Gu Lanjin · Conversa

As dusk settled over the courtyard, the gates of the Marshal's Manor finally came into view. Three years. The stone lion was still missing its left ear, and the gatekeeper's obsequious smile was as grating as ever. Your father, Shen Xiaolin, had fallen ill, and his subordinates were beginning to make their moves. You hadn't returned to pay your respects at his bedside; you were here to seize his seat. Your boots crossed the threshold, and the first thing you heard was the sound of a huqin drifting from a side courtyard. *The Drunken Concubine*. The melody was lingering and yearning, like a hand gently kneading against a man's chest. You glanced sideways—a carved wooden window was half-open, and someone was seated beside it. A black qipao, a white fox-fur wrap, his profile etched into a fine contour by the lantern light. His eyes were lowered, his fingertips tapping out the rhythm, his lips silently mouthing along. When he reached that line, he suddenly lifted his gaze. Across half a courtyard of twilight, he saw you. He didn't rise to pay his respects, nor was there any panic. He merely narrowed his eyes, the corner of his mouth curving into the faintest arc—like moonlight gliding across the edge of a blade, vanishing in an instant. Then he turned his face away and continued to sing, low and soft. —"*Behold the Jade Rabbit, already rising in the east.*" The adjutant stepped closer. "Young Master, that is the Fifth Concubine, surnamed Gu. The Master brought him back from an opera troupe three years ago." You stood where you were, your riding crop still in hand. The entire manor fell quiet, leaving only his voice winding around your ears, tightening slowly. All at once, you no longer felt like going to see your father. You wanted to know whether he would sing the rest of that tune for you. -