Gu Zhaoyan halted his steps and looked back across the towering walls. He knew that Concubine Zhou was certainly still watching him from the doorway. The thought of her quietly shedding tears behind his back made his desire to bring her out of the estate grow even more intense.
Upon returning to the prince’s estate, he happened to see Prince Jing walking out of the front gates dressed in formal court attire. Catching sight of Gu Zhaoyan, Prince Jing smiled and hurried over. “Master, did you just return from outside?” Noting Gu Zhaoyan’s slightly somber expression, he asked with concern, “Did the Master run into any difficulties? If there is anything I can assist with, please do not hesitate to speak.”
This time, Gu Zhaoyan did not refuse outright. Instead, he let out a soft sigh and said, “This poor monk does indeed have a matter in which he would like to request the Prince’s help.”
“Very well.” Prince Jing agreed without even asking what the matter was. “I must head off to court first. We will discuss it in detail when I return.” With that, he boarded his sedan chair and headed toward the imperial palace.
Gu Zhaoyan returned to his courtyard, where Bailang instantly rose from the ground and asked, “How did it go? Did you see her?”
“I did.” Gu Zhaoyan let out a long sigh and sat down in a chair. “She… looks terribly haggard. Do you know? She made a vow before the Bodhisattva, saying that as long as I am safe and sound, she is willing to shorten her lifespan by ten years and observe a vegetarian fast for the rest of her days.” He lowered his head, his long eyelashes casting shadows over a pair of slightly reddened eyes. A mother’s deep affection was something he had never experienced before. That sensation made his heart ache with a bittersweet pang while simultaneously feeling overwhelmingly full. It was a very special emotion, one he could not quite describe, yet it made him feel both happy and profoundly comforted.
Bailang did not interrupt, listening quietly as Gu Zhaoyan spoke. Only after he finished did it ask, “You want to bring her out of the estate?”
“Mn.” Gu Zhaoyan nodded. “My biological father does not like me, and perhaps the entire estate dislikes me as a harbinger of bad luck. Mother will not allow me to acknowledge my ancestry either. Aside from bringing her out, I can think of no other way for us mother and son to reunite openly and honorably.”
“You saved Prince Jing’s son; he should be willing to help you with this favor,” Bailang suggested.
Gu Zhaoyan raised no objection, clearly having reached the same conclusion. There was no shame in utilizing ready-made connections, this was something he had earned through his own hard work, and he had nothing to feel awkward about.
“Immortal older brother.” A hoarse voice drifted over from the courtyard entrance. Gu Zhaoyan turned his head to see Jinyu running over with two attending servants, a beaming smile on his face. He ran right up to Gu Zhaoyan, his bright eyes staring up at him as he repeated the slightly clumsy address: “Immortal older brother.”
Gu Zhaoyan could not help smiling. “Yesterday you called me handsome older brother, how did you become immortal older brother today?”
“You are my immortal older brother.” Jinyu gave a serious nod as he spoke. In his heart, Gu Zhaoyan was an immortal who had descended from the heavens to save him, and he looked so handsome, he simply had to be an immortal!
After teasing Jinyu for a little while, the servants attending him coaxed the boy back to drink his medicine. Having cured Jinyu’s throat, Gu Zhaoyan had prescribed him a restorative herbal formula to build up his constitution. Although Jinyu was reluctant to leave so early, he still bid farewell to Gu Zhaoyan and departed with evident reluctance.
Not long after Jinyu left, Jia Yuanchun arrived carrying a food box, flanked by several maidservants. The young maids set the food out on the table and retreated, but Yuanchun did not leave immediately. Instead, she smiled at Gu Zhaoyan and said, “I hear the Master is a disciple of the Buddhist path, and recently my younger brother at home has been suffering from restless sleep. Might I have the honor of requesting a peace talisman from the Master?”
Gu Zhaoyan offered a faint smile and pressed his palms together in a greeting. “This poor monk is unworthy of the title ‘Master’; I am merely a humble monk from the wild mountains.” With that, he reached into his sleeve, produced a peace talisman, and placed it on the table. “Slip this peace talisman beneath his pillow, and he will naturally sleep soundly.”
“Thank you, Master. Although the Master is young, your medical skills are peerless, how could you not be called a Master?” Yuanchun first offered a Buddhist bow to Gu Zhaoyan before picking up the talisman. With a casual air, she asked, “May I ask the Master’s religious name? It will allow this humble maid to pray for the Master daily before the Buddha so that you may remain safe and well.”
Gu Zhaoyan lowered his gaze, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. “This poor monk’s religious name is Wuchen. It is merely a peace talisman, Benefactor need not trouble yourself so; so long as it helps your younger brother sleep peacefully, that is enough.”
Yuanchun pressed her palms together to chant a Buddhist greeting and expressed her gratitude once more before preparing to leave. Yet just as she took a step toward the door, she hesitated and asked, “This humble maid finds the Master rather familiar. Might the Master still have any family members in the secular world?”
The expression on Gu Zhaoyan’s face remained unchanged, maintaining a calm, gentle smile. “This poor monk grew up in a temple since childhood and has neither family nor close friends. I imagine Benefactor has simply mistaken me for someone else.”
The smile on Yuanchun’s face did not waver either, and it was impossible to tell whether she believed him or not. She merely smiled and replied, “It is likely just my mistake then. I will not disturb the Master’s meal any longer, I shall take my leave.”
Once she had walked far enough away, Bailang remarked, “It seems she has grown suspicious of your identity. After all, the distinct traits about you are still quite obvious.”
Gu Zhaoyan smiled indifferently. “Compared to when I was just born, there have still been some changes. Without concrete evidence, they wouldn’t dare acknowledge it. Besides, even if they figured out my identity, they would likely refuse to admit it.” A disaster-bringing star who was supposedly the reincarnation of an evil ghost, how could they ever be willing to have such an offspring?
As Yuanchun walked further away, the smile on her face gradually faded, replaced by a look of deep worry. She had once heard her mother speak of that younger brother born with abnormalities, whose most prominent features were a head of silver hair and half a face covered by a red birthmark. Her initial strange reaction when she first met Gu Zhaoyan was precisely because of his silver hair, though what puzzled her was that Gu Zhaoyan’s face bore no birthmark.
Originally, her suspicions had subsided, but upon hearing that Gu Zhaoyan possessed exquisite medical skills and had saved the young prince, her mind became active once more. If Gu Zhaoyan truly was that younger brother, having such a life-saving grace as leverage meant that if she managed to bring him back into the fold later on, perhaps this favor could benefit her as well. That was why Yuanchun had tested Gu Zhaoyan just now.
Yet she had failed to extract any useful information from this attempt. Still, it made sense; when her younger brother was sent away, he was merely an infant and naturally knew nothing. Therefore, Yuanchun intended to send a letter to Lady Wang instructing her to investigate which temple the younger brother had been sent to back then.
By the hour of Chen (around 8:00 AM), Prince Jing returned. After hastily finishing breakfast and checking on Jinyu, he came to find Gu Zhaoyan. Skipping the usual pleasantries, he asked directly, “I wonder what kind of help the Master requires from me?”
Gu Zhaoyan did not answer immediately, instead asking, “Does the Prince happen to recall whether the Rongguo Estate sent an infant away from the estate seventeen years ago?”
“I have naturally heard of this matter.” Prince Jing nodded. “I heard that the child was mutually incompatible in destiny with his parents and family, leaving Jia Zheng with no choice but to send the infant to a temple to serve the Buddha.” Back then, that incident had served as a source of lively post-meal entertainment for people across the capital for quite some time.
“Hmph!” Gu Zhaoyan let out a mocking laugh, his face chilling. “This poor monk is that very child. Back then, this poor monk had barely turned a full month old when he was sent out of the estate. To think those two slave women were so utterly audacious that, complaining about the bitter wind and snow, they threw me directly out into the freezing snow. If not for my master passing by and rescuing me, how could this poor monk have survived to this day?”
Hearing this, Prince Jing furrowed his brows deeply. The theory of destiny and horoscopes had existed since ancient times. However, he did not believe in it, as he understood all too well how murky the waters behind such claims could be. Looking now at the warm, transcendent individual before him, he sneered with utter contempt at the very notion of such a fatalistic horoscope.
“Does the Master wish to exact revenge on the Rongguo Estate?” Prince Jing was already mentally pondering how to teach the Rongguo Estate a lesson.
Gu Zhaoyan, however, shook his head. “No, what happens to the Rongguo Estate has nothing to do with this poor monk. This poor monk is currently only concerned for my mother. Therefore, I wish to ask the Prince to help bring my mother out of the Rongguo Estate openly and honorably. If we can cleanly sever all ties with Jia Zheng, that would naturally be best. I simply do not know if the Prince can assist with this matter?”