Volurant Grasses (1/2)

Volurant Grasses¹

<blockquote class="Quote">In the seventh year of Longsheng, Wudi returned to the Central Plains and secluded hi a house in General Tan’s for before his death

—raphy of Duan Wudi</eraphy of Tan Ji</e departed, Lu Yun heard a frigid voice state, “Princess Bi seems to knoell”

“It’s probably because Li Lin wasn’t tight-lipped enough and gruh “There’s no haro”

Afterwards, Lu Yun heard the sound of sohted Jiang Zhe was left alone This was a Heavens-sent opportunity After so Zhe had no intention of turning in, Lu Yun quietly dug hi there with his back turned, one hand resting on a s a scroll Slowly, Lu Yun made his way forward Just as he was about to carry out the assassination, Lu Yun caught sight of Jiang Zhe’s right hand, the forefinger tapping gently on the table in an extrehtened, Lu Yun suddenly threw aside his dagger and prostrated hiround In a clear voice, he declared, “Lu Yun pays his respects to Grand-teacher”

Jiang Zhe suddenly stopped tapping his finger and turned around at leisure, saying, “Get up You’ve experienced much on your journey”

When their eyesZhe’s eyes and that deep, knowing gaze He even see and yet ruddy ht had been taken off his mind As he had expected, this man before hi the ill-fitting clothing that Lu Yun wore, I smiled and called out, “Xiaoshunzi, coain and Xiaoshunzi walked in The passage of time had not left any obvious indications on his body There was no change to his frigid, snowy coe was to his set of eyes, increasingly profound and cal look at Lu Yun, he asked, “Why is the young iven for planning the younght Inspection Depart Spirit Acupuncture’ technique”

Seeing the aard look on Lu Yun’s face, I smiled and responded, “Xiaoshunzi, there’s no need to scare him How could he have hidden underneath General Duan’s pavilion without being discovered for so long without the protection of your internal energy? Based upon his paltry martial arts, it would have been impossible for him to hide from General Duan and Princess Bi, let alone Marquis Su and Xiao time in the cold water, this boy was able to hear“If not for the following conversation being unsuitable for his ears and and that I pitied his anxiety, I would not have extinguished those laet away”

Shocked, Lu Yun looked at Xiaoshunzi Although he knew that he had fallen into Jiang Zhe’s ht that he had been followed the entire way No wonder the lights were extinguished at such a timely moment If he were discovered, they would almost certainly silence him After all, they would not want anyone to know the contents of their conversation Lu Yun was under no illusion that any of those individuals werethis, he pro, Xiaoshunzi accepted the acknowledge his respects, Lu Yun could not stop fro, “Grand-teacher, when did you realize this junior’s intentions?”

“When did you realize I had set a trap in wait for you?” I countered with a smile

Lu Yun respectfully answered, “This junior frequently heard Father speak of Grand-teacher’s actions Father once said that Grand-teacher liked to tease hi, Father would repeatedly be duped Eventually, he avoided being tricked seven or eight times out of ten”

I recalled the past and the unsolvable riddle That felloas plainly quite stupid and yet it was ih I dared not go too far because of my status as his teacher, it was obvious that fellow had so with curiosity, I feigned indifference and inquired, “Oh, so it was a secret method passed to you by your father So what mistake did I make?”

Naturally, Lu Yun did not keep me in suspense He said, “Father said that whenever you intended to tease someone, if your hand is on a table, you would always tap your finger on the table As a result, as long as one pays attention to this detail, he won’t be fooled regularly”

I stared blankly for a moment So that was how Lu Can would always be able to escape whenever I intended to pit ainst him in the study All of it was a result of my youth and inability to hide my intentions In the present day, it wouldn’t be so easy to see through ht by this boy, it was because I didn’t view hi a bit relieved, I said, “You are too green to play the part of an assassin Mistakes were discovered as soon as you entered Chang’an Let’s ignore this for the tio At the tih your appearance is only fifty to sixty percent similar to his current looks, you are an exact replica of hiotten close to ht You are Lu Can’s son and are known for your valor Great Yong’s Bright Inspection Departe while now Were it not for my orders to have people cover this up, you would not have passed the test at the Garden of the Golden Valley”

Lu Yun hung his head in embarrassment and did not speak He now understood how childish he had been

I continued to attack hienerals How could you perfor he can assassinate an i If you fail, you lose your life in the Yong capital Even if you succeed, wouldn’t the specter of war between the two countries be stirred? Even if your father can conceal the truth, he can’t protect you Could it be that you believe that Southern Chu wishes to go to ith Great Yong?”

Lu Yun was dripping with cold sweat He realized how big of aused this ressed against Southern Chu His father would also be ihed and said, “Do you think your father is so respectful towards me because of our personal relationshi+p? Do you know that I nearly lost my life at his hands? Your father ’s armored cavalry rides south, I won’t participate in the planning and strategizing because of our old association It is better to maintain a shred of friendshi+p rather than couessed that you’ve come to help your father eliminate this master of his who betrayed his ruler, and that you were full of youth and vigor In the future, you will cause countless probleed three tests If you could pass them, your virtues would be self-evident and I would spare your life, once If you were truly reckless and incompetent, I would’ve taken your life even if earns me your father’s resent on thin ice If you cannot understand his difficulties, it is better that you die”

As if awakened from a dream, Lu Yun found that all of his previous questions were answered His father was so respectful toward this uilt Thinking of his previousand criticisret and collapsed to the floor, weeping

Seeing that this young reatly as I said, “I arranged three tests The first was Li Lin He summoned you for an interview in the Garden of the Golden Valley If you failed to secure his attention, then your e Since you had the audacity to come to try and assassinate me, you would clearly be exceptional It would be best if you were killed, so that you didn’t implicate your father However, as expected, you can be considered a young hero Hitting abranch with an arrow froe You passed this first test smoothly and easily

“The second test was at the Overlooking Wave Pavilion I wanted to see if you would be ruthless enough to har would have taken care of you on hter, as you know In order to avoidyou head on, she jumped into the water of her own volition As such, you can be considered to have barely passed the second test

“The third test was tonight If you failed to consider swience would be lacking I would’ve punished you for your sins Since you had the courage to co to assassinate ence, and character were lacking, then it would be nothing if I were to have you killed However, your luck was pretty good, and you passed all three tests At present, your life is safe and you are worthy of being Lu Can’s beloved son”