Chapter 138: Clear Sky Day Chapter 117: Shan Gu's Decision

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Mo Li had not prepared a meal for Shan Gu, but fortunately she did not reduce Shaowei's portion either, still tacitly making food for four people.

The four sat down in the hall around two food tables pushed together, and seeing Shan Gu wolf down his rice like a starving bandit, the household servants, with his shout of "deal with two mouths" still echoing in their ears, couldn't help but feel this kid was quite hard to deal with.

And the reason he hadn't been able to eat the evening meal at the Taoist temple was most likely because the temple had also been frightened by his eating, and deliberately didn't notify him when the meal was served.

The Taoist temple lodging people usually charged only a tiny room-and-board fee; appropriately reducing their losses was understandable.

The clatter of bowls and chopsticks rang ding-dang-dang; Xiao Yu chewed her vegetables while secretly sizing up Shan Gu.

When Shan Gu came last night, Xiao Yu had already quietly taken note through the crack of the study door; at that time she saw Shan Gu kneel before the Young Master without a second word, his bearing and conduct entirely obedient, and driven by instinct a sense of rivalry suddenly arose in Xiao Yu's heart.

She very much wanted to run out immediately and put on a show, but the Young Master told her to write characters, and she had to be obedient.

So she hurriedly sat back down to write characters, thinking this was also a way of showing herself, so she wrote very diligently, and because she was too diligent she grew tired and fell asleep.

By the time she woke, it was already early the next morning; fortunately, even searching three feet deep turned up no trace of the other party — he had merely been a passerby who came and went in haste — and Xiao Yu secretly relaxed, but who would have thought this passerby would actually return like a resurgence tonight.

Now stealing a comparative glance, she saw this person was stout and sturdy; feeding him one would equal feeding several of her, and Xiao Yu grew anxious inside, her chewing motions speeding up.

"I'm done eating!" Shan Gu set down his bowl and chopsticks, rose, and went toward the courtyard.

Xiao Yu immediately wanted to follow, but heard the household servant speak: "Sit down, eat your meal properly."

"Can't really be like a little dog." The household servant took a sip of wine, and while picking up food with his chopsticks said in a hoarse voice: "She already said not to let you be a little dog; if you don't want to be one, just secretly be one in your heart."

"But you also have to know, even if you really are a little dog, she can't keep raising only you this one little dog forever. Don't fight and bother her; be reasonable and humane."

Xiao Yu pouted thoughtfully; after a good while, looking at the household servant slowly drinking wine and eating, she asked: "Zhao Shu, how do you even understand this kind of reasoning?"

The household servant glanced at her, didn't answer.

Xiao Yu looked toward the tall figure kneeling before the Young Master in the courtyard, frowned, and continued eating diligently — just being a little dog, how could that be enough? She was determined to grow early into a towering, awe-inspiring big dog.

On the bamboo mat in the courtyard, Shaowei sat cross-legged, Shan Gu knelt, the two facing each other speaking.

Shan Gu asked about his adoptive parents, about Qing Wu and Ji Jin, and about the "Jiang family's eldest sister."

Shaowei answered them all patiently, only glossing over Jiang Fu's former status as National Preceptor.

Hearing she wanted revenge and to find people, and that the opponents were still very formidable, Shan Gu was tense: "A Jie, then if I leave, won't you be in great danger?"

"If you stay, I won't be in danger?" Shaowei said unceremoniously: "You're not some peerless divine weapon that can help me destroy heaven and extinguish earth."

Shan Gu thought it over and it was true; then he heard A Jie say: "Do whatever you want to do, don't bind your own hands and feet because of me; that would make me feel unhappy too. Have you already made up your mind?"

Shan Gu nodded, and said seriously: "A Jie, I don't necessarily have to become the great hero the military treatises speak of, but I want to become more formidable, at least so those people can't easily bully us anymore."

He wanted to grow into the kind of formidable weapon A Jie spoke of, but at this moment this warm courtyard where he could split firewood and sweep the floor was not enough to grow such a thing; he needed to go find another soil.

"Good." Shaowei's eyes held praise: "You just go do it!"

She said full of confidence: "I've thought it through... Do you still remember the night I brought you back from West Mountain, Jiang Fu once touched your skull? Recalling now, her words clearly indicated she believed you survived a great calamity and must have a fortuitous destiny, which is why she wanted me to change your name to a more precious one!"

Shan Gu had long grown used to her privately calling her elder sister by her full name from time to time; following this train of thought he did have some impression, but still didn't dare to be arrogantly conceited: "A Jie, do you also think... I really am this material?"

"Whether it is or isn't, one try will tell." Shaowei thought a moment, then added: "If you really feel you can't do it, or something changes, just come back; then you can split firewood and sweep the floor for me again, and I definitely won't laugh at you."

Shan Gu froze, tears instantly welling in his eyes.

In his view, A Jie was the most unyielding person under heaven, the kind who would walk a road to its bitter end, crash into a south wall, and still never turn back — yet A Jie allowed him to turn back at any time.

Shan Gu couldn't hold back; with a whimper he lowered his upper body, his head just resting against Shaowei's crossed knees, touching A Jie's warm robe, and the youth's sobbing cries grew denser for a moment.

Shaowei glared and leaned back, mindful that both were still recovering from injuries, forcefully suppressing the impulse to kick him away.

The next day, Shan Gu knocked this head of his against the ground, bowed properly in obeisance, his forehead striking a resounding sound.

This was the Lu Hou Mansion front hall; the Lu Marquis looked down at the youngster kneeling and kowtowing before him, hands behind his back, and asked: "So, finished questioning the gods and spirits?"

"Yes." Shan Gu raised his head: "The gods and spirits said, let me question myself."

The Lu Marquis raised his graying eyebrows, nodded in satisfaction: "A good god; you didn't worship the wrong one."

Immediately he said: "Get up, I'll have people arrange it; you set out in three days."

Shan Gu didn't manage to rise at once, unexpectedly blurting out: "This fast?"

"Could it be you still want to wait ten or eight years?" The Lu Marquis looked at his shoulder: "Rest assured, old man knows your injuries aren't healed yet; once in the army, you won't be made to drill or go to the front lines first — use the recovery time to learn other things, observe and ask more. I'll entrust you to a general who is just about to lead troops to Huaiyang State; he's one old man raised personally, and although his temper is bad, he can teach you quite a lot."

"Huaiyang State..." Shan Gu said: "Chenliu Commandery is right there, with rebel civilians and mutinous soldiers plotting rebellion!"

He was captured by Zhu Zhi's people near the Huaiyang State region; it was extremely chaotic there.

"Mm, precisely to suppress the rebellion." The Lu Marquis asked him: "Afraid? Don't dare go?"

Shan Gu reacted instantly, and said at once: "How could I! If I didn't dare, why would I have sought you out, and why not just join an ordinary military camp to drill, and be a petty soldier who fights for three to five years without knowing what he's fighting for!"

This Old Marquis had taken such pains; clearly he wanted him to accept the most effective tempering as soon as possible!

"Not bad; you've got more brains than old man did back then!"

The Lu Marquis bent down, reached out, hauled him up to stand straight, and finally said: "An extraordinary person in extraordinary times must walk an extraordinary path. Back then old man carried a broken hoe and went to fight desperately with people, didn't even get a single day to drill, and still managed to accomplish great deeds! Now chaos rises on all sides; it is precisely the opportunity to stabilize the state and establish merit. Go then, don't let people think old man's dim old eyes misjudged you!"

Shan Gu retreated two steps, solemnly clasped hands in salute: "Lord Feng's kindness, this youngster will remember!"

On the eve of departure, the household servant teased Shan Gu again.

In the courtyard still favored by moonlight, Shan Gu ate a lot of rice, said a lot of words, and accumulated a lot of reluctance.

After daybreak, under the Lu Marquis's arrangements, Shan Gu boarded the carriage and set off eastward with the soldiers.

That same noon, the Spider Woman was invited into the Lu Hou Mansion again, to administer acupuncture and medicine to Feng Zhu.

This time Feng Zhu cooperated even more; the Spider Woman only needed to guide slightly, and smoothly administered the needles.

When the Spider Woman left, Pei Xiang still saw her off; passing a garden, Feng Yi and Feng Mi sitting in the pavilion couldn't help but look over.

The maidservants kneeling to pour tea and pare fruit also glanced over.

The person had not yet gone far when Feng Yi said, "That one is the shaman physician invited to diagnose Aunt?"

Feng Mi: "It should be. I heard she is very skilled with needles. She must have some true ability, otherwise they would not have invited her a second time."

"Can a shaman's methods be trusted? Wasn't it often said before that shamans harm people with gu? Grandfather and Grandmother aren't seeking desperate cures in a panic, are they..." Feng Yi bit into the fruit the maidservant brought to her mouth, frowned at the sourness, turned her head and spat it into another maidservant's hand.

"Outstanding shaman physicians are everywhere; those who harm are always the minority." As Feng Mi spoke, she took a towel to wipe her younger sister's mouth corners; the maidservant who had offered the sour fruit hurriedly brought warm tea for Feng Yi to rinse her mouth.

Feng Yi glanced at her: "Qiao Jiang, you have served this long, how are you still this dull, bringing such unripe fruit to feed me!"

The maidservant Qiao Jiang wanted to speak but stopped; she had never seen such a novel fruit, only knew it was bestowed by the Emperor on the Old Marquis, so it was incomparably precious — how would she dare taste it secretly, and how would she know whether it was sour or not?

But Feng Yi most hated servants talking back; she could only hold the tea and kowtow to admit fault.

Feng Yi no longer looked at her, nor let her straighten up, just continued speaking with Feng Mi: "And that Great Shaman called Huali — who knows if she is truly as formidable as the rumors say? Why don't Grandfather and Grandmother simply invite her to take a look?"

Feng Mi: "They did invite her. I heard this needle physician was recommended by that Great Shaman Huali."

"Then why didn't she come herself? No ability? Or unwilling to give even Grandfather face?"

Feng Mi shook her head: "Or perhaps there is some other reason."

Feng Yi muttered a few sentences, but saw Feng Mi seemed distracted; she couldn't help complaining: "What's with you today? What are you thinking about all the time?"

"I know..." Feng Yi glanced at Feng Mi: "You must be thinking about what Mother said last night — a family member's son entering the capital, saying His Majesty and the Empress want to select a Crown Prince Consort for the Crown Prince."

"Impossible." Feng Mi pursed her lips and smiled, reached out to pull her shoulder close, and whispered in her ear: "If it really comes from our family, it would certainly be your name submitted. Even if I think, I'm thinking for your sake. The Crown Prince has a gentle temperament, and is as handsome as Empress Rui..."

Feng Yi's face reddened; she raised her hand to pound this A Jie who was only a few days older than her; the two laughed and pushed and struck each other, making a fuss for a good while, before Feng Yi said softly: "Speaking of handsomeness, lately everyone says the Wuling Commandery Prince who returned to the capital is like an auspicious celestial being — and he dared publicly shoot dead that crazed Zhu Zhi."

Everyone has a love of beauty, let alone young girls with hearts just opening; Feng Mi only smiled and said: "Pity his fate is bad, his leg is also bad — even a celestial appearance is useless."

"Who said those things? We were only talking about looks..." Feng Yi spoke, saw butterflies fluttering before the flower cluster, and hurriedly pulled Feng Mi to chase butterflies.

The young girls, bringing maidservants, ran into the flower cluster; overhead the brilliant spring sun gradually slanted westward.

When the sun was about to set, Shaowei walked out of the shrine, boarded the carriage, and returned to the Jiang Residence.

The two places were no more than a quarter-hour carriage ride apart; Shaowei only felt she had spaced out for a moment before the carriage stopped.

Just as she was about to lift the curtain and alight, she faintly heard voices outside the carriage; Shaowei's movement paused, she silently sat back, waited quietly a moment, and indeed heard the servant's announcement outside: "The Lu Hou Heir is waiting here, wishing to request an audience with the Tai Puzhe."

Shaowei's brow center furrowed slightly.

She did not want to become too entangled with the Lu Hou Mansion, attracting unnecessary attention; and the household servants said Ming Dan's brows and eyes still bore a three-part resemblance to her — the oblivious would not notice, but if someone deliberately compared, they might detect the similarity; and Feng Xu was no outsider, his purpose unclear...

A moment later, Shaowei raised her hand to lift the carriage curtain halfway, and asked: "May I ask for what matter the Heir has come?"

She had no intention of alighting; Feng Xu then stepped forward on his own, performed a hand-clasped salute, his attitude modest, and put forward the request to invite the Tai Puzhe to diagnose his younger sister.

The half of a young girl's face revealed behind the curtain was very calm; she said: "I have already informed Old Marquis Feng that I am not skilled at treating the illness of your mansion's young lady; if I obtain the method in the future, I will naturally come to assist."

The young girl's words were concise, her attitude direct: "Heir, please return."

Finished speaking, the carriage curtain was already lowered, leaving no room for negotiation, giving an impression of proud aloofness unversed in worldly etiquette.

Feng Xu could only take his leave.

Upon returning to the Marquis Mansion, he went to Shaoxian Ju to inquire about Feng Zhu's condition today.

The Lu Hou heard he had gone to invite Jiang Tai Zhu to the door and been refused, and couldn't help shaking his head: "I have already agreed with your mother — waiting a bit longer is not too late; now that there is no such opportunity, do not go bother them again."

Feng Xu hurriedly bent to apologize: "It was the son who meddled."

"You did it for Zhu'er, no harm done; just telling you." Lady Shentu smiled: "You came at the right time; your father has a matter to discuss with you."

The Lu Hou asked directly: "I intend to recommend An'er for a Lang official post; what do you think?"

Great Qian has a regulation: all those of salary rank two thousand bushels and above possess the "privilege of recommending a son" — they may recommend one son or grandson of the family to enter official service.

Feng Xu hurriedly agreed: "The son thanks Father and Mother on An'er's behalf."

"Family — what thanks?" The Lu Hou lifted his tea cup, and asked: "I heard Rui Ze has repeatedly banqueted you lately?"

"Yes, the Rui family has held banquets many times; many officials and nobles attended; the son also went twice."

"Do not go again." The Lu Hou's words were always direct: "He wants to win over the Feng family; we do not meddle in such things. If he sends invitations again, you claim illness and perfunctorily decline."

"Yes, Xu has remembered." Feng Xu agreed, then said in a low voice: "Lately there are many rumors in the city, saying the Sixth Prince's return to the capital and shooting dead an evil spirit means he bears auspicious signs, very extraordinary... the Rui family naturally dislikes hearing this. His Majesty seems uninterested in pursuing it deeply, and has not rebuked anything either."

"These rumors are not necessarily the Sixth Prince blowing his own trumpet." Lady Shentu said: "Perhaps someone is using this to provoke the Rui family, inciting people's hearts."

Feng Xu was stunned a moment, couldn't help asking: "Just don't know what His Majesty thinks?"

"The Emperor's heart is unfathomable; why guess it?" Lady Shentu smiled: "How many meritorious ministers' families have fallen; the reason our Feng family has survived to now is one, because we hold no heavy power in hand; two, because we are sufficiently law-abiding and self-restrained. We do not seek the highest ministerial rank; what is wrong with being peaceful and plain?"

Feng Xu sighed, revealed a smile: "Mother's words are reasonable; since Zhu'er returned home, Mother you have become increasingly clear-headed."

In the two years before Zhu'er returned home, Mother looked like she could barely hold on, person also muddled and confused; now it is completely different.

"Need you say? I now dare not play the slightest scheme in front of her — I fear her even more than in my youth!" The Lu Hou feigned a headache and fear, but his mouth corners were full of smiles.

Feng Xu also smiled in agreement.

Not long after, Pei walked over, saying the young lady had awakened.

Feng Xu then went together to see his younger sister; only saw her draped in clothes leaning against the bed, spirit rarely full, opening her mouth to call him: "A Brother!"

Pei said softly at the side: "After this acupuncture, the young lady slept very well; upon waking she only lay there staring blankly, no panic, no fear..."

Feng Xu sat on the footrest beside the bed, smiling as he spoke with his younger sister.

"A Brother, I want to go to the Xiwangmu Temple in Henei Jun to pray for Mother; do you want to go together?" Feng Zhu suddenly asked him.

Feng Xu's expression stalled; more than ten years ago, before his younger sister left home and met with mishap, she had asked him the exact same words.

Lady Shentu was also very surprised; she gripped her husband's arm.

The daughter back then met with mishap precisely because she went to the Xiwangmu Temple; since returning home this time, she has been unwilling to mention anything related to the Xiwangmu Temple — today she actually dared bring it up on her own!

"A Brother cannot go." Feng Xu reacted, smiled and answered: "Zhu'er forgot? Your sister-in-law just gave birth recently; lately I cannot leave on a long journey."

His answer was also similar to that of back then.

"Right, how did I forget..." Feng Zhu pondered, muttered: "Sister-in-law gave birth to Yi'er, and still has to bring people to watch over Mi'er..."

Feng Xu was surprised again; he turned his head, delighted: "Father, Mother, Zhu'er's thinking and speaking are increasingly orderly now — she actually remembered Yi'er and Mi'er's names, and can distinguish them!"

"I naturally remember!" Feng Zhu interrupted him, also looking toward her parents: "Mother, Father, I want to go to Henei Jun to pay respects to Xiwangmu."

"Go, go..." Madam Shentu nodded happily: "Wait until your body recovers a bit more, then we'll go together to thank the deity."

Pei's face also showed excitement; although the young lady was speaking of old matters, she was so clear-headed and composed, which was after all a very good omen, letting people finally see a thread of hope for recovery of consciousness.

The voices inside the chamber were relaxed and pleasant, the lamp lights also becoming amiable.

Under the candle lamp, Shaowei sat cross-legged, just unfastening a scroll of letter.

?? Today is a chapter with many words, finishing explaining all parties' trivial matters. See you everyone, good night!