The spring sun in March was dazzling, but Qi Zhu and the little fatty were in a rather foul mood as they were punished to copy the Academy Regulations in the Imperial Library .
The plaque of the Imperial Library , bearing the character "imperial," was personally bestowed by Emperor Chengzu when the academy was first established. Inside, it housed tens of thousands of volumes, including many rare and lost texts that could still be found here. The students thirsted for knowledge, and some unique editions even required months of waiting to borrow.
The Imperial Library had seven floors. Outer Dormitory students could only borrow books from the first floor, Inner Dormitory students had access to the second through fifth floors, while only Upper Dormitory students could borrow books from the fifth floor and above.
Thus, within the academy, Outer Dormitory students admired Inner Dormitory students, who in turn admired Upper Dormitory students. Beyond academic respect, much of this admiration stemmed from the hope of befriending them to borrow books from the upper floors of the Imperial Library .
The Academy Regulations were also a verbose collection of hundreds of articles filled with archaic language. Anyone with slightly poorer scholarship might struggle to understand them—akin to a simplified version of the Dao De Jing .
From birth until now, Qi Zhu had never written so many characters in one go, and she was nearly dizzy from copying.
She had considered having her disguised maidservant copy for her, but it was said that similar incidents had occurred in the academy before. To prevent students from shirking their duties by having their attendants write for them, the instructors specifically assigned them to copy texts in the Imperial Library , under the supervision of Upper Dormitory students.
Naturally, this supervisor was none other than Gongsun Yin .
Other Upper Dormitory students, though aloof and proud, were reluctant to offend the punished students—many of whom were children of nobility or wealthy merchants—for fear of retaliation.
Only Gongsun Yin , the renowned heir of the Gongsun family, feared no such consequences. Moreover, he often spent entire days in the Imperial Library , so the instructors frequently entrusted him with supervising punished students.
Thanks to this, Qi Zhu and the little fatty were permitted to use a private study on the seventh floor of the Imperial Library .
As Qi Zhu bent over her desk copying the Academy Regulations , she occasionally glanced up and caught sight of Gongsun Yin lounging by the window with a book in hand. His white robes pooled on the floor, and his loosely tied dark hair and sleeves were bathed in a golden glow by the setting sun.
Resting his chin on one hand, he lowered his eyes, appearing deeply engrossed in his reading.
Each time she stole a furtive glance like this, Qi Zhu’s heart would race for half the day, and when she returned to copying the Academy Regulations , she no longer felt as tired.
Until the little fatty nudged her elbow and whispered, "Brother An, don’t you think the sunlight reflecting off the book would bother Brother Gongsun ’s eyes?"
Just as Qi Zhu raised her head to take a closer look, an eagle’s cry pierced the air. Gongsun Yin , who had seemed to be reading with his chin propped on his hand, suddenly nodded forward.
Then he blinked his drowsy eyes, straightened up, and rubbed his stiff neck. His gaze swept indifferently over Qi Zhu and the little fatty, lingering on them for two breaths before he seemed to remember why they were there. In a tone that was either puzzled or sympathetic, he murmured, "Still not finished?"
Qi Zhu and the little fatty, brushes in hand, froze like startled geese.
Had he been napping by the window this whole time?
Before Qi Zhu could ponder further, a strong gust blew in from the window, scattering the Academy Regulations they had spent the afternoon copying all over the floor. Qi Zhu hastily raised her sleeve to shield herself.The chubby boy hurried to retrieve his scattered papers: "Ah, my freshly copied 'Academy Regulations'!"
By the window, Gongsun Yin raised an arm to shield himself from the blowing leaves and locust blossoms. Unexpectedly, the diving Gyrfalcon mistook his raised arm as a perch and extended its iron-hook talons to land on it.
Caught completely off guard, Gongsun Yin was knocked back several steps by the force of the raptor's descent, colliding with Qi Zhu's desk before finally tripping over a stool and falling to the ground.
Qi Zhu, standing nearby, had her legs struck by the toppling stool during Gongsun Yin's fall. In the ensuing chaos, she felt a sudden weight on her chest—Gongsun Yin's elbow had accidentally pressed against her bosom.
Horrified, Qi Zhu ignored the pain in her legs and immediately pushed him away with all her might.
Gongsun Yin's expression shifted slightly as he moved his arm and propped himself up halfway, his ink-black hair disheveled yet still exuding an elegant charm.
Seemingly unaware of any impropriety, he asked, "My apologies for the fall. Did I hurt you, Brother An?"
Young Qi Zhu, whose chest was tightly bound, assumed he hadn't noticed her true gender and deepened her voice: "No! What kind of man can't handle a little pressure?"
Perhaps overcompensating, she even slapped her own chest emphatically.
A strange glint flickered in Gongsun Yin's eyes before he averted his gaze, murmuring, "Good."
The Gyrfalcon, realizing its mistake, chose not to land on Gongsun Yin's arm again. Instead, it folded its wings and perched on the desk, tilting its head to observe them with beady black eyes.
After standing up, Gongsun Yin lightly tapped the bird's head with his folding fan: "No memory at all. How many times must you cause trouble here?"
The Gyrfalcon cocked its head and cooed: "Goo?"
Its iron-hooked claws, however, tore through Qi Zhu's painstakingly copied page of "Academy Regulations."
Qi Zhu's heart bled as she wailed: "My copied regulations!"
The bird stared at her with its round eyes and lifted one foot, as if asking, "Is this better?"
Gongsun Yin massaged his temples: "That 'barbarian' has truly made Xue Luan wilder by the day."
He turned to Qi Zhu: "How about this? I'll count all your copying in the Imperial Library today as passed. You can finish the rest another day."
The chubby boy, clutching his retrieved stack of "Academy Regulations," pitifully asked, "Brother Gongsun, what about me?"
Bathed in the golden sunset that accentuated his gentle smile, Gongsun Yin lowered his long lashes and amiably replied, "You too."
On their first day of copying punishments, both Qi Zhu and the chubby boy were permitted to leave early with all their work approved. The boy praised Gongsun Yin all the way to the dining hall, saying he wasn't as strict as rumored.
After all, their teacher would reject any submissions with poor handwriting or errors, forcing recopying.
Qi Zhu remained unusually quiet throughout the walk, until suddenly bursting into inexplicable laughter.
Puzzled, the boy asked, "Brother An, what's so funny?"
Qi Zhu quickly composed herself: "I... I'm just happy today's punishment is over."The chubby boy nodded approvingly, clasping his hands together: "I'm happy too, truly blessed by the God of Wealth!"
Qi Zhu's lips twitched slightly: "Why the God of Wealth?"
The chubby boy explained: "My family's in business. My father says no matter what happens, just pray to the God of Wealth."
Qi Zhu: "..."
That night, Qi Zhu lay in bed, tossing and turning.
This Gongsun Yin, known as the "One Sage of Hejian" and the direct descendant of the Gongsun family, seemed quite different from the rumors.
Yet perhaps only someone with his carefree and unrestrained temperament could write those astonishingly brilliant and unconventional essays.
Unable to suppress her rising smile, Qi Zhu buried herself completely under the quilt, as if sealing away all the girlish thoughts of that March.
Afterward, whenever classes ended, she and the chubby boy would still go to the private study reserved for Gongsun Yin in the Imperial Library to copy the Academy Regulations. The chubby boy copied faster and faster, while Qi Zhu copied slower and slower.
She feared that once she finished, she would no longer have a legitimate reason to come here.
While they copied, on sunny days, Gongsun Yin would sometimes nap by the window, sometimes read obscure ancient texts or play chess alone, and sometimes lecture and answer questions for Upper Dormitory students who came seeking his guidance.
He was always easygoing and leisurely, never putting on the aloof airs of other Upper Dormitory students, yet he still made everyone feel a certain distance from him.
At least in this academy, Qi Zhu had never seen him get overly close to anyone.
The Gyrfalcon often visited, though. He seemed to have a good relationship with whoever sent him letters.
On the final day of copying the Academy Regulations, Gongsun Yin happened to be playing Elephant chess alone by the window. Qi Zhu made an extremely bold decision and spoke up while he was contemplating his next move.
Gongsun Yin's eyes clearly showed surprise: "Brother An also plays Elephant chess?"
Being looked at like that made Qi Zhu's heartbeat uncontrollably quicken. She forced herself to stay calm and replied, "Just the basics."
Thus, after the months-long game played across the Wind and Rain Pavilion at Guangling Temple, she and Gongsun Yin had their second match in the private study on the seventh floor of the Imperial Library.
That day, they played from afternoon until the lanterns were lit, only stopping when the old librarian came to shoo them away.
It was also the first time Gongsun Yin actively invited her to return to the Imperial Library the next day to continue their game.
That night, Qi Zhu buried herself under the quilt again, so excited she barely slept, yet also feeling a pang of sadness—he didn’t seem to remember the girl who had played chess with him in the Wind and Rain Pavilion.
Because of their chess games, she and Gongsun Yin became thoroughly acquainted. Even the Upper Dormitory students who had previously looked down on her as a privileged noble sneaking into the academy now treated her better, all because of Gongsun Yin.
One day, as they played chess, the Gyrfalcon landed on the wide-open windowsill, its nearly half-zhang-long wings making the window frame seem small.
For the first time, Gongsun Yin didn’t avoid her presence. He directly took a scroll of paper from the metal tube on the Gyrfalcon’s ankle, read it, tucked it into his sleeve, and then called a servant waiting outside the study to take the bird to the kitchen for a plate of minced meat.
Qi Zhu couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Is this Gyrfalcon yours?"Gongsun Yin had just picked up an Elephant chess piece between his fingers when he heard her words. The corners of his lips lifted in a smile, his mood seemingly excellent. "That's a fine idea. Then I must carefully consider how to swindle Xue Luan away from that 'barbarian'."
This wasn't the first time Qi Zhu had heard him mention this "barbarian." As she cautiously placed her piece, she asked, "Is Xue Luan's master a foreigner?"
There were indeed many beyond the borders skilled in taming falcons.
Unexpectedly, Gongsun Yin nearly laughed himself to tears upon hearing this. Just as Qi Zhu grew flustered, she heard him say, "Though he's not a foreigner, he's undoubtedly a savage—wild as a jackal and fierce as a fighting bull."
In her mind, Qi Zhu conjured an image resembling a three-headed, six-armed, green-faced demon from temple murals. Her hand trembled as she placed her piece, unable to comprehend how someone as refined as Gongsun Yin could befriend such a crude and violent man.
Distracted, she quickly lost the match.
Gongsun Yin inquired, "Brother An seems preoccupied?"
Qi Zhu fabricated an excuse: "In my youth, I once read a manual of Elephant chess strategies titled 'Profound Mysteries of Military Strategy.' Unfortunately, what I saw was an incomplete copy, with many ingenious game scenarios missing. I'd heard the Imperial Library houses over ten thousand volumes and hoped to find a complete edition, but to no avail."
Gongsun Yin's hand, toying with a chess piece, paused slightly. "The Imperial Library indeed doesn't have it. However, the Gongsun family's collection contains a complete copy—a treasured possession of my grandfather's, unfortunately not available for loan."
This was the first time Qi Zhu grasped the depth of the Gongsun family's resources. The Imperial Library contained many works even the royal Wen Yuan Pavilion lacked, yet complete editions could be found here.
The chess manual she mentioned was widely believed to be extinct. She'd only ever seen fragments in Wen Yuan Pavilion—never imagining the Gongsun collection actually possessed a full version. As for other rare texts, their numbers must be incalculable.
After a stunned pause, she hurriedly replied, "A gentleman does not take what others cherish, let alone such a lost manual. The elder's protectiveness is only natural."
Gongsun Yin chuckled. Qi Zhu looked up to see the silhouette of returning birds flitting across the sunset-reddened sky. Barefoot and seated by the window, his white robe draped over one bent knee, elbow resting on it, his features gilded by the fading light, he said lazily, "Though it cannot be lent, I can copy the missing sections for you."
Her heart skipped a beat. Little did she know then that the day she received his handwritten copy would mark their parting.
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