The young man sauntered downstairs, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a familiar figure disappearing from view.
Wasn't that the young gentleman who might have been Gong Cheng's wife's younger brother?
Why was he only leaving now?
The young man summoned a servant and asked what had happened and why Shen Tang had lingered at the Moonlit Pavilion. The servant answered with an envious look. "You mean that young lady? She came to buy her grandfather's freedom. Old Chu, the man who does odd jobs in the kitchen. Such a dutiful granddaughter."
At that, the young man lowered his eyes, deep in thought.
"And who is this Old Chu you speak of?"
If Shen Tang was a descendant of the Shen Clan, then even if she truly had a grandfather, he would have died on the execution block. How could he be doing odd jobs in the Moonlit Pavilion's kitchen?
There were already plenty of suspicious things about her, and now she'd gone and bought a servant too. What would she want with an elderly laborer?
The young man's eyes darkened as his thoughts raced through a thousand possibilities.
He was naturally cautious and suspicious. He wasn't about to let this pass.
"This... I've only been here three months, so I don't know much. I just know Old Chu works in the kitchen and is a strange man who hardly ever speaks."
The young man didn't make things difficult for him when he couldn't answer.
"Call your manager."
Outside the Moonlit Pavilion,
Old Master Chu held a tattered bundle in his arms and gazed calmly at the empty street. Shen Tang stood silently at his side.
The manager wanted to give this "grandfather and granddaughter," reunited after many years apart, some space to catch up. And since it was daytime, even in the rough-and-tumble Brothels and Entertainment Houses, they were unlikely to run into danger. So he took his leave and went back to the shop to see to business.
After watching the manager leave, Shen Tang looked up at Old Master Chu again. He still wore the same expression. She parted her lips, at a loss for how to break the awkward silence, when her Motorcycle trotted up with the reins in its mouth and gently nudged its head against her chest.
Shen Tang took the reins without thinking.
She had an idea for a conversation starter.
"Old Master Chu, it's a long way back. Why don't you get on the... mule's back?" She'd meant to say "horse's back," but no matter how tall and handsome her Motorcycle was, it was a mule, not a horse.
She couldn't exactly point at a mule and call it a horse...
"Old Master Chu?"
Shen Tang called softly again, finally rousing him from what seemed to be a distracted reverie.
He looked at the Motorcycle. The Motorcycle looked back at him.
Then he looked at the young gentleman, who didn't even reach his chest—the new master of the house. The master was looking at him too.
Under the gaze of the man and mule, both wearing the same expression, he felt a little awkward. His lips twitched, and he lowered his head. "This servant wouldn't dare."
Shen Tang: "..."
He called himself "this servant," but his bearing and gaze didn't match the words at all. The contradiction made her uncomfortable, so she waved a hand. "Old Master Chu, you don't have to call yourself 'this servant.' You can use your given name or courtesy name."
Old Master Chu froze at her words, but didn't argue. He simply accepted her offer.
"All right."
"Then what's your name and courtesy name? My surname is Shen, my given name is You Li, and my family rank is..." Shen Tang began with the standard introduction, since exchanging names was one way to grow closer. She paused at the mention of her rank—
What rank had the original Shen Tang been in her family?
Never mind. She couldn't remember, and it wasn't important.
So she made up a number.
"Fifth. You can call me Wu Lang."
She wouldn't have minded being called Fifth Young Lady, either.
It was just—
She was a beautiful young woman, yet people kept mistaking her for a handsome young man. The locals in this world clearly had something wrong with their eyes.
Old Master Chu said, "Chu... Chu Yao. My courtesy name is Wuhui."
"Chu Yao? That's a fine name. 'Banners stirred like clouds, blades stood thick as a forest. Yang's radiance spat fire, its brilliance veiling fields and marshes.' Yao means radiance—brilliant and splendid. And your courtesy name, Wuhui, means no darkness, no gloom. What a lovely meaning." Shen Tang instinctively showered him with praise, swallowing her complaints.
The names and their meanings were lovely, but reality often ran counter to such blessings. Whoever had given him those names must have hoped his life would be "brilliant and splendid, without darkness or gloom." Yet here he was, old enough to be washing dishes in a kitchen after being bought as a servant, and apparently his Literary Heart had been destroyed too.
What a spectacular tragedy.
She brought it up again, pointing at the Motorcycle, whose eyes were full of innocent curiosity. "Would you like to ride, sir? The Motorcycle's very well-behaved. It doesn't jostle you."
Chu Yao took the Motorcycle's reins from Shen Tang and gestured for her to climb onto its back. Once she was seated, he said calmly, "A master cannot walk while a servant rides. That would be against the rules."
Shen Tang muttered, "There don't have to be so many rules..."
She'd bought Old Chu to take over the Guiding NPC job from Qi Shan. She hadn't planned on having an elderly man look after her—especially when he would one day take on the role of her half-teacher.
"It's different," Chu Yao said.
Shen Tang was puzzled. "How is it different?"
Respecting the old and caring for the young was the same wherever you went.
Chu Yao led the mule toward the street, holding the reins in one hand and his tattered bundle in the other. He didn't answer what made it different. Instead, he asked a rather strange question.
"How much did you pay for me, Wu Lang?"
Was he asking how much she'd paid to buy him?
Shen Tang hesitated. "I should probably have quoted you a higher price to spare your feelings, but that wouldn't be honest... The manager was going to ask for five taels, but he misunderstood our relationship and thought we were grandfather and grandchild. Out of sympathy, he took off two taels."
Unbeknownst to her, Chu Yao's face, turned away from her, flickered with a strange expression—doubt and struggle, all tangled together. He didn't respond for a long while. Just as Shen Tang began to wonder if he was ignoring her, she heard him murmur, "So... three taels?"
Shen Tang: "..."
Five minus two equaled three...
Was this math problem really that hard?
Why had he hesitated for so long?
Have some confidence. It was three taels!
"Right, three taels. I don't think I got it wrong..." Shen Tang counted on her fingers, certain she'd done the math correctly. Then she began to wonder if she'd bought the wrong person. If Chu Yao had to hesitate over arithmetic this simple, could he really be as amazing as Qi Shan had said?
Or had Qi Shan been pulling her leg?
So Shen Tang asked a question she'd been holding back for a long time.
"Yuan Liang said you were talented. People with talent can usually find ways to improve their lot, even when they're at their lowest. Why didn't you buy your freedom? Or were you unable to?"
Offal from pigs, cattle, and sheep sold cheaply, but it still cost money. Plenty of ordinary people couldn't afford it, which meant that although Chu Yao lived frugally, he wasn't without income.
After all those years working in the kitchen of the Moonlit Pavilion in Xiaocheng, hadn't he thought of finding extra work and earning a little money to buy his freedom?
He was educated and capable; he'd be better off anywhere than most ordinary people. Shen Tang couldn't make sense of it.
"Before Xin Country was destroyed, a criminal like me couldn't buy his own freedom."
"But Xin Country has already fallen."
Surely that rule no longer applied.
But Chu Yao said something that left her baffled.
"It wasn't that I was unwilling, or that I was unable."
"Huh?"
If so, why hadn't he done anything?
Chu Yao smiled, looking both puzzled and helpless. His sigh held a resignation Shen Tang couldn't understand. His next words left her even more bewildered, her head full of questions.
He said, "I was waiting for your three silver coins, Wu Lang."
868 monthly votes now. Let's get a few more and round it up to a thousand. Then I can draw for another 100 yuan in bonus prize money next month.
P.S. September 1, when the book goes on sale, is getting closer and closer. I'm a little excited. What are the current standards for extra updates during the first month after a new book goes on sale—monthly votes, tips, and so on?
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