Chapter 44: A Dream on a Snowy Night

Li Qing’an rushed over at full speed. He dismounted, bowed to Gao Lishi and Li Linfu, and said, “I offer my humble services!”
“Truly impressive!” Gao Lishi sighed softly. “Captain Li has truly opened my eyes today.”
He glared sharply at his own polo team and muttered, “A bunch of good-for-nothings!”
But soon, a smile appeared on his face again. “Captain Li, could you play a few matches for me in this polo tournament as well?”
“It’s an honor to serve Lord Gao. However, my name has already been registered with the Anxi team.”
“You needn’t worry about that,” Li Linfu said with a smile. “Rules are made by humans; they can be adjusted a bit!”
Gao Lishi took a liking to Li Qing’an and added, “I won’t make things difficult for you. Just participate in the Anxi team’s matches. As long as you play for me in a few key games, I’ll pay you two thousand guan per match.”
Li Qing’an’s heart skipped a beat—this was a huge offer! Playing just five matches for him would earn him ten thousand guan. Unbeknownst to him, Gao Lishi was one of the richest men in the world. Not to mention the countless riches bestowed upon him by Emperor Li Longji. At his birthday celebrations, he invited many nobles and princes, who would ring bells in his honor—each ring costing a hundred guan. Those who flattered him would ring twenty times, with at least ten rings per person. A single birthday banquet could earn him tens of thousands of guan, if not more. Paying Li Qing’an two thousand guan per match was a drop in the bucket for him.
Though the money was tempting, it wasn’t the most important factor at the moment. Li Qing’an bowed again and said, “It’s an honor to play for Lord Gao. I don’t want a single penny.”
Even Li Linfu stroked his beard and smiled without saying anything. Ah! This young man not only played well but also knew how to seize opportunities. He first stuck to his principles, refusing to leave the Anxi team, but once he saw a way around it, he readily agreed, treating money as worthless. With Gao Lishi as his backer, who could doubt his future and wealth?
Gao Lishi truly liked him and nodded slowly. “Good! I’ll remember this favor. I won’t give you a single penny, but you must accept the reward for tonight.”
He took out a jade plaque and handed it to Li Qing’an. “With this plaque, you can withdraw money from the treasury or move around my mansion freely.”
“Thank you, Lord Gao!”
……
After bidding farewell to Gao Lishi’s mansion, Li Qing’an left with Li Linfu. Li Linfu called Li Qing’an over to the carriage and said with a smile, “Captain Li, you’ll have to thank me tonight.”
Li Qing’an bowed and said, “I’m well aware of that. Without Prime Minister’s introduction, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity.”

“Opportunities are seized by oneself; it has nothing to do with me. But remember, no matter how kindly Gao Lishi treats you, you belong to me, Li Linfu. Do you understand?”
Li Linfu’s gaze turned stern as he stared intently at Li Qing’an. He had originally only intended to use him to uncover matters related to polo, but he never expected Li Qing’an to gain Gao Lishi’s favor—this was truly beyond his expectations. He could tell that Gao Lishi liked this young man very much, and given his own outstanding military achievements, his future prospects were boundless. He was a useful asset that Li Linfu needed to keep firmly under control.
Li Qing’an was fully aware of this. He immediately bowed and said, “I will keep the Prime Minister’s words firmly in mind.”
Li Linfu smiled and nodded. “It’s already late. You don’t need to go back. Stay at my residence for the night and return early tomorrow morning.”
……
The snow had stopped long ago, and the bright snowlight made it hard to sleep at night. The courtyard was completely silent, with lanterns occasionally appearing briefly from the shadows of trees and along the walls before disappearing quickly. Throughout the whole time, no one entered the courtyard.
Bored, Li Qing’an wandered around the courtyard. This was Li Linfu’s eastern guest room, separated from the inner residence by a flower wall covered in thick vines. It was winter, and the leaves on the vines had withered. Through the gaps in the vines, one could clearly see Li Linfu’s inner residence. Though called an inner residence, it was still far from Li Linfu’s main dwelling—just a separate courtyard, as desolate as the guest room, as if uninhabited.
Li Qing’an exhaled a long plume of white vapor into the air and tried to sort out his chaotic thoughts. On his first night in Chang’an, he had already met the second and third most powerful figures in the Tang Dynasty. In his upbringing, both Li Linfu and Gao Lishi had undoubtedly been portrayed as villains, despised traitors. But as he grew older, he gradually realized that history had been covered in too many layers of deception—fairy tales mixed with official histories, along with three major distortions since the Ming and Qing dynasties—making it difficult for later generations to see the truth.
For example, the portrayal of Gao Lishi as a clown mainly came from Li Jun’s “Miscellaneous Records from the Pine Window,” specifically the story of Gao Lishi removing his boots. Regardless of whether Li Jun had reliable historical sources, there was a problem right from the start: during the Kaiyuan era, Li Bai entered the capital in the first year of the Tianbao era—what did that have to do with the Kaiyuan era?

Moreover, the text repeatedly mentions Concubine Taizhen, which is even more absurd. Yang Yuhuan entered the palace in the 28th year of the Kaiyuan era and became a female Taoist priest on the second day of the first month in the 29th year of the Kaiyuan era, taking the name Taizhen. Taizhen is a Taoist title, not a concubine title. Yang Yuhuan remained in the palace as a female Taoist priest—how could she possibly appear in public and lie in Emperor Li Longji’s arms while accepting poems from Li Bai? It was not until five years later, when Prince Shou, Li Mao, married a new concubine and officially ended his marital relationship with Yang Yuhuan, that she returned to secular life and was granted the title of Imperial Concubine. Even if Yang Yuhuan accepted poems from Li Bai after becoming an Imperial Concubine, given Gao Lishi’s high status, how could Emperor Li Longji allow him to remove his boots for a scholar of the Hanlin Academy? Even if Gao Lishi, harboring resentment, secretly reported to the Imperial Concubine that Li Bai’s poems contained sarcasm, how could outsiders know about it? Today, after seeing the real Gao Lishi, through a few brief conversations with him and Li Linfu, Li Qingan realized that Gao Lishi was by no means just a jester. At that moment, a melodious piano tune suddenly came from the air, sounding like heavenly music in the quiet snowy night. Unconsciously, Li Qingan was captivated by the music. It sounded like a plaintive lament, as if telling the story of a woman’s tender and intricate emotions. At times, it was like the tinkling of spring springs, making one imagine a young girl dancing among flowers in spring—her beauty was so striking that it was hard to tell whether the flower had turned into a human or a human had become a flower. At other times, it was soft and sorrowful, as if the girl were wandering alone by the water, with the bright moon reflecting in her lonely eyes. Sometimes, it was like the roar of thousands of horses, full of passion and vigor, taking Li Qingan back to the vast and magnificent Anxi region, where he rode his warhorse across endless plains, over grasslands and deserts, bathed in the fiery glow of the sunset, searching for the homeland of the setting sun. “Amazing!” Li Qingan blurted out. The music stopped abruptly, and a low gasp came from next door. Without hesitation, Li Qingan rushed toward the flower wall. Through the withered branches and vines, he saw a woman in snow-white clothes, with a graceful figure, hurrying inside, followed by a maid carrying the piano. “Miss, please wait!” Li Qingan called softly. The woman in white hesitated for a moment, and Li Qingan added, “Please continue playing. I will never disturb you again.” Eventually, the woman in white returned to the room, and the door closed softly with a creak.

Li Qing’an felt somewhat disheartened. This was the most beautiful zither music he had heard since arriving in the Tang Dynasty. With the gentle breeze and bright moon, and the complete silence of a snowy night, only then could one hear the music played with such dedication. It was a pity it was interrupted by his rash applause. He watched for a long time, but the courtyard next door remained silent, and the figure of the girl in white was no longer in sight.

That night, Li Qing’an had a dream. In the dream, the zither music seemed to appear again, and the girl in white danced by the water, her long sleeves fluttering in the air as her dress swayed, like a fairy descending from the moon to earth. In his daze, he seemed to hear the zither music once more, and for a moment, he couldn’t tell whether it was a dream or reality.