Salted Fish Memories

Chapter 7

Outside the window, neon lights rose and fell. The city's nighttime sky was purple, carrying the clamor of the human world and the fantasies of life—a sight Li Wenchuan had never seen in his previous life.

The glass reflected Li Wenchuan's blurred face. Cars passed along the road outside, their phantom-like shadows flashing by as though they had pulled time back a thousand years. The figure in the glass shifted, becoming Qingming Emperor Li Wenchuan in black robes and a golden crown.

The scenery around him changed into Chang'an Imperial City, where scheming eaves and long, winding corridors intertwined.

Li Wenchuan had traveled through much of Great Qing's territory, seen stars hanging over vast plains, watched the sun set over long rivers, and experienced every shade of human warmth and coldness. Though his original reason had merely been to see the mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, customs, and people his mother consort often spoke of.

His mother consort, Lady Yang, had been the daughter of an ordinary merchant. In those days, when agriculture was revered and commerce suppressed, that status undoubtedly meant the prince she bore would not even be considered for the throne.

The Fourth Prince, Li Wenchuan, had been destined from birth to remain a peripheral figure in the struggle for imperial power.

Li Wenchuan had thought so too. He rarely saw his imperial father, and when he did, the man never asked about his studies or daily life. Instead, he would hold up a freshly refined pill and ask, "Eat?"

That paunchy middle-aged man had always harbored an unreliable dream of ascending to immortality. He kept a large number of alchemists, built grand Taoist temples, revered a Taoist priest as the Imperial Preceptor, and the court followed suit.

But Li Wenchuan thought his imperial father definitely had not become immortal. Otherwise, given the man's temperament, he would have come chattering away on the day Li Wenchuan kicked the bucket.

A dotty imperial father and a lowly mother consort—this had once been everything Li Wenchuan, even everyone else, believed.

Until that night, cool and gentle as water like tonight. A full moon hung high overhead, and the prince's residence was filled with a nauseating stench of blood. Scarlet liquid soaked the green bricks while guards methodically carried away corpses.

"Your Highness, look. Even if you don't move, don't fight, and don't compete, no one will believe you." The speaker skillfully washed the knife wound on Li Wenchuan's arm with clean water, used a dagger to pick away the mangled flesh, then poured strong liquor over it. "No poison. Your Highness should be grateful that none of the princes this generation can fight."

Li Wenchuan clenched his teeth as cold sweat slid down his forehead. After a long while, he said, "You have overstepped."

But the other man showed no sign of restraint. "Your Highness is simply too kindhearted."

After bandaging the wound, he set down his tools and snorted. "Has Your Highness forgotten what happened on Hexi Ancient Road two years ago?"

That sudden attack by mounted bandits had nearly killed Li Wenchuan on the spot.

"Your Highness doesn't truly think they were bandits, do you?"

Li Wenchuan opened his mouth, but the gatekeeper came to report that someone had arrived from the palace.

The eunuch delivering the message was Kong Mingde, the chief eunuch at his imperial father's side. Standing beneath the moonlight, his face, already powdered white, looked even paler—like a ghostly messenger from hell. He grinned, his expression amiable but his tone leaving no room for refusal. "Fourth Prince, His Majesty wishes to see you in the palace."

There would be his powerful imperial father and his mother consort, who controlled the inner palace. Everything would be turned upside down.

Before leaving, he turned to the man bowing behind him and asked, "Chengyu, the residence... handle the aftermath."

Jiang Chengyu lowered his head even further, yet understood all that he meant. Respectfully, he said, "This subject will await Your Highness's return."

Those words were solemn as a promise. No matter what happened afterward, Jiang Chengyu silently stood by his side. People came and went from the prince's residence; others came and went beside the throne. Only Jiang Chengyu remained unchanged.

When everything had been overturned and no one could be trusted, it was a loneliness rarely seen in this world.

Yet even so, having one person wait for him was so precious.

Li Wenchuan let out a cold laugh and covered his eyes with one hand. Those images of the past instantly scattered away. The years had been but a grand dream; perhaps he had been too greedy.

"Li Wenchuan, what's wrong?" He Meng asked worriedly.

This artist before her had faced countless insults over the years. She truly worried that something had gone wrong with his body and mind.

The terror of online violence lay in how people believed the truth they wanted to believe and excluded dissenters. Even when the real truth surfaced, all it received was a few casual words: "Oh, got it." "Then sorry." "Why didn't you say so earlier? How is that anyone else's fault?" There was no comfort at all.

"Nothing. I just remembered something."

"What's your relationship with Jiang Hansheng? He just spoke up for you."

Amid the chaos of online public opinion, Jiang Hansheng's normally silent Weibo had suddenly posted: "I was passing by. Please do not make malicious assumptions." He Meng could not make sense of it.

Jiang Hansheng was famous, but he had never pursued the traffic-driven route. The reputation he had built through his abilities did not need popularity to sustain it. He rarely posted on Weibo, and his fans basically survived on content produced by his studio.

So that post became a new trending topic, and netizens cried out, "Grandma, the idol you follow updated his Weibo!"

Fortunately, most of Jiang Hansheng's fans over the years had been rational fans or career-focused fans. They remained appropriately calm about Li Wenchuan's situation, and after seeing their idol speak up, they became even more laid-back. Wherever they had come from, they went back to it and resumed lounging around.

When they saw that Li Wenchuan had not tried to shamelessly latch onto him either, they felt their artist seemed fairly decent. The atmosphere was harmonious all around.

After browsing the comments online, Li Wenchuan's eyes darkened. He pursed his lips and said nothing more.

He Meng was delighted with the situation. There was buzz without attracting hate, so her little heart could keep functioning normally. If she had brought hate upon a major film emperor, she would immediately announce her own retirement.

"Still, you did well today. You salvaged a bit of your reputation. If you'd always been this capable, would things have come to this?"

That was truly hard to answer. Li Wenchuan vaguely said, "Maybe I wasn't short of money before."

"You say that as if you could be much poorer now than you were before."

"..." That hit right in the heart, sis.

"I'm heading back first. Don't casually post on Weibo for now. Wait for my arrangements." He Meng began packing her things.

As an excellent, forward-thinking manager, He Meng knew tonight's buzz would definitely become a stepping stone upward. Her fighting spirit reignited, and she decided to regain her confidence and slowly fill up her artist's schedule.

But when she turned around, she saw Li Wenchuan sprawled on the sofa like some lord. Not only was he not managing his expression, he was not managing his posture either.

He Meng: Come on, Little Meng. You can do this. You've got this. QAQ.

"You..."

That lord turned his head. "Hm?" Was there something?

"Nothing..." Cat shaking head.jpg.

After He Meng left, Li Wenchuan opened his phone's contacts.

The original owner had actually attended university, though he had not finished due to various reasons and had merely taken a leave of absence. But after so long, he was probably automatically expelled by now. Following his memories, he found the category—Imperial Capital University—and sent the other party a message.

The other person was extremely shocked upon receiving it and began talking endlessly.

"I don't know what happened back then either, but you should try to move on. Life still has to go on."

"Have you never thought about coming back? You really were suited to our major. But if you came back now, wouldn't it be a little difficult?"

"No matter what you need from me, just say it. I'll help as much as I can."

"I want you to help me find something."