Chapter 27: A Most Peculiar Penance
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Barely half an hour later, several ministers received another piece of news.
Xiao Zhi had slung thorny branches over his back and taken a gift box in hand. From the Imperial City Office, he had walked all the way to the Princess’s residence.
He was presenting himself to beg forgiveness.
When Shi Weigong heard the news, he laughed heartily.
Song Qi, however, reacted quite differently. Narrowing his eyes, he sensed something amiss.
The more Xiao Zhi did, the more contrived it seemed.
“Tang Sanjian.”
“This humble one is here.”
“For the next few days, I want to know Xiao Zhi’s every movement. Once he leaves the capital, make sure he does not return.”
At the Changping Princess’s residence, Xiao Zhi stood before the gate and wiped the sweat from his brow. It had been a long walk.
The performance of bearing thorns to beg forgiveness was already over, and the Imperial City Office had long since cleared away all idle onlookers.
Xiao Zhi knocked on the gate. Two coughs came from within first. Only after a long while did the heavy vermilion doors open a narrow crack.
“Are you His Excellency Xiao?”
The gatekeeper was an elderly man with grizzled whiskers, drooping eyelids, and a frail, stooped appearance. His manner toward others was nevertheless extremely respectful.
“I am Xiao Zhi,” Xiao Zhi replied. “I have come to request an audience with the Changping Princess.”
The old gatekeeper gestured for him to follow, then turned slowly and made his way toward the inner courtyard.
Xiao Zhi followed behind him. The man moved so slowly that it was nerve-racking; Xiao Zhi was genuinely afraid he might collapse at any moment.
When they reached a small side gate, Tong Yuan was already waiting there. Seeing Xiao Zhi from afar, she smiled, revealing two deep dimples.
She waved her pink handkerchief and called out, “Lord Xiao, over here!”
Xiao Zhi untied the bundle of thorny branches from his back and tossed it aside. To the old gatekeeper, he said, “Take it to the kitchen and use it for firewood.”
The Princess’s residence was filled with winding paths, secluded orchids, towers, terraces, pavilions, and corridors. From outside, it seemed merely to have unusually high walls, but once inside, one discovered an entirely different world.
A crescent-shaped lake stretched before them, with covered walkways reaching out over its waters. The little pavilion in the middle was carved and painted with exquisite detail. It looked stately and solemn, yet never gaudy.
The Changping Princess leaned against the pavilion rail. A gentle breeze brushed through her hair and lightly stirred the hem of her robes.
Standing beside the lake, Xiao Zhi gazed at the beautiful scene from a distance.
The Changping Princess looked like someone from a painting, like a celestial maiden descended from the highest heavens, or an immortal goddess upon a jade terrace.
It was a vision of incomparable beauty. Xiao Zhi could not bear to approach her. He did not even dare reach out a hand, afraid that this might all be a dream, and that the slightest touch would cause her to vanish with the ripples.
“Hey, Lord Xiao, why are you standing there daydreaming?”
Tong Yuan turned back when she saw that Xiao Zhi had stopped and called out to him.
Her voice reached the Changping Princess in the pavilion as well. The princess followed the sound and looked over, a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips.
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Carrying the box, Xiao Zhi followed Tong Yuan up the covered walkway.
“Princess, I have come bearing thorns to beg your forgiveness.”
As he spoke, he placed the box on the stone table. Opening it, he continued, “I have also brought an apology gift.”
The Changping Princess grew interested as well. She craned her swanlike neck toward the box.
She had always been surrounded by fine clothing and exquisite food; there was little that money could buy that she lacked.
Xiao Zhi could not bring himself to offer her ordinary gifts, so he had put considerable thought into this one.
First, he took out a thick stack of paper and set it aside. “This is something I drew. You can look at it to pass the time when you are bored.”
Xiao Zhi’s calligraphy with a brush was terrible, but he was fairly competent with penmanship, sketches, and cartoons.
In his previous life, Xiao Zhi had enjoyed reading and drawing comics. As for his skill, it was probably about average for a student preparing for an art-school examination.
The stack of papers contained a comic he had drawn in his spare time—or, more accurately, copied from memory: Mu Guiying Takes Command.
Whether as a comic or as a story, it was something entirely unique in the Great Chu Empire.
Next, Xiao Zhi took out a scroll.
It contained a pencil sketch—a portrait of the Changping Princess.
At the very bottom of the box were two more containers. Xiao Zhi carefully lifted them out and said with a smile, “Fortunately, nothing spilled.”
They contained two dishes: fish braised with chicken, and red-braised pig’s trotters.
Even before the boxes were opened, their rich, savory aroma had already filled the air, stirring the appetite.
“What are these?” the princess asked.
“Princess, these are two dishes I prepared for you.”
The gifts Xiao Zhi had brought were not worth much money, but every detail revealed the care he had taken.
“Tong Yuan, go fetch two pairs of chopsticks.”
Xiao Zhi took a pair from the corner of the box and presented them with both hands. “I have already prepared them.”
The princess eagerly tasted a bite of each dish. The instant the food touched her tongue, she closed her eyes involuntarily, savoring the deep satisfaction of its fragrance filling her mouth.
Even as a princess, she had never tasted anything so delicious.
“Xiao Zhi, you have taken great care.” A mist seemed to gather in the Changping Princess’s almond-shaped eyes as she smiled happily.
“It is enough that you are pleased,” Xiao Zhi said, cupping his hands.
“From now on, just call me Linghua. Calling me ‘Princess’ all the time makes us seem too distant.” This time, the princess spoke with unusual sincerity.
For some reason, hearing Xiao Zhi address her as “Princess” made her feel distinctly uncomfortable.
How she wished someone would speak to her without observing rank or propriety, as siblings in an ordinary household might, or as childhood friends who had grown up together.
In the romance stories she had read, men and women never behaved as stiffly and properly as the people around her.
They played and teased one another, ran about, and laughed without restraint. That was the sort of life she yearned for.
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Xiao Zhi hesitated for a moment. His expression shifted several times before he finally nodded.
The princess ate a few more bites, then let out a long breath. “It is incredibly fragrant.”
She set down her chopsticks and began examining the other things Xiao Zhi had brought.
At that moment, she had none of the bearing of a princess. Instead, she looked like a young girl coaxing and pleading for gifts.
When the princess opened the sketch, she widened her eyes in astonishment.
Tong Yuan cried out beside her, “Good heavens! Was this drawn by Lord Xiao?”
The Great Chu Empire held literary culture in high esteem. The gatherings most commonly attended by the sons and daughters of distinguished families were poetry assemblies. Many talented scholars had become famous throughout the realm after composing poems and lyrics at such gatherings.
Xiao Zhi was especially fond of poems about romance and desire. In every other area, however, he fell far short.
While the other transmigrators were all scholarly prodigies, Xiao Zhi’s abilities were more like a defective model.
The Changping Princess stared silently at the portrait of herself for a long time.
In truth, Xiao Zhi’s drawing captured less than a tenth of her spirit. Only her features bore some resemblance.
“I am very happy to receive this gift.”
The Changping Princess rolled up the sketch and held it against her chest. Tilting her head slightly, she gazed at Xiao Zhi with utmost seriousness.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Xiao Zhi asked.
The Changping Princess replied, “Those characters you wrote before…”
His handwriting had been as ugly as a tortoise’s crawl, yet his drawings possessed such skill and a style all their own. Who would ever believe it?
Xiao Zhi smiled. “My handwriting is simply like that. I can write decently with a charcoal pencil.”
How strange. The Changping Princess had never encountered such an oddity before.
Was a person not supposed to learn to recognize and write characters first?
“You were once my imperial brother’s study companion. He must have seen your handwriting. It was not especially good, but it was not this… ordinary.”
The Changping Princess did her best to spare Xiao Zhi’s feelings.
Xiao Zhi raised an eyebrow and said leisurely, “I have never used a writing brush, because I come from another world.”
This was a parallel world. Ever since the Great Qin Dynasty, its history had diverged from the one Xiao Zhi knew.
“Is that really true?” The princess asked, clearly unconvinced.
Xiao Zhi nodded. “I am not Xiao Zhi. To be more precise, I am not the original Xiao Zhi.”
There was no need to conceal something like transmigration.