In the dead of the night, the lights were cut from the candles, and the rain was deste.
Xiao Fengyue, who wasn’t able to close his eyes for a long time, sat at the table. The candle light stretched his figure making it look extremely long. He carefully stroked the porcin bottle in his hand, his eyes were full of sorrow.
Xiao Fengyue knew in his whole lifetime, that the world was cold and ruthless.
When Xiao Fengyue was eight years old, his parents died for some unknown reason, and his family fell into despair. He was sold to the Royal Family by his rtives and became a little ve. From then on, he suffered a lot from being owned by others.
When he was sixteen years old, His Royal Highness the Prince brought a Qin yer of sixty years of age to the Pce. When the old master was ying the Guqin, Xiao Fengyue was fortunate enough to be able to enjoy it on the side while he was serving Wangye<sup>1</sup>. His appreciation deeply trapped him into the 1st, 2nd and 5th pentatonic scale<sup>2</sup> that sounded everywhere inside the pce, unable to extricate himself.
It was a pity that Wangye was disconcerted and didn’t understand the beauty of the melody at all. It was only because the Qin yer was old and boring that he didn’t have any interest in him. The next day, he was sent away.
On the day when the old Qin yer left, it rained heavily. Xiao Fengyue ran out of the pce despite the fact that he could be punished for it. Standing in front of the old Qin yer, he begged: “Can I touch your Guqin? Just for a little bit, I’ve washed my hands.”
The old Qin yer untied the Guqin on his back and handed it to Xiao Fengyue. Xiao Fengyue held the ancient Guqin as if he was holding a treasure, then, he gently hooked the strings excitedly and even a piece of music lighted out!
It was the piece that the old Qin yer interpreted the day before at Wangye’s Pce.
The old Qin yer was taken aback and quickly taught Xiao Fengyue several melodies on the spot. Xiao Fengyue yed one by one without any mistakes. The old Qin yerughed up to the sky, and then spent all his belongings to redeem Xiao Fengyue from the Pce.
From then on, there was one less ve in the world, and one more Guqin yer that followed his master to travel around the mountains and rivers.
Five yearster, the old Qin yer passed away. Xiao Fengyue buried him and traveled alone. His life was hard, but he was also very happy. Due to his extraordinary appearance and because he was very good at ying the Guqin, he soon became a legend among the people.
When the Emperor of the Southern Yan Kingdom heard about him, he asked Xiao Fengyue to join the Imperial Pce to be the Imperial Qin yer. In the end, half a yearter, the Southern Yan Kingdom was destroyed by the cavalry of the Northern Kingdom.
Xiao Fengyue failed to escape and was captured by the Northern Kingdom. Later, because of his appearance, he was chosen by Hong Xiu and he was sent from the prison cell to Jing Yang Pce.
On thest day of his imprisonment, an Imperial Guard untied the chains on his ankles.
At that time, Xiao Fengyue’s ankles were worn by the iron chains, and it was extremely difficult to move.
The Imperial Guard apologized and said: “Let me carry you on my back.”
That day, Xiao Fengyue fell on the Guard’s steady back, he heard the Guard whispering an apology to him.
Xiao Fengyue asked him why he should apologize to him?
The Imperial Guard replied to him that it was because he was suffering.
Xiao Fengyue suffered a lot in this lifetime, but no one had ever apologized to him.
The next day, the Imperial Guard blushed, took a medicine bottle from his clothes, and carefully handed it to him: “I was sent to give this to you, the healing effect it’s very good, take it.”
Afterwards, the Imperial Guard said: “The weather in the Northern Kingdom is really cold, will you be able to bear it?”
The Imperial Guard continued: “I’ve heard that you had traveled to a lot of ces. I haven’t been out of the pce since I was a child, is the outside world interesting?”
The Imperial Guard talked to him again: “There’s no one on night guard duty today. Would you talk with me? Just an hour, no, half an hour will be enough.”
The Imperial Guard tried again: “I went to the Imperial Kitchen today and saw the sweet osmanthus cake. I begged for one and brought it to you for you to taste it.”
The Imperial Guard spoke again: “My name is Yang LiuAn.”
Xiao Fengyue talked to him: “The world is much more exciting than this grand Pce. One day, would you like to go out and travel with me?”
Xiao Fengyue asked him: “I’d like to y the Guqin for you, is that okay?”
Xiao Fengyue asked again: “Did you like it?”
That evening, Yang LiuAn looked at him with affectionate eyes. It sounded to some degree like the bright moving water and the music of an ancient instrument, at the half setting of the sun: “It’s beautiful, it was really nice to hear.”
Gradually, the two of them fell in love with each other, but because of their own identities, they never did anything beyond the rules.
But in this Pce that was like a cage; this innocent rtionship, was just like a capital crime.
Xiao Fengyue squeezed the porcin bottle tightly, and when he closed his eyes, all he could see was Yang LiuAn’s smile. After a long time, he opened his eyes again, and they were determined and sorrowful.
Butcked fear.
<strong>Footnotes:</strong>
<strong> [Title meaning]</strong>: <b>今宵酒醒何处 </b><b><i>jīn xiāo jiǔ xǐng hé chù</i></b>; This sentencees from the poem <b>《雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切》</b>(<b><i>yǔ lín líng·hánchán qīqiè</i></b>), “A Small Bell is Under the Rain-The Cicada is Mourning”, written by (<b><i>柳永 liǔ yǒng</i></b>) Liu Yong [987-1053] a poet from the Song Dynasty [960-1279]. The poem describes the scene of lovers parting ways and expressing their feelings after the separation. It expresses the true feelings of lovers when they have to say goodbye to each other.
Footnotes<ol><li><b>王爷 </b><b><i>wáng ye</i></b>; A Wangye is a man who was honored with a royal title in feudal times, he doesn’t necessarily have to be from the Royal family, but this title was usually given to the son of the Emperor. However, men with the title of “Wang” also includedmoners who had contributed to the state and nation, so they were given the title. A Wangye was the equivalent of argendowner who could collect rent from his own fief and lived in good conditions, however, he didn’t have the power to leave his own fiefdom or to move freely, unless the Emperor summoned him to the Capital. As for official positions, the Wangye is a title that represents status, and in terms of status, the “Wang” was second only to the Emperor. It can be tranted as: Prince / Marquis / Nobleman.</li><li>A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave.</li></ol>