Shen Zheng wanted to ask, "If I hadn't happened to save Miss Liu, were you planning to kill me?"
The historical records described him as plotting to kill the imperial descendants, like a heartless and cruel person.
In that self - condemnation letter, it also stated, "A humble person daring to challenge the noble, which is unacceptable to heaven and earth and detested by both gods and humans."
Later, in a note of Emperor Shengde, when mentioning Wen Zhuo, it said, "He intended to defect to the Third Prince and single - handedly orchestrated the Spring Terrace Chess Tournament and the tragedy at Phoenix Balcony. I was extremely shocked."
In the later poems of Xie Langyang, it was also written, "All the remorse in my heart can never be relieved. I failed to help Wanshan out of the mire."
Of course, Shen Zheng didn't intend to blame Wen Zhuo. In history, Wei Zheng advised Li Jiancheng to kill Prince Qin (Li Shimin). And he himself switched sides three times before finally serving under Li Shimin, and still left his name in the history books with the well - known story of "Three Mirrors".
It just didn't make sense. The Third Prince already had an advantage over the Fifth Prince. He had always been striving to catch up with the Crown Prince and Prince Xian. If Wen Zhuo didn't target the Crown Prince and Prince Xian, why would he kill the harmless Fifth Prince as a token of his loyalty to the Third Prince?
Moreover, on the day he traveled through time, although Wen Zhuo wasn't very polite to him, the others didn't even bother to acknowledge him. If he really wanted to follow the Third Prince, he should have kept the songstress.
He looked deeply at Wen Zhuo again.
Wen Zhuo had a pair of exquisitely - shaped hands. When he picked up the chess pieces, there was a kind of serene beauty. The delicate red and the crescent - like white on his nails complemented each other, making people's hearts flutter.
At this moment, he was carefully putting away the chess pieces in a completely defenseless posture. His eyelashes fluttered as he followed the chessboard layout. The round white collar framed his smooth neck, bathed in the sunlight.
Shen Zheng knew that this was Wen Zhuo's forgiveness and leniency. It was like a feline not being vigilant when a human approached but instead swaying its tail obediently. In a way, he was ignoring the bet and allowing Shen Zheng to be curious.
Shen Zheng couldn't bear to shatter this trust. He couldn't even utter a single word to hurt Wen Zhuo.
So Shen Zheng smiled and said, "I want to ask... What kind of person does the teacher like?"
Wen Zhuo failed to catch a chess piece, and it slipped from his fingertips and rolled on the ground with a gurgling sound.
He suddenly looked up, and for a moment, he seemed flustered, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Why do you ask this?"
Shen Zheng helped him pick up the chess piece and said shamelessly, "I also hope that one day, like the 'guest star disturbing the imperial constellation', I can stir up a sensation in the celestial realm."
Wen Zhuo looked at him with a subtle expression and said, "You even know this allusion."
It is said that Yan Guang slept in the same bed as Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, and put his foot on the emperor's abdomen. The celestial phenomena were affected, which alarmed the astrologer.
Later, during the Tang Dynasty, the prime minister Li Bi said to Emperor Suzong, "I've strategized for Your Majesty. After we recapture the capital, I only need to sleep on Your Majesty's knee for a while, so that the astrologer can report that the guest star is disturbing the imperial constellation, and that would be enough to stir up the celestial realm."
So during a military march, when Li Bi fell asleep, Emperor Suzong personally placed his head on his knee to show his favor.
Although these are examples of a harmonious relationship between the monarch and his minister, there is still a hint of ambiguity, but it doesn't cross the line. It lingers there, on the verge of breaking.
Shen Zheng tapped his knee with his finger and flirted, "I know a lot."
Wen Zhuo glanced at his knee and said half - smilingly, "Disturbing the imperial constellation? You haven't ascended the throne yet."
Shen Zheng said, "It's not illegal to ask."
Wen Zhuo said mercilessly, "Anyway, I don't like people who always lose at chess."
As he spoke, he turned his gaze away. Maybe it was out of guilt or sensitivity. For Shen Zheng, it was just a harmless joke, but he really liked men, and the act of sleeping on the emperor's knee didn't seem innocent to him.
Just then, there was a sudden commotion in the corridor outside. A series of hasty footsteps were accompanied by the waiter's earnest persuasion.
"Vice Minister Xie, Vice Minister Xie! Please don't make it difficult for me. According to the rules of the East Building, one poem is required for each elegant room, and outsiders are not allowed in!"
"Get out of the way!" Xie Langyang's voice was deep and angry, similar to the way he shouted at the jailer in the Dali Temple prison that day.
The waiter didn't dare to hold him back and reluctantly blocked the narrow passage with his body. "Vice Minister Xie, Director Wen may not be here. Maybe he's in the West Building, or the North Building, or even the South Building. I haven't seen him!"
Xie Langyang showed a fierce look on his face and impatiently pushed him aside. "He always likes the East Building. Do you think I don't know?"
The waiter said, "There are many distinguished guests upstairs, from the court and local areas. Vice Minister Xie, this... this isn't appropriate!"
"I just want to search a few rooms and have a few words with him. Don't stop me!"
Xie Langyang remembered all of Wen Zhuo's habits. He liked the elegant rooms facing south with plenty of sunlight and the ones with a large and bright space.
Seeing Xie Langyang heading straight for Room Jiazi, the waiter stamped his feet anxiously.
Shen Zheng raised his eyebrows.
Here he comes, the famous minister full of remorse is striding over! But why does this situation feel a bit strange?
The warm look on Wen Zhuo's face just now instantly turned cold, and even the skin on his neck seemed to be covered with a layer of frost.
Shen Zheng pointed at himself and wanted to ask if he should hide.
Wen Zhuo didn't even lift his eyelids and just uttered a few words between his lips and teeth, "No need. He can't open it."
Did this mean he didn't want to see Xie Langyang?
Shen Zheng felt relieved and started to act mischievously.
Standing outside the door, Xie Langyang saw two vague shadows through the frosted glass. He calmed his breath and asked in a low voice, "Wanshan, are you in there?"
Wen Zhuo already had a sharp retort on his lips, but unexpectedly, Shen Zheng reached out his right palm first and covered Wen Zhuo's lips through the thin layer of air.
Then Shen Zheng playfully brought his left hand to his mouth and made a soft clicking sound. He deliberately made the second sound louder. The sticky and crisp sound was especially clear in the elegant room and seeped out through the crack of the door, full of the wild energy of a young man, as if slapping Xie Langyang in the face out of thin air.
Xie Langyang was extremely ashamed. It seemed to him that the two vague figures were entangled with each other.
Xie Langyang knew what kind of behavior these literati and clerks had in private. They pretended to be elegant but actually engaged in immoral acts.
"Sorry, I've disturbed you!"
Thinking that Wen Zhuo couldn't possibly be inside, Xie Langyang flicked his sleeve and walked away quickly as if fleeing.
Wen Zhuo: "..."
Shen Zheng withdrew his hand and looked as innocent as if he had just helped an old lady cross the road. "This is much more convenient. Why waste words?"
Wen Zhuo couldn't bear to look at his left hand, the same hand that had fed him the jujube cake.
"Where did you learn all these strange tricks?"
"From Nanping," Shen Zheng smoothly shifted the blame.
Xie Langyang searched everywhere for Wen Zhuo but couldn't find him. He returned to his mansion dejectedly. Although it was the cool spring season, his front and back clothes were all soaked.
The butler and maids rushed up to wipe his face and change his clothes. Xie Langyang waved his hand and angrily threw the silk ribbon that he had been holding tightly all the way onto the table.
The silk ribbon had been pulled hard by him and was now out of thread and wrinkled. It didn't look good at all.
The shame and anger from before hadn't subsided, and now he was also annoyed by the heat. "From now on, if anyone dares to put any miscellaneous things on me without my permission, don't blame me for being merciless!"
All the servants in the room were intimidated by his anger and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Gong Yuwen was in the yard. She rolled her eyes, took off the other silk ribbon around her waist, and hid it. It seemed that she didn't need to take a walk in front of the Wen Mansion in the future.
A maidservant brought from the Gong Mansion carefully sized up Gong Yuwen's expression and said timidly, "Miss, isn't that the silk sash you wove with your own hands? And Vice Minister Xie..."
Gong Yuwen drooped her eyes gently and said, "Don't tell my father. He didn't do it on purpose."
The maidservant replied, "But..."
Gong Yuwen, always considerate, even when wronged, didn't forget to give an order, "Go and fetch some hot water for Mr. Xie. He seems to have run around outside and got tired today."
The maidservant stamped her foot in indignation and walked away.
It took two maids to carry a bucket of hot water. So, only Zhiqiao, a later - bought maidservant in the mansion, was left beside Gong Yuwen.
She took Zhiqiao back to the room. Looking calm, she picked up a piece of lip paper and gently pressed it against her lips in front of the mirror until her lips were dyed brightly red.
She said, "Go and tell elder sister that Xie Langyang seems to have noticed something."
-
The day before the Spring Platform Chess Tournament, Wen Zhuo received the envoys from Nanping and three chess players at the Qinghua Residence.
The bitter chrysanthemums in front of the steps seemed to be blooming more vigorously. The servants, who remembered him well, bowed and saluted continuously without even requiring him to show his token.
Wen Zhuo entered the East Main Hall and ordered the Nanping envoys to come in. Servants served tea and wine, and the songstresses took their seats at the back.
This was not the first time Wen Zhuo had met them, but it was the first time they had seen Wen Zhuo.
As soon as Envoy Wu stepped into the hall, his eyes were fixed directly on Wen Zhuo's face. All the songstresses and musical instruments vanished from his sight, leaving only the charming and delicate expressions of the man before him.
He stood there stiffly and couldn't even move his feet.
Wen Zhuo's expression turned cold, and then he exuded an air of cold and otherworldly elegance.
"Offer a seat and serve tea to Envoy Wu," Wen Zhuo said, waving his hand.
Two songstresses continued to pluck the strings as if the envoy's gaffe had never happened.
Only then did Wu Kan come back to his senses. With a lecherous look on his face, he unceremoniously sat down close to Wen Zhuo and said, "I didn't expect Director Wen to be so... so... extraordinary and refined."
He paused twice, and his voice carried a lascivious and vulgar tone.
Wen Zhuo propped his chin with one hand, hooked his finger, and picked up the meat - cutting knife on the table. He twirled the knife, and it glistened with a cold light. He gave a lazy smile and said, "I'm also quite extraordinary and refined in the technique of cutting people's tongues. Does Envoy Wu want to have a look?"
Seeing the knife, Wu Kan restrained himself a bit and slowly sat up straight. He said, "Our Nanping chess players have traveled thousands of miles and endured a long and arduous journey. Let's forget about the tongue - cutting. I wonder when we can meet His Majesty the Emperor?"
Wen Zhuo casually loosened his fingers, and the dagger clanged onto the table. He said indifferently, "If the Emperor of Nanping had come, he might have a chance to meet our Emperor."
"Hahaha!" Wu Kan laughed. "It seems that the Great Qian is quite stingy. Well, we won't force the matter. After we win the top three places in the Spring Platform Chess Tournament, we'll have the honor to see the Emperor of the Great Qian."
Wen Zhuo smiled faintly and said, "I've learned a bit more about Nanping recently. Seeing you today, it's really as I've heard."
Wu Kan was surprised and couldn't help feeling proud. "I didn't expect that Lord Wen pays so much attention to our Nanping."
"I've also heard some rumors. I was a bit skeptical at first, but now I see that Nanping is truly a barbaric place and its people are like frogs in a well."
Wu Kan's face suddenly turned ugly. Wen Zhuo was good - looking, but his words were too sharp and harsh to the ears.
The atmosphere in the East Main Hall suddenly became tense, but Wen Zhuo didn't care. "I'm afraid the envoy won't have the honor to meet our Emperor. After all, the Great Qian has many skilled people, and Nanping might not even make the cut."
Wu Kan let out a cold snort from his nose, with a sneering and confident look in his eyes. "Director Wen, don't speak too soon. Be careful not to embarrass yourself."
Wen Zhuo slowly picked up the teacup and swirled the floating tea leaves in it. "I'm putting it here. Nanping won't win the Spring Platform Chess Tournament."
Wu Kan's pupils shrank. His eyes were full of wolf - like malice. He turned his head sinisterly and said, "Why are you three still standing there? Hurry up and come in. Stop dawdling. You're making Director Wen look down on us!"
There was a rustling sound at the door. Wen Zhuo glanced at the three young men entering the hall.
These three were triplets, looking exactly the same. Standing side by side, they were like three silent stone tablets.
Actually, it was even a stretch to call them young men. Their faces were dark blue, their eye sockets were sunken, there was a sheen of oil on their noses, their lips were pale and gray, and they had sparse hair on their foreheads. They looked like living dead.
Since they entered the room, they had stared straight ahead, not looking sideways, and seemed uninterested in everything around them, including Wen Zhuo.
It was rare for someone to see Wen Zhuo without taking a second look, so he had gradually gotten used to and become numb to such attention.
But these three didn't look at Wen Zhuo from beginning to end. If he hadn't seen them once before, Wen Zhuo would have definitely been chilled to the bone by them.
