Chapter 20: 13.1: 13.1

The second prince of Chun’an took a sip of tea and said slowly: “The Mansion of the Marquis of Chun’an is refined and beautiful, and there is a large sacred lotus pond in the back garden. When Chengyou was playing hide-and-seek, in order to win, he came up with the idea of the flower pond.” 

“At the time, he did not know how to swim, but he could not hold back his courageous self. He found a straw pipe and bit it in his mouth, and sneakily submerged into the sacred lotus pond. His friends were not able to find Chengyou in the garden, and all flocked to another area. Chengyou  waited for a while, and reckoned that he had already won. He wanted to get out of the sacred lotus pond, but to one’s surprise, the bottom of the pool was filled with aquatic plants, and in an instant, his feet were tangled up.” 

When the second prince of Chun’an said this, he gently caressed the bluish green porcelain tea cup in his hand. He had heard of this matter from beginning to end three times, and remembers it quite clearly.

Lin Chengyou struggled in the water for a while, and as a result, he even lost the straw pipe that was in his mouth. He shouted for help, but because he was afraid of being discovered, he had driven the servants away long ago. Later, the servants secretly sneaked back to find their young master, and mistakenly thought that Lin Chengyou was in the same place as the group of young masters. 

Just when Lin Chengyou was desperately thrashing around, a little girl appeared behind the shrub of flowers, and saw that someone was drowning in the pond. In a hurry, she threw the kite that was in her hands into the water. Unfortunately, she was too weak, and the first time around, she almost fell into the pond. During the second time, the little girl was smarter, knowing to tie the string of the kite to the tree on the shore. Although it was not very stable, Lin Chengyou already knew qinggong1Qinggong = is a training technique for jumping off vertical surfaces from the Chinese martial arts, and borrowed this little bit of force, and climbed up. 

When the servants heard the news, they rushed over, and saw Lin Chengyou and a little girl sitting side by side behind a flower bush on the shore. The two of them talked back and forth, and one does not know how long they talked for. 

The servants wanted to step forward to serve, but Lin Chengyou was angry that they did not come in time, so he told them to leave. The servants knew the temper of this young noble very clearly, so they sent a few people over to deliver the news to Princess Consort Cheng. The rest of them could only anxiously stand aside and wait. 

Because of this, the servants knew what the young noble said to the young lady. 

At that time, Lin Chengyou’s body was drenched, and while wiping the water droplets on his face, he asked the little girl: “Did you pass by here? Or is it that you originally were already here?” 

The little girl held the rag doll in her arms, and was not willing to respond.  

Lin Chengyou asked again: “Why is your face full of snot? Oh I know, you were just hiding in the bushes of flowers crying. Why did you cry? Where is your father and mother?”

The little girl was very angry, and fiercely pushed Lin Chengyou. 

Lin Chengyou surprisingly did not get angry, and instead only smiled: “Say it, who made you upset? I’m someone who knows how to repay kindness back to others, and you just saved my life just now. I can vent your anger out for you.”  

The little girl still refused to speak. Lin Chengyou looked at her: “The rag doll in your arm is so dirty. Why don’t you ask your mother to sew another one for you?” 

The little girl cried out loudly. 

Lin Chengyou was flustered and hurriedly took off the sachet from his waist: “Don’t cry, this is the pear blossom candy made by the cook lady of our mansion. It is delicious, and my younger sister loves to eat it. The candy did not get wet, so you should try it.”  

The little girl put the candy into her mouth and chewed slowly. Lin Chengyou saw that she liked it, and simply just gave her the whole bag: “My younger sister can not walk yet, or else she can play with you. Her name is A Zhi. What is your name?” 

The little girl ate the candy for a while, and was finally willing to speak: “My name is A Gu.” 

“A Gu?” Lin Chengyou said strangely: “How can there be someone named A Gu?” 

The little girl was very unhappy: “A Gu is A Gu. It’s none of your business!” 

Lin Chengyou smiled and said: “Okay, it is none of my business. However, you just saved my life just now, and I can’t just leave you alone here. Do you miss your mother? I’ll take you to go find her.” 

The little girl had a piece of candy in her mouth, and for some reason, she started to cry again. Lin Chengyou was helpless: “What about I take you to find my mother? My mother likes little children very much, especially little girls like you. She also knows a lot of female relatives, so maybe she also knows where your mother is right now.” 

A Gu thought about it for a while, and agreed. Lin Chengyou pulled her up, and after walking a few steps, the group of young masters came back, seeing that Lin Chengyou was holding a little girl’s hand, they all shouted at the same time: “A Da, the divination you did for yourself really is accurate. You only met this little girl once, yet have already taken the initiative to play with her.” 

Lin Chengyou: “Nonsense! I only saw that she was alone, and looked quite pitiful, so I paid attention to her.”

The group of young masters continued to taunt: “But you are already holding her hand. A Da, you say it yourself, do you want to take a wife already? The divination says that you are destined to fall head over heels a young lady. Is it going to start with this little girl?” 

Lin Chengyou stepped forward and gave that person a kick: “You are utter rubbish2technically means you are bullsh**ting!”   

The group of young masters soon fought awfully fiercely. The servants from all directions rushed up to try to stop the fight. A Gu held the rag doll in her arms, and rushed up to help Lin Chengyou, but unfortunately she was too weak and could not get close enough. 

After finally breaking off the fight, the servants anxiously went to help Lin Chengyou change his clothes. A Gu held the bag of candy and rushed after: “Little brother, your candy.” 

Upon seeing this, the group of young masters began to tease Lin Chengyou again: “A Da, your wife wants to give you candy.”

Lin Chengyou was ashamed and angry. He turned his head toward the little girl and said: “Don’t follow me.” 

As soon as he finished changing his clothes, he hurriedly rushed back to the pool to find A Gu, but unfortunately, A Gu was no longer there. Princess Consort Cheng was puzzled as to why her son was looking everywhere for a person, so the servants told Princess Consort Cheng about this matter in full detail. 

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When Yu Fengyu heard this, he could not help, but say: “So which family is A Gu from?” 

The second prince of Chun’an shook his head: “When sister-in-law heard about this matter, she immediately ordered people to help Chengyou find this little savior. However, there were too many guests in the mansion that day, and there were hundreds of people from the old marquis family alone. The number of young masters and young ladies from each family could not even be counted. The thing that was strange was that none of the officials who came to the Marquis’s Mansion were from Yangzhou that day.” 

“Sister-in-law then thought about it. The people in Jiangnan all had similar accents, and Chengyou has never been to Yangzhou, so it would not be surprising if he got it wrong. However, after asking all the female relatives who came to the mansion that day, there was no news of a little girl named “A Gu”. There was also no news on if there was anyone who brought a rag doll to the banquet that day.” 

“This search went on for most of the year. All the students in Chongwen Hall all knew that Chengyou was inquiring about the whereabouts of that little girl. As soon as they see him, they would tease him with this matter. Chengyou has never suffered any losses in front of his schoolmates before, but because of this matter, he was repeatedly ridiculed.” 

“It just so happened at that time, The Taoist Chief, Qing Xuzi began to teach Chengyou how to use spells. When Chengyou was flipping through the book of the three tombs and five classics, he unexpectedly found a chest. There was an ancient book, and a copper cone inside. This is the reason for Chengyou’s illness.” 

Yu Fengyu was surprised and said: “An ancient book? Could it be for recording spell techniques? And what type of object is that copper cone?”

The second prince of the Chun’an said: “I don’t understand anything about Taoist spells, but only know that the spell is very evil, and it came from an evil Taoist who was from an unorthodox religious sect hundred of years ago in Kunlun Mountains. It was said that this wicked youth foolishly fell into infatuation, and for the love in his heart that he dreamed about day and night, he came up with a lot of methods, but was still unable to get that woman. The wicked Taoist was not willing to tolerate that kind of suffering, vowing to practice all of the sorcery in the world. Through the cold winter and summer rain, he endured for several years, and was finally able to refine a bewitching spell called ‘Wang Gui Buju’.” 

“‘Wang Gui Buju’?” Jue Sheng and Qizhi said astoundingly, “Isn’t this a kind of diviantory trigram?” 

The second prince of Chun’an said sarcastically: “It is named after the Taoist Book of Changes. In fact, it is connected with witchcraft, corresponding to the nine and three lines of the trigrams, and there are poisonous bugs hidden in the copper cone.” 

“That bug was originally used by the witch queen of the Nanzhao Kingdom to punish unloyal people. The wicked Taoist introduced it to the Taoist five-element yin and yang technique. It could be considered as adding more evil to evil.” 

“Once the copper cone pierces into the skin, the wicked bug will then enter its way into one’s blood vessels. Restraining it is the first sixth lines of the trigram, and to destroy it, is the six and second lines of the trigrams. Men who practice this technique when they are young, even at the age of comprehension, and developing emotional feelings, those wicked bugs would still be in their blood vessels, making people heartless and unsympathetic.” 

Yu Fengyu was dumbfounded when he heard this. It’s no wonder that even though the prince is already eighteen, he has never been close to a woman before. He originally thought that the prince had just not reached enlightenment3enlightenment – state of awakened understanding yet. It turned out there were such twists and turns behind it. 

He slapped the table: “Preposterous, preposterous.” 

Jue Sheng and Qizhi looked at each stunned. What kind of vicious curse is “heartless and unsympathetic”. Is it that the feeling of bitter love is more painful than devouring one’s heart? Otherwise, why else would that wicked Taoist do this to himself?

The second prince of Chun’an said: “The wicked Taoist did not practice enough, and also wanted to harm others. In order to induce the later generation into practicing this sorcery, he deliberately wrote down all kinds of benefits on the scroll. Chengyou still had a young mind, and after reading the passage of words written by a wicked Taoist, he thought: As long as I practice this technique, I will not be muddled about the affairs of women when I grow up. As a result, the words mentioned by the divination will not be true. When I have successfully learned it, I will return to Chongwen Hall to do the divination in public. I’ll have to see who still dares to make fun of me.” 

“This child does not fear anything at all, and made up his mind to try it. When the Taoist Chief, Qing Xuzi hurriedly rushed over, Chengyou had already gone crazy. The Taoist Chief didn’t know what had happened at first, until he found that this child had a scarlet mark on his nape, only then realizing that he was poisoned by the wicked bugs.” 

With a thud sound, the door of the side room opened from the inside. An Guogong’s face was full of anxiousness: “The two little Taoists, have the talismans been drawn?” 

The second prince of Chun’an smiled faintly, and stopped talking. 

Jue Sheng and Qizhi went in to send the talismans, but were kicked out by Lin Chengyou again: “If today’s tasks are not done well, obediently come back here to receive the punishment.” 

Jue Sheng and Qizhu gloomingly went out of the temple, and got into a chariot. Their minds were full of the things about the matter just now. 

“I forgot to ask His Highness, the second prince, if senior brother had ever found that little girl named A Gu again.” 

Jue Sheng shook his head: “Most likely has not. If she was found, His Highness, the second prince, would not need to say “little girl”, instead could have just told Yu Fengyu whose family that little girl is from.” 

“That’s true. At that time, senior brother was poisoned by the wicked bugs before he was able to find A Gu. When he had recovered, he had already long forgotten about this matter. Eh, ‘A Gu’, ‘A Gu’, how can there be someone called ‘A Gu’. If senior brother had heard correctly, could it be that the little girl had lied to senior brother?”  

Jue Sheng held his head and said: “Let’s not think about this matter first. When we arrive at the Teng Mansion, we still have to deceive Lady Teng according to the words of senior brother.” 

Qizhi raised his sleeve to wipe his sweat. It was his first time scheming against someone, and he did not know if it would be successful. Lady Teng does not seem to be someone who is easy to deceive, but who told her to offend senior brother. Having known his senior brother for so long, he had never seen his senior brother lose to anyone when it comes to scheming. 

Qinrenfang is not that far from Qingyun temple, and after a short while, Jue Sheng and Qizhi arrived at the Teng Mansion first. However, they were told that Teng Yuyi had been staying at her aunt’s place, so they changed their route again to the Du Mansion. 

When the two arrived at the Du Mansion, there were already attendants waiting outside. 

Jue Sheng and Qizhi reported their purpose for coming, and the attendants were so lively that it did not look proper: “The Two Taoist, please come in. Madam and the Lady have been waiting for a long time.” 

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1Qinggong = is a training technique for jumping off vertical surfaces from the Chinese martial arts2technically means you are bullsh**ting3enlightenment – state of awakened understanding

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