Chapter 1: Autumn Sounds (Three Falls)

  It was not easy to get rid of Yun Yi, and Wang Xun also felt a bit tired. He called over the maid who had been waiting at the door and ordered her to clean up the leftovers, then he himself walked back to his bedroom to rest.

  Although Wang Jun lost his biological mother since childhood, he was not treated harshly by Yun Niang in life. All the treatment that a legitimate son of a wealthy family should enjoy, he didn't have any less than others. Including Tong Fang's personal maid Zi Luo, who had been serving him personally since she was eight years old, taking care of his daily needs. When the master turned fourteen, she was taken out by the nanny to be taught separately about the proper ways. After returning, although her face was red with shame, she boldly took Wang Jun's hands and explored all the things that a man should know.

  For more than three years, the master and servant could not be said to have a close relationship, but they were already familiar with each other to the point where they could feel any slight changes in each other. Today, Wang Xuan originally had a belly full of evil fire, but when he picked up Zi Luo, his eyes involuntarily conjured up the enchanting figure of Guo Guo Furen. Her slender waist, high hair bun, and beautiful appearance were all so captivating. However, Zi Luo had been taught traditional values since childhood and couldn't produce that soft and sweet voice. As a result, Wang Xuan was somewhat disappointed and simply responded with a perfunctory phrase before turning to sleep.

  Zi Luan slowly got up, put on her clothes, and called the little maid Xueyan to bring warm water from the outer room. She carefully wiped a certain part of Wang Chun's body with the water, then handed it over to Xueyan to take away, and sat in front of the dressing table staring blankly at the copper mirror.

  "Aren't you sleepy?" Wang Jun rolled over drowsily, feeling that the bed was emptier than usual tonight. He opened one eye halfway and gazed towards the bright spot, muttering a question.

  "I'm not sleepy. You go to sleep first, I'll blow out the candle!" Zi Luo turned her head and lovingly gazed at Wang Xun's angular face, responding softly.

  "What's wrong?" Having grown up together since childhood, even a stray cat would have developed feelings. Wang Xuan felt that Zi Luo's behavior today was somewhat off, and he opened his eyes slightly wider, asking with concern.

  "What's wrong? It was Zi Luan who made a mistake. I shouldn't disturb your rest." Zi Luan gently shook her head, blew out the candle with her fan, and then climbed onto the bed quietly in the moonlight coming from outside the window, lying motionless beside Wang Xun.

  "Who bullied you, you little girl?" Wang Xuan's heart ached a bit as he opened his arms and wrapped them around the stiff body. After being blown by the night wind for so long, Zilu's body had cooled down to the temperature of jade. As soon as they made contact, a chill spread through Wang Xuan's skin and slowly seeped into his heart.

  "Who dares to bully me in this courtyard now?" Zi Luo's nostrils were slightly congested, and she responded in a low voice.

  "What's wrong with you?" Wang Xuan reached out to touch the other person's forehead, but his fingers came into contact with a wet and soggy thing. He turned over and looked at the other person's face in the moonlight.

  Under the moonlight like water, he saw a vast expanse of ocean. "Really nothing, Grandpa, go to sleep! It's just Zi Rou being silly!" Unable to hide her inner fear, Zi Rou stretched out her arms and tightly hugged Wang Yong's body, as if letting go would mean losing everything.

  "You little scamp!" Wang Xuan chuckled, lay down on his back, and slowly warmed up with Zi Luo in his arms. "What's the matter? From childhood to adulthood, when have I ever made things difficult for you? Even if I promised you something that can't be done for the time being, there's still Cloud Aunt at home. For my sake, she'll also think of ways to help you!"

  "Really, there's nothing? Young master has been good to me!" The more Wang Xuan comforted her with gentle words, the more Zi Luo's tears fell "plop, plop". Unable to guess the girl's thoughts, Wang Xuan could only use one arm to hold her and free up his other hand to slowly stroke her back like petting a small cat.

  This was his usual trick, and it never failed. After stroking for a while, Zi Luo indeed calmed down like a little cat. However, she refused to fall asleep, with half her body still stuck to Wang Xuan's chest, using her ear to listen to his heartbeat.

  Wang Xuan lost his mother at a young age, and although his stepmother, Yun Yi, took good care of him, she was still one degree removed from being his real mother. As a result, he had deep and complicated feelings for Zi Luo, who had grown up with him. He stared at her with wide eyes until she finally came down, then reached out to pinch her nose, laughing as he said, "Had enough? If you don't come down, I'll be crushed by you!"

  "Psst!" Ziluo stuck out her small tongue and then rolled down, shrinking into a small ball under Wang Xuan's armpit.

  "Look at you!" Wang Xuan laughed and scolded, then turned sideways, lightly sniffing the other's hair. "Can't you say it now? If you don't, I'm really going to sleep!"

  "Really nothing? It's just me being silly." Zi Luan smiled awkwardly and curled up tighter. A moment later, she raised her head again before Wang Xun was pulled back into sleep by drowsiness, and asked timidly: "Young Master, has this servant already grown old?"

  "Old fart! You're only two years older than me, and you're already old, what about me?" Wang Xun finally guessed a few points of the reason for Ziluolan's unusual behavior tonight, reached out to pat her butt, and scolded with a smile.

  "Ah!" Zi Luan was slapped and let out a low cry of surprise, but she refused to back away, her body continuing to stick forward like a plaster, "How can I compare with you? You are a man, even at seventy years old, you can still draw a strong bow of three stones and eat a dou of rice in one meal. But I am just a fleeting beauty, even if I'm stunning, it's only for a moment."

  "Where did you learn all these nonsense?" Wang Xuan slapped the other person again, but this time his hand was even gentler. "Those are just some people's idle talk after eating a full meal, how can they be true? If you have nothing better to do, why don't you take Snow Smoke for a walk on the street and see if there are any rare goods from Southeast Asia, buy a few pieces for yourself and also get a few for me to show respect to Cloud Aunt?"

  "The merchants of Guangzhou said that the sea ships only make a round trip once a year." At the mention of going for a stroll, Zilu's eyes lit up immediately, but soon dimmed again.

  "The ships from Guangzhou have left. From the Western Regions, there will always be some Hu merchants coming, right?" Wang Xun yawned and suggested with a smile.

  "That side sells jewelry and jade, all of which are rough and unrefined!" Zilu looked down on the precious items from the Western Regions. In recent years, the Great Tang has been prosperous and peaceful, and craftsmen have had plenty of time to refine their skills. The hairpins, rings, and pendants they created were exquisite and unparalleled, far surpassing those brought by the Hu merchants. Nowadays, only some newly rich people would still buy those decorative items made by the Hu people. In Chang'an City, anyone from a respectable family who wore a piece of jewelry from the Western Regions would be too embarrassed to meet acquaintances.

  "Well, I'm at your mercy then. Anyway, the key to my money box is in your hands, so you decide what to buy yourself!" Wang Xuan said with a sigh of helplessness after yawning again.

  "Grandfather!" Although she knew he was very tired, Zi Luan still plucked up the courage to prop up her head and gaze blankly into his eyes. "Xue Yan is not young anymore, Grandfather should take her in as a concubine soon!"

  "You're really asking for a beating, you little girl!" Wang Xuan stretched out his hand and pressed her down again, face to face, scolding, "You actually ate the flying vinegar of snow smoke! How many years has she followed me? She doesn't even know what I like to eat for breakfast, and she dares to climb on your head?"

  "I'm not jealous. I really think I shouldn't be too greedy!" Zi Luo struggled a few times, unable to break free from Wang Yong's big hands, and forced a smile to confess. "Rather than letting Master not have a good time, it's better to change someone else to serve Master. It also saves the trouble of one day really annoying Master and driving me out of the mansion, this life is too lazy to care again!"

  "Dead girl, I didn't know you were hiding such a sharp tongue! Wang Xuan finally came to his senses, stretched out his palm and slapped her twice. "These two slaps are to teach you a lesson, so that in the future you won't bring trouble upon yourself again. You were born as a member of the Wang family, and even if you die, you'll be a ghost of the Wang family - this lifetime, don't think about escaping from my palm!"

  Although her buttocks were burning with pain, a sense of indescribable satisfaction surged up in Zi Luan's heart. She shrank her body and rubbed against Wang Xun's armpit again, then lifted her head and asked in a mosquito-like voice: "That, that master tonight how......"

  Asked halfway, already blushing to the neck root, quickly shrinking his head into the quilt, and never daring to come out again.

  "Ah, you little girl!" Wang Xun was taken aback at first, then couldn't help but smile wryly. In front of such a sensitive little person, he naturally couldn't say that he had been thinking of another woman during their intimate moment earlier. He shook his head and added in a low voice, "I've encountered some troubles today, so I'm a bit distracted. It's not that I'm tired of you. Even when you're old, I won't drive you away. Just like my father treated Cloud Auntie, this family will always leave a place for you!"

  Upon hearing this, Zi Luan's heart suddenly felt a surge of heat. Fate had her born into a poor and humble family, and she was like a floating duckweed all her life. However, she did not want to be used by others and then discarded, rotting away in the muddy waters like an autumn lotus. Therefore, she could wholeheartedly devote herself to Wang Xuan, while also doing her utmost to preserve her own place.

  Since it's not already tired of itself, other things are easy to solve. Thinking of this layer, Zilu put aside her nervous mood and poked out half of her head from the quilt, seriously planning for Wang Xuan, "Is it because she was restricted by White Sister? Don't worry about it, Master. In my opinion, she's just waiting for a price to be set. If you cold-shoulder her for a few days, I think she'll definitely send someone to apologize!"

  "Get out of here! Don't get involved in this kind of thing!" Wang Xun scolded with a smile, shaking his head in annoyance.

  "There's another way. If you want to get your hands on her quickly, why not just let her have her way for now and agree to whatever she wants? Once the sedan chair enters the Wang family's gate, isn't it still up to you to decide how to deal with her?" Seeing that his plan was not adopted, Zilu's eyes rolled around and soon came up with another clever scheme.

  "I've figured it out. You're the one who should be punished tonight!" Wang Xuan was both angry and amused, stretching out his hand to scratch Zhou Lu's armpits fiercely. Only when the other person apologized repeatedly did he put away his smile and said helplessly: "It has nothing to do with Miss Bai, don't get involved blindly. I had a confusing fight with someone today, and now that I think about it, I still regret it!"

  "Is Grandfather injured?" Zi Luan was startled and quickly turned over to light the candle.

  "Be honest and lie down! Not a single hair was hurt!" Wang Xuan pressed him down with one hand, and whispered to stop. "My skill, you're not like you haven't seen it before!"

  "Did that old man get hurt?" Under the moonlight, Zilu's bright eyes scanned Wang Xun up and down. Only when she was certain that he was not injured did she let out a sigh of relief and comforted him in a low voice: "Even if he got hurt, it wouldn't be a big deal, we'd just have to pay some more money! I don't think the county magistrate of Chang'an would bother coming after us for something so trivial!"

  "It didn't even hurt anyone!" Wang Xuan let out a soft sigh, "I'm just because Yuwen youngster deliberately deceived me, my heart is a bit stuffy. If he really needs my help to fight, just say so. Why use such despicable means?"

  "What's with Yuwen's kid?" Zi Luo raised an eyebrow, her face full of disdain. "That kid is too despicable, how could he even deceive you? Is the other party that difficult to deal with? That's why he's afraid you won't help him?"

  "It's strange, isn't it? Although Li Bai has an official position, in the emperor's eyes, his status is probably similar to that of Jia Lao Da." Wang Xun shook his head again. Anyway, he had already been tossed about and was tired, so he simply told Zi Luo the details of what happened, but omitted the name of the owner of the carriage and his own momentary stunned expression.

  Jia Lao Da, also known as Jia Chang, is a veteran of the cockfighting world in Chang'an City. Since he was 13 years old, he has been in charge of the cockfighting world. He can organize three hundred fighting cocks into an army-like formation and command them to advance and retreat according to his orders. Therefore, he was summoned by the emperor to be in charge of training and competing palace fighting cocks.

  Li Bai became famous at the age of twenty, but due to his proud temperament, he did not receive support from nobles until he was forty-two years old and was introduced to the imperial court by He Zhizhang. Although the emperor also highly appreciated his talent, in reality, he treated him as a jester who could provide lyrics for the inner palace at any time, with a status equal to that of Jia Chang and others, and refused to entrust him with important tasks.

  The various hidden circumstances behind this, of course, would not be understood by Wang's family servant girl, Zi Luo. Even if she could see through it, she wouldn't care about it. She only cared about her master's mood and whether he would get into some kind of trouble that couldn't be solved. After thinking for a moment, she slowly deduced a vague answer: "Li Bai has an official position, so I estimate he won't take the initiative to cause trouble at Chang Le Fang. Wu Wen Zhi is a young master who likes to provoke disputes, but his gambling habits have always been good. It shouldn't be because he lost money and got anxious that he would cheat people. I reckon he had some past grievances with Li Bai, or else he's standing in for someone else!"

  It's really that the people involved are confused, while the onlookers see clearly. Wang Xuan thought about it all the way but couldn't figure it out, and then Zi Luo casually said a few words, which pierced through that layer of confusion. Yuwen Zhi deliberately provoked Li Bai, not because he was anxious from losing money. Rather, he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to teach Li Bai a lesson and make him fall flat on his face. But he hadn't even read many books, so what grudge could he have against Li Bai, this great poet? Could it be that someone else was instructing him from behind the scenes? And who exactly was the person instructing him, how much did they pay, to make him not care about several good friends he had grown up with?

  The more he thought about it, the more uneasy Wang Xuan felt in his heart. He raised his head and wanted to discuss a few more sentences with Zi Luo, but found that the jade person beside him had already fallen asleep at some point, and even breathing sounds came from her nostrils.

  Note 1: Guangzhou was already an open port in the Tang Dynasty. It is recorded that merchants gathered in the city, and its prosperity surpassed all of East Asia. However, it was later destroyed due to the Huang Chao rebellion.