The two of them arrived in Xuzhou just in time for the days around the posting of the list of successful candidates.
Although local cases were handled by the county bailiff, because there was suspicion that demons or ghosts were involved, Du Zhi paused for a few days to investigate within the Xuzhou area, in line with his duties.
Xin Hexue had nothing else to do except stay in the post station, so he helped Du Zhi inquire among the townspeople and indeed managed to find out some things.
The scholar who hanged himself on the sweet osmanthus tree the day before yesterday was named Su Jia. He was normally honest and cheerful. Several families familiar with him were quite shocked upon hearing that he had committed suicide
Su Jia was the only son of the local butcher, Butcher Su. Butcher Su had lost his wife years ago, leaving only this one son. The boy had a passion for reading and vowed to bring glory to the family name. Of course, Butcher Su was willing to sell all he had and sacrifice his own life just to support the only scholar in the family.
Unfortunately, Butcher Su was from a peddling background. In Dacheng, if one’s ancestors within two generations were peddlers, gossipy women, thieves, or engaged in rough trades like pig slaughtering and dog butchering, their descendants were not allowed to participate in the imperial examination.
Since the path of the imperial exam was blocked, Su Jia was left with only two other routes to bring honor to his family name: one was to join the military, and the other was to travel and build a reputation, submitting his works to recommend himself; the third was to live in seclusion in the mountains near the capital, imitating the ancients and taking the Zhongnan shortcut.
The last two routes were essentially the same, both sought to raise fame in hopes of catching the eye of a mentor.
Su Jia chose the first route.
However, his family did not have enough money to support him traveling from place to place. So Su Jia could only inquire about the preferences of important civil officials in Xuzhou, hoping to present them with suitable scrolls of his writings.
The so-called “xingjuan” referred to compiling one’s poems and essays into a scroll to present to those with status in society, politics, or literature, hoping they would recommend him to high officials in the Ministry of Rites in the capital.
But to take this route, one needed to have profound skills in composing poems and essays, enough to impress others. Neighbors often saw Su Jia scratching his head in frustration while writing. But even so, after presenting his scroll to several officials, they were all rejected.
Butcher Su said that two months ago, Su Jia left home with the family’s savings without saying where he was going. After not seeing him for two days, Butcher Su almost went to report to the authorities. But, just as he stepped out the door, he saw Su Jia return with disheveled hair and a dazed look on his face.
Seeing Butcher Su stop halfway through the story, Xin Huexue grew curious and asked, “And then?”
Butcher Su shook his head, unsure how to explain. He said with a complicated expression. “When my son came back, he locked himself in his room, neither eating nor drinking. I waited a full day and night. In the end, I had no choice but to break the door down, and just then, my son came out holding a scroll, looking ecstatic and shouting that he had written it!”
“My son later took that scroll to pay respects to Master Li of the prefecture, and Master Li even agreed to recommend him immediately. But the next day, he sent someone to return the scroll and threw it in my son’s face.”
“The servant who brought it back scolded him, saying it was a piece of garbage written by a pig or dog. How dare he try to fool Master Li with that!”
“My son panicked and picked up the scroll from the ground. I can’t read, but I heard my son muttering, ‘How could this happen… Why are the words incoherent… I clearly spent a whole day and night transcribing the poem I dreamed of, why is it different now…'”
“I looked at the scroll and it was indeed my son’s handwriting. But Master Li, who praised it as a masterpiece the day before, sent someone to humiliate him the next!”
Butcher Su choked on his breath and began coughing, pounding his chest in grief and sobbing, “It’s my fault too. Later, seeing my son so depressed, I only thought about how he spent all our savings on that trip and didn’t bring back a single coin. I scolded him… I didn’t expect… didn’t expect… to end up having lost both my wife and son in my middle age.”
Xin Hexue and Du Zhi exchanged a glance.
Du Zhi asked the key question, “Where did Su Jia go?”
Butcher Su’s old face was streaming with tears, but he still answered Du Zhi’s question, “I don’t know either. He never said from beginning to end. I asked several times, but he kept his mouth shut.”
…
Not having obtained the most crucial information from Butcher Su, they were already walking along the street by the time the sun was setting.
This was a market town where common people lived and gathered. There were too many eyes and ears, so Xin Hexue did not let Du Zhi carry him like he did when they were traveling in the mountain paths.
As they passed a quiet alleyway, Xin Hexue’s sharp ears picked up the voices of two young people chatting.
Du Zhi saw him suddenly stop and assumed he was tired from walking, so he asked, “Do you want me to carry you?”
Xin Hexue was worried that Du Zhi’s voice would disturb the people in the alley, so he quickly covered Du Zhi’s mouth with one hand.
With the other hand, he raised a finger to his lips. “Shh, listen…”
Xin Hexue signaled with his eyes, pointing deeper into the alley.
They were standing beside a white wall, and from this angle, they could see two figures at the end of the alley, though those two couldn’t see that someone was eavesdropping from the entrance.
Being a cultivator, Du Zhi had excellent hearing. When focusing intentionally, he could hear even the faintest sounds within several li.
He understood Xin Hexue’s intention and consciously extended his senses to listen in on the conversation.
But his eyes were still fixed on Xin Hexue.
The hand covering his mouth…
‘Soft,’ Du Zhi thought.
A hoarse and low voice echoed in his mind, like a venomous snake spitting out its tongue, “Such a great opportunity, aren’t you going to give it a lick?”
Du Zhi frowned inwardly and said to the voice, “Shut up.”
He silently began chanting sutras in his heart.
At the end of the alley stood two young men, one in a green robe and the other in white, also appearing to be scholars.
“Fang xiong, is this information true?”
“Would I lie? Su Jia told me himself!”
Xin Hexue’s delicate eyebrows furrowed and he concentrated on listening.
He had stopped because he heard the two mention Su Jia’s name in their conversation.
“But… didn’t Su Jia hang himself two days ago?”
“But he was successful when he went to see Master Li back then! Before he went, he even showed me his scroll. Honestly, it was so brilliant it must have come from an immortal. But somehow, the scroll returned by Master Li’s servant the next day was completely different. I suspect someone else bribed Master Li for a recommendation. Didn’t you see how much gold and silver the Lu family sent to his residence? He must have been bought off and swapped the scroll!”
The first voice was that of Fang xiong. He paused and then continued in a lowered voice, “The contents of the scroll sent back was full of nonsense, completely different from what I saw before. Even though the handwriting looked like Su Jia’s…”
Fang xiong: “Anyway, are you coming with me to try it or not? We’ve already passed the provincial exam and we’ll be going to the capital in November. We must present our scrolls to some masters, or at least the chief examiner and a good scroll is crucial. If we can leave a good impression with the Assistant Minister of Rites, maybe we’ll be selected as top-ranked scholars!”
Although it sounded like a pipe dream, as long as there was a glimmer of hope that it could come true, it was enough to tempt these provincial scholars.
Being awarded top scholar, how many scholars from humble backgrounds dreamed of this?
After studying bitterly for decades, everything came down to this one moment.
The other person clearly gave in and asked, “Then when do we set off? How do we go?”
Fang xiong: “Don’t rush. I heard from Su Jia that we have to go to Huxin Tower. First, go home and gather fifty taels of silver, then wait at the Hulu Dock on the east bank of the city a morning after it has rained the night before and the fog has dissipated. A mute boatman will row over. Just tell him you want to go to Huxin Tower, and he’ll take you to a small island in the lake center. The tower’s right there.”
Fang xiong: “Once there, ask the waiter upstairs for a private room. In the room, hand him the fifty taels and recite, ‘Dim light yellow, soft in nature. Affection is shallow, traces are distant, and only fragrance remains.’ Then he’ll lead in the geji. You can listen to the pipa tune and have a good dream.”
*Geji means a female entertainer skilled in singing, dancing, playing different instruments, calligraphy, conversation, poetry, etc.
Fang xiong: “Su Jia dreamed of a beautiful article in that dream. I heard that other people also went there and had different dreams, but they were all what they desired. Some even dreamed that there was gold buried in the yard behind the house, and later they really dug up gold when they returned home.”
So, it seemed this so-called “Huxin Tower” was the real problem.
Before the two realized they were being eavesdropped on, Xin Hexue and Du Zhi quietly left the alley.
…
A day later, it rained at night.
At dawn the next morning, the mist on the lake dissipated, and sure enough, a mute boatman rowed over.
Xin Hexue and Du Zhi were not the only ones waiting on the shore. There seemed to be many customers for Huxin Tower, as several guests were waiting at the Hulu Dock.
Fortunately, the boat was large enough, and there were other boatmen following behind to fetch more passengers.
Dozens of people were ferried to the island in the center of the lake.
Xin Hexue carefully listened to the chatter of other passengers. Most of them were also there chasing after that “good dream”.
Fearing Du Zhi’s monk’s attire would be too conspicuous and would alert the enemy, he asked Du Zhi to go to the clothing store to buy casual clothes and wear a straw hat to blend in.
Actually, Xin Hexue wasn’t exactly passionate about demon-slaying or ghost-exorcising. His indifference toward the life and death of demons and humans had nothing to do with him being a koi demon or a human, it was simply because he felt no sense of belonging to his identity in this small world.
The main goal of this journey was to quickly max out Du Zhi’s love value. Another important reason was that, according to the script plot K had provided, the koi demon escorted the poor scholar all the way to the capital. Since he didn’t know who the poor scholar was, eliminating the demon threats along the road to the capital was still a necessary step, otherwise the poor scholar would turn into a dead scholar.
After secretly making some dry jokes in his heart, Xin Hexue looked out the window.
The tall Huxin Tower was already in sight.
In front of the building were rock gardens and pavilions, with a carved corridor bridge leading inside.
With painted beams, flying eaves, radiant decorations, pearls, and silver curtains, the Huxin Tower was quite elegant and luxurious.
Xin Hexue asked for a private room upstairs, and the waiter led them up.
Before entering, Xin Hexue placed fifty taels in the waiter’s hand and calmly said, “Dim light yellow, soft in nature. Affection shallow, traces distant, only fragrance remains.”
The waiter bit the silver and grinned cheerfully, “Hey! Guests, please enjoy some tea and wine. The girls will be here soon!”
Xin Hexue naturally had no money of his own, so the fifty taels came from the salary of the Young Qing at Taichu Temple.
The private room was fully furnished with a pear wood table, a tea stand, a beauty couch, a screen, and chairs, etc. Xin Hexue and Du Zhi sat down.
Soon, several musicians arrived. The lead woman held a pipa and bowed gracefully.
Xin Hexue didn’t touch any food or wine on the table, only said lightly, “Sing and play.”
The leader sat on a round wooden stool. As the pipa began to play, the melodious music poured out.
Xin Hexue and Du Zhi had already prepared ear seals to prevent getting enchanted by the music.
But when Xin Hexue was sitting quietly, he suddenly noticed Du Zhi’s figure lurch to the side—he had slumped over the table, seemingly already asleep.
?
‘Falling asleep just like that?’
‘Did the plan change?’
Xin Hexue reacted quickly and also pretended to slump over and sleep.
He secretly removed the seal on his ears and heard the footsteps of the musicians leaving.
The voice outside the door was very soft, it was the waiter asking, “Are the guests satisfied?”
It was the waiter.
The pipa girl replied, “Satisfied. The guests are already asleep.”
The last geji to leave gently shut the door of the room.
As it closed, it brought in the faint scent of osmanthus from the gejis’ bodies.
Because goose pear incense had been burning earlier in the room, Xin Hexue hadn’t noticed the osmanthus scent…
In an instant, something stirred in his heart.
Affection is shallow, traces are distant, and only fragrance remains…
That described osmanthus. So the issue wasn’t the music, but the scent?
But this fragrance didn’t seem to affect demons.
Xin Hexue was unaffected.
The scent targeted humans.
He shook Du Zhi for a moment, “Du Zhi?”
“Stinky monk?”
Du Zhi’s sword-like brows were tightly furrowed, his eyelids were trembling, and his expression was uneasy, as if he were trapped in a nightmare.
It seemed external force wouldn’t wake him up.
Xin Hexue pursed his lips and thought for a moment. Since nothing unusual was happening outside, he sank into Du Zhi’s dream.
………
Xin Hexue opened his eyes.
The scene before his eyes was a dark red.
Something was blocking his vision.
He raised a hand and pulled it away. It was a red cloth, more precisely, it was… a red bridal veil?
He glanced around the room.
The house was tidy and clean, with red candles lit up everywhere. The character “囍” was pasted all over the windows and walls, so the entire room was a glaring bright red.
**囍 means “double happiness”.
In front of the dressing table beside the red gauze curtains, the copper mirror reflected a fair-skinned young man in bright red wedding robes.
Just as Xin Hexue was feeling confused, the bedroom door creaked open.
Du Zhi, whose hair was crowned neat and also dressed in red wedding robes, stepped in. He seemed a bit nervous, standing stiffly at the door.
Eventually, he still came forward and drank the wedding wine with Xin Hexue.
Xin Hexue had been quietly observing him, and found that the Du Zhi before him looked as though he was meeting him for the first time. Moreover, he had no memory of becoming a monk.
This Du Zhi was no different from any other man in the mortal world, with his dark hair neatly tied up.
After drinking the wedding wine, Xin Hexue stepped forward and held Du Zhi’s hand, tentatively saying, “Husband…?”
Du Zhi blocked his gesture expressionlessly and separated their hands, saying solemnly, “Sister-in-law, that is improper.”
?
‘Sick?’
Xin Hexue was completely baffled.
What kind of dream was this damn monk having?
Xin Hexue suspiciously glanced at the wedding wine on the table.
Du Zhi’s expression remained normal, and he said calmly, “Sister-in-law, I am Zhou Jiangkuo. My elder brother is still unconscious due to illness, so I’m standing in for Zhou Shanheng to receive the bride and perform the rites.”
Xin Hexue then understood that this was a chongxi dream.
**Chongxi is a wedding to ward off misfortune.
