Ashes to Crown

Chapter 62: Chapter 26: Discourse on the Dao

Chu Ke didn’t want to bring up the past. In his time with Chu Zhao, he had learned one thing very clearly: that damn girl really would beat him half to death.

If he mentioned his second uncle’s faults again, Chu Zhao would continue to beat him in public.

’I’ve lost so much face today!’

”Let’s not speak of the past,” he said, his voice full of resentment. ”My family gave up hope long ago. Now, I’m relying on myself to revive the Chu Family and clear its sullied name.”

Chu Zhao bent down to pick up the invitation that had fallen to the floor during their scuffle, a mocking smile on her face. ”This?”

Chu Ke jumped. ”Chu Zhao, don’t go crazy and tear it up! That’s the invitation to the literary gathering from the Third Prince!”

Though he delighted in watching others suffer, well, she was a young lady who praised and admired him, after all. Liang Qiang decided not to fan the flames any further. He cleared his throat and said, ”Miss Chu, the Third Prince is a bibliophile, mad for books, and he despises anything that disrespects scholarly refinement. You mustn’t do anything reckless.”

He placed extra emphasis on the word ”mad.”

The Third Prince had an erratic temperament. When he flew into a rage, he would even curse the Emperor and the Crown Prince, but the Emperor doted on his youngest son and didn’t mind. Everyone in the Capital City knew he was not to be provoked.

’The scions of the Liang Family are truly clever and perceptive,’ Chu Zhao thought, glancing at him with a sigh of envy. Then, looking back at Chu Ke, she sneered, ”Do you think you got the Third Prince’s invitation to the literary gathering because of your own merits?”

Chu Ke sneered back, a hint of arrogance in his tone. ”Of course. Scholarly talent is not something one can steal.”

Chu Zhao scoffed. ”What talent do you possibly have? You can’t even beat me.”

Her words were undoubtedly another public slap in the face. Chu Ke shouted in a rage, ”Chu Zhao, what nonsense are you spouting? If I can’t even surpass you, what kind of scholar would that make me!”

”Fine,” Chu Zhao said. ”Then let’s compete and let everyone see whether you’re really a scholar.”

She shook the invitation in her hand.

”Let’s let everyone see whether you got this invitation on your own merits, or thanks to—someone else.”

’What does she mean by ’someone else’? Is she talking about Chu Ling?’

’How could it be because of Chu Ling? That the Third Prince would give me an invitation and see me in a new light? Chu Ling, the very person we complain about every day for dragging the family down—what kind of influence could they possibly have!’

Chu Ke jumped to his feet, furious. ”Let’s compete!”

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...

Quite a few people were gathered on the second floor, but the commotion had died down. Down on the first floor, the people waiting for the spectacle were getting anxious.

”Are they going to fight or what!”

”Come on, fight!”

The waiters rushed up and down the stairs, unsure whether to laugh or cry as they tried to persuade everyone to go back to their seats. ”There’s no fight, it’s a scholarly dispute between young people. To determine who’s better, they’re about to begin a competition.”

And indeed, a waiter was seen heading to the second floor, carrying the Four Treasures of the Study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—along with items for zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

What was there to see in a competition? How boring! The crowd on the first floor dispersed at once.

”A total waste of time.”

”They’re not going to fight at all!”

”My damn food’s gone cold.”

The young men seated in the back saw the crowd return, grumbling and cursing, and they all burst out laughing, slapping the phoenix-eyed youth on the shoulder. ”See? You were the wisest one after all.”

The phoenix-eyed youth lazily raised his wine pot. ”Of course. You can’t go wrong listening to me.”

Many of the onlookers from the other floors also dispersed. They hadn’t spent all this money to watch two youths compete, one of them a woman no less.

”Isn’t this just absurd?” Qi Leyun sputtered with laughter. ”Chu Zhao in a competition? What could she possibly know? Her handwriting is a crooked mess.”

”Right? She’s hardly read any books,” a girl sneered. ”Once, I intentionally wrote a character wrong, and she still pretended to know what she was talking about and flattered me.”

”She doesn’t hang out with us, so she doesn’t embarrass herself in front of us,” a girl at another table remarked nonchalantly. ”It turns out she’d rather come and do it in front of a massive crowd.”

Another girl opened her mouth, hesitating for a moment before saying something different from the rest. ”Maybe she’s been working hard lately and wants to show off a bit.”

The others just laughed even harder at this.

”What could she possibly work hard on? What would she study?” ”How to beat people up.”

Hearing the laughter, that girl laughed along, though she still muttered, ”Maybe she learned the zither?”

She couldn’t stop thinking about the tune Chu Zhao had been humming as she strode away that day.

’But it doesn’t matter,’ she thought. ’Knowing one song doesn’t mean she can compare to Chu Ke. His talent might be average, but he has been studying for over a decade, after all.’

How could Chu Zhao, who had spent a dozen years knocking around the military camps in the Border County, possibly compete with him?

”Look, Third Young Master Xie is getting up!” one of the girls suddenly exclaimed.

’Is he leaving?’

The girls all scrambled to look. Qi Leyun even stood up. First, she saw a corner of a robe, then a young master emerged from behind a gallery pillar, his hair held up by a jade pin. Several other young men rose with him, but among them, he was like a celestial crane—dazzling and transcendent.

The next moment, he exchanged pleasantries with them and saw them off before turning to sit back down. But then a few others approached, instantly surrounding him and blocking everyone’s view.

Sounds of disappointment arose from all around.

”How annoying,” Qi Leyun said, though she quickly cheered up. ”Thank goodness Third Young Master Xie wasn’t scared away by Chu Zhao’s nonsense. Otherwise, I’d have to beat Chu Zhao up myself!”

”As if Third Young Master Xie would pay any mind to such worldly affairs,” another girl said with a laugh.

From start to finish, Third Young Master Xie never once glanced downstairs.

Everyone stopped paying attention to Chu Zhao’s ridiculous display. They began to chat quietly among themselves while still trying to watch Third Young Master Xie. Even though they couldn’t see him, just being seated here made the entire atmosphere feel different.

The third floor was quiet, while the second floor remained a little livelier. Being closer to the action, the patrons there would occasionally glance over at Chu Zhao and Chu Ke and offer a few comments.

Deng Yi had already returned to his seat. He didn’t go over to watch. The food Chu Zhao had ordered had arrived, and he began to eat with a comfortable and relaxed air.

...

...

”I won’t take advantage of you,” Chu Zhao said as she sat down, looking at Chu Ke. ”We’ll compete in whatever subjects you were tested on to get the Third Prince’s invitation.”

Chu Ke straightened his clothes and hair, but the marks on his face from her slap were impossible to hide. He no longer looked like a suave, handsome gentleman in the slightest.

”Chu Zhao, I have no idea why you’re so intent on humiliating yourself,” he said with a cold laugh. ”Are you trying to completely lose face so you have an excuse to complain and cry your way back to the Border County?”

He slammed his hand on the table.

”Let me tell you, even if you are utterly disgraced, you’re staying in the Capital City! From now on, you won’t just be embarrassing yourself, you’ll be embarrassing your father even more!”

Chu Zhao, however, didn’t get up to hit him again. ”Enough with the useless talk,” she said coolly. ”We’ll see who’s the one to be disgraced. Come on, the first match is Go.”

The entrance examination for the Third Prince’s literary gathering at Wangchun Garden tested three skills: Go, calligraphy, and a special talent.

The waiters from Yaqug Pavilion brought a Go set, laid out the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and even thoughtfully provided a new table—as long as it wasn’t a brawl, the establishment was more than happy to host such a refined event.

Looking at the Go board, Chu Ke was still in the mood for a joke. ”Speaking of which, you’re probably more familiar with a sand table, right?”

Chu Zhao ignored him, reached for a stone, and placed it on the board with a soft CLICK. She had taken the white stones and made the first move.

Seeing her placement, Chu Ke smiled with contempt. ’Utterly unremarkable,’ he thought. ’Clearly a beginner’s move.’

He reached out, smoothed his sleeve, and nonchalantly placed a stone of his own.