Volume 6, Chapter 19: An Old Guardians Vague Outline (2/2)
Yulun, meanwhile, was the most unique among the eight elite operatives. He had been the leader of the Tiger Group, yet lower ranked than Baiyi. It could be said his martial arts were the cream of the crop of the Secret Camp. He should have been like Huo Yi, killing people in broad daylight. However, he was fonder of acting as an a.s.sa.s.sin. Because his appearance and bearing stood out too much, Jiang Zhe hadn’t believed he suited the Covert Group at the beginning. But as time pa.s.sed, everyone had to accept that he was the best a.s.sa.s.sin. The fan in his hands was actually his weapon. The ribs of the fan were made of high quality steel and concealed a steel needle in the center. He could use it when facing an enemy to immediately attack his opponent’s vital points. Countless experts had died to this fan. However, Yulun mostly used calculated sneak attacks to deal with enemies. He made tight plans and meticulous designs so that he never failed a mission. He made good use of strategy and observed the hearts of people. When he had an occasional stroke of genius, he took the life of an enemy in impossible circ.u.mstances, but n.o.body knew he was the one who acted. And the first thing he did when he got off the streets was let loose to hide his true colors. Coupled with his outstanding talent, finis.h.i.+ng poems and lyrics in a single stroke, he would linger in the pleasure district around the prost.i.tutes whenever he had free time. This kind of indulgence became his best cover. On the surface, he had the bearing of a n.o.ble scholar yet behaved like a rake. No one thought of him as an a.s.sa.s.sin with a heart of stone.
The operatives of the Secret Camp officially completed their contract during the first month of the twenty-second year of Southern Chu’s Xiande era, the first month of the sixth year of Great Yong’s Longsheng era, or two years ago. According to the contract from ten years ago, the operatives of the Secret Camp could all obtain freedom and live the life they wanted to live. Even before this time arrived, Chiji and Hualiu officially broke away from the Secret Camp, while Daoli began to focus more of his energy on the Hai family’s s.h.i.+pping business. Although they had earned their freedom, the operatives of the Secret Camp mostly chose to continue to devote themselves to Jiang Zhe. After all, no matter whether they wanted to attain prestige or wealth, it wouldn’t be difficult to achieve if they followed Jiang Zhe. Besides, their loyalty to Jiang Zhe was deep-seated. Yulun was likely the only exception out of the eight elite operatives. He was a disciple of Jiang Zhe in name only at this point.
The national power of Great Yong was at its height, and Jiang Zhe was like the sun at high noon. With the status Yulun had, he could have gotten almost everything he had yearned for. However, he chose to leave the Secret Camp and returned to the capital of Southern Chu, Jianye, to live out the rest of his life. Yulun didn’t know if Jiang Zhe had ever thought of silencing him, but he returned to Jianye safe and sound in the end, and he lived the life he wanted. In comparison to the other elite operatives, he had the weakest loyalty to Jiang Zhe. His departure from the Secret Camp and Jiang Zhe wasn’t due to Southern Chu or any other reason. He simply wished to return to the very beginning. In reality, if Jiang Zhe had forced him to stay in the Secret Camp, he wouldn’t have opposed it.
After leaving the Secret Camp, Yulun’s life rapidly plummeted into a predicament. Everything he had learned as part of the Secret Camp related to killing and scheming. He had never learned how to make a living. After all, he wasn’t part of the Covert or Hidden Groups. He had stood on high for years, so he wasn’t used to humbling himself, let alone depending on his own efforts to make a living. His only skill was killing, but he didn’t even know how to contact the a.s.sa.s.sin organizations. Outside of this business, he only knew how to write poems and lyrics, but he disdained exchanging poems for cash. Furthermore, he didn’t care for money while in the Secret Camp. He spent all the gold and silver he obtained very quickly. If he had not gotten a travel expense fund before departing from the organization, he would have left empty-handed.
After shaking off the yoke, Yulun essentially headed straight for the Qinhuai River and arrived there. He looked imposing and handsome, and together with his soaring literary talent and bags full of gold, he quickly became a respected guest on the Qinhuai River. He dallied in the pleasure district every day, frequenting brothels with strong alcohol and song and dance. In times of leisure, he recited poems in defiance. His elegant poems moved people, for they were full of pathos. Even when ordinary songstresses sang a song they had perfected, it would be popular for a fortnight. As time pa.s.sed, the money in his bag dried up. If not for the most popular courtesans in the brothels requesting lyrical poems from him and paying him in gold and silver, his pockets would have been empty long ago.
Even so, he would soon become dest.i.tute. From a life of luxury and extravagance, in a position that he could rally the mult.i.tudes to his call, he had fallen into this predicament. If the average person was bound to suffer and regret, then Yulun relished such hards.h.i.+p. He had endured this poor lifestyle for exactly one and a half years.
When Quhuang came to Jianye for business one day, he learned Yulun had retired to this district and specially went to see him. When Quhuang saw how impoverished Yulun was, he was shocked. As a result, the always taciturn Quhuang dragged Yulun to a tavern to drink together for a night, refusing all attempts of protest. Afterwards, he gave nearly all of the gold and silver on his person to Yulun before disappearing without a trace. One month later, Quhuang turned up once again but with an a.s.sa.s.sination mission this time. Thereafter, Yulun’s lifestyle changed. After a set period of time, he would always receive some sort of task from either the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets or the Secret Camp. All these tasks were centered around Jianye, and most of them were quite difficult. In fact, the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had several businesses in Jianye, while the Secret Camp quite often frequented activities in Jianye. It was just that after Yulun left the Secret Camp, they didn’t receive his detailed actions anymore. Every time he completed a mission, the remuneration he received allowed him to live a life of luxury for a period of time. Thus he no longer had to live in extreme poverty.
Yulun didn’t hesitate to accept this change. Although he turned from the manager of affairs into a tool to be ordered around by the Secret Camp, he didn’t utter a word of complaint, nor did he have a speck of remorse. The flame of his life seemed to have burned out over ten years ago, and only in the pleasure district of Qinhuai could Yulun find peace and joy. At times, though, Yulun himself couldn’t understand why he acted like a moth attracted to flame, with no complaints or regrets. Every time he tried to figure it out, that unforgettable, bright, and beautiful face popped up before his eyes.
When he b.u.mped into Liu Rumeng today on the upper floor of this very ordinary restaurant, he finally felt his spirit begin to stir again. This woman’s looks weren’t in the least bit similar to Liu Piaoxiang’s, but after she confessed her problems, Yulun realized this woman’s sensuality was identical to the one of the woman of his dreams. For this sole reason, he agreed to stay beside this woman, completely forgetting how dangerous and hard to fathom the mission he had taken three months ago was. Having thought of all this, he felt Liu Rumeng’s eyes had become more lonely and grief-stricken.
Liu Rumeng was discerning and careful, so she could sense that his att.i.tude had changed. She had long heard of this young man, Song Yu. Many of her sisters on the Qinhuai River had brought up this man. But somehow, the two of them had never met before. She had wondered before if Song Yu purposely avoided her, but she felt it wasn’t possible. Her sisters had all said Song Yu behaved strangely. He may not have expressed his sorrow in song every day, but he got drunk in Qinhuai and embraced courtesans in brothels. He threw his money away as he wantonly indulged himself. He also gave high ranking officials and scholars contemptuous looks, but he wasn’t overbearing in the slightest to the women selling their bodies to make a living, like her. He instead treated them like friends. He was nothing like the men pursuing pleasure in Qinhuai, who even when grinning ear to ear still held them in contempt. A perceptive sister once said that although this Sir Song lived near brothels, he was never truly happy. Even makeup and cosmetics couldn’t hide his aloofness. Even if he laughed and cheered, he couldn’t disguise the pain in his eyes. Liu Rumeng had been skeptical about what they told her, but she realized it was true when she saw him today. She just didn’t know why he was so heartbroken to the extent that he, a jewel, would go into exile and that he was not yet thirty.
However, the secrets Song Yu held could slowly be explored. Liu Rumeng saluted and said, “As Sir has consented to Rumeng, why not return with Rumeng right now? Alas, Moonlight Pavilion has always been rude and unreasonable. If they find out Sir is helping your servant, I fear something unspeakable will occur.”
Yulun looked back at her and said lightly, “I still don’t take the Moonlight Pavilion seriously. Please return first, miss. Tomorrow I will personally go to the pleasure boat to see you.”
Liu Rumeng wanted to try to persuade him again when she saw Song Yu’s cold expression, and his features revealed an irresistible aura that awed her. Her thoughts all over the place, she gracefully bowed and said, “That being the case, your servant will be expecting Sir on the boat.”
Yulun turned his back on her and raised his cup to the moon. His heart stricken with grief, he couldn’t help muttering, “The former young master who loved you probably has eyes only for his new woman with fair features these days. How would he still remember the forlorn burial mound in the city of Jianye? Lady Liu, I had believed that no one else on Earth remembered you. I never expected to meet another person in the brothels today who knew of you.”
While grief gnawed at Yulun’s heart, someone laughed as he brushed aside the bamboo curtain and entered. “Brother Song, you’ve made me look good this time. Many thanks for your idea. Why are you nursing your grievances in this joint on such a grand occasion? How about coming with me to the Moonlight Pavilion and drinking to our hearts’ content?” the man asked.
A cold gleam flickered in Yulun’s eyes for a moment. “Brother Shang is exaggerating,” he said with a chuckle. “I was merely thinking aloud. The affairs of state have people worrying over them. Why should us commoners interfere? Drinking is fine, but, brother Shang, don’t speak of those disheartening topics again.”
This man was Shang Chengye. He may have had a precious status as the only son of Shang Weijun, but he was mediocre and stupid. If the people who met him on normal days didn’t brown nose, then they respected him only on the surface while actually holding him in contempt. Although Shang Chengye was dumb, he also realized as time pa.s.sed that a majority of the people beside him were putting on a pretense. He had gotten to know his only close friend in the pleasure district. Although Song Yu was often cynical, he treated Shang Chengye like a normal person and got along well with him. So when Shang Chengye heard Yulun’s reply, not only was he not angry, but he smiled and went over to drag Yulun outside. He said as he walked, “Of course. My father and them can manage national security. Let’s go, we must get plastered tonight.”
Yulun smiled and allowed Shang Chengye to drag him outside.
Footnotes:
<ol><li>This is a poem ent.i.tled “Dream, to the Tune of ‘Was.h.i.+ng Mountain Stream Sand’” (浣溪沙·惆怅梦余山月斜) by late Tang Dynasty poet Wei Zhuang (韦庄).</li><li>淋漓尽致, linli-jinzhi – idiom, lit. saturated or soaked to the brim; fig. describe thoroughly</li><li>A district in Nanjing (Jianye); named for the Qinhuai River</li></ol>