Chapter 56 The Lament of a Foolish Woman (Part Six) The Hypocrite, Chu Yue
The teahouse was filled with steam, which mingled with the aroma of freshly roasted Longjing tea and wafted towards people's faces.
Song Qiling narrowed her eyes, turned around on the bench with her tea in her hands, and looked at the storyteller on the stage.
"It is said that on the Shangsi Festival that year, by the Qujiang Pool, the silk ribbons were as green as jade, and the peach blossoms were dazzling."
"The eldest princess was ordered to leave the palace for a spring outing. She wore a filigree gold phoenix crown with pearls on her head and a scarlet silk skirt embroidered with peonies with gold trim. The flower decoration between her eyebrows made her skin look as white as snow and her appearance was like that of a fairy."
The aroma of tea, carrying stories, drifted far away. Before long, people followed the scent to the teahouse, shook off their robes, sat down, ordered a pot of hot tea and a plate of fruit, and leisurely listened to the stories.
The storyteller stroked his beard and said with great expression, "When she was writing her poem at the Flowing Wine Pavilion, the newly appointed top scholar happened to ride by on horseback. Heh!"
The deliberately drawn-out tone almost made Song Qiling laugh.
Judging from the tone of the conversation, the next part would likely describe how handsome the newly appointed top scholar was, as if he were as good-looking as Pan An, and so on.
Sure enough, the storyteller gasped and said, "What a handsome young man! He wore a moon-white robe adorned with green bamboo, a jade flute hung at his waist, and his phoenix eyes shone with a smile. He fluently finished the princess's half-stanza of poetry."
Then, lowering his voice, he said, "That one glance ruined my life!"
"A talented man and a beautiful woman are a perfect match, how could they ruin their lives?" asked a puzzled audience member eating sunflower seeds.
Another person followed suit, offering his opinion: "What do you know! If the princess takes a liking to him, he can only become the prince consort. This top scholar was originally very talented and ambitious. He could have risen through the ranks and had a smooth official career. If he becomes the prince consort, he will be considered half a live-in son-in-law. In the future, he probably won't be able to become an official anymore!"
The man eating sunflower seeds pondered for a moment, then sighed, "So this is what ruined the life of this top scholar."
The storyteller stopped abruptly when interrupted by the audience, then cleared his throat and continued, "Upon returning to the palace, the princess asked her brother, the emperor, for a marriage decree. On their wedding day, Zhuque Street was covered in red silk, and the top scholar personally planted a phoenix tree for the princess, vowing, 'The phoenix perches on the phoenix tree, and we will never be apart.' After the marriage, the princess gave birth to a daughter, truly the envy of everyone!"
The man eating sunflower seeds spat out a mouthful of seed shells and said, "Having a beautiful woman by my side is truly a blessing in life."
The other person clicked his tongue and shook his head: "Men are good at pretending. Just wait and see how he behaves after marriage."
After saying that, the man eating sunflower seeds stopped, turned around and looked the other man up and down, "Aren't you a man too? How can you make such a judgment?"
The man glanced at the man with the melon seeds and chuckled, "Men, of course, understand men best."
The gavel struck again, and the storyteller's voice turned somber as he continued, "Who knew that this prince consort was a charlatan! After the princess's maternal family fell from power, he took a courtesan as his concubine, allowing that wicked woman to embezzle the princess's allowance. While the poor two-year-old child was trapped in a sea of fire, the prince consort was actually embracing his concubine in a separate courtyard, listening to music!"
The storyteller said in a hoarse, trembling voice, "Guess what? That day, the raging fire only burned down the Wutong Courtyard where the young girl lived!"
Enraged, the man holding the sunflower seeds threw down his hands, slammed his fist on the table, and stood up: "An ungrateful wretch! I should have just shoved him to death in the urinal!"
The other person quickly comforted him, saying, "It's just a fictional story, why get so worked up? Sit down, sit down, you're too tall and you're blocking my view."
Upon hearing this, the person quieted down.
"As the saying goes, 'When the raging fire is extinguished, the phoenix returns to its nest, and the willows of Qujiang are fresh and green again.' Ladies and gentlemen, the most poisonous thing in this world is never arsenic or poison, but the vows of eternal love made by a pale-faced scholar, and the gentle knife lurking by a beauty's pillow!"
The gavel fell heavily, as if striking Song Qiling's heart. She touched the warm cup in her hand and said softly, "Grandpa, what happened to this princess afterward?"
The storyteller glanced at her and said, "After the child died, the princess went mad. She locked herself in a dark room all day, humming lullabies to soothe the child, and refused to see her husband."
"Is it just that you don't want to see the prince consort?" She lowered her eyes to look at the light tea soup, her heart tightening for no reason. "If I were that mother who lost her son, I would make the prince consort pay the same price even if I became a vengeful ghost."
"Exactly!" Sunflower seed shells flew everywhere as the man stood up abruptly, waved his sleeve, and said, "How can we let beasts go unpunished while victims have to swallow their grievances?"
Song Qiling chuckled and shook her head, saying, "This story isn't good."
On second thought, since today is the Shangsi Festival, why tell such a tragic story?
After finishing his tea, Song Qiling stood up, supporting himself on the table, and called to Gu Lianzhou, "Junior brother, let's go."
The two paid their money and were about to leave the teahouse when they suddenly heard the storyteller's laughter behind them: "Good and evil will be rewarded in the end, and the cycle of karma is inevitable. To find out what happens next, please listen to the next chapter!"
Song Qiling raised an eyebrow slightly and glanced at the storyteller behind the table. "Today you tell tales of suffering, tomorrow you tell stories of revenge?"
Gu Lianzhou laughed and said, "This old gentleman certainly knows how to whet people's appetites."
The gavel fell again, and the storyteller took a sip of tea before beginning a new tale: "Have you ever seen frost fall in the sweltering heat of June? Today, I'm going to tell you about this very strange case..."
-
As dusk settles and the city lights begin to twinkle.
Just as Song Qiling had predicted, the Murong family indeed held a banquet that night.
Whether Yu Qi was lucky or unlucky was unknown, but after only being confined for a day, Murong Xiao released him, saying that it wouldn't be too late for him to go back to his seclusion and reflect on his mistakes after finishing this meal.
"Do you think I care about eating this meal?!" Yu Qi had been cooped up in the house all day and was already irritable. Hearing his father's arrangement made him even angrier. "I'm not a vase that needs to be specially brought out and placed on the banquet table for people to admire. By the way, where's Murong Zheng? I haven't seen him."
Liu Dai silently nudged him with her elbow, "Could you please lower your voice, ancestor? So many people are watching. Don't forget, your fourth brother had his head smashed by you, how can he face guests now?"
Oh, it was him who cracked the skull.
Yu Qi was immediately speechless. After watching the guests in the front hall exchanging compliments for a while, he felt bored and couldn't help but ask, "Where did Song San and Gu Si go during the day? Why didn't they take you with them?"
Liu Dai choked for a moment, then muttered, "What kind of talk would it be if I interfered while those two brothers were searching for their master's whereabouts?"
"Master? You mean the leader of the Heavenly Mystery Sect?" Yu Qichong gestured with his chin towards the southeast corner, puzzled. "Take a look for me, are those people in white robes from the Heavenly Mystery Sect?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Dai followed Yu Qi's gaze and saw a group of men in white robes and with pale faces, sitting among the vast crowd, looking out of place with their surroundings.
The leader had his eyes half-closed, his expression detached, listening quietly to the person beside him. He had an elegant figure, and a red dot between his eyebrows made his jade-like face appear even more radiant and otherworldly, like a celestial being from a painting, untouched by the dust of the world.
Such attire suggests they are not from a merchant household, nor do they belong to a prominent family in Tianshui; therefore, they must belong to a martial arts sect.
"The only sect that would wear Taoist robes to a banquet is probably the Tianji Sect," Liu Dai replied after a moment's thought.
"What a coincidence!" Yu Qi slapped his thigh and said, "If that kid Song San knew, he'd probably faint with joy. Quick, go and fetch someone!"
Having said that, he ignored Liu Dai's objections and gave the order to bring the person over, saying that he wanted to give Young Master Song a surprise.
Therefore, when Song Qiling hurriedly entered the front hall with her maid, she assumed that Yu Qi had encountered trouble. Little did she expect that as soon as she sat down, this fellow would grab her neck and turn her gaze to meet the person diagonally opposite her.
“Look, do you recognize that person?” Yu Qi asked, beaming with excitement.
The smile on Song Qiling's lips froze on her face. The next moment, she felt short of breath and wished she could leave this place of trouble immediately.
The hand on her shoulder stubbornly pressed her back to the spot. "Brother Song, don't get too excited. The banquet has just begun. You and your fellow disciples can talk about whatever you want. We have plenty of time."
You're such a jerk!
At this moment, Song Qiling only wanted to pry open Yu Qi's head and see what was inside.
Those who knew her would think she had betrayed the Heavenly Mystery Sect, while those who didn't would think she had gone out for training. Why was she making such a fuss about reuniting with her fellow disciples? It was already exceptionally kind of Chu Yue not to draw his sword against her, let alone reminisce.
Looking at Chu Yue again, he only glanced at her lightly before looking away as if nothing had happened, and whispered something to his senior brother Wu Jiu.
Their attitude is really infuriating.
Song Qiling abruptly abandoned her idea of leaving the table, picked up the wine pot on the table and poured herself a cup of wine, "Let go."
Yu Qi's smile faded: "Huh?"
Song Qiling shook off the hand that was in the way of her shoulder, raised her glass to her lips and took a sip, saying irritably, "Drink and eat!"
Although Yu Qi was slow-witted, he was not stupid. Seeing the cold face, he stopped insisting and said, "Eat...okay, eat more."
Song Qiling felt extremely frustrated during the meal. She tried to restrain herself from looking at the person opposite her, only glancing at him a few times when she tilted her head back to drink. However, she found that the person did not even look at her, as if he did not know her.
After downing half a pot of wine, Song Qiling let out a cold laugh.
hypocrite.
She pushed the wine pot forward, stood up, and prepared to leave her seat.
"Hey, Brother Song, you haven't drunk too much, have you?" Yu Qi couldn't help but worry when he saw that she had only drunk alcohol all night and hadn't even eaten a single peanut. It was his abruptness tonight that had led to him inviting her here so abruptly, resulting in their failure to recognize each other and also displeasing Brother Song.
"It's nothing." Song Qiling didn't want to stay a moment longer, so she waved to Yu Qi and walked around the table to leave.
As I stepped over the threshold, holding onto the door, I felt a cool breeze on my face. The alcohol gradually took effect, but the melancholy in my heart dissipated considerably.
As I walked along the path, I casually plucked a blade of grass from the roadside and chewed on it, my steps becoming unsteady.
"What a terrible road! Why can't it be made wider?" She kicked the cobblestones on the road, making them roll. As she got closer to her small courtyard, she couldn't help but think of Gu Lianzhou.
During the day, they packed up a lot of leftover food and snacks, agreeing to save them for a late-night snack. One of the pastries was called "Crab Shell Pastry," and because it tasted so good, she ordered an extra one, wrapped it in oil paper, and placed it at the bottom of the food box.
Whether it was from drinking or something else, she felt extremely flustered. No, she had to be quicker. What if her junior brother threw away all the food when he didn't see her?
Thinking this, she felt her vision blurring, and a straight road turned into a curve.
Suddenly, the sound of cloth boots hitting the ground came from behind.
The forefoot lands first, then the movement extends to the entire sole, resulting in a steady and powerful stride, yet deliberately restrained.
Song Qiling slowly lifted her eyelids, knowing without turning around what was following her.
A chill ran through him, and the wine in his stomach seemed to churn. Though his steps were unsteady, they were much faster than before.
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, she pushed open the wooden door, rushed inside, and swayed as she turned around to block the door.
"Senior brother?" Gu Lianzhou, who was sitting at the table with his book in his hands, suddenly slammed the book shut when he heard the noise and looked at the person at the door, looking at him with a bewildered expression.
Upon hearing this, Song Qiling slowly loosened her grip on the door latch, turned slightly, bowed to Gu Lianzhou, and smiled broadly on her flushed face: "Junior brother, I've come to find you for a late-night snack."
Having said that, she walked toward him with messy, unsteady steps.
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