Adapted from Princess Agents drama series and original novel by Xiao Xiang Dong'er – Chu Qiao Chuan Biography
Stalemate Marriage (pass)
Inside the hotel, a man came out of his office and everyone greeted the young master. Wearing his majestic silver Hanfu dress, he became prominent and not a dummy. Same time a man came out of his room, and everyone saw the man and they were astonished the one of the hotel staff said: Did you see our boss came out with a silver Hanfu dress?
"Yes."
Did you see another man dressed in his majestic black Hanfu dress?
"Yes." And suddenly the manager of the hotel finds himself dumbfounded when his subordinate staff didn't even have that strange reaction on who passed by like a flash.
He hit his head and told him: "Our young master changed his dress that quick? Are you and our boss from this world?"
"Ouch! That hurts. Do you really have to hit me there?"
"Yes, because you make me look stupid. I was asking a question you answer me with nonsense words."
"Oh, I am sorry boss! Didn't really see our young master leave his place."
Master Zuo Zong (the dummy owner of the hotel), on the other hand, went to the stairs while Yue Qi following at his back when suddenly an old man customer was tripped at the stairs. Zuo and Yue Qi at the same time had the same instinct of helping the old man when he fell from stairways, Zuo leaped while Yue Qi slides and jumps, ends up saving the old man together.
Yuwen Yue already left the hotel and all responsibilities are entrusted to Zuo.
Today is a fortunate day for Master Zuo Zong, he looked at the man who jumped where he also leaped. He was astonished and speechless.
Yue Qi, on the other hand, said to the old man: "Next time be careful, so you do not fall."
Zuo Zong, on the other hand, was looking at him so and did not take off his eyes almost immediately he said: "Thank you for your concern, but it is unnecessary."
"The old man should have not traveled alone, and he must have a companion so this won't happen again to him."
Yue Qi felt corrected on the spot but responded in a matured way he said: "Helping is the action of random kindness without expecting anything in return, it returns you a hundredfold, and sometimes it also pays some of your debt in karma."
Zuo Zong looks stiff, does not agree with his words, simply replied: "Thank you, but you do not have to remind me."
Yue Qi replied: "I agree to disagree. Everyone once in a while needs to be reminded."
Yue Qi looked at him, and Zuo Zong turned and left without any words.
Like the typical day, all went by their usual routine.
Yuwen Yue transformed himself to execute his final test to his wife. From a nobody to somebody, the poor peddler man wore his white boots, his white cape fur made of fox skin, his white jade in his waist, his beautiful Hanfu dress fit for a crown prince. He rode riding in his white Palanquin alone and no horseman. Supposedly surprising his wife, but seems the world at the moment is upside down. The Qinghai Crown Prince will be surprised instead. He stepped down and sees his lodge in a total mess.
Yuwen Yue called his bird and nothing came out of the wind. He alone by himself.
Investigating the crime scene, in the crime scene, Yuwen Yue carefully traced any hint of bird feathers around his lodge. His instinct tells him no one is around, but there are small footprints of a woman he thought, no sign of bird struggle but finds footprints of amazing swordplay. Yuwen Yue's heartbeat went fast when he sees the opened door, there are two things in his mind.
One, the wife and the bird were abducted.
Two, the wife took the bird and went somewhere.
When Yuwen Yue close at the door, his ears went tingling. The wind chimes at their door slightly issued a sound and suddenly...
Whoosh!
Outside the lodge, there are two arrows from a big pine tree. Not surprised to see an auto-crossbow made of wood and bamboo arrows were installed perfectly mounted in the big tree. Unaware of the invisible trigger, Yuwen Yue stepped on a thin thread. In an almost instant, there are bamboo arrows rushing towards his head. He quickly retreated by turning sideways.
The arrows passed before him from his left to the right side. The calm eyes followed the direction of the arrows, it shot two objects in front of him. At the same time, the two objects fell and the arrows dropped to their bed. But what is this? A bed smashed into pieces.
Yuwen Yue said: "Clever wife, a fatal blow and a foretoken to decode."
Yuwen Yue does not have any clue on any of this. He likes to think his wife might have the same surprise as he does when the entire lodge was put into a clock-like a mechanism that will give seven pass challenge once Yuwen Yue activates it.
Yuwen Yue plans to reveal the truth about him by tearing down the lodge and hopefully his wife will obey just like what she said earlier. However, seems this house was put into an entire rework of traps and lures.
Seems that Yuwen Yue is going to do the seven pass instead of his wife. Yuwen Yue came close to pick up the two objects. As soon as he does, precisely where he stands, he stepped to another tile. Suddenly, star darts rained down above his head, he sidesteps and another tile triggered.
Yuwen Yue saw many small stones is going to hit his body. He closed his eyes and crawled on the tiled floor, until he reached the outside, near the water well.
Yuwen Yue not sure of the next traps and lures, he fetches water from the well. And when he is doing this, ones now know what happens next. A sword ejected on air, Yuwen Yue brought the mini crossbow rope and push a bolt. A rope came out fast, he used it to lift himself without stepping the ground. He took the Poe Yue Jian sword where it excatly landed his left hand. Yuwen Yue settled himself swinging in the tree branch. Not enough tensile strength, Yuwen Yue now seen sliding down the tree branch, issuing a creaking sound on air.
Yuwen Yue is not able to maneuver his rope, his body on a free fall to the ground. It will not force him to enter the back door. If he will repeat the course, through the entrance of the main door, the auto-crossbow installed is loaded with another two arrows ready to shoot his head. Hence, the main door becomes a useless spot. Yuwen Yue is aiming to get the two objects wrapped on a little bamboo stalk. His eyes are cold and his pulse pumping more blood to his heart. He closes his eyes he said: "Crafty housewife, well equipped, can lure a target."
Yuwen Yue felt a lift of ego about his wife's can-lure-a-target course, he thinks Chu Qiao deserves a clap from him.
Yuwen Yue have no other means but choose to enter at the back door. When his senses heightened, ten times sharper than before, all of a sudden the weapon sitting inside their lodge activated. The back is now opened. There have not been many options given at the moment. Yuwen Yue in his adrenaline rush put his hands on the ground and inverted his body and formed V-shape legs so the arrow could pass. It lasted for three minutes before the arrows shot were exhausted. Finally, he let down his two legs and took his sword.
"She will be a shrewd Queen, an upturn for the Qinghai empire."
Yuwen Yue still on his muse cannot help himself but admire his wife.
Finally, Yuwen Yue walked at their bedroom and looked at it and then closed his eyes, said: "This is not just an angry woman. The cuts weren't the same as I have seen in the bamboo forest. This is a cut of a sore heart and tearful eyes."
Yuwen Yue stares at the wreck of their bed, he finally sensed something is not right.
He quickly opened his eyes and went to see the two bamboos but Yuwen Yue's mind telling, he is not just going to pick one.
It seems his wife sent him a hidden message to choose one of the bamboos and whichever he chooses first, will expose the wreck of this marriage bed.
Either way, Yuwen Yue thinks, both bamboos do not give him a happy ending. He picked the bamboo on the left side. The left bamboo contains Chu Qiao's note he read. But Yuwen Yue raised the bamboo, and another letter was inside he took it and read. Whereas, the bamboo at the right side contains Chu Qiao's wedding ring but the engagement ring is not there. Yuwen Yue thinking what could this mean?
The wife took the Cangwu bird, left her wedding ring but took her engagement ring.
After a few hours, Yuwen Yue lost in himself and no sense of time. He was holding the wife's wedding ring in his hands. If there is one thing that is not part of his plan, it is this wedding ring he is holding at the moment.
Although at first, he doubted his wife from time to time, he didn't think of how this wedding ring will be out of his wife's beautiful hands.
Yuwen Yue is already full of heartaches inside including the sad story of his mother's. Through Zao Baocung help he was able to gather an important piece of information buy not all of it. Yuwen Yue now partly understand when the Qinghai King told him:
"To my son this sword all my life, my heart seeks out a thing I cannot name. We age not by years but by stories. The pain you feel today will soon become your strength for tomorrow. May the bridges I burned to light the way and forgive a father in your heart."
Yuwen Yue dwelled in this thought: "May the bridges I burned to light the way and forgive a father in your heart."
He felt his coldness went colder and turned his heart to ice, numb, and cannot feel anything at the moment. He thinks his father has lots of regrets for not being able to protect him and his mother from Qinghai's Queen envy.
A father trapped in his rule and trying to do better to live long and meet his son along. His father sacrificed more than what he should give, placing hope to his lost son, to return one day, while his empire hibernated where the common people became stagnant and did not progress at all.
And his wife just abandoned him, he complained: "What is this? The woman is walking away from his husband?"
It was already nightfall, Yuwen Yue compromised, running out of time and too late to plan to have a backup plan from this unexpected internal conflict.
He finally stepped up on his Palanquin and rode back to Xue Fu street. His heart is heavy and intoxicated with spirit wine. The wine was reserved for two people. Now he is drinking it all by himself.
Yuwen Yue drunk almost got to an accident but he was able to maneuver his horse. He would like to let it out so the man he stepped out of his Palanquin, he shouted across the mountains in the midnight air: "You don't know what happened! You did not let me explain! You did not give any chance! Why?"
Yuwen Yue does not know how to cry, but he had already cried a river.
In reality, his heart sank at the bottom of a cold lake and died. Yuwen Yue unable to reach his wife is piercing his heart adding the high pressure of his rulership to the temporarily forsaken Qinghai throne.
While Yan Xun gave up Yanbei for a night the day, Yuwen Yue forsake the Qinghai throne for many nights just to steal a chance of knowing the truth about his mother and looking for an open place to meet Chu Qiao in Wei State. Yuwen Yue thinks, even if she is the present Wei crown princess, Yuwen Yue does not know the word quit.
In the end, between Yan Xun and Yuwen Yue, the scales are never going to be the same. There is always one man who weighs the most even and had to put real efforts in real pursuit of truth.
Yuwen Yue's only bonus from this time set apart was to find Yue Qi alive but lost Chu Qiao along. Zao Baocung told him that one-day Yuwen Yue will meet some old company along, but Zao on his tightly sealed lips did not specifically serve to the silver spoon the name of who it is.
Yue Qi was the last thing in his mind to appear alive when Yuwen Yue definitely searched every town in Wei State under the cloak of being peddler man. He asked about his former bodyguards and found his remains near the Yuwen Ancestral temple.
He also visited Yuwen household once, when loads of grain and oil are to be delivered to the Yuwen's granary. He was able to step again in the household he once called his own.
There hasn't been so much change at all at the Greenhills courtyard except for its present masters, Yuwen Gao, the crippled old man still longs for his adopted grandson. Yuwen Yue saw the old man, wrinkled forehead, eyes that can even penetrate souls looking far and distant. He sees his servants pushing the old man's chair inside his courtyard.
Yuwen Yue wants to hug and enjoy his company once again, but there isn't much to be told he said to himself, so he turns his back to miss the opportunity given at that time.
Chu Qiao dressed on her brown peasant dress, ordinary brown boots and his dark brown half poncho hoodie made of deerskin, covering her delicate face and eye bugs came back to the Master Xie Tai Shan's wooden house.
It was already nightfall, but the forest is cold even if late summer. Chu Qiao greeted him and said: "Master I came back and took this bird with me. Don't worry he is nice and he knows Fourth Young, master Yuwen Yue."
The Master on his simple Hanfu was startled to see Chu Qiao. After a long time, with no contact and visit, he saw Chu Qiao's ring finger. He thinks, it is an engagement ring, but then asked for the bird, he said: "Where did you find this bird?"
And Master Xie Tai Shan, as if close to the bird, called it by whistling a familiar sound. The bird heard, instantly flies to Master Xie Tai Shan's shoulder.
Chu Qiao sees what the bird did, she spoke: "You two also know each other?"
Master Xie Tai Shan replied: "How can the bird and his original Master who took care of the bird family do not know each other?"
Chu Qiao with happy eyes suddenly felt some hope, she asked: "The bird originally came from you? This bird belonged to you?"
In fact, I have sealed this bird a special mark on its feet. This bird was lost when he was still young and left his mother and father bird in sadness, said Master Xie Tai Shan.
"Really? This bird can talk and always utter the name of the Fourth Young Master Yuwen Yue so. So I took it along with me. It camped in our roof and stayed there for long."
Master Xie Tai Shan said: "You said this bird can talk?"
"Yes, he can, but it is not so much often. The bird also calls me Xinger." Chu Qiao smiles.
Master Xie Tai Shan suddenly became quiet. Chu Qiao asked the Master for him if she can be accommodated for quite some time to visit the cenotaph of the Fourth Young Master.
"Yes. You may, but after you left that day, many hunters-gatherers who passed by this route came to offer flowers and followed the arrangements you set up in the cenotaph. Visitors came more often to offer incenses, plum flowers, and candles." said Master Xie Tai Shan.
Chu Qiao gave a blank stare to Master Xie Tai Shan for a while. She did not expect this would happen, the cenotaph became a visiting place for ordinary people and remembers Fourth Young master's good deeds. Yuwen Yue's gentlemanliness opposite to his ruthless cousin Yuwen Huai.
After a long stare, Chu Qiao found words to say: "Should I complain Master Xie Tai Shan? Even a bird cannot forget its name, and the people he served what do we know about this impact he had left with them?"
Master Xie Tai Shan smiled at her and said: "Go, and come back soon, I'll cook for our dinner."
Chu Qiao smiled at him too, she was holding a basket of plum flowers she gathered along the way. She also packed some candles and incense sticks to offer. The Cangwu bird went back to Chu Qiao's shoulder. Both beings slowly walked into the cold forest.
Across the skies are beautifully painted hues of orange, light blue and yellow. Now slowly devoured by the gray dark clouds. Early twinkling stars revealed, spread in the windows of darkness and light.
The fruit bats suddenly flew on swirling motion giving birth to beautiful haunting memories of her former life. The forest once again enchanted with all kinds of insects sounds. the woman walking with a candle holder, a light to guide her way trailing the empty cenotpah.
