Chapter 678 — Interlude, the Wind Never Stops

To be honest, Gao Yang did harbor some doubts about just how much credibility the girl's "ever so polite" carried. According to Heddy, after all, Rebecca's two worst subjects back in the day had been etiquette and history, and nearly a third of the girl's education budget at the time had gone toward the medical fees of the teachers for those two subjects. But on second thought, Rebecca had only failed etiquette class—surely "politeness" was no problem...

After all, to this day the "propriety" in the eyes of the nobility and the "politeness" of the common folk had, in a sense, already split apart. Rebecca was the sort of girl who would bow her head in greeting even to an older commoner, yet in the orthodox code of etiquette, this very approachability and humility was the mark of the "rude and dull"...

That the "code of etiquette" of high society and the order of life among the lower classes should be so severely severed was, in a sense, precisely a sign and symptom of an unbalanced social structure and of the conflicts brewing between its strata. From this perspective, Rebecca's failing grade in "etiquette" was actually a good thing—it had let her embrace many of the egalitarian ideas Gao Yang instilled without needing to adapt at all...

Perhaps Gao Yang ought to be grateful—grateful that Rebecca's family had fallen on hard times when she was small, so that the Viscount Cecil and Heddy of that year had been unable to hire her an etiquette tutor versed in both letters and arms. Otherwise, he would now have yet another headache to contend with in Rebecca's education.

With a faint smile, Gao Yang led Amber across the flowerbeds of the courtyard, and on his way toward the open ground he heard a shrill whistle sound close beside him.

He turned his head slightly and saw Amber holding a folded leaf between her fingers. She brought it to her lips and blew hard, and the whistle rang out loud and clear.

"You know how too?"

"It's not hard."

"Who taught you?"

"My adoptive father."

Amber said this while giving the leaf whistle in her hand a squeeze; she pursed her lips and tossed it away.

"Only little kids like playing with these..." she muttered. "It's just that when I suddenly saw Rebecca and Betty playing with them, I remembered I knew how to make one too, so I folded one on the spot."

Gao Yang silently regarded Amber for a moment. He said nothing, only turned his head to look toward the fountain plaza ahead.

A crowd of noblemen and ladies, all in splendid attire, had gathered in that small plaza, yet the center of attention was a small old man in a gray robe, hair and beard a tangled mess, hunched and stooped, his face split in a gleeful grin. He was holding forth with great enthusiasm, his face glowing, drawing frequent nods from the noblemen around him and the occasional smile from the noblewomen and young ladies.

Gao Yang guessed that Pi Yun must be peddling his fraudulent wares again, either fake medicine that wouldn't kill anyone or amulets that did absolutely nothing. Few took his con-man's goods seriously, but with the titles of Imperial Chief Druid and Master-grade Researcher to his name, there was never any shortage of people here eager to flatter him.

Gao Yang turned to Amber. "You haven't talked to Pi Yun yet, have you?"

"...Not yet," Amber paused, as though tinged with a certain nervousness and hesitation. "I... was busy arranging security before, I didn't have time..."

"Now we both have time, and Pi Yun looks like he has plenty of time too," Gao Yang said. "Go and have that talk."

Amber raised her head. "Will you come with me?"

Gao Yang smiled without answering and walked straight ahead with Amber in tow.

The crowd near the fountain noticed Gao Yang's figure and bowed in salute one after another, parting to either side, leaving only Pi Yun standing there. The old druid looked up, clapped his hands, spread them toward Gao Yang with a grin. "The moment you arrive, my business is ruined."

"We'll talk about your business later," Gao Yang said, giving Amber a slight nudge half a step forward. "Don't you have something to give her?"

"Give me?" Amber was taken aback, her eyes widening as she turned to look at Gao Yang.

"A few days ago His Majesty wrote to me once, and we spoke of your adoptive father and your origins," Pi Yun said, looking at Amber, a trace of a smile surfacing on his deeply wrinkled face. "He told me that some secrets are best not carried into the grave, so I told him I had certain things to hand over to you..."

Amber's gaze traveled between Gao Yang and Pi Yun, and at last came to rest on Pi Yun. "What... is it?"

Pi Yun gave a soft sigh, the wrinkles on his face twitching. He seemed to want to maintain that grinning expression he had worn for decades, but in the end the look turned somewhat comical. Then he reached out and fumbled in a pocket inside his robe, drawing forth a notebook that was already quite worn.

"This is what that fellow Sari Randolph left for you. He said that if a day ever came when there was no longer any need to fear the royal assassins and pursuers, this could be given to you," Pi Yun said slowly. "But I once hesitated over whether I ought to do so, because what is written here may be hard for you to accept. I had wanted to carry it into the grave with me... but His Majesty told me you have the right to know your own origins."

As she took the notebook, Amber's expression held a trace of hesitation, as though this secret concealed for decades had suddenly been laid before her eyes, leaving this half-elf momentarily blank. She forgot to ask, forgot to question, and simply took what Pi Yun held out to her by reflex. Before she could open it, Pi Yun's voice came again.

"After you've finished reading it, I'll tell you how I came to know your adoptive father back then."