Wang ZhiYi had been standing guard in front of the gate for what to him seemed like hours. Not even an hour had passed. He was pacing the grounds, took sharp turns now and then, shot glares at the gate door, then at the wall. He had contemplated climbing in a few times. Actually, he had thought about it ten times and tried once, but Huan PingZe had pulled him back. PingZe had laughed about it, saying, "You are usually the rational one out of the two of us. Now you act like a tiger with a stick in its paw."
ZhiYi was very rational currently. The walls were low enough for him to jump, and he was stealthy and fast, no one would notice if he snuck in and kidnapped MingYu from their clutches. He made an abrupt stop and headed towards the wall again. PingZe hurried after him, but before ZhiYi could reach the structure, the gate doors opened and Qing MingYu stepped out. MingYu was smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. ZhiYi dashed over.
"What did they want?" PingZe asked.
"Did they do something to you?" Said ZhiYi. Both were looking at ZhiYi with their eyebrows raised. He had sounded like MingYu's virtue had been in danger. ZhiYi cleared his throat.
"They wanted me to bless a room." MingYu said. The brothers exchanged looks.
Looking around, PingZe said, "Let's go get some tea. It's not good to talk about it out in the open."
***
All three floors of the teahouse were packed full of people. The three got a table a little further back of the house, near the storyteller. The man was surrounded by a group of youths, enjoying the attention, brushing his long white beard with content.
MingYu felt uncomfortable, but PingZe assured it would be alright, there were so many people, no one would pay them any attention.
"What room did they want you to bless, brother?" PingZe asked after tea and alcohol were brought to their table. MingYu took a sip of the green tea and sighed pleasantly, the tea was not bitter in the least and soothed his belly.
"It was a woman's bedroom. Madam Jiang complained she couldn't sleep in weeks. So she wanted me to bless that room."
"Did you?" ZhiYi asked as he poured himself a drink.
MingYu laughed. "No, I don't know how to. I had to ask her to leave the room, otherwise, I would have been found out."
"Smart. What was wrong with the room?" PingZe said.
MingYu frowned into his tea. He twirled the cup in his hands. The tea leaves floated up to the surface from the movement. "Nothing. Nothing was wrong. The pewter staff was perfectly still the moment I stepped in. All the negative energy that we sensed was strictly outside of that room."
"Then why couldn't she sleep then?" PingZe's curiosity was at its peak.
"You see; it wasn't her room."
ZhiYi's stopped mid pour and raised his brow. "What do you mean?"
MIngYu put the cup down. "I just had this feeling, that the room couldn't be hers. She didn't fit the room. It was almost bare, very modest. Youthful." MingYu savoured the last word in his mouth. It felt right.
"Youthful? As in her daughter's room?" PingZe asked.
MingYu nodded. After madam Jiang stepped out, he had cautiously looked around the room. There wasn't much just like he initially had though. The thread basket had an unfinished stitching of a peony bush, some robes of faint pastel colours rested in the cupboard, and few pieces of jewellery littered the vanity.
"But it hasn't been inhabited in a while."
"How come?" ZhiYi asked.
MingYu shrugged and said, "The roses in the room have been wilted to the point of crumbling. All the water in the vase had dried out. It looks like it hasn't been touched in weeks. There was dust on the bedsheets."
"Did you see anyone on your way in and out?" said PingZe.
"No, only the two servants and madam Jiang."
"Odd."
"Indeed. The house should be full of life, there should be two youths there at least." ZhiYi said.
"Madam Jiang said that her husband didn't allow any visitors. I was to come in secret." MingYu added.
The three sat in silence, as they pondered on the situation. Their thoughts were interrupted by the loudly debating patrons further ahead of them. The table was stack full of empty wine bottles, most of them lying sideways, drawn empty the moment the waiter had set them among these loudly laughing and talking men. A drunken flush had already crept up on most of their cheeks as they slammed the crowded table, sending bottles rolling to the floor at their feet. The scent of sickeningly sweet liquor wafted all over.
"I say Lang YangZhou should have been emperor!"
"Shut your mouth and drink, old Bai, whenever you have the chance, only stupidity oozes from between your lips! Who would want a cripple for an emperor?"
"But he was the one who dethroned that mutt, Wu TianLan!"
"This is why I say you are stupid. Wu TianLan surrendered himself!"
MingYu was now all ears, as he leaned over the table, listening to the men. ZhiYi and PingZe seemed uninterested but MingYu knew they were listening too.
"Good rid-hic-riddance. Didn't that bastard marry his brother?" Old Bai slurred as he wilted over the table, blinking out of sync.
MingYu nearly busted an artery, too mortified to make eye contact with either of the brothers. PingZe choked on his liquor and sputtered it everywhere.
"His mother, not brother, dimwit! Although he probably would have married his brother too if he had any. Damn animal!" A spat and disdain murmurs followed the remark.
"And not even one of the other mothers his father had obtained over the years, but the woman who birthed him!"
That was even worse! MingYu was now whiter than a ghost, his jaws clenched tight as he listened to people dragging his legacy across the dirt without mercy.
"Didn't they have kids too? Sick bastard! Old Wu must have died of rage after catching them in action!"
"He poisoned the old fool, no doubt about it!"
If there was a hole somewhere, MingYu had an urge to crawl in it and die. He knew he messed up, that's why he was being punished, but how could he sink so low? He was Qing MingYu for god's sake. He died most heroically. He even ascended to be a deity! When did he become so immoral?
"But no one ever saw the kids."
"Of course not. A bunch of inbreeds! Must be so ghastly disabled to be shown to the public!"
There was a need to defend himself, MingYu's pride was being ripped to pieces and spat on. Not only that, his supposed children – if he really had any – were being dragged into it too! But he had nothing to work on, he had no memories of his life as Wu TianLan. How terrible this punishment was, indeed!
"Whatever happened to them?"
"He probably grew bored and killed them off. Wouldn't surprise me in the least."
MingYu stiffened. He for sure knew he wouldn't be a monster and kill off his own kids! These men were taking it too far!
"Isn't that a bit much?"
"He forced official Jiang to suicide, executed an entire official family, nailed another family across the boards, and left them to rot under the sun. Whatever happened to the others?"
"Cut to pieces and fed to dogs."
MingYu grimaced, he did sound like an animal.
"Not to mention all the villages that were being slaughtered over the years!"
"And the taxes! He raised them almost to thrice the time his father was in rule!"
"A monster he is! A monster under that beautiful shell!"
"Should had known he was up to no good after ascending the throne! Not even a week and a damn war breaks out!"
"Don't talk about that war!" One spat loudly and banged the liquor cup on the table so hard it nearly shattered. Old Bai jumped at the sudden loud noise and growled, wiping his face. The other man continued, "That is when everything started going downhill, bringing that unlucky star into the palace!"
"I still don't understand why everyone blames it on him. He brought us victory."
"Exactly! If he hadn't brought Wang ZhiYi to the palace, we would have had probably lost the war and evaded years of trouble!"
MingYu scoffed. ZhiYi was far from an unlucky star, the man was a warrior since birth! Born under the emperor star, Wang ZhiYi had a future that could have surpassed many, if he so wanted. MingYu side-eyed ZhiYi, who was sipping his liquor with calm motions. The divine guide was right, ZhiYi was too modest for his supposed destiny.
"Poor Lang YangZhou, he would have been a good emperor's advisor. I always thought Wu TianLan favoured him. But then Wang ZhiYi came in to the picture."
"More like they both favoured Wu TianLan, if you know what I mean."
ZhiYi grip tightened around his cup as he heard the remark, but otherwise, he seemed calm. MingYu was studying ZhiYi with curiosity.
"How could it be so that a man could cause so many problems with just a face? He isn't a woman!"
"But you are wrong there, old friend. Wu TianLan really is a beauty, saw it myself."
"Why else would Lang YangZhou demand Wang ZhiYi's face be plastered over every city, putting a price on his head? Never forget, Lang YangZhou was in the palace long before Wang ZhiYi appeared."
"Indeed, that man, he appeared and disappeared all the same, suddenly and without a history."
MingYu frowned, he hadn't seen ZhiYi's face being plastered anywhere this entire time. Where these men already so drowned in liquor they had started spouting nonsense? The crew had been walking on plain sight for weeks now, how could anyone not notice ZhiYi? He was quite outstanding as a whole, turning heads wherever he went.
"So that's why I thought that face looked awfully familiar. I must say, they did you justice in the painting department, Wang ZhiYi." A man stepped over, dressed in blindingly yellow robes, with the longest and flowiest sleeves in history of mankind.
MingYu was blinking rapidly as his eyes were being assaulted by the profound yellow. The man had weaved between the patrons, meticulously evading anything that could possible dirty him in any way. He smelled of arrogance and – to MingYu's pleasant surprise, sweet, syrupy canola flowers. How fitting, MingYu mused. Each strand of hair was straight and settled against his robes with the utmost care and precision.
PingZe's grin was quivering and MingYu recognised it to be a mixture of murderous and annoyance. "Look at here, Xie Qiang has graced us with his unwanted presence."