"Clouds gather over the stream as the sun sinks behind the pavilion; the mountain rain is coming, and the tower is already full of wind..." Shen Tang looked at Gu Chi with a faint, knowing smile. She opened a jar of wine and handed it to him. "What are you trying to remind me of, Mr. Gu?"
"It hardly counts as a reminder. Qi Yuanliang knows it well enough himself."
Gu Chi took the round-bellied wine jar Shen Tang offered him.
It was about the size of a palm, holding a dozen or so mouthfuls.
Even someone with a poor tolerance for alcohol could finish a jar.
He said, "From what I know of Qi Yuanliang, he has never liked doing things without a purpose. If there's nothing in it for him, why come all the way to Xiaocheng? Given its location, this place was destined to know no peace. Why would he take that risk?"
Yet now that the crucial moment was near, he had gone quiet.
That made no sense at all!
Gu Chi spoke as if he were merely making conversation.
Shen Tang only listened, taking no part in the discussion.
With someone offering him free wine, Gu Chi didn't hold back. He drank three or four jars in a row, and the flush of drunkenness spread across his pale cheeks, lending them a little color. Shen Tang chatted with him for a few moments when, around the corner not far away, a servant dressed as a household attendant glanced this way and that.
The moment his gaze landed on Gu Chi, his eyes lit up.
He hurried over, not even pausing to catch his breath. "Mr. Gu, what are you doing here? My master has been looking everywhere for you. Please come with me."
Shen Tang