Chapter 29#
Chapter 29#
A rare cloudy day, neither raining nor sun-drenched, a gentle breeze blowing past, bringing a refreshing coolness.
Suitable for travel.
De Fu watched the joyful Su Yang preparing to leave the palace, and for a moment didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. As the saying goes, “a nation cannot be without its monarch for a single day,” and with the Emperor leaving like this, who knew how long it would be before he returned, and the morning court would be suspended again.
He stepped forward and said: “Your Majesty, how about letting me follow you? You’re traveling incognito and not taking anyone; who will take care of you on the road?”
Su Yang didn’t really have much to pack; the carriage for the Jiangnan flood trip was all prepared, and he just had to take some clothes. He said: “You must keep an eye on the capital for me; if…”
He paused and then said: “If I guessed wrong and that person isn’t Lin Huaiyu, if there is any news about Lin Huaiyu in the capital, you must immediately report to me.”
Although he felt he shouldn’t be wrong, and all sorts of coincidences pointed to that person—one or two could be dismissed, but too many coincidences could not be called coincidences.
But even if he was certain that person was Lin Huaiyu, he couldn’t gamble on the one-in-ten-million chance that it wasn’t. If it really wasn’t, and he missed the news in the capital, he would probably go mad.
Seeing Su Yang’s mind was made up, De Fu could only accept: “Yes, Your Majesty. Then you must be careful on the road.”
Su Yang smiled at him. Now other things didn’t matter to him; he only wanted Lin Huaiyu.
The group’s carriage set off toward Jiangnan.
Fang Zhixu sat in the carriage, his eyes darting around, just not daring to look beside him. He also didn’t know why Su Yang wanted to sit in the same carriage as him, when a more spacious one had been prepared…
At this moment, Su Yang had changed into ordinary black clothes, having taken off the complex dragon-patterned emperor’s robes from the palace. At this moment, he was simple yet grand, low-key but with high-quality fabric. Most importantly, the aura about him was the imperial pressure that even changing robes couldn’t hide.
Su Yang just sat there leaning back, even making a pot of tea for himself and even pouring a cup for Fang Zhixu; it could be felt that he was in a good mood.
Su Yang gave Fang Zhixu a playful look and reminded him: “I… I am currently traveling incognito, and my status is your attendant. You needn’t be so nervous, lest people see something is wrong later.”
Fang Zhixu used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said: “I know.”
Watching his movements, Su Yang asked again casually: “Did you learn all these small movements from your teacher?”
Fang Zhixu was stunned, then looked at his raised arm and put it down dejectedly: “I spend more time with Teacher. Before coming to the capital, I often took care of Teacher; perhaps I unknowingly learned them. After all, Teacher is my role model.”
Su Yang’s tone lowered, and the smile on his face faded a bit: “You often take care of him? At his house? Personal care?”
Fang Zhixu didn’t know why Su Yang asked so specifically, but asking some questions was better than the awkward silence, so he said: “Well… more or less. Teacher’s health is poor; naturally he needs someone to take care of him.”
Su Yang’s tone was even lower. He glanced at Fang Zhixu and said irritably: “You are just in a teacher-student relationship; why do you go to someone else’s house to take personal care of them?”
“…” Fang Zhixu blinked. “A teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime. Teacher treats me very well and has taught me everything; I should naturally do my best to take care of him.”
These words left Su Yang speechless. He stared intently at Fang Zhixu and suddenly asked: “You consider him a… father?”
Fang Zhixu hurriedly waved his hand and shook his head: “No, no. Teacher is Teacher. I admire him and respect him; Teacher is truly a very good person.”
Listening to Fang Zhixu’s explanation, sentence by sentence, that frantic denial and the slightly red cheeks all showed the other’s budding first-love thoughts.
Fang Zhixu wasn’t very old, but his mind was not quite right.
Su Yang’s face was cold as he interrupted: “Get out.”
Fang Zhixu: “Huh?”
Su Yang looked at him with a deep gaze, his smile slightly cold: “Lord Fang must be very tired from sitting for so long; go out and walk for a bit.”
Fang Zhixu didn’t know how he had suddenly offended Su Yang again, but the Emperor had spoken, and how could he disobey an imperial decree? He could only respond, get out of the carriage, and run behind it.
Poor weak scholar as he was, he was panting for breath after a few steps.
He couldn’t help but stare at the carriage and mutter: “There are many people who admire Teacher. If it really is the person the Emperor is looking for, then the Emperor didn’t treasure him well himself.”
Fortunately, Su Yang didn’t hear these words; otherwise, Fang Zhixu would probably have lost his life.
The Jiangnan scenery was very different from the north, with waterways throughout. Arriving at the Jiangnan territory, they changed to waterways, sitting on a boat and heading toward the Jingle Town shore.
“Your Majesty, I see your face isn’t very good. Are you ill? Or is it the fatigue of the journey?” Fang Zhixu looked at Su Yang leaning against the boat and asked with concern.
Su Yang looked at him, and his face was even worse. He shifted his gaze back to the scenery on the water and coldly spit out one word: “Roll.”
Fang Zhixu pursed his lips and didn’t dare say more.
The boat slowly reached the shore. Before the boatman could tie the rope tightly, Su Yang had already quickly gone ashore, running to a corner and vomiting.
The Prefect who came to welcome them glanced at Su Yang, then immediately looked away. Fang Zhixu was startled and hurriedly walked to the man’s side, so nervous he didn’t know what to do.
The Prefect blinked, hurriedly welcomed them, looked at Su Yang, and said: “This must be Lord Fang from the capital, right?”
Receiving Su Yang’s warning look, Fang Zhixu remembered the two’s outward identities, hurriedly stood straight, and said: “Apologies, the attendant is new to Jiangnan and is a bit seasick; how rude.”
Seeing this, the Prefect said hurriedly: “So you are Lord Fang. How rude of me to have mistaken you; my eyes were dim. I must drink three cups of wine at the welcome banquet to apologize.”
Fang Zhixu smiled and said: “Lord Qu is too polite. Do you not recognize me anymore?”
Qu Tang said with a smile: “The news of Lord Fang becoming the top scholar has already spread throughout the town. Your parents held a grand banquet that day, inviting many people to eat. I was afraid you had someone with you, so I planned to find you privately later.”
Fang Zhixu also laughed: “It’s alright, Uncle Qu; I know what kind of person you are.”
Qu Tang pointed to Su Yang leaning against the wall over there and asked secretly: “Is this your attendant?”
Fang Zhixu glanced at Su Yang and nodded with a stiff face: “Yes.”
Qu Tang let out a sigh of relief: “I thought another high official had come; it scared me half to death. Let’s go! Uncle Qu will welcome you!”
Fang Zhixu waved his hand: “Let’s first give orders for the flood matter; we’ll start work tomorrow.”
Qu Tang patted Fang Zhixu’s shoulder: “Don’t worry, Uncle Qu has already prepared everything, just waiting for you to come.”
Fang Zhixu was puzzled: “How did you know?”
Qu Tang led the way while saying: “Your teacher said he received your letter and more or less guessed it, telling us to start preparing early so as not to delay when the time comes.”
Fang Zhixu laughed: “Teacher truly is like a god in his predictions.”
Over there, Su Yang heard Fang Zhixu and the others talk about Lin Huaiyu, wiped his mouth, relieved the dizziness, and walked over. Fang Zhixu couldn’t help being a bit nervous seeing him, but Su Yang didn’t say a word, only standing behind him.
The group headed toward the Prefect’s Yamen.
Fang Zhixu sat in the high position, mobilizing the local officials and giving orders for the treatment of the flood.
Watching him give orders in an orderly manner, Qu Tang was very relieved: “You have indeed grown up. Your teacher would surely be very happy to see you.”
Fang Zhixu smiled bashfully: “Is Teacher… doing well?”
Qu Tang nodded but didn’t say much: “Good. Don’t worry; there are people taking care of your teacher.”
Thinking of those people in Teacher’s courtyard, Fang Zhixu couldn’t help pursing his lips but said nothing.
Su Yang sensed that the atmosphere seemed not quite right, but this wasn’t a good time for him to speak.
What exactly had happened to Lin Huaiyu? There were people taking care of him—was it He Qingli?
But if it was He Qingli, why did Fang Zhixu’s expression look unnatural?
Only these couldn’t be asked now. After arranging a series of flood-related matters, Qu Tang stood up and said: “Dinner is prepared in the back; Lord Fang must grace us with your presence.”
Hearing Qu Tang’s joke-like words, Fang Zhixu smiled and nodded: “Then I’ll follow your command, Uncle Qu.”
The meal wasn’t ostentatious, with only a few local officials Fang Zhixu was familiar with and Qu Tang. The home-cooked meal wasn’t extravagant either. Fang Zhixu knew Qu Tang’s character, so he dared to agree to this meal in front of Su Yang.
Fang Zhixu looked at Su Yang and said: “Your Maj… After all, you’ve also been tired all day; sit down and eat together.”
Qu Tang glanced at Su Yang. For some reason, he always felt this person had an extraordinary air, not like an attendant, but since Fang Zhixu didn’t specifically introduce him, he also treated him as if he didn’t know.
The topic shifted again: “Old Qu, that envoy from Great Chu also seemed to have arrived today; do you know?”
Qu Tang nodded while picking up food: “I know. But there’s no way; the other brought a warrant openly and didn’t bring weapons. Nowadays all nations are at peace with each other and have trade relations; you can’t just not let people in, right?”
The person let out a snort: “What business does he do? And that envoy from Daxing—each and every one of them is coming for Master Yuxi, aren’t they?”
Hearing this name, Su Yang’s gaze paused. He remembered the teacher Fang Zhixu mentioned was this name—likely Lin Huaiyu’s alias.
Qu Tang said with a smile to Fang Zhixu: “While you were gone, your teacher’s courtyard has become so crowded it can’t hold all the people.”
Fang Zhixu pursed his lips and said: “I’ll go back to see Teacher in a while.”
Another person said: “Master Yuxi is so beautiful and talented; in our town, those who admire Master Yuxi include young and old, men and women, not to mention those from other towns and countries. If you ask me, it’s not excessive at all; the line should fill our town—a single courtyard is too small!”
Qu Tang nodded: “That’s true. At least didn’t Matchmaker Wang want to propose a marriage to Master Yuxi? As a result, Master Yuxi said he already has someone in his heart, and that immediately blocked Matchmaker Wang back.”
While the two were talking nicely, a black figure nearby suddenly stood up with a “swish,” the chair making a “creak” sound on the floor, startling everyone.
They saw the person walk out without a word.
Qu Tang looked at Fang Zhixu, but Fang Zhixu said nothing.
The other person was puzzled: “This… just who is this person? How dare he give us a dark face? Did we offend him?”
Qu Tang shook his head: “That face is indeed frighteningly dark…”
Fang Zhixu stood up and said: “I’ll go take a look.”
He immediately chased after him. Su Yang hadn’t really gone far, but was standing outside. The night wind blew on him, and the dark night enveloped him; for some reason, that back looked somewhat lonely.
He walked behind Su Yang and asked: “Your Majesty, what’s wrong? Is… is there something Uncle Qu and I did inappropriately?”
Su Yang’s eye color was as black as the night curtain. After a long while, he turned and asked Fang Zhixu: “Lin… Does that Master Yuxi have many people looking for him?”
Fang Zhixu blinked and said: “There indeed are many people looking for Teacher. Many families in the town want to send their children to Teacher’s private school and beg for Teacher’s guidance, but Teacher said he can’t teach so many, so he only accepted ten students.”
“Oh, as for those proposing marriage… there were originally many matchmakers, and many ladies and young masters came to Teacher’s door personally to find him and win his favor. But since Teacher said he has someone in his heart, the people have become fewer, though those from other towns and countries still haven’t given up hope.”
Listening to Fang Zhixu’s words, Su Yang’s face grew darker and darker. By the end, his breathing almost stopped: “He really said… he has someone in his heart?”