Chapter 64: Speaking for the Hearts of All Living Beings

Duan Rong saw that on the Sachet, a branch of blooming peach blossoms was embroidered...

"This Sachet was originally embroidered for my eldest sister, but I don't know if this body of mine will be able to wait until she returns..."

"Young lady, please don't overthink it!" Duan Rong said immediately.

"It's just... since this Sachet was embroidered for the eldest young lady, how could I accept it?" Duan Rong said with a hesitant tone.

"Senior Brother Duan, please do not decline. Even if I wanted to embroider another one for you, I fear I no longer have the strength. If you refuse, I will feel even more uneasy!"

Duan Rong knew in his heart that Xiao Baijiao wanted to repay his kindness for the acupuncture treatment.

Duan Rong listened to Xiao Baijiao's words, which were full of sorrowful implications; he wanted to offer words of comfort, but he struggled to find anything to say.

"Senior Brother Duan, I am a little tired..." A clear tear fell from the corner of Xiao Baijiao's eye; she turned her back to Duan Rong and gently wiped it away.

Duan Rong stood up and said, "Then, Second Young Lady... you rest well... I will first..."

As Duan Rong spoke, he suddenly paused, changed the subject, and asked, "I don't know where that painting I made for the Second Young Lady the day before yesterday is?"

Xiao Baijiao turned her head with some surprise and said, "I put it in the cabinet drawer. My health has been poor these past few days, and I haven't had the chance to take it to be mounted."

Duan Rong immediately walked to the cabinet, pulled open the drawer, and took out the painting.

Xiao Baijiao stared at Duan Rong's actions, wondering what he intended to do.

Duan Rong placed the painting on the tea table, took a brush, ground some ink, and inscribed a poem by Bu Suan Zi in the blank space of the painting.

"I gift this poem to you, young lady, to resolve the melancholy in your heart!" Duan Rong said, handing the painting to Xiao Baijiao.

Xiao Baijiao sighed softly, secretly feeling that Duan Rong was being absurd; how could her inner knots be resolved by a mere poem?

However, she still took the painting and looked at the inscription on the edge, seeing several lines of quite elegant small regular script, which read:

It is not that I cherish my body, but that I am misled by past karma. Flowers fall and bloom in their own time, always relying on the East Lord to preside.

If I must go, I will go! If I stay, how can I stay? If I can have mountain flowers stuck all over my head, do not ask where I am returning to.

Holding the painting, Xiao Baijiao froze there, reading it several times over, and before she knew it, her face was covered in tears...

The final sentence, "do not ask where I am returning to," almost melted her completely...

Xiao Baijiao was shocked to find that the melancholy in her heart had been swept away for the most part, and even her body seemed to feel a little lighter.

She raised her head, tears still on her face, and looked at Duan Rong with a smile, saying, "Senior Brother Duan, this poem is truly a miraculous medicine for me."

"As long as you like it, young lady, I shall take my leave!" Duan Rong cupped his hands and retreated.

With this poem for company, his standing there was purely redundant!

Xiao Baijiao watched Duan Rong leave, then lowered her head again to read the poem on the painting, feeling more and more that this poem shared a deep connection with her own heart.

"I fear this poem was not written by Senior Brother Duan; it must be the handiwork of a young lady who shares my plight..." After a long while, Xiao Baijiao finally raised her head, looked at the sunlight outside the window, and thought.

Duan Rong walked out of the Inner Courtyard's main room, facing the sunlight.

Sometimes, the words in one's heart cannot be spoken by oneself and can only be expressed through poetry.

And those great poets who have traversed time and space are speaking for the hearts of all living beings!

Hollow ink and brush can never achieve poems that are passed down through the ages!

Duan Rong looked at the Sachet in his hand, seeing that the branch of peach blossoms on it was embroidered with exquisite skill, looking fresh enough to drip.

Duan Rong sniffed the Sachet, and immediately a fragrance assailed his nostrils, refreshing his spirit; it contained not only spices but also mugwort and mint.

The fragrance was refreshing and cleared the mind!

Duan Rong walked toward the front courtyard while sniffing it.

Just as Duan Rong crossed the gate of the front courtyard, Zhu Xiaoqi grabbed him.

Duan Rong was startled by Zhu Xiaoqi's grab and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Applying some medicine to that bump of yours!" Zhu Xiaoqi said with a smile, "So the Second Young Lady won't keep saying I'm mocking you."

Only then did Duan Rong notice that Zhu Xiaoqi was holding a Porcelain Bottle the size of a fist.

She carefully used a small wooden spatula to scoop out a bit of black ointment and smeared it onto a small square of cloth she had cut...

Then she stuck the cloth with the ointment on it onto Duan Rong's forehead.

As she applied it, Zhu Xiaoqi said, "This is an ointment prepared by Xiao Lao to reduce swelling and disperse bruising. Don't remove it for a day or two, and this bump will definitely go down."

Zhu Xiaoqi stood in front of Duan Rong, standing on tiptoe, and pressed the cloth onto his forehead, gently pushing it so the ointment in the center covered the raised bump evenly.

The sunlight shone on Zhu Xiaoqi's earnest face; her small, dark eyes sparkled, and her lips, tender as a lychee, were half-open...

But Duan Rong only kept his head lowered, looking at the Sachet in his hand...

Zhu Xiaoqi finished applying the ointment and followed Duan Rong's gaze to see the Sachet in his hand; her heart suddenly grew angry, and she slammed a powdered fist onto the bump on Duan Rong's forehead.

Duan Rong let out an "ouch" and jumped in pain.

Zhu Xiaoqi turned her head and said, "Alright, get lost!"

Duan Rong wiped his forehead and realized a plaster had already been applied to his brow.

Although Duan Rong was in pain, he was still quite grateful to Zhu Xiaoqi for applying the medicine; he thanked her before walking out of the courtyard.

Zhu Xiaoqi sat by the well, scrubbing clothes vigorously, and did not respond when Duan Rong thanked her.

Once Duan Rong's back disappeared at the courtyard gate, she muttered, "What's so great about it? Isn't it just a Sachet?"

Zhu Xiaoqi muttered, washing the clothes even harder...

Duan Rong walked out of the courtyard holding the Sachet.

Just as he exited the gate, he saw a face coming toward him.

An expressionless, stiff face. Who else could it be but Kong Bin?

Only then did Duan Rong remember that he hadn't seen Kong Bin for a long time.

The two looked at each other, and Kong Bin's gaze swept over the Sachet in Duan Rong's hand.

However, neither of them paid any attention to the other.

Although Kong Bin and Duan Rong were Apprentice Escorts from the same batch, their cultivation progress was completely different.

Xiao Zongting had already begun teaching the two of them separately.

Today happened to be the day Xiao Zongting and Kong Bin had agreed upon for an examination of their studies.

Therefore, Kong Bin arrived at Xiao Zongting's courtyard at the appointed hour, but he had not expected to run into Duan Rong; Duan Rong had not been there the previous two times he had come over.

Kong Bin passed by Duan Rong with an expressionless face and stepped into Xiao Zongting's courtyard.

Duan Rong turned his head to glance at Kong Bin's back, then swept the Sachet into his sleeve and left.

By the well in the front courtyard, Zhu Xiaoqi was scrubbing clothes with all his might.

"Xiao Qi, is Xiao Lao in?" Kong Bin asked in a polite tone.

"He's not!"

Since Xiao Zongting was not there, he could only wait.

Kong Bin paced over to Zhu Xiaoqi's side to strike up a conversation, saying, "Xiao Qi, washing clothes?"

"Yeah." Zhu Xiaoqi snorted through his nose.

"I saw Duan Rong go out just now, holding a Sachet in his hand. Who made that?" Kong Bin squeezed an ugly smile onto his face and asked in a gentle tone.

"The Second Young Lady!" Zhu Xiaoqi replied coldly, his expression already beginning to change.

Kong Bin thought of Xiao Baijiao's face, full of temptation, and could not help but feel a bit of a flutter; he asked, "Does every Apprentice Escort have one?"

Zhu Xiaoqi had already been sulking over the Sachet, and with Kong Bin coming in and harping on the same subject, asking incessantly about the Sachet, Zhu Xiaoqi—who was by nature a straightforward and blunt person—had his inner anger explode at once.

He sat up abruptly, his face turning red, and shouted at Kong Bin, "The moment you walk in the door, it's 'Sachet this, Sachet that.' What does the Sachet have to do with you? Do you want whatever anyone else has? Why don't you go take a piss and look at your own ghostly reflection—do you even deserve it?"

Kong Bin was scolded by Zhu Xiaoqi until his face turned alternating shades of red and white; he stood there, unable to say a word for a long time.

(End of chapter)