Chapter 2

Hu Xiaotian although he had regained consciousness for half a year, but he took a full four months to recover his physical health; the body bestowed upon him by heaven was not robust, frail and pallid, limbs sore and weak, qi deficient and powerless. The Hu family's wealth was considerable, daily supplied with fine clothes and jade food; logically there should be no malnutrition**, the real reason is that Hu Xiaotian, for the past sixteen years, has always feared sunlight, preferring to hide in dark corners; long-term lack of sunlight naturally affected vitamin D production, thereby affecting calcium absorption, i. e., in the past sixteen years he not only lacked brains but also lacked calcium.

During this half-year, while Hu Xiaotian quietly came to understand the new world, he began to exercise his body with a plan and purpose; with brilliant sunshine, fresh air, pure unpolluted water sources, and abundant, varied, safe and reassuring delicacies, Hu Xiaotian in merely four months trained his body to the point of being called fit and muscular; only those who have experienced death know how important health is to oneself, the body is the capital of revolution, and likewise the capital of enjoying life.

Hu Xiaotian walked at the forefront, wearing a cyan robe whose collar and cuffs were embroidered with silver-thread edging and flowing cloud pattern trims, his waist bound with a wide brocade sash, his head wearing a black gauze cap, on his forehead set a piece of lustrous Lan jade; his height is 1.78 meters, using Dakang's measurement standard it should be close to seven chi five cun, here one chi is about 24 centimeters. On his feet he wore thin-soled riding boots, said to be thin-soled but actually having a three-centimeter height; although not as tall as the thick-soled official boots of seven centimeters deliberately tailored by his old master to increase height, he nonetheless gained some height, so Hu Xiaotian's height naturally exceeded 1.80 meters; walking among the crowd, though not outstanding like a crane among chickens, he could somewhat match the image of a jade tree in the wind.

Hu Xiaotian went out without taking a sedan, but a horse was essential; the groom Hu Fu, who shared his name with a certain American president, held the Water Fire Staff in one hand and led a chestnut-red steed with the other, following behind; the Palace Bell chimed lightly, drawing many sideways glances from passersby; Hu Xiaotian had more than once thought that here Hu Fu's only fate was to lead my horse.

The Hu family young master has many incomprehensible quirks; for example, he likes to lie in the courtyard basking in the sun wearing only a **, insisting on turning his fair skin into a wheat-colored brown-black; another example is that he recently had people dig a pond in the rear courtyard, in which they neither raise fish nor shrimp nor plant lotuses, laid out with bluestone in a neat square, and then each day he takes time to strip off his clothes and swim back and forth inside, frightening the maidservants so much they dare not approach; whenever they pass by, they try to detour as much as possible. If they cannot detour, they must close their eyes, because of this matter, maidservants often bump into the corridor pillars and end up with bruised noses and swollen faces.

Most outrageously, he also hung several sandbags of different sizes on the big tree in the courtyard, and whenever idle he would rush up to kick and punch them, acting like a madman, only stopping when exhausted and drenched in sweat.

The Hu family is wealthy and influential, possessing carriages, sedan chairs, and even hundreds of fine horses, yet this fellow's limited outings are always on foot; as for that chestnut horse, almost every time it is Hu Fu who leads it out and leads it back, rarely seeing him ride it.

In the eyes of the Hu family servants, this young master is someone who likes to torment himself without knowing how to enjoy life; although he has regained his senses and can speak, his mind remains abnormal. To the Hu family, even if a fool becomes a madman it is still an acceptable joy; having endured sixteen years of foolishness, how could it get any worse?

By Cuiyun Lake, visitors thronged; the lake surface was smooth as a mirror, the water color jade-green; afternoon sunlight shone on the lake, silver light like brocade. Row after row of pleasure boats and painted barges moved across the lake's center, startled egrets and herons would occasionally take flight from their resting places on the water, spreading their white wings, drawing beautiful silver arcs in the warm, moist spring sky.

Hu Xiaotian's gaze was captivated by this beautiful spring scenery; white clouds reflected on the lake surface, he saw fish swimming among the clouds, birds flying in the lake water.

Inside the Lan boats and painted barges, pleasant strains of silk and bamboo music would from time to time drift out, occasionally mixed with strings of silver-bell-like laughter; in such fine weather, a girl who had been cooped up in her inner chambers all winter could not help but step out in the name of an outing to get some fresh air; on the lakeshore there were also countless scholars touring and enjoying the spring, i. e., commonly called experiencing life, and of course there were no shortage of wealthy scions who took advantage of the pretense of experiencing life to **.

Those ** scions naturally attract spring‑longing maidens; this season is originally prone to the budding of love‑strings. Hu Xiaotian gazed at the youthful maidens brushing past him—some lovely and graceful, some fresh and appealing—each dressed up, their branches swaying, brimming with feminine charm. Thinking again of the Li family daughter to whom he was betrothed, it is said she has been paralyzed for five years and her appearance is extraordinarily ugly; just as his mood had improved with the lovely spring scenery, it suddenly turned foul—truly, to spend a lifetime guarding such a paralyzed invalid would be more painful than killing him.

The crowd ahead suddenly fell into chaos, people scattering to both sides. A burst of hurried hoofbeats rang in the warm spring air; the blue‑stone paved road and the horses' hooves struck together producing an extremely rhythmic cadence, the fine grass along the wayside trembling slightly in the vibration.

A red‑clad ** astride a rouge‑red steed galloped toward Hu Xiaotian, shouting while riding, 'Make way, make way!' Before the words were finished, she had already arrived before him.

Hu Xiaotian, lost in thought just then, realized it too late; seeing the horse about to crash into him, the red‑clad ** was quick‑eyed and quick‑handed, pulling hard on the white rein; the rouge‑red horse halted its high‑speed Benz momentum, inevitably letting out a long neigh, its forehooves lifted high, almost standing in place.

The horse's hooves suddenly came down, striking the blue‑stone slab with a loud Peng! —the impact was less than two chi from Hu Xiaotian, truly heart‑pounding; if that girl had hesitated another moment, the horse would certainly have sent Hu Xiaotian flying.

The servants behind Hu Xiaotian were frightened till their faces turned pale; their duty is to protect this precious young master, and if the young master suffers any mishap, the Minister Sir will surely have them flayed and torn apart.

Hu Xiaotian was also startled by this sudden appearance; raising his head, he saw the maiden dressed in a red arrow‑sleeved front‑closing warrior garb, over which she wore a cyan‑patterned woven‑silk feather‑soft cape, red lantern trousers, an outer overlay of hollow‑out gold‑embroidered gauze skirt, black thin‑soled embroidered horse boots, her hair bound in a hanging‑bun split style, black tresses divided into two strands, knotted at the top without support, naturally falling, the knot of the bun trailing down to her shoulders like a swallow's tail; her features were as beautiful as a painting, and with this outfit she was truly charming and lovely.

Hu Xiaotian seeing this **, the first thought that rose from his heart was—Beautiful lady! Because he had spent twenty‑eight years painstakingly working and doing business, his love life was a blank; because he was dissatisfied with his own Marriage Pact; because the bright spring sunshine stirred people's hearts; because everyone loves beauty; and furthermore, because his repressed masculine hormones from two lifetimes took effect, making him unusually sensitive to beautiful women.

If the Li family young lady were born looking like this, how wonderful it would be? Hu Xiaotian secretly thought, I don't mind sharing a bed and pillow with you, nor do I mind marrying you and having children; to spend a lifetime in plain, leisurely ease would also be no bad thing.

That red‑clad **'s pretty face was flushed crimson, both from her recent frantic gallop and because Hu Xiaotian's lecherous stare had provoked her; this is an age that stresses the gentleman's conduct—emotion leading to propriety, an age that forbids looking at what is improper, likewise an age where men and women do not engage in intimate contact.

The red‑clad ** was never of a good temper to begin with; first Hu Xiaotian blocked her path, then this fellow stared at her without restraint, her anger flared instantly, she raised her whip and lashed at Hu Xiaotian from head to toe, shouting coquettishly, 'Shameless wretch, what is there to look at?'

Hu Xiaotian never expected the red‑clad ** to actually strike someone; in haste he raised his arm to block, the whip lashed his arm with a Pa! —the blow ripped open his outer garment, leaving a long bloody welt on his arm, burning hot and painful.

When the four servants saw the red‑clad ** dare to injure someone, and moreover strike their young master, they all rushed forward at once; the first to charge ahead was Liang Da Zhuang, Hu Xiaotian's personal attendant, who naturally had to take the lead when his master faced harm. The red‑clad **'s martial skill was not bad; her whip, as if aided by a deity, struck wherever she pointed, beating several servants to the point of unbearable suffering.

Although Hu Fu acted last, his method was the cleverest—capture the bandit by first taking their leader, shoot the person by first shooting the horse; he quietly slipped behind the rouge‑red horse, thrust the Water Fire Staff hard into the middle of its buttocks; the three‑foot‑long staff immediately sank in halfway, the rouge‑red horse jumped and neighed in pain; Hu Fu, who had raised horses for years and understood their temperament thoroughly, knew that making a horse obedient is not easy, but making it disobedient he could devise countless ways.

Although the red‑clad **'s whip lashed with great force, a visible spear is easy to dodge but a hidden arrow hard to guard against; she never imagined her mount would be ambushed, suddenly the horse went berserk, her delicate body was flung violently by the rouge‑red steed, soaring through the clouds and mist.

Hu Xiaotian, having taken that whip lash, still feels the pain to this day; before he could recover, he heard the red‑clad ** give a delighted cry as she flew off the rouge‑red horse; he had to admit, this **'s aerial maneuvers were truly beautiful, like a fairy flying from beyond the heavens, continuously completing a series of graceful and elegant turns in midair.

No matter how beautiful her mid‑air flight, she must eventually fall—gravity! Newton had long proved this. Hu Xiaotian's gaze followed the **'s delicate form, hoping to see her land face‑first, nose bruised and face swollen—who let you whip me? Malice; Hu Xiaotian's recent malice seems unusually great.

The red‑clad ** ultimately did not grant Hu Xiaotian his wish; her flight distance exceeded everyone's imagination—she leapt from the horse's back, flew over the blue‑stone road, sprang across the lush green grass by the lake, and headed straight for the shimmering ripples of Cuiyun Lake.

Medical arts and food‑color were successively banned; Zhangyu felt helpless, this was not the first time, hoping it would be the last. Looking back at Zhangyu's writing career, the Three Palaces 1, 2, and ** have each suffered this misfortune in turn; after clicking his author icon and entering VIP, the only fruit remaining is a single copy of Illusory World Advancing Hand. Old readers will not know for the moment that I have started a new book, and new readers do not yet recognize me, this old diligent Zhangyu; in this storm, Zhangyu's loss is the most severe, without equal.

On the day of opening a new book, I really shouldn't utter such dispiriting words; actually it's not a problem, before long I believe new and old readers will reunite, and I firmly believe our strength this time will necessarily be unprecedentedly strong.

After six years I return to history; many readers have already forgotten that Zhangyu once wrote history, but I am back—just as when I first entered the urban category to prove myself, henceforth the history category will surely have a place for me!

Finally, a word on food‑color: if it can be lifted, it will certainly continue; before the ban on food‑color is lifted, please direct all your support to Jiangshan!