Chapter 137: Departure

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A calm and ordinary day.
Not much different from usual; I woke up.
Xiao Chun was waiting on me nearby.
"Your Highness, that fellow named Li Bai is simply impossible! He drinks at our tavern every single day, and they say even Du Ziteng, that old man with the red nose, can't outdrink him! He's drinking all the best wine in the tavern!"
"Let him be. With so much injustice weighing on his heart, he can only drown his sorrows in alcohol. The imperial edict from my adoptive father should arrive soon enough! If possible, I wouldn't want Taibai to be demoted."
She had learned the whole story from Wei Jian: Taibai had caused a scene while drunk at the spring banquet and bumped into the Right Chancellor, which brought this disaster upon himself.
Besides, that Right Chancellor had no good intentions either.
"Your Highness, there are some things Xiao Chun doesn't quite understand, but I can still tell that Your Highness has had something on your mind lately! You mustn't overwork yourself like this; your health is what matters most!"
"Let's not talk about that. What's for breakfast today?"
She changed the subject and asked with eager anticipation.
"Your Highness's favorite: vegetarian egg noodles, topped with chili sauce! That stuff is so tongue-scalding, yet so delicious. Those pointed, curved little fruits are simply magical!"
"They go so well with rice, don't they? Chili peppers are the true essence of life!"
"Your Highness, Xiao Chun doesn't understand again. How could chili peppers be the essence of life?"
"Because they're spicy enough!"
"Mm, Xiao Chun still doesn't understand..."
"Let's drop it. What are we having for lunch and dinner? You've always been the one handling the kitchen matters, and it's been hard on you!"
"It's no hardship at all; this is Xiao Chun's duty. If the Tianci Pavilion hadn't burned down, I wouldn't have had to run all the way to the kitchen to cook, which takes up so much time. For lunch, we're having sweet and sour braised fish, and for dinner, dried bamboo shoots stir-fried with cured pork—all dishes that Your Highness loves!"
"Thank you!"
A heartfelt expression of gratitude; it had become her habit. Although her personality had changed drastically from her past life, this trait remained unchanged from beginning to end.
"No, Your Highness, this is Xiao Chun's duty! There's no need to thank me; Xiao Chun belongs to Your Highness! Well then, Xiao Chun is off now!"

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Though she said there was no need for such formalities, her heart was actually quite happy. If the days doing odd jobs in the Yeting Palace were spent in a blur of ignorance, life in the Princess's Mansion was an entirely new birth. Every day was different, and she had such a gentle master to accompany her.
As soon as Xiao Chun left, Chu'er slipped in through the window. This wasn't the Tianci Pavilion; the windows weren't specially decorated, making it even easier than before.
Landing lightly on her feet, she tossed an oil-paper-wrapped pastry into the young lady's lap.
"Chu'er swiped this from the kitchen. The fat cook said these are exceptionally delicious—they put sheep's milk cheese slices inside!"
"Oh?"
Holding the bread-like pastry, its texture felt similar to a steamed bun. Looking at it from the side, there was indeed a visible filling layer.
"Mh... Not bad at all. By the way, how is the investigation into the Manichean strongholds going?"
Chu'er swallowed the pastry in two bites. She knew the location of every delicious treat in the kitchen like the back of her hand. Back when the little lynx and the little white tiger were still cubs, they used to follow this Jianghu master thief up the beams and across the roofs, causing no end of trouble for the cooks.
"Chu'er is an intelligence operative by trade, so this isn't something that can be rushed. I heard their higher-ups seem to have quieted down and rarely come out to make a move. The situation outside Chang'an isn't very peaceful right now, though the Manichean zealots are acting as arrogant and overbearing as second-generation heirs."
Savoring the "cheese bread," she calculated that at the Unseen Agency's pace, it would probably still take some time to uncover all of the Manichean strongholds. To pull up the weeds by the roots, one had to be thorough and couldn't afford to be sloppy.
"Chu'er, mark the strongholds you've found on the map and bring it to me! I'd like to refer to it."
"My lady, no problem! Leave it to Chu'er!"
Chu'er patted her mountain-like chest, and with that, she flipped back out through the window.
No problem, indeed—except for that chicken-scratch handwriting... Hopefully, it wouldn't affect the markings, seeing as it was just meant to input the data into the design system's map to make it easier to grasp certain details and plan the eradication strategy in advance.
Moreover, she needed to head out to the West Market today to shop around and fill in the final details of the map, just in case of an emergency.
Amidst the maintained peace, several days passed, and the imperial edict regarding the punishment for Li Bai finally arrived at the Princess's Mansion.
The bearer of the edict was Li Guinian, not a eunuch, but rather a court musician.
The content of the edict essentially appointed Li Bai as a county magistrate, which was, in reality, a disguised demotion to exile him from Chang'an—a much more euphemistic way of putting it.
Understanding Li Bai's current predicament, she had no choice but to present him with a hundred pieces of gold on the day of his departure and host a banquet to see him off!
On that day, the road was thick with dust under a clear, sunny sky.

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It was the same old pavilion beside the ancient road, exactly as it had been when she saw off Li Shizhi, except this time there were only three people present.
Those who were farewell-bidders on that day had now become the ones departing!
Wu Yueling, who had gathered the Eight Immortals, went without saying; she had originally wanted to experience the sentiments of the ancients, and now that they were leaving one by one, she naturally felt compelled to see them off. She couldn't help but preemptively borrow Du Fu's future poetry, uttering the reluctance and helplessness of, "Moved by the times, flowers splash tears; hating parting, birds startle the heart."
Li Bai was full of praise, marveling that the Princess could effortlessly rattle off such verses—truly an extraordinary woman in all under heaven.
Du Fu, who had come to see off his good friend, also showered her with endless praise, declaring that the Princess was truly formidable and that he, Du Fu, bowed in admiration. Such magnificent lines also brought a warm moisture to the corners of his eyes.
"You two don't need to put it that way. I just happened to think of a line and blurted it out, and besides, this is..."
No matter how she tried to explain, it didn't make sense. After all, Du Fu, respected elder, you were the one who wrote this... Having no other choice, she could only blame it on a slip of the tongue—a slip of the tongue! Who told them to make us read your poetry specifically during our nine-year compulsory education?
"Prince of Ruyang, Your Highness, Brother Du! With this trip away from Chang'an, I know not when we shall meet again. I had hoped to share the burden of state affairs for the Sage, but alas, His Majesty blocks the paths of speech and lets treacherous ministers run rampant—what a profound misfortune! With Elder He's departure, many of the people he promoted have faced suppression... Ah, enough said, take care!"
Li Bai stood up, raised his wine cup, and let out a long sigh. After draining it in a single gulp, without touching much of the food, he hoisted his travel pack and mounted his horse.
"Brother Taibai, take care!"
Seeing Li Bai mount his horse, Du Fu hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed his horse's reins again, wearing a look of a myriad reluctance, and shoved a bunch of willow twigs into his hands...
Seeing this, Wu Yueling seized the moment to speak, tossing over a token.
"Brother Taibai, the Journey to the West tavern we started building outside is almost finished. Whenever you want to drink ale or listen to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you can present this token to drink to your heart's content at a fifty percent discount!"
Li Bai caught the token, looked at the character "Travel" carved on the front and "Five" on the back, cupped his fists in gratitude, exchanged a few more parting words with Du Fu, and spurred his horse onto the ancient road.
"My thanks to the Princess. Taibai departs now—there is no need for sorrow, for surely there will come a day when we meet again! And so, Brother Du, Brother Prince of Ruyang, farewell!"
Lashing his horse with the whip, he galloped away against the brilliant sun.
When Li Bai's figure could no longer be seen along the long ancient road, the Prince of Ruyang returned to the pavilion and raised his wine cup. "Good wine and fine food must not go to waste. Wine can dispel sorrow—why don't we drink a few cups together?"
True to his words, the three returned to the pavilion to drink, and before long, the table was left in a mess of empty cups and scattered plates.