Who was Wei Wuyan?

New Emperor Lian Yu’s most beloved bedside companion, whose father had been enfeoffed as Grand Tutor. Lian Yu flew into a rage and immediately ordered Gu Shuangcheng to be seized.

Quan Feitong rushed to the palace upon hearing the news and knelt outside the emperor’s bedchamber all night, yet still could not redeem his fiancée. Meanwhile, it was reported that the poisoned and treated Imperial Consort Wei would soon leave the palace to return home for recuperation.

On this day, braziers burned in the four corners of the inn, and compared to the cold and dreary outside, warm currents circulated within. She and Leng Xue were drinking wine while listening to scholars and traveling merchants around them discuss this matter, feeling extremely delighted.

Throughout history, which capable emperor could tolerate subordinate ministers wielding great power, especially when combined with military authority? Was Lian Yu about to make his move? It would be best if these two fought to the death—only then would she be happy.

She smiled and took another sip of wine. Thinking her suppressed emotions from the past few days were finally erupting, Leng Xue frowned and pressed down on her hand that was pouring wine. “What are you laughing and shaking your head about? You’ve had quite a bit to drink already. Let’s go back to the room.”

She still wanted to listen to these scholars talk and just shook her head, when suddenly she heard a voice say: “Young Master, shall we go over there?”

She felt a gaze upon her and looked up to see two young men standing not far ahead, appearing to be master and servant.

Recently, all the people she’d encountered were impossibly handsome. The one who was the master wore white robes and was stunningly beautiful, with elegant brows and eyes—a great beauty indeed.

She quickly discerned their intention. This inn’s morning tea market was already packed, with only two or three tables available for sharing. Unfortunately, she and Leng Xue were only two people, making them among those options.

The other two tables—one seated two burly-looking men, the other a young married couple. Note that they were sitting at four-person tables. The former had each man stretching one foot onto a neighboring stool; the latter had the young wife shyly avoiding her husband’s teasing, jumping from one stool to another while her husband’s behind followed. Thus both tables boldly occupied four seats with just two people each.

Their table was quite large, easily seating six or seven people. She called out “husband” to Leng Xue, preparing to imitate that young wife’s seat-hogging tactics, but Leng Xue, apparently disgusted by her cross-dressing act, blushed and scolded quietly: “Stop fooling around. Let’s go back to our room.”

This fellow wouldn’t cooperate, so that master and servant pair quickly sat down, followed by two more scholarly-looking men.

The white-robed master nodded to her politely and appropriately.

She immediately felt some goodwill toward this person—accurately speaking, this young lady.

This white-robed person definitely couldn’t see through her male disguise, but she saw through the white robes at a glance. While the white-robed person had merely changed into men’s clothing, she was accustomed to disguising herself as a man—women weren’t allowed to attend private schools, though if you had money, you could hire tutors at home. To spend time with Li Zhaoting, she had spent time painstakingly studying makeup and disguise techniques, imitating male voices and mannerisms. Her appearance was also convenient for disguise—not ugly as Aunt Li had said, but truly not pretty either, and she loved running wild everywhere, leaving her skin wheat-colored. With all these factors, her male disguise had fooled everyone in the private school for years, except for Li Zhaoting who already knew—not a single classmate could see through her, including several sharp-eyed teachers.

The white-robed person’s attendant was also a woman disguised as a man, but her appearance was somewhat cold and sharp. When the waiter brought tea, she repeatedly washed and scalded the tea implements, brewing tea for her young lady. She then took out a small porcelain bottle from her pouch, poured out some powder, mixed it with water until fragrant, and presented it to the white-robed person.

The other two men also saw through the white-robed person’s true identity. One in green robes, with lustful eyes, said: “Young sir, ‘purity cannot be defiled, for drinking dispels dusty troubles. This substance has spiritual nature and taste, fit for conversation with refined persons.’ This speaks of tea—how can young sir use such vulgar fragrant substances as substitute? Come, waiter, bring this young master a pot of Maojian tea. Put it on my account.”

“Ridiculous! Who wants your tea!” The maidservant looked up and scolded coldly, but the white-robed person stopped her: “Don’t be rude.”

She divided the contents of her cup into two cups, diluted them with water, handed one cup to the green-robed scholar, and smiled: “Having nothing to repay you with, please accept this as thanks.”

P.S. The “purity” verse is taken from Wei Yingwu’s poem “Joy at Tea Growing in the Garden.”