Chapter 23

Although he had long known of the man's absurdity, Wen Besang was still stunned for a moment.

Cheng Yun waited quietly for his response.

"My feelings for my husband are as strong as gold..."

"You mean Xie Lingshu?"

"Naturally."

"Did you fall for him first, or did he fall for you first?"

After a pause, Wen Besang said, "We fell for each other."

"So it was love at first sight?"

"Yes."

Cheng Yun turned his thumb ring, his expression calm. "How did you meet?"

"We..." It was clear that Wen Besang was not skilled at fabricating specific plots. He paused for a long time before saying, "We were in the same city. He... often came to find me to drink... nectar."

"What is nectar?"

"A drink he brewed himself."

In Junzi City, Xie Lingshu often sought him out to drink the wine he had made.

Cheng Yun asked, "Why did he seek you out to drink nectar?"

"He likes me."

Cheng Yun quietly scrutinized him and said, "A bottle of nectar was enough to buy you off?"

"Yes," Wen Besang replied. "I'm not worth much."

Cheng Yun felt a lump in his throat. "If I were to produce two bottles of nectar, would you come away with me?"

"I have already given my heart to another," Wen Besang said. "If you try to take me by force, I will defend my chastity with my life."

You and your precious "chastity."

Cheng Yun said, "How do you wish to die?"

Wen Besang's eyelashes fluttered.

He was Gong Wuchang, after all; he would rather drive others to death than let a family remain together.

He certainly couldn't die, and he couldn't submit either—what was to be done?

"How about this, then?"

"Hmm?"

"When my husband returns, I will discuss it with him."

"No longer defending your chastity with your life?"

"My life is not important, but I am carrying my husband's child."

"...A reasonable point," Cheng Yun said. "Will he be open to discussion?"

"For the sake of the child, he will understand."

A silence ensued.

Wen Besang took the initiative to say, "You should go now. I need to rest."

"You sleep. I will sit here and wait for his return."

"The fetus in my womb is unstable; you cannot sleep with me."

"..." Who wants to sleep with you!

Cheng Yun took a deep breath. "Do you take me for a beast?"

You are no different from a beast.

Xie Lingshu certainly would not show up, so he had to find a way to get rid of Gong Wuchang.

"Your Highness."

"Speak."

"Will you truly let Xie Lingshu's child take your surname?"

To hell with that!

Cheng Yun replied calmly, "As long as you are the one who gives birth to it, once I ascend the throne, I can even name him Crown Prince."

Wen Besang peeked out from behind the bed curtains, his eyes searching for any sign of a joke, but he found none.

He couldn't help but frown. "Do you... suffer from a brain ailment?"

Cheng Yun: "..."

Who exactly is the one with the brain ailment?!

He had assumed the "husband" surnamed Xie was just someone invented on the spot, but it turned out to be Xie Lingshu of Junzi City!

He had come from Junzi City—what was his relationship with that Xie Lingshu, anyway?

Why did Xie Lingshu write to him? What was in those letters?

And what about the frequent drinking sessions?

Cheng Yun could bear it no longer. "Wen Besang, have you played enough?"

The air suddenly went still. After a long while, a voice spoke: "You figured it out?"

"What else?"

Wen Besang, still only showing his eyes, silently pulled back the small crossbow in his hands and asked, "Are you going to drag me back?"

"I am asking you to return to fulfill your promise," Cheng Yun said. "Have you forgotten that you still owe me a sample?"

Wen Besang paused, then slowly stepped out from behind the curtains. "Did you come specifically to track me down?"

"Hardly. I was just trying my luck at the fireworks shop and happened to see you eating a bun there."

"How did you know it was me?"

"Do you take me for a fool, or blind?"

"Was my disguise as a woman not convincing?"

It was convincing, of course.

Had Cheng Yun seen him in that dress initially, he would not have suspected he was a man. But that peerless face—there was no second like it in the world. Besides, he hadn't really disguised himself at all!

He had merely applied lip rouge, drawn his brows, and worn a dress. Anyone with a normal brain would have recognized him.

What Cheng Yun was more curious about was, "Why did you think I wouldn't discover it?"

"If I had woken up with amnesia and seen myself like that, I would surely have thought I was a woman."

"..." You are truly something.

"And you even painted my portrait and said so many kind things to me," Wen Besang said. "You weren't like this before. You were always fierce, scolding me, hitting me, bullying me. If you had seen through me long ago, why did you suddenly change your attitude?"

"I..." Cheng Yun felt a blockage in his heart. "Was I really that terrible to you before?"

"Yes," Wen Besang said. "You called me a monster, threatened to peel my skin, hang me up, roast my feet over charcoal, and brand the mole behind my ear. That day in the study, you even held a knife to kill me. The last time we met, you chased me away. I thought you were disgusted by me and wanted to make a clean break, for us to have nothing more to do with each other."

His tone was calm, yet Cheng Yun had the sensation of his hair standing on end.

"But... I didn't actually do any of that to you, did I?"

"You broke my leg and threw me into the dungeon."

"Didn't I apply medicine for you?" Cheng Yun countered. "If we're talking about injuries, my burns were far more serious."

"I am not arguing about those things; I am simply telling you why I thought you hadn't seen through me."

Cheng Yun realized that continuing this line of questioning was unwise. He asked, "Since you thought I hadn't seen through you, why did you feel the need to hide?"

"Didn't you take a liking to me?"

Cheng Yun's breathing faltered. "I took a liking to you?!"

"I looked so beautiful disguised as a woman, didn't you like me?"

"..." Cheng Yun understood everything in that instant.

After a moment of silence, Cheng Yun said, "Wen Besang, I really want to know what kind of image I have in your heart."

A devil.

Wen Besang wisely kept that to himself.

Cheng Yun sighed and stood up from the chair.

Wen Besang retreated slightly. "Regarding that timing device, I have the real one—the one installed for the Black Dragon. I will have someone send it to the Crown Prince's mansion tomorrow. That way, we will be even."

Cheng Yun asked, "What is Xie Lingshu to you?"

"Xie Lingshu is the Lord of Junzi City."

"And then?"

"And then what?"

"...What is your relationship with him? Why does he write to you?"

"In Junzi City, he was very kind to me. When I came to Shengjing, he specifically wrote to send his regards."

"How was he kind?"

"Why do you ask?"

"He is the Lord of Junzi City. Situated at the border between Liang and Qi, while he contributes to trade between the two countries, there is no guarantee he won't suddenly take a whim to defect to Northern Qi and pressure our Great Liang."

Cheng Yun spoke with righteous indignation. "Now that his letter has arrived in Shengjing, I must naturally investigate it thoroughly. It is the duty of the Chief of the Stability Bureau."

Wen Besang's pupils widened. "The Stability Bureau... Chief... who?"

"Naturally, it is I." Cheng Yun reached out. "Although the Stability Bureau is still nominally under the Empress Mother, she has secretly handed over all affairs to me. Everyone under her command now takes orders from me. I can well claim to be the Chief... Why are you crying again?"

Cheng Yun pulled his hand back, his body stiff.

Wen Besang had already turned his back, murmuring as if reciting a passage: "...The one who holds the Imperial Staff of the Raging Waves, to monitor the nobles from above and observe the officials from below, to fend off enemies from without and purge traitors from within—the former... Crown Princess?"

Zhou Xuan had once said that when Zhou Cangshu had beaten the four branches of the family to death with a staff, it was the Empress who saved him from Zhou Cangshu's hands.

To snatch someone from Zhou Cangshu's grasp—without such titles, it would likely have been extremely difficult.

Cheng Yun pinched his fingers, his tone strained. "It was her."

"She was a good person."

Silence.

Seven years had passed, yet Wen Besang could still recite word for word what the Empress had said, showing how deeply that event had affected him.

"But you are not worthy."

There was still no sound in the air. Wen Besang did not turn back, and it was impossible to tell what expression he wore.

He unfolded the letter in his hand, and after a moment, held it out. "Read it, then."

After a few breaths, Cheng Yun said, "I will not read it."

He turned and walked out without looking back, his figure leaping onto the pagoda tree.

But it was not as light and traceless as when he had arrived.

The snow shaken from the branches scattered in the air. Wen Besang stood in the doorway, the light behind him, facing the vast, cold night.

He remained motionless for a long time.

After one night, the swept courtyard was covered in another thin layer of snow.

Amidst the rustling sounds, a broom scraped against the stone ground. Outside in the alley, the cries of vendors could be heard, along with the rolling of cart wheels and the crunching of footsteps in the snow.

Wen Besang stood straight, leaning on his broom, and wiped the light sweat from his forehead.

Not long after, Chen Changfeng arrived in person, carrying a food box.

As Wen Besang sat inside eating, he asked, "When does the Drunken Immortal Pavilion open?"

"Usually there are people there by the hour of Chen. The Drunken Immortal Pavilion serves breakfast; many scholars enjoy going there, and there are performers singing in the morning, too."

"When does Song Qianfan usually go to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion?"

Chen Changfeng smiled. "It should be easy for you to find him."

Outside the back door of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, a 'woman' dressed in a cyan long skirt, draped in an orchid-patterned cloak, with several silver hairpins in her hair and holding a wooden zither, slowly approached.

"This Drunken Immortal Pavilion was originally one set of buildings, where one could eat, drink, and be merry. It was a favorite spot for many noble young masters. Later, when young Master Song took it over, he added an auxiliary building in the back."

Wen Besang looked up; he could clearly see that the newly added building was more poetic and artistic, lacking some of the grand momentum of the front building.

"Young Master Song called this annex the Pavilion of Immortals, and by integrating it with the front building, he designated the front entrance as the Sun Gate and the back entrance of the Pavilion of Immortals as the Moon Gate, decorating them with great elegance."

The back gate was semi-circular, with hollowed-out walls nearby displaying scenes of flowers, birds, fish, and insects. On the dormant winter trees, small red lanterns were hung in a well-arranged, tasteful manner.

"Though it's called an annex, it's actually a private, refined sanctuary. Ever since he built this, young Master Song has lived inside. In the past, the young masters who were close to him would enter through this Moon Gate to seek pleasure and amusement. I hear... the Crown Prince often goes there, too."

In the carriage shed built with vermilion tiles outside the Moon Gate, several carriages were parked. One of them looked somewhat familiar.

"Sir, you only need to give the token to the gatekeeper. If young Master Song is there and recognizes the token, he will certainly meet with you."