novelraw Chapter 999 - 562: Presenting the Empress with "Water Melody" (Part 3)
Chapter 999 - 562: Presenting the Empress with "Water Melody" (Part 3)
Suddenly, Xu Zhenguan turned her head back, exhaling wine-scented breath as she stared at him and said:
"The poem you wrote for the Dalang of the Dong family, I saw it, it’s very good."
Zhao Douan looked at her in confusion: "Hmm?"
Because he was a puppet, no matter how much he drank, he wouldn’t get drunk.
Xu Zhenguan puffed her cheeks and said gloomily: "You’ve never written one for me."
Her eyes, filled with a sense of intoxication, seemed to say two words: I want!
Zhao Douan smiled and, after a moment’s thought, nodded and said: "Alright."
With that, he immediately walked over to the long table, sat cross-legged, and pushed aside the cups and plates on the table, clearing a small section of the tabletop.
Then, he looked around and said helplessly: "Your Majesty, there’s no brush and ink..."
Drunk and leaning against the railing, Xu Zhenguan waved her sleeve, causing a set of the Four Treasures of the Study to drop, and said with a silly smile:
"You... write..."
He really drank quite a lot... Zhao Douan was half-laughing and half-crying, spread out the rice paper, ground the ink, picked up the brush, and looked at the Empress under the bright moon, resembling a fairy among the palace pavilions, humming an unknown melody, gently dancing.
He was slightly lost for a moment.
His wrist lowered, the brush strokes moving like a dragon and a snake.
...
Xu Zhenguan forgot when Zhao Douan left, only vaguely remembering that before he went, under the pretense of helping her sit down, his dirty hand roamed around before he left satisfied.
"Hmm..."
Until the bell of the midnight curfew rang, the drunken Xu Zhenguan woke from a light sleep, closed pores opened and the thick smell of alcohol was forced out from her body...
In the blink of an eye, Xu Zhenguan’s eyes regained clarity, with no trace of drunkenness.
She sat dazed on the Emperor Tower, the citizens in the city had dispersed and returned home, the bright moon in the sky remained cold as ever.
"Whew—"
She let out a deep breath and murmured:
"This guy ran off really quickly, was he afraid I’d scold him..."
Xu Zhenguan was about to get up and return to the palace when she saw a crumpled piece of white paper on the table. She reached out, picked it up, unfolded it with both hands, and saw the words one by one, her red lips gently parting, softly reading:
"When will the bright moon appear? Lifting my cup, I ask the blue sky...
...I wish to ride the wind and return, yet fear the Jade Palace in the sky... the chill of heights is unbearable.
Dance to cast a clear shadow, what is it like in the mortal world..."
Xu Zhenguan was mesmerized, momentarily feeling the world was as cold as the Heavenly Palace, herself hanging high above, all sounds silent.
She continued to read further.
"Turning the red pavilion, lowering the carved door, shines on the sleepless..."
"...Hope people remain long-lasting, sharing the beauty of the moon across thousands of miles."
"Thousands of miles... sharing the beauty of the moon..."
Xu Zhenguan gripped the sheet of paper, a certain emotion surging in her eyes, her gaze seemed to cross thousands of miles, casting toward Zhao Douan’s true self on the western front of Linfeng.
...
...
At the same time.
Fleeing from the Emperor Tower as if escaping for his life, Zhao Douan cursed under his breath.
"Knowing full well this puppet body of mine is useless..."
"Under the dress, it’s truly bare..."
"Vicious, truly vicious! There’s nothing more poisonous than the heart of a woman!"
Zhao Douan only felt a flame dancing within him, but knew it was merely an illusion, for this body had no corresponding internal organs.
The response within the skull was something...
On the deserted streets of the Capital, Zhao Douan moved like a phantom, the cold wind brushing his face, gradually calming the unrest in his heart.
He didn’t know how long he walked till he stopped, seeing ahead the towering buildings of the Heavenly Master Mansion, with a giant clock tower deep inside, conspicuously illuminated by moonlight.
Inside the Heavenly Master Mansion, lights were still burning.
Above the heads of the two stone lions at the gate, crimson lanterns hung.
Zhao Douan stepped up the stairs, raised his hand, and knocked on the door ring.
"Is anyone there..."
Soon, the small door creaked open, and a neatly dressed Night Watch Daoist came out, bowing to the masked Zhao Douan, flicking the horsetail whisk, and said:
"The Heavenly Master invites you."