Chapter 59

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

In the ninth month, a wooden shed and thatched cottage were built behind Jiang Fu's small courtyard; tables, desks, and a small stove were moved over, and once the weather turned cold Shaowei and Ji Jin read and wrote there every day — Mo Li invariably tagged along, tasked with roasting chestnuts and sweet potatoes, and occasionally some Song Jun Gu mushrooms, which Ji Jin hardly dared to try.

Qing Wu often came by, each time bringing homemade snacks she had made herself; this was also one of the reasons Mo Li always stayed in the thatched cottage.

When Shan Gu had free time in the afternoon he would also come over; he mostly helped tidy the thatched cottage, sweeping inside and out clean — as for reading and recognizing characters, that was not to his liking; he took a singular interest only in records of the strange and supernatural.

Recently that "household servant" delivered several scrolls of sheepskin books, which turned out to be entirely ghost stories and strange tales; Shaowei took them all to the study and had Ji Jin read them aloud.

On this day, Ji Jin read a scroll about a headless wronged corpse seeking vengeance; Shan Gu listened without daring to breathe, Qing Wu clung tightly to one of Shaowei's arms, while Shaowei's face was full of rapt attention.

Only Mo Li turned a deaf ear to everything inside the cottage, diligently roasting mushrooms.

Just as the tale reached the part where the wronged corpse claimed a life, a gust of Yin wind suddenly blew in, the hanging bamboo curtain swayed violently, and everyone in the thatched cottage was startled — Qing Wu clung to Shaowei, too scared to even open her eyes, yet still trembling as she tried to comfort her: "Little Sister, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's just idle talk in a book!"

Ji Jin looked at the three frightened people with sympathy: "How about we stop here?"

Shaowei insisted: "No, I have to hear the end!"

Qing Wu, loving scary stories despite being scared of them, added: "If we don't finish, I'm afraid we'll only obsess over it day and night……"

Ji Jin had no choice but to unroll that sheepskin scroll again; he appeared the calmest and steadiest, but in truth his back was already soaked in cold sweat.

Who would have thought it was only half a scroll; until the end the wronged corpse never found its true enemy — everyone both sighed and felt fear; Qing Wu still did not forget to soothe Shaowei: "These are all fabricated to scare people; Little Sister just listen, but don't let the fear into your heart……"

Shaowei wasn't actually that afraid; she was merely driven by curiosity — moreover, she counted as someone who had been a ghost in her previous life — thinking of this, she looked again at Qing Wu hugging her, at Shan Gu still looking shaken, and at Ji Jin with cold sweat all over his temples, while they had no idea there was a "ghost" right in this thatched cottage……

Shaowei couldn't control herself; her shoulders shook twice, and despite desperately pressing her mouth corners down she couldn't suppress a low "heh" of laughter.

This laughter was truly abrupt, even a bit bizarre; everyone looked at her with blank, still-shaken faces.

But Shaowei suddenly felt a heavy, bloated sensation in her lower abdomen; she abruptly sprang up from the cushion, said "I'm going back to get something," withdrew from the thatched cottage, turned, and walked away quickly.

The few people left in the thatched cottage couldn't help exchanging bewildered glances; Qing Wu mused: "Jiang Sister has been acting so strange lately?"

Since winter began, Jiang Sister would always leave suddenly like this — sometimes saying she had business, sometimes saying she was going back to fetch something — and she wouldn't let Shan Gu or Mo Li run errands for her…… each time it was very sudden, startling, and she seemed suspicious of gods and ghosts.

Recalling the ghost-possession mentioned in the story they heard yesterday, Qing Wu couldn't help overthinking; she glanced at those few sheepskin scrolls and chose to reluctantly part with them: "Yan Family Brother, let's not read these anymore from now on, alright?"

Ji Jin got exactly what he wanted: "Fine by me."

Qing Wu no longer listened, Ji Jin no longer read, Shan Gu also worried about Shaowei's mental state — with no companions for this sort of thing, Shaowei reading alone lost its flavor, and she soon tossed those stories to the back of her mind.

The terrifying atmosphere in the thatched cottage dissipated, but Shaowei's strange behavior still appeared from time to time, which made Qing Wu very worried; she privately tried asking Shaowei if something was on her mind, but Shaowei shook her head like a rattle-drum.

Until Taoxi Township saw its second winter snow; this morning Shaowei woke on the couch, her expression startled, and she bounced up in a single bound, both hands clamped behind her legs.

Zhan Zhan, curled up in her bedding warming himself and sleeping soundly, was so frightened he let out a "Wa—" and sprang into the air, flying and shouting indiscriminately: "Help! Thief! Thief!"

Shaowei scrambled off the couch in a fluster, grabbed her outer clothes and hastily threw them on, pushed the door open and ran outside.

In a moment she returned, a wooden basin in her hands, filled to the brim with water.

Shaowei carried the basin onto the couch and went into a frenzy of scrubbing; suddenly hearing footsteps approaching, she instantly jumped off the couch, alert.

Shaowei had not bothered to close the door when she returned; Jiang Fu entered wearing her clothes, and saw Shaowei standing by the bed with loose hair and bare feet — meeting her probing gaze, Jiang Fu immediately spread both arms to block her sight.

Seeing that water basin, Jiang Fu knew exactly what it was; she stepped closer with a smile: "This is a great good thing."

Exposed by her, Shaowei simply stopped hiding it, lowered her arms, and asked solemnly: "Is there any way to avoid bleeding?"

Shaowei would not be ashamed or angry over this, nor would she blush for it — only because she had been publicly mocked for it in her previous life, the impression was truly not pleasant, and recently she had been anxious over it.

Most importantly, bleeding every month made her feel the loss was huge; in her previous life she even once suspected that excessive blood loss was why her cold syndrome worsened so rapidly.

Furthermore, she had once asked Qiao Jiang whether everyone gets menstruation; Qiao Jiang said yes; she then asked whether men also get it; Qiao Jiang stared blankly and shook her head — this made Shaowei feel the matter was very unfair.

Hence this question now.

"This bleeding is not that bleeding; it will not cause you to bleed out and waste away." Jiang Fu sat down leisurely on the bamboo couch by the window and explained patiently to Shaowei: "If you reject it, you are going against nature, which instead harms the body in many ways."

"On the contrary, normal menstruation enhances the ability of Qi and blood to cycle and condense, making it easier to prolong life and preserve health." Jiang Fu added lastly: "Not to mention that the arrival of menstruation means you possess the ability to bear offspring——"

Shaowei's eyes suddenly widened.

A smile in her eyes, not a trace of embarrassment in her voice; she sat by the window in her clothes, expression serene, her words even carrying a touch of sacredness: "You've read many god-and-ghost stories lately; you must know that in many myths, the act of creation has always been the supreme divine power — yet this divine power was bestowed upon the women of the world. Whether you use it is up to you, but know that it is at least not a bad thing."

Beyond surprise, Shaowei couldn't help falling into deep thought.

By the time Shaowei came back to herself, Jiang Fu had left and returned, carrying a small bundle which she opened on the bamboo couch; Shaowei subconsciously walked over to look, and saw it was all menstruation supplies.

Fine snow still drifted outside the window; Jiang Fu's voice was unhurried, gentle and persuasive.

Shaowei would glance at those soft things, then glance at Jiang Fu, whose demeanor was equally soft.

"Have you memorized it all?" Jiang Fu asked at the end.

Shaowei nodded.

Jiang Fu looked at this nearly well-behaved little ghost before her.

A good diet, regular schedule, sufficient martial arts training, supplemented by medicinal conditioning — all these made the girl before her look exceptionally full of Qi and blood; her slightly round cheeks were white with a flush of red, brows and lashes jet-black and thick, pupils bright and cunning, nose bridge showing a slight aquiline curve, lips red and full, long thick hair hanging loose, limbs and bones already showing a slender bearing, figure straight and at ease like green bamboo, a faint medicinal fragrance emanating from her whole body.

At this moment, Jiang Fu couldn't help feeling she truly was good at raising children; with a few points of pride she reached out and pinched that well-behaved, soft cheek.

Shaowei surprisingly didn't struggle; though she frowned discontentedly at her, she let her pinch and pull away.

Jiang Fu was curious how compliant she would be, and tried: "Stick out your tongue; Master will check how qualified your first menstruation is."

Shaowei tilted her head back, opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue; just by its length one could tell she had striven hard.

Jiang Fu looked for a while, then frowned: "Everything else seems fine, only the central Qi doesn't seem quite sufficient……"

Shaowei mumbled indistinctly as she withdrew her tongue: "How could that be!"

Her central Qi had always been sufficient beyond dispute!

Jiang Fu's face was dead serious: "If you don't believe me, stick out your tongue again; if your central Qi is sufficient enough, you can maintain rapid alternating breaths; if you can't, then……"

She had not finished speaking when Shaowei, ever stubborn, had already stuck her tongue out again and begun breathing rapidly——

Then……

She suddenly realized she had been thoroughly tricked, had made a complete fool of herself, and abruptly retracted her tongue, her face flushing red, striking out at Jiang Fu, who had failed to hold back his laughter: "……You!"

Jiang Fu laughed until tears came out, collapsing sideways on the bamboo couch, the two wrestling for a good while, ending only when Jiang Fu begged for mercy.

Shaowei stayed in the room changing clothes, huffing with anger, while Jiang Fu sent Mo Li to buy several jin of beef——yesterday in Taoxi Township an old plow ox had died of age, and the owner was selling the beef in the township.

Jiang Fu said he would cook a beef hot pot in the evening, to properly nourish Shaowei.

Mo Li did not know what exactly Shaowei needed to nourish, but hearing there was meat, he was immediately overjoyed, took the money bag Jiang Fu tossed him, and sprinted out the door.

When the snow stopped in the evening, the copper pot was set on the small stove, and the three sat around it in the hall.

Outside the house the cold wind was not fierce; inside the copper pot boiled, mountain mushrooms forming the broth base, fresh tender beef and soybean cheese rolling and tumbling in the pot, lively indeed.

Halfway through the meal, Shan Gu arrived, a lantern in one hand, two jin of venison jerky sent by the Zhou Family Couple in the other.

Mo Li hurried up to receive the jerky, running to the kitchen to hang it up.

Jiang Fu beckoned Shan Gu to sit and eat together; Shan Gu hurriedly shook his head saying he had already eaten the late meal, but not leaving empty-handed, Shan Gu never comes for nothing, he ran to the well and first cleaned up the mess Mo Li left from washing vegetables and peeling mushrooms, then swept the courtyard snow clean, and finally sat outside the hall splitting firewood.

Jiang Fu sighed that Shaowei really knows how to pick people up, not inferior to her as a master.

The master drank more than half a pot of hot wine, talking more than usual, pulling a scroll of bamboo slips from the bamboo box beside her, which was a military treatise Shaowei had never read, probably just delivered by that "household slave" last time.

"Even if not going to war, reading military treatises thoroughly is very important……" Jiang Fu leaned there, her voice already carrying three or four parts drunkenness: "Read military treatises enough, and you can glimpse all manner of human nature; in every losing game human weaknesses are visible. Since ancient times so-called wisdom and strategy are none other than scheming human nature. Much slaughter, when it comes to the end, relies no longer on martial force or weapons, but only on the game of human nature……"

She smiled drunkenly, tapping the bamboo slips lightly against Shaowei's head: "So from the start this master earnestly instructed you, telling you to thoroughly understand human nature; understand human nature to scheme human nature, utilize human nature, even manipulate and defeat human nature……"

Shaowei pinched her chopsticks, shrank her neck dodging the bamboo slips, and asked her: "You so thoroughly understand human nature, one would think you have never lost?"

"This master is merely someone skilled at talking about it; human nature is the most uncontrollable thing, no matter how thoroughly you understand it, understanding is one thing, doing it is another." Jiang Fu leaned back against the three-legged stand behind her, picked up the wine bowl, and sighed: "I this person, by nature greedy for pleasure, if I had known early on fate cannot be changed, I would have washed my neck and awaited slaughter……"

She had said this once before, Shaowei inexplicably felt a sense of hating iron for not becoming steel, and now knitted her brows and asked: "If fate is unjust, repeatedly bullying and toying with you, you would just meekly accept the slaps fate throws at you?"

"If fate repeatedly slaps……" Jiang Fu thought a moment: "Then I would still have to question it once."

Shaowei looked at her, only to see her take a sip of wine, lazily leaning there, saying: "I would ask it why it didn't slap as loudly as last time, perhaps it hadn't eaten?"

Jiang Fu finished speaking, smiled at Shaowei: "Is this not also carefree?"

Shaowei "tsk"ed, not wanting to pay her any more mind.

As Shaowei buried her head eating meat, she did not see a few threads of expectation surface in Jiang Fu's eyes: "You are by nature like a stubborn stone, comparing yourself to this master enduring hardship and labor, with even more courage…… this master may be one who washes her neck awaiting slaughter, but this master's disciple must surely be a fierce little ghost who dares to challenge fate and the general trend."

Shaowei did not speak, but her thoughts wandered along with these words, what is fate? Her living this life again, is that also fate? If so, fate holds such power of life and death, absolute authority, how can a mortal body of flesh and blood possibly defeat it?

But Shaowei turned the thought over, she does not necessarily have to defeat it, even knowing she cannot win, so what, even if she is but an ant, as long as she has not been crushed to death, she dares to stake her last breath and fight to the very last moment, as long as she does not admit defeat she will not lose.

The force with which Shaowei chewed the meat in her mouth unconsciously increased, as if declaring resolve, but as she chewed she suddenly came back to her senses and couldn't help but stare blankly, feeling it was utterly baffling, who is she fighting? Now she only seeks to survive, and then become a wandering knight——

If one must speak of a fighting opponent, at this moment it is at most this pot.

The pot finished blanching the beef, after a few days blanched a meal of fresh mutton, thus steaming hot for three or five rounds, and another New Year's Day arrived.

"When this master picked you up it was the winter month…… count it up, this is already the third New Year's Day our master and disciple have spent together." Jiang Fu stood under the eaves, watching Mo Li and Shan Gu hang colored lanterns in the courtyard, smiling at Shaowei directing them: "Third year already."

……

"In the blink of an eye, this is already the third New Year Festival……"

In the Lu Hou Mansion in Chang'an, hung with even more exquisite New Year lanterns, Feng Xu's wife Lady Qiao stood under the spacious and imposing overhanging gable eaves, watching the busy servants, sighing and asking her confidant maid:

"Returned home the third year now, the illness has also been nursed for a full two years…… that female uncle in Shaoxian Ju still refuses to come out of the courtyard to celebrate the New Year together?"