The entire villa is divided into two sections, front and back, with a central gate separating them.
The outer front courtyard could house civil and military officials, carriages, and a men's bath; the inner rear courtyard was the residence for female relatives, and included a private bath and flower garden.
It draws water from a mountain spring, and the water vapor lingers year-round, leaving the pillars damp.
After the convoy entered, Gu Moran deliberately didn't urge them on.
The driver slowly unloaded the box.
The maid carried the clothes and walked towards the backyard.
Tuoba Mang squatted by the shed, carrying a bucket of horse feed, chewing on dried meat, his face saying, "Don't call me, I'm busy."
Several scouts followed them to the alley entrance and saw the women of Prince Yi's Residence walking towards the backyard. They also saw Gu Moran being helped in by Uncle Fu. They exchanged glances.
Half an hour later, someone slipped the note to the contact.
The note was very short.
Prince Yi, indulging in the pleasures of the hot springs and women, was not in a hurry to continue his journey.
After night fell, only two lanterns remained hanging in the backyard.
Steam rose from the pool, and the wooden corridor became slippery from the moisture.
Xie Wanqing changed into a light gauze dress before coming out.
Her hair was held up by a single jade hairpin, her skirt was narrowed, and she walked lightly on the wet wooden planks.
She didn't go to the poolside first.
There is an old stele next to the pillars.
The surface of the stele is pitted by moisture, and most of the characters are missing, but the brushstrokes are clear and elegant, revealing the background of the scholars of the previous dynasty.
Xie Wanqing held the lamp closer and touched the first line of fragmented characters with her fingertip.
She is recognizing it.
Gu Moran came from the side corridor, carrying the medicine bowl that Shen Ling'er had given him.
The smell of medicine was pungent.
He originally intended to go over and say a few casual words to shoo the person away, then find a corner to pour out the medicine.
Xie Wanqing stood in front of the monument, the lamplight shining from the side, the thin veil clinging to her shoulders, the outline from her collarbone to her neck was clearly illuminated, dazzlingly white.
Gu Moran placed the medicine bowl on the railing and walked over.
What are you looking at?
Xie Wanqing did not turn around.
"There's a fragment of a poem on the stele, only half of it remains; the whole thing is illegible. What a pity."
Gu Moran stood beside her, his shoulder almost touching her hair, looked down at the tombstone, and deliberately sighed.
"What's so interesting about old, fragmented inscriptions? It's better to listen to new ones."
Xie Wanqing then turned her head.
The lamplight illuminated her face.
"Does Your Highness have a new work?"
Gu Moran took the lamp from her hand, and when his fingers touched her knuckles, he didn't avoid it. Instead, he slid his fingers down her wrist a little before he could hold the lamp firmly.
Xie Wanqing pulled her hand back into her sleeve, a slight heat rising to her ears.
Gu Moran held up the lamp and began to recite.
"Graceful as a startled swan, lithe as a swimming dragon."
Xie Wanqing's eyelashes fluttered.
"The autumn chrysanthemum shines brightly, the spring pine flourishes in its prime."
At the end of the side corridor, Su Yao, holding the account sheets, had just turned the corner when she stopped.
She originally came to check the book box with Xie Wanqing.
Upon hearing these two sentences, she pressed the ledger pages to her chest.
On the other side, Shen Ling'er saw the light in the corridor and was about to supervise Gu Moran to make sure he didn't spill the medicine when she closed her lips again.
After inspecting the old gate on the east side, Lin Qingdai stood in the shadows outside the corridor, carrying a short knife.
Murong Xue originally came to see if she could wash her saddle in the hot spring pool, but when she heard "Jinghong" and "Youlong," she raised an eyebrow and didn't leave.
Liu Ruyan returned from outside the wall, her clothes still damp with night dew.
Seeing that none of the people under the eaves spoke, he swallowed his words of reply.
Gu Moran didn't notice.
He only has eyes for Xie Wanqing now.
"They appear faintly like light clouds veiling the moon, drifting and swirling like snowflakes in a gentle breeze."
The voice was soft, carrying the deep, somber quality unique to the night.
Xie Wanqing clenched her fists tightly inside her sleeve.
This writing style...
She had never seen it in any ancient texts.
Gu Moran continued reading:
"From afar, it shines like the rising sun at dawn; up close, it glows like a lotus emerging from clear water."
Su Yao glanced down at the account book in her hand.
She came to discuss the accounts.
He recited the Ode to a Beauty to Xie Wanqing here.
Even the abacus is sore from calculations.
Shen Ling'er held the medicine bottle and gently rubbed the mouth of the bottle.
He hasn't even taken his medicine yet, but he can already recite poetry.
Lin Qingdai crossed her arms, her short knife tucked into her sleeve.
She hadn't read many classical Chinese poems.
But she could tell that this wasn't just something she made up.
Murong Xue glanced at Xie Wanqing, then at Gu Moran.
Suddenly I felt a little regretful for not changing into a nicer outfit.
Liu Ruyan lowered her eyes and wiped the dew off her sleeve with her fingertips.
She did not go forward.
I just want to hear how far he can go.
Gu Moran slowed down his speech.
"Perfectly proportioned, neither too plump nor too slender, neither too tall nor too short."
Xie Wanqing looked up at him.
"Her shoulders were like those of a sculpted figure, her waist as slender as a silken thread."
The breathing of the people under the eaves became lighter.
Gu Moran turned his head, his gaze falling from Xie Wanqing's neck to her collarbone, before quickly looking away.
"Her neck was long and graceful, her skin fair and radiant."
Xie Wanqing tensed up, the light making her shoulders under the thin gauze almost transparent.
She took a half step back, her back pressed against a pillar.
"What's this?"
"That just came to mind."
"You're lying," Xie Wanqing said in a low voice. "Such a poem cannot be composed without years of dedicated work; you couldn't have just thought of it recently."
Gu Moran placed the lamp on top of the monument, freeing her hands. One hand rested on the pillar beside her, while the other remained hanging down.
He didn't get too close, but the heat of the hot spring enveloped the two of them, and white mist rose from their feet, making Xie Wanqing feel that her skirt was being steamed wet.
"Then guess when I wrote it?"
Xie Wanqing looked up at him, her mind flashing back to the grand poems he had crafted behind the scenes at the poetry gathering, the clumsy flattering poem he had written for the emperor, and the shrewd calculations he had made in the accounting office and his slickness when he pretended to be stupid.
She suddenly realized that, despite being married into the royal family for so long, she had never truly been certain about the man's true nature.
"How much... are you hiding?"
Gu Moran did not answer.
He withdrew his hand from the pillar, his fingertips landing on the jade hairpin in Xie Wanqing's hair, gently touching the end of the hairpin.
" Wanqing, don't ask me so many questions. I only have one sentence on my mind."
Xie Wanqing's throat tightened.
"You standing here are more beautiful than any other view."
The words fell into the white mist, mostly swallowed by the water vapor.
Shen Ling'er heard this, glanced at Su Yao, and then looked Gu Moran.
Lin Qingdai raised her hand to stop the maid who was about to follow.
Murong Xue simply leaned against the railing, waiting to see how Gu Moran would continue his charade.
Liu Ruyan concealed the hint of a smile in her eyes.
Su Yao chuckled and came out first.
He handed the ledger pages to Xie Wanqing without smiling.
"Sister Xie, the accounts aren't settled yet."
Xie Wanqing stepped out from between Gu Moran and the pillar, her skirt brushing against his hem.
My fingers were still a little warm when I took the ledger pages.
"Why is Sister Su here?"
"If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known that Your Highness possessed such a piece of writing."
Su Yao glanced at Gu Moran.
"Well written. It's a pity it was only read to one person."
Just as Gu Moran was about to speak, Shen Ling'er came out from the other end.
"You won't even drink the medicine when it's cold."
She glanced at the medicine bowl, then looked at Gu Moran.
"You had time to recite so many sentences, but no time to take your medicine?"
Gu Moran quickly picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
It's done, Barbie Q is here!
Lin Qingdai emerged from the shadows outside the corridor, her gaze sweeping over the monument and then over Gu Moran.
"Your Highness, this poem is quite good. Could you write one for my sword next time?"