diymy Chapter 59 The Liar
Chapter 59 The Liar
Chapter 59 The Liar
In the courtyard of the music room, the morning light was just beginning to break.
As always, Xue Nu got up very early. By this time, she had already washed and wrung out the two light-colored dresses she had changed out of yesterday, and carefully hung them on the newly erected bamboo poles in the courtyard.
Water droplets dripped onto the stone slab below, leaving dark stains.
After finishing these tasks, she returned indoors, sat down at the table, unfolded a bamboo scroll that Zhao Heng had given her for learning to read, and began to carefully read and identify the characters.
Half an hour later, her gaze began to wander. Every now and then, she would look up through the half-open window at the courtyard gate. The veranda outside the courtyard was deserted, with only the occasional fleeting shadow of a bird.
After a few moments, she lowered her eyes again, forcing herself to focus her attention back on the bamboo slips. She repeated this several times before finally putting the slips down, getting up, and walking to the window, gazing absently at the courtyard gate. A morning breeze ruffled a few strands of her loosely tied silver hair.
After an unknown amount of time, footsteps finally came from outside the courtyard gate, but these light and quick steps were completely different from that guy's steady gait. The Snow Woman immediately turned around, quickly returned to her desk, sat down, picked up the bamboo slips again, and pretended to be engrossed in reading.
The maid who entered was a familiar-looking girl in green, about twenty years old, with a gentle smile, carrying a bamboo basket in her hand.
Xue Nu quickly rose and bowed to her. After returning the bow, the maid placed the bamboo basket aside and said, "Miss Xue Nu, the young master sent me to inform you that he has business to attend to today and will be away from the manor all day, so the lessons will be suspended for the day."
The snow woman softly hummed in agreement.
The maid continued, "Young master also said that you don't need to wait for him. If you want to read, you can go to the study and get some yourself, or you can bring the books you want back to read. As for Master Xu, young master has also spoken to him in advance. If you have any questions about reading, you can go and ask Master Xu this afternoon."
After listening quietly, Xue Nu nodded and said, "I understand. Thank you for passing on the message, sister."
She paused for a moment, then, as if just remembering something, quickly added, "I wasn't waiting for him."
The maid smiled and didn't respond.
Just as she was about to leave, she noticed the clothes hanging on the bamboo poles in the courtyard. Remembering something, she added, "Oh, right, the young master specifically instructed that from today onwards, the maids in the laundry room will collect your clothes at regular intervals every day and wash and dry them together with the clothes in the young master's room. You don't need to do it yourself anymore."
Seeing that Xue Nu seemed about to speak, she quickly interjected with a smile, "Young Master specifically instructed that you must not refuse. He said that since you are both a guest master and a young lady, these trivial matters should be taken care of by the household."
After speaking, the maidservant did not wait for the Snow Maiden's response, but smiled and picked up the bamboo basket that was originally used to hold clothes, bowed and withdrew.
The Snow Maiden saw the maid a few steps to the door, watching her figure disappear outside the moon gate before slowly walking back to her desk. She picked up the scroll of bamboo slips for learning characters again, her gaze fixed on the surface, but she didn't move it for a long time. The ink characters blurred in her eyes, and she couldn't understand a single word.
She stared blankly for a moment, then glanced at another bamboo scroll on the table—the score of "Guangling San," which she had been frequently studying lately. According to Zhao Heng, it was hand-carved by his teacher after he perfected the score and specially given to her for her study.
She reached out and took the sheet music, opened it and looked at it. Then, she took out a small bamboo piece from her bosom.
This was something Zhao Heng had given her to practice reading a few days ago. On one side of the bamboo slip were the two characters "邯郸" (Hándān, meaning Handan) carved by Zhao Heng with a knife and pen, the strokes neat and upright; on the other side were characters she had copied herself with charcoal, the shapes of which were also fairly neat, but compared to Zhao Heng's writing, they appeared somewhat childish.
The Snow Woman carefully compared the condition of the bamboo slips used to bind the musical score with the handwriting on them, examining their condition and the bamboo slip in her hand.
A moment later, she held the sheet music in her arms, rested her chin gently on the bamboo scroll, and gazed into the direction of the empty doorway with her light blue eyes.
"You're lying, this is clearly a newly carved bamboo slip."
The sky was even more overcast than in the early morning, with leaden-gray clouds pressing down low.
Soon, the rain began to patter on the roof of the vehicle. At first, the rain was sparse, but it quickly became dense, forming a soft rustling sound on the tarpaulin.
The carriage was dimly lit. Meng Ben held a long sword in his arms, his eyes half-closed, as if he were regulating his breathing.
After walking for a while, Meng Ben suddenly spoke in a low voice: "Young Master, we borrowed the carriage from Zuiyue Tower and used Miss Zi Nu's name, but we didn't inform her beforehand. What if she finds out later? Will it upset her and cause trouble?"
Zhao Heng, who was gazing out the rain-blurred window with his chin resting on his hand, simply said, "It's alright. Even if she finds out, she won't say anything."
Meng Ben nodded in relief, asked no more questions, and closed his eyes to rest again.
Zhao Heng leaned against the wall of the room, gazing at the street scene outside the window blurred by the rain curtain, his thoughts drifting away.
-
The carriage passed the edge of a slightly noisy market and turned onto a wider stone-paved road, one of the main roads leading to the west gate. The rain was getting heavier, and there were few pedestrians on the street. Occasionally, a vendor pushing a cart would hurry by, or a pedestrian with an umbrella would walk quickly with their head down.
As Zhao Heng was pondering how to begin his conversation with Wu Ji, his ear suddenly twitched slightly.
He frowned slightly, but without moving, he gently lifted a small gap in the car window curtain beside him and looked out.
The rain fell like a curtain, obscuring the street scene.
Beside the road, a tall woman, holding an oil-paper umbrella, was slowly walking along the street towards the south of the city.
She wore a dark-colored cloth skirt, a common style for common women in the Zhao state. The style was ordinary, but the cut was good, outlining her slender and upright curves. Unfortunately, the umbrella was tilted, covering her upper body and most of her face. Only a small part of her profile could be seen, and her appearance was plain and unremarkable.
The rain had intensified, and many pedestrians hurried along the street, some hunching their shoulders in search of shelter. Only she walked with a leisurely pace, as if she weren't walking in the rain at all; the hem of her cloth skirt was already damp with a dark ring of water. Rainwater trickled down the ribs of her umbrella, splashing tiny droplets at her feet.
Just as the carriage and the woman were about to pass each other, the woman slightly lifted the canopy of her umbrella.
It was as if they wanted to see the road ahead more clearly, or perhaps they felt the gazes from inside the carriage.
Zhao Heng's gaze met the eyes of the person under the umbrella through the swaying rain curtain.
The face under the umbrella was dark-skinned with unremarkable features, as if shrouded in a thin, hazy mist, making it difficult to spot in a crowd.
However, right in the center of that fog, there was a pair of eyes.
Those eyes were exceptionally beautiful, with slightly upturned corners and a clear, picturesque outline. But what truly sent a chill down one's spine was the spirit in those eyes, or rather, the almost utter "lack of life."
They are extremely beautiful, almost illusory, yet they are empty inside, like two black jade balls immersed in cold water, unfathomable, yet reflecting no external shadows.
Right now, these two pieces of black jade, separated by the misty rain, unexpectedly met Zhao Heng's gaze.
A warning bell rang in Zhao Heng's mind. He pretended to be stunned for a moment, and then, the next instant their eyes met, a harmless and even slightly shy smile appeared on his face, like an innocent young man casting an unintentional yet slightly curious glance at the strange woman walking alone in the rain.
After doing this, he naturally released his fingers that were holding the curtains.
The curtains were drawn, blocking the view between the inside and outside.
The woman seemed slightly taken aback when she saw his smile, her brows furrowing slightly. Then, expressionless, she turned back to the road ahead, opened her umbrella, and continued walking forward at her unhurried pace.
The carriage passed her, quickly creating distance and leaving her lonely figure behind in the misty rain.
Zhao Heng leaned against the wall of the room, the smile on his face gone, and his brows furrowed slightly.
He had now mastered the Guigu breathing technique to a high level, making him particularly sensitive to breath. Just now, when the two passed each other, apart from the chaotic sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella, the umbrella owner's breathing was so steady that it was almost imperceptible, blending into the surrounding rain sounds, which made him take another look.
This is a true master.
"Young Master," Meng Ben, who had opened his eyes at some point, asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Zhao Heng pondered for a moment, then asked inexplicably, "In the martial arts world, is it common for rumors to suddenly spread that some treasure has been discovered, or that an ancient divine weapon has been buried, or that some extraordinary martial arts manual has appeared—attracting people from all walks of life, from all religions and sects, and even many masters who usually live in seclusion, to secretly gather there?"
Meng Ben paused for a moment, pondered, and said, "Such things do happen. Every few years, there's always one or two such incidents in the martial arts world. It's hard to tell what's true and what's false. However, in my opinion, in the end, it's often all bark and no bite. Either it's just hearsay, a baseless rumor; or it's someone with ulterior motives deliberately spreading rumors to lure people into a trap to achieve other goals."
"What if it's true?"
Meng Ben thought for a moment and shook his head: "If there really were something or someone that could alarm experts from all directions, the commotion would be enormous. In my opinion, the more likely scenario is that a powerful figure who influences the interests of all parties has quietly arrived in a certain place. In that case, those who want to assassinate, those who want to protect, and those who want to befriend and curry favor with him will naturally be drawn to the news and gather in secret. It's nothing more than these few types."
Zhao Heng nodded, seemingly lost in thought, and said nothing more.
Seeing this, Meng Ben didn't ask any more questions, and closed his eyes again while holding his sword.
The carriage continued towards the city gate amidst the sound of rain. The rain fell heavier and heavier, blurring the street scene more and more.
Meanwhile, right on that street, there was a tavern facing the street.
It was raining, and there were few people in the shop; only two or three tables were occupied. On the first floor, by the window facing the street, a man sat alone.
He wore a coarse cloth short coat, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms. A thick beard surrounded his mouth, looking like it hadn't been properly trimmed in a while. His hair was tied into a braid at the back of his head, slightly disheveled. He looked like a down-on-his-luck wanderer, or perhaps not even that, more like a laborer toiling away.
On the table in front of him lay simple food and wine. He poured himself a drink, but his eyes seemed to be following the carriage heading towards the city gate through the open doors and windows of the tavern, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
After the carriage disappeared in the direction of the city gate, he finished the remaining wine in his cup, put down a few coins, got up from his seat, and walked straight into the drizzling rain outside the gate.
Behind the counter, a servant was wiping a wine pot. Hearing the noise, he turned around, saw the customer leave, and then noticed the rain getting heavier outside the window. He quickly put down his work, took a half-worn straw hat from the wooden shelf by the door, and hurried out of the shop.
"Please wait, sir. The rain is getting heavier, and the roads are muddy. Our shop has straw hats and raincoats, cheap, only two yuan each, just enough to keep you dry."
His voice abruptly stopped.
The waiter, holding a straw hat, stood frozen at the tavern entrance. Rainwater streamed down the road in front, and a few rain-beaten leaves clung to the wet ground. The street was deserted, save for the patter of the rain.
From the moment he chased after him to the moment he stopped and called out, only a few breaths had passed. The burly man with a full beard, who had just stepped out of the shop and whose figure had barely darted across the threshold, had vanished without a trace.
It was as if with one step he melted into the endless rain and disappeared completely.
The servant scratched his head and muttered, "They walked so fast—" He turned around sheepishly and went back into the shop, hanging the straw hat back in its original place.
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