Transmigration: Of Mysteries and Songs

The blistering hot summer days went by In the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, Chang’an in autumn appeared as prosperous and stable as usual.

Autumnal Ombre’s business was still as sublime as ever. Although there was the door-to-door service, many customers still liked to visit Autumnal Ombre and immerse themselves in the ambience there.

Scarlet was a Miss with good taste. She specially brought many elegant purple Chinese Bellflowers and arranged Moonflowers to decorate a temporary shack for people to stop over. The interior was bedecked even better than that of an ordinary teahouse, with decorations and display items comparable to those of a typical restaurant. Moreover, the complimentary tea and wine prepared were of top quality; adding on the small folding screens drawn with insects, grass, birds and animals, the view was extremely entrancing.

This way, regardless of whether the passers-by would purchase something or not, they would stop over and drink a cup or two. Once they have drunk Autumnal Ombre’s wine, they would find it very hard to forget the taste and usually, they would also enter the shop to buy a few vessels of wine to bring back home.

Fei and Scarlet were the ones who came up with this idea. Normally, Feng Luodi and Qi Jianqiu were the ones attending to all matters concerning Autumnal Ombre.

However, there were only a few days left before Qi Jianqiu’s baby was due. Gan Qingjia treasured her like a pearl, so he didn’t allow her to go out and overtax herself again. Everything else had to be postponed until after their child was born.

As for Feng Luodi, ever since the day Situ had left in anger, she seemed out of it. She felt both regretful and heartbroken. Her illness relapsed again and again. Meanwhile, Lady Feng’s body had slowly recovered with great difficulty. In order to let her Mother rest assured, Feng Luodi promised that she would go out to take a stroll every day to relax her mind.

Although she said that she would go for a stroll, the only place she visited was Autumnal Ombre. Everything she went there, she would sit in the inner chamber and from time to time, she’d play the zither and learn to prepare tea. She’d also started to learn to paint. As for chess, she never touched it again. Ever since she’d arrived at the Xuan Kingdom, she had only played chess with one person.

When Fei, Scarlet and the others saw her like this, they couldn’t help but feel worried. Yet, they couldn’t do a single thing for her.

They still couldn’t understand why their Miss was unwilling to marry Situ despite loving him so much, resulting in Situ leaving the residence in anger.

They didn’t understand and wanted to ask about it, but they had no way to set about it.

Another day passed and Feng Luodi was idly brewing a pot of tea for herself. She saw that Autumnal Ombre wasn’t busy and since it was almost time for lunch, she called Fei and Scarlet into the inner chamber. Her next words made Scarlet blush.

“Fei, when do you plan to marry Scarlet? You’re nineteen and Scarlet is already eighteen, it’s not good to keep her waiting any longer.”

As Feng Luodi spoke, she cast a teasing glance at them with a smile tugged at her lips. She appeared much more energetic than before.

“Miss, what are you saying?”

The normally quiet and unwavering Scarlet was blushing and protested coquettishly. It was rare for her to have the bearing of a shy girl. Although she was protesting, her gaze was fixed on Fei standing beside her.

Fei was still as calm as usual, his disposition neither conceited nor rash. He was much more mature than people of his age.

“This matter still requires Miss’ approval. Scarlet is wholeheartedly devoted to you.”

The smile on Feng Luodi’s face widened and she glanced at Scarlet. The latter remained silent which was tantamount to tacitly consenting. Thus, she looked at Fei again.

“You have to at least declare your feelings frankly before I can make a decision, right?”

Only now did Fei reveal a slightly childish smile.

“Miss, I, Li Tengfei, wish to take Scarlet as my wife. I will treat her with all my heart and soul. May Miss allow my wish to be fulfilled.”

Feng Luodi lifted a box and pondered for a while before saying, “I’ll decide on this matter then. Fei, you’re musn’t forget your oath.”

So speaking, Feng Luodi opened the box, revealing three pieces of silk cloth.

“I don’t have much to give you two. Inside these two silk clothes are your servitude contracts[1]. Take them to the authorities and you’ll be able to resume your identities as ordinary people. As to whether you want to enter the merchanting trade in the future or other trades, it would be up to you to decide. Inside this other silk cloth is Autumnal Ombre’s deed. I’ll pass this to you, Fei. In the future, it will be you, Fei, and Jianqiu who will jointly manage this place.”

After she was done speaking, she passed the small box to Fei, then looked at Scarlet and smiled.

“As for Scarlet’s dowry, it would be these wine prescriptions. I’ll write them down in detail for you later.”

“Miss, these are all too valuable. We can’t accept them.”

Although Scarlet was in shock, she still managed to maintain a bit of rationality.

Feng Luodi shook her head.

“These are all useless to me. Only by leaving them with you two will I feel at ease. Haven’t you two been managing the store very well? Jianqiu has always been praising the both of you.”

Fei quickly caught on the words ‘leaving them with you’. He cast a puzzled glance at Feng Luodi and asked, “Miss, why do you make it sound like you’re leaving us soon?”

It was undeniable that as a merchant, Fei was extremely sharp. But he was very puzzled. If Miss were to leave, where would she go? Her relatives, her lover and her friends were all here in Chang’an. Where could she go?

As soon as those words had left his mouth, Fei wanted to laugh at himself. Where could Miss possibly go?

On the other hand, Scarlet was even more straightforward in expressing her thoughts. “Miss, you’re going to leave us? Where are you going?”

Feng Luodi was still smiling at Fei and Scarlet but to them, her smile was like the floating clouds in the sky, intangible.

“Why would I be leaving? Where can I possibly go?”

Feng Luodi was aware that if she left, it would signify the death of this body. Death was at least better than leaving without a word, right?

Yeah… Fei and Scarlet thought simultaneously. There was nowhere Miss could go. However, why was the way the Miss was behaving making them even more restless?

When Feng Luodi saw Fei and Scarlet’s pensive expressions, she noticed that it wasn’t appropriate for her to stay in Autumnal Ombre today.

“I want to go out and take a walk. Stay here and don’t follow.”

Feng Luodi brushed pass the two, leaving them in a daze.

It was already time for lunch. There weren’t many pedestrians on the roads. The commoners had either returned home or went to restaurants to have their meal. The teahouse, however, was still as busy as ever. Along the street, there were vendors hawking their goods in succession.

Feng Luodi took a deep breath, the flavour of the ancient times assaulting her senses. What was she doing?

As she’d said before, she took a walk and strolled all around the place.

Passing by the pots of Peace Lilies arranged at the roadside, she checked the small pendants at a vendor’s stall. She then ran from the store selling pastries to the entrance of the teahouse to inhale the sweet fragrance of teas.

Every store at Chang’an Main Street had trails of Feng Luodi stopping over.

Feng Luodi had the impression that it had been three years since she’d arrived at this place, but she’d never earnestly toured Chang’an. The places that she had been to the most were Manchun Tang and Moonglade.

One was a restaurant while one was a zither parlour. The former contained countless memories and she dared not go there again. The latter was the beginning of her journey.

Coincidentally, Feng Luodi happened to pass by Manchun Tang today. The restaurant was bustling with activity as crowds surrounded the place outside. The owner was probably holding some culinary arts competition again. Delicious fragrance wafted outside unceasingly and the people who stopped by also increased by the minute.

Everything looked so similar. Feng Luodi wanted to laugh but she couldn’t. Clearly, she should have remembered all of these with a smile, but to her disappointment tears welled up in her eyes and she struggled hard to prevent them from trickling down.

She ran past Manchung Tang and naturally passed by Dream Mirrors. This was once one of the three great zither parlours. It was a pity that it had now become a teahouse. She walked further ahead and saw Moonglade, which had already been deserted since some time ago.

Chang’an’s commoners had never expected for something like this to happen. Moonglade’s proprietor, female zither performers, maidservants and pages had all vanished overnight; it was as if the place had never existed before. This caused numerous scholars to thump their chests and stamp their feet in sorrow. After all, they didn’t get the chance to meet the beautiful and alluring Miss Ling Long nor did they get to listen to those zither performances.

Moonglade had been sealed up for the time being until the transfer of ownership had been completed. Feng Luodi stood silently before the entrance for a long time, deep in thought.

She actually didn’t like to recall the past. Although her memories generally contained the joys and sorrows of her life, those were things of the past and there was no use even if she were to recall something.

But, some memories that were deeply engraved in her heart couldn’t be erased no matter how hard she tried.

Those memories lingered in her mind and she couldn’t help but recall everything. It was as if those memories contained some sort of magnetic force that made her recall them day and night, and every time she did, she would be in unbearable pain.

Feng Luodi realised that if she continued standing there, she would definitely go mad. This wasn’t her fault, it was just that the things she had missed were too much, such that they penetrated deep into her heart.

She subconsciously continued walking and arrived at Flowers of Fog.

Once, Moonglade’s zither, Dream Mirror’s dance and Flowers of Fog’s pieces were Chang’an’s Three Finest. But now, only Flowers of Fog remained. Miss Liu Li’s tunes were still as enchanting as ever, but the other zither performances and dance gradually thrived after the disappearance of the two other zither parlours.

Flowers of Fog was already in a league of its own and there were many visitors every day.

When Feng Luodi entered, it was a maidservant who welcomed her and led her to Miss Ling Long’s boudoir.

Passing through a corridor and a small pavilion, they took a roundabout route and finally stopped before a room.

“Miss Liu Li, Miss Feng is here.”

Soon after, someone came and opened the door.

It was Miss Liu Li herself.

“Miss Feng.” Liu Li sincerely paid her greetings.

Feng Luodi naturally returned her greeting with the proper etiquette.

Feng Luodi was invited into the room and Liu Li didn't say much and directly took out a guqin. It was the guqin named ‘Sonorous’.

“When you contacted me and said that this guqin was with you, I was shocked.”

Feng Luodi stared at Sonorous with a complicated look in her eyes.

“In fact, I’m safeguarding this guqin in someone’s stead.”

Liu Li’s voice was soft and mesmerising, seemingly like an oriole singing a tune.

“I did say that I would wait for an appropriate time to notify you. Now that the time has arrived, I finally dared to write a letter to your residence. I hope that Miss Feng won’t take offence.”

At that moment, Feng Luodi thought of Phantom, the Grim Reaper. It wasn’t long ago that she found out that Phantom could transform into a human.

“In that case, thank you Miss Liu Li. I will forever remember this great favour.”

1. A written contract in which one sells himself, herself or a family member