Transmigration: Of Mysteries and Songs

Chapter 130 Cascades: Twist

The room was silent, but not awkward. A while passed as the two of them stared at each other, before Feng Luodi stood up. "Let's go out and take a walk; it's getting stuffy in here."

Situ's eyes darkened and he nodded, leading the way out of the room. They strolled along the street right outside of Autumnal Ombre.

Feng Luodi spoke up. "What is the name of the Covert Guard?"

Situ knew who she was talking about immediately. "Duo."

"Although I have never liked the idea of you having someone to watch over me from the shadows," Feng Luodi smiled as she looked at the flags in the distance, flying in the wind, "but it was all thanks to Duo that I could retrieve Cascades and return to Chang'an safely. I can only implore you to not punish him for his mistakes."

Situ walked beside her, his voice emotionless. "I know what to do."

"Then my heart is at rest." Things had gone back to the way it was when they'd first met, her words polite and her tone distant, lacking the warmth they once had. There was nothing Situ could do against such a heartless woman. They continued their walk in silence.

"Did you give Qingjia those ideas?" Situ broke the silence.

Feng Luodi nodded. "Just some simple advice. The predicament of Jianqiu will only get more tumultuous in the future; I'll be less worried if the tension between the two of them can become something more."

What about your predicament? The words almost left the mouth of Situ, but he swallowed them before they did. "Things aren't that simple between them. In the past, the Minister of the Left is in charge of military matters, while the Minister of the Right is to supervise the officials of the court. But after the establishment of the Defender-in-chief, who is now responsible for the military's politics. Moreover, the Emperor only wishes to retain the position of one of the Ministers; the matters of the older generation are troublesome indeed."

"But as you said, those are matters of the older generation - it has nothing to do with the two of them." Feng Luodi viewed the situation differently. "I'm sure Master Gan can handle such issues well enough; he wouldn't treat Jianqiu badly."

"You seem to have quite some confidence in him." Situ looked around and saw many people pointing at them, gossiping amongst themselves. He sighed inwardly. It was a bad plan to keep the women that the Commandery Princes have gifted to me, in a bid to force Luodi to approach me proactively; all I did was to soil her reputation.

However, Luodi no longer cared for the gossips of the people. She laughed lightly. "If I didn't have enough confidence in him, I wouldn't push Jianqiu towards him. Of course, neither would I do it if Jianqiu did not have any feelings for him ."

Situ grunted in approval. Seeing the crowd around them growing in size, the two headed back to Autumnal Ombre,

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Meanwhile, Jianqiu, who was led to an alley beside Autumnal Ombre, was being badgered by Gan Qingjia.

"Why did you reject me? Didn't you already agree to it back at the Villa?" Gan Qingjia felt anxious to a point as if there were a million cats scratching in his heart.

"I didn't agree." Qi Jianqiu tried to keep a straight face.

"You didn't agree, yes," Gan Qingjia acknowledged, "but neither did you reject it!"

Qi Jianqiu could not hold it in any longer and turned to him angrily. "I know everything! Father told me that the Villa of Mount Baicha was established by Empress Zhaoren in the past, and that she was the one who had named the Villa! The flowers in the Villa were only planted because of her preference for those flowers!"  Her eyes were red. "You lied to me, saying that the Villa was named for me and the flowers are chosen for me! Full of lies! Who knows if your proposal to me has an ulterior motive?"

"Oh Jianqiu, you have wronged me!" Gan Qingjia cursed his future father-in-law in his heart and quickly tried to comfort Qi Jianqiu. "Please listen to my explanation. The Villa was founded by the Empress, yes, but it was not named the 'Villa of Mount Baicha' at first; the name was changed by me. Yes, Empress Zhaoren had a thing for tea flowers[1.The Baicha Flowers, of which the Villa is named after, can be literally translated as "White Tea Flowers", but I'd opted to keep their name in case of any misunderstanding. In actual fact, they are also known as White Camellias.], but the mansion of the Villa in Chang'an was only built in recent years, the tea flowers planted by my command. I never lied to you!"

"In recent years?" Qi Jianqiu caught on to detail. "But we've only met each other last year, and even then our relationship was strained. What do you mean by 'in recent years'?"

Gan Qingjia's face fell. "Your name as the Qi Beauty was known throughout Chang'an, but back then you'd disliked those who visited zither parlours with a passion, and the conflict between our Fathers were very bad. I never got the chance to get close to you!"

Qi Jianqiu's face relaxed somewhat. "You know that I don't like it, but why did you go to the zither parlour again yesterday? You just promised me, and you forgot about it right away! Your words can never be trusted; you're a slick playboy, and I can't win against your words."

Gan Qingjia felt wronged again. "I went because of a meeting with several other high-ranking officials!" A plan came to his mind. "What's more, we're not together yet. If you agree to be together with me, I'll tell you everywhere I have to go in the future! You can supervise me yourself, or send someone to do the job; both are fine with me."

Qi Jianqiu did not want to give it to him easily. "You're too good with words; I don't know if you're speaking the truth or not."

Gan Qingjia grabbed her hand and put it to his chest. "Can you feel my heart now?"

Qi Jianqiu's face turned bright red, conflict apparent on her face. Just as Gan Qingjia thought that he would return empty-handed today, Qi Jianqiu spoke up. "What about Yiqi? He'd proposed before to me as well; I don't want to hurt him. And you're too mysterious, it makes me scared."

Gan Qingjia froze. "Little Yiqi is in this as well?" That was something he'd not expected.

Qi Jianqiu saw the confused look on his face and knew that he could not come up with a plan that would not hurt Xue Yiqi. She stamped her feet and left quickly. "I knew you were unreliable!"

Gan Qingjia returned to Autumnal Ombre dejectedly, and just as he expected, Qi Jianqiu was nowhere to be seen. His eyes met the inquisitive gaze of Situ and Feng Luodi.

"Argh." He sighed loudly and dragged Situ out of Autumnal Ombre, complaining to him as they walked. "It's much more complicated than I'd thought it would be; my life is so hard!"

Unfortunately, Situ was not paying him much attention. Compared to the polite but distant attitude Feng Luodi was giving him, he'd much rather prefer if she'd hated him. At least that would mean that she still cared for him

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It was dusk when Situ reached his residence. Not long after his return, a visitor requested to see him on the orders of the Heir. Situ was suspicious but met the man in the antechamber nonetheless.

"Your Highness, this is the letter from the Heir that I was tasked to give to you." The man handed over a thin scroll of bamboo slats to Situ.

Situ took the scroll from the man and read it carefully. He'd not had many ties with the Heir in the past. Though the Situ family had always been neutral in court, many princes have tried to win him over to their side. However, the Emperor had declared that any prince who'd dared to claim Situ as his own follower was to be punished heavily in the Spring of the previous year, and all the 'advances' towards him had stopped. At the end of the day, it was up to the princes to gain an upper hand in their fight for the inheritance of the throne, but no one was to interfere with the Army of the North; the kingdoms and tribes of the North would definitely invade immediately if anything was to happen to the Army.

Situ read the scroll and smiled, turning to the man. "Where is the person right now?"

The man replied respectfully. "The Heir has said that if your Highness is willing to report this to the Emperor, the person will be delivered to your residence by tonight."

"The Heir seems to be in a hurry." Situ laughed lightly. "Please tell the Heir that I will accept this person and report everything to his Majesty tomorrow morning. But I will not be able to control what his Majesty intends to do."

The man was elated and quickly bowed. "The Heir can rest assured knowing that you've accepted our proposal, your Highness; we dare not ask for anything more. I shall take my leave now. I will deliver the man later in the night."

The head steward stepped forward and lead the way out of the residence.

Situ held the scroll in his hands. "The Heir's men are acting fast indeed. They've managed to decipher the reason why the Emperor did not want to close the case and delivered this gift to me."

Two appeared in the room. "Are you saying that the mastermind behind the death of the Imperial Treasurer is indeed tied to the Eighth Prince? The Heir must be gleeful if that's the case; but why would he use your hand deal the blow?"

Situ handed the scroll to Two and smiled. "The First Prince has not returned to Chang'an as of yet, and we cannot predict what the Emperor's attitude towards him is going to be; we still need the Eighth Prince to deal with the Heir. The Eight Prince cannot be defeated so quickly."

Two read the scroll carefully and spoke slowly. "This is easy. Since the mastermind is a supporter of the Eighth Prince, we can just make him appear to someone working for Concubine Shu. It'll not only satisfy the Emperor's suspicion of the Eighth Prince, but also provide a lack of direct evidence that'll otherwise drag the Eight Prince down. The Heir would believe that the Emperor had lost trust in the Eighth Prince and that will greatly benefit us."

Situ nodded. "That's what I'd intended. You know what to do; make sure those that are not supposed to talk stay silent. I'll request to see the Emperor tomorrow morning and close the case."

"I understand." Two looked into the dusk settling over the capital, his expression stoic. They'd returned to Chang'an at the peak of their power to serve one single purpose: to help the First Prince return to the capital, and that scene is soon to be realised.

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The next day, Situ requested to see the Emperor in the palace, bringing with him the 'gift' given by the Heir and the relevant evidence.

The Emperor was silent for a long while after reading the documents, and the Imperial Attendants watched his facial expression in fear. However, Situ was confident of the Emperor's decision. His clan had pledged their allegiance to the Emperor for generations, and he knew this Emperor very well. The Villa of Mount Baicha would bring back memories and nostalgia of the deceased Empress Zhaoren, but that would at most serve to recall the First Prince back to the Chang'an. In the heart of the Emperor, he still favoured the Heir and the Eighth Prince.

Situ could already foresee the awkward situation of the First Prince upon his return to Chang'an. For that, he has to plant seeds of suspicion in the heart of the Emperor.

It was a long time before the Emperor put down the documents in his hand and turned to Situ. "You have done well, my Duke. I will send others to take care of the ends and you may rest assured that it will be taken care of."

Situ had anticipated the result. "Yes, your Majesty."

The Emperor let out a breath he'd been holding when he saw that Situ had no intentions to pursue the issue. He forced a smile. "My Duke, you've solved a huge problem for me again. Tell me, what reward do you desire?"

Situ bowed respectfully. "I'll like to request an Imperial Decree from you, your Majesty."