Chapter 38

The plum blossoms have faded and bloomed again, filling the courtyard with their cool fragrance. Petals drift down onto the snow-covered ground, their white petals dotted with scattered red, like drops of vermilion ink on rice paper.

A sparrow landed on the wall, shook off the snow, and chirped a few times. Along with the bird's chirping, the sound of students reading aloud filled the school, with intonation, rhythm, and emphasis. The students in the room held up their books and swayed their heads in unison.

Yin Qiu tried her best to maintain a proper sitting posture, and secretly let out a long yawn when the teacher couldn't see her.

She was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open.

Although she had slept quite a bit during her trip, the journey was still tiring. Moreover, after her conversation with Gongzi Fan last night, Yin Qiu was unable to calm down for a long time. Her thoughts were complicated and she had many things to think about. She finally closed her eyes before dawn, but before she could fall into a deep sleep, the bell in the disciples' courtyard rang.

Yin Qiu's vision was blurred, and she could no longer see what the text said. She could only subconsciously read along with the other students. She tried to stay awake, but her eyelids became heavier and heavier, and she couldn't help but close her eyes.

Suddenly, a thunderous sound exploded in her ears. Yin Qiu, who was half asleep, was startled by the sudden sound and her hair stood on end. She immediately came back to her senses.

She looked alarmed and opened her eyes to see the teacher standing by the desk, holding a ruler, shouting, "So listless this early in the morning! What were you doing all night? Get up!"

Yin Qiu's drowsiness vanished instantly, and she was no longer sleepy at all. She thought to herself that something was wrong and was about to get up, but before she could, she saw Meng Jing suddenly stand up beside her.

Yin Qiu was still in shock when she realized that the teacher's gaze wasn't on her, but on Meng Jing, who said, "You've only been in school for a short time and you're already so distracted! How many characters can you recognize? How many articles can you recite? You're a good-for-nothing!"

Meng Jing hung his head, his face still sleepy, clearly lacking energy. He didn't react at all to the teacher's scolding, just stood there silently.

Seeing his dejected appearance and his failure to admit his mistake immediately, the teacher became even angrier. He slammed another ruler on the table and roared, "Go stand at the back as punishment!"

Meng Jing rubbed his eyes expressionlessly, picked up his book, and dawdled away from his seat.

Yin Qiu was secretly relieved that she hadn't been discovered, but then she saw the teacher point at her and say, "And you! Do you think I'm blind? Stand up now!"

Startled, Yin Qiu jumped up with a whoosh.

"Neither of them knows what they did last night!" The teacher was furious, looking at Yin Qiu and saying, "I arranged for him to be by your side because you usually perform the best, hoping you could set a good example for him. But what you did was fall asleep with him!"

Yin Qiu quickly bowed and said humbly, "Master, please don't be angry. I know I was wrong and I will not do it again."

"You go stand at the back too!"

After being scolded in front of everyone, Yin Qiu was extremely ashamed and quickly ran to the back with her books in her hands.

The teacher, still furious, gave the two students a good scolding and also reprimanded the other well-behaved students before resuming his lecture with a stern face.

The entire morning passed without the teacher calling them back to their seats. Yin Qiu dared not daydream any longer and studied with extra care. In contrast, Meng Jing seemed indifferent, holding his books loosely in his hand and not paying any attention to the lesson.

When school was over, the students filed out of the classroom to eat in the canteen. The teacher tested the two students on what they had learned that day. Yin Qiu answered fluently and performed well, but Meng Jing answered haltingly and improperly. When the teacher asked a few more questions, he became irritable and threw out a sentence, "I didn't hear, of course I don't know!" and refused to answer again. The teacher was so angry that he cursed and punished the two of them by suspending their martial arts class and not allowing them to eat. They were immediately sent to the library to mop the floor.

·

The library is located on Wenxin Peak. There are two libraries, one for martial arts and the other for literature. The two small buildings are built almost identically, both three stories high. Hearing that a student had come to be punished, the disciples inside were all amused. After explaining the precautions, they all went off to play and laugh.

Cleaning the floors of both buildings was no easy task. Yin Qiu was already panting heavily and covered in sweat after cleaning just one room, her back bent over.

The building was quiet and deserted. Most of the disciples on Wenxin Peak were just doing menial jobs, so no one came to patrol. Yin Qiu finished dealing with one floor, and almost an hour had passed. She carried the wooden bucket downstairs to change the water. When she returned, Meng Jing was still lying motionless on the corridor chair, and the handkerchief in his hand was still dry.

The snowflakes fell endlessly, enveloping the world in a blanket of snow. Meng Jing sat with his head down by the corridor, dressed in a pure white disciple's robe. He looked very thin, and his face was pale and sickly, with furrowed brows, as if he were burdened with worries.

Yin Qiu glanced at him, then looked away.

At this rate, it would probably take until 7 PM to finish cleaning the remaining two floors. Yin Qiu rubbed her arms and was about to go inside when something suddenly hit her back. She reached out and touched it, finding it icy cold.

Meng Jing pinched a few snowballs, tossed them up and caught them again, and met Yin Qiu's gaze with an unfriendly expression: "What are you looking at?"

Yin Qiu frowned, ignoring him, and went inside on her own.

She had barely stepped through the door when she heard Meng Jing's footsteps behind her.

"Stop!" Meng Jing threw all the snowballs in his hand at Yin Qiu and said, "Stop wiping, let's have a fight!"

Yin Qiu paused, wondering what this man was up to now. But after thinking about it, she decided to hold back, not wanting to get into a conflict with him and risk getting into trouble and being punished.

Meng Jing was incredibly frustrated and had nowhere to vent his anger. He wanted to take it out on Yin Qiu, but Yin Qiu was a man who swallowed his anger and ignored him. Meng Jing's punch landed on cotton, feeling utterly powerless, yet he was still furious. He had no choice but to try to entangle Yin Qiu, grabbing Yin Qiu's clothes and saying, "Come on, let's fight!"

Helpless, Yin Qiu finally spoke up: "If you don't do your work, your senior brothers and sisters will come back and complain to the teacher."

"You think I'm afraid?" Meng Jing refused to let go. "Come on! Let's fight!"

Yin Qiu said, "Go find someone else, I won't fight you."

Meng Jing chuckled: "What are you afraid of? If you're upright and honest, then stop hiding from me."

Yin Qiu was shoved a few times by him, almost knocking over the water in the bucket. The more she tried to dodge, the more Meng Jing took advantage of her, grabbing Yin Qiu and pushing her again and again. Yin Qiu was already full of worries, and she kept thinking that Gongzi Fan would come again tonight. She endured it and endured it. Suddenly, she remembered that Meng Jing had beaten her since Qingluo City, and now that he had entered the palace, he still disregarded the palace rules and bullied her in secret. She couldn't help but get angry and turned around and pushed Meng Jing back.

Yin Qiu was merely defending and did not actively attack him, nor did she use much force. However, Meng Jing was pushed backward by her push and finally fell to the ground with a thud.

“I…” Yin Qiu looked at her hand in surprise, “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Meng Jing had never practiced martial arts and was physically weak. Before, in Qingluo City, he was beaten because Yin Qiu was still sick and he didn't want to argue with her. Now, Yin Qiu had been practicing martial arts for many days and had recovered. After all, she had won fifth place in the martial arts test. If they really fought, Meng Jing would no longer be her match.

However, neither of them realized what had happened. Yin Qiu was also surprised that she had casually knocked someone over, and Meng Jing was also taken aback.

"Hypocrite!" Meng Jing was furious. He jumped up and kicked Yin Qiu again. "You still say you won't fight me?"

"I told you it wasn't intentional!" Yin Qiu dodged the attack with a quick movement, while simultaneously raising her hand to stop Meng Jing's incoming fist.

"Fine, you!" Meng Jing's face turned ashen. "You've only studied martial arts for a few days and you think you can defeat me!"

Yin Qiu was at a loss with him, so she could only take a few steps back to create some distance and say, "Stop fighting, it'll only make things worse for us if we make a scene."

Realizing he was no match for Yin Qiu, Meng Jing was utterly defeated and unwilling to accept it. Pointing his finger at Yin Qiu's nose, he declared, "I'm going to fight you!"

After he finished speaking, he suddenly lunged at Yin Qiu, knocking her to the ground. His movements looked fierce, but in reality, they were completely haphazard and lacked any real strength. Yin Qiu watched his every move and dodged each one perfectly, never letting Meng Jing touch her.

Seeing that he was relentlessly pestering her, Yin Qiu couldn't help but feel angry. She kicked Meng Jing away, stood up, and said, "If you keep doing this, I'll go out and call for help."

Meng Jing gasped as she kicked him, gritting his teeth as he said, "...Go ahead and shout!"

Yin Qiu seized the opportunity to stand up, and for a moment she was also a little angry. She said, "You want to fight me so badly, but you can't beat me now. Stop messing around."

Upon hearing this, Meng Jing was slightly taken aback.

Although Yin Qiu was telling the truth, Meng Jing couldn't swallow this insult. He was a few years older than Yin Qiu, yet he couldn't even beat someone younger than himself and was being belittled by her words. It was a great humiliation.

"You..." Meng Jing raised his hand, pointing at Yin Qiu, so angry he could hardly breathe.

Seeing his disheveled appearance, Yin Qiu frowned but didn't say anything more. She picked up the wooden bucket and headed upstairs.

She had only taken a few steps when she heard a dull thud behind her, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground.

Yin Qiu turned around and saw Meng Jing lying on the ground, his eyes rolled back and his body convulsing.

Yin Qiu's expression changed, and she hurriedly dropped the wooden bucket and ran over to help the person up: "What's wrong? Don't scare me!"

Meng Jing's face flushed red, then turned deathly pale. His pupils were unfocused, his breathing was rapid, and his hands and feet first flailed wildly before stiffening.

Seeing his appearance, Yin Qiu knew that he must have been so angry that his heart disease had relapsed. So she quickly put him down and ran outside, shouting "Someone come!" But no one came for a long time. Yin Qiu was anxious. She wanted to run further away to call for help, but she was also afraid that something would happen to Meng Jing after she left. She was really torn and couldn't make up her mind.

Just when they were at their wits' end, they suddenly heard Meng Jing, as if he had caught his breath, weakly say, "Medicine...medicine..."

"Medicine?" Hearing his voice, Yin Qiufu ran back to Meng Jing's side. "Where can I find medicine?"

Meng Jing pointed to his chest with trembling hands.

Yin Qiu quickly touched his chest and felt a small, soft mound. She asked, "This?"

Meng Jing shuddered, as if burned by something, and his voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth: "Bullshit! No...it's not that!"

Yin Qiu was baffled by his scolding, but finally managed to find a medicine bottle. Without hesitation, she quickly poured a pill into Meng Jing's mouth.

Meng Jing called out intermittently, "Water...water..."

Where does this water come from? Yin Qiu looked around for a while but couldn't see any tea table. Helpless, she could only cup a handful of the water she had fetched earlier and feed it to Meng Jing.

After swallowing the medicine and drinking water, it took a long time for Meng Jing to feel better, but he was still sweating profusely from the pain and groaning in agony.

Seeing him so distressed, Yin Qiu was filled with remorse.

If only she hadn't argued with him. She'd tolerated him so many times before, what was there to fear this time? Luckily, Meng Jing wasn't seriously injured, otherwise she would have really become a murderer.

·

Time passed slowly, and the sky outside gradually darkened. The building was still dark, with no lights on.

"Meng Jing?" Yin Qiu knelt on the ground and gently shook the person beside her with their eyes closed.

Meng Jing did not react.

"Meng Jing?" Yin Qiu called again, "Wake up."

"Shut up," Meng Jing opened his eyes with extreme impatience, his gaze icy cold. "You're so noisy."

Yin Qiu, still shaken, let out a long breath and said, "You scared me to death. Are you alright now?"

Meng Jing pressed his chest and hissed as he gasped for breath, saying weakly, "It's all because of you."

Yin Qiu thought to herself, "You provoked me first," but she didn't say it. Instead, she said in a muffled voice, "I really didn't mean to. Is there anything else that's bothering you?"

Noticing the obvious concern in Yin Qiu's gaze, Meng Jing seemed to be taken aback for a moment, then turned his face away and said dryly, "No, go away."

Yin Qiu looked around and saw a low table next to the bookshelf in the hall. She said, "The floor is too cold. Let me help you up and lie down over there."

Meng Jing glanced at her, and still said stiffly, "...No."

Yin Qiu had no choice but to take off her outer robe and cover Meng Jing with it, saying, "If you feel better, get up by yourself. There are still two floors to clean. I have to go and get to work."

The soft outer robe carried a warm body temperature and a unique fragrance that belonged only to young women. Meng Jing frowned, raised her hand to lift the robe, but hesitated and put her hand back down.

"as you like."

Yin Qiu stayed with him for a while longer before carrying the wooden bucket upstairs again. After what had just happened, Yin Qiu's feelings were complicated, but she worked even harder. By the time she finished cleaning all the floors, it was completely dark. When Yin Qiu came down to the lobby, Meng Jing was nowhere to be seen. She didn't know where he had gone.

Winter nights always get dark quickly. Yin Qiu estimated the time and figured the martial arts class must have ended. She was so tired that her limbs ached and her back was so stiff she could barely stand up straight. She hadn't eaten breakfast this morning because she had left in a hurry, and hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day. She was starving and thirsty, but she was mostly sleepy and just wanted to find a place to sleep.

After going outside to empty the dirty water and washing the wooden bucket and cloth, the disciples who were originally stationed in the library returned. After inspecting the contents, they were very satisfied and told Yin Qiu to go back and rest early.

Yin Qiu thought that Meng Jing might have left long ago, so she didn't go looking for him. As she walked out of the gate, she heard several disciples behind her talking: "Girls are so much easier to deal with. They cleaned the floor so well. That kid is obviously a slacker. He hasn't even finished cleaning one floor by now. He's obviously a lazybones. No wonder he was punished by the teacher."

"That's right, his attitude was bad too. He didn't know how to respect us seniors at all. He would talk back to us when we asked him a few questions. He was really lawless."

"You haven't heard of him, have you? I have heard of him though. He caused trouble as soon as he entered the palace and started hitting people. I don't know where this wild boy came from."

“He says he’s sick, but I don’t think he’s really sick. He’s just lazy. Oh well, let’s not worry about him. Anyway, the teacher said he’ll release him when he’s finished cleaning. Let’s go do what we need to do.”

...

The snow was falling heavily at night, and the snow was getting stronger. After hearing these words, Yin Qiu turned around and looked at another small building. At this time, the lamps were lit, and the flickering candlelight reflected a limping figure carrying a wooden bucket on the window paper.

Yin Qiu looked at the shadow, sighed deeply, and stepped down the stone steps.