Chapter 26

Zhaoyue Lake lay west of the city, at the foot of Bishan. The mountains ringed the lake, and its waters ran a hundred li to Yizhou City before continuing on to towns and villages across the region. It was an important waterway. On the eastern shore was the dock where ships moored; on the west side, the noble youths berthed their painted pleasure boats.

After arriving in the Capital City, Ye Rui had heard the line, “Ten li of lantern boats rock the green waters; one lake reflects the moon, drunk on flowing light.” It painted a picture of the pleasure boats drifting on the lake at night. There were about ten large painted boats on Zhaoyue Lake, while the smaller ones were almost completely lost beside their grand, ornate presence.

Seen from afar, those painted boats looked like pavilions rising from the water. When the lanterns were lit at dusk, their glow spread across the lake, and the rippling light looked like a rainbow wandering through the mortal world.

When Ye Rui arrived, she couldn’t help sighing in admiration. The Capital City truly revealed the most prosperous side of the world, while outside the city, poverty and hunger were everywhere. The rich were rich enough to die of it; the hungry starved to death. As the hour of You drew near, Ye Rui sat by a teahouse on the lakeshore and drank a pot of tea. Watching the glittering water by the bank, the sheer gauze curtains fluttering on the painted boats, and the lanterns gradually growing brighter, she wondered which boat belonged to Mu Xue.

She looked down the road she had come by and saw no one from the Xie residence. Or perhaps they were hiding in the shadows, out of sight entirely. After all, they were all highly skilled; every one of them was fit to be an undercover guard. How could she possibly spot them so easily?

Just then, Ye Rui sensed someone approaching. She tightened her grip on the teacup and turned around. A woman in a veiled hat was walking toward her.

“What are you standing around for? Come with me onto the boat.”

At the familiar voice, Ye Rui set a few copper coins on the table and stood up. “You came alone?”

“I’m not here to fight. One person is enough.”

With that, Mu Xue walked ahead of Ye Rui. She wore a purple veiled hat and a purple dress patterned with gold thread, the edges trimmed with crossed lapels. The hem trailed behind her, stirring up dust like rolling waves.

“I’m hungry. Have you prepared anything to eat on your painted boat?”

A moment ago, Ye Rui had been thinking that if Mu Xue was late, she would go find something to eat nearby no matter what; she wouldn’t let her stomach suffer.

“Of course. How could I receive a guest without fine wine and good dishes?”

Mu Xue gave a soft laugh, as if teasing Ye Rui for being silly, or perhaps for underestimating her hospitality.

Hu Tu: 【You’ve clearly been spoiled by Xie Tinglan. When you were in the mountains before, you just made do with anything.】

Ye Rui: 【Maybe, but I’m not short of money now. Why should I make myself suffer for no reason? Is it so wrong to eat something good?】

Hu Tu: 【Fair enough.】

When Mu Xue reached the dock, a large painted boat slowly came into view not far away. The hull was long and narrow, made of top-grade nanmu wood with a warm sheen and fine grain. Above it was a small pavilion-like structure with upturned eaves and corners; beneath the eaves hung vermilion lacquered palace lanterns, their surfaces painted with landscapes, flowers, and birds.

Gauze curtains also hung from the corners of the roof, swaying in the wind and faintly carrying a fragrance, making it seem like a fairy boat drifting down from the heavens.

The two of them boarded. Mu Xue led Ye Rui straight into the cabin. Inside was a small sitting room, elegant with redwood furnishings and tasseled curtains. An incense burner gave off a fresh citrus scent, and a faint fragrance drifted through the room.

On the table was a lavish seafood feast. The fresh aroma of the dishes made Ye Rui instantly hungry. Behind the table stood a screen painted with graceful women in different poses; it was a very pleasing sight.

After they sat down, Mu Xue removed her veiled hat and began pouring wine for Ye Rui. “This is Beauty’s Drunkenness, a wine available only at Yanyu Tower. It’s priceless; you’d better try it properly.”

Even after Mu Xue had poured the wine, Ye Rui didn’t move. She glanced at the fragrant dishes on the table, then at the amber, translucent wine in the jade cup. “What exactly do you want?”

“I want to be friends with you.”

Mu Xue ignored Ye Rui’s caution. She took a light sip of wine and said, “Have you spent too long around Xie Tinglan? Your mind has gotten this suspicious too?”

“It has nothing to do with her. We only met today, and I know nothing about you. Yet you’ve invited me here to eat and drink so well. Who knows whether you might poison me? I have to be careful.”

At that, Mu Xue burst into laughter. She was nothing like a reserved lady from a boudoir; instead, she had the bold, easy air of a wandering hero from the jianghu.

“You’re so quick to lay your cards on the table. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up easily trapped by the people you care about.”

That line sounded strangely familiar. Ye Rui felt like she had heard it somewhere before.

She rolled her eyes at Mu Xue and touched her stomach. She really was a little hungry. Should she eat or not?

“Eat. It’s not poisoned. If I wanted to kill you, or do anything to you, you wouldn’t have come back alive the moment you stepped into Yanyu Tower.”

As she spoke, Mu Xue lifted the silver chopsticks in front of her and picked up a piece of fish. “Winter-rime fish from Zhaoyue Lake is delicious, and with this secret sauce, you’ll definitely remember it.”

Seeing that Ye Rui was still hesitating, Mu Xue raised the chopsticks in her hand. “Eat. It’s not poisoned; they’re silver.”

With that, Mu Xue took another piece of expertly prepared shrimp and ate it bite by bite. Ye Rui could hold out no longer. She picked up her chopsticks and started eating too. The flavor was very similar to the food at the Xie residence; perhaps because it was fresher, the rich savory taste was even better.

“I never heard of anyone as interesting as you around Xie Tinglan before. When did you come to her side?”

At that, Ye Rui raised an eyebrow and looked at Mu Xue’s narrow, cunning, beautiful eyes. “You investigated Xie Tinglan?”

Mu Xue froze for a moment, then shrugged and smiled. “She came to me for help. I investigated her; isn’t that normal?”

“I’ve been here less than three months. And you—who exactly are you? Someone from the martial world?”

During the short stretch of road earlier, Ye Rui had been watching Mu Xue’s steps and breathing. Silver Moon had once said that the stronger an expert was, the better they were at concealing their presence. But footsteps and breathing were the most basic things of all; they were often overlooked, and the easiest place to give something away.

From the way Mu Xue walked so lightly and breathed so steadily, Ye Rui could tell, despite her limited experience, that Mu Xue’s lightness skill and inner cultivation were both quite good.

“How could I reveal my identity to you so quickly? But if you say I’m from the martial world, that’s not wrong.”

Mu Xue poured herself another cup of wine and took a sip before asking, “From the looks of you, you’ve barely stepped through the threshold of martial arts, but your tongue is sharp enough. What were you before?”

“A hunter.”

Mu Xue: “……”

Seeing Mu Xue’s unbelieving expression, Ye Rui smiled helplessly. “Believe it or not, it’s up to you.”

The two of them chatted while eating. They didn’t bother with the rule of never speaking during meals. In fact, Mu Xue was very interested in Ye Rui and asked about her hunting in the forest. Ye Rui answered selectively and didn’t tell her everything, including how she had met Xie Tinglan.

By the time they had nearly finished eating, the sky had fully darkened. This was the hour when lanterns burned brightest and pleasure drowned everything else out. Ye Rui peeked out the window and saw scattered bursts of laughter outside, while someone had already begun playing music, turning Zhaoyue Lake into a place of merriment that had forgotten the mortal world.

“Xie Tinglan doesn’t trust you and hasn’t told you anything. Why don’t you come work for me instead? Nothing dangerous here; just accompany me on the occasional outing through mountains and rivers. Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

Mu Xue had drunk half a jar of Beauty’s Drunkenness, and her cheeks were already faintly flushed. Though her eyes remained clear, her words grew bolder and more uninhibited. To try and poach someone from that fox, Xie Tinglan, was something no one in the entire Capital City would dare to do.

“Travel through mountains and rivers with you and get paid? Are you taking a liking to me?”

Ye Rui didn’t take the bait. She didn’t understand Mu Xue at all, so naturally she couldn’t go work for her, much less believe in such an easy way to make money.

Sometimes it was fair to say Ye Rui liked to suffer for no reason; she was perfectly willing to stay by Xie Tinglan’s side and endure hardship.

“Pah, who’d take a liking to you? I’ve seen all kinds of people. I just think you’re interesting. If there were someone like you beside me while I wandered through mountains and waters, life would surely be as happy as an immortal’s.”

As Mu Xue spoke, she swirled the wine cup in her hand, her gaze drifting off into the distance. There was an envious smile on her lips, as though she were already imagining how wonderful such a carefree life would be.

At first Ye Rui hadn’t planned to drink at all, but seeing Mu Xue grow more and more excited, laughing like a child, she was somehow infected by that joy and cheerfully finished her first cup of the night.

“Don’t change the subject. Don’t you think Xie Tinglan doesn’t trust you?”

Mu Xue let out a cold laugh, watching the changes on Ye Rui’s face as she took another small sip of wine. Ye Rui curled her lips, though there was no real smile in them. “We’ve only known each other for a short time. Isn’t it normal for there to be no trust?”

“Oh? So you know she doesn’t trust you either.”

Ye Rui’s expression darkened. She knew all too well that Xie Tinglan was not someone who trusted others easily. Even though they had slept on the same couch before, she didn’t feel Xie Tinglan’s heart drawing any closer. There were many things she still didn’t understand: Wu Ming, for instance; the origins of Silver Moon, Ri Xi, and the others; Xie Tinglan’s plans; her relationship with the Empress. Everything was like a mass of fog.

She had tried to put it aside, but Xie Tinglan was unwilling to say more.

When you become a third-rank guard, I’ll tell you.

Ye Rui had always remembered that, and always forgotten it. She remembered that all of those things required a closer relationship and more trust to know; she forgot how distant and near Xie Tinglan could be at once. She forgot the discomfort of being shut out.

“Normal.”

Normal. Xie Tinglan had spent so long rolling around in officialdom, scheming and counter-scheming, dancing with tigers and weighing conspiracy against conspiracy. She was a person walking on a tightrope; beneath that rope was not only an endless abyss, but also monsters lurking there, eager to devour her flesh and swallow her bones. Her caution was only normal.

Ye Rui said only those two words, then gave Mu Xue a sidelong look and asked, “Why are you trying to drive a wedge between me and Xie Tinglan?”

Mu Xue laughed again. “Of course it’s to poach you!”

She paused, then looked at Ye Rui with a slightly dazed expression as she held her wine cup. “There are so many boring people in this world. Not many would dare speak to me like you do.”

“I’m just speaking normally.”

Ye Rui thought this woman was inexplicable. Did she like it when people pushed back at her? What a strange hobby.

“People who speak the truth aren’t many anymore.”

Mu Xue gave a soft sigh, then waved a hand to indicate she wouldn’t continue the topic. She poured Ye Rui more wine. “What’s so good about Xie Tinglan? Why follow her and not me?”

“In terms of looks, we each have our own merits. In terms of wealth, I’m richer than her. In terms of danger, I’m carefree. Whatever monthly allowance she gives you, I’ll pay double.”

After Mu Xue said that, Ye Rui shook her head. “No. I won’t work for someone I don’t understand at all.”

“You understand Xie Tinglan?”

Mu Xue half-lowered her beautiful eyes and smiled. There was a hint of mockery in that smile. Seeing Ye Rui’s brief daze only made it deepen.

“I think you really don’t speak very pleasantly. You always poke at the one thing people don’t want touched.”

Ye Rui clicked her tongue and drank another mouthful of wine to suppress the irritation in her chest. She didn’t want to keep talking with Mu Xue. Mu Xue took her attitude in stride and said, “I’m only telling the truth. Following her, you’ll have to weigh every step and be cautious with every word. I really don’t understand what you’re thinking.”

As soon as she finished, Mu Xue seemed to think of something and brightened. “Unless... you’ve fallen for that wolf, Xie Tinglan, and that’s why you’re so loyal to her?”

“What loyal? Don’t talk nonsense.”

Ye Rui looked away, skillfully avoiding Mu Xue’s first half of the sentence and only answering the second. “I am me; she is her. We’re just working together.”

We are co-conspirators.

“But what exactly are you cooperating on with her? You don’t even know, do you?”

At that, Ye Rui felt as if a knife had stabbed straight into her heart. Her irritation deepened. “If you don’t know how to speak, no one would mistake you for mute.”

Mu Xue laughed once more. That hearty laugh, paired with her bewitching face, didn’t feel out of place at all; instead, it made her seem even more vivid. Even after saying so many heart-piercing things, Ye Rui still couldn’t truly hate her.

“Come on, then. Do you want to help Xie Tinglan or not?”

“Why rush? What time is it now? You want my answer this quickly?”

A fox. Ye Rui couldn’t help thinking that this woman was difficult to handle, and she had no idea what her purpose was or what role she played in this silent battle.

There were so many people and things in this world she truly couldn’t understand.

Wine cup after wine cup, and Mu Xue no longer mentioned Xie Tinglan. Instead, she began speaking of her travels over the years. For instance, the misty, drizzling scenes she had seen in Jiangnan, with fine rain drifting through the air and willow branches hanging low. Or the endless stretches of yellow sand she had seen in the desert, barren and desolate, yet somehow inspiring boundless reverence for that land.

And then there were the chance encounters she’d had with all sorts of wonderful women beneath spring blossoms and autumn rain... those fleeting romances, how they had sheltered from the rain beneath eaves, how they had been unable to resist undressing one another, and how they had tangled together on the bed without end.

“Wait. Are you sure you still want to keep talking?”

Ye Rui was a little dizzy by now, but she still retained a shred of reason. After putting her cup down, she didn’t pick it up again. She knew she couldn’t drink any more. Hearing Mu Xue talk about her many encounters with women, Ye Rui even wondered if she was hallucinating. Were these details really something she was supposed to hear?

Drunk? Was she imagining all of this in her head?

“You’re shy? One should seize joy while alive. Though those were only fleeting romances, I treated every one of them sincerely while we were together. We’re all children of the jianghu; when we part, it hurts, of course, but it’s still neat and straightforward.”

“You’ve sure collected plenty of romantic debts.”

Ye Rui glared at her, and Mu Xue’s brows moved slightly as she chuckled. “Jealous?”

“Jealous of your head.”

Ye Rui had already guessed that Mu Xue liked women when she saw the female figures painted on the screen. But hearing Mu Xue talk about all that tangling and undressing, she suspected she must really be drunk to be hearing things like this.

She must be drunk, or she would never have thought of the warmth of that jade buckle on the sash in the little thatched hut when Mu Xue mentioned undressing. She would never have thought of the vulnerable redness at the corner of Xie Tinglan’s eyes when she spoke of writhing together on a bed and remembered pinning her beneath her.

Damn it. Drinking really did ruin things!

“Hey, you’re not drunk, are you?”

Seeing Ye Rui sway as she spoke and how unusually flushed her face had become, Mu Xue could tell she was definitely drunk. Earlier, Mu Xue had been so absorbed in talking that she hadn’t realized a whole jar of Beauty’s Drunkenness had already been emptied. The aftereffect of this wine was very strong.

“No.”

Ye Rui gritted her teeth. After a moment of silence, she said, “You’re very lonely, aren’t you?”

The teasing smile vanished from Mu Xue’s lips. She quietly looked at Ye Rui, at those eyes shimmering with the watery haze of drunkenness, clear and clean. Suddenly, she felt that even the stars in the sky were nothing more than that.

“Although you spoke of where you traveled, and of who you once shared fleeting romance with... you’re clearly not happy.”

Ye Rui paused. When she saw Mu Xue’s face grow cool, she seemed to find her opening to strike back.

“You hide behind a mask in order to live, yet you want a sincere heart. Don’t you think that’s absurd?”

Drunk, probably drunk. When people drift between reason and emotion, they can sense many deeper feelings instead. When Mu Xue spoke of her travels, the light in her eyes was obvious, yet those eyes were also empty, and even her smile seemed false.

Ye Rui had never expected that, while drunk, she would glimpse a corner of this person’s true face.

“You criticize my words for piercing too deeply; isn’t yours the same?”

Mu Xue looked at the person slowly slumping onto the table, and her gaze gradually dimmed. A trace of pain flickered past.

“Heh... tit for tat, that’s all.”

“I have to wear a mask just to survive. What do you know?”

Mu Xue rolled her eyes at Ye Rui, but Ye Rui had already slowly closed her eyes and mumbled, “I don’t understand. I... really don’t understand anything.”

Her voice grew softer. The drunkenness hit hard; from the moment she finished speaking to the moment she collapsed onto the table, no time seemed to pass at all. Now she was already dead to the world.

Mu Xue reached out a hand. Her warm fingertips brushed lightly across Ye Rui’s face as she gazed at that flushed red face for a long while.

“I rarely regret the things I do. But Ye Rui..."

“I regret saying one thing too early just now. I might really like..."

Before she could finish, the cabin door was shoved open. The cool wind carried the scent of lake water, and in the sharp moonlight, it fell across the slender figure standing at the entrance.

Mu Xue withdrew her hand and lifted her eyes to the newcomer, then to the figure behind her. “So that’s it. A sickly body like yours could actually get onto my boat; it turns out the famous Guqin Demon has personally graced me with a visit.”

Xie Tinglan walked into the cabin. Looking at the woman slumped drunk over the table, her gaze turned colder, and when it finally landed on Mu Xue, it was like a knife in the freezing wind.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I didn’t do anything to anyone from your Xie residence. She just drank too much on her own.”

Mu Xue shook the wine jar in her hand. Even she was somewhat intimidated by Xie Tinglan’s aura and couldn’t help offering an explanation. Then she smiled and said, “But I’m very happy today. I like her a lot. I can agree to help you, but what will you give me in return?”

Xie Tinglan’s gaze first swept over Ye Rui, then settled on Mu Xue. Her voice was as cold as frost. “That depends on what information you can get.”

Mu Xue sighed, brushed her sleeves, and gave Xie Tinglan an annoyed look. “I really don’t know why she follows you. You’re so fierce.”

At that moment, a woman in white with a jade mask stepped out from behind Xie Tinglan. She was tall and slender, her movement ghostly, her entire body radiating a suffocating, baleful aura.

She glanced at Mu Xue and, regardless of whose territory this was, bent down and lifted Ye Rui into a horizontal carry. Seeing this, Mu Xue looked at Xie Tinglan’s frightening aura and covered her mouth with a smile. “Looks like you do treat this little kid rather specially.”

“You came all the way onto my boat to demand her back. If you were afraid I’d eat her, why did you send her here in the first place?”

Xie Tinglan’s brows drew together slightly, her expression frosted over. “It’s best not to inquire into things you shouldn’t.”

Mu Xue’s face turned cold as she stood. Crossing her arms, she said, “Xie Tinglan, after being Prime Minister for a few years, you’ve really started to act like one.”

There was even a hint of threat in her tone.

Xie Tinglan was silent for a moment before letting out a cold laugh. “I know your weakness, and you know my ambition. We keep each other in check; mutual benefit is enough. There’s no need to hurt each other. It brings neither of us any advantage.”

She paused, then turned to leave.

“If I succeed, it will be good for you as well. You’re a smart woman.”

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Author’s note: Mu Xue: I’m not good enough? Beautiful, rich, and interesting! And I’m top-tier when it comes to treating a lover well! Why am I still single!

[dog head][dog head]