The women join forces to write lyrics; the crown prince's virtuous reputation keeps the emperor awake
As Gu Moran stepped out of the Hall of Supreme Ultimate, the wind from the palace path rushed towards her, and the scent of cinnabar on her nose faded somewhat.
Uncle Fu came forward to greet them, first looking at the palace gate.
"Your Highness, His Majesty didn't leave anyone behind?"
What's the point of keeping me here?
Gu Moran flicked his sleeves, the tip of his boot grinding against the crack in the stone.
"Leave that to me; why are you afraid of six wives?"
Uncle Fu took half a step ahead.
" The Crown Prince's Residence's people are still inquiring about the list of martial arts schools outside Chang'an County."
Gu Moran paused for a moment.
Chang'an County.
register.
The Crown Prince's Residence.
My brother's really got a lot of free time; he wants to implicate him?
The younger brother must reciprocate by being kind to his older brother.
" Uncle Fu, take a walk around the teahouse."
Uncle Fu glanced at the carriage from the Prince's residence.
"Your Highness, why don't you return to your residence to rest first?"
"I'm going back to the manor; you go in my place."
Gu Moran stopped in front of the car and leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"Let's see which comedy troupe in town sings the most pleasing tunes. My good brother thinks about me every day, so I have to help him."
Uncle Fu's hand had already touched the carriage curtain, but upon hearing this, he withdrew it.
"Your Highness means teahouses, theaters, and entertainment venues?"
"Right."
"A song composed to insult the crown prince?"
Gu Moran turned to look at him.
Uncle Fu felt a tightness on his back and immediately changed his tune.
"Boast?"
"Praise it to the extreme."
The wind lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, and the horse's bit made a soft clatter.
Before bending down to get into the car, Gu Moran added another sentence.
"Just tell me one thing."
Uncle Fu didn't respond.
"The Crown Prince is benevolent and virtuous, and his heart is with the south of the city."
"If the Crown Prince had known earlier that the poor in Bitter Water Lane had difficulty accessing medical care, that the teenagers in Shun'an Lane were fighting amongst themselves, and that rules should have been established for the emergency shelters, then..."
"Turn it into a short story or a little tune, but don't make it too literary."
Upon hearing this, Uncle Fu's hand went numb.
"Your Highness, what is this?"
Gu Moran got into the car and lifted the curtain.
"Since he still won't settle down even after becoming the crown prince, then let the people praise him."
Uncle Fu's throat bobbed.
"If that's the case, His Majesty will be displeased."
"Nonsense, the Emperor just approved the memorial; the people should thank the Crown Prince first."
Gu Moran looked towards the shady spot beneath the palace wall.
"Who can sleep soundly on the dragon throne?"
Uncle Fu looked up at him.
Gu Moran chuckled softly.
"The Crown Prince's reputation for virtue is not yet widespread enough."
"Only if it's loud enough to drown out the Emperor's imperial edicts can it be considered good."
Uncle Fu bent down.
"This old servant will take care of it immediately."
"Don't give us any direct information. Those gossips in the neighborhood are better at making things up than we are."
"Send another message back home."
"Let Misty Waters Courtyard hear it too."
People from the Flower-Between Pavilion know better than we do what people in teahouses like to hear.
"This old servant understands."
Uncle Fu turned around and walked towards the other end of the palace road.
When Gu Moran returned to the study, the door wasn't closed properly.
The fragrance of osmanthus blossoms wafted out first.
He stopped by the door.
The Hanzhang Hall flashed into my mind again.
Gu Moli, with her tassels dangling, looked up at him and asked, "Who is more handsome?"
Gu Moran a deep breath and looked at the desk.
Liu Ruyan sat there, not wearing elaborate clothes, but only a plain-colored outer garment, writing with her head down.
The smell of pine soot ink overpowered the scent brought back from the palace.
Gu Moran let out a breath, and his shoulders slumped down.
There were several sheets of paper next to Liu Ruyan.
The first one is a tune from the old Flower-Between Pavilion.
The second page was only half-finished, mentioning the night rain in Bitter Water Lane, before she crossed it out.
She heard footsteps and put down her pen.
" Uncle Fu sent someone to deliver a message."
"He said His Highness wanted to give the credit for the city's south to the Crown Prince, and he even casually uttered a few words, asking me to check if they were correct."
Liu Ruyan looked up.
Gu Moran sat down opposite her.
"Is Madam worried about me?"
"All the officials in the palace know that His Highness has been summoned to the palace by the Emperor."
Liu Ruyan pushed the paper over.
"Don't interrupt. I mean, they don't exaggerate like Uncle Fu does in teahouses."
Gu Moran picked up the paper.
There was a sentence written on the paper.
The Green Palace takes pity on those Bitter Water Lane.
He glanced at it twice.
"This sentence is not good?"
Liu Ruyan pulled the paper back, dipped the pen in ink, and crossed it out directly.
"Hmm. The common people don't say that."
Gu Moran turned the teacup halfway around.
What did the common people say?
Liu Ruyan lowered her head and began to write, the paper rustling softly.
They'll say, "The noble ones sit in high-rises, finally seeing how our dilapidated house leaks when it rains."
Gu Moran hovered over the edge of the teacup.
Those who come from the Flower-Between Pavilion truly understand people's hearts.
Liu Ruyan continued writing.
"Don't portray the crown prince as a prophetic immortal."
"He almost missed it, but luckily a purchasing agent mentioned it on his way back from buying medicine in the south of the city, and that's how he found out."
Footsteps approached from outside the door.
Su Yao pushed open the door and came in, carrying a cup of tea, which she placed on the corner of the table. Her gaze was already fixed on the paper.
"Be mindful of the degree of praise, and don't overdo it."
Gu Moran looked up.
She didn't sit down; her fingertips pressed down on the second line.
The phrase "The crown prince dreams of poor people crying" cannot be used.
"Emperors are often suspicious and dislike omens from their ministers' dreams. If this is written, Father will investigate its source thoroughly."
"Change."
Liu Ruyan looked at her.
Their eyes met briefly on the paper, without any sharpness.
Gu Moran handed over the pen.
" Madam Su is here?"
Su Yao took the pen and made the corrections neatly.
A nobleman heard weeping in the alley in the middle of the night, woke up and asked, "Are there still people in the south of the city without medicine?"
Liu Ruyan nodded after reading it.
" The Chancellor's Residence's residence is truly meticulous."
Shen Ling'er squeezed through the crack in the door, carrying a medicine box, with half a piece of candy in her mouth.
"They didn't even ask me to write the lyrics, are they afraid I'll turn the jokes into a prescription?"
She leaned closer to the paper, stopping her action of biting into the candy.
"Do I have to praise you like that?"
Gu Moran raised his hand and moved her medicine box away from the table to prevent it from hitting Mo.
"Yes, praising my good brother who likes to criticize me all the time."
Shen Ling'er squinted as she finished reading, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"My husband is trying to praise him as a good son who is so great that he overshadows the Lord."
Su Yao looked at her.
Shen Ling'er swallowed the candy and Orthodox God.
" The Crown Prince's Residence's residence sent people to retrieve the roster during the day, and many people outside saw it."
If someone in the teahouse were to say, "The Crown Prince has long coveted the south of the city," this joke would magically appear on its own.
Liu Ruyan added a sentence.
"Ideally, the first person to throw down a reward after the song is performed should be from the Crown Prince's Residence."
Gu Moran tapped on the table.
"Therefore, the lyrics must be written to resonate with my dear brother's heart."
Su Yao folded a corner of the paper.
"But the Crown Prince will notice, and he will try to suppress it."
It's alright.
Gu Moran looked up.
The faster he suppresses his words, the more it suggests he's keeping a low profile and doesn't want to claim credit.
"But the truth and the falsehood, the reality and the illusion, that's what Father Emperor loves to ponder."
Shen Ling'er clicked her tongue.
"My husband is so naughty."
Gu Moran looked at her.
She immediately added.
"But I like it, hehe."
When the gavel fell at the East Market Teahouse, it wasn't completely dark outside yet.
The storyteller wore a faded long gown and made no mention of the princes or the imperial court.
He only told me about an old charcoal seller in Bitter Water Lane who coughed so badly at night that he couldn't sleep, his son was learning boxing and getting into fights, and his daughter-in-law couldn't find any medicine for him.
The tea drinkers initially dismissed it as idle chatter, leaving sunflower seed shells scattered all over the floor.
The storyteller closed his folding fan.
"Later, a noble lady from the Qing Palace overheard Caimaiti say that the children in the south of the city could fight but didn't know how to follow the rules, and that the old people in the south of the city were sick but no one brought them medicine."
The nobleman immediately put down his teacup and said, "Ordinary people shouldn't live like this."
In the corner, the servant sent by the Crown Prince's Residence to scout out the commotion was originally holding a teacup.
Upon hearing the words "Qing Palace," he slowly sat up straight.
Isn't this a veiled reference to their prince?
Someone nearby asked, "Which important person?"
The storyteller shook his head.
"I wouldn't dare say that."
All we know is that before that important person even left the city, regulations were already in place in the south.
The servant slammed the teacup down on the table, the rim of the bowl making a crisp sound.
"Well said!"
The storyteller added another sentence.
"If it weren't for the concern of a benefactor, who would bother with such trivial matters in a poor alley? If it weren't for a benefactor, who would donate ten thousand taels of silver?"
The tea drinkers cheered in agreement.
The servant took out some loose silver and slapped it on the table.
"Give it a treat!"
The silver was placed on the table, and the teahouse owner's eyes lit up. He hurriedly told the waiter to refill the tea.
On the second-floor balcony, Zhao Si, holding a teacup, watched the whole scene unfold before turning and leaving through the back door.
At the same moment, gongs and drums sounded at the West Market stage.
The play does not include the title of Crown Prince.
The song goes. "The nobles in high-rises hear weeping in the alley at midnight." People are sent to investigate martial arts workshops, emergency shelters, medicinal herbs, and youth brawls.
The common people don't understand the affairs of the court; they only understand that the nobles are willing to govern the south of the city.
The area around the theater was even more lively.
A short actor dressed as a shopkeeper came onto the stage carrying a basket of medicine.
"I merely casually remarked that the south of the city was harsh, and the nobleman didn't sleep a wink all night."
Someone in the audience shouted, "What a great person! A blessing for the people!"
When Gu Moyuan heard the report at the Crown Prince's Residence, his brows furrowed.
The aide stood before the desk, holding two copied lyrics in his hand.
"Your Highness, this matter is suspicious."
Gu Moyuan looked at the four characters "Qinggong Guiren" on the paper and pressed his fingertips against the corner of the paper.
"The people suddenly praised my benevolence."
The aide took half a step forward.
" The South City Martial Workshop bears His Majesty's imperial approval."
"I know."
"If everyone outside says that His Highness stole the credit, what will happen to His Majesty...?"
Gu Moyuan raised his eyes and took a deep breath.
The aide immediately stopped talking.
Gu Moyuan put down the paper and spoke after a while.
"Give the order: don't let anyone give you money casually during this time, lest Father Emperor become suspicious."
Just as the aide was about to respond, he spoke again.
"Don't press it down, it'll seem deliberate."
"Moreover, if I cannot even bear a few kind words from the common people, how can I be worthy of being the crown prince?"
[Thanks to Bai Moxue for the update reminder, Tianbin for the milk tea, and all the babies for their love and support.]
I'm going out for some fun tomorrow, just to clear my head. ⚈₃⚈