Futile Devices Scans

Mu Chun closed the window and asked seemingly casually, “I heard Gu She’s carriage came by.”

Tao Mo had no mind to wonder why Mu Chun’s information network was so efficient and hurriedly nodded.

Mu Chun said, “Did Gu She say something that displeased Master?”

Tao Mo shook his head rapidly and sighed. “He… it seemed as though he said nothing at all, and yet… it also seemed as though he said something. But I simply couldn’t understand what he meant.”

Feigning difficulty, Mu Chun said, “If even Master doesn’t know, how could I possibly guess?”

Tao Mo said frankly, “I think you’re smarter than I am. Perhaps you can figure it out.” He paused, organizing his thoughts. “How about I tell you our entire conversation, and you listen?”

Mu Chun made a gesture inviting him to continue.

Tao Mo recounted everything one by one.

He had an excellent memory, and because he cared so much about Gu She, he described every detail vividly, even reproducing Gu She’s expressions at the time as though they were right before their eyes.

After a brief moment of surprise, Mu Chun listened with a smile.

When he finished, Tao Mo put away all his expressions and said gloomily, “The carriage only circled around once before returning to the yamen. I don’t know what he meant. Could it be that I offended him somewhere in our conversation without realizing it?”

Mu Chun said, “If you insist on putting it that way, then yes.”

Seeing that he really did know, Tao Mo immediately widened his eyes and pressed, “What did I say wrong?”

“Does Master still remember the relationship between Sun Nuo and Gu She?”

Tao Mo nodded. “They come from the same school. Ah, are you saying it’s because of Sun Nuo?”

Mu Chun said, “The Liang family’s original purpose in bringing the matter to court was to have Young Master Liang marry Second Miss Qiu. Now that Master fulfilled their wishes, it naturally means that the litigation master they hired, Lu Zhenxue, won a small victory, while Sun Nuo, who represented the Qiu family, suffered a small defeat. Lu Zhenxue studied under Lin Zhengyong, who has been the lifelong rival of Master One-Hammer, the teacher of Sun Nuo and Gu She. Since Lu Zhenxue defeated Sun Nuo and won the case, how could Gu She possibly be happy about it?”

Tao Mo listened in bewilderment. After a long while, he said, “But Second Miss Qiu and Young Master Liang clearly love each other. I merely helped a pair of lovers become husband and wife. What was wrong with that?”

“Nothing was wrong,” Mu Chun replied. “It’s simply that different people seek different things.”

Tao Mo’s expression became complicated. “Then what did he mean by sending me those words, ‘expedite hearing’?”

Mu Chun said, “At the beginning of the hearing, the entanglement between Second Miss Qiu and Young Master Liang had not yet come to light, and Sun Nuo held a slight advantage. Under those circumstances, Gu She naturally hoped that you would resolve the matter swiftly and follow Gu Xiaojia’s proposal, allowing both sides to wait until the deadline expired and then go their separate ways in marriage, with neither side having anything further to do with the other.”

Tao Mo asked in confusion, “How could he have known that later…”

Mu Chun merely smiled without answering.

Suddenly enlightened, Tao Mo exclaimed, “He already knew that Second Miss Qiu and Young Master Liang were in love, and he also knew that the person secretly passing messages was Second Miss Qiu?! But… but if I had really followed his suggestion and ruled that they should each marry elsewhere after the deadline expired, wouldn’t I have torn apart a pair of lovers alive? It might even have created two unhappy marriages! How… how could he do such a thing?!”

Seeing how shaken he was, Mu Chun was about to offer a few words of comfort when Tao Mo suddenly spun around and rushed out of the room.

Tao Mo sprinted out of the yamen and ran all the way to the gates of the Gu residence before finally stopping.

When he left, he had been consumed by indignation and only wanted to confront Gu She face-to-face. But now that he was actually standing before the Gu residence, he found himself hesitating and pacing back and forth.

After wandering in circles for nearly the time it took an incense stick to burn, he finally stamped his foot and stepped forward to knock.

The gate opened quickly. The gatekeeper recognized him and, without even asking for a calling card, immediately went to inform Gu Xiaojia.

Gu Xiaojia had not expected that after kneeling and bowing in court, he would still end up losing. He was already full of frustration. The moment he heard Tao Mo had come calling, he shot to his feet and strode toward the gate without even reporting the matter to Gu She.

By this point, Tao Mo had already calmed down. He only wanted to ask Gu She for an explanation. In his mind, Gu She might be cold, but he was a man of principles and should not be the sort of person who would stop at nothing simply to win. Thus, when he saw Gu Xiaojia charging toward him aggressively, he froze for a moment. “You—”

“What are you doing here?” Gu Xiaojia’s voice was even louder than his.

“I—”

“I don’t want to see you right now!”

“You—”

“Nothing you say will make any difference!”

“I—”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

Tao Mo could only fall silent.

But his silence somehow irritated Gu Xiaojia even more. “If you’ve got nothing to say, why are you standing here in front of the gate?”

Tao Mo looked at him.

Gu Xiaojia faltered under that gaze, and some of his momentum weakened. “Don’t think that lowering your posture will make my young master forgive you. Not a chance!”

The anger that Tao Mo had barely managed to suppress was stirred up again by a few of his words. Lowering his voice, he said, “I’m here to see your young master.”

“My young master isn’t here.”

Tao Mo froze. “Where did he go?”

Gu Xiaojia snorted. “Somewhere you’re not.”

Knowing that he was simply sulking, yet having no way to deal with it, Tao Mo said, “There’s something I want to ask him. I’ll leave as soon as I’ve asked it.”

“You want to ask my young master?” Gu Xiaojia looked him up and down. “If I remember correctly, Magistrate Tao has two advisers at his side—one Jin and one Mu. What could you possibly need to ask my young master? My young master isn’t surnamed Fire, Water, or Earth either. I’m afraid he can’t complete the Five Elements for Magistrate Tao’s benefit!”

Tao Mo was sprayed full in the face with Gu Xiaojia’s indignation and involuntarily took two steps backward.

“Goodbye and good riddance!” Bang! Gu Xiaojia slammed the gate shut.

The gust of wind stirred up by the closing gate blew Tao Mo’s hair straight back. Only after a moment did he realize that he had been turned away at the door. Along with his disappointment came a thread of panic.

Could this be Gu She’s attitude? Had he really decided that from now on they would go their separate ways and never see each other again?

Distracted and dejected, he wandered down the street.

The marketplace bustled with noise and activity, yet he felt completely out of place. Hawkers’ cries and bursts of laughter flowed around him like water splitting around a rock, never touching him.

Thinking back on all the moments he had shared with Gu She since they first met, he felt both heartbroken and lost.

Could it be that Gu She truly intended to sever all ties with him and never meet him again? A familiar ache spread through his chest. Clutching at his heart, he stood in the street for a while.

The people around him saw the pained expression on his face and instinctively gave him a wide berth.

“Eh!” someone suddenly cried out. Though the voice was not loud, it struck Tao Mo like a clap of thunder. He turned toward the sound, but all he saw was a hurried figure fleeing into the crowd.

“Peng Xiang?” Tao Mo murmured. Only then did he think to chase after the person, but the figure had already disappeared into the sea of people.

He searched the streets like a headless fly for nearly half an hour before finally returning to the yamen in a daze.

Hao Guozi had been waiting at the entrance. The moment he saw Tao Mo, he hurried over and pulled him aside. “Young Master, where have you been?”

Still distracted, Tao Mo replied casually, “Just walking around.”

“Gu She has been here for more than half an hour already,” Hao Guozi whispered.

Tao Mo froze. After a long pause, he asked, “Who?”

“Gu She, of course.” Hao Guozi looked at him worriedly. Though he didn’t particularly like Gu She, it still startled him that his young master could forget the very person he had been obsessing over just moments before.

Tao Mo’s eyes widened. “He… he… how did he get here?”

Hao Guozi replied, “By carriage. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing.” As he spoke, Tao Mo rushed toward the interior. After only a few steps, he turned back and hurriedly straightened his hair and collar. “How do I look?”

Seeing the two rosy clouds of excitement blooming across Tao Mo’s cheeks, Hao Guozi could only sigh inwardly. He reached out and adjusted Tao Mo’s collar again. “I think Gu She came with bad intentions. Young Master, be careful.”

Tao Mo immediately calmed down and nodded solemnly before proceeding inside at a much slower pace.

But Gu She was not in the reception hall. Tao Mo searched around before finally finding him in the study.

“You…” Standing at the doorway, Tao Mo had just begun to speak when Gu She’s eyes—deep and dark as the night sky—fixed steadily upon him. His voice immediately weakened. “Why have you come?”

Gu She placed the book in his hand onto the table and said calmly, “Weren’t you the one who came looking for me?”

Tao Mo stammered, “I was. But didn’t you refuse to see me?”

A shadow crossed Gu She’s eyes.

Tao Mo’s heart sank along with them, afraid that he had offended him again.

Yet Gu She did not sweep his sleeves and leave as Tao Mo had feared. Instead, he said slowly, “It’s cold outside. Come in.”

Tao Mo answered and stepped over the threshold. Only then did he remember that this was his study. Looking at Gu She sitting there as though he owned the place, occupying Tao Mo’s desk without the slightest hesitation, Tao Mo suddenly felt a strange sensation.

Gu She asked, “Why were you looking for me?”

By the time Tao Mo had returned from the Gu residence, all the anger and impulse that had driven him there had long since burned away. Hearing the question now, he hesitated before asking, “Did you already know that Second Miss Qiu was in love with Young Master Liang?”

“Not long beforehand,” Gu She replied without any intention of concealing the truth. “Only before you opened court.”

Tao Mo stared at his completely guiltless expression and felt bewildered. “So you really did know.”

“What of it?” Gu She asked.

“If you knew they loved each other, then why did you have Gu Xiaojia go to court and encourage Old Master Qiu and Old Master Liang to drag the engagement out until the deadline expired?”

Gu She answered, “Because otherwise Sun Nuo wouldn’t have had even a ten percent chance of winning the case.”

Tao Mo stood there stunned for a long time before finally managing, “Winning the case?”

“Sun Nuo is a litigation master.”

“I know. But you—”

“We belong to the same school.”

“But Young Master Liang and Second Miss Qiu clearly love one another, and they—”

Gu She rose to his feet and stared directly at him. In a voice colder than ice, he said:

“What does that have to do with me?”

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