A Tale of Two Phoenixes

Breathing in deeply, Chu Yu stabilized herself, then c.o.c.ked her head at w.a.n.g Yizhi in question . “Now that I’ve told you my name, you must keep your promise . ”

She hadn’t forgotten her primary goal of getting him to a.n.a.lyze the fragrances .

w.a.n.g Yizhi smiled and tugged a finger on the silk purse, opening it . As he sniffed the fragrances emitting from the bag, a frown gradually formed on his face .

Chu Yu noted the dissonance in his expression . “How is it?” Could he not decipher its contents?

Gesturing with his hand, w.a.n.g Yizhi looked to Chu Yu . “For whom was this fragrance sachet intended?”

Chu Yu blinked at him, unruffled by his question . “Would I have come looking for you if I knew?”

“Touché . ” w.a.n.g Yizhi shrugged, no longer leaning against the wall . He began leading Chu Yu into one of the interior rooms . It was much cleaner inside, without any furniture in place but for a single, circular stone desk in the middle, its surface glossy like a mirror .

w.a.n.g Yizhi walked up to the stone desk and poured the fragrances to one side of it . Taking out a small silver dagger, he started to slowly pick apart the fragrance pieces . “This stone tabletop was here before the house was constructed . I liked its material, its shape, and found it interesting, so I ordered not to remove it from the ground, got it smoothed down, until it became like this . ”

A flick of his wrist brought the fragrances up to his nose and he lightly breathed in . Although his actions mirrored the fragrance master, his manner was far more casual .

With little light shining in, the room was darker compared to outside . As of then, w.a.n.g Yizhi’s previously carefree aura had turned into a look of concentration in his gathered brows; his shadowed profile giving off a deeply evocative impression .

Some time later, he slowly released a sigh . “The fragrance master who made this is someone with rare talent . If I could meet him, I’d personally hope to invite him to work at Xin Lan Lane . ”

Of course, Chu Yu decided against telling him the fragrances’ origin . Feeling anxious, she prompted, “and so?”

w.a.n.g Yizhi did not reply her . Instead, he set aside the fragrance pieces on his dagger, proceeding to carefully pick up some more for a sniff .

The fragrance pieces were cut too fine and mixed too well . Judging by appearance alone, it was extremely difficult to know what it looked like originally . Giving up on a.n.a.lyzing through sight, w.a.n.g Yizhi chose to a.n.a.lyze using his olfactory senses .

In humans, the five senses will mutually reinforce each other at times . When one sense is lost, the other four would strengthen, and likewise, in the darkness where sight cannot be relied upon, a person’s sense of smell will sharpen .

Sometimes deep in thought, sometimes frowning, sometimes smiling to himself – two sticks of incense burning had pa.s.sed before w.a.n.g Yizhi finally withdrew the silver dagger into his sleeve . He placed the fragrances back in the silk purse and turned to Chu Yu . “Just a while longer . ”

Chu Yu watched him walk outside the room to call for clean water to be brought in .   He then retrieved a variety of bottles from a nearby chest, placing each onto the floor . Once the last bottle was placed, he neatly laid out a row of ceramic bowls, all about two-inches in height and similar in appearance .

Why did this setup look so familiar?

Chu Yu narrowed her eyes, watching on as a servant brought in a tub of clean water . Using a white ladle, w.a.n.g Yizhi began pouring the water into each bowl . It was only until he started mixing some kind of powder into the bowls, did Chu Yu realize what he was doing .

No wonder the setup looked so familiar . It was similar to the chemistry lessons from her past life when she was in high school . The only difference was w.a.n.g Yizhi’s usage of ceramic bowls in place of test tubes .

Dumbfounded, Chu Yu watched as he boiled the powder and placed small bits of the fragrances into the bowls, observing each carefully for changes . Minutes later, she couldn’t help but ask, “who did you learn this from?”

“From who?” His focus still on the fragrances, w.a.n.g Yizhi had to repeat her words before catching on . He smiled . “Why, I thought of it myself . Do you mean to say you’ve seen someone else use this method to a.n.a.lyze fragrances?”

He thought of it himself?

Chu Yu was somewhat disappointed, somewhat disbelieving .

w.a.n.g Yizhi smiled . “Indeed, I thought of it myself except for a few things, which were suggested by the previous Grand Historian, such as these bowls and the method to extract the herbs . ”

Grand Historian? Chu Yu recalled Tian Rujing’s court position, but could not remember anything related to this Grand Historian figure .

From a perspective, w.a.n.g Yizhi’s actions could be seen as the budding root of modern chemistry . Ancient day alchemists often used minerals when concocting elixirs and thus, were like the predecessors of modern day chemists . It was only a pity such a bud was nipped and trampled before it could even grow .

The previous Grand Historian .

Chu Yu hesitated to ask w.a.n.g Yizhi who the previous Grand Historian was . She had an inkling in her heart, but remained uncertain .

w.a.n.g Yizhi took no notice of Chu Yu’s expressions . He was bent over his apparatus the whole time mixing various medical powders into the bowls, adding the fragrance pieces and observing its changes .

Looking at his still inexperienced actions, Chu Yu felt a calmness wash over her anxiety . It was as if she were back in her past life’s high school chemistry lab – a distant and wistful memory .

Chu Yu waited for w.a.n.g Yizhi to finish his work . Only after he had dumped the leftover residue into a bucket and called for a servant to clean the apparatus, did she ask in a soft voice, “do you like fragrances?”

w.a.n.g Yizhi shrugged . With his work done, he reverted to his easygoing languidness . “You could say so, I started off a.n.a.lyzing fragrances but delved into other methods, all because of one particular lady . ”

Finding this all too interesting, Chu Yu sat down beside him and asked . “A lady? What’s the story?” She was curious as to what kind of woman would be able to ensnare w.a.n.g Yizhi’s heart .

w.a.n.g Yizhi looked down at his st.u.r.dy hands with their elegantly tapered fingers . His eyes turned gentle as he spoke . “There’s not much to tell when the story’s more than ten years old and the person is no longer around . ”

Hearing this dampened Chu Yu’s spirits and she regretfully apologized . “I’m sorry…” She did not mean to open old wounds .

w.a.n.g Yizhi reached over to ruffle her hair, the scent of fragrances lingering on his fingertips . “No need to be apologize, all she left me were good memories . Before she pa.s.sed on, she told me to live a better life, and so I have not buried myself in grief . ”

He had been through grief, but with time the pain was swept away . What was left behind was life, glowing radiantly like pearls . w.a.n.g Yizhi was someone who knew how to be kind to himself . He knew how to live well, and so would not remain stranded in the irreclaimable past .

w.a.n.g Yizhi’s figure was relaxed against the sandalwood cabinet . Reminiscing his ex-lover had turned his voice gentle as ripples in fresh spring water . “I’ve about gathered what kinds of fragrances are in here . What would you like to ask?”