Chapter 651: Truly... Identical...

The day after the first snow.

Xiao Mo had not remained within the palace, but instead walked the streets of the Zhou Kingdom's imperial capital.

This was, in truth, something of a habit for Xiao Mo. Every so often, he would leave the palace and wander through the city to see how things stood.

Wei Xun had originally intended to accompany him, but Xiao Mo had refused. Whenever Wei Xun and the others came along, a great crowd trailed behind Xiao Mo wherever he went, and everyone who caught sight of him would give him a wide berth, terrified of offending some noble young master.

In Xiao Mo's view, nothing could compare to the ease of wandering alone. Not to mention that he was already a Dragon Gate realm cultivator, and the cultivation levels of the palace guards were all lower than his own. Whether or not an escort accompanied him made no difference whatsoever.

Walking on, Xiao Mo came upon a teahouse. He ordered a pot of tea and a small dish of pastries, then settled himself at the edge of the veranda, listening to the storyteller below while watching the flow of passersby on the street beneath.

The other patrons seated around him were chatting about various recent happenings within the Zhou Kingdom. This was perfectly natural, for the common people had few entertainments, and whether the gossip of neighbors or the great affairs of the realm, all of it became the staple of most people's idle conversation over meals.

Xiao Mo turned his ear toward them, listening attentively as they discussed him, and found that the majority of common people held a rather favorable opinion of him on the whole. Most agreed that the Zhou Kingdom today was considerably cleaner and more upright than before. After no small number of corrupt officials had been removed from their posts, the newly appointed ones had largely acquitted themselves well. And with Xiao Mo governing diligently, the various new regulations issued and strictly enforced meant that most officials no longer had the audacity they once possessed.

Beyond this, Xiao Mo had also established a Brocade Guard to oversee and monitor all officials, and the effect had been considerable. He even learned from several patrons that the local magistrates in regions beyond the capital had become far more law-abiding than before.

"Proprietor, I'll settle up. Keep the change."

In fine spirits, Xiao Mo set down a small piece of broken silver, rose to his feet, and descended from the teahouse.

Passing by the capital's largest pleasure house, the women stationed at the entrance, seeing that Xiao Mo was dressed with evident distinction, bore a handsome face, and was traveling alone, immediately came flocking toward him with bright, tinkling voices, trying to draw him inside.

The scent of rouge and powder wound about Xiao Mo's nose, and softness of every variety pressed against him, light as cotton.

In the past, Xiao Mo might well have been moved. After all, the women employed at the capital's foremost pleasure house were all quite handsome. But having known Ruxue, Siyao, and the others, and having spent his days in their company, Xiao Mo found he could no longer bring himself to think much of these women.

With some effort, he extricated himself from the cluster of bright, chirping figures and walked on, fanning himself slowly with the paper fan in his hand.

Xiao Mo wandered without any particular destination in mind, and before long, an inexplicable sense of familiarity rose unbidden in his heart.

It was not as though Xiao Mo had never before walked through the imperial city. Yet now, he felt a strange and inexplicable closeness to it, as though he had been here, long ago.

Xiao Mo understood that this was most likely the blurred memories from the Book of a Hundred Lives stirring within him. Moreover, the Book of a Hundred Lives had once told him that the memories of his second and third lives had already been unlocked, and all that was missing was the right catalyst.

"Could it be that this imperial city itself is a catalyst? That I once lived in this very place?"

Xiao Mo's brow furrowed. Trusting to his own instincts, he continued forward, wondering whether this catalyst might allow him to recall in full what had occurred within the Book of a Hundred Lives.

Walking on, he realized he was making his way toward the Ministry of Rites Examination Hall. By the time this registered in his mind, he was already standing before its gate.

Looking at the great doors of the Ministry of Rites Examination Hall, the image of a scholar rose unbidden in his mind.

And that scholar...seemed to be himself...

"Your Majesty."

Just as Xiao Mo was slowly losing himself in thought, a gentle voice reached his ears.

He turned to look, and saw Yan Ruxue, dressed in a plain white gown, hands folded gracefully before her, walking toward him with unhurried steps.

The afternoon sunlight fell upon Yan Ruxue's figure, tracing a faint golden outline along the curves of her graceful form.

"Ruxue? What are you doing here?" Xiao Mo said, surprised.

"This concubine returns home every so often to visit her mother, and this road lies along the way." Yan Ruxue raised a hand to her lips, smiling softly, her lovely peach-blossom eyes warm and gently captivating. "Just now, this concubine noticed someone standing at the Examination Hall gate, and from a distance thought it looked like Your Majesty. It seems it truly is you. Has Your Majesty come out to take some air in the city?"

"Indeed." Xiao Mo nodded. "I wandered here without thinking, and I've never been to the Ministry of Rites Examination Hall before. Looking at the gate now, it has a feeling of great age about it."

"It does have some age to it," Yan Ruxue replied softly. "Legend has it that long, long ago, this was already an examination hall, though of a different scale then, belonging to a prefecture. A place for the prefectural examinations."

As she spoke, a look of distant reminiscence drifted into Yan Ruxue's eyes.

"Thinking carefully on it, that would have been... some ten thousand years ago, I suppose. In those days, the Zhou Kingdom's imperial capital was a place called Qingshan County, and it was in that small Qingshan County that a scholar passed the prefectural examination and claimed the title of the top candidate."

"In the end, this scholar swept all three examinations, placing first in each, and became a celebrated and renowned Prime Minister. The common people called him a sage."

"Truly remarkable..." Xiao Mo turned to face the Examination Hall's plaque once more, moved with feeling.

"Quite remarkable, indeed." Yan Ruxue nodded. "And does Your Majesty know, legend has it that when that scholar sat for the prefectural examination, the one he cherished most stood at this very spot, watching as he entered."

"From then on, an unspoken tradition took root: if a scholar sitting for the examinations had a wife, she would stand here to see him off, hoping to draw a fortunate omen, wishing that her husband might place first as that celebrated Prime Minister once had."

Yan Ruxue gazed at Xiao Mo's profile, her eyes blinking gently.

"Your Majesty is wearing a blue scholar's robe today. You do look rather like an examination candidate."

"Is that so?" Xiao Mo turned toward her, folding his hands in a proper scholar's bow, "Then, my lady, the hour is almost upon me. I must go in to sit my examination. My lady need not see me further."

At his words, Yan Ruxue blinked, momentarily startled.

But in a moment, the woman smiled softly and stepped forward, gently straightening the collar of her husband's robe with tender hands, "Husband, do your best. And if things do not go well, it is no matter. Husband is hardly the Star of Literature descended from the heavens, so if it comes to it, there is always next time."

"Is this how my lady comforts a person?"

Xiao Mo laughed, and step by step walked toward the Examination Hall.

And just as Xiao Mo climbed the steps and reached the Hall's entrance, he turned back, smiling at his wife standing not far away, "Well? Do I bear any resemblance to that celebrated Prime Minister of ten thousand years past?"

"Mm... you do..."

Watching the man upon the steps, the woman's peach-blossom eyes stirred gently, as though the figure from ten thousand years ago and the man before her now were slowly, gradually becoming one.

"Truly... identical..."