Scholars Are Easy to Handle
Beneath the Cloud-Soaring Pavilion.
Zhang Qiandao set down his bowl and chopsticks and looked Gu Yuan over.
"It seems you've come to lobby for the empress too."
"I'm old, and I committed a grave crime. I have no face to return to court, so there's no need to waste your breath."
Gu Yuan clapped his hands. "Old Zhang, I think you've misunderstood."
"I'm not here to persuade you to serve the empress."
"Oh?" Zhang Qiandao was somewhat surprised.
The corners of Gu Yuan's lips rose.
"What I mean is, I can help you break out of prison and leave this place."
"Break out?" Zhang Qiandao asked in surprise. "What kind of trick is this?"
"No tricks, only sincerity," Gu Yuan said with a smile. "I can get you safely out of Qi Capital. I can even send you to Qingzhou."
"Old Zhang, just tell me whether you're willing or not."
Zhang Qiandao was stunned for a long moment, then shook his head.
"I have no shortage of food or drink here. Why should I become a fugitive?"
Not willing?
How could you not be willing?
As soon as he saw Zhang Qiandao, Gu Yuan had come up with an idea.
The plot was already showing signs of deviation, and he had to hurry and set it back on course.
The first thing he had to do was send Zhang Qiandao to Qingzhou.
The process might be convoluted, but as long as the outcome was right, that was enough.
"'Long confined within a cage, I return at last to nature.' Old Zhang, wouldn't you like to experience that feeling?"
!!!
Zhang Qiandao abruptly looked up.
"'Long confined within a cage, I return at last to nature'... Who wrote that line?"
"An old man surnamed Tao." Gu Yuan's lips curved. "Old Zhang, do you want to meet him?"
"You brat, you really know how to keep me in suspense."
Zhang Qiandao stroked his beard. "No, I won't meet him. I'm a dying man. Why should I disturb his peace?"
He's not taking the bait.
Fine, fine. You're forcing me to play my trump card, aren't you?
Gu Yuan took a deep breath and slowly recited:
"Do you not see the Yellow River's waters descend from heaven, rushing to the sea, never to return?"
!!!
Zhang Qiandao's breath caught.
"Do you not see, in the bright mirrors of high halls, the sorrow of white hair, black as silk at dawn, snow by dusk?"
Zhang Qiandao rose to his feet, trembling. "Young friend, is there more?"
The corners of Gu Yuan's mouth rose.
"When life brings joy, enjoy it to the fullest; let not the golden cup stand empty beneath the moon."
"Heaven made my talents to be put to use; a thousand pieces of gold, once spent, will come again..."
Beneath the Cloud-Soaring Pavilion, only Gu Yuan's voice echoed.
Zhang Qiandao's face was filled with astonishment.
What kind of exiled immortal living among mortals could compose such lines?
This was a height he could never reach in his entire life!
Meanwhile.
Atop the Cloud-Soaring Pavilion.
Qi Yueli's beautiful eyes trembled, and she remained speechless for a long time.
Another woman stood beside her, clad in golden armor, her bearing proud.
It was Jin Yan, one of the Mystic Shadow Guard's ten commanders and a third-rank martial artist.
At that moment, her face was also full of disbelief.
"Your Majesty, this poem is worthy of being passed down through the ages."
The recitation of "Bring in the Wine" came to an end.
Gu Yuan gazed quietly at Zhang Qiandao.
After hearing Li Taibai's poetry, there's no way you can still resist!
"Young friend, who wrote this? Might I have the fortune to meet him?"
"I'd like to arrange it... but you're in prison right now. Surely you don't expect that senior to come here to meet you?"
"Well..." Zhang Qiandao hesitated for a moment. "Young friend, could you take me out?"
Got him!
Gu Yuan smiled faintly. "Of course, no problem."
"That senior lives in Qingzhou and goes by Green Lotus Layman. I can send him a message on your behalf, but whether he meets you will depend on fate."
"Naturally, naturally." Zhang Qiandao looked excited.
"Young friend, does Green Lotus Layman have any other poems?"
"Of course. Don't rush, old man. I'll recite them for you one by one."
Half an hour later.
Zhang Qiandao had long since been rendered speechless.
Every word and every line was worthy of an immortal!
If he could just catch one glimpse of such an exiled immortal, he could die without regrets.
Qingzhou-he had to go to Qingzhou right now!
"Young friend, when do we break out?" Zhang Qiandao asked eagerly.
"Don't rush. I'll come for you tonight." Gu Yuan picked up the food box and walked out with a smile.
"Your Majesty, what should we do tonight?" Jin Yan asked for instructions.
Qi Yueli pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke. "Let Zhang Qiandao leave."
"I shall obey."
[Scholars really are easy to handle. Just a few poems were enough to trick Zhang Qiandao into going to Qingzhou. But as soon as he gets there, the King of Qingzhou will discover him, and by then he'll surely learn that Green Lotus Layman doesn't exist at all...]
[Forget it. Whether he exists or not doesn't matter. As long as Zhang Qiandao goes to Qingzhou, that's enough...]
Qi Yueli's eyes filled with shock. "Green Lotus Layman doesn't exist? He wrote those lines himself... Such talent has never been seen before. Accomplished in both civil and martial arts, he will have no equal after him..."
"Gu Yuan, you truly are my destiny!"
[The empress's attitude really is strange. She actually called off Princess Huai'an's marriage. How is the princess supposed to go pick a fight with Xiao Chen now? It'll be hard for the plot to move forward... I have to find a way to set it back on course.]
[There's still some time before Xiao Chen comes to the capital, so there's no rush on that front. Right now, I should be thinking about how to help Zhang Qiandao break out and get him safely to Qingzhou.]
[The ideal solution would definitely be to have Senior Sister take action...]
Qi Yueli: ...
The empress disguising herself as an unparalleled expert to break someone out of her own prison... How did he even come up with that?!
[But then again, how do I persuade Senior Sister to agree? I need to think of a reasonable excuse...]
[Still, Senior Sister is so kind. If I go break him out, she'll definitely help me. Yes! She definitely will!]
[To thank Senior Sister, black silk stockings won't be enough anymore. I have to give her a pair of white ones too...]
[I'll go ask my older sister later where they sell the finest silk...]
Qi Yueli: ...
"His head is full of nonsense, hmph! Shameless little rebel!"
She couldn't keep watching. If she did, she definitely wouldn't be able to hold back tonight...
Night fell.
The moon was bright, and the stars were sparse.
Gu Yuan waited in the courtyard well ahead of time.
A figure descended from the sky and landed beside him.
"Senior Sister, you're finally here."
Qi Yueli slowly spoke. "So you're still on duty in the palace?"
"Huh? Senior Sister, didn't I tell you? That troublesome empress made me an imperial guard. It's a real headache."
Troublesome... How am I troublesome?
The people who want the position of imperial guard could form a line from Qi Capital to the Northern Desert!
And you're calling it a headache.
Hmph!
"Serving at the empress's side is an opportunity countless people dream of. From the sound of it, you seem quite unwilling?"
"Senior Sister, you don't understand. Serving a ruler is like keeping company with a tiger. A tigress like the empress is even harder to serve."
(ꐦ -᷅ ⤙ -᷄)!
Bang!!!
"Ow, Senior Sister, why did you hit me?"
"Testing your body."
???
"Senior Sister, could you use a gentler method?"
"No."
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
In midair.
Gu Yuan flew back and forth like a ball, tracing out a mottled, intricate picture.
But.
Strangely enough.
He only felt pain from the first few blows.
After that, with every heavy blow he took, the true essence within him rippled, seemingly seeping into his muscles and bones bit by bit.
Not only was the sensation painless, it was also very soothing.
Gu Yuan tried to gather the true essence within him.
He abruptly discovered that his once-loose true essence had become incredibly tenacious.
A warm current surged out of the sea of qi in his dantian.
Crack!
The bottleneck shattered.
He had broken through.