Chapter 90: Hello Chang’an
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**Chapter 90: The Shortcut to Fame
Ah Che replied softly, “In response to young miss, I have been watching the tavern you mentioned for the past few days, but I haven’t seen that person appear.”
Chang Suining said, “Then continue to keep watch.”
Hearing her tone, Ah Che couldn’t help but quietly ask, “Does young miss believe that person will definitely appear?”
Chang Suining nodded, “She will.”
In the past, when she was Princess Chongyue, Li Shang, she spent most of her time presenting herself as her twin brother, Li Xiao.
During her days as Ah Xiao, she did many things, fought many battles, and became the Crown Prince of Dasheng, also becoming the most conspicuous target—
Her biological mother was the Imperial Concubine, and her maternal grandfather was the Right Minister of the court. The second prince regarded “Li Xiao” as a thorn in his side, wishing every day to remove this stumbling block.
The third prince, who had the queen as his backing, had been at odds with Ah Xiao since childhood, and naturally, his hostility towards the “Li Xiao,” who had become the Crown Prince, only intensified.
These were the most noteworthy enemies on the surface, but various interests intertwined complexly, and the number of eyes secretly watching her, the Crown Prince, was countless.
People are always being pushed forward. If she wanted to survive, she needed to view the court as a battlefield, constantly reminding herself not to be careless in the slightest.
When not in battle, she mostly stayed at Xuanzhe Manor and the East Palace in place of Ah Xiao, while Ah Xiao often resided in the Princess Chongyue Mansion for health recovery.
However, during certain occasions when her identity needed to be verified, she would often need to temporarily swap identities with Ah Xiao. When the two were in the capital, they also needed to relay messages to each other.
Due to the spies constantly watching the East Palace and Xuanzhe Manor, she secretly had a trusted person buy a tavern in the city early on. It served to gather information and was more importantly used for relaying messages from various places.
That tavern had been quite deserted before her people took over, but who would have thought that after they took over, the business would flourish unexpectedly…
With the tavern bustling with customers, amidst the crowd, the transmission of messages required even more caution. Thus, she became accustomed to using different coded patterns on the correspondence with various parties to distinguish them. Not only could outsiders not detect the clues, but each place only recognized its own code, while others remained unaware of the dozens of different codes. This ensured the confidentiality of the message delivery.
The pattern she left in the Princess Mansion that day was one she often used when sending messages— and the only person designated to go to the tavern for messages from the Princess Mansion was Yu Xue.
Thus, Yu Xue knew well that seeing this code was akin to seeing her.
Disguising as a man wasn’t easy, especially since she was quite inexperienced at first. She couldn’t possibly fool everyone by herself, so she needed someone to cover for her and cooperate with her—
Yu Xue was the female attendant initially chosen by Ming Hou to keep this tremendous secret with her.
From the first day she began impersonating Ah Xiao, Yu Xue had clearly known this secret.
As she transformed into Ah Xiao, Yu Xue accompanied her step by step from awkwardness to proficiency, from anxiety to calmness.
Once, she regarded Yu Xue as the most loyal and closest person, apart from Zeng shi.
Of course, the reason she was sure that Yu Xue would come upon seeing that code was not because she trusted the other’s so-called loyalty—
Loyalty could vanish, but the guilt of having betrayed and killed her master, along with the fear of keeping this secret that could bring about her own death, would remain deeply buried within.
Even if Yu Xue wasn’t mad enough to conclude from a code that she was still alive, she would undoubtedly harbor many anxious speculations.
These speculations couldn’t be suppressed; they would only grow fiercer in the hearts of the guilty, causing constant torment and fear until they personally pushed open the door named verification—
Thus, she firmly believed that Yu Xue would surely come, it was only a matter of time.
There were many things she needed to do; she was not anxious about this one matter. What should be anxious was Yu Xue, who could only think about this matter all the time.
……
The day after Chang Suining returned to the manor, Yao Xia led a group of young ladies, who had been captivated by Chang Suining at Dayun Temple, to the entrance of the Chang family.
As soon as Yao Xia saw Chang Suining, she clung to her, holding onto one of Chang Suining’s arms, and said, “Sister Chang, now that you’re studying at the National Academy, you’re truly different; you’ve added a scholarly air to you!”
Who could resist such a charming Sister Chang?
As Chang Sui'an entered the garden, he saw a round-faced girl with an infatuated smile holding his sister’s arm.
The other brightly dressed girls also gathered around, chattering away with his sister, their eyes sparkling.
Chang Sui'an paused, frowning greatly, “... Where did these people come from? Why is each one so clingy to Ning Ning?”
The Sword Boy also furrowed his brow.
Steward Bai mentioned that many young ladies from various families had come to the mansion, all of whom were unmarried, implying that he should lead his eligible brother to meet them. If they encountered someone they were interested in, it would save trouble.
Hearing such a casual remark, the Sword Boy couldn’t help but feel amazed. As expected of the Chang family; even marriage matters were about efficiency.
The brother’s reaction at this moment was clearly overly efficient.
It was obvious that the brother didn’t see any young ladies in his eyes, but rather divided them into “my sister” and “those who are clinging to my sister”—
“Ah Brother?”
Chang Suining, always keen-eyed and perceptive, had already spotted Chang Sui'an behind the flowers and trees.
Chang Sui'an had no choice but to approach.
As the young man walked over to greet them, the girls quietly cast curious glances— is this the brother of Miss Chang?
These subtle glances made Chang Sui'an feel rather uncomfortable, and he hurriedly said, “Ning Ning, I have something to attend to, so I won’t interrupt you all while enjoying the flowers.”
Chang Suining nodded.
Before Chang Sui'an left, he subconsciously glanced at the arm still tightly linked with his sister’s and its owner—
Yao Xia also looked at him, and their eyes met; Chang Sui'an silently noted this person.
After all, his sister had only just returned for a couple of days, and he wanted to talk with her, yet a whole group of people had come to steal his sister away— and this person looked like the leader.
“Miss Chang’s brother looks truly impressive…”
“Truly a worthy son of a military family.”
“I only saw him from afar at Dayun Temple last time; only today can I see clearly... Young Master Chang and Miss Chang are equally good-looking.”
After Chang Sui'an left, the lively girls didn’t hesitate to lavish praise.
They naturally knew that the Chang siblings weren’t actually related by blood; the two didn’t resemble each other either. Miss Chang was delicately beautiful, while Young Master Chang was robust and handsome, exuding a bold charm.
As the girls chirped and praised, someone gently poked Yao Xia, “Ah Xia, why aren’t you speaking?”
At such a time, how could they miss the chance for this flirtatious person to speak?
Being called out, Yao Xia recalled and commented, “The brother of the Chang family has really big eyes; I truly envy him.”
She just wanted to observe, but saw him staring at her; for a moment, she was baffled. She only noticed his big eyes, marveling at how someone’s eyes could be so big, but before she could look more closely, he had already walked away.
She could only wonder one thing: with such big eyes, could he see more and clearer? If she could borrow them to look at pretty young ladies, it wouldn’t be a waste of heaven's blessings.
This fleeting thought vanished quickly, and Yao Xia soon shifted her focus back to Chang Suining: “Sister Chang, tell us more about your experiences at the National Academy!”
Thinking of her daily training, studying, fishing, and eating fish, Chang Suining for a moment didn’t know where to start to make it interesting.
And adding interest through words could at most only scratch the surface—
Once she became familiar with her surroundings, it was time to seriously consider doing something interesting.
……
By the time Yao Xia left the Chang residence, the sky was getting dark.
This greedy behavior made Chang Sui'an find some similarities between her and Qiao Yubai, thus deepening his impression of Yao Xia.
Having spent the whole day with Chang’s older sister, Yao Xia was in a good mood as she got off the carriage in front of her home, her steps unusually light.
As Yao Xia chatted with the maid, she walked toward her house and happened to run into Yao Yi coming from the opposite direction.
“Uncle.”
“It’s Ah Xia, right?” Yao Yi casually asked, “Where have you been?”
Yao Xia smiled contentedly, “I spent the whole day at the residence of General Chang.”
Yao Yi seemed surprised, “You went to see the Chang family’s lady?”
“Yes, sister Chang has gone to the National Academy to study, and it’s not easy to see her.”
Yao Yi found it hard to contain his surprise, “She’s studying at the National Academy?”
Yao Xia nodded, “sister Chang has taken Scholar Qiao as her master, but they haven’t held the formal apprenticeship banquet yet.”
“Oh... so that’s it.” Yao Yi raised his eyebrows, a bit puzzled and contemplative.
“Uncle, I’ll head back now,” Yao Xia said without saying more, giving a slight bow as she took her leave.
Yao Yi walked a few steps forward but then stopped, lost in thought.
Wasn’t she practicing martial arts before? How did she end up wanting to go to the National Academy to apprentice under Scholar Qiao?
What is this haphazardness all about?
Is it just a whim of a young girl?
But speaking of which... it’s a good thing to take on an apprenticeship.
Especially taking Scholar Qiao’s status as a master.
Throughout history, some nameless individuals have needed to make a name for themselves before achieving their goals. There are only two shortcuts to fame, one of which is to take on an apprenticeship—being able to apprentice under a renowned person can immediately attract attention. Even if the apprenticeship fails, it’s a no-loss situation; it’s said that gaining even a little is still a gain.
Thus, this “apprenticeship strategy” is indeed a must-have for gaining fame, applicable throughout history.
The second shortcut is the “fighting strategy,” just like a hero entering the martial world, wanting to quickly establish a reputation must challenge various masters everywhere.
And those who aspire to conquer lands are the same; it’s either you fight me or I fight you. The essence of this shortcut lies in slapping others’ faces while promoting oneself. Even if one loses a fight, as long as they survive, the effectiveness of this “gaining” method is still commendable. Thus, this method is also widely popular and has stood the test of time—
Thinking of this, Yao Yi’s mind suddenly flashed with the image of the heir of Marquis Ying being kicked out of Dayun Temple, with a bruised face...
Then a shiver ran down his spine.
Her seemingly aimless behavior might actually be both fighting and apprenticing... Could it be that she wants to make a name for herself?
But what does she want that fame for?
Yao Yi walked a couple of steps forward and then stopped again.
Seeing his master’s strange pacing, the young servant was puzzled.
Looking again—Yao Yi thought to himself once more.
But next, he not only had to take another look...
He had to look more closely.
He clasped his hands behind his back, looking toward the last ray of twilight being swallowed by the approaching night.
At the same moment, inside the Cui family ancestral hall in Anyi Lane, a figure was kneeling.
This person, a frequent visitor here, was Cui Lang, the sixth son of the Cui family.
At this moment, he was kneeling on a mat but had half-sat down, dozing off. It wasn’t until he heard footsteps behind him that he straightened up immediately.
“Brother has this level of vigilance; he’d be suitable as a sentry.”
Hearing this voice, Cui Lang let out a sigh of relief and turned around. Seeing Cui Tang empty-handed, he asked, “Where’s the food?”
Cui Tang looked at him coldly, “There’s no food, but I’ve brought you a punishment.”
Cui Lang was confused, “Aren’t I already being punished?”
“Kneeling in the ancestral hall is a daily occurrence for you. Is it considered punishment to have a meal?” Cui Tang said, “Father said you’ve not changed your ways and should be treated properly so you can truly learn a lesson—”
Cui Lang felt as if he was facing a formidable enemy, “It wouldn’t be a foot ban, would it?”
“Not at all.”
Cui Lang breathed a sigh of relief, becoming indifferent.
It doesn’t matter, as long as he isn’t confined at home, everything is negotiable.
Cui Tang: “It’s just that you need to study—”
Cui Lang: “Study?”
Cui Tang: “Go to the National Academy.”
Cui Lang: “Where to?!”
“To the National Academy.” Seeing his expression, Cui Tang comforted him, “Don’t worry, brother. Although you’re not good at studying, you are still a member of the Cui family. It’s relatively easy to enter the National Academy.”
“...But going to the National Academy means I can only come home once every ten days. How is that any different from being imprisoned?” Cui Lang felt a surge of fear, “I only had a drink and got into a fight; I don’t deserve this punishment!”
As he spoke, he suddenly stared at Cui Tang, half frightened, half suspicious: “Cui Tang, you’re not lying to me, right? How could father send me to the National Academy?”
Father holds himself in high esteem and looks down on commoners. The National Academy is full of commoners' children. How much does father resent me to come up with such a punishment to humiliate himself and hurt his own son?
Cui Tang nodded: “Father is not too willing, but this is grandfather’s idea.”
Cui Lang’s eyes widened in shock, his face turning ashen: “It’s over. Grandfather’s decisions are never changed...”
“Besides, there must be a deeper meaning.” Cui Tang added.
Cui Lang was filled with despair, laying flat on the mat, wailing, “Father wouldn’t dare go against grandfather… What about mother? I’ve fought for her for so many years, can’t she save me?”
“Mother has long had this idea but hasn’t dared to bring it up because of father’s stubbornness. Now that grandfather has spoken, it’s the best time. She must be happily burning incense in the small Buddhist hall right now.”
Cui Lang’s desperate wailing echoed throughout the ancestral hall.
Cui Tang quietly listened as his brother’s wailing gradually weakened and turned into groans.
Unexpectedly, the more he groaned, the more aggrieved he felt. Eventually, he got up, pursed his lips, and quickly walked out.
Cui Tang called after his retreating figure: “So, brother, are you going to find grandfather for an explanation?”
“I want to, but do I have that courage?” Cui Lang said indignantly, feeling wronged, “I’m not the eldest brother!”
Cui Tang followed him, “Then why are you marching off in such a furious manner?”
(This chapter is complete)
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