Chapter 1 Autumn Sounds (Fourth Movement)

  Crimson candles, pale pink curtains. Behind the thin veil of smoke, the sleeping beauty slowly opens her starry eyes and lets out a languid sigh.

  "Has the mistress awakened?" The maid, who had been dozing off on the tiger skin rug beside the bed, jumped up at the sound, and carefully carried over a warm lotus seed porridge that had been kept in a woolen basket to the newly awakened beauty's desk.

  "Hmm!" Madame Yuanguo let out another low hum, lifted up half of her body, and drank a few mouthfuls of lotus seed porridge from the maid's hands. Then she slowly stretched her waist, and asked with a sigh: "What time is it? Xiangyin, have those two children from the Qin family left?"

  Although she was already over thirty, her skin was even more delicate than that of her sixteen-year-old maid Xiang Yin. Perhaps it was because she had just woken up, or perhaps it was out of habit, but unintentionally, half of her chest was already exposed from under the covers, two bright red dots separated by a deep valley, proudly gazing at each other.

  This scenery, even if a woman saw it, would be dizzy and stunned. The maid called Xiangyin placed the half-empty porcelain bowl on the bedside table, slowly lowered her head, and pressed her face against Madame Feng's arm, "It's already the second watch of the night! Madam! The two young masters of the Qin family were both scared by their families. Seeing that you couldn't hold your liquor, they made an excuse to take their leave. But madam, this time you slept very soundly!" She lightly rubbed against her and responded in a low voice. Her tone had a few hints of hoarseness that didn't match her age, causing the candle flame nearby to suddenly flicker, shining brightly and then dimming.

  "Get out of the way!" Madame Guo slapped her hand and sent the little maid flying far away. "Don't bother me here, help me find the clothes I'm wearing tonight. It's that one brought by the big merchant last time. Also bring the corresponding hairpins, makeup box, and everything else!"

  "Do you want that set of ceremonial attire?" Xiang Yin's maid stood at a distance where she could be reached with an outstretched hand, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. "It's not like summer now. The midnight wind is cool. That outfit, apart from the two pieces of sheepskin, is just a pile of silver decorations, it can't keep out the cold at all. If..."

  "Old things just like this tone, what can be done?" Madame Guo put away the charm on her face, and a hint of helplessness appeared between her eyebrows. "But it's also good to let him have his fill. When he comes up, he'll only have the strength of a dragonfly touching water..."

  "That old thing won't die!" Xiang Yun muttered, frowning. It was more like she was arguing with someone over who was right, rather than speaking up for the sake of Guo Guo's wife.

  "Stop nagging, go!" Guo Guofu looked at her and repeated in a low voice. "Let Yao Hen go out and take a look, is the carriage ready? Those two horses this afternoon, I don't know if they can get up again or not?"

  "It should be fine! Don't worry, ma'am. That thug surnamed Lei used some sort of trick. Although he knocked the horse down, it didn't actually hurt its tendons or bones." Xiaoxiang reported clearly as she walked out in small steps. "An hour ago, the steward called a veterinarian to take a look and prescribed a few doses of calming medicine for animals. He said that even if it doesn't eat the medicine, it can recover on its own after two or three days of rest in the stable!"

  "Ah!" Madame Guo's mouth slowly formed a soft oval shape. It wasn't that she couldn't afford to buy two new horses of the same color, but she felt sorry for the two poor creatures. They had already been frightened into such a state, and now they would have to endure two severe blows.

  "How is the lady feeling now? In my humble opinion, it would be better to cancel tonight's dinner party. Anyway, that old thing's other mansion is not far from here, and with what happened to your carriage this afternoon, he must have heard something." Little maid Xiang Yin walked in carrying a gold-painted tray, on which were placed two pieces of red lacquer sheepskin, a blue gauze dress, and a pile of shiny bracelets, anklets, bells, and chains. Four young maidservants, each younger than her but with faces as delicate as flower buds, followed behind her, helping the Lady of Guo up from bed to the dresser, assisting her in dressing and making herself up.

  Just as Xiang Yin said earlier, this set of clothes for the glutton from a cold-resistant perspective, wearing it and not wearing it makes little difference. However, with this, Madame Guo's skin was highlighted to be even whiter and more delicate, and her waist was also highlighted to be more slender and elegant. Madame Guo shook her head, picked up a heavy string of chest decorations, and personally hung them around her neck. "Can't we not go? Once that old thing remembers hatred, without three to five years of effort, it's impossible to get rid of..."

  A breast ornament is a string of amber and pearls woven into a net, with countless small silver bells sewn along the lower edge. Each one is attached to the edge of a dark red lambskin apron, bringing a chilly feeling.

  Looking at the beauty in the mirror who was becoming more and more charming, Madame Guo smiled slightly. For over a decade, this face had never changed. It still captivated people's hearts, it still caused cities to fall. She remembered when her husband passed away, it was also an autumn as cold as ice. The mourning clothes on her body hadn't been taken off yet, and already her father-in-law had climbed onto her bed.

  That night, Madame Guo didn't know how she got out of bed again. Anyway, from then on, Yang Yuyao was dead. From then on, she became the most "outstanding" daughter-in-law of the He Dong Pei family and the widow of Sichuan's talented son, Pei Mian. Perhaps under the protection of her late husband's spirit, not only did she become more beautiful like a sea peach after the rain, but she also mastered all aspects of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, earning the reputation as a talented woman far and wide.

  All of this was because the Pei family's power was too great. Her own father, Yang Huan, had a low position, and her brother, Yang Guozhong, was incompetent. Incompetent people were destined to be bullied, and Yang Yuyu had always firmly believed in this. So, she used a very simple yet effective method to let the lustful old man die, and took control of the power of the Pei family in Shu. However, she suddenly discovered that above the Pei family in Shu, there were still the Wang, Xiao, and Li families. Any one of these families was not someone she could afford to provoke.

  She continued to flutter among the officials and nobles, hoping to use her beauty to bring greater prosperity to her family. As a result, her younger sister was selected to enter the Shouwang Fu, while her older brother mixed into the Jiedushi's account as a book official.

  It's not easy to wait until my own sister, Yuanyuan, became the Queen of Shou. This time, it can be considered that we have boarded a genuine royal family, and the Yang family can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Who would have thought that above the King of Shou is still the Emperor, and above the Jiedushi is still the current Chancellor, Left and Right Secretaries.

  She continued to dance from the beginning of Kaiyuan to the end of Tianbao. Her younger sister Yang Yuhuan became the emperor's most beloved woman, and he dismissed early court several times for her. Her older brother Yang Guozhong relied on his sister's nobility, holding seventeen prominent positions, dominating the imperial court. However, she who was used to a life of constant coming and going could no longer stop her footsteps.

  Brother Guo Zhong is not a man with a heart of gratitude, he holds a high position but still can't get rid of the habits formed when he was wandering in the streets. He's good at doing small tricks behind people's backs that can't be done openly, but lacks the wisdom and courage to face trouble head-on. His sister is favored by the emperor, but behind her back, she doesn't have a strong family to support her, unintentionally offending countless enemies. These messages, these gaps, all need her to move with agility to gather information, to mediate. If she's even a little lazy, his sister and brother will gain an unexpected enemy. The Yang family, as well as the Pei family of Shu who once made him hate them to the bone, will have a cold knife behind their backs.

  Sometimes, Madame Guo felt that she hadn't actually helped her brothers and sisters solve any of their troubles. But if it weren't for this grand and righteous excuse, she wouldn't know what she was living for anymore.

  Xiang Yin picked up the precious pearl cream that had been presented to the imperial family from Yangzhou and carefully applied it around Madame Guo's eye sockets. "Madame, I'm afraid you didn't sleep well earlier!" she whispered softly as she gently massaged the cream into the skin around her eyes with her fingers, letting the pearl cream slowly seep in. She was like an elder sister, tenderly taking care of her own spoiled younger sister.

  "Just had a strange dream!" Guo Guifei picked up a thick and long silver chain from the tray, and under the service of her maid, she tied it around her waist. This thing that came with the big meal had a very charming name, called "Suò Màn Yāo", the rough style matched with her slender waist, making her instantly add a few more points of charm and loveliness.

  "What did the mistress dream about? Can you tell me?"

  "It's all forgotten now. Since we know dreams are false, who would bother to recall them!" Madame Guo shook her head, turned sideways, and let the maid drape a thin silk cloak over her shoulders.

  Turquoise gauze draped over her shoulders, half of her shoulder and half of her body faintly visible. In the mirror, a princess with exotic charm appeared. It would be more accurate to say that she was not a princess, but rather a female slave of some king. Silver bangles on her hands, silver anklets on her feet, a thick chain locked around her waist. She was about to be held in the arms of an ugly old monster...

  Looking at herself in the mirror, Madame Guo's face suddenly flushed with an extremely unnatural blush. Just now she had indeed had a very strange dream, only, the scene in the dream, not only did she not forget, but even now it was still vividly before her eyes. In the dream, Yang Yuyu remembered that she was also dressed like this, being carried off into mid-air by two old and ugly monsters, with chains on her body. A tall and sturdy man with a full beard, who happened to be passing by on the ground, let out an angry shout, rushed up to the clouds. With one punch, he knocked the monster on the left to the ground, then swung his massive fist at the monster holding Yang Yuyu captive on the right.

  With just two punches, the two green-faced, fang-toothed monsters were knocked back to their original form, which turned out to be two old tree roots. As soon as they transformed, Yang Yuyao lost her support in mid-air and plummeted downwards. Just as she was about to smash into pieces, the burly man with a braided beard descended on a seven-colored auspicious cloud, gently supporting her body...

  That moment of happiness and tranquility is worth more than countless times in a lifetime.

  "Alright! Look for yourself, milady. Is this makeup to your liking?" Xiang Yin's voice rang out once more, bringing Yang Yuyao back from her reverie as the Lady of Guo.

  Three parts saintly, three parts seductive, three parts enchanting, and one part pitiful. With a smile at the mirror's reflection, Lady Yu stood up, casually throwing on the last piece of her evening attire - a pure black woolen cloak. All the allure and charm were instantly wrapped up in the large black cloak, not a single inch of skin or icy ornament visible unless someone tore it open. At this moment, all that was exposed outside the mirror was a head, with a strand of proud yet tired smile, forever unchanging.

  "All right, you can all go down now. Xiang Yin, make the candlelight brighter. I can't see very clearly. Yao Hen, why hasn't that dead girl come back yet!" Madame Guo said softly as she slowly turned her body in front of the mirror.

  The sheepskin coat hasn't warmed up yet, it's cool, as if wrapped in a piece of ice. But this piece of ice can also turn into a ball of flames at any time. As long as one day, he can meet the person in his dreams. He doesn't know who he is, and doesn't ask about his past or future...

  "She must have fallen asleep on the road!" Xiang Yin casually slandered her companion. "She has a weak body and is prone to drowsiness!"

  "Just like you, it's all right to be a bit reserved!" Lady Guo turned her head and lightly poked Xiang Yin with one finger. Seeing that the silhouettes of several other little maids had already left the door, she thought for a moment and continued: "What I told you today about getting information out of the Qin brothers' mouths, did you get it?"

  "Those two brothers are really naive. After you went back to your room to rest, I didn't use any tricks on them, and they just spilled out everything we wanted to know like dumping beans from a bamboo tube!" Meiyan Xiaoyi thought for a moment, her face showing some pride. "The young master who held the horse carriage is the great-grandson of Wang Jian, the founding duke. He lives in Chongren Alley, his parents passed away early, and he only has a stepmother left. He has many fields and shops under his name, but for this generation, there's basically no hope for him to make it big in officialdom!"

  "Hmm!" Madame Yu nodded slightly, indicating for Xiang Yin to continue speaking.

  "That little rascal who didn't even bother to wipe his mouth after seeing you is named Yuwen Zhi. He's a younger son from a side branch of the Yuwen family. Both of the elderly members in his household are still alive, but they're both idle and let him do as he pleases. In my humble opinion, today's trouble was probably caused by him."

  "What a naughty little thing!" Lady Guo smiled slightly, with a hint of disdain at the corner of her mouth. Being moved by beauty is one thing, but being unable to take a step forward when seeing beauty is another. The former proves one's charm and power, while the latter only proves that the little thing itself is not worthy of attention.

  "The rest of them aren't even worth mentioning!" Xiang Yin furrowed her brow, really unable to understand who among the people they met this afternoon was worthy of their master's attention. Anyway, the mistress had already said she didn't want to pursue their responsibility, and asking further would just be a waste of effort. Moreover, apart from the Qin brothers, the Wang family's young master, and that good-for-nothing surnamed Yuwen, the others wouldn't even be able to afford to compensate for their mistress' carriage even if they sold their bones.

  "The remaining few people. Among them, the most outstanding one is Li Bai, who scared off 100,000 brave soldiers with just a poem!" The maid called Yao Hen happened to be walking in from outside and saw Xiang Yin unable to answer Madame's question, so she quickly seized the rare opportunity.

  This seemingly brilliant answer, however, did not bring her the praise she deserved. Consort Wu merely shook her head and smiled, saying: "It's just a slightly more clever translation. If my Great Tang didn't have brave generals holding down the fort, even if he wrote a thousand letters of surrender, I'm afraid the Arabs would still burn them like firewood."

  "Madam is absolutely right!" Xiang Yin turned her head back, and with a show of intimidation, she jerked her chin up at Yao Hen. "The other few people, the more famous ones are Gao Shi and Cen Shen. But they were all depressed and unable to achieve their ambitions, drifting in the capital searching for a way out. That's why I didn't pay much attention to them!"

  "What about the big man who punched and startled the horse?" Lady Guo asked impatiently. Her heart skipped a few beats, making the person in the mirror's cheeks even rosier, looking delicate and charming.

  "He, he's just a follower of the county magistrate who went to his post, and has no future prospects at all..." Xiang Yin paused for a moment before responding. Another maid, Yao Hen, however, heard some implications in Madame Guo's tone and quickly stepped forward, adding in a low voice: "The maid asked, that person is called Lei Wanchun. In his early years, he was a wandering hero who roamed the Jianghu, but later met Zhang Quan, the top scholar of the Kaiyuan era, and was moved by his broad-mindedness and magnanimity, so he resolutely washed his hands and vowed to follow Zhang Quan for the rest of his life!"

  "What a fine and valiant warrior!" The words of praise escaped from the mouth of Lady Guo. "Where does he live, have you asked clearly?"

  "Uh!" The two little maids were tongue-tied and couldn't answer.

  "You guys, what do you know about being a man!" Madame Guo sighed, shaking her head gently with affection. In an instant, the weariness on her face was gone.