Chapter Five: Ghostwriting Letters, Midnight Piano Melody

  Returning to the Imperial Hospital, Liang Xin could see that Chen Yuding was somewhat unhappy and even a bit uneasy. After arranging some study tasks for Liang Xin, Chen Yuding left the palace early and went home.

  Chen Yuding was the chief of the Imperial Hospital, and as his apprentice, Liang Xin naturally had many privileges. For example, he didn't have to do any hard work for the entire afternoon, but only went to the Imperial Pharmacy to familiarize himself with various medicinal materials according to the "Shennong Bencao Jing" given by Chen Yuding.

  Arriving at the Imperial Medicine Institute, as soon as he stepped through the gate, Liang Xin saw Xiao Chunzi sitting in the courtyard, leisurely sunbathing. Three other eunuchs who seemed to be newly assigned to the Imperial Medicine Institute were sweeping the yard.

  Xiao Chunzi saw Liang Xin jump up from his chair and shout: "Fu Ge!"

  Li Xiang tapped Xiao Chunzi's head and said, "You don't have a good memory. I've already told you to call me Li Xiang. From now on, you should call me Brother Xiang. It's only been two hours, but my status has increased quite a bit." Li Xiang pointed at the three little eunuchs surrounding them.

  "Oh oh oh, yes yes yes, Xiao Ge, Xiao Ge."

  Xiaochunzi clapped her hands loudly and shouted: "Hey, all of you come over here!"

  Three little eunuchs holding brooms in their hands ran over with a rustling sound, and Xiaochunzi directly said with a proud smile: "Let me introduce you, this is my big brother Liang Xin. The apprentice of the chief physician Chen Yuyi of the Imperial Hospital. What are you staring at? Call him Master Xin."

  "Master Xian, Master Xian..." Three little eunuchs called out in a flattering tone.

  Li Wei waved his hand and said: "You all don't have to be polite, you can all go busy with your work, I need to find Xiaochun for something."

  "Yes, Sir." The three small eunuchs responded in unison and backed away with their heads bowed.

  Xiaochun smiled and said: "Xin Ge, what instructions do you have? Just say it, Xiaochun will definitely not decline as long as she can do it."

  "It's nothing much, you wait a bit and take me to the warehouse of the Imperial Medicine Institute later, I'll take a look at those medicinal materials and familiarize myself with their properties." said Liang Xin.

  "No problem. I'll go open the warehouse door for Manager Xie right away." Little Chunzi said with a pat on his chest.

  Liang Xin nodded and followed Xiaochunzi into the warehouse of the Imperial Medicine Institute. After staying in the warehouse for two or three hours, Liang Xin used his super strong and abnormal memory to memorize hundreds of medicinal materials one by one.

  "Has Xiao Ge finished?" Little Spring asked as she hastily approached him from the warehouse.

  "Yeah, nothing's wrong. I'll leave first and come visit you another day."

  "Wait." Xiaochun hastily pulled Liang Xin and said: "Xin Ge, I still have something to ask of you."

  "What's wrong? What is it?" asked Liang Xin.

  Xiaochun took out a letter from her bosom and said, "I know that Brother Xin recognizes characters. My family sent me a letter, I'd like you to read it for me."

  "Oh, is that so?" Liang Xin took over the envelope, opened it, pulled out the letter and began to read: "Doggie my son? Xiaochunzi, wasn't this written for you?"

  "It's mine." Xiaochunzi scratched the back of her head and said somewhat embarrassedly: "Dog Egg is my nickname."

  "Oh." Liang Xin nodded and continued reading, the entire three pages of letters were filled with greetings from Xiaochun's father, mother, two younger brothers, and a younger sister. Xiaochun listened as tears continuously flowed down her face. Finally, she began to collapse into uncontrollable sobbing.

  Liang Xin looked at Xiaochunzi's painful crying face and felt a little unbearable. He patted Xiaochunzi's shoulder, but didn't know how to comfort him. After a while, Liang Xin suddenly thought of saying: "Xiaochunzi, don't cry, or I'll help you write a reply letter?"

  "Write a reply?" Little Spring suddenly stopped crying, lifted her head and was overjoyed.

  During the Northern Song Dynasty, scholars were likened to heavenly favorites and refined stars descending to the mortal world. In the entire imperial palace, apart from officials and royal physicians, very few people could recognize characters and understand literature. Even if there were a few eunuchs who had studied in private schools for one or two years, their cultural level was not high, and they all had ranks. It was forever impossible for someone like Xiao Chunzi, a low-ranking eunuch with no status, to receive a reply letter.

  "What's so exciting? It's just a reply letter. You go get me pen, ink, paper and inkstone, I'll write it for you right away." Liang Xin said with a smile.

  "Alright!" Little Spring responded happily and turned around to run towards the Imperial Medicine House.

  Liang Xian smiled and shook his head, slowly walking back into the Imperial Medicine Institute.

  The sky had begun to darken, and Xiaochun lit candles for Liang Xin. Three little eunuchs were busy, one grinding, one brewing tea, and the other preparing to trim the wick. They looked at Liang Xin as if they were watching a Western-style play, because he was still the first person willing to write letters home for the lowly little eunuchs.

  Liáng Xīn dipped the brush in the inkstone and began to write as Xiǎo Chūnzǐ started reading. In order to make it easier for Xiǎo Chūnzǐ's parents to find someone to read, Liáng Xīn used a very formal style of calligraphy called "Liu Ti".

  Xiao Chunzi seemed to have a thousand words to say, until the little eunuch Xiao Duzi watching from the side said that there was no more ink. Only then did Xiao Chunzi realize that Liang Xin had already written over ten pages for him, and he hastily stopped.

  Liang Xian stretched and picked up the letter paper, blowing it dry before saying: "Little Chunzi, I'll read it to you. See if there's anything that needs to be changed."

  Liáng xīn took the letter paper very seriously and read it aloud to Xiǎo Chūnzǐ, then asked: "Xiǎo Chūnzǐ, is there anything that needs to be changed?"

  Xiaochun's tears flowed out, and she choked with emotion: "Xin Ge..." After that, she was speechless.

  Liang Xin patted Xiaochun's shoulder and said: "We are good brothers, I just wrote a letter for you, why be so moved?"

  Xiaochun continued to sob and cry, while Liang Xin looked out the window and said: "It's getting late, I have to go back to the Imperial Hospital. When I'm free, I'll come visit you again."

  Xiaochun took out a silver ingot from her bosom and stuffed it into Liang Xin's hand, saying: "Xin brother, this is the hush money..."

  Li Xian was slightly stunned, then he got angry. He stuffed the silver back into Xiaochun's hand and said: "Xiaochun, you look down on me, right? With our relationship, do I need you to give me a reward for helping you write a letter?"

  "Isn't it, Xīn Gē? This is the rule."

  "What rules? There are no such rules between us, you'd better keep the silver yourself!" Liang Xin's face was filled with anger, and Xiao Chunzi didn't dare to refuse, so she quickly took back the silver.

  Liang Xian smiled and said: "This is almost enough, I'm leaving."

  Xiao Duzi and the three eunuchs exchanged a glance, then suddenly knelt down together in front of Liang Xin and said: "Master Xin! Please also take the trouble to write a letter home for us three."

  "You want me to write too?" Liang Xin asked dully.

  "What are you guys, daring to trouble Brother Xin to write a letter for you?" Little Chunzi said angrily.

  Li Xiang blocked Xiao Chunzi's way and said, "It's just writing a letter home, no big deal. How about this? Today is already late, if I don't leave for the palace now, it will be curfew soon. You come to the Imperial Hospital tomorrow to find me, and I'll help you write it then."

  The three of them were overjoyed and repeatedly kowtowed, saying: "Thank you, Master Xiao, thank you, Master Xiao..."

  "Alright, no need to be polite, you're Xiaochun's friends, which means you're also my friends. Friends should help each other out, shouldn't they?"

  Liang Xian helped the three little Duzi up while speaking, and Xiaochunzi's whole body was excited like a shot of chicken blood when he heard Liang Xian's words, his facial expression seemed to have lightened by three or two, feeling so relaxed.

  On his way back to the Imperial Medicine Institute, Liang Xin passed by the Jade Cold Palace.

  Yu Han Palace is a cold palace, according to Liang Xin's memory of Xiao Fu Zi, there seems to be a royal concubine with the surname Wang living in this cold palace. The rank of Zhaoyi is one level lower than that of Fei, and it belongs to one of the nine concubines.

  Liang Xin had just approached the Jade Cold Palace when he faintly heard a melody of the guqin. The sound of the guqin was melodious and low, piercing through one's heart, and even Liang Xin, who wasn't very knowledgeable about music, seemed to have understood the sorrow and loneliness contained within the melody.

  Liang Xin subconsciously followed the sound of the guqin to a place, and after three or four turns, she walked into the Yuhancang Palace. As soon as she crossed the gate of Yuhancang Palace, the entire playground was filled with gloomy winds, no wonder there were rumors among the palace staff that seven concubines had died in Yuhancang Palace, it was a real haunted house.

  As he entered the palace, the sound of the guqin became clearer. The sorrowful notes made Liang Xin's heart feel stuffy, as if there was a restless emotion that couldn't find an outlet to express itself.

  Liang Xin pushed open the main gate of Yuhancang and walked into the main hall. The sound of the guqin suddenly stopped.

  A cold and indifferent voice came from the darkness: "Although this palace has been relegated to a cold palace, it should not have fallen to the point where a eunuch of no status can casually trespass on the grounds of this palace?"

  "Your Highness, please calm your anger. I, a lowly servant, happened to be passing by the Jade Cold Palace and was drawn in by Your Highness's enchanting music. I lost control of myself and intruded without permission. I deserve to die, please forgive me."

  Although extremely unwilling, Liang Xin still knelt down to the ground. After all, if this matter were reported by Wang Zhaoyi to the Imperial Secretariat, there would only be one outcome waiting for Liang Xin - death!

  In the darkness, Wang Zhaojun fell silent for a moment, then a sigh came and said: "Can you understand the sound of my guqin?"

  "My emotions are scattered among my fingers, the melody of longing is in this cup." Liang Xin couldn't help but secretly savor the previous sound of the zither: "I want to entrust my heart's affairs to the jade zither. Few people understand, when the strings break, who will listen?"