Should I plagiarize? Make something up? Pretend to faint?

These thoughts flashed in Chu Yu’s head at that moment.

Plagiarism would be the easiest, fastest and most substantial way. It was over 1,000 years ago now, which was the time of the blossoming of poems before the Tang Dynasty. She could use all of the Tang poems that she remembered and nobody would come after her for the copyrights now.

Chu Yu did think of that when she was studying poetry at the last minute earlier. She even considered it carefully in her head as she excluded the poems with backstories and those that did not suit the current trend. She was left with seven to eight poems, which was enough for her to fake it.

However, she hesitated now that she was really going to do it.

The reason being most of the poems that Chu Yu remembered were her favorites since she respected the poets who wrote those poems. She felt guilty for claiming their creations just like that.

The second solution would be to make things up, which would mean she would have to come up with whatever was in her head and present it. This would be an absolute dead end. Her diction that was not on par aside, her lack of knowledge in intonation and the sound of words would confuse the people.

The third solution was even more shameless than the previous two, which was to slump on the ground shamelessly. She would pretend to be sick and nauseous, allowing her to escape this pickle that she was in. Embarrassing or not aside, if she were to carry this out, she might be sent away from the mountain.

Chu Yu’s expression was serious as she was arguing about the pros and cons in her head while she held the wine vessel motionlessly. Suddenly, she felt someone pulling her sleeve. It was Liu Sang. He reminded her softly while holding his head low, “Princ-…”

As soon as he spoke, he corrected himself immediately upon realizing how Chu Yu had been introducing herself to the people. “Cousin Zi Chu, they’re waiting for you.”

While he was tugging Chu Yu’s sleeve with one hand, he slipped the other hand into her sleeve and scrawled the back of her hand with his fingertip slowly. Chu Yu felt it carefully and realized it was the word 止 (zhi).

Zhi? Did he mean Rong Zhi?

Recalling Rong Zhi, Chu Yu recalled his suggestion all of a sudden: Huan Yuan. She had almost forgotten about that person!

The fourth solution appeared before her eyes just like that: her substitute.

On a certain level, the fourth solution was no less shameless than the other three. However, to Chu Yu, this seemed to be the best solution.

Chu Yu smiled and raised her glass at Pei Shu’s direction. “I can’t think of any now. Could I get my cousin, Yu Zi Yuan, who’s here with me, to take this on for me?”

Before Pei Shu replied, Chu Yu heard a mirthful voice that came from beside her. “Of course, that’s alright. But since he’s taking over for you, he’ll have to come up with two poems and drink two glasses of wine.”

Chu Yu tilted her head sideways and realized it was Wang Yizhi who had spoken. He was pouring himself some wine and drinking it while looking at her with a subtle smile in his eyes.

Since Wang Yizhi spoke first, Pei Shu could not object to his idea, so he nodded. “Let’s do that.”

Chu Yu frowned and soon responded with a smile. “My cousin will come up with the poems and I’ll drink the wine.” She was not petty, but she was afraid Huan Yuan might say something that he should not if he got drunk.

Huan Yuan had a slight change of expression when he heard that. Just when he was going to say something, he saw Chu Yu coming closer to him all of a sudden and whisper softly into his ear, “Come up with the poems for yourself.”

Her voice was so soft that it felt like a lingering thread. However, Huan Yuan’s fingers could not help but quiver a little when he heard her. Before she left, Rong Zhi had taken the time to speak to her because he knew that Huan Yuan might decline the request, so he taught her to say that. He said Huan Yuan would be able to write as soon as she said that to him.

Chu Yu was just doing what Rong Zhi said, but Huan Yuan felt a stir of emotions. He recalled the arrogant lady he had met when he was taken into the Princess’s Imperial Residence two years ago. The lady teased him in a rather disdainful tone, asking him to write two poems for her.

Naturally, he rejected her. Since then, he could not write a single sentence of any poems for exactly two years.

However, Chu Yu just uttered that to him right then.

Come up with the poems for himself?

What kind of joke was that?

He was struggling inside and could not calm himself down quickly. The fleeting freedom he had today was something significant to him. Having been on edge from the two years of suppression, he might burst like a dam if Chu Yu were to touch him right now.

Just like the saying ‘strike while the iron is hot’, as Chu Yu watched his emotions getting stirred up, she smiled as she got someone to bring a pen and some paper to the low table and place them before Huan Yuan.

Huan Yuan extended his hand involuntarily. He was like an exploding rock as soon as he picked up the pen while poems flowed out of his heart like spring water. He simply could not stop writing.

As Huan Yuan was writing diligently, Yue Jiefei, who was standing in a corner, was so bored that he was going to count the ants on the ground. He thought to himself, ‘Nothing has happened since we’ve been here for so long and the Princess is really into this poetry recital. Is she really a changed person?’

According to the Princess’s habit in the past, she would have brought at least two or three beautiful men back by now.

Yue Jiefei was just an ordinary person who had no class and culture. He was very close to digging a hole in the ground since he was bored with whatever was happening there.

Yue Jiefei was moaning softly in his heart, ‘Princess, just tell me who you’re interested in. No matter who the person is, I’ll bring him back for you.’

***

Rong Zhi walked straight to the courtyard where the princess’s bedroom was as soon as he entered the East Court.

Nobody stopped him along the way. There were even people who asked if he needed help, but he declined them with a smile.

After getting into Chu Yu’s bedroom, he closed the door and put the latch on. There would be no maidservants who would come in to clean since he locked the door.

As he took a glance around the room, Rong Zhi revealed a faint smile at the edge of his lips while his eyes looked unfathomable.

After looking around the room, Rong Zhi arrived at her bedside. Just when he was bending down to flip the blanket over, he touched a bumpy, rough mark when he held the side of the bed.

He tilted his head and looked while raising his brow. He saw a few of the words 正 (zhen) carved on the bedside, and there was an incomplete one with three strokes beside them.

Rong Zhi left empty-handed approximately 15 minutes later.