Chapter 239: Opening Up (Part I)

Imperial Consort Zhuang did not wish to dwell on the matter, and Zhi Jie did not press further.

This mother-and-son pair in name only had never really taken much interest in each other's business.

He lowered his head, as if something had just occurred to him, and smiled faintly.

Imperial Consort Zhuang, having already dropped the previous topic herself, asked him, "What are you smiling about?"

Zhi Jie said softly, "The Gan Shi Star Catalogue."

Imperial Consort Zhuang: ?

...What was so funny about the Gan Shi Star Catalogue?

It was just an early astronomy book.

She remembered he'd studied it back when he was first learning.

But whenever he was in one of his crazy fits, he'd smile just like that—all dopey.

Imperial Consort Zhuang looked at him and felt like flinging a faceful of talisman water at him. She just closed her eyes, not wanting to look at him: "Go do your thing."

Zhi Jie stood up and gave a bow: "My Lady, someday I'll bring my teacher to meet you."

Imperial Consort Zhuang: "No time."

Zhi Jie: "My teacher's good-looking."

Imperial Consort Zhuang said nothing, reached out and pressed a hand on the vase beside her.

Zhi Jie, quick to catch on, took a step back: "Xiaoliu will take his leave now."

Watching Zhi Jie rush off, Zhuang Lantai picked up the pure vase, raised it to her lips, and took a sip.

Inside was jasmine tea.

She watched the incense smoke curl upward, her eyes slowly growing tired and wistful.

In front of her stood a statue of the Earth Goddess, with a face like a hibiscus flower and softly arched brows, a headdress with green jade tassels. One hand was held in the Earth Goddess mudra, while the other pointed gently forward, as if reaching out to comfort everyone.

But unlike ordinary statues of the Earth Goddess, this one had a teardrop mole.

Zhuang Lantai reached out, her fingertip touching the statue's outstretched, cold fingertip.

She murmured in complaint, "Awan, he's spouting nonsense again."

"I used to think he was more like his father, but now it seems..." She paused for a moment, reflecting, "Could I have led him astray? But I really... tried my hardest not to teach him anything."

With that, Zhuang Lantai lowered her hand: "Seems like just being alive is a sin. I should've gone with you."

Her long lashes lowered slightly, her face still cold and distant.

"Just kidding. I promised you I'd live well."

She lit three incense sticks for her Earth Goddess.

She pressed her palms together, a string of Taoist prayer beads in hand, and looked up at the deity, but her gaze cut through the years, staring back at a moment from the past.

—"Awan, let's go play polo!"

Zhuang Lantai, dressed in a blazing red riding outfit, had striking eyes and arched brows. One hand on her hip, the other holding a riding whip, her face full of bold, carefree energy.

A small latticed window slid open from inside.

As the window opened, her eyes lit up a little.

But the face behind the window was Xiang Zheng's, then still the Crown Prince.

He looked at her intently, with a fond, indulgent smile: "No manners. Call me 'Your Highness.'"

Zhuang Lantai gave an "oh," gave the Crown Prince a quick bow, then walked right past him to look at the person behind.

In the warm sun and spring grass, she stood behind Xiang Zheng, having just changed into a dark blue riding outfit, her hair half done up, not yet tied.

Crown Princess Rong Wan said apologetically, "A Lan, wait for me. I'll come once I finish tying my hair."

...

The incense ash fell silently.

Zhuang Lantai finished a long stretch of chanting and opened her eyes again.

"See, I promised," she said softly. "I'll wait for you, just as I said. Wait until you've got our home ready over there, and when the time's right, I'll come to you."

With a clear ring of the singing bowl, Imperial Consort Zhuang's daily prayers came to an end.

...

Le Wuya went back to his lodgings, yanked the covers over his head, and crashed back out, not giving a damn about the storm brewing outside.

Inside the palace, with the higher-ups cracking down, no matter how many rumors were flying around, they only spread in hushed whispers, no one daring to say anything out loud.

Outside the palace walls, though, it was much harder to shut people up.

People didn't dare say anything in public, but behind closed doors, the gossip was running wild.

How could two people in this world look so much alike?!

Unless they were brothers.

But Wen Renyue had Jing tribe blood, and Le Wuya was Jing too.

What if they shared the same ancestors?

And it wasn't like this "Wen Renyue" was some nobody who'd crawled out of a ditch.

He'd legitimately been alive in this world for over twenty years, with a clear background and a spotless record, and had gone through the Ministry of Rites' official procedures.

Funny thing, he'd never taken the provincial exams, and as for his connections in the official world, before he made a name for himself in the Nan Tingming rebellion case, calling them "few and far between" would've been generous.

It wouldn't be a stretch to say he started from absolute zero.

Even Provincial Governor Jiang Kai, who'd first recommended him for office, had only cared about the grain his father, Wen Renxiong, had donated.

As for what Wen Renyue actually looked like, Jiang Kai hadn't given him a second look.

Ministry of Rites officials were supposed to have met him in person, but back then, they were too busy trying to dump the Nan Ting County mess on him. They never even laid eyes on him, and with a wave of their brushes, shipped him off to the border.

If Wen Ren really had been possessed by Le Wuya, and Le Wuya himself had died in the capital, why would he go through all that trouble, trekking over mountains and rivers, to possess some minor seventh-rank official in the middle of nowhere?

With skills like that, who couldn't he have taken over?

The Emperor's protected by his dragon aura, so that might be tricky, but why not go for a big shot like Minister Jie Jitong?

Besides, Wen Ren's never short of close aides who're around him day and night—if someone had really swapped him out, wouldn't they have caught on?

He went to Nanting first, then Tongzhou—neither one's exactly a cushy post.

If he'd really changed that much in personality and looks, wouldn't someone have grabbed that as ammo to make a big deal out of it?

And anyway... that Lord Yue's temperament...

Not to mention, this Lord Wen Ren's track record and character are plain for everyone to see—universally praised.

The officials mulled it over, putting themselves in his shoes: if they were Le Wuya, lured to Dayu before he died, worked to the bone, then had his corpse mutilated and dumped in the wild after he died—if they really got a shot at a second life, they'd have thrown Dayu into total chaos, or even teamed up with the Japanese pirates to destroy the country, instead of suiting up and busting their ass for Dayu.

The more they talked, the more they figured maybe the two being so alike was just fate playing a cruel joke.

...But could two faces in this world really be that identical?

...

The moment Le Hang walked into the Imperial Academy today, he could tell something was off.

He was puzzled, but he just went about his own business without letting it show.

His colleagues were dying of curiosity, practically giving themselves eye twitches from all the signaling, but Le Hang stayed completely unbothered.

Finally, someone couldn't take it anymore and edged over cautiously: "Brother Huai Jin..."

Le Hang didn't even look up. "Mm."

"Hey, have you heard about the new Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief..."

Le Hang put down the book he was holding. "Wen Ren Ming Ke?"

"You know him, Brother Huai Jin?"

"Yeah, I know him. Ran into him once over a year ago."

Le Hang forced his pounding heart to calm down, thinking, so it's out in the open now.

The guy stammered, "I heard he looks a lot like..."

Le Hang frowned.

His presence was just that overwhelming—one icy look and the guy shut right up.

"Watch your mouth," he said quietly.

Knowing how strait-laced Le Hang was, the guy quickly said, "Right, right, yeah, I know the whole 'don't talk about ghosts and gods' thing..."

Le Hang stayed quiet, thinking:

If Ali got a second life, he'd go back to the Jing tribe too, riding free and wild, soaking in the world.

If he were Ali, he wouldn't want to set foot in Dayu again either.

...

Over at the Dragon Tiger General's mansion.

Yuan Zijin, who'd been home quietly studying, heard the news and couldn't believe it: "Brother, you're saying he looks like who?"

Once Yuan Ziyou gave him the answer, he nearly jumped out of his chair.

"Impossible, impossible!" Yuan Zijin shook his head like crazy. "How the heck could Wen Ren Ming Ke look like that Le Wuya?!"

Yuan Ziyou watched his little brother get all riled up, amused, and pinched his cheek under the pretense of scolding him: "You know Le Wuya?"

"Nope." With that guy not around, Yuan Zijin had no problem vouching for him. "But Le Wuya's a bad guy, and Wen Ren Ming Ke's a good one!"

Yuan Ziyou: "..." This kid's so clueless, it's hilarious.

He teased Yuan Zijin: "Wasn't it you who said he was a bully, wouldn't train you, and didn't even let you eat your fill?"

"...Ah!" Yuan Zijin started pacing in a panic. "That's different! What if someone's picking on him?"

He grabbed his brother's sleeve all of a sudden. "No, no, bro, I gotta go check on him! He's the kind of guy who's asking for a beating, but if someone actually beats him up and nobody's there to help, what's he gonna do?"

Seeing his little tiger actually worried, Yuan Ziyou grabbed his wrist, his usually warm expression going hard.

"The capital isn't Tongzhou," he said. "Here, nobody dares mess with a new favorite of the court."

Yuan Zijin hesitated: "But... didn't they say Le Wuya has many enemies? What if someone comes seeking revenge..."

Yuan Ziyou patted his shoulder to reassure him, emphasizing: "The capital isn't Tongzhou."

...In the capital, the knives and shadows never come out into the open.

...

In the office of the Court of Judicial Review.

Zhang Yuanye had headed out to the capital's outskirts that morning to handle a big case, so he'd missed the big court session.

"Is he really as similar as people are saying?" He took the teacup and asked casually.

The Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, who'd been at the session, answered dead seriously: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never have believed two people could look that much alike. ...Even their eye color's crazy similar, just..."

He thought for a second, then gave his verdict: "It's downright eerie."

Zhang Yuanye was already sick of Zheng Miao going on about it, so he didn't think much of it and laughed it off: "Now that we're all colleagues in the Three Judicial Offices, I've gotta meet him if I get the chance."

As for how he almost buckled to the floor the first time he met Le Wuya—well, that's a story for later.

...

Le Wuya slept like the dead, and when he woke up, moonlight was already pouring through the window.

He rolled over, sat up, and pushed the window open to stare at the capital's starry sky, feeling all dazed and peaceful at once.

He dropped his gaze and spotted a familiar figure down below the little tower.

In a long blue robe, hands behind his back, staring up at the moon.

Le Wuya froze for a moment, then let out a cheer.

Hearing the sound from below, those below looked up to see the one in thin crimson garments brace both hands on the windowsill and leap down from the window ledge, stumbling forward as he landed.

He immediately spread his arms wide, using his embrace to break the fall.

Le Wuya quickly scrambled out of his arms, starlight and moonlight reflected in his eyes, dazzlingly bright: "Ha! Caught you!"

Faced with a Brother Gu who had dropped down from the sky like this, Wen Renyue's heart was knocked both bitter and soft by his pounce, yet he still couldn't help but say, "That was dangerous."

Le Wuya grinned and circled around him: "Top Scholar, when did you arrive?"

"I knocked on your door, and when you didn't answer, I figured you were slacking off," Wen Renyue said. "Court started early today, so sleeping in a bit is fine. So I waited for you downstairs."

Le Wuya's lashes fluttered as he cut to the chase: "Who told you I live here?"

"Someone I met after coming to the capital..."

Wen Renyue weighed the word "friend" carefully and decided not to say it.

It was Juren Su, who had ranked second in the imperial exam, who told him that the new Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief would be staying here temporarily before taking office.

Judging by Le Wuya's reaction, he understood: "...So it seems not everyone knows Brother Gu is here?"

Le Wuya narrowed his eyes: "I told you to focus on your exams, but you've already linked up with the Fifth Prince's camp?"

Wen Renyue explained: "I didn't go looking for them—they came to me."

He knew he had done nothing wrong, but the moment he met Le Wuya's gaze, right turned to wrong.

It was always like this with him—his hands and feet went weak, as if he were guilty and out of breath.

Wen Renyue gave a helpless smile: "Brother Gu, want to grab something to eat? There's a place nearby that does pearl chicken—I hear it's really good."

Le Wuya's stomach had been empty for a while, and his eyes lit up at the words. He reached out and tugged at his sleeve: "Let's go, let's go! My treat—your wallet!"

Wen Renyue was yanked off balance, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Whether as Top Scholar or Censor-in-Chief, when they met now, he was still Wen Renyue, and Brother Gu was still Le Wuya.

That was enough.

Warm laughter laced his voice: "Let's go."

As the new Top Scholar and the new Censor-in-Chief walked into the streetlights of the market, six fast horses rode out into the night, briefly converging at the East Gate before splitting into three pairs.

One team headed to Nanting, one to Jiangnan, and one to Tongzhou.

The sound of hooves faded into the distance, leaving only the silent stars and moon, taking in all the secrets of the mortal world.