A Promise in a Prosperous Age
If in the future, the Northern Qiang's iron hooves conquer the Southern Dynasty, then the master of Lanling Hall will naturally become the undisputed number one person in the world, rendering this agreement meaningless.
However, if the Southern Dynasty were to unify the North, Gu Yi would undoubtedly become the chief regent. If he were to abide by the agreement and relinquish his position to Wan Qiqing, Lanling Hall would gain it effortlessly.
Wan Qiqing smiled and said, "If I want to plant a demon in his heart, I can't cut off his thoughts."
Gongyi Xiu and Moyi Mingyue were both extremely surprised and hurriedly asked for their advice.
Wan Qiqing said calmly, "The reason why Gu Yi can make such a clear-headed choice now is because he knows very well what is important in his heart. But the longer A Qiu stays by his side, the deeper his feelings for her will become. And how easy is it to escape the quagmire of conquering the world!"
He said coldly, "I want him to eventually fall into a state of madness and dilemma from which he cannot make a choice. That is the real blow and devastating blow to someone like Gu Yi."
He sneered, "He'll leave after accomplishing his task, concealing his merits and fame. Either he retires after achieving his goal, or he retreats when things are hopeless. He has a good plan, but how could I possibly do as he wishes?"
Upon hearing this, Gongyi Xiu suddenly felt a strange sensation in his heart.
Prior to this, Master's quest for supremacy was purely a rational, almost ruthless, balancing act. Choosing the Northern Qiang as an ally, training three disciples to contend for supremacy in the martial world, and sending A Qiu into the palace to test the strength of Gu Yi and even the entire Southern Dynasty regime—all these actions were purely strategic considerations.
But from this moment on, some things are different.
For example, Gu Yi. To his master, Gu Yi was no longer just a factor that had to be considered, but had become an existence that could affect his emotions and that he had to pay attention to.
Take A-Qiu for example. If his master agreed to Gu Yi's promise and gave A-Qiu to him, Gongyi Xiu might not agree, but he could understand. However, he couldn't bring himself to let A-Qiu stay with Gu Yi in such an ambiguous way.
Master rarely took anyone to heart, and rarely acted on emotion. Gongyi Xiu didn't know whether this was a good or bad sign.
But as a strategist who had been involved in politics for many years, he had a feeling that something was amiss.
Because politicians need absolute pragmatism and composure. They cannot love someone for the sake of loving someone, nor can they hate someone for the sake of hating someone. All trade-offs must be based on considerations of self-interest; therefore, there are no permanent friends, nor permanent enemies.
Simply harboring hostility towards someone or wanting them to suffer is an undesirable mindset.
And this was even a piece of advice that his master had taught him back then.
Wan Qiqing's last words sent a chill down Gongyi Xiu's spine.
His voice was cold, more so a declaration of his deepest convictions to this unpredictable and cruel world than to Gu Yi.
"I want to see Gu Yi suffer, struggle, despair, fall from grace, and plunge into darkness. Because that is the true nature of a human being!"
The autumn rain at Jinlingtai is cool and continuous, dripping softly onto the paulownia trees.
A-Qiu sat by the gilded and jade-painted railing, gazing at the pavilions and towers in the distance amidst the rain, and played the jade flute in her hand.
That was the white jade Qiang flute "Double Wings" that her master gave her when she entered the palace. It was because of this flute that she was selected to join the Music Bureau and become a musician.
This jade flute bears the seal of the Tangli Music Bureau, a lineage dating back to the previous dynasty. Therefore, it originally belonged to the palace.
The master, who was half Hu (non-Han) in ancestry, was once a sensation as the Qiang flute player Shi Changqing, stunning the entire dynasty and court.
To this day, records about him are still preserved in Huan Shu's Treatise on Arts and Music.
What kind of person is Master?
Although her fellow disciples repeatedly said that she was the most favored disciple of their master, what she felt most in her life was her master's distance and calmness.
The master has his own passionate and unrestrained side, but when facing his disciples, he shows more of a commanding presence and the vision and breadth of mind of a grandmaster.
She felt her master's passion as a musician in the sound of his flute, and she also felt his romance as a talented man in the artistic imagery he depicted in his calligraphy.
But she could sense that beneath his elegant and refined demeanor, his attitude towards people and all the emotional impact they brought about was one of indifference.
His three disciples were probably the last remaining source of warmth he had left.
What exactly did Master go through? With his looks and strength that could captivate any woman, why did he so coldly isolate himself from others?
She had never intended to understand her master's thoughts before, because her master didn't need to.
He only needed his disciples to carry out the tasks he assigned. Everything else was superfluous.
She was different from her eldest brother, Gongyi Xiu. The eldest brother had genuine affection and admiration for their master, and he was also the one in the sect who most resembled their master.
Ah Qiu seemed to naturally understand the invisible boundary between himself and his master.
Their master needed them to serve him, to do their jobs well, and not to worry him about trivial matters. He treated them well, even very generously, promising them wealth and fame, the most precious martial arts skills, and the most dedicated training.
They will never have emotions. They won't even have the warmth of a normal person.
When did I realize that?
Around the age of twelve, he woke up slowly in the snow behind the Divine Weapon Hall, saw lightning flashing in the void, and realized that he had not died, but that his profound skills had been greatly mastered.
The dragon and tiger meet, water and fire are in harmony. But she feels no comfort, only emptiness and loneliness.
With his unique insight and extraordinary talent, the master saw the most suitable path for her in martial arts: to throw her into an extremely cold and harsh place and let her hone her skills and survive in the harsh natural environment.
Therefore, while her senior brother Gongyi Xiu was learning calligraphy and studying classics under the warm candlelight of Songxue Hall, with his master personally guiding his wrist, she lay in a cold cave in the desolate mountains, listening alertly to the howls of wild beasts in the night wind.
While her second senior brother, Mo Yimingyue, led the disciples of the hall in practicing their movement techniques in the white jade square of Lanling Hall at dawn, she was holding a bamboo branch, confronting a venomous snake as thick as an arm that had accidentally wandered into her territory in a weedy and miasma-ridden place.
There were no tricks; she relied entirely on her body's instinct for survival. Eventually, she became like a wild animal, automatically learning to identify and avoid potential threats. She crouched on vines, leaped lightly, learned to howl like an ape, and to bound like a deer. In the darkness, she tracked and searched for traces, and her ability to distinguish poisonous creatures by scent even surpassed that of most wild animals.
During those times, she never remembered that she had a master.
The moment she achieved initial mastery of her profound skills, her master, dressed in flowing white robes, descended before her like an immortal, tenderly taking her hand, his eyes shining with a stunning rainbow.
"You have indeed not disappointed me. And I will not disappoint you either. Ah Qiu, one day I will present the entire world to you. We, master and disciple, will join hands to create a prosperous and unprecedented world that has never existed in history."
Unlike her senior brother Gongyi Xiu, A Qiu never truly felt any affection for her master as a disciple or as a father and daughter.
She always showed only respect and obedience to her master, Wan Qiqing.
At this moment, A-Qiu suddenly realized that anyone who fell in love with their master would surely be very unfortunate.
The desolate and resonant sound of the Hu flute carries the moonlit landscape and withered grass of the borderlands a hundred years ago, along with the neighing of horses at night, into this magnificent Southern Dynasty palace.
On the path beside Jinling Terrace, where flowers and stones are interwoven, a person stands tall and listens attentively.
The person was holding an oil-paper umbrella decorated with peonies, lotuses, and orchids, but the umbrella surface was painted with ink and wash, without any famille rose colors, yet it gave people a wonderful and refreshing feeling.
If you look down from the railing where A-Qiu is, it's as if a flower of a different color has suddenly bloomed in a courtyard with water ripples all over the steps.
Ah Qiu did just that.
As the music ended and the lingering notes drifted into the rain, the person holding the umbrella below Jinling Terrace raised it and called out to A Qiu, who was about to put away her flute and go inside: "Miss A Qiu, I have come to visit you. Please ask the young master charioteer on duty to let me through."
When A Qiu looked down, he saw Gongye Fusu's gentle and kind face revealed under the ink-wash umbrella. In his right hand, he was holding a pot of jade-colored plum blossoms.
After Gongye Fusu took his seat, he looked around and said with a smile, "I am truly fortunate to have been able to enter the Jinling Terrace where the Junior Tutor resides. If I were to spread this news when I return, I am sure that all the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital would be vying to invite me as their honored guest."
A Qiu knew he was joking. As the richest man in Dayan, Gongye Fusu was a guest of honor in the Dayan court and a highly sought-after guest by the wealthy families of the capital. He rarely appeared in public or socialized and was by no means a person who liked to boast.
However, upon hearing this, her face still flushed slightly. This was because she had no idea how Gu Yi had explained himself to everyone when he openly brought her back to Jinlingtai from the imperial prison. Gu Yi always did what he thought and acted with a clear conscience, so he never concealed his actions.
Even Gongye Fusu knew this, so we can understand why he is now asking her for Jinling Terrace.
Little did she know that in the eyes of Gongye Fusu and others, it was perfectly natural for the Junior Tutor Gu Yiruo to bring back a musician. Whether she was a slave, a maid, or a concubine, it was perfectly acceptable given his status and position.
After all, this is what many powerful and wealthy people do. If they want something, they'll buy it or even steal it. Everything is arbitrary.
Even though A-Qiu was already the Imperial Musician appointed by the Emperor, people's impression of her was still that of a white-robed dancer.
...If he were to actually take her as a concubine, it would indeed cause a sensation in the capital. But the sensational aspect of this matter is not that Gu Yi "took a dancer as a concubine," but rather that he "took Gu Yi."
Gongye Fusu ignored her and smiled kindly, saying, "I haven't thanked you yet. Ever since my 'Summer Dream Memories' was performed on the White Silk Dance, it has been hailed as a masterpiece. The dancers scattered flowers, and the falling petals and fragrance filled the banquet, just like an unforgettable dream."
Gongye Fusu, who was always gentle and modest, couldn't help but show his delight at this moment: "Afterwards, many people said that the feeling at the scene was extremely strange, as if it had penetrated into the heart of people's hearts. Subsequently, they all asked me to buy this spice. Because our Wanxiang Kingdom has a limited number of craftsmen, the supply exceeds the demand, so the price of this spice has increased by 30%."
As he spoke, he recalled that he had been entrusted by A-Qiu to create this incense, saying that it came from a person's olfactory memories. He couldn't help but say, "Although this 'Summer Dream Memories' is not the scent you were looking for, the inspiration came from you. I wonder if you ever saw that person again, or if you ever asked him what the fragrance was made of?"
At this moment, A Qiu was suddenly speechless, shocked by Gongye Fusu's words.
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