The attendant carried Li Ping'an's poem downstairs and called out, "A poem left for Miss Chenxiang!"
Everyone looked over at once. Only a short while had passed since that young gentleman's call.
How could anyone have been so quick?
Could he have written it long ago, waiting for today?
Everyone crowded forward curiously to look.
Miss Chenxiang on the second floor also watched nervously.
The attendant laid the rice paper flat on the table and spread it open for all to see.
Then he cleared his throat and read aloud.
"I linger against the lofty tower as a gentle breeze blows.
Gazing to the farthest reaches, spring sorrow rises dimly at the edge of the sky."
Outside the Clear Moon Pavilion, Li Ping'an supported the swaying Jing Yu as they walked along the flagstone road.
"Amid misty grass and the glow of the setting sun, who could understand my silent thoughts as I lean against the railing?
I mean to give wild abandon free rein and seek oblivion in drink,
To sing before my wine, yet forced merriment has no flavor."
The attendant's voice rang through the Clear Moon Pavilion.
Moonlight flowed like water, spilling silently into the alley and dappling the flagstone path with shifting patches of light and shadow.
The moon was beautiful tonight, and the breeze was gentle.
As though waiting for the final climax, their thoughts had already entered a state of utter ethereal stillness.
After an unknown length of time, the attendant's Adam's apple suddenly bobbed.
"Though my belt grows ever looser, I shall never regret it; for her, I willingly waste away."
It was like a storyteller's final closing line.
The storyteller's block sounded, pulling everyone's thoughts back to reality.
The distant voice swayed with the wind and faded away.
When everyone's