"Simply put, it's about borrowing someone else's soul to fulfill your wish, and then you can come back. How about that?" Tang Feng lowered his head and thought for a moment, then placed ten taels of silver on the table. "Okay... what do you suggest I do?" The old man took out a carved gold bell from his pocket and handed it to Tang Feng. "Young master, you must keep this safe, otherwise if you lose the bell later, your soul won't be able to return! Find a good time, commit suicide, and that will do."

Tang Feng glanced at the fortune teller, then gripped the bell tightly. "Suicide... does that mean death?"

"More or less! So, I won't force you on this, but I have my question: are you still going to study? Are you still waiting? If this isn't done right, you could be dead. After all, I haven't done this kind of work in years." Tang Feng tied the bell to his waist and nodded. "I'll give it a try. If I really lose my life, then I'll have lived for myself once in my life." With that, Tang Feng turned and left.

"Young master, please wait a moment! We haven't asked your name yet!" The fortune teller stood up and hurriedly greeted him. Tang Feng turned his head, clutched the hem of his clothes, and whispered, "My surname is Tang... and my given name is Feng, the Feng from 'The wild goose flies high in the dark, the sun and moon shine white, the green maple leaves turn red, and frost falls from the sky.'"

The Taoist priest shook his head. "Sigh, such an auspicious and stable name, why was it chosen with a single character? A single character like 'Feng' in the name—bad luck indeed! Eternal love, the cycle of time—neither brings good fortune! I really don't know if your father consulted a fortune teller before naming you like this."

Tang Feng returned to the Tang residence with the bell, placing it on the table and gazing at it quietly. "Ziliang," he thought, "if I'm gone one day, will you still remember me?" Tang Feng retrieved paper and pen from his study and sat down to write letters to Zhou Ziliang, one after another. He hadn't left the house in the past few days. He'd witnessed some unpleasant things at the palace and was having frequent nightmares. But every day, Tang Feng would sit by the study window, hoping Zhou Ziliang would write back. If he did, it would mean Zhou Ziliang still cared for him, and then Tang Feng would decide to return the bell.

"Young Master... perhaps we shouldn't wait any longer?" Liu Yiwan stood beside him, holding a cup of tea, her face filled with worry. "You sent hundreds of letters, and they've all been returned unopened... Perhaps we should just let it go?"

"Yes, what right do I have to demand a reply from him!" Tang Feng leaned against the window, clutching the bell in his hand. "He should hate me. If it weren't for mutual affection, why would I force him?"

Liu Yiwan stood behind, unsure what to say, but fearing Tang Feng might do something rash, she summoned Zhang Mobai and instructed him at length, "My young master can't bear to hear the name 'Young Marquis,' so please say as little as possible. It's not appropriate for a servant like me to stay with him tonight, so please stay with him." Zhang Mobai waved his hand, "If I had known this would happen, I should have cut it off immediately instead of letting it drag on. This mess is too much for his body." Zhang Mobai then went inside, but to his surprise, Tang Feng seemed to be in better spirits than he expected. "Little brother, I'll sleep with you tonight, is that alright?" Tang Feng shifted slightly onto the bed, watching Zhang Mobai sit down, and then said, "Mobai... it's alright, don't worry, I'm fine." Hearing this, Zhang Mobai breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, that's good. Tomorrow I'll take you horseback riding to get some fresh air, to forget this relationship, to forget Zhou Ziliang." Tang Feng smiled as he sat on the bed, "It's truly a case of the falling flower longing for the flowing water, but the flowing water having no heart for the falling flower!"

As the masked assassin rode a black horse toward him, Tang Feng gripped the bell tightly, then closed his eyes. Days and nights with Zhou Ziliang flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern, ending with the sordid image of Zhou Ziliang kneeling in the main hall of the Zhou mansion, coldly refusing with a "No!"

"Young master, let me ask you this: do you still yearn for him? Do you still wait?" The fortune teller's words echoed in Tang Feng's ears. "If I hadn't run away that Mid-Autumn Festival, if he hadn't saved me, if I hadn't gone to the Zhou residence with my father, if I hadn't asked my father for a marriage proposal, if I hadn't sought His Majesty's blessing for our marriage, would... we could at least be friends, and I could secretly admire him? But there are no 'ifs,' so do I still yearn for him? No, I don't. Do I still wait? No, I don't... Zhou Ziliang, I've waited for you for six years without a reply. If I had known it would be so heart-wrenching, I would have preferred never to have met you."

A tear slid down Tang Feng's cheek. He was finally free. He no longer had to wait day and night, nor did he have to blame himself for the marriage decreed by the Emperor. Zhou Ziliang was finally free from his own constraints and could pursue freedom to find the love he truly desired. Who would that person be? Perhaps a lady of high birth, perhaps a peerless gentleman, but it wouldn't be Tang Feng, the one who waited for him for six years, the one who dared to touch his nose on the Mid-Autumn Festival night.