Chu Liuxue never expected that Tao Mian was truly the mentor of the emperor.

Among all his lies and deceptions, the one that seemed the most far-fetched turned out to be true.

Currently, they were residing in a palace chamber meant for a concubine. Lu Yuandi was a workaholic, her mind filled only with state affairs, leaving no room for personal matters. When ministers petitioned her to leave an heir, she rejected them all, even scolding them. To appease the court, she adopted a pair of siblings to raise in the deep palace. She had never even glanced at the children.

The emperor was diligent and self-disciplined, earning praises from all around the palace. The bloody past of the new emperor's ascension was buried in ink and paper, fading away like smoke.

Children like Chu Liuxue, at her age, were blindly worshipping the emperor. At this moment, they were at a waterside pavilion outside the hall, where master and disciple were playing chess. Chu Liuxue's gaze was fixed on Lu Yuandi's every move, inevitably catching sight of the lazy Tao Mian beside her.

Lu Yuandi sat with her back straight as a sword, dressed in a deep purple robe, holding a chess piece in one hand. Opposite her, Tao Mian was slouched, almost melting into the reclining chair, changing positions every few minutes and still feeling uncomfortable, calling for more cushions.

To be so wanton and carefree in front of the emperor... Chu Liuxue even suspected that Lu Yuandi owed him several lives.

They had been playing for half an hour. Lu Yuandi, usually busy with affairs, squeezed out time to see Tao Mian, meeting him briefly. Besides playing chess, they would sip tea, admire flowers... Neither spoke much, as if they shared a special understanding, coexisting quietly.

Chu Liuxue had privately asked Tao Mian if Lu Yuandi was a person of few words.

"Her?" Tao Mian laughed upon hearing this, "She was even more rambunctious than you when she was little."

At the time, Tao Mian was fiddling with a precious handpiece, soon growing bored and casually tossing it into a carved basket. He had come to this splendid palace, where the emperor treated him with the highest honor, presenting him with batch after batch of valuable gifts to choose from. One day, Tao Mian casually mentioned wanting to see plum blossoms bloom. The flower's season was in the cold winter and early spring, but it was midsummer now, impossible to find any plum blossoms.

He hadn't thought much of it when he said it, and Lu Yuandi wasn't present. Somehow, the words reached the emperor's ears, and the next morning, a blooming plum tree appeared in Tao Mian's room. The pale yellow petals fell into his palm, and Tao Mian pinched them with his fingers, lowering his eyes, lost in thought.

Since then, Little Tao Immortal spoke even less.

In Chu Liuxue's eyes, Tao Mian was peculiar. He appeared plain and unadorned, yet he was a wealthy person. He seemed indifferent to material possessions, yet at times appeared quite fond of wealth. After entering the palace, he became even stranger. The emperor was eager to give him half of his treasury, yet Tao Mian remained indifferent, no treasure could make him smile.

For Tao Mian now, speaking with Lu Yuandi required careful consideration. The disciple's intentions were good, but Tao Mian sensed a chasm behind those intentions, a pair of dark eyes. Lu Yuandi had gained the throne, no longer subjected to humiliation and bullying, she had achieved her desires.

But what she truly sought... was it really these things?

Tao Mian dared not think deeply.

He understood his disciple. Lu Yuandi wanted to be above all, and he could give her that.

But if Lu Yuandi demanded more...

Chu Liuxue noticed that Tao Mian seemed most relaxed and joyful when playing with the four children: herself, Chu Suiyan, and the only pair of royal siblings in the palace. The siblings were dragon and phoenix twins, the brother steady, the sister lively, both ten years old.

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Lu Yuandi was indifferent to the siblings, and the palace maids were overly cautious. The two children rarely saw peers, and with someone as unique as Tao Mian, they quickly became familiar.

Rather than Tao Mian leading four children, it was more like the four children entertaining him.

"Stand up, stand in a line."

Tao Mian lounged alone on the chaise longue, using the priceless Golden Folding Fan of Black Bone as if it were worthless, tapping the wooden edge twice.

The four children lined up according to height. The tallest was the little prince Lu Yuan, followed by Chu Liuxue, then the reserved Chu Suiyan, and finally the giggling little princess Lu Yao.

"Today's morning lesson is... hmm... each of you tell a joke."

Lu Yuan frowned, Chu Liuxue rolled her eyes, Chu Suiyan was at a loss, and Lu Yao asked blankly what a joke was.

"Hurry up, if you can't tell one, you can't leave."

Lu Yuan sighed. He wasn't good at humor, but to cooperate with Tao Mian, he racked his brains.

"I'll go first. Once there was a man who competed with the wind and won, but he was sick for half a month. Why? Because he caught a cold. Haha."

"......"

Chu Liuxue shivered.

Tao Mian seriously flicked Lu Yuan's forehead.

"Little prince, not every joke becomes funny with a 'haha' at the end."

"Little Taoist Tao is right."

Lu Yuan sighed again.

Next was Chu Liuxue's turn.

Chu Liuxue was unwilling to speak, but knowing Tao Mian could outlast her, she gave in.

"There was a frog named Little Yellow, one day it was run over by a carriage. Before it died, it croaked 'gua', and from then on it became a cucumber."

"......"

Chu Liuxue broke into a cold sweat.

Tao Mian showed little reaction, looking at Chu Suiyan.

Chu Suiyan, fingers intertwined, stammered out a joke.

"One day, a son asked his father, 'I have an uncle, a second uncle, a third uncle, and a fifth uncle, why no fourth uncle? Did he die?' The father said yes, the fourth uncle died because of your filial piety."

"......"

Chu Suiyan was unsettled by the cold silence, looking at Tao Mian.

Tao Mian suddenly burst into laughter, unable to straighten up.

Chu Suiyan:?

Was his joke that successful?

But Tao Mian patted Chu Liuxue's shoulder, saying Little Yellow's croak was too funny.

Chu Liuxue:......

"You react quickly."

Finally, it was Lu Yao's turn, the little princess innocently asked Tao Mian.

"Little Tao, I can't tell jokes, do I look like a joke?"

Tao Mian was silent, patting Lu Yao's little head.

"You're honest, this round goes to you."

Having heard enough jokes, Tao Mian seemed in a better mood, letting the children find their own seats, saying that in return, he would tell a joke.

Tao Mian's joke had a long setup.

He said once there was a Peach Blossom Mountain, with a Peach Blossom Temple, and in the temple, there was a Peach Blossom Immortal who raised a large white goose.

The white goose was a long-lived goose, over two hundred years old, and the immortal couldn't bear to stew it for nourishment, letting it bully cats and dogs daily, gradually becoming the village tyrant.

One day, the village bought a little female goose. The little goose was weak and gray, looking malnourished. But the white goose didn't mind, it stopped bullying cats and pecking dogs. It shared more than half its food, guarding the little goose as it ate slowly.

The little goose's feathers grew dense, its body round. The white goose watched its raised little goose with satisfaction, thinking nothing could be better.

Living peacefully and happily, what more could one ask for?

Later, the little goose disappeared from the village, leaving an empty goose pen. It was likely sold, or cooked by its owner, or perhaps transformed into a graceful young woman and left. The white goose knew nothing, it was sad, losing its appetite for days. The immortal was also saddened, letting it wander outside.

The white goose returned after seven days, revitalized, as if nothing had happened.

Soon, another little goose came to the village. The immortal forbade the white goose from seeing it, so the goose snuck over. As usual, it shared half its food.

Lu Yao, the curious child, was the first to raise her hand.

"Little Tao, what did the white goose see during those days?"

Lu Yuan thought for a moment.

"Did it find that the previous little goose found a good home? But a goose is bought by farmers for eggs or meat..."

Chu Suiyan, caught up in the atmosphere, joined in thinking.

"Leaving for seven days and returning means it didn't go far. Perhaps it did something? Like rescuing that goose."

Chu Liuxue was the calmest of the four.

"Perhaps it just came to terms."

Tao Mian squinted slightly, fingers gently holding a plum blossom, its vitality spent. This was not the season for blooming, it had mistakenly blossomed.

Tao Mian said the goose saw nothing.

The children exclaimed it was impossible, Little Taoist Tao was making up stories to fool them. Tao Mian held back their eager bodies, insisting they listen.

Tao Mian said the goose didn't see its goose, nor any other goose. It reached the edge of Peach Blossom Mountain, finding not a single feather.

No goose in sight, only a fragile petal fell on its orange beak.

The petal wasn't beautiful, its edges yellowed, a corner missing. In the vibrant spring, it looked so inconspicuous, destined to fall into mud or drift away, a fate as ordinary as the flowers covering the mountain.

But what was the goose thinking?

The goose thought it too had its budding moments, once blooming under the clear sky. It thought if decay and parting were inevitable, at least let it pass by that flower's bloom.

The three children were bewildered, unable to grasp Tao Mian's words. Only Chu Liuxue, after a moment of silence, asked if the goose couldn't speak, was it the immortal's story? Did the immortal really raise a goose? Was it the goose or the immortal standing under the falling flowers?

Tao Mian smiled silently.

Chu Liuxue noticed that after the inexplicable joke-telling session, Tao Mian's mood remarkably improved. In this cage woven of gold and jade, he was at ease, as if back on Peach Blossom Mountain.

The calm and composed emperor, on the other hand, lost her poise, becoming anxious and uncertain. She began to demand frequent meetings with Tao Mian, from half an hour to an hour... even spending half a day there.

Still playing chess and sipping tea, Lu Yuandi was restless, even a child like Chu Liuxue could sense it.

"Yuan Di, calm your mind."

Tao Mian often gently reminded her.

Events took a sudden turn, and no one understood the cause. Tao Mian was abruptly imprisoned by Lu Yuandi, locked in the heavenly prison.