Chapter 301: 166 His Son (Midnight)
“Thank you, Brother Xiao, I can finally have a good New Year. I’ll seek your help again next time!” A student from Guozijian bid farewell to Xiao Liulang as he saw him out of the mansion.
This person was Fen Lin’s classmate and a year junior to Xiao Liulang. His entry via a backdoor, combined with mediocre talent, often made him anxious to impress his numerous relatives during holidays. But with the poems and prose written by Xiao Liulang, he wouldn’t have to fear coming up short.
Xiao Liulang tailored his writings to this person’s level, ensuring that they were neither ostentatious nor underwhelming.
“Excuse me.” Xiao Liulang kept his farewell brief, leaving the mansion on his own.
The sky was overcast and seemed colder than before.
Xiao Liulang climbed into his carriage, headed toward the patient that Gu Jiao was tending to.
The woman saw him and said, “She’s already left; she said she was going to get some candied haws across the street.”
She pointed to the syrup shop diagonally opposite.
It was a well-established syrup shop run by people from Jiangnan. Surprisingly, its business was booming in the Capital City. Xiao Liulang used to frequent the place as a child, although they didn’t serve candied haws back then.
Upon reaching the shop, Xiao Liulang found it under new management.
The original shop owner had retired and was enjoying his life in the backyard. Now, his son was handling the business.
Xiao Liulang addressed the shopkeeper. Just as he was about to ask if Gu Jiao had been there, the shopkeeper yelled, “Are you looking for someone?”
Xiao Liulang was slightly taken aback.
Did his face betray that he was in search of someone?
The shopkeeper hadn’t payed much attention to Gu Jiao’s words earlier. But when Xiao Liulang appeared, he instinctively recalled her statement: “If a strikingly handsome youth comes looking for me later, the most handsome kind, ask him to wait for me here.”
In literary terms, it’d be “on the street, the youth is as precious as jade; unmatched in this mortal world.”
He truly was exceedingly handsome.
So handsome that one would think he belonged in the celestial spheres.
“How did you know?” questioned Xiao Liulang.
The shopkeeper repeated Gu Jiao’s exact words with a hearty chuckle.
Did she describe him this way?
An almost imperceptible smile graced Xiao Liulang’s lips. He then asked the shopkeeper, “Did she say what she was going to do?”
The shopkeeper shook his head. “No, she didn’t.”
“How long has she been gone?” Xiao Liulang asked.
The shopkeeper mused, “It’s been quite a while. I’m almost out of candied haws.”
Xiao Liulang furrowed his brows. Having known each other for so long, Gu Jiao had never made him wait. He couldn’t figure out where she might have gone or what she was doing to keep her away this long.
A sense of unease crept into his heart.
He asked the shopkeeper, “Do you remember which direction she headed?”
The shopkeeper pointed, “It seemed to be that inn.”
So, Xiao Liulang headed to the inn.
No sooner had he entered the grand hall did he overhear two patrons gossiping.
“Have you heard? Something’s happened at the Qingfeng Music Hall.”
“You mean the newly opened music hall? What happened?”
“Apparently, the building collapsed. I always said that it would collapse one day, the place used to be a wine cellar with too many dig-outs underneath.”
The unease within Xiao Liulang heightened.
“Has anyone been trapped inside?”
“Yes, a woman, I heard.”
Xiao Liulang hadn’t heard of Qingfeng Music Hall, but the mention of it being a former wine cellar rang a bell. There indeed was a wine cellar on this street, which had changed hands several times, always sticking to the liquor business.
He hadn’t visited in years; had it become a music hall now?
Xiao Liulang proceeded toward Qingfeng Music Hall.
From a distance, he could see the crowd gathered around the music hall. The place was definitely in chaos, with even the officials rushing to the scene.
The officials had cordoned off the area, leaving the curious onlookers to crane their necks from a distance.
The interior was in complete disarray, with all the patrons being evicted. Only the two maids of the Princess, the officials from the Yamen, and the owner of the music hall remained.
The owner knew that the woman trapped was the Princess, but the officials didn’t.
After all, the Princess had arrived incognito. Were she to be seen at such an inconspicuous music hall, it would inevitably raise suspicions.
If another person were to be recognized—the Prince Consort—even more rumors would abound.
Though they weren’t at odds and had no need to keep their friendship a secret, a ruler was a ruler, a minister a minister. Personal ties were not traditionally encouraged.
The maid was frantic, “Hurry and rescue her! It’s too dangerous down there! Our mistress can’t be left buried down there!”
An officer called the owner over, “What was being done down there?”
The owner explained, “It originally was a wine cellar. I transformed it into a basement for storage purposes later.”