Chapter 571 Resilient Grass

What does it look like?

This question stumped the waiter at the teahouse.

He really didn't remember what the person looked like, only that... it was a person, neither old nor young.

I have no other recollection of that.

"This... I'm sorry, I can't remember." The waiter bowed and said, "Mission accomplished, I should go back and serve tea."

When the waiter returned to the teahouse, Song Chunxue was already on the second floor of the restaurant. She had put an invisibility talisman on herself and was standing outside He Chuan and his group's private room, watching their reactions with great interest.

"He Chuan, what are you trying to do?" The man who had been causing trouble earlier was intimidated and took two steps back. "You're trying to intimidate people with that whip, aren't you? Who gave it to you? And even brought it here specially? You just know how to act like a big shot."

He Chuan tossed his riding whip and flicked it in the direction of the speaker. "I'm just pretending, can't you stand it?"

"Go and call a few of them over. We have to beat him up today to vent our anger."

The man standing in front took a few steps back, and after reaching the door, he gave an instruction to the person next to him.

"Whoosh!"

He Chuan lashed the whip at him, "You're trying to bully the weak, aren't you? You're stirring up trouble and spreading rumors. Why are you running away?"

"You..." The man gritted his teeth and looked at He Chuan, clutching his arm and backing away. Even though He Chuan hadn't brought the whip, he hadn't hit him.

"Get lost! I'll beat you every time I see you from now on!" He Chuan patted the whip in his palm. "I'm not someone to be trifled with. I've been doing quite well these past two years. You're no match for me in a fight."

Looking at the group of people who had fled in disarray, Song Chunxue thought to herself that they were just bullying others. He Chuan was now broad-shouldered and long-legged, completely different from the skinny person he used to be. She estimated that the three of them could not beat him.

With the whips, none of them could get close to He Chuan.

Seeing that He Chuan had the upper hand, Song Chunxue walked down the stairs with satisfaction.

She didn't want to show her face, after all, it was a family matter for the He family, and she didn't want He Chuan to think that she was really treating him like a live-in son-in-law.

She bought a large bag of hidden weapons from the blacksmith and put them into her Qiankun bag. She found that it was full, and everything she needed for going out later would have to be packed into the bag.

Back at the inn, my senior brother was sitting on the first floor eating noodles.

"Senior brother, when do we leave?"

The Taoist priest looked up. "When do you wish to leave?"

"Let me check the situation first. He Chuan is in Liangzhou City. I'll ask him if he wants to go back together."

The Taoist priest held the bowl with one hand and made some calculations with the other.

"Well, then let's set off tomorrow. I'll visit an old friend on the way this afternoon."

Song Chunxue nodded, thinking to herself that her senior brother always had old friends wherever he went.

"Don't you want to ask General Sun how he reacted when he learned about our battle situation?"

"What was the reaction?" This question piqued her curiosity.

The Taoist priest poured some vinegar into the bowl, stirred the wide noodles, scooped them up, and blew on them. "He also wants to become my disciple."

"Senior brother agreed?" Song Chunxue pondered seriously. "That's a good idea. You can teach him kung fu in the military camp, be his master and his strategist at the same time, giving him guidance and commanding respect. How wonderful!"

The Taoist priest shook his head. "It's no use. He doesn't have the patience now. His mind is unsettled, so it's hard for him to learn. Besides, it would be good enough if he could just hold on to it in the future. This country doesn't have many years left. If we interfere too much, it will only hasten its decline."

Song Chunxue's eyes widened. "What? Is my fate sealed? Does that mean that not many years after I died in my previous life, a new dynasty began to rise?"

The Taoist priest nodded. "Yes, in less than ten years, the whole world has changed dramatically. The east was not defended, and the country was occupied by the grassland people."

Song Chunxue was greatly shocked, "I thought there was at least a hundred years left, so wouldn't my grandsons and great-grandsons be..."

The Taoist priest shook his head slightly, "Don't ask me to calculate this. Revealing heavenly secrets will bring divine punishment."

"Then I..."

The Taoist priest looked up at her, finished the rest of the noodles, and took a sip of soup.

"Live in the moment, don't worry about the future. Compared to your previous life, you have already rewritten your destiny, and your children have also changed a lot. What do you have to worry about?"

Song Chunxue smiled and lowered her head; she was just curious.

However, if she lives a long life, she will be able to wait for what's to come.

"Does your promise to go to Jiangnan still stand?" To be honest, she no longer really believed her senior brother's words.

"Of course it counts. If you don't mind the heat, we'll tell your family when we get to Jincheng and then we'll leave."

Where are you taking me?

Just then, a familiar voice came from the doorway.

The two brothers looked up and saw Lord Xie, dressed in dark purple casual clothes and wearing black official boots, stepping across the threshold.

Song Chunxue asked in surprise, "Xie... what are you doing here, Junior Brother?"

Upon hearing the word "junior brother," Xie Zheng smiled helplessly and slowly sat down in front of them.

"After receiving a letter from a former colleague requesting help, I followed you here. I wonder how you two senior brothers fared in the battle? Were you injured?"

Seeing his serious expression, Song Chunxue lowered her head and chuckled, pressing her lips but still unable to suppress it.

The Taoist priest also lowered his head and smiled.

Xie Zheng was confused. "What are you two laughing about?"

I looked down at my clothes and they seemed perfectly normal; there was nothing inappropriate about them.

He raised his hand to straighten his square hat, and there was nothing wrong with it.

"It just feels quite mysterious. The day I first met you, I never dreamed that one day you would call me senior brother. Hahaha, I can't help but laugh when I hear that title."

The Taoist priest nodded. "I never expected that Lord Xie would take the initiative to seek me out to learn Taoism and become my junior brother. If he had been more aware of this sooner, you would be calling him senior brother now."

Helpless, Xie Zheng picked up the coarse tea poured by the waiter and took a couple of sips. He was very thirsty after a busy morning.

He ordered a bowl of potato and cabbage noodles and a cucumber salad. "My two senior brothers, would you like anything else to eat? Don't you drink alcohol?"

"I'm not drinking anymore. A little wine is good for the soul, but guzzling is bad for your health. I have things to do this afternoon." The Taoist priest stood up. "You guys chat, I'll drink again when I get back tonight."

"Yes, take care, senior brother."

"Okay, let's drink when my senior brother comes back."

After they finished speaking, they looked at each other and smiled, and then they couldn't stop smiling.

As she laughed, Song Chunxue suddenly realized something.

She turned her head to look at the sunlight streaming through the threshold, illuminating the blue bricks beneath it. The bricks, worn smooth by footsteps, sank slightly. A layer of dust covered the old blue bricks under the banyan wood threshold. Looking up, she saw people strolling leisurely past under the layered wooden eaves.

She loved midday like this; it was wonderful to be alive, to feel the warmth of the sun and the gentleness of the breeze.

"Lord Xie, you are a scholar. In this situation, don't you intend to compose a poem?"

Xie Zheng was taken aback, and his gaze shifted from the outside to her face.

Song Chunxue wore a light blue long-sleeved shirt, and her dark blue vest was embroidered with mature patterns, which made her bright black and white eyes shine.

Judging from her eyes alone, she looks twenty years younger than when we first met.

He had been saddened by his repeated demotions and depressed by the unfulfilled love of his youth. He had spent many years in exile, but he saw the vitality of spring in this woman.

Two lines of poetry flashed through his mind.

"Women are just as capable as men, and their beauty surpasses that of men."

"The Central Plains have long been home to many strong grasses, with joints like arrow bamboo and flowers like rice."

She was like a resilient grass, growing into a slender bamboo in just six years.