This Second Master was though Liu Qiao’e’s trusted male favorite, upon seeing Mu Daoying, the nominal “new favorite,” his expression remained calm and mild, without a trace of jealousy.
Along the way, he spoke warm and gentle words, explaining all the palace rules clearly to him.
Mu Daoying thanked him, and the two chatted as they arrived at the door of the side hall.
Cheng Xun pushed open the door with a smile and said, “This side hall has been unoccupied for a long time and is usually used as the Old Matriarch’s study, piled with books and sundries. The Old Matriarch never allows others inside on ordinary days, let alone cleaning it. Daoist Mu is the first.”
“The room is a bit messy. Forgive the disorder, Daoist Mu. Watch your step.”
No sooner had the words fallen than Mu Daoying nearly tripped over a white jade brush washer on the floor. He bent down to pick it up. The ground looked like a street vendor’s stall, with one haphazard pile after another propped up.
He looked up again, and the several bookshelves in the corner resembled huge beastly maws, stuffed to bursting, teetering on the verge of collapse, spittle flying everywhere.
Mu Daoying stepped over the floor stalls and casually picked up a book from the ground.
At this glance, he could not help but freeze. It was actually a fragmentary volume of the Azure Elder Scripture.
The Azure Elder Scripture came from the hand of a renowned mighty figure in the cultivation world, the Azure Lantern Elder of great virtue. The Azure Lantern Elder had a free-spirited and unrestrained nature. Before entering the Dao, he was a renowned Confucian scholar of his generation. After achieving the Dao, he wandered the world and gained lasting fame in the Eastern Florescence Realm. Then, for the subsequent century, he vanished without a trace, his immortal whereabouts unknown.
This Azure Elder Scripture that he left behind before his immortal seclusion became a supreme treasure over which cultivators fought and killed one another in pursuit.
Yet now, this treasured manual lay casually discarded on the floor.
Mu Daoying was born into a scholarly family, and his every gesture inevitably carried the air of a literati. He held the Azure Lantern Elder, who entered the Dao through Confucianism, in the highest regard and admiration.
He loved books and cherished them. Seeing these books with dust on their covers but clean pages inside, he furrowed his brows.
“Does the Old Matriarch collect these books but never read them?”
Cheng Xun smiled and said, “The Old Matriarch loves collecting books but not reading them. Indeed, I’ve never seen her read these.”
The meaning of words lay in being read and spread. Now hidden away in a dark chamber to gather dust, how could it not be called a “waste of heavenly treasures”?
Mu Daoying’s heart ached like a knife cut. Unable to bear the books suffering such a fate, he simply rolled up his sleeves and began cleaning up himself.
Seeing this, Cheng Xun joined in to help.
Even someone as gentle-tempered as Mu Daoying grew increasingly frustrated the more he cleaned. So many rare editions and unique copies that he had once searched everywhere for without success had actually been casually used by Liu Qiao’e to prop up table legs!
As his dissatisfaction with Liu Qiao’e swelled, another question arose in his mind.
“Why did the Old Matriarch develop this hobby?” Mu Daoying could not help but ask.
After all, the sheer abundance of books in this single side hall alone filled him with envy.
Cheng Xun picked up an old book and gently blew the dust from its cover, shaking his head. “That, I do not know.”
“Perhaps next time Daoist Mu sees the Old Matriarch, you can ask her?” Cheng Xun smiled faintly, with a hint of teasing. “The Old Matriarch might just tell Daoist Mu the reason.”
These words struck right at the knot in Mu Daoying’s heart. He pursed his lips and fell silent.
His relationship with Cheng Xun was somewhat awkward due to Liu Qiao’e’s presence, and they had little idle talk to share.
After that, the two spoke no more and worked together to sort the books by category and register them in a catalog.
Unfortunately, the side hall held far too many books in utter chaos. By the time the sun set, they had only managed to clean one bookshelf.
Seeing that it was getting late, Mu Daoying did not want to keep Cheng Xun delayed here any longer.
He took the initiative to thank him. “Since I will be living long-term in the side hall from now on, I can slowly tidy these books myself.”
Cheng Xun sighed but promised, “It is indeed getting late today. Daoist Mu might struggle alone. If you do not mind, I will come help you another day.”
“If we can get it all sorted neatly, the Old Matriarch will be pleased too.”
Though the two had not known each other long, and this afternoon they had mostly worked in silence with few words exchanged.
Cheng Xun’s elegant speech and mild temperament still gave rise to a faint sense of goodwill in Mu Daoying’s heart.
They exchanged a few more pleasantries. As Cheng Xun was about to leave, Mu Daoying hesitated and called him back.
“I wonder about the Old Matriarch’s…”
The term “male favorite” was rather hard to voice. Mu Daoying paused, then struggled to say, “guests—how are they treated on ordinary days—”
Mu Daoying’s question was subtle and indirect, but Cheng Xun understood his meaning at once.
He could not help but chuckle. “Just live your own life. There is not much difference. If the Old Matriarch wants to see you, someone will come notify you in advance.”
This answer did little to soothe the knot in Mu Daoying’s heart, but it was better than nothing.
Cheng Xun left the side hall.
With nothing else to do, Mu Daoying casually picked up a freshly dusted travelogue and read it.
Strangely enough, the books in this room—from the classics and six arts, poetry and songs, to geography, essays, and natural history—nearly all suited his tastes perfectly. The authors were all famous predecessors he admired.
Mu Daoying almost suspected that this side hall had been tailor-made for him.
His nature was aloof, with extremely simple material desires. In the past, accompanied by these books, with just a bed and a chair, he could have shut the door and lived in bliss, never thinking of the outside world.
But now, every time he turned a page, Liu Qiao’e’s face floated into his mind.
Mu Daoying set the book down, his heart filled with deep unease about the “male favorite” life that lay ahead.
He worried for a full dozen days or so.
In those dozen days, Cheng Xun indeed kept his promise and came to help him organize the bookshelves. But the object of his worry, Liu Qiao’e, still did not appear.
To say she had not appeared at all would not be entirely accurate.
On this day, Mu Daoying was playing Go against Cheng Xun by the window.
The two were truly cut from the same cloth. Cheng Xun had also been instructed by the Old Matriarch to look after him a bit, so it was only natural that they grew close.
Mu Daoying had just placed a black stone.
A stone servant suddenly arrived at the door, saying that the Old Matriarch had summoned him.
Cheng Xun smiled and congratulated him. “Daoist Mu, your opportunity has come today.”
Mu Daoying kept his composure, but his heart sank sharply. He had expected he could not avoid it after all.
Unexpectedly, the stone servant bowed respectfully to Cheng Xun. “Greetings to the Second Master. Congratulations, Second Master. The Old Matriarch requests the Second Master to attend her.”
Mu Daoying was a bit stunned.
Cheng Xun’s eyes widened slightly. “Me?”
The stone servant said, “Who else but the Second Master? Please hurry, Second Master. Do not keep the Old Matriarch waiting.”
Cheng Xun showed a trace of apology. “This… sorry, Daoist Mu. It seems this game of Go cannot be finished.”
Mu Daoying nodded. “Since the Old Matriarch has summoned you, go quickly, friend. As for the game, it is no matter. We can play another day.”
Cheng Xun straightened his robe hem and hurriedly followed the stone servant away.
After Cheng Xun left, Mu Daoying slowly unclenched his hand. The black Go stone he had gripped tightly in his palm clattered onto the board.
He exhaled softly and slowly cleared the remaining pieces from the table.
By the time the last black stone returned to the Go bowl, a pattering drizzle had begun outside the window, unnoticed until then.
With the faint sound of pine winds and gentle rain blowing in his face, Mu Daoying felt a sense of relief, yet an inexplicable emptiness in his heart.
This was naturally not disappointment.
These days, he had been constantly thinking about Liu Qiao’e’s movements day and night. This state of limbo was the most tormenting.
It was like a death row inmate waiting for the blade—a knife whether you stretched your neck or shrank it. Only when that blade finally fell could the heart, suspended high, settle back into place.
Nor was Mu Daoying the only one puzzled by Liu Qiao’e’s thoughts and intentions.
Cheng Xun, who considered himself the one who understood Liu Qiao’e best, was also at a loss about what was in her mind at this moment.
Liu Qiao’e sat on the edge of the bed with her hair disheveled. Cheng Xun held a comb and carefully combed her hair bit by bit.
Her hair was black as ink, but too soft and prone to tangling.
“Why did the Old Matriarch force him to stay in Floating Flower Hall but then refuse to see him?” Cheng Xun asked softly as he combed.
Liu Qiao’e said, “Are you jealous? Or feeling indignant on his behalf?”
Cheng Xun patiently worked out a knot in her hair and said warmly, “I am merely concerned for the Old Matriarch.”
Liu Qiao’e pursed her lips tightly.
Cheng Xun was not particularly worried that Mu Daoying would usurp his position. He had always been very clear about his own place.
He had known the Old Matriarch for a long time, and their bond was deep, but she held no romantic feelings for him.
Nor did he harbor any exclusive romantic passion for Liu Qiao’e.
If there had been any long ago…
But later, he had faced reality.
He knew he could never compare to that person.
So he had retreated to the position where he truly belonged.
To put it plainly, the two of them now shared only the affection of siblings, albeit with a bit more intimacy and ambiguity.
Mu Daoying was different.
Cheng Xun was well aware of what Mu Daoying meant to Liu Qiao’e.
Cheng Xun said softly, “I fear the others may harbor resentment.”
Cheng Xun’s concern was not unfounded.
Though Mu Daoying had kept a very low profile these days—staying in the side hall to read and cultivate, never venturing out—the male lords of Approaching Fragrance Hall had already openly and covertly come to see him as a thorn in their eyes and flesh.
This low profile became arrogance and pride in their eyes.
Who exactly was this aloof beauty whom the Old Matriarch had placed in the side hall of Floating Flower Hall? Why did she value him so much?
The male lords did not dare make too much noise openly, but they had secretly sent people to probe several times in private.
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