Chapter Three: A Keepsake, and Memories of the Departed

As it happened, the people of Yueyue Manor did not enter the Four Seas Inn through its main entrance. The Four Seas Inn was located within Chongren Ward, and being situated right beside Pingkang Ward, the area saw a constant, bustling flow of people and horses coming and going. Officials arriving in the capital and traveling merchants alike favored lodging in Chongren Ward, and over time this had given rise to an entire street lined with inns. Not far off stood the Office of Memorial Presentation, which served as the residence for garrison representatives stationed in the capital—ostensibly an office for liaison with the central government, but in practice a crucial hub the garrisons used to gather intelligence. Years ago, leveraging his connection through Tian Chengsi, Chu Mingxi had built the Four Seas Inn in this bustling, prosperous district, and within just a year or two, it had grown into the largest and most thriving establishment on the entire inn street.

Generally speaking, guests coming to stay would enter and exit through the main entrance, while those delivering vegetables, rice, wine, and so forth, along with the inn's kitchen staff and hired laborers, used the side entrance instead; those belonging to Yueyue Manor, however, entered through the back gate. Since the area beyond the back gate still fell under Yueyue Manor's own property, one had to wind through a series of twists and turns from the bustling main streets to reach the grounds beyond the rear courtyard gate. Arriving there, one found a path lined with green trees, birds singing and insects chirping, forming a striking contrast to the clamor of the world just outside. Since this land was privately owned, an outer fence and gate separated it from the surroundings, forbidding entry to outsiders, with guards permanently stationed inside the gate as well—only those belonging to Yueyue Manor were granted passage through.

Tian Xu and his party entered this tranquil green garden one after another. Down the center ran a broad path paved with bluestone, wide enough for carriages and horses to pass. Someone was assigned to maintain this garden daily, keeping it serene, elegant, spotlessly clean, and orderly.

Continuing further along the bluestone path, the stables and carriage house came into view at its end. After dismounting from the carriage, Tian Xu led the group in through the rear gate, revealing yet another world entirely within. Passing through a winding, secluded path flanked by lush green bamboo on either side, various peonies dotted the scenery throughout. In the southern part of the garden stood an artificial rockery, reflected beautifully in a nearby lotus pond, the interplay of sky and water creating a truly stunning scene. Since Chu Mingxi's mother had been a native of Yangzhou through and through, her influence had left Chu Mingxi with a particular fondness for the scenery and culture of the Jiangnan region, and this affection was reflected everywhere throughout both Yueyue Manor and this small courtyard at the Four Seas Inn—even if it was impossible to fully replicate every element of Jiangnan architecture, small touches of her favorite features had always been woven in wherever possible.

At the end of the winding path stood a two-story building, each floor containing five separate rooms. On the ground floor, the central room served as the meeting hall, with a dining room to its right, and to its left the living quarters of Han Jian and his wife; the outermost rooms on either side belonged respectively to Han Qian and Han Jin, the siblings. Tian Xu and Yue Heng climbed the wooden staircase directly, followed by Han Jian, Wang Qiugui, Yueying, Yuefeng, Yuehua, Yuehao, Yuesheng, and Yuelan. Father and son walked together to the door of the room positioned centrally, and without any prior discussion, both came to a stop at the same moment.

This had been Chu Mingxi's residence whenever she stayed at the Four Seas Inn. Yue Heng's room lay just to the right, and Tian Xu's, naturally, to the left. As a young child, Tian Xu had originally shared a room with Chu Mingxi; once his Cold Affliction stopped recurring after the age of six, Chu Mingxi had let him sleep in his own separate room, with Yueying stationed in the outer chamber to attend to him. This arrangement held true both at Yueyue Manor and here at the Four Seas Inn, as well as whenever the trading caravan traveled. Yue Heng and Tian Xu stood before the main room for a long while, the air around them growing heavy with silence. After a good while, Han Jian finally stepped forward, bowed, and asked Tian Xu, "This is the main room, the resting quarters of the Manor Lord—might the Manor Lord wish to move into it?"

"Are Mother's dressing case and the items she used regularly still there?" Tian Xu pondered for a moment before turning the question back to Han Jian.

"Yes, they are, and all very carefully preserved. In truth, the lady always lived simply and modestly—she never owned very many jewels, ornaments, or garments."

Hearing this, Tian Xu fell silent again for a while, his expression darkening, and finally said quietly, "Let's leave the main room as it is for now..."

With that, Tian Xu pushed open the door and stepped inside, Yue Heng following soundlessly behind him. In the corner stood a small table holding a rosewood dressing case; lifting the lid, carved with peony blossoms, revealed only a few hairpins, a single golden hairpin, one large and one small comb made of cloud-patterned material, and three pairs of earrings—all neatly arranged, everything visible at a single glance. Gazing at these belongings, Tian Xu felt his eyes grow unexpectedly moist. His mother had never once employed a maid to attend to her throughout her life; while at the manor, there had at least been older women on hand to help with dressing and hair, but once away from the manor, unwilling to have elderly attendants bear the hardship of traveling alongside her, she had always handled everything herself, keeping matters as simple as possible—and so she would often call on her son to help her comb her hair and set her hairpin instead. When he was still young, it was common for the hairpin to end up crooked, or for strands of hair to snap in the process, but his mother never once grew angry over such things; instead, she would gently stroke his head and say, "Take your time, no need to rush." Over time, he grew more skilled at it, and this small ritual gradually became a quiet bond of intimacy between mother and son.

Tian Xu gently picked up the two cloud-patterned combs, holding them in his palm, and the countless memories of thirteen years spent by his mother's side flooded back to him all at once, churning endlessly through his mind—how could he not be overcome with grief?

Seeing Tian Xu in tears, Wang Qiugui hurried forward—in truth, she too was already crying. Though she and Chu Mingxi had technically been mistress and employee, over twenty-some years their bond had grown into something as close as sisters. Even though Tian Xu now towered over her by more than a head, and had grown into a mature, composed Manor Lord in his own right, in Wang Qiugui's eyes he remained, at heart, still just a child—and the youngest child at the manor, at that, with a fate so troubled. Deprived of his father's presence since early childhood, their long-awaited reunion had turned out to be their final farewell, and now he had lost his mother as well—how could such misfortune not break one's heart?

"Xu'er..." Wang Qiugui had meant to comfort Tian Xu, but found herself failing entirely to hold back her own tears, which fell even more freely than his; the two of them ended up embracing each other, weeping together.

"Manor Lord... Ah Gui..." Though tears welled in Han Jian's own eyes as well, he still forced himself to remain composed and stepped forward, meaning to comfort the two of them—but then he heard Yue Heng's hoarse voice say, "Let them cry it out properly. Someone bring wine—as much as possible." With that, he turned and walked toward his own room.

Han Jian had long known that Yue Heng had been drinking himself into a stupor every single day for the past three-plus months at Yueyue Manor, as though he had become little more than a walking husk of his former self, utterly unlike the Yue Heng who had once struck fear across the martial world. Though Han Jian had no wish to see him continue down this path of self-destruction, he understood all too well that there was nothing he could do to talk him out of it. With a sigh, he patted Tian Xu and Wang Qiugui each on the shoulder before turning to leave, heading toward the inn proper—only to catch sight, in passing, of all four Yue-guards standing along the corridor, their eyes rimmed red, each one covering their face and quietly weeping.

What a sorrowful afternoon it was! Even with the sun shining brightly, Chu Mingxi—whose very name meant "bright light"—the woman who had once brought such radiant warmth into everyone's lives, was no longer among them, and so the mood of everyone at Yueyue Manor had grown correspondingly dark and heavy...

In the end, Han Jian still had someone deliver twenty jugs of wine to Yue Heng's room. There was simply no talking him out of it anymore—all that remained was to let him be.

Since Chu Mingxi herself never drank, whenever business banquets called for it, Yue Heng had always been the one to drink in her place, and so wine had come to form a tight bond between the two of them in its own peculiar way. Yue Heng could not bear to face the pain of losing Chu Mingxi while sober, and yet the moment he sobered up from drinking, he would find himself staring straight at the bottle again, plunging right back into the same painful cycle—drunk, then sober, then drunk again—where would it ever end?

As for why Chu Mingxi never drank, and even forbade Tian Xu from touching alcohol at all—the most important reason traced back to a single incident: once, wanting to determine whether it would be suitable to stock and sell a batch of Western Region wine specially sent to Yueyue Manor for the inns, she had sat drinking under the moonlight with Yue Heng, privately thinking that even if she got drunk, it wouldn't matter much—she could simply go straight to bed afterward. She hadn't anticipated just how poor her tolerance for alcohol actually was. After only a few cups, becoming dizzy and unsteady on her feet was the least of it—far worse was that she mistook Yue Heng for Cheng Siyuan entirely, and in that state, threw her arms around him, crying and carrying on...

"Ayuan, where on earth have you been all these years? I couldn't find you anywhere... our son and I have been waiting for you this whole time... why haven't you come back... they all said you were dead... but... but I never believed it..."

According to the story, Chu Mingxi had suddenly clung tightly to Yue Heng, sobbing and refusing to let go, and even Yue Heng—a man who had never so much as flinched while fighting his way through seas of blood, surrounded by powerful enemies on every side—found himself utterly at a loss in that moment, frozen completely still, not daring to move a muscle. Pushing Chu Mingxi away felt wrong, and comforting her felt equally wrong, and to make matters worse, the hidden guards stationed at various concealed posts and rooftops throughout the manor had all witnessed this scene unfold. Could it really be that Master Yue—normally so stern and unsmiling that they revered him almost as a god—had actually stumbled into such an embarrassing, undignified moment? And could their usually gentle, brilliant, and capable Manor Lord truly fall into a drunken fit like this too? In particular, the "Eight Guards" positioned at the eight cardinal and intercardinal directions (east, west, south, north, southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest)—Xuan, Su, Cang, Chi, Liu, Zhu, Tang, and Bai—being stationed closest of all, were, needless to say, the type who never minded a good show; every one of them listened intently and watched with evident satisfaction. Though the darkness of night had prevented them from making out Master Yue's facial expressions clearly, they could certainly fill in plenty of the details in their own imaginations.

The Eight Guards' brief moment of entertainment, however, was destined to end in misfortune of its own. Left with no other option, Yue Heng finally resorted to simply knocking Chu Mingxi unconscious—the crudest, simplest solution available, but also the fastest way out of his predicament.

Once he had carried her back inside and settled her properly, Yue Heng turned and walked back out, gesturing for the Eight Guards to come down and spar with him for practice. The Eight Guards found themselves in quite an awkward position at that moment—each of them, though already accomplished in martial arts and ranked among Yueyue Manor's finest hidden guards, and while perhaps not quite on par with the seven Yue-disciples, each still fully capable of holding his own independently. And yet, pitted against Yue Heng, the gap in ability was simply immeasurable, heaven and earth apart—all they could do was take their beating. And so Yue Heng had all eight of them attack together at once, one against eight, and even so, the Eight Guards still ended up thoroughly battered, covered head to toe in bruises. Apparently Yue Heng's temper still hadn't fully cooled even after that, because he then summoned the seven Yue-disciples as well, making it fifteen against one—and still, the fifteen of them came out on the losing end. Among the fifteen, Yueying possessed the greatest martial skill, yet even his stomach couldn't escape a heavy blow, his back left mottled purple and blue; the rest fared even worse, a truly pitiful sight, and even the two female disciples, Yuelan and Yueming, were spared no exception. Yue Heng held the view that once someone chose to study martial arts and took him as their master, there was no need to extend any special courtesy toward women—they would be treated exactly the same as the men—and so all fifteen ended up bruised and battered without exception. It wasn't until the third watch of the night that Yue Heng finally allowed the fifteen of them to go apply medicine and rest, taking on the entire burden of guard duty for all fifteen of them himself, alone.

It was only once Chu Mingxi sobered up afterward that she received, from Yue Heng, the one and only prohibition he ever imposed on her for the rest of her life—never to touch alcohol again.

And because Chu Mingxi felt that Tian Xu's temperament resembled her own far too closely, she worried that he too might turn out to have a similarly poor tolerance for drink, which struck her as an entirely unacceptable prospect—and so she herself issued the very same prohibition against alcohol to her own son.

This whole affair had happened many years ago now, back when Tian Xu and Han Jian's son, Han Jin, had been no more than eight or nine years old. Han Jian himself had been at the Four Seas Inn at the time, and only learned of the incident later, when Wang Qiugui recounted it to him afterward, animated and vivid in every detail. The seven Yue-disciples and Eight Guards would never have dared breathe a word of this embarrassing episode involving Yue Heng—had Chu Mingxi not, upon sobering up, noticed that the Seven and the Eight Guards were all moving somewhat stiffly, and had she not then received Yue Heng's newly imposed ban on drinking, she likely would never have learned what she'd gotten up to the night before at all.

According to the story, that night's great commotion had also drawn the attention of two little fools—Tian Xu and Han Jin—who felt that since sparring practice was underway, they too ought to be included; after all, weren't they Yue Heng's disciples as well? Why should they be left out entirely? In the end, Yue Heng had furiously ordered them both back to bed, and the two foolish boys, having no idea what was even going on, could only accept the scolding with bewildered confusion, trudging off reluctantly, each to his own room.

Recalling all of this now, Han Jian's heart filled with wistful emotion.