Chapter 20: Since You Let Me Touch You, Then I’ll Do It.

Gu Heyan: “….Touch….you?”

Mu Zhiming laughed: “Yes, what is it? Could it be that you think I’m so weak and vulnerable, that I cannot even be touched?”

Gu Heyan looked at Mu Zhiming, and said: “I wasn’t thinking that.”

“Good. If you had, I would have been angry.” Mu Zhiming said, half-jokingly, and half-serious. “Then, I’ll have to bother Gu-xiong to knock the clumsiness out of me, and give me one or two pieces of advice.”

With that said, Mu Zhiming drew his bow again. Gu Heyan, on the other hand, hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he approached Mu Zhiming. As he hesitantly reached out, he finally pressed down on Mu Zhiming’s shoulder: “Further out.”

Mu Zhiming hurriedly used his strength to do as he was told. Gu Heyan raised Mu Zhiming’s arm again and advised: “The shoulders, elbows, and arms should form a line.” After correctly adjusting Mu Zhiming’s posture, Gu Heyan immediately took a step back: “Look straight ahead, and then let go of the string.”

Seeing that Gu Heyan was so reluctant in getting close to him, Mu Zhiming felt a little unhappy. However, on second thought, he came here to practice archery. Why should he think about such trivial matters? Of course he shouldn’t. Thus, Mu Zhiming held his breath and let go of the string. The arrow no longer flew out crookedly, sweeping straight into the air. However, because Mu Zhiming hadn’t aimed, the arrow didn’t hit the straw target at all.

Mu Zhiming exhaled, feeling a little lost. However, comforting words came to his ears when he heard Gu Heyan say: “Your posture was right. You just need to practice more.”

“Alright.” Mu Zhiming smiled gratefully, drawing his bow again to practice archery.

Despite that, Mu Zhiming wasn’t really good at archery. No matter how hard he tried, the arrows he shot never hit the straw target. Given that practicing archery also required meditation, Mu Zhiming became more and more discouraged, as well as restless. Thus, he couldn’t practice well at all.

In the twinkling of an eye, the sun was setting at the horizon. Even at that time, Mu Zhiming hadn’t been able to hit the target. Just when Mu Zhiming was about to angrily shoot another arrow, he heard Gu Heyan say: “It’s getting late. We should go.”

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However, Mu Zhiming drew the bow anyway. When he let go of the string, the arrow still missed the target.

Gu Heyan glanced at him and said: “If you keep practicing, you will hit the target eventually.”

Mu Zhiming put down his bow and arrow, rubbing his sour shoulder. All of a sudden, something came to his mind. As a helpless smile formed in his mouth, he muttered softly: “There are some things in this world that won’t work, no matter how hard you try.”

Mu Zhiming understood this very well, after all of the blood and tears he had shed in his past life.

Although this current life was stable and peaceful, Mu Zhiming often had nightmares. Nightmares about his bloody and sorrowful past life.

When the Mu family was framed and the Residence was destroyed, didn’t Mu Zhiming try everything he could to reverse it? Did he not try his best to save the Mu family?

He did….

But did it work?

Of course it didn’t.

He helplessly watched his parents, Caiwei, Heyin, the Noble Consort, and Ji’an die tragically, one after the other. After experiencing the pain of parting with your loved ones, over and over again, Mu Zhiming was left with nothing more than hopelessness, as well as depression.

Whenever he recalled his previous life, Mu Zhiming’s heart was pierced by a cold and sharp blade. After taking a deep breath, Mu Zhiming managed to calm down. At that moment, Gu Heyan spoke: “Draw the bow.”

“What?” Mu Zhiming didn’t hear clearly, so he looked up at Gu Heyan.

“Draw the bow.” Gu Heyan repeated patiently.

Mu Zhiming hurried to do as he was told. As he was feeling perplexed and uncertain, Gu Heyan stepped forward, then stood beside him. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Mu Zhiming.

The warm, broad palms covered Mu Zhiming’s hands, leading him to take the string and draw the bow. Then, Gu Heyan helped Mu Zhiming to aim at the straw target. The distance between them was extremely close, to the point where Gu Heyan’s warm breath seemed to flutter into Mu Zhiming’s ear. Mu Zhiming felt that as long as he retreated slightly, he could lean against Gu Heyan’s chest.

“Relax, look ahead.” Gu Heyan said, his voice sounding a bit hoarse and trembling.

Mu Zhiming took two deep breaths. Then, as he held his breath, he concentrated on staring upfront.

“When I say ‘let go’, you can let go of the string.” Gu Heyan said.

“Alright.” Mu Zhiming nodded.

When a clear ‘let go’ was said, the sharp arrow left the bow, whistling through the air and hitting the straw target.

Mu Zhiming stood stunned for a moment. At that time, Gu Heyan had let go of Mu Zhiming, taking two steps back. As soon as Mu Zhiming came back to his senses, he immediately shouted with joy: “I did it!!”

“Hmm, you did.” Gu Heyan said seriously.

Gu Heyan’s tone was as indifferent as usual, but it instantly dispelled the helpless coldness Mu Zhiming recalled from his past life just now. His chest felt warm, as if it was struck by the clear sunlight.

Mu Zhiming gratefully clasped his fist, and while his eyes curved, a smile formed on his face: “As the saying goes, ‘the kindness of a bright teacher is greater than Heaven and Earth’. This way, I should also call you ‘Shifu’. Thank you for your guidance!”

Gu Heyan froze for a moment, seemingly stunned. However, he then bowed his head and didn’t reply to this. Instead, he said: “….It’s time to go.”

“Alright!” Now, Mu Zhiming wasn’t that concerned about Gu Heyan’s indifference. ‘It seems that Gu Heyan is willing to acknowledge me now. I’m so lucky! Even if he wasn’t willing to, the kindness Gu Heyan showed me just now won’t let him distance himself from me anymore.’

When the two of them were about to leave the equestrian archery garden, they suddenly remembered that Fu Ji’an hadn’t returned after going to the Imperial Physician Palace to get his palms bandaged.

Gu Heyan wanted to go look for the Seventh Prince and leave the Imperial Palace after saluting him. However, Mu Zhiming waved his hand: “There’s no need for that. He must be hiding somewhere, being lazy and playing around. I’ll go look for him. Gu-xiong, you can leave without worrying about etiquette.”

After parting ways, Mu Zhiming found Fu Ji’an, who was laughing and eating snacks with the Palace servants in the Fengyi Palace. Mu Zhiming came forward, pulled on Fu Ji’an’s ear, and pinched his face, not caring about whether he was a Prince or not.

“Ah!!!” Fu Ji’an screamed. “Mu-gege, I was wrong!”

Mu Zhiming narrowed his eyes slightly, as he smiled like a cunning fox: “Wrong? No. Are the snacks delicious? Are you having fun? Is the conversation interesting?”

Fu Ji’an was more afraid of Mu Zhiming’s sympathetic words and sarcastic remarks than his scolding. As Fu Ji’an shook his head, he said: “It’s not delicious, I’m not having fun and the conversation isn’t interesting! Mu-gege, please spare me this time!”

“Alright.” Mu Zhiming said slowly.

“Huh?!” Fu Ji’an couldn’t believe his ears, as his eyes were as wide as copper bells. ‘How could Mu-gege be so nice?!’

“I’ll spare you this time.” Mu Zhiming said with a smile. “But the next time you have to practice martial arts, you will have to take me along.”

“No problem!” Fu Ji’an nodded his head repeatedly.

AD
Mu Zhiming raised the corners of his mouth into a smile, with the light of ‘success’ shining in his eyes.

Five days later, the withered yellow leaves fell, one after the other. The plants were bleak, as the weather was getting colder and colder. Mu Zhiming, like the cold creeping in the early morning, entered the Imperial Palace to force Fu Ji’an out of bed, in order to start another day of study.

Fu Ji’an howled for a while until finally, he got up, completely resigned to his fate. Mu Zhiming asked Fu Ji’an out of nowhere, somewhat expectantly: “Your schedule today is: going to the South Academy in the morning, and practicing archery in the afternoon, right?”

Fu Ji’an stretched his back and rubbed his eyes: “Mu-gege, I’m resting this afternoon.”

“You’re being lazy again?!” Mu Zhiming curled his fingers and lightly smashed Fu Ji’an’s head.

Fu Ji’an held his head and defended himself: “No, I’m not! It’s because Shifu doesn’t have time to come to the Palace to teach me. I’m not being lazy!”

Mu Zhiming was stunned: “Why doesn’t he have the time?”

“Mu-gege, you don’t know?” Fu Ji’an said. “There’s an urgent war on the Northwest frontier. The war report was already sent to the Capital, the Western Rong tribe has raised an army to invade. The flames of the war rage across the length and breadth of the region. Imperial Father has summoned General Gu to the Palace overnight, and after some discussion, he ordered General Gu to lead the Rong Yan Army to the Northwest. General Gu leaves today, and Shifu has to send off General Gu.”

Mu Zhiming was stunned at first, when all of a sudden, he remembered something. At that instant, his face paled and his blood turned cold. Mu Zhiming then blurted out: “General Gu must not go!”

“Mu-gege, what are you talking about?” Fu Ji’an was puzzled. “If General Gu doesn’t go, who else will?”

Mu Zhiming was immediately lost in thought, mumbling unintelligible things for a long while, and unable to utter a complete sentence.

—

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In the Gu Family Ancestral Temple, incense smoke surrounded the air, while the gold-rimmed vermilion memorial tablets stood solemnly silent. They all looked up at Gu Miao, who was kneeling in the center of the ancestral temple. The General, dressed in silver armor, kowtowed three times to a dozen memorial tablets. Then, he stood up with a firm gaze, turned his head, and saw that Gu Heyan was standing by the door.

The young man dressed in white stood there, while the clear sunlight shone behind him, looking like a silent stone statue. At that moment, Gu Miao was lost in thought, feeling confused: ‘My son, when did you grow so much?’

Gu Heyan then slowly opened his mouth, breaking the silence that had permeated the ancestral temple. He spoke one word at a time, as if he had exhausted all of his strength to say this: “Father, if you don’t come back from this mission, would you have any regrets?”

As soon as he said these words, it felt as if the whole world had gone silent.

Gu Miao looked at Gu Heyan, while at his back, were the ancestors of the Gu Family, who, for more than a hundred years, had written the word ‘loyalty’ with their blood. With a sincere heart, they regarded dying in battle as an honor, so they decided to spend their whole lives according to what history awaited them.

Gu Miao smiled and replied: “No regrets.”