Should he perhaps take this opportunity to leave the estate and attempt to gather some information? If he does that the very first time he goes out however, it may put Wu Du on his guard. It’ll be terrible if Wu Du grows suspicious of him.
Duan Ling stands in the rain staring at the end of the lane for a long time, but ultimately he resists the temptation. The corner gate between the courtyard house that leads to the chancellor’s main estate is closed, and Duan Ling spends ages looking all over the place for a way in before he gets to the backdoor. The gatekeeper intentionally makes things difficult for him, and Duan Ling is questioned, then questioned some more in meticulous detail before he’s let in.
Mu Qing is standing in the gallery getting an earful from a middle-aged man, with a cricket jar sitting next to them. There are seven young men standing nearby, each staring at the man apprehensively.
“Smash it,” the man says.
A maid is taking Duan Ling through the corridor towards them, and on seeing that the chancellor is having a fit she pauses, not daring to approach. Duan Ling notices the extraordinary presence this man possesses and thinks to himself with a start — that can’t be Mu Kuangda, can it?
“Are you listening to me?” The man chides him once more.
Steeling himself, Mu Qing picks up the Longquan celadon2 cricket jar and throws it firmly down on the floor. With a ka-klang, it smashes into smithereens. Mu Kuangda adds, “Stomp on it yourself and kill it.”
Mu Qing stares at the ground wordlessly.
Standing behind a pillar, Duan Ling recalls his own father. If he was the one playing with crickets, Li Jianhong definitely wouldn’t have made him stomp it to death. He may even have caught one himself and played with him.
Mu Qing goes red in the face, but still in the end he stomps the cricket to death anyway.
“Go inside and study.” The middle-aged man points towards the house, and Mu Qing goes obediently.
Then he says to the gathered youth, “If I ever see the young master cricket-fight again, do not blame me for what happens. Leave now.”
Terrified out of their minds, the young men all leave in a panic.
This is when the man glances down to the end of the corridor. Duan Ling was going to try to avoid him, but he’s already been seen.
“Who’s sneaking around over there?” The man asks.
“Master.” The maid comes over and bows to him, and Duan Ling bows as well, calling him master. So this man is Mu Kuangda, after all. At the moment, Duan Ling is dressed in Wu Du’s robe, and it doesn’t really fit him; the sleeves are rolled up and the lapels are tied in a knot, tucked in at the waist. He looks rather ridiculous.
“Who’s this?” Mu Kuangda asks.
Duan Ling dares not answer. He knows that it’ll be far more believable if the maid explains it on his behalf. The maid answers for him, “Master, this is the young servant from Wu Du’s house. I heard he’s come to deliver medicine to the young master.”
“Bring the medicine here. Let’s see it”
Duan Ling produces the packet from beneath his lapel and the maid presents it. While looking Duan Ling over, Mu Kuangda opens up the packet, frowning as he sees the powder.
“The master asked you a question.” The maid gives Duan Ling a little push. Duan Ling glances into the house and sees Mu Qing standing in front of his desk, his face ashen as he looks outside.
Duan Ling thinks, it’s the extra strength aphrodisiac your son asked Wu Du to make, see if you won’t beat him to death, but then it suddenly occurs to him that if he sells Mu Qing a favour right now, maybe he’ll have a use for it later … and so he makes up a lie. “It’s for crickets.”
Mu Kuangda walks out of the garden then, and opening the packet he dumps its content into the pond.
“If you continue to not take your studies seriously,” Mu Kuangda says, heaving a sigh, “You really will be an embarrassment to the Mus.”
Mu Kuangda scrutinises Duan Ling some more. “But I had no idea that Wu Du had taken in an apprentice. Those are some sharp eyes on you.”
Duan Ling stands there without a word, and Mu Kuangda adds, “If you truly want to gain the young master’s favour, then make sure he reads a few more books. Don’t encourage his foolishness again.”
Duan Ling replies, certainly, and Mu Kuangda leaves in a cloudy mood.
Duan Ling subconsciously reaches up to touch the corner of his mouth — Mu Kuangda didn’t notice anything. First impressions are the strongest, he supposes; he doesn’t really resemble Li Jianhong all that much, and according to his father he looks like his late mother. It is precisely for that reason that he’s still safe in the Mu estate. The only part of his face that bears some resemblance to his father are his lips and the corner of his mouth, but as long as he doesn’t look carefully, Mu Kuangda probably won’t connect the idea of the Heir Apparent to Duan Ling himself since there’s already a “crown prince” in existence.
“You. Come in here,” Mu Qing says to Duan Ling.
“The young master’s telling you to go inside, so go inside,” the maid tells him.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Mu Qing says to the maid furiously, “Why are you speaking out of turn?!”
The maid can only bow out then. Mu Qing is clearly still agitated when Duan Ling heads inside; first he gets a lecture, then the medicine that was so hard to come by has been dumped clean by his father. He feels truly aggrieved.
Mu Qing opens a drawer and tosses Duan Ling an envelope with some money inside. “For your master to fix his roof with.”
“Thank you, young master.” Duan Ling picks up the envelope, and he’s about to leave when Mu Qing says, “Wait a moment. Do you know how to make this medicine?”
Duan Ling gives him a reticent nod.
And so Mu Qing says, “Make me another packet while Wu Du is out, and if you do it well I’ll give you something for it. If word of it gets out you know full well what’ll happen to you.”
“Certainly,” Duan Ling replies properly.
Mu Qing glances at him sidelong again, and their eyes just so happen to meet.
Duan Ling immediately adds, “I definitely won’t let the master know, and I won’t let Wu Du know either. Don’t worry, young master.”
Mu Qing thinks, well, this kid knows what’s good for him. He waves him off. “Go on then.”
When he gets back, Duan Ling keeps his expression cool and calm as he gives the money to Wu Du. There are two silver taels in the envelope. Wu Du doesn’t say anything, just takes the silver and sits outside the door to watch the rain. Inside the house, Duan Ling thinks about what happened with the Mus. Young men generally can’t keep their mouths shut, so if he can get access to Mu Qing he’ll be able to get a lot of important information out of him. If he’s lucky enough to gain Mu Qing’s trust, he may even get a chance to see his own uncle, the present emperor.
But if he ever becomes someone by Mu Qing’s side, the risk of being discovered will also increase — that’s because it’s highly likely he’ll run into the “crown prince” and Lang Junxia. The fake crown prince may not be able to recognise him, but there’s no way that Lang Junxia couldn’t … Duan Ling must assure his own survival first.
His father once told him that sometimes the most dangerous place is the safest place. Lang Junxia must not know that isn’t dead yet, and there’s no way he can ever imagine that Duan Ling is hiding in the chancellor’s estate.
He waits and waits. Several days later, Duan Ling finally gets his chance.
“Go buy a couple of shaobing for dinner,” Wu Du says to Duan Ling.
Wu Du counts out some money and tosses them to Duan Ling. Duan Ling just thinks they can’t go on living like this, and he’s starting to pity Wu Du somehow. It really doesn’t make any sense for a freeloader like him to think like that, but watching Wu Du slowly run out of money day after day is pretty sad.
Duan Ling heads out the door with ten coppers in his sleeve and thinks, someday when I’m the emperor I’ll let you feast everyday until you have your fill … but when he thinks about the life he leads now, did his hopes not turn out to be as illusory as a moon’s reflection caught in a pond?
Duan Ling can’t help himself from turning back, to give Wu Du a glance, but Wu Du is really vigilant. “What are you looking at? What are you thinking about?”
Duan Ling can only hold up the money and say to Wu Du, “I was thinking that we can cook for ourselves. That way we can eat whatever we want and not have to buy it outside.”
Wu Du’s aura only gradually calms down then. “Shut it. I’m telling you to go buy it, so go buy it.”
So Duan Ling gives him a nod and leaves as he knows he ought to.
It’s not everyday that he gets to go out but he doesn’t dare run all over the place. If Lang Junxia is in the palace it’s unlikely that he’ll have the leisure to stroll all over the main streets, but Duan Ling should still make sure he’s not being too brazen; if he doesn’t look like he’s sneaking around, of course he won’t get questioned. He goes into the marketplace and finishes what Wu Du has tasked him to do first before heading to the teahouse to see if anyone is chatting about the current happenings.
He never thought about how nobody is going to discuss an emperor who’s been dead for more than half a year, and after listening for ages Duan Ling thinks he shan’t speak up and ask around either for fear of tarrying too long, and he hurries back.
Sure enough, Wu Du is unhappy anyway. “How come it took you so long to buy shaobing? Were you waiting for wheat to grow?”
“I don’t know the way. I got lost. Someone nice pointed me the right way back.”
Duan Ling has learned to come up with lies, and he fabricates them flawlessly. Wu Du is still being kept in the dark and replies, “Alright alright, let’s eat.”
Listening in on the customers at the teahouse is no way to gather information, and on top of that it’s a place of ill repute and all sorts of people go there. Running off to eavesdrop outside the chancellor’s study is just looking for trouble. Duan Ling thinks about this over and over and recalls that news travelled fastest when he was studying in Biyong College and the Illustrious Hall. Is there a school in Xichuan?
So occupied with his own problems is Duan Ling that several times he almost makes up his mind to risk testing Wu Du — maybe pretend to unintentionally ask about the situation in the palace? But after much consideration he finds that idea far too risky. After all, it’s hard to see into a person’s heart with all that skin in the way, and if it turns out he’s ran into another Lang Junxia, there’s no one left to save him.
From his observations thus far though, Duan Ling has a feeling that even though Wu Du is a master poisoner, he really is a decent person. He’s an expert in the martial arts but he doesn’t steal and doesn’t take what’s not his, neither does he exploit his skills in poisoning for profit; he’s an upright and honest man. Sometimes when he gets up in the morning he’ll find Wu Du practicing a set of palm moves in the courtyard, and when his hands are turning this way and that in the air, they’re as pretty to look at as an eagle in flight.
When he finishes practising, Wu Du throws a small coin purse to Duan Ling.
“Buy a couple of shaobing and half a catty of wine.”
Knowing that opportunity has come calling again, Duan Ling takes the money and dashes out into the street double quick. After asking around, he realises that while he won’t be able to hear much about current politics in the private elementary schools of Xichuan, there are a lot of students at the Imperial University, and so he asks for directions and heads there.
Duan Ling gets to the fence outside the Imperial University’s garden, and stacking two stones together to make a stepstool he stands outside the walls staring in through the ornately carved window panes. Several students have just finished their classes, and they’re standing in the garden chatting.
“… But if you think about it this way, weighing the pros and cons, it’s a good thing.” One person says, “The south can’t take any more fighting; we need time to recuperate. It’s too bad that right now we have a good chancellor but no capable warrior, so it’s one thing if they don’t favour the military …”
Just as they did at Biyong College, when students have nothing better to do they have a fondness for acting like adults and discussing politics. Most are talking about the government, and some believe they should let Yuan and Liao fight it out against each other as they like so that Chen can amass its strength; after all, with Liao in the way it will take the Mongols quite a bit of time to get over here. Once Liao is beaten to an inch of its life, Great Chen will be in just the right position to reap the rewards. Right now, with Mu Kuangda drafting new legislation to lower taxes from Xichuan all the way to Jiangzhou, he has the populace’s support. On the other hand when Zhao Kui was in power he valued the military and suppressed the civil functionaries, which actually more easily led to trouble.
The subject of their conversation changes, and it turns to the new emperor Li Yanqiu’s governing approach. The Li family has always ruled by the Daoist philosophy of “inaction”, or mostly leaving things to take their course. But surprisingly, once the crown prince returned to the court he’s rather more diligent at reading and approving memorials. Most decisions within the government are still made by Mu Kuangda.
Engrossed in listening to the conversation, Duan Ling loses track of time, until Wu Du can’t wait anymore and comes looking for him. He finds Duan Ling standing on top of a short stack of bricks staring into the garden of the Imperial University, the setting sun shining onto his face, his expression filled with longing.
Wu Du stands in the back alley and watches him for a while before asking with a frown, “What’d you come all the way here for?”
Duan Ling is so surprised that he nearly falls right off, and the students have gone now. Duan Ling explains, “I happened to pass by, and just … took a look inside.”
He thought Wu Du would punish him, but to his surprise Wu Du doesn’t say anything at all before turning to leave. Duan Ling quickly follows him back to the courtyard house, his mind sorting through his hard-earned information. Once they’re home, he cleans Wu Du’s room and wipes down his shelf. There’s a cloth bundle on the shelf, and inside is a small case and a sword inside its sheath.
The sword is the one Wu Du usually wears, and aside from that, the shelf is filled with nothing other than books. Duan Ling really wants to know what’s inside the case, but at times like these curiosity kills the cat, so Duan Ling leaves it alone.
I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎
Longquan celadon. ↩︎
Should he perhaps take this opportunity to leave the estate and attempt to gather some information? If he does that the very first time he goes out however, it may put Wu Du on his guard. It’ll be terrible if Wu Du grows suspicious of him.
Duan Ling stands in the rain staring at the end of the lane for a long time, but ultimately he resists the temptation. The corner gate between the courtyard house that leads to the chancellor’s main estate is closed, and Duan Ling spends ages looking all over the place for a way in before he gets to the backdoor. The gatekeeper intentionally makes things difficult for him, and Duan Ling is questioned, then questioned some more in meticulous detail before he’s let in.
Mu Qing is standing in the gallery getting an earful from a middle-aged man, with a cricket jar sitting next to them. There are seven young men standing nearby, each staring at the man apprehensively.
“Smash it,” the man says.
A maid is taking Duan Ling through the corridor towards them, and on seeing that the chancellor is having a fit she pauses, not daring to approach. Duan Ling notices the extraordinary presence this man possesses and thinks to himself with a start — that can’t be Mu Kuangda, can it?
“Are you listening to me?” The man chides him once more.
Steeling himself, Mu Qing picks up the Longquan celadon2 cricket jar and throws it firmly down on the floor. With a ka-klang, it smashes into smithereens. Mu Kuangda adds, “Stomp on it yourself and kill it.”
Mu Qing stares at the ground wordlessly.
Standing behind a pillar, Duan Ling recalls his own father. If he was the one playing with crickets, Li Jianhong definitely wouldn’t have made him stomp it to death. He may even have caught one himself and played with him.
Mu Qing goes red in the face, but still in the end he stomps the cricket to death anyway.
“Go inside and study.” The middle-aged man points towards the house, and Mu Qing goes obediently.
Then he says to the gathered youth, “If I ever see the young master cricket-fight again, do not blame me for what happens. Leave now.”
Terrified out of their minds, the young men all leave in a panic.
This is when the man glances down to the end of the corridor. Duan Ling was going to try to avoid him, but he’s already been seen.
“Who’s sneaking around over there?” The man asks.
“Master.” The maid comes over and bows to him, and Duan Ling bows as well, calling him master. So this man is Mu Kuangda, after all. At the moment, Duan Ling is dressed in Wu Du’s robe, and it doesn’t really fit him; the sleeves are rolled up and the lapels are tied in a knot, tucked in at the waist. He looks rather ridiculous.
“Who’s this?” Mu Kuangda asks.
Duan Ling dares not answer. He knows that it’ll be far more believable if the maid explains it on his behalf. The maid answers for him, “Master, this is the young servant from Wu Du’s house. I heard he’s come to deliver medicine to the young master.”
“Bring the medicine here. Let’s see it”
Duan Ling produces the packet from beneath his lapel and the maid presents it. While looking Duan Ling over, Mu Kuangda opens up the packet, frowning as he sees the powder.
“The master asked you a question.” The maid gives Duan Ling a little push. Duan Ling glances into the house and sees Mu Qing standing in front of his desk, his face ashen as he looks outside.
Duan Ling thinks, it’s the extra strength aphrodisiac your son asked Wu Du to make, see if you won’t beat him to death, but then it suddenly occurs to him that if he sells Mu Qing a favour right now, maybe he’ll have a use for it later … and so he makes up a lie. “It’s for crickets.”
Mu Kuangda walks out of the garden then, and opening the packet he dumps its content into the pond.
“If you continue to not take your studies seriously,” Mu Kuangda says, heaving a sigh, “You really will be an embarrassment to the Mus.”
Mu Kuangda scrutinises Duan Ling some more. “But I had no idea that Wu Du had taken in an apprentice. Those are some sharp eyes on you.”
Duan Ling stands there without a word, and Mu Kuangda adds, “If you truly want to gain the young master’s favour, then make sure he reads a few more books. Don’t encourage his foolishness again.”
Duan Ling replies, certainly, and Mu Kuangda leaves in a cloudy mood.
Duan Ling subconsciously reaches up to touch the corner of his mouth — Mu Kuangda didn’t notice anything. First impressions are the strongest, he supposes; he doesn’t really resemble Li Jianhong all that much, and according to his father he looks like his late mother. It is precisely for that reason that he’s still safe in the Mu estate. The only part of his face that bears some resemblance to his father are his lips and the corner of his mouth, but as long as he doesn’t look carefully, Mu Kuangda probably won’t connect the idea of the Heir Apparent to Duan Ling himself since there’s already a “crown prince” in existence.
“You. Come in here,” Mu Qing says to Duan Ling.
“The young master’s telling you to go inside, so go inside,” the maid tells him.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Mu Qing says to the maid furiously, “Why are you speaking out of turn?!”
The maid can only bow out then. Mu Qing is clearly still agitated when Duan Ling heads inside; first he gets a lecture, then the medicine that was so hard to come by has been dumped clean by his father. He feels truly aggrieved.
Mu Qing opens a drawer and tosses Duan Ling an envelope with some money inside. “For your master to fix his roof with.”
“Thank you, young master.” Duan Ling picks up the envelope, and he’s about to leave when Mu Qing says, “Wait a moment. Do you know how to make this medicine?”
Duan Ling gives him a reticent nod.
And so Mu Qing says, “Make me another packet while Wu Du is out, and if you do it well I’ll give you something for it. If word of it gets out you know full well what’ll happen to you.”
“Certainly,” Duan Ling replies properly.
Mu Qing glances at him sidelong again, and their eyes just so happen to meet.
Duan Ling immediately adds, “I definitely won’t let the master know, and I won’t let Wu Du know either. Don’t worry, young master.”
Mu Qing thinks, well, this kid knows what’s good for him. He waves him off. “Go on then.”
When he gets back, Duan Ling keeps his expression cool and calm as he gives the money to Wu Du. There are two silver taels in the envelope. Wu Du doesn’t say anything, just takes the silver and sits outside the door to watch the rain. Inside the house, Duan Ling thinks about what happened with the Mus. Young men generally can’t keep their mouths shut, so if he can get access to Mu Qing he’ll be able to get a lot of important information out of him. If he’s lucky enough to gain Mu Qing’s trust, he may even get a chance to see his own uncle, the present emperor.
But if he ever becomes someone by Mu Qing’s side, the risk of being discovered will also increase — that’s because it’s highly likely he’ll run into the “crown prince” and Lang Junxia. The fake crown prince may not be able to recognise him, but there’s no way that Lang Junxia couldn’t … Duan Ling must assure his own survival first.
His father once told him that sometimes the most dangerous place is the safest place. Lang Junxia must not know that isn’t dead yet, and there’s no way he can ever imagine that Duan Ling is hiding in the chancellor’s estate.
He waits and waits. Several days later, Duan Ling finally gets his chance.
“Go buy a couple of shaobing for dinner,” Wu Du says to Duan Ling.
Wu Du counts out some money and tosses them to Duan Ling. Duan Ling just thinks they can’t go on living like this, and he’s starting to pity Wu Du somehow. It really doesn’t make any sense for a freeloader like him to think like that, but watching Wu Du slowly run out of money day after day is pretty sad.
Duan Ling heads out the door with ten coppers in his sleeve and thinks, someday when I’m the emperor I’ll let you feast everyday until you have your fill … but when he thinks about the life he leads now, did his hopes not turn out to be as illusory as a moon’s reflection caught in a pond?
Duan Ling can’t help himself from turning back, to give Wu Du a glance, but Wu Du is really vigilant. “What are you looking at? What are you thinking about?”
Duan Ling can only hold up the money and say to Wu Du, “I was thinking that we can cook for ourselves. That way we can eat whatever we want and not have to buy it outside.”
Wu Du’s aura only gradually calms down then. “Shut it. I’m telling you to go buy it, so go buy it.”
So Duan Ling gives him a nod and leaves as he knows he ought to.
It’s not everyday that he gets to go out but he doesn’t dare run all over the place. If Lang Junxia is in the palace it’s unlikely that he’ll have the leisure to stroll all over the main streets, but Duan Ling should still make sure he’s not being too brazen; if he doesn’t look like he’s sneaking around, of course he won’t get questioned. He goes into the marketplace and finishes what Wu Du has tasked him to do first before heading to the teahouse to see if anyone is chatting about the current happenings.
He never thought about how nobody is going to discuss an emperor who’s been dead for more than half a year, and after listening for ages Duan Ling thinks he shan’t speak up and ask around either for fear of tarrying too long, and he hurries back.
Sure enough, Wu Du is unhappy anyway. “How come it took you so long to buy shaobing? Were you waiting for wheat to grow?”
“I don’t know the way. I got lost. Someone nice pointed me the right way back.”
Duan Ling has learned to come up with lies, and he fabricates them flawlessly. Wu Du is still being kept in the dark and replies, “Alright alright, let’s eat.”
Listening in on the customers at the teahouse is no way to gather information, and on top of that it’s a place of ill repute and all sorts of people go there. Running off to eavesdrop outside the chancellor’s study is just looking for trouble. Duan Ling thinks about this over and over and recalls that news travelled fastest when he was studying in Biyong College and the Illustrious Hall. Is there a school in Xichuan?
So occupied with his own problems is Duan Ling that several times he almost makes up his mind to risk testing Wu Du — maybe pretend to unintentionally ask about the situation in the palace? But after much consideration he finds that idea far too risky. After all, it’s hard to see into a person’s heart with all that skin in the way, and if it turns out he’s ran into another Lang Junxia, there’s no one left to save him.
From his observations thus far though, Duan Ling has a feeling that even though Wu Du is a master poisoner, he really is a decent person. He’s an expert in the martial arts but he doesn’t steal and doesn’t take what’s not his, neither does he exploit his skills in poisoning for profit; he’s an upright and honest man. Sometimes when he gets up in the morning he’ll find Wu Du practicing a set of palm moves in the courtyard, and when his hands are turning this way and that in the air, they’re as pretty to look at as an eagle in flight.
When he finishes practising, Wu Du throws a small coin purse to Duan Ling.
“Buy a couple of shaobing and half a catty of wine.”
Knowing that opportunity has come calling again, Duan Ling takes the money and dashes out into the street double quick. After asking around, he realises that while he won’t be able to hear much about current politics in the private elementary schools of Xichuan, there are a lot of students at the Imperial University, and so he asks for directions and heads there.
Duan Ling gets to the fence outside the Imperial University’s garden, and stacking two stones together to make a stepstool he stands outside the walls staring in through the ornately carved window panes. Several students have just finished their classes, and they’re standing in the garden chatting.
“… But if you think about it this way, weighing the pros and cons, it’s a good thing.” One person says, “The south can’t take any more fighting; we need time to recuperate. It’s too bad that right now we have a good chancellor but no capable warrior, so it’s one thing if they don’t favour the military …”
Just as they did at Biyong College, when students have nothing better to do they have a fondness for acting like adults and discussing politics. Most are talking about the government, and some believe they should let Yuan and Liao fight it out against each other as they like so that Chen can amass its strength; after all, with Liao in the way it will take the Mongols quite a bit of time to get over here. Once Liao is beaten to an inch of its life, Great Chen will be in just the right position to reap the rewards. Right now, with Mu Kuangda drafting new legislation to lower taxes from Xichuan all the way to Jiangzhou, he has the populace’s support. On the other hand when Zhao Kui was in power he valued the military and suppressed the civil functionaries, which actually more easily led to trouble.
The subject of their conversation changes, and it turns to the new emperor Li Yanqiu’s governing approach. The Li family has always ruled by the Daoist philosophy of “inaction”, or mostly leaving things to take their course. But surprisingly, once the crown prince returned to the court he’s rather more diligent at reading and approving memorials. Most decisions within the government are still made by Mu Kuangda.
Engrossed in listening to the conversation, Duan Ling loses track of time, until Wu Du can’t wait anymore and comes looking for him. He finds Duan Ling standing on top of a short stack of bricks staring into the garden of the Imperial University, the setting sun shining onto his face, his expression filled with longing.
Wu Du stands in the back alley and watches him for a while before asking with a frown, “What’d you come all the way here for?”
Duan Ling is so surprised that he nearly falls right off, and the students have gone now. Duan Ling explains, “I happened to pass by, and just … took a look inside.”
He thought Wu Du would punish him, but to his surprise Wu Du doesn’t say anything at all before turning to leave. Duan Ling quickly follows him back to the courtyard house, his mind sorting through his hard-earned information. Once they’re home, he cleans Wu Du’s room and wipes down his shelf. There’s a cloth bundle on the shelf, and inside is a small case and a sword inside its sheath.
The sword is the one Wu Du usually wears, and aside from that, the shelf is filled with nothing other than books. Duan Ling really wants to know what’s inside the case, but at times like these curiosity kills the cat, so Duan Ling leaves it alone.
I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎
Longquan celadon. ↩︎
