Chapter 525 There is an Assassin

Lord Xie smiled, picked up the teapot beside him, and poured her a cup.

"Thank you." Song Chunxue picked it up and took a sip. "Red date and rock sugar?"

She laughed and said, "It seems you've gotten used to canned tea."

"That's right. Now, after getting up early and washing up, I just wait to drink the canned tea. But I've learned a new trick: eating stir-fried dishes with white steamed buns and drinking canned tea makes it even more enjoyable."

"Huh?" Song Chunxue was extremely surprised. "That's what we farmers eat before plowing in the morning, because we're afraid we won't have enough energy. How could you eat that?"

"I can eat well," Lord Xie said gently, his eyes soft. "Sometimes I practice standing meditation before and after sleep, doing a set of the Eight Vajra Exercises to strengthen my body."

Song Chunxue smiled and asked, "When did you start?"

"About two years ago, I felt my bones were stiff, and I would get sick for three to five days after catching a cold. I thought I could live a few more years. The people I know best, besides Huang Mo, are you and the Taoist priest. You two are both cultivators, so you will definitely live longer than us. I can't become an old and useless person prematurely."

Huh? Is this something Lord Xie would say?

"Your speech has become quite coarse lately, have you been influenced by that?"

"I'm rough around the edges but meticulous at heart. The people around me speak very down-to-earth. If I'm not influenced by them, people will say I'm too pretentious. It's not wrong to be a little more spontaneous."

Song Chunxue saw the paper and pen on the table. "You're still practicing calligraphy?"

Just as she was about to see what he had written, Lord Xie quickly covered it with a book.

“Just write a few words,” he said, his ears slightly burning, but his face calm and composed. “I write a letter to Sister Song every month without fail, but you only reply once every three or four months, though it’s quite long, which means you still consider me a friend.”

He cupped his hands in a joking gesture and said, "Thank you."

Song Chunxue chuckled helplessly, "I'm just too lazy. I don't even reply to Sanwa's letters. I'm becoming less and less willing to talk. The letter also reflects this; I feel very peaceful inside and have nothing to say."

Without the urge to confide in everyone she met, she felt that she had become unusually calm over the past year.

“You’re worried about the Taoist priest, aren’t you? You’ve been like a lost soul since he left. I haven’t heard anyone say that you’re worried about him and looking for him everywhere, but I know very well that you really want to go and find him yourself. Once the matter of Sanwa is resolved, I will send a team of people to accompany you to the desert to find him.”

Song Chunxue pursed her lips.

My nose feels a little sore.

Yes, even she herself had previously felt that she wasn't that worried about her senior brother.

After all, before he met her, his senior brother had always traveled all over the country alone.

She only recently realized that during the years when her senior brother helped her as both a teacher and a friend, she seemed to have taken an elixir and made rapid progress.

Since learning of his disappearance, she has felt a numb, dull pain.

With her loved ones missing and their fate unknown, she kept waiting because her senior brother told her not to worry.

Until recently, she would occasionally wake up from her dreams, desperately wanting to find him.

But she knew nothing about her senior brother.

She didn't want her senior brother to worry, as the quicksand there was said to be able to eat people.

What if her senior brother suddenly appears before her one day and says that he has been in seclusion for a long time and has made them worried?

So she decided that this time she wouldn't rush home from Jincheng, but would try to find her senior brother's whereabouts as soon as possible.

"Give."

A clean white handkerchief was handed to her, carrying the scent of pine incense.

Song Chunxue touched her side; she hadn't brought a handkerchief.

She reached out and took it. "Thank you."

Xie Zheng lowered his eyes and drank his tea. "The Daoist must have encountered some trouble. He is the chosen one and will not be in danger. Just wait patiently for a month. After a month, I can accompany you to search."

“That won’t do. If you get hurt, even the Emperor will punish me.” Song Chunxue hadn’t forgotten that Xie Zheng was a trusted minister whom the Emperor had specially kept here.

Xie Zheng's smile widened. His neatly trimmed and short beard didn't make him look unkempt; instead, it added a touch of composure and wisdom, giving him a very reliable impression.

The butler said he grew the beard to avoid being harassed by matchmakers, but Song Chunxue felt that the beard made him even more charming.

She avoided his gaze. Lord Xie was indeed an outstanding person. Over the years, he had not been tainted by wine and women. In this great dyeing vat, he was an unusual person who attracted envy.

"It's rare to see you all. We've been drinking buddies for a while now, how about we grab a couple of drinks at the pub around noon? We made that promise two years ago, you won't refuse, will you?"

Two years ago?

She remembered; it was the time she gave him two pieces of Huizhou ink.

"Alright, I'll accept your offer. I won't stand on ceremony. I'd like to eat a fish today."

Two years later, she seemed to have fewer concerns. Perhaps the reason why Lord Xie remained single was not because of her, but because he was not swayed by worldly affairs.

It's truly a case of some suffering from drought while others are drowning from floods.

Lord Xie is very different from those who, once they have money and power and are fawned over by others, lose all sense of direction.

Xie Zheng has always been clear-headed and upright.

They left the bookstore together.

They walked side by side on their way to the tavern.

Dressed in a dark blue outfit, Song Chunxue no longer concealed herself as before, and stood with this person with a normal attitude.

She no longer felt inferior, nor did she care about other people's opinions or thoughts.

In the past two years, my spiritual practice has yielded results, and my mindset has changed a lot.

However, it still falls short of Song Chunxue's expectations.

Upon arriving at the private room on the second floor, Xie Zheng ordered sauerkraut fish, stir-fried potato slices, and stir-fried pea shoots for her.

In Jincheng, the staple food is usually a bowl of white noodles, rather than rice.

Unless the shopkeeper is from the South.

Looking at the two bowls of perfectly cooked noodles, white with a hint of green, Xie Zheng couldn't help but sigh.

"I don't know why, but when I ate noodles in Beijing before, I didn't have any particular feeling about the noodles themselves. But the noodles here are delicious even without any side dishes. If you happen to have a chef with strong hands who can knead the dough patiently, the clear soup noodles are so fragrant that they leave you wanting more."

As he spoke, Xie Zheng picked up a mouthful of noodles and put it in his mouth, nodding repeatedly and saying, "It's very chewy."

Song Chunxue also took a couple of bites. "Hmm, the noodles are very chewy, and I don't know if they cut them or pinched them, but they are neat and even, and they look delicious."

She remembered that Xie Zheng used to have no particular fondness for food other than noodles with minced meat sauce. Although he came from a wealthy family, he did not care much about food.

Things seem to have changed now; he's quite particular about the dishes he orders.

She couldn't help but raise this question.

Xie Zheng put down his chopsticks and answered seriously, "Because I used to have a weak stomach and didn't have the means to be picky. I was demoted many times, and sometimes I was demoted to places with harsh conditions. It was good enough to have something to eat to fill my stomach, so I didn't think about what would taste better."

Too.

Three years after her husband passed away, a severe drought struck. In April, when there was no food left, not even millet or millet husks to eat, she even boiled banyan bark into soup.

Back then, people were so hungry they saw stars, and when they saw birds in the trees, they wished they could fly up and swallow them whole.

They ate and chatted, and seemed to get along quite well.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound flew towards them.

Song Chunxue quickly grabbed the empty plate to block it. With a clang, the flying knife aimed at Xie Zheng's head collided with the porcelain plate, and the plate shattered.