/
Since they were to investigate the case, the first investigation would naturally be the first victim, Zheng Wan of Right Fufeng.
Chang’an City was not far from Fufeng County. Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu were not people who liked extravagance, and they don’t have heavy luggage to bring, so after a simple briefing of their subordinate officials on handling court duties, they put on regular clothing and left the city on horseback with ease. They travelled very quickly, passing by rolling rivers, crossing through lonely barren hills, and seeing the shadow of an inn just as night fell, they would likely enter Fufeng County by the next day.
It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, coinciding with the time when wanderers returned to their hometowns on horseback1. The inn was brightly lit, and the sounds of conversation made it lively. The Xiao’er (小二, a colloquial title for waitstaff in small establishments) was busy shuttling between the tables and hurriedly went to greet them when he saw the two entering the store. After hearing that they planned to stay the night, the Xiao’er wiped his forehead with the sweat towel on his shoulders. He was a little embarrassed: “To you two honored guests, you have also seen that there are many people staying here today, we only have one room left here……” His gaze flicked between Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu, and asked: “That room is quite big. Since the two honored guests are both men, if you don’t mind… can you squeeze a bit? “
When one is away from home, you should be prepared for a lack of vacancies in the inn. Since even if they camped outside he would still have to be facing that face all night, is there really a choice?
The furnishings in the guest rooms were all prepared. Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu stared at the bed for a while, and finally Chu Mingyun broke the silence with a loud voice, “It’s fine, tonight I can sleep on the ground.”
Su Shiyu frowned slightly, “You don’t need to use the way you treat girls on me. You and I are of equal status. How would it be decent of me to let you sleep on the ground?” Chu Mingyun sat at the table and topped up the cup of tea for himself, glanced out the corner of his eye, and said with a half-smile: “The Grand Secretary supervises hundreds of officials, but I never heard he has to oversee them all the way to the bed. If I don’t tell others, who would know this sort of trivial thing?”
Su Shiyu looked sideways at him, “Manners are set as such, even if no one is aware, there are still boundaries that cannot be violated.”
“…Why do I sense an underlying meaning in your words?” Chu Mingyun, who has never taken etiquette seriously, asked rhetorically.
”Is that so?”
”Yes.”
”…” Su Shiyu glanced at him, and smiled faintly: “Master Chu is imagining things.” After a pause he added, “Regardless of etiquette, Master Chu is currently a suspect, in the unfortunate event that another murder case happens tonight, without me testifying at your side, I’m afraid it will be difficult for you to handle.”
Tapping the wooden table lightly with his fingertips, Chu Mingyun propped up his chin and chuckled, “Oh? Turns out you’re worried that I’ll run away in the middle of the night?” His voice paused slightly, while his eyes staring at Su Shiyu deepened, and said slowly in a low tone: “Then you–aren’t you worried about what I might do to you in the middle of the night?”
”If Master Chu really thinks I would allow myself to be slaughtered.” Su Shiyu smiled.
Chu Mingyun retracted his gaze, spreading his hands and turning a bit innocent, “Am I not being conscious of my bad reputation, and afraid of implicating Master Su? To think I’m being this considerate of you, and you don’t appreciate it.”
Su Shiyu heard this and even seemed to nod in agreement, then looked up at rafters and smiled gently, “Since Master Chu has good intentions at heart, then I have been disrespectful. However, I am afraid that I will have to trouble Master Chu sleeping on the inside, to avoid me accidentally stepping on you when I wake up to drink tea at night.”
”……Master Su has the habit of getting up to drink tea in the middle of the night?”
Su Shiyu gave him a look, smiling, “I didn’t have one before, but who knows if I might tonight.”
”……” Chu Mingyun spread the fan and covered his face with a brush, holding the skirt of his clothes in one hand, and sighed faintly: “I didn’t expect Master Su to be so insistent on sleeping with me for the night, then I’ll have to follow you2.”
”……” Su Shiyu said, “Let’s go downstairs for dinner.”
The guests downstairs were sparser than when they came, and no longer so noisy. Xiao Er went to the restaurant and yawned and left. For a while, there was only the sound of cups in the inn.
Chu Mingyun suddenly thought of something, swallowed his tea, and said, “By the way, Su Xing, who is filling in for Right Fufeng, what relation does he have with you?”
”He’s my uncle3.” Su Shiyu said.
”Blood-related uncle?”
“Yes,” Su Shiyu said, “My father is the oldest, followed by this uncle, and A’Yue’s mother is the youngest.”
”But how is it I remember, that back then it was your father Su Jue’s idea to exile from the capital under accusation of receiving bribes, without listening to other opinions?” Chu Mingyun asked.
”It’s true,” Su Shiyu said in deep thought, “but I’m still not really clear why, I only know that there was some conflict between my father and uncle afterwards. After that, my uncle was far away in Zhenjiang, and we’ve rarely been in contact these years. In the beginning when both my parents died of illness, he didn’t come, but he asked my paternal aunt to deliver the eulogy on his behalf.” Chu Mingyun was uncomfortable to comment on other people’s family affairs, so he nodded his head and didn’t say anymore.
As the night darkened, the inn became completely silent, and Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu also stood quietly beside the bed for a long time, neither party making any movement.
Although they have made a decision to sleep in the same bed and were prepared for it, when it really came down to this time, there would still inevitably be some awkwardness. After being silent for a long time, Chu Mingyun finally spoke again and pointed to the bed, “How does Master Su think…we should allocate (the space)?”
Su Shiyu retracted his gaze and said as flatly as possible: “How did you squeeze into one bed with others in the past, just do the same now, why care too much.”
”But I only slept with women in the past,” Chu Mingyun laughed, “They usually snuggle into my embrace, so Master Su, you too…?” He didn’t finish his sentence, raising his brows slightly, staring at Su Shiyu with a meaningful smile.
”…” Su Shiyu took a deep look at him, then turned his gaze and sighed, raised his hand to draw a line out of thin air, “I always wake up early, you sleep on the inside.”
Chu Ming made a noise of agreement, he had no objection.
To think they have opposed each other for many years, and in these years they had not exchanged many words, and yet now they would be in the same room, removing their guan, letting down hair, removing belts and loosening their robes. It can be seen that things of the world are truly fickle and unspeakable.
But when it came to taking off the outer robe, they somehow couldn’t move on to the next step. Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu looked at each other silently, blew out the lamp, and lay down in their clothing. Unspeakable awkwardness enveloped the whole room.
It has always been difficult for Chu Mingyun to fall into deep sleep, not to mention now there was another person beside him, it was unknown how much time had passed, yet his mind was still alert. Laying down a little irritated, Chu Mingyun wanted not to disturb Su Shiyu and got up quietly, but suddenly he smelled a faint fragrance when he moved.
A little light and gentle breath lingered on the tip of his nose, like a flower that blooms silently in the night, he concentrated for a moment to identify it, it was a Calming Incense (安神香). Chu Mingyun leaned a little closer to Su Shiyu’s direction. Sure enough, the scent was even clearer. It calmed down and soothed his mind. In the coolness of the night, it was lingering warmth, slowly immersing one into the dark.
Chu Mingyun lay back, lying sideways with his arm, his eyes naturally fell on Su Shiyu’s face.
Moonlight fell heavily over the building4, light leaked through the decorated doorway5; a layer of silvery white fell like frost on the bedside. Su Shiyu lay with his eyes closed next to him, breathing smoothly, his eyelashes slightly tinged with moonlight which created a small patch of shadow on his face, and his brows had a gentleness and peacefulness that he had not seen before.
He stared straight at Su Shiyu, engrossed, and suddenly raised his hand silently, bending his fingers in a sharp arc slowly reaching toward Su Shiyu’s neck.
It was the perfect opportunity to let this person die silently, without being noticed by anyone, as long as people thought that he was assassinated like the five people, it wouldn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, in any case he is lying here now, completely defenseless…
–completely defenseless?
Chu Mingyun halted his movement, an inch away from being able to strangle Su Shiyu’s neck.
Su Shiyu’s breathing remained steady, without the slightest change in reaction. Chu Mingyun squinted his eyes slightly, and then the corners of his lips lightly tugged upwards, he relaxed his fingers and then let them land on that smooth forehead, brushing a few strands of loose hair to the side of his face. Chu Mingyun retracted his hand and stared at it for a moment, then rolled over and closed his eyes to fall asleep.
Only when there was finally no more movement on his side, Su Shiyu opened his eyes. He raised his hand to press to his own forehead, and glanced sideways at Chu Mingyun in confusion.
When he woke up the next day, the other side (of the bed) was truly already empty. Chu Mingyun zoned out for a while, unexpectedly realising that he slept well last night, and he didn’t know if it was thanks to the Calming Incense on the body that had laid next to him. He got up slowly, went downstairs to eat with Su Shiyu, and they continued the hit the road without stopping.
The past few days can be regarded as high in autumn, and the visible skies were crystal-blue, but it is a little cold. They finally arrived at Fufeng County just before noon. After receiving the news of them entering the city, Right Fufeng Su Xing brought people to greet them in front of the mansion. Seeing Su Shiyu from a distance, he quickly walked over with a grin.
Su Shiyu dismounted, turned to greet Su Xing, and smiled: “Uncle.”
”Aiyah, good, good.” Su Xing patted him on the shoulder, his brows suddenly frowned, “Yu’er, I haven’t seen you these years, how have you lost this much weight?”
”It’s probably because I’m occasionally busy, but I don’t really think I lost weight.” Su Shiyu gestured to his side, “That’s Grand Marshall Chu Mingyun, who came to investigate the case with me this time. Uncle should have seen him a few times before.”
Su Xing looked over and made a satisfactory greeting.
Someone had led their horses down long ago, and the Yamen led them to the inner courtyard residence. Su Shiyu took two steps backward slightly, connected to the topic before: “It’s fine if you don’t know how to take care of yourself, but your uncle (referring to himself) has been hearing people in Zhenjiang say, you have never had someone at your side to take care of you.”
Whenever he reunited with friends or relatives in Chang’an and exchange pleasantries, they always talk about how he was not married yet.
Su Shiyu smiled and said, “I’ve troubled Uncle to worry about me, I…”
”Don’t try that with me,” Su Xing interrupted him, “With conditions such as yours, if you were looking for one, all of the ladies in Chang’an would be up to your choosing. Just tell me the truth, what on earth are you thinking?”
Su Shiyu sighed and said: “The situation of the court is yet unstable, this nephew cannot be distracted from it. Besides, without a family I can be spared from being dragged down, doing things by oneself ultimately. …”
”Nonsense!”
”……” Su Shiyu was silent.
”When you create a family, only then can one be considered settled.” Su Xing seemed to hate iron not becoming steel6. “Yu’er, you are older than the other brothers (family members i.e. cousins, not actual brothers) of the same generation, but now everyone else has three or four children, and it’s just you who only has a position.”
Su Shiyu was silent for a moment, looking at Chu Mingyun’s back in front of him, said with intent to console his anxiety: “Why does Uncle need to be so overly concerned, in the capital I’m not the only person like that. Grand Marshall Chu is also a person in a high-ranked position, and he has also yet to produce heirs. “
Chu Su Xing has long heard what type of character Chu Mingyun has. Hearing this he glanced at him disdainfully, and said, “With his character, it is only right that he has no descendants.”
”…” Chu Mingyun, who was walking in the front, showed that he had heard everything, so he paused, turned around unhurriedly, looked at Su Shiyu with smiling brows and eyes, and said softly: “Why are you walking so slowly? Is it because I made you tired last night? Would you like me to come over and carry you?”
Except for the two of them, everyone present suddenly looked like they had been struck by lightning.
Su Shiyu stared at him with a smile deep with intent, ” Master Chu.”
Chu Mingyun smiled at him, and turned back to proceed forward having attained peace of mind and body.
Su Shiyu turned his face towards the shocked Su Xing, and said helplessly: “It was just a joke, I plead Uncle not to take it seriously.”
“You…him…” Su Xing’s hand trembled as he pointed, unable to speak.
Su Shiyu met Su Xing’s gaze and said flatly: “Uncle thinks he should believe me, or believe him?”
”…oh.” Su Xing returned to himself with difficulty, forgetting what he wanted to say before, opening his mouth a few times, then he said: “Forget it, I won’t nag you anymore, you should pay a bit more attention. When I came to take office this time, I saw your aunt when I passed by Jinling. She said that it has almost been a year past your mourning period7, since Du Yue is also in Chang’an, if you delay any longer, she will personally take care of it for you and see her son along the way.”
Su Shiyu was slightly taken aback, “Aunt really said that?”
Su Xing smiled and glanced at him, “Every word is what your aunt originally said, so consider it yourself.”
Su Shiyu nodded, his eyes darkened.
The author has something to say:
This time the two people sharing the same bed can still be barely considered straight, but the next time…cough cough, just goes to show that things of this world are really fickle and wonderful.
(T/N: I’ve been holding back on reading this novel so I can read it along as people get the translated version,….but there’s no one talking in the comments either hahah ;=;)
1.游子归乡 – literally translates to wanderers’ return to their hometown, but in general these ‘wanderers’ refer to anyone who had to live outside their hometown for work/ travelling merchants etc.
2. 从了你 – meaning that you’re willing to get married to the person (as a wife or concubine).
3. 叔父 – father’s younger brother, though I’m sure you could tell from the dialogue.
4. 《月上重楼》which is the title of a xianxia novel by 南夜公子.
5. 光漏入绮户 – the “Qihu” refers to a doorway ornamented with paper decorations, may be a reference to a poem on a sleepless night by Su Shi (Song Dynasty poet): “转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。”
6. 恨铁不成钢 – to be disappointed by
7. 服丧期 – this is a period after the passing of close relatives where one cannot become engaged or marry an engaged spouse, nor take concubines. It’s usually 3 years for parents’ death, so it has been nearly 4 years since Shiyu’s parents died.