On the way TanTan walks with XiaoRue, she hears a lovely melody of guzheng comes from the pavilion. It seems Minister Hua is playing it, and the melody is nostalgic for TanTan, she then remembers its the same melody that HuaMuTan’s Mom played when she was little. The melody gives TanTan’s heart a longing feeling.
"Nice to meet you again, Uncle Hua"
TanTan greets Minister Hua who already waiting in a pavilion, sitting behind the guzheng. TanTan observes him more because of what ShuangAi said before,
’Is he really dangerous? I wonder what makes HuaMuTan afraid of him? He seems nice to me...’ TanTan feels down a little because she quite likes Uncle Hua who treats her very kindly, differently than others since she reborn. But now she doesn’t sure either she can believe this uncle or not.
Minister Hua stops playing and standing, greets back to TanTan politely,
"It’s my pleasure, Young Lady...I come as my promise to hear your play, shall we start?"
Minister Hua points to the guzheng which has prepared by XiaoRue and ManQi, gesturing TanTan to sit behind the guzheng.
"Sure" TanTan finds a right position to sit behind the guzheng and gulps. She is hesitated to start as she doesn’t know what memory she will get later, but she also hopes that she can find more answers in it. Minister Hua notices it,
"Anything wrong, Young Lady?"
TanTan answers shortly, "Nothing..."
She doesn’t want her fear to be seen by Minister Hua, so TanTan takes a deep breathe and then starts to pluck the string of her guzheng.
*Tring...*
And as she has drowned into the play, the memories of HuaMuTan burst into her mind again. Some memories about how little HuaMuTan often saw a younger version of Minister Hua talked with Lady LiShuiXian, her Mom. The expression of Lady LiShuiXian always looked sad afterward but HuaMuTan was too little to understand what happened between them but for TanTan, it seemed HuaMuTan’s Mom had a guilty feeling about Minister Hua, but she doesn’t know about what coz the Little HuaMuTan wasn’t able to hear their conversation, just the reaction when her Mom carried her away and left Minister Hua. Little HuaMuTan can see the expression of Minister Hua when they were leaving him, he kept looking to Lady LiShuiXian, full of anger but mixed with sadness, a broken-hearted expression.
In the other hand, Minister Hua seems also drawn in his mind, he looks to TanTan, but his eyes seem to look at another person in TanTan. In his mind, he reminiscing the moments with LiShuiXian, HuaMuTan’s mother, long time away when both of them still young. He remembered how they both were so close that day...until when that decree came... and LiShuiXian was engaged to his own brother as the King’s reward for his brother’s success in the battle. He was shocked, he was willing to take her to go, he remembered that day when he holds her hand and asks her,
"ShuiXian let’s run...with me!"
But ShuiXian took her hand away from him,
"I...I can’t...I am sorry, FouQi Ge..."
"But...don’t you promise to be with me forever...?"
"I am sorry, FouQi Ge...I have chosen my path...I..choose him....please, just forget about us, it’s my fault...you deserve better than me..." and ShuiXian left. The memory stops there and remembering that unhappy memory makes Minister Hua gives out an intense expression. TanTan stops plays, she looks to Minister Hua and wonders what caused that expression. Meanwhile, Uncle Hua seems doesn’t realize that TanTan has stopped until TanTan calls him loudly,
"Uncle Hua?"
Minister Hua back to his conscious, his look immediately change and he smiles back to TanTan,
"Ah...forgive me...your play is really reminding me to your Mom..."
TanTan surprises with the memory she just gets and thinks, based on the expression just now,
’Is it possible HuaMuTan’s uncle had some hatred to HuaMuTan’s Mom all this time? But what is it?’
She tries to find out more,
"You seem so close with Mom, Uncle Hua...what do you think about her?"
Minister Hua quite surprised to be asked about it, but he calms himself and smiles,
"Well, your Mom is...the most beautiful and the skillful guzheng player I ever met" Minister Hua stares on her, thinking about the question, he asks back curiously,
"Is anything else you want to know, Young Lady?"
’Yeah, like do you have any grudge with my Mom in the past?’ But TanTan just keep it in her mind, she knows she needs to be careful,
"Uncle Hua...you see, I have lost my memory, forgetting many things...including about my own parents...it would great if I can hear about them from...a reliable source"
Uncle Hua’s eyes keep staring her,
"Hm...I see...well, there is a lot of things about your parents I can tell about...from where you want to start?"
"...well, how ’bout from their death?"
TanTan wonders what the reaction if she mentions it. Turns out TanTan’s words startles Minister Hua a little. He seems to become aware,
Minister Hua squints her eyes a little,
"It’s...rare to hear you mention about it, Young Lady...In the past, you usually became upset if anyone around you talked about it..."
This time TanTan who widens her eyes,
"Really? Why did I?". It is another new information for her that HuaMuTan didn’t like to talk about her own parent’s death.
Minister Hua smiles sadly,
"You seem painful to talk about it... your parents’ death...is an unfortunate event. Your father, my brother, was killed in the battle and your mother... she left you to follow her beloved husband...jumped to the hill for a blinded love....it’s...really tragic..." Uncle Hua looks to TanTan.
Once again, TanTan feels pity for HuaMutan for the absent presence of her parents when she was too young.
No reply from TanTan makes Minister Hua continues,
"And this old man really hopes that you won’t follow her path ever..."
"What do you mean, Uncle Hua?"
TanTan asks confusedly.
"Able to forget bad things in the past is a blessing, Young Lady. Some things are better to be forgotten so you can live without misery anymore...this words I hope you can remember...." Uncle Hua smiles but oddly TanTan feels there is something hidden behind that smile.
"Well, if you still want to know more about your parents, may I suggest something..." Minister Hua is thinking and saying it carefully.
"What is it?" Knowing HuaMuTan’s parents more might be useful.
"Perhaps you still have some of your Mom’s belongings with you? I can tell more about your Mom from them..." The offer seems as an unharmful idea but TanTan wonders is that can be helpful for her? HuaMuTan recalls in her mind, things in the locked big chest, inside her room. Few things look old, but she isn’t sure which one is HuaMuTan’s Mom’s belongings.
Minister Hua seems can guess what in TanTan’s mind,
"Ah...how silly I am, you probably don’t remember about your Mom’s belongings either. Forgive this old man, Young Lady...I just thought you might still have a special thing your Mom gave to you and it can help you to remember about her..."
"A special thing? What thing?" TanTan curious,
"I am afraid, I am not sure either but... in the past,...you ever came to me to ask about the thing..., you said it’s so important from your Mom and you planned to show it and ask me about it but unfortunately you got the accident and has forgotten about it too..."
TanTan takes a second to think, ’If what Uncle Hua said is true, that ’thing’ might be brought by HuaMuTan and be in her room right now? But what is it?’
"I really can’t remember it..."
"Then why don’t we can figure it out together...maybe I can help you to identify the thing?" The offer is sounded good as TanTan herself doesn’t know anything about HuaMuTan’s belongings but...she looks to Minister Hua, TanTan feels that maybe HuaMuTan’s uncle has another hidden agenda to help her but as she really can’t figure out about the thing without any clues at all, maybe it won’t be bad to observe this Uncle furthermore, to find what thing he is looking for actually.
"Sure, Uncle Hua...when do you want to do it?"
"Why don’t we do it right now?" Minister Hua stands from his seat, "If you don’t mind?"
"I don’t mind..." TanTan then leads him the way to her room.
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