You've Got Mail: A Cautionary Tale

Chapter 73 — The Tree of Jianmu: The Bridge Between Heaven and Earth

Edited by DancingDolphinsYo

Separated by a wall, the view between the two places contrasted starkly.

Outside Lianxiang Residences was a hubbub of voices. The men and women of Great Xia were not conservative. For most daughters of ordinary families, as long as they were not alone, and called upon other friends as well as a maidservant, they could stroll along the streets as they wished. When there were fairs and celebrations going on, the rooms of restaurants and tea houses would be filled with young, blossoming girls. Upon seeing young males on the streets, or in a room of another restaurant across, they would then toss some snacks, flowers and other trinkets, exchanging flirtations from a distance before each returning home separately.

Although the girls of the capital were slightly more reserved, many of them were still young and passionate.

Now that there were so many noble men gathered at Lianxiang Residences, the fair outside naturally attracted large crowds of curious young ladies as well, all trying their best to peek inside. Hearing that Young Master Bai had accepted the invitation to the gathering this time, they were all determined to hang around outside the venue to listen to him playing the qin!

In comparison, it was serene within Lianxiang Residences itself. Not many invitees had attended, and there were only about twenty in all. Other than Young Master Bai with his excellent qin-playing skills, there were also a few scholars of literary fame.

The fragrance of the lotus flowers accompanied the breeze, and the pleasing sounds of the flute lingered in the air.

Wu Xingzi did not drink even a sip of wine, yet he was already intoxicated.

The pavilion where Rancui could be found was rather remote, but its location was perfect for capturing a view of the entire Lianxiang Residences. When Wu Xingzi stepped within, the banquet had already started. The first dish had been served and done, and the participants were drinking as they waited for the second dish.

“Mr. Wu.” Today, Rancui was dressed in a snow white gown, his outer robe made of a green, gauzy material. Very casually, he sat with his legs crossed on a cushion, his cheeks slightly flushed. Looking very much like a lotus flower sprite, he was both enchanting and elegant, charming yet reserved.

“Rancui.” Wu Xingzi cupped his hands together, then sat down across the low table. The footboy next to them immediately served up the first dish, and it was a bowl of clear soup.

The colour of the soup was gold, and at the bottom of the bowl were delicate lotus petals. A couple of snow white, exquisite looking dumplings floated on top of the soup, and they seemed to be made of glutinous rice. Plump and white, there was a faint pink sheen to them, and their appearance made one unable to bear eating them.

“These are dumplings made from lotus root paste. Mr. Wu, please try them,” Rancui attended to him warmly, but his sly, shrewd eyes darted over to the silent Hei’er who was standing in one corner of the pavilion, before he frowned disdainfully. “Commander Hei, take a seat too. It’s quite nauseating to have you stand there like that.”

Hei’er glanced at Rancui, his expression tinged with a vague resignation.

However, he did not say anything. Accordingly, he sat down at the last table, holding his cup up and toasting Rancui.

Rancui drank, but did not pay anymore attention to him. Instead, he turned to chat with Wu Xingzi, persuading him to eat more. The chef he had invited today was from the capital’s most famous restaurant, and the dishes not only looked exquisite, but their flavours were divine.

Wu Xingzi would naturally not stand on courtesy. Furthermore, in an occasion like this, inwardly, he did feel very out of place, like an ugly duckling stumbling into a lake of swans. It was enough for him to look at all these beautiful men from afar. He completely had no intentions of getting to know them or talking with them, and he just buried his head in the food.

However, as they ate and ate, and when five dishes had been served and they had five glasses of wine each, the originally restrained atmosphere had dissipated by quite a fair bit. People who chose to attend the gathering of the Peng Society, to put it bluntly, were here to look for a soulmate with whom they could spend the rest of their lives with. No matter how refined, how reserved, and how reticent men could be, they were still men. With an innate nature to pillage and publicise, they could not resist wanting to put themselves out there.

Rancui saw that it was nearly time. During the time when the five dishes had been served and five drinks exchanged, most of the fellows had already done their observations. Whoever was interested in who, they themselves were aware of it, and it was time to let the peacock feathers that had been trembling for some time to flare out and display themselves.

Very quickly, one of the men picked up his chopsticks. Rapping on the rim of his glass, he suddenly burst into song.

The man’s voice was quite pleasant sounding, and he was singing a tune describing the scenery of the desert, the melody bringing about the feeling of vastness and unrestrain. This man should be a rather unbridled, reckless sort, and as Wu Xingzi listened to the man, looking at him, he completely forgot to chew on the morsel of food in his mouth.

Smiling, Rancui glanced over at Wu Xingzi, then he leaned in close and whispered, “This is a subordinate of the Ninth Marquis, and he had been stationed in the west for a period of time in the past. Later on, he hurt a tendon in his hand, and had no choice but to return to the capital. On your list, his pengornis is ranked seventh.”

The seventh on the list? A drawing appeared clearly in Wu Xingzi’s mind. This pengornis was actually not especially thick or long, and in conclusion, whether it was the old ranking list or the new one, it could only rank around the middle of the list, mainly due to its very nice shape. To be concise, it was straight and upright, the shaft tapering to its head slightly, looking a little like the head of a spear.

Without thinking, Wu Xingzi wrapped his arms around his tummy, his face blushing red.

“Lord Meng is a frank and forthright person. Don’t look at how refined and scholarly he looks, he possesses an innate power within him. That year, he played an important part in rooting out the weeds, and he can be considered Zhang Fei1 amongst the pengornises.”

Zhang Fei? When Wu Xingzi recalled the Lord Zhang depicted in stories, he could not help but smile.

The moment he smiled, from a distance not too far away, a pair of soft, gentle eyes fixed onto him, and a trace of gloom and bloodlust flashed past those eyes.

Wu Xingzi naturally did not notice it, but Hei’er, who had been busy eating, lifted his head sharply, meeting that pair of eyes that made no attempt in concealing anything. The aloof, stern face of Commander Hei froze for a moment.

The owner of that pair of eyes ignored him. Instead, he stared at the flushed Wu Xingzi who was whispering with Rancui, as though he could not rest if he did not swallow the man inside him.

Now, Hei’er was a little anxious. He turned his head, looking at Wu Xingzi, whose eyes were shining brightly, and who did not even touch the newly served dishes. Hesitating, he wondered if he should give Wu Xingzi a warning. Then, a scorching gaze was directed straight at him, almost burning two holes through his face. Hei’er’s heart jolted, and he decided to bend his head down and continue eating. As a subordinate, he had no rights to meddle in the matters of his masters.

After Lord Meng, there were a series of other men putting their talents on display, and Rancui introduced them one by one to Wu Xingzi. Each and every one could be matched to their ranking on Wu Xingzi’s list of pengornises. Whether old or new, they had all been good pengornises occupying Wu Xingzi’s thoughts in the past month.

Just as the atmosphere was heating up, twang! The sound of a qin was like a melody from heavens, as well as the morning dews. Making its way through the crowd, the sound hooked into everyone’s heart, and in that moment, everyone was silent. Dozens of eyes searched for the source of the qin, darting around, and they did not even dare breath too loudly.

Wu Xingzi was also one of them. His gaze traversed through various twists and turns, finally making its way to the pavilion furthest from him. The pavilions in Lianxiang Residences were all bamboo pavilions, pleasantly cool in the summer. The colour of the bamboo gladdened the viewers’ hearts, refreshing their minds. Some had their blinds half-lowered, some had the breeze blowing through, but as they were all bamboo pavilions, they all looked quite the same.

Still, the pavilion emitting the sound of qin stood out clearly.

The same bamboo pavilion, the same half-lowered blinds, however, as it was situated further from other pavilions, there was a higher density of lotus flowers and water chestnuts surrounding it. Looking at the pavilion from afar, it seemed as though it was floating on the lotus pads. Evidently, there was no difference in its construction from the other pavilions, but there was a sort of ethereal air about it.

Perhaps, it was due to the man playing the qin within it!

Wu Xingzi did not drink, but he felt as though he was drunk. Floating on the clouds, his whole body was in complete comfort.

That man should be Young Master Bai.

Young Master Bai had his head half-tilted down, a wisp of his hair clinging to his fair, smooth cheek, fluttering in the wind. He was playing the qin with extreme focus, as though nothing else existed in the world. His turquoise green robe made him look even more delicate, and even an immortal banished from heavens could not compare!

“This melody has been written by Young Master Bai himself. I heard that it’s called The Tree of Jianmu,” Rancui spoke quietly, then fell silent. It was not sure what he was looking at while sipping on his wine.

The Tree of Jianmu… Wu Xingzi revelled in the song, and the music felt as though it was brushing right against his heart. Along with the ethereal notes, the tiny disturbance became a slight ache, and it seemed as though he was looking at something that was once easily obtainable drifting further and further away from him.

In his heart, he was clearly aware that that thing never belonged to him. This was the reason why he had let go of it as well. However, despite having done so, his heart had yet to do so. Although his heart could not put it down, he had no way of reaching out and taking it, and he could only stand right there, all alone, watching that person walk further and further away… Still, this bridge between heaven and earth was not one that was easily traversed. Why else would Fu Xi fall back to earth at the very last moment2?

Just as the song became so indistinct as though it was about to stop, the audience in Lianxiang Residences all held their breaths, leaning forward unconsciously. Just as they were afraid that they had missed out a note, the music then sharpened abruptly, like the northern wind slicing through the air, cutting into them aggressively, and finally came to a sudden end.

For a period of time, no one made a sound. As though possessed, they stared as Young Master Bai lifted his hands from the qin.

In the past, Young Master Bai’s music had always been refined and elegant, like a spring breeze dancing through the air. This was the first time it made the hearts of his listeners ache, a pain running through them. The last section of the song caused the listeners to involuntarily recall how Fu Xi fell off the tree, how he was finally about to achieve his aim, only to fall back onto earth.

However, Young Master Bai seemed to not notice how big a ripple his music had caused in the pond. Taking a handkerchief from a footboy who was offering it to him, he wiped his hands, before picking up his cup and holding it up in all directions, then tossed the contents down his throat. Perhaps because he had been in too much of a hurry while drinking, a couple of drops of wine overflowed from the corners of his mouth, sliding down his long and slender neck before they evaporated on the bobbing knot of his throat.

In an instant, the mouths of the men in Lianxiang Residences turned dry. As though they were trying to conceal something, they all turned away, eating and drinking instead.

As for Wu Xingzi, he seemed to have turned a blind eye to Young Master Bai’s amorous display. The delighted blush that had been on his face had already vanished, and he pressed tightly onto the left side of his chest, looking a little absent-minded.

Seeing him like this, Rancui sighed silently and decided to pour a cup of wine for Wu Xingzi. “Mr. Wu, have a drink.”

“Ai… Ai… Many thanks.” Wu Xingzi seemed to not yet regain his wits. Taking the cup, he slowly sipped from it, taking a long time to finish one cup.

With how distracted Wu Xingzi looked, both Rancui and Hei’er knew who he was thinking of, but they could not say anything. If this was the past, Rancui might have taken the opportunity to take a stab at Guan Shanjin, but now… He shot a look at a nearby pavilion. Inside it was a man who looked gentle and ordinary, and who had been staring only at Wu Xingzi right from the start.

“Bah, what a fool,” Rancui spat, before summoning an assistant and quietly giving him an instruction.

The assistant nodded, then turned and ran off. A while later, he brought a long bamboo case back with him. Heading towards the pavilion where Ping Yifan was, he handed the box over to him.

Ping Yifan first frowned, directing a cold, sharp gaze at Rancui, before opening the case. A slight anxiety appeared on his face, and it took him a few seconds to regain his calm and gentle appearance as he took a flute out of the case.

Soon, the melodious sound of a flute filled Lianxiang Residences. It was mild and bright, rising and falling with skill, brushing away the vague depression left behind by The Tree of Jianmu.

Wu Xingzi recovered his wits as well. When he discovered who the one playing the flute was, a flush suffused his face. His eyes were starry, and his hand continuously shoved food into his mouth, looking as though he was having Ping Yifan with his food.

Ai, he’s definitely worthy of the top position on the list of pengornises!