Chapter 33 Gathering Together

After spending another day at the clinic, Dr. Fang prescribed medicine, and the group returned home.

In the early morning, the thin mist gradually dissipated, and birdsong filled the air.

Jiang Xi sat on the steps under the eaves, looking deep in thought. Yi Sha, carrying breakfast he had taken from the kitchen, saw his apprentice's back as soon as he entered the door and patted his shoulder with the book in his hand.

"Here, the book I said I'd give you a couple of days ago. Make sure Shang girl doesn't see it." She added mysteriously, "This is one of my most treasured possessions."

"Why can't Yunxiao know?" Jiang Xi asked, taking the book wrapped tightly in its cover.

Yi Sha ate the hot meat bun with gusto: "What else could it be? It's just that I'm worried about Shang Yatou being too shy. By the way, I also have an advanced version. Remember to ask me for it after you've finished reading it."

"Thank you, Master." Jiang Xi gently placed the book aside, and seeing that she had finished her breakfast, she stood up and asked, "Master, is it time to practice martial arts?"

"No rush. You look so troubled. What are you thinking about?"

Jiang Xi pondered, knowing that his master, being a martial artist, naturally understood things better than him, and asked, "What constitutes being considered highly skilled in martial arts?"

“Then we must become the best in the world!” Yi Sha replied decisively without hesitation.

The leader of the younger generation is none other than her apprentice!

Jiang Xi hesitated and said, "Number one in the world... When can I become number one?"

Yi Sha pondered for a moment: "Perhaps it's about taking down Mingshan?"

"Mingshan?"

"Yes, Lin Mingshan, an apprentice of an old friend of mine, but you will surpass him one day. Your master believes in you!"

In his excitement, Yi Sha lost control of his strength and slapped Jiang Xiqu on the back, making him unsteady on his feet. He staggered a few steps before finally regaining his footing.

Seeing him turn around, seemingly wondering why he had been patted, Yi Sha coughed lightly, feeling guilty, and changed the subject, saying, "Let's practice martial arts, let's start practicing martial arts."

Because of this mishap, she forgot to ask why he suddenly became interested in the results of his martial arts training.

For several days in a row, nothing happened, and Shang Yuji had a rare moment of leisure. Although it was a bit strange, Jiang Xi always seemed to want to say something but then stopped, with an expression that Shang Yuji couldn't understand.

Unable to bear it any longer, she stopped him after her martial arts practice for the day and asked, "What's wrong? What have you been thinking about these past few days?"

Jiang Xi twisted the hem of her clothes with her fingers and said hesitantly, "I won't lock you in a side room by myself and then bully you."

"?"

This was so puzzling, completely beyond her expectations. She pressed, "Why were you locked in the side room? And how did you mistreat me?"

Jiang Xi crumpled the hem of her clothes, lowered her long eyelashes, and explained, "To prevent others from finding out, I locked you up alone and came to scare you every day, making you... 'fall in love' with me, tricking you into marriage, and then bullying you in a different way after the marriage..."

The plot was so familiar; she could guess what would happen next without even thinking.

Isn't this just a classic case of imprisonment in a dark room, arranged marriage followed by love, and forced family reunion?

More than that, she was curious about where he learned it, since she didn't remember teaching him any of these things: "Tell me, where did you learn it?"

Jiang Xi paused, hesitating for a long time, but unable to lie to A Ji, so she changed her question: "Yun Xiao... are you sensitive about your reputation?"

Shang Yuji smiled warmly: "Do you want me to be thinner, or do you not want me to be thinner?"

Even though Aji was smiling brightly, Jiang Xi felt a little flustered. She quickly loosened the crumpled corner of her clothes, reached out and took Aji's fingertips, squeezed them, looked up at her pitifully, and said, "Don't be angry, I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything..."

Upon hearing the reason, Shang Yuji remained silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed out loud: "It's also thanks to the senior's painstaking efforts."

"Yunxiao, can I continue watching?" Jiang Xi held onto her fingertips and asked softly.

"And you? Do you want to see it yourself?"

Jiang Xi nodded: "I think the things written inside are very interesting."

Aside from some plot points I didn't understand, such as why the protagonist didn't like his childhood sweetheart and fiancée, he was different. He had lived with Aji for so long, and he would die if he left Aji.

I don't understand why someone who likes another would lock that person up and constantly threaten and intimidate them, making them cry every day. He would never do that. Ah Ji looks beautiful when she smiles, and Ah Ji's happiness is more important than anything else.

However, he also learned a lot from the book.

"The book describes how to make candied hawthorn, and I want to make some for Yunxiao too."

Shang Yuji laughed even harder. Most people read books for the intricate and poignant stories, unlike him, who paid attention to the details: "Alright then, I look forward to your candied hawthorns."

As for books, he finally has a hobby, so let him continue to look at them.

"Mmm!" Jiang Xi laughed along.

What he didn't mention is that the book also says that before the wedding, the bride's wedding dress was sewn by herself or her family.

Wedding dress...

He also wanted to make a beautiful wedding dress for Aji!

No, two pieces, three pieces!

The two were having a great time, and Shang Yuji thought the conversation had come to an end. Later, she saw Jiang Xi looking at the books given to her by Senior Yi and did not interfere. Little did she know that there was an advanced version later on!

.

Time flies, and before we knew it, autumn had passed and winter had arrived. In the cold of the twelfth lunar month, everyone in the mansion was dressed in thick clothes.

It snowed lightly last night, the thin layer of snow covering the black tiles as if they had been dyed white.

The sound of whips cracked sharply in the courtyard, the whip's shadow barely visible to the naked eye flashing by until the people in the courtyard stopped moving, revealing the long whip in their hands.

Her long hair, tied up high, swayed as she walked. Looking up, her usually cold face suddenly broke into a smile, much like a white night-blooming cereus still blooming in the snow in winter.

"Take a break," Shang Yuji said.

She took out the warm roasted chestnuts and placed them to one side.

Jiang Xi put away the whip, sat down to one side, and warmed herself by the fire with her.

Skillfully peeling the chestnuts, the peeled chestnuts were then returned to her. While Shang Yuji was busy brewing tea, a few chestnuts slid into her mouth with those long, slender fingers.

Shang Yuji chewed for a moment before realizing the sweet chestnut in her mouth, and said with a smile, "You eat some too."

The sugar used to roast chestnuts was a newly made, snow-white sugar from the Princess's residence. As soon as it was sold, it instantly became a hot commodity in various regions.

Merchants from far away from the capital would travel thousands of miles just to acquire all sorts of novel and exotic goods from the capital.

Yi Sha had something to do and stopped practicing martial arts today. Coincidentally, it snowed for the first time last night, so Shang Yuji took Jiang Xi to see the snow scenery.

Just when she thought the day would pass peacefully, two guests arrived.

Huigu and Acuo from southern Xinjiang.

Although she knew that she had written to the Princess last time, agreeing to inform them of her whereabouts and that they would meet one day, she did not expect it to happen so suddenly.

It seems that the two of them came to the mansion to look for someone as soon as they arrived in Yangzhou.

Shang Yuji asked Jiang Xi to bring the whip, and after entering the main hall, he dismissed the people inside.

After sitting down, the four looked at each other. Hui Gu stared straight at Jiang Xi and spoke first: "He's grown so big."

Jiang Xi remained silent, her gaze shifting to Shang Yuji, and she carefully tugged at the corner of her sleeve.

Acuo leaned back lazily and introduced, "Hello, this is Huigu. You can call me Acuo."

Shang Yuji pointed to herself: "Shang Yunxiao."

He then pointed to Jiangxi: "You should know him, Jiangxi."

Jiang Xi followed behind, nodding.

“What a pity…” Huigu sighed, “She really looks just like Ayue.”

These words caught Shang Yuji's attention. If she remembered correctly, Doctor Yan had said that Jiang Xiqu resembled his biological father more.

However, it seems that the person who knew about Jiang Xi's visit to her mother was this Aunt Hui.

Shang Yuji asked, "Could Aunt Hui tell us the story of Xi Qu's mother?"

Hui Gu withdrew her gaze from Jiang Xi, her voice soft, as if lost in some memory: "Of course. Witchcraft and sorcery are prevalent in the Southern Frontier, and A Yue is a master of it; many in the village are infatuated with her."

One day, she suddenly told me that she wanted to see which was more powerful, the martial arts world outside or the witchcraft in the village. I thought she was just saying it casually, but she was nowhere to be seen the next day.

Her Da'an dialect was still somewhat unfluent, yet it carried a southern Xinjiang accent, which gently drew people into her words as she spoke.

"After a long time, just when the village elders were about to let the matter drop, she returned. She told me that she had fallen in love with a man from Da'an, but unfortunately he was dying and she wanted to use witchcraft to save him."

A-Cuo had never heard Hui-Gu say these things so completely before. Usually, whenever the name of that Da-An man was mentioned, Hui-Gu would react with anger or curses, which meant that A-Cuo only had a partial understanding of what followed.

“How difficult it is to save a dying person, how is this any different from bringing the dead back to life? I advised her to give up, but she insisted on doing so. Ah Yue told me that she had thought of a way.”

She went quiet for a while, and just when we all thought she was about to give up, she stole the clan's sacred artifact and disappeared without a trace.

Hui Gu paused, her expression sorrowful: "When I received the next message, it was a letter she sent to me in the village. In the letter, she said that the Gu had been successfully created, but it was too late. The Da'an woman had already died. She also said that she had a child named Jiang Xiqu."

Jiang Xi blinked, her fingers tugging at Shang Yuji's sleeve. He sat quietly, like a beautiful white porcelain doll painted with ink.

unimportant.

He muttered to himself.

He has Aji, and Aji is the most important person to him.

Hui Gu was reminiscing, Shang Yu Ji was thinking, A Cuo was propping her face up with her hand, rarely hearing the whole story, while Jiang Xi was spacing out.

It's as if everyone here is outside the story at this moment.

"When I heard the news of A-Yue's death, it was too late. By the time I left the village to look for her unborn child, everything had changed, and no one knew where she had taken the child."

Shang Yuji was silent for a moment, then asked, "Did Aunt Hui go to Hebei Province?"

She nodded: "Exactly."

Based on the information provided by Doctor Yan, it seems that Master Jiang is somewhat related to Jiang Xiqu's biological father. However, it is unclear why he moved from Hebei Province to the capital. The move likely occurred after Jiang Xiqu's biological father passed away due to illness and between the passing of his biological mother and the death of Jiang Xiqu's biological mother.

Hebei Circuit, Jiang Prefecture.

The mystery seems to have been partially solved, but the underlying situation remains chaotic.

Just then, a familiar voice came from the beam: "I... I have some news over here. Do you want to hear it?"

In an instant, everyone looked up and the figure in the shadow of the beam was revealed. He was dressed in somewhat dirty and messy black clothes and had a bulging package on his back.

He leaped down from the beam, landing lightly and silently, leaving only a few specks of dust in his wake.

"Hello, my name is Lin Mingshan. I'm the employer, here to complete the task."

With this way of speaking and this appearance, Shang Yuji quickly recalled that this person was the mysterious person who had stopped her in the capital to ask her questions, causing a long queue to form in front of the meat pie stall and forcing her to wait.

Compared to Shang Yuji's surprise, Jiang Xiqu reacted to his name.

Lin Mingshan...the one Master mentioned, the leader of the younger generation?

If you defeat Lin Mingshan, Ah Ji will tell him the answer...