Chapter 4 Hidden Sword Manor

Thirty thousand taels of silver jolted Hengbo awake from her reverie, leaving her somewhat dizzy.

Three thousand taels of silver could support a large family on Biyun Mountain for ten years, and thirty thousand taels of silver would mean that her master and mistress would never have to worry about earning money for the rest of their lives.

Thinking of this, for the first time, Yokobo stopped looking at the dirty boy with his swordsmanship full of mistakes with disdain.

Ever since she discovered the problem with communicating with people, Hengbo has carried paper and pen with her at all times. At this moment, she took out a piece of paper and began to write furiously. After writing a line of large, flowing characters, she presented it to the young master before the ink had even dried.

This time, it was the young master, who was considered both scholarly and martial in the eyes of most people, who fell silent. In fact, when he saw Hengbo communicating with gestures, he guessed that she might be mute, but that shouldn't have made him so speechless. What really left him speechless was that Hengbo, a mute, could write so ugly characters.

After struggling to decipher it for a moment, he finally understood Hengbo's meaning: she could send him home for 30,000 taels, but he had to give her his sword as collateral first, and if the money wasn't enough, he could use the sword as payment.

The young master hadn't expected Hengbo to be so obsessed with his sword, but unfortunately, he had nothing else to offer as a token, so he reluctantly handed it to her. It wasn't that he particularly loved the sword; it was simply that it was a matter of life and death for him.

Seeing how cooperative he was, Hengbo treated him better and even brought him a blanket from the bed so that he wouldn't catch a cold at night.

She placed the sword back beside her, alongside the sword of the same name that her master had given her before she descended the mountain. She looked at it with satisfaction for a moment, then ignored the person and drifted into a light sleep.

Nothing happened that night. When Yokobo woke up, the ship was ready to depart. She ordered food for the two of them and then sat down at the table to eat slowly and leisurely.

The young master hadn't eaten for over three days. Seeing that Hengbo showed no reaction, he didn't dare to sit down at the table and could only endure it. However, no matter how strong his willpower was, his stomach betrayed him and growled. Hengbo glanced at him with a hint of surprise, as if asking why he wasn't eating if he was hungry. Only then did the young master step forward to eat, but while eating, he kept thinking to himself, how could he have the nerve to eat without being invited by his master?

Little did he know that Hengbo had lived in the mountains since childhood, accustomed to independence and freedom. Qingxuzi and Liu Shi never restricted them, letting them roam freely across the mountains. If they missed a meal, they could simply go to the kitchen to heat it up themselves. Therefore, Hengbo had no concept of sharing meals, let alone inviting him.

Hengbo stopped eating after he was full, while the young master, who usually loved fine food, almost devoured all the dishes before stopping.

"To be honest, I am Chu Qingchen, the young master of Hidden Sword Manor, and if nothing unexpected happens, I will be able to succeed him as the sect master when I return. You will need to protect me until I return to the manor."

Upon hearing the words "Hidden Sword Manor," Hengbo subconsciously frowned. Remembering that the last place Ruan Wangshu went after descending the mountain was Hidden Sword Manor, she finally carefully sketched the features of the person in front of her.

Finally having the means to wash up, the young master cleaned himself thoroughly as soon as he woke up this morning. At that moment, a handsome, fair face came into Hengbo's view.

He certainly looks like a young master raised in a noble family.

Since his destination was also Hidden Sword Manor, there was no need for him to make another trip. It's just a mystery why this young master would appear in Biyun Town at this particular time; what is his connection to Ruan Wangshu's death?

Hengbo's mind raced with a thousand thoughts, but her face remained impassive. This young master, though seemingly naive and wealthy, was surprisingly tight-lipped, perhaps due to his recent perilous experience. He refused to reveal what major events had recently transpired at Hidden Sword Manor, who he had offended to be hunted down so far, or why he was in Biyun Town.

Indeed, upon seeing the young master's sword, Hengbo was certain that the source of the trouble she encountered at the inn that day was him, making it an undeserved disaster for her.

Fortunately, she wasn't in a hurry. Since she had to go to Cangjian Manor, there would always be a chance to find out the truth.

After several days of peaceful coexistence on the ship, the two finally arrived in Changzhou.

The day we arrived in Changzhou was the end of March. In particular, the Jiangnan region had fully entered spring, and wildflowers of all colors were blooming all over the riverbanks.

Although there are many flowers on Biyun Mountain, they are mostly white or yellow, and in winter, only honeysuckle is left as an adornment for the snow. Therefore, seeing so many colors at once, Hengbo was truly overwhelmed and could only think that if she could store these scenes in her eyes, she could show them to her senior sister, master, and mistress when she got back.

By the way, even if it were preserved, Ruan Wangshu would never see it again.

Hengbo suddenly felt dejected again. She thought that compared to the dazzling scenery in front of her, she would rather spend her whole life with everyone on the monotonous mountain.

Chu Qingchen adapted quite well to this scenery. Having grown up in Jiangnan, the beautiful scenery that others saw in Jiangnan was nothing more than commonplace to him. Seeing the lush vegetation on the bank only reminded him of the changes that had taken place in Cangjian Manor and even in his own life recently, and he felt a sense of melancholy.

Even so, the young master, who had no outstanding qualities except for his open-mindedness, immediately put aside his feelings and took Hengbo to a clothing store to buy clothes as soon as he got off the boat.

Faced with Hengbo's incomprehension, the young master pointed to his tattered clothes, which looked like strips of cloth, and said righteously, "How can I, the young master of Cangjian Manor, go back dressed like this?"

Hengbo couldn't empathize with the young master's pride, but after he expressed his willingness to repay her tenfold, she still managed to scrape together ten taels of silver to lend to him.

Prices in Jiangnan are extremely high; ten taels of silver can only buy a very simple cotton robe. The young master, who is used to wearing fine silks and satins, naturally looks down on such coarse cloth. However, one has to bow one's head when under someone else's roof, and besides, Hengbo really doesn't have much silver on hand. She only lent him these ten taels because she considered it a tenfold investment.

However, at least he was clothed and wouldn't be mistaken for a beggar on the street anymore. After all, although Cangjian Manor was located in Changzhou, Changzhou was a vast area, and it would take at least several days to get there. He really couldn't show his face in his old clothes again.

Although he had only been away from home for a month, perhaps because he had suffered so much hardship, the young master actually felt a sense of nostalgia upon his return. Every time he encountered something on the street that he had eaten or played with before, he would do his best to introduce it to Hengbo. Hengbo was already feeling excited about everything in Jiangnan, and with someone constantly whispering in her ear, she naturally had a great time along the way.

That evening, the streets were unusually lively for some kind of event. Not only did various vendors set up stalls, but there were also people handing out candy to children. The young master, who had been bored with wandering around for the past two days, immediately dragged Hengbo along when he saw the excitement.

After squeezing through the surging crowd for half a day, the two finally learned from an uncle that tonight was the annual Spring Festival, which not only featured a parade of courtesans but also various eye-catching performances. Many unmarried men and women would also take this opportunity to meet or go on dates.

After saying that, the uncle glanced at the young master and Hengbo with a teasing look. Although he didn't say anything, the young master's face was already burning.

Hengbo didn't react much, but was curious about what the courtesan, who was often described as having unparalleled beauty in storybooks, actually looked like.

After realizing that Hengbo had no reaction, the young master's face gradually cooled down, but he felt inexplicably annoyed, not knowing whether he was annoyed at his own thin skin or at Hengbo's lack of understanding.

When passing by a stall selling masks, Hengbo saw an orange cat mask hanging there and suddenly couldn't move.

She remembered that when she was a child in the palace, her mother kept several cats, one of which had orange fur like this. From the time it was a kitten, it did nothing but eat and sleep. In just a few months, when she was four years old, she found it too heavy to hold.

However, despite complaining about its laziness every day, Hengbo actually loves it the most among all the raccoon dogs.

Noticing Hengbo's lingering gaze, Xiao Shao said nonchalantly, "If you like it, just buy it. It won't cost much anyway."

Hengbo turned her head away and ignored him. She really couldn't understand how this young master could say such things when he didn't have a single penny in his pocket.

Although the young master didn't see Hengbo's expression, after spending the past few days together, he felt he understood her quite well, and he knew what she wanted to say just by looking at her actions.

He then stormed over to the stall, asked the price, casually picked out a white fox mask, slammed down a small piece of silver, and strode away.

The vendor stared silently at the small piece of silver. Judging from his demeanor, he thought the man was some rich young master, but he was even more stingy than him. And yet he still wanted to win the heart of such a beautiful young lady.

Hengbo was still full of surprise when she received the mask from the young master, and gestured to him, "Where did you get the money?"

Indeed, after working under Yokobo for the past few days, the young master has actually learned some sign language without a teacher, and can even sometimes use it to communicate with her.

He thought he was using sign language to protect Yokobo's pride, but Yokobo just thought he was stupid and didn't understand why he needed to use signs if he could speak.

He said irritably, "It was given to me when I was begging." Actually, it was given to him by a beggar when he was fleeing for his life in a sorry state. He was very angry about it at the time, but for some reason, he kept the money until today.

Hengbo never expected that a young master of the manor would stoop so low as to beg for food, and when she looked at him again, she couldn't help but feel more respect for him.

Feeling embarrassed by Hengbo's gaze, the young master quickly picked up the mask he had just bought and put it on his face to prevent her from seeing that his face was burning up.

Seeing this, Yokobo also carefully put on the orange cat mask. Little did she know that her eyes, crinkled with laughter because she had gotten something she liked, had already been secretly exposed to the boy in front of her through the mask.

"A little mouse that's fallen into a honey pot," the young master muttered.

After buying the masks, the two continued their arduous journey with the crowd. Ahead, a girl dressed as the goddess of spring was performing a ritual dance. Her strange makeup, inexplicably rhythmic movements, and the tinkling of her jewelry made her quite eye-catching. Hengbo had never seen such a festival before and was immediately captivated. However, the crowd ahead was already layered upon layered, and she used her slender figure to nimbly weave through the gaps.

However, just as she finally reached the inner circle and was about to stand on tiptoe to look up, she was suddenly bumped hard. Fortunately, she had a stable stance and didn't fall.

Turning my head, I saw a tall man carrying a child tightly in his arms, rushing through the crowd without any regard for others. He disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.

Just as Hengbo was feeling suspicious, a pitiful cry suddenly came from the other side of the crowd: "Yuan'er, where is my Yuan'er?"