schlanke Taille - Kapitel 9
The world has fallen into deep darkness...
East Wing Courtyard.
Jia Ling tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Outside the window was a pond, teeming with mosquitoes. Frustrated, he lay down and sat up repeatedly, fanning himself constantly to swat them away. Poor Jia, with his delicate skin and fresh, delicious taste, was utterly enraged by the incessant buzzing.
After thinking for a moment, he got out of bed and figured that Ye Changsheng's courtyard was quite nice, so staying there for a few nights shouldn't be too difficult. Without further ado, Young Master Jia took off running happily toward her courtyard.
The starry night was dazzling, the night was cool as water, and the summer insects sang love songs. Such a beautiful night could only be spent alone. Dai San Niang leaned against the window and sighed repeatedly, her beautiful eyebrows furrowed, looking at her reflection with self-pity.
Suddenly her eyes lit up. Under the moonlight, a pale yellow figure was walking across the stone bridge in front of the window, waving a folding fan in his hand—it was none other than that ungrateful young man from the banquet.
Dai San Niang covered her mouth and smiled, pulled down her already thin dress to reveal her fair shoulders, and walked out happily.
Jia Ling was rushing towards Ye Changsheng's courtyard when suddenly something darted out from around the corner. Startled, Jia Ling jumped back with a cry of "Wow!" patted his chest, and looked at the "unidentified object" lying on the ground, exclaiming, "My God, what is that?"
As an unidentifiable object in Jia Ling's eyes, Dai San Niang gritted her teeth, cursing this unromantic man from head to toe in her heart. She patted herself, stood up gracefully, and said with a smile, "Isn't this the young master at the banquet? I haven't yet asked for your name."
Jia Ling blinked, then suddenly realized, and said with a smile, "Oh, it's you, Auntie. Why are you attacking passersby in the middle of the night?" Dai San Niang turned her head shyly, but her voice trembled, "Young master, you're joking. I'm the third in my family, so I'm San Niang, not Da Niang."
Jia Ling smiled and nodded, "Then I'll take my leave, Third Sister." With that, she pushed aside the woman in front of her and walked straight ahead.
Dai San Niang panicked, cried out "Ouch!" and collapsed to the ground. Seeing that Jia Ling still showed no sign of turning back, she sheepishly got up and followed him, saying softly, "Just now, a dark shadow flashed past my window. I chased after it, but it disappeared without a trace. Now I don't even know the way back to my room. I wonder if you, sir, could help me..."
Jia Ling was a little impatient and casually said, "How would I know where you live?"
Dai San Niang quickly said, "I'll take you there."
Upon hearing this, Jia Ling grinned slyly, while Dai San Niang, realizing she had misspoke, looked utterly bewildered.
Young Master Jia snapped his folding fan shut and tapped Dai San Niang on the shoulder: "Since you've remembered me, Auntie, or rather, since you've remembered me again, I'll take my leave now."
Watching the young man's departing figure, Dai San Niang couldn't help but doubt her own charm for the first time. She straightened her clothes and pondered all the way back.
Jia Ling pushed open Ye Changsheng's door with a "whoosh." The door wasn't locked. Knowing Ye Changsheng as he was, he knew that Ye Changsheng wouldn't go to sleep so early.
After shouting a few times without getting a response, Jia Ling took a few steps and suddenly kicked something. He groped around to pick it up and saw that it seemed to be a candle. He lit the candle and walked to the bedside, where he saw that the bedding was also neatly folded. Jia Ling frowned. Was she still wandering around outside so late?
Jia Ling gazed at the starry sky outside the window, wondering if Ye Changsheng's master had passed down a unique method of health preservation, and that he was currently gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the dense forest. As he pondered this, Jia Ling seemed to already see Ye Changsheng opening his mouth wide, exhaling clouds of smoke. He shook his head and sat on the bed, deciding to wait a little longer.
Blood, bright red blood everywhere, people falling one by one, and more gushing out. On the jade steps, a young man in white, sword in hand, walked step by step towards the highest point amidst the fighting crowd.
The voices gradually faded away, and a person sat on the seat shrouded in light gauze. Dressed in white, with long, dark eyebrows, he was as beautiful as an immortal, and his face bore a striking resemblance to the young man opposite him.
The young man smiled contemptuously, pointing his sword at the person seated on the throne: "You're going to die."
The man smiled slightly, slowly stood up, and remained calm and composed.
The boy leaped into the air, somersaulting as he thrust his sword forward. The man, however, simply stood there, smiling serenely. The boy's sword pierced his chest, and crimson blood spilled from his heart and the corner of his mouth. The boy's eyes widened in disbelief. The man slowly reached out and gently stroked the boy's pale face, then leaned against the boy's shoulder and closed his eyes forever.
"No..." Ye Changsheng suddenly sat up, her whole body sticky with cold sweat. She moved her body, but her internal energy was smoother than yesterday. She turned her head and was startled. No wonder it felt so heavy. Jia Ling was lying on her bed with her arms and legs pinned down.
Without thinking, she slapped him on the forehead. Jia Ling frowned, rubbed her eyes, and when she saw the person in front of her, her heart skipped a beat: "What are you doing in my bed?" Ye Changsheng glanced at him and said indifferently, "This is my bed."
Jia Ling tapped her head, suddenly realizing that yesterday she had been sitting on the bed waiting for Ye Changsheng to return, but her head kept getting heavier and heavier until she finally collapsed. She was clearly fast asleep and didn't even know when Ye Changsheng came back.
Jia Ling chuckled and looked at Ye Changsheng with a sly glint in her eyes: "I came here to seek refuge. I've been waiting for you for a long time. If you're tired, just go to sleep. But you, seeing me here, why don't you go to sleep in the outer room?"
Ye Changsheng was startled. She had clearly been unconscious outside yesterday, so how did she end up in her room when she woke up? She yawned and said lazily, "It was just too dark to see." She got up from the bed, and as if she had suddenly remembered something, she said to Jia Ling behind her, "Quick, come with me to see the master."
Inside the Five Peaks Hall, Huang Ting, looking haggard, sipped his tea. Yesterday's events had indeed dealt him a heavy blow. Ye Changsheng cupped his hands and said, "The murder of Wu Ren is indeed of great importance. Yesterday, while taking a walk under the moonlight, I seemed to see a dark figure leap past. The safety of the manor cannot be underestimated. Fortunately, Alliance Leader Ye is here. Why don't you discuss countermeasures with him privately, my godfather?"
After thinking for a moment, Huang Ting said, "Very well, I was going to discuss this with Alliance Leader Ye anyway."
Jia Ling's expression was strange. Hearing that Ye Changsheng had also seen a dark shadow, she naturally thought of what Dai San Niang had said yesterday. Could it all be true? Little did she know that Ye Changsheng had not only seen a red shadow, but had also fought from inside the room to the roof.
Huang Ting put down his teacup and said solemnly, "Yi'er, go and invite Alliance Leader Ye over in a moment. I have important matters to discuss."
Huang Qiuyi was completely stunned until Jia Ling nudged him, at which point he snapped out of his daze and agreed.
Early that morning, Huang Qiuyi was excitedly following his mother's orders to invite Ye Changsheng to breakfast. Just as he was about to knock, the door suddenly opened with a "whoosh," and Jia Ling jumped out first. Changsheng, seeing the stunned Huang Qiuyi, smiled gently.
On a clear morning filled with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers, Huang Qiuyi was taken aback.
Investigating the maze
Under the warm sunlight, the courtyard was filled with the sounds of birdsong and the fragrance of flowers, with colorful butterflies fluttering around. Two furtive figures sneaked into the east pavilion of the guest quarters, then quickly closed the door behind them.
Jia Ling didn't know if she was curious, bored, or if Ye Changsheng had messed up her head that morning, but she just followed along. Only after entering the house did she realize that this was clearly the guest room of Ye Junshan, the leader of the martial arts alliance. She looked at Ye Changsheng, who was fumbling around, in horror. Was she stealing from Ye Junshan? Was she an accomplice, and was he a thief too?
Ye Changsheng turned to Jia Ling and smiled very kindly: "You also take a look and see if there's anything particularly long."
Shaking his head and exhaling, he figured that although Ye Changsheng was a bit slow-witted, he wasn't stupid and must have something on his mind. So, without thinking twice, he rolled up his sleeves and started digging.
Three incense sticks later
Ye Changsheng swallowed hard, glanced around the study, and silently prayed that Ye Junshan would not return. Jia Ling had already opened her fan and was fanning herself angrily. Ye Junshan's room was nothing but manor furniture. This martial arts alliance leader was really too shabby. Forget about pomp and circumstance, he didn't even have any luggage.
Just as she was about to leave, she caught a glimpse of Ye Changsheng thoughtfully looking at the roof beam. It seemed that was indeed the only place they hadn't searched. Ye Changsheng kicked the table, spun around, and climbed up in the blink of an eye, landing with a reddish-brown sandalwood painting box. Changsheng opened the box; inside was only a scroll. Jia Ling snapped her hands together.
The monk with the fan pointed at the wooden box with a puzzled look: "You're a refined thief?"
Changsheng drew the dagger from his leg. The dagger was very thin and extremely long, making it both nimble and powerful in hand.
The long stem plunged down, pulling out a splint. Jia Ling was terrified when she saw what was under the splint. This was no joke.
Footsteps suddenly came from the doorway, and both of them were startled. Ye Changsheng shoved the box into Jia Ling's hand, picked him up, and threw him out the window. Jia Ling, clutching the box, quickly got up as soon as she landed and quietly slipped into the lush garden through a side path.
With a creak, the door was pushed open. Changsheng lightly leaped and hid on the heavy beam of the curtained roof.
Ye Changsheng didn't look down; he adjusted his breathing. Experts can sense the presence of any living being around them.
Judging from the sound, the person entered the study, took three steps, and then stopped. Not long after, the door opened again, and the person left once more. Whether the person noticed him or not, the important thing was that he had the item and could not linger here. He leaped down from the beam and ran out the window.
She didn't see a pair of gentle, slightly smiling eyes watching her leave from behind layers of curtains, until the white figure, with its fluttering ribbons, disappeared into the lush flowers and trees.
"Bang!" Huang Ting slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his index finger trembling as he pointed at the Tai'a sword in the sandalwood box on the table: "What, what's going on here?"
There were only three people in the room: Huang Ting, Ye Changsheng, and Jia Ling. When Ye Changsheng solemnly told Huang Ting to dismiss everyone, he had a bad feeling. Now, when she took out the Tai'a sword from the box, he was really shocked and felt extremely angry.
Changsheng's gaze shifted to the window, where he saw a tall, verdant tree, its branches rustling with birdsong. He sighed, "This story begins ten years ago. Back then, the Master of the Manor went to the Ye family in Jiangling for Ye Hengshan's birthday banquet, but halfway there, he adopted a boy. That boy is now Wu Ren. The Master treated him like his own son, educating him well. Unexpectedly, more than ten years later, he died mysteriously at the Master's birthday banquet. In fact, Wu Ren committed suicide. As I mentioned, firstly, the knife had no serrations, which doesn't match the fighting marks in the room. Secondly, I found a broken chair among the clutter in the room, with a hole in the seat that perfectly matched the shape and size of the knife hilt. I deduced that Wu Ren had stuck the sword upside down in the chair, stood at a high place, and leaned back, causing the wound. Sure enough, I felt a groove on the floor near the body."
Huang Ting pondered, "Then what about the blood-written words on the ground and the Tai'a sword?"
Chang Sheng smiled slightly: "Regarding the blood-written words, firstly, if Wu Ren was truly stabbed by Li Huangyin during the fight and wrote his last words before dying, then given the circumstances, it must have been written with blood flowing from his chest, because the deceased had no other wounds besides his chest. Secondly, the blood-written words were much drier than the rest of the writing, and Wu Ren covered the words with his hand, so the writing shouldn't have dried so quickly. Therefore, it can be inferred that the blood-written words were written beforehand. Finally, for a dying person... isn't the handwriting a bit too neat?"
Changsheng walked to the table, picked up Tai'a, and gently ran his long fingernails along the blade as he slowly said, "As for this Tai'a sword, I obtained it from Alliance Leader Ye."
After a long while, Huang Tingfang raised his head, finding this utterly absurd, and looked directly at Ye Changsheng: "Could it be that he killed Ren'er?"
Ye Changsheng sighed and gently put down his sword: "I said that Wu Ren committed suicide. The reason why Tai'a is in Ye Junshan's hands is because Wu Ren personally offered it up."
Huang Ting's face was filled with shock: "Impossible!"
Jia Ling was also taken aback. No wonder Ye Changsheng went to investigate Ye Junshan. Could it be that she already knew that Wu Ren's death was related to Ye Junshan?
Ye Changsheng took out a light blue handkerchief, unfolded it, and continued, "Actually, I found something else in Wu Ren's room. This piece of paper that wasn't completely burned was found in the wastebasket. I could vaguely make out a few characters on it: '日' (sun), '杀' (kill), '影堂' (Shadow Hall), and half of something that looks like the character '亍' (chu). I guess it should be the character '辰' (chen) for birthday. It means the day of the manor lord's birthday. The seven great families of the martial arts world all have secret departments that outsiders don't know about, and the one belonging to the Ye family of Jiangling is the Shadow Hall."
Changsheng handed the handkerchief to Huang Ting and slowly said, "So I speculate that Wu Ren was originally Ye Junshan's man. He had been lurking in the manor for ten years for some purpose. Now that Ye Junshan has ordered the killing of the manor lord, he could not disobey the order, but because the manor lord treated him well, he could not bear to do it. In this dilemma, he committed suicide. In order not to arouse suspicion and investigation in the manor, he pretended that Li Huangyin did it."
Huang Ting remained stiff for a long time, then let out a long sigh, closed his eyes, lay back on the armchair, and waved his hand weakly: "You may all leave now."
Ye Changsheng turned around, and the old hero who had been drinking heartily and laughing not long ago now looked as if ten years had passed in the blink of an eye.
Jia Ling remained silent the whole way, a question flashing through her mind. She asked seriously, "What will Huang Ting do? Reveal the truth to the world? Break with Ye Junshan? And Ye Junshan, when he discovers that the Tai'a Sword is missing, won't he suspect Renyi Manor?"
Ye Changsheng walked slowly and said calmly, "Huang Ting will do nothing, and neither will Ye Junshan. Since no one knows the truth of the matter, no matter what is done, as long as it is done in the shadows, no one will stand up. Although Renyi Manor is the number one manor in the martial arts world, it is only because of the glory of its ancestors. The current Renyi Manor cannot compete with the Ye family of Jiangling. If Huang Ting really does that, he will be courting death."
Jia Ling frowned: "Are we just going to pretend nothing happened?"
Ye Changsheng casually fiddled with his long belt and said calmly, "Not all the truths will be exposed to the light of day. It's good that those who should understand understand."
Jia Ling raised her head and looked directly at the sky, where the sunlight was dazzling.
Three days later, Renyi Manor announced to the world that its eldest disciple, Wu Ren, had been killed by Luoyang Tower. They vowed to avenge this and stated that they would attend the martial arts conference to discuss a plan to eliminate the demon.
Jiangling Prefecture of the Song Dynasty belonged to Jingzhou of Shannan East Circuit during the Tang Dynasty. In the first year of Shangyuan of Emperor Suzong of Tang, the Southern Capital was established and Jingzhou was renamed Jiangling Prefecture. During the Five Dynasties period, it was the capital of Jingnan Kingdom. During the reign of Emperor Taizu, it was renamed Jiangling Prefecture of Jinghu North Circuit, or Jiangling Prefecture, or Jingnan Prefecture.
Jiangling County was a bustling commercial center, known as "Jincheng" or "Jiangling Three Cities," meaning it was a city within a city and a city outside a city. Notable examples include Huan Wen's "Yingfu City," Chengtian Temple (known as the "First Zen Forest of Jingnan") built by Luo Han, a renowned scholar of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Xiangdong Garden (originally built by Prince Xiangdong of Qi within the inner city). The massive "Dongge Zhudian" (Eastern Pavilion Bamboo Hall), with its winding paths and ponds, served as a library. Other notable buildings included Gao Jixing, Prince of Nanping's "Western Luocheng," Liu Yiqing's "Qixia Tower" and "Zhulin Pond," and Zhang Shi's "Qujiang Tower." As a result, "while Jiankang (Nanjing) was in ruins, Jiangling was at its peak," with a population of "300,000 households" residing both inside and outside the city.
Even viewed from the riverbank, the city was a magnificent sight, with its towers and buildings resembling rosy clouds. It presented a bustling scene of "ten thousand households in ordinary times, and hundreds of shops with tiled roofs."
The willows by the riverbank are shrouded in shadow, and pheasants fly at dawn over Maicheng. My companions, out for a spring outing, are pitiful, wearing only light clothing to keep warm.
A gentle southerly wind blows today, urging merchants and travelers to set off. From the masts on the sandbar, the vast spring river comes into view.
—It is Jiangling
In front of a simple and solemn old mansion in Jiangling Xiangdong Garden, more than a hundred people were queuing up in a long line.
Uncle Zhong peered into the seemingly endless queue and nodded in satisfaction; there were quite a few applicants.
He picked up the roster and glanced at the burly woman with a large, round face: "Name."
The woman chuckled and said, "My name is Fat Tiger."
Uncle Zhong nodded, his name reflecting his character: "He can do all sorts of work."
"I'll do any kind of rough or tiring work, I won't pick and choose."
Uncle Zhong made a stroke with his pen: "Next."
Looking up from the roster, I almost slipped off my chair. A dark-skinned boy was grinning, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.
"Ahem, name."
"Little Pockmarked Boy".
Uncle Zhong muttered to himself, "Why isn't it Xiao Heizi?" He cleared his throat and asked, "What can he do?"
Little Pockmarked boy counted on his fingers: "Chopping wood, carrying water, feeding pigs, ah... I can also cook."
Uncle Zhong said sharply, "Everyone needs to know how to do it."
Little Pockmarked Man's eyes were brimming with tears: "Little Pockmarked Man has no father or mother, and is adrift in the world. I only ask for food to eat and a place to sleep. I don't want wages. Please, sir, have mercy and take in Little Pockmarked Man."
Uncle Zhong sighed. Another pitiful person. "Since that's the case, seeing that you're too small to do heavy work, then go help out in the kitchen. You'll get two strings of cash a month."
Little Pockmarked boy slid back home with tears streaming down his face, then gave a simple, honest smile: "Thank you, Uncle Zhong."
He went through the side door and followed a woman.
After a long while, Uncle Zhong finally came to his senses. Did that black-clad man recognize him? He shook his head and shouted, "Next."
Little Pockmarked Man followed the woman in front through the hanging flower gate. On both sides were covered corridors, and in the middle was a passageway. After turning a corner, there were three halls, and behind the halls was the kitchen courtyard.