Nine-Shao Music Bureau

Luo Qingge watched the two spar openly and maneuver in secret. It was the first time she had seen Yan Mingxiao lose a war of words.

At the same time, Lu Changfeng's almost shameless yet internally consistent responses led her to a realization:

He truly did not care!

He did not care about Yan Mingxiao's suspicions, did not care about the infamy he might bear, and even... seemed not to care whether he had the favor of "Chang'an's Number One Zither Immortal." When faced with accusations, especially in her presence, most people would do their utmost to prove their innocence and preserve their reputation and image.

But Lu Changfeng was different.

He sought no one's approval, and therefore owed no one an explanation.

Perhaps there were exceptions, people who could make him "have no choice but to bow his head," but clearly, neither of them belonged among those people.

[Successfully treated Luo Qingge. Reward issued: "Six Methods of the Guzheng."]

Lu Changfeng took the opportunity to rise and brush off his sleeves, his manner composed. "Constable Yan, if you have neither an arrest warrant nor any other solid evidence, please excuse me."

He inclined his head slightly to Luo Qingge. "Miss Luo, thank you for your hospitality. I will remember today's music. Please take the prescribed medicine on schedule. If you feel unwell, you may come to the Princess's Residence to find me at any time."

Luo Qingge hurriedly rose to return his courtesy.

Having said his piece, Lu Changfeng did not spare the livid Yan Mingxiao another glance and strode straight toward the door.

"Stop!"

Yan Mingxiao shouted instinctively.

Lu Changfeng paused without turning around, merely angling his face halfway toward her. His voice was calm, yet carried an invisible pressure. "What further advice do you have? Could it be... that the Constables no longer need solid evidence to investigate a case, and can arbitrarily detain an official of the Princess's Residence with nothing more than a shout?"

This was a severe challenge, directly accusing her conduct of violating the law.

Yan Mingxiao's chest rose and fell, but she could only watch helplessly as he left.

Inside the Cloud-Deep Pavilion, the atmosphere froze.

Yan Mingxiao abruptly turned to Luo Qingge, frustration in her voice. "Qingge, this man is nothing like as simple as he appears! He..."

"Mingxiao."

Luo Qingge interrupted her, her gaze complicated. "I know you have your duties, but today, he was first someone who understood my music, and then my physician. Until you produce conclusive evidence, to me, he is simply Lu Changfeng."

She picked up the poem on the table, its ink still wet, and said softly, "Besides, someone who can write lines like these... I cannot believe he would kill indiscriminately. Perhaps there is more to Zhang Shouzhuo's death."

Outside the pavilion.

Lu Changfeng and Qing Dai had already left the Moon-Gathering Tower.

Qing Dai first breathed a sigh of relief, then said quietly, "Sir, that constable..."

"It's fine."

Lu Changfeng's tone remained relaxed. "She won't find anything. That 'Zither Immortal,' though, is an exceptional musician." He glanced back at the brilliantly lit tower and smiled. "I thought her reputation might be somewhat inflated. Only after hearing her today did I understand that a great reputation casts no empty shadow. That performance was well worth hearing."

Hearing nothing in his words but admiration for her skill, without the slightest lingering attachment or romantic fancy toward Luo Qingge herself, Qing Dai felt her inexplicable displeasure quietly dissipate, leaving her heart lighter instead.

Sir really was different from those ordinary men who could not move their feet once they saw a beauty.

She quickened her pace by two steps and switched to a cheerful topic. "Sir, are we returning to the residence now?"

"No hurry."

Lu Changfeng said, "It's almost noon. Naturally, we're going to find something delicious to fill our stomachs."

Qing Dai asked, "What would you like to eat, sir?"

Lu Changfeng replied, "First, we'll try some Lamb Soup Basin and drink a bowl of Three-Le Fruit Brew, then have some seasonal Green Plum Wine and Cherry Wine." As he spoke, he turned to Qing Dai and asked with a smile, "What about you? Do you think Lamb Soup Basin tastes good?"

Qing Dai thought back carefully and answered honestly, "The lamb is stewed until wonderfully tender, and the broth is rich, too. It's just... I find the flavor a little bland."

At that, Lu Changfeng laughed heartily. "Looks like we'll need more chili to give it enough flavor. Come on, let's try it."

The two stepped onto the streets of Chang'an.

As Lu Changfeng chatted about food, he sank his awareness into his sea of consciousness.

-[Six Methods of the Guzheng: The Three-Cave Zither Demon's supreme technique. Using a guzheng as a medium, it transforms profound internal power into sonic Sword Qi to strike at a distance. Zither notes become blades, killing without form! "One song rends the heart and guts; where at the ends of the earth can one find a kindred soul?"]

With a slight stir of his will, he claimed the reward!

In an instant, a vast torrent of information flooded his mind. It was not merely written formulas, but a legacy containing countless images, methods of channeling power, and the true essence of musical harmony. Within it lay not only guzheng-playing techniques, but also a supreme martial art that perfectly united internal power and music!

At its core was using the zither to carry the Way and sound to transmit power. When gentle and clear, it could cultivate the spirit and regulate one's internal breath; when fierce and merciless, it could slaughter at will, its notes claiming lives!

Lu Changfeng smiled faintly, tasted a mouthful of Lamb Soup Basin, and nodded. "It tastes good."

Qing Dai smiled. "Then have some more, sir!"

Meanwhile.

Liquan Ward, the princess's mansion, the Nine-Shao Music Bureau.

Although called a music bureau, this was actually another of Taiping's private estates outside the Princess of Zhen Guo's Residence in Xingdao Ward. Its terraces, pavilions, and towers were extravagantly luxurious, and the music of strings and winds never ceased, day or night.

Deep within, incense curled through a quiet chamber.

Princess Taiping reclined on a cushioned couch, dressed in informal robes embroidered with phoenixes in gathered gold thread. In her hands, she toyed with two sheets of poetry whose ink was still fresh-the five-character quatrain on the wind and the earth-shattering "Dreaming of Heaven" that Lu Changfeng had just composed at the Moon-Gathering Tower. An Inner Guard stood respectfully to one side with head bowed, quietly reporting everything that had happened inside the Moon-Gathering Tower in Pingkang Ward, down to the smallest detail, as though having witnessed it firsthand.

Princess Taiping's gaze first fell upon the poem on the wind. "It shakes autumn leaves loose to fill Chang'an, urges spring flowers open against jade balustrades... Truly inspired and graceful."

Neither pleasure nor anger could be heard in her voice.

Then her gaze moved to "Dreaming of Heaven." When she read, "From afar, the nine provinces are nine wisps of smoke; a pool of seawater pours from a cup," a trace of astonishment she could not conceal finally flickered in her eyes.

Such grandeur and perspective were beyond the reach of any ordinary scholar.

Yet that astonishment passed in a flash, replaced by cool, amused scrutiny.

She set down the sheets and murmured to herself, "Lu Changfeng..." Immediately following his name, those two lines of his surfaced in her mind: "Snow weighs upon the green pine, yet its branches stand all the straighter; ashamed to vie with peach and plum for the spring breeze."

What a fine "snow-laden green pine"!

What a fine "ashamed to vie with peach and plum"!

Now, however, this "green pine" had made a great splash in Pingkang Ward for a musical entertainer, solving riddles and composing poetry, drawing Luo Qingge herself out to welcome him and converse with him so warmly!

A flicker of anger crossed Princess Taiping's eyes.

-Lu Changfeng, since you liken yourself to a green pine and consider it shameful to flatter me, why are you so generous with your talent, so lavish with your attentions, toward another woman-a lowly musical entertainer?

Are you a pine before This Palace, only to become a supple willow twining around a finger once you enter a pleasure house?

"Pass on my order."

Princess Taiping's voice returned to its usual indifference. "For the literary gathering at the hour of the Rooster, assign Lu Changfeng the fourth seat in the main hall! This Palace... wishes to see his 'green pine bearing' for myself!"

She wanted to see whether Director Lu of Medicine, who stood before her with such unbending pride yet overflowed with talent before a musical entertainer, possessed true integrity or merely affected lofty purity!

"Yes."

The Inner Guard was inwardly startled. Everyone in the main hall was either wealthy or noble. Though the fourth seat was the lowest, it still placed him alongside the Prince of Liang's retainer, Secretariat Drafter Cui Shi, Registrar of the Court of State Ceremonial Song Zhiwen, and Deputy Chief Shen Qingshu of the Court of Judicial Review. Every one of them was proud and haughty, their eyes set above their heads... To place the newly arrived Director Lu of Medicine, a medical official of the Subordinate Eighth Rank, among them was no different from thrusting him into the teeth of a storm.

The princess intended to borrow another's blade to test his mettle!