You've Got Mail: Cautionary Tale (YGMCT)

Chapter 98 - Adviser Wu's Short Story

“Alright.” Wu Xingzi nodded vigorously. He wiped his palm, covered in sweat from his nervousness, on his leg. After touching a fingertip to his tongue, he carefully tore a hole in the paper window, peeping inside.

Just as Man Yue had expected, Bai Shaochang was seated in front of a qin. He was staring at his beloved qin in a daze, and his complexion was very poor, even a little ashen.

He still looked as ethereal as before. Due to his thin figure, he looked even more delicate in his loose robes. Looking at him, Wu Xingzi could not help but be curious about whether he had some sort of fixation about the colour white. Why else would he never have any other colour on him at all?

At the edges of his sleeves were embroideries done with white thread, and they would not be noticeable without paying close attention. His hairpin was made entirely of snow-white jade, and the thin belt around his waist also as white as snow. Rather than saying that the young man was as fair as jade, one could also say that the man was terrifyingly pale.

What could be seen of Bai Shaochang’s skin seemed to hold no colour at all either. His lips were pressed tightly together, and some colour was finally found there.

It seemed as though only his eyes and hair were black. A bright, shiny black; so black that it was enchanting.

Wu Xingzi liked to look at beautiful men. His worry over Guan Shanjin was not false, but somehow or another, he was still attracted to Bai Shaochang’s ethereal, unworldly appearance.

“Mr. Wu?” Man Yue could not help but ask after getting no reaction from Wu Xingzi at all.

“Ahh…” Wu Xingzi was jerked back to reality. Quickly, he turned to glance at Man Yue, shame and self-reproach on his face. “I’m sorry, I, I…”

He rubbed his nose, reminding himself to buck up.

Again, he peeped through the hole in the window. This time, Wu Xingzi had finally discovered that Bai Shaochang seemed to be tightly holding on to something in his hand. It turned out that he was not staring at his qin in a daze, but was gazing at the item in his hand, the expression on his face containing both sadness and joy.

Unfortunately, the item was not big, and it fit perfectly within Bai Shaochang’s hand. From such a distance, it could not be seen clearly, and it could only be vaguely made out what colour the item was. It was not something very brightly coloured, and it seemed to be a little old.

Wu Xingzi frowned, pondering over it for a moment. He then stepped away from the window, signalling at Man Yue to retreat a distance before he finally spoke. “Man Yue, I have a presumptuous request, I need to trouble you to find someone to take a trip.”

“Please go ahead, Mr. Wu. Even if the Lord Protector’s estate were to be in lack of anything, it would never lack manpower.” Hearing Wu Xingzi’s words, Man Yue’s spirits lifted a little.

It seemed like there was a plan!

“25 kilometres north of Goose City, there’s a little county called Tongkou County. In the south of the county, there’s a merchant selling sundries, called Xia Dageng. Please, may you send someone to bring him and his wife here, as well as all the perfume sachets that he has in stock. Just tell him that Adviser Wu of Qingcheng County would like to seek his help, and he would definitely come along with you.” Wu Xingzi gave careful instructions.