Gu Chi stared intently at Shen Tang.
She was terrified that her mistress might do something inappropriate. Once she sobered up, she would definitely hold it against her.
but--
Gu Chi stared at him for a long time, but the latter remained unmoved.
Accustomed to his lord's boisterous inner thoughts, the silence now was unsettling. Recalling the earth-shattering words spoken at the banquet, he couldn't be sure if his lord remembered them in his drunken state.
He carefully considered his words before offering words of comfort: "Does my lord still feel distressed?"
Shen Tang finally responded. She straightened her upper body without moving, but turned her head slightly and asked out of the corner of her eye.
Gu Chi said, "...It's that Xun Hanzhang..."
Shen Tang asked indifferently, "Why should you feel sorry for him?"
Gu Chi: "...It's not that I feel sorry for Xun Hanzhang, but I feel sorry for the gold he spent. But the world is in chaos now, and the situation in the Northwest is turbulent. We can use this war to recuperate for two or three years. But since we are in this mortal world, we can't stay out of it. Sooner or later, we will be drawn into the quagmire of war. Xun Hanzhang's abilities cannot be buried, which means that our lord will..."
Shen Tang said calmly, "My fortune is meager."
Gu Chi: "..."
His lord's composure made him feel uncomfortable.
Not long ago, they were wailing and howling like ghosts.
Shen Tang's expression was as cold and calm as the bright moon in the sky, as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her.
"Gold and silver are just worldly things; they can only buy you three meals a day, fine clothes, and wealth. You won't starve without them."
As the head of a prefecture, she was provided with food, clothing, and lodging by the government, and she could even eat food without needing any money.
Whether you have good fortune or not doesn't make a big difference.
Gu Chi stared in astonishment for a few moments upon hearing this.
He cupped his hands and said with a smile, "My lord is magnanimous; I am no match for him."
Shen Tang pursed her lips and added a sentence.
"Anyway, it's not me who's suffering."
Gu Chi: "..."
Shen Tang suddenly changed her indifferent and aloof demeanor, and a slight smile appeared in her eyes, as if the moonlight was tinged with a faint halo: "Anyway, after I sober up, the other me will feel bad for me."
Gu Chi nearly lost his tongue: "My lord, you..."
Shen Tang: "We're all alone, what's there to be afraid of?"
Gu Chi: "...I wasn't afraid."
Shen Tang remained noncommittal, then, as if remembering something, smiled faintly and said, "I was indeed a bit mischievous when I was young, please forgive me, Wang Chao."
Gu Chi: "...I have a question."
Shen Tang said, "Ask away."
Gu Chi asked directly, "How old is my lord now?"
He was the one among his subordinates who knew the most about Shen Tang's secrets, and he was also aware that his lord had intricate connections with the Gongxi tribe. However, his own lord had no recollection of this.
The man in front of me is quite composed; I wonder how much he still remembers?
Shen Tang shook her head slightly: "I don't remember..."
Seeing that Gu Chi didn't believe her, she took the initiative to explain.
"...I can't remember anything...but I'm sure she's more mature than I was when I was younger, and she's probably older than me."
Gu Chi: "..."
Forgive his bluntness, but he didn't think the lord before him was any more mature than the sober lord. This lord was the type to draw his sword and kill at the slightest provocation. Didn't he just stand up for Chu Yao and threaten to chop off Chu Jie's dog head?
Having few facial expressions does not equate to mental maturity.
However, it's difficult to voice these complaints.
He feared that the other party would become enraged and stab him in the back.
Gu Chi: "Yesterday is gone and cannot be kept. If you don't remember, you don't remember. In our hearts, our lord will always be our lord, and that is enough. But my lord, you drank too much today. You should have gone back to your tent to rest earlier, instead of standing here in the night wind. If you catch a cold, Chu Wu Hui will hold you accountable, and I'll be in deep trouble." He unconsciously used the tone he used to use to coax his younger siblings.
Shen Tang said, "It's not the night breeze."
Gu Chi: "Could it be to sober up?"
Shen Tang shook his head and patted open the red cloth wine seal with one hand.
He said, "No, I'm here to pay my respects to a friend."
Whom are we commemorating?
With his lord so engrossed in work, how could he have time to expand his social circle? Gu Chi couldn't pinpoint a target for the time being.
Shen Tang revealed the answer: "Yan Xingning."
This answer was completely unexpected by Gu Chi: "Yan Xingning? Yan An? When did this person become the lord's friend?"
"Those who share the same ideals and beliefs, how can they not be friends?"
Gu Chi also knew Yan An somewhat, and at this moment he couldn't help but sigh: "It's a pity—the outside world has misunderstood him a lot."
Shen Tang poured the wine on the ground: "In this turbulent world, it is enough to have one or two people who understand him. So am I."
Gu Chi agreed with the first half of the statement but disagreed with the second half.
How can there only be one or two people in the world who truly understand their lord?
With my lord's... indescribable constitution, he will surely have many more like-minded followers in the future, and will not have to walk alone like Yan An. Gu Chi silently objected in his heart, when he saw his lord reach out to him: "Did you bring any musical instruments?"
Gu Chi: "..."
Ah, so let's just leave it at that?
Shen Tang raised an eyebrow and retorted, "What kind of look is that?"
Gu Chi took a half step back, looking somewhat awkward: "I know that my lord wants to play a funeral dirge to send Yan Xingning off, but funeral dirges are mostly for mourning and remembrance... Yan Xingning has helped my lord in a way, so let's not do something like repaying kindness with enmity?"
The lord's mournful music has begun...
It jumps directly from salvation to the annihilation of the soul.
Shen Tang said irritably, "Who told you to be naughty at a time like this? Do you think I don't know my music theory level? Give it to me!"
Gu Chi reluctantly offered up his piccolo.
Then--
The flute's clear sound, like a cold glint, resounded across the sky, breaking through the whistling north wind and blending seamlessly with the moonlight and the heavens.
Funeral music always carries a somber, gray tone, a profound sense of reluctance and melancholy weighing on the heart. Yet, Gu Chi heard a hint of carefree magnanimity in his lord's unknown flute melody. Closing his eyes, he could almost see a tall, upright figure, like a pine or bamboo, traversing the vast sea of clouds alone.
Bathed in moonlight, I wave goodbye to this turbulent world.
By the time he came to his senses, the flute music had already stopped.
Having lived amidst noise and the wickedness of human nature for many years, he had never felt so light and relaxed as he was at this moment.
Gu Chi couldn't help but ask, "What's the name of this tune?"
“I don’t remember. If I had to give it a proper name, I would call it ‘Soul Crosser’…” Shen Tang looked back at the border barrier and murmured, “I will cross over to Yan Xingning and also to the heroic spirits who are eternally asleep here. I only hope that there will be no more strife in this land.”
Gu Chi's eyes softened: "That's difficult—but at least, my lord isn't traveling alone like Yan Xingning—"
Shen Tang handed the flute back: "Thank you for your kind words."
Just then, dappled sunlight painted the clouds orange-red, as if an invisible hand had torn open a corner of the night, and more and more light joined in, slowly but steadily expanding along this crack. Until that ray of sunlight leaped onto the mountainside.
The two returned home one after the other.
While his lord was still drunk, Gu Chi asked a question that had been bothering him all night: "My lord, I have a question."
"you say."
"Why is the lord's music theory knowledge normal?"
Shen Tang seemed to fall into a suspicious silence.
After a long pause, he finally confessed, "This is the only song I know."
There's no other way than practice makes perfect.
Gu Chi: "Oh."
They tactfully changed the subject.
He feared that if he continued to investigate, his lord would become enraged.
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