Chapter 26 Feng Zhiji He should be called Zhiji, utterly ridiculous! ...

Feng Huaihe had imagined many times, in many scenarios, at what moment he would hold her hand, but he never expected it to be after he was in such a sorry state.

As the gaze shifts downwards, Feng Huaihe's large palm almost completely envelops Zhu Qingbai's delicate fingers. The contrast between her wheat-colored skin and her fair complexion is striking, like a white pear blossom falling on the yellow earth.

Soft and delicate, warm and gentle.

Feng Huaihe pursed his lips, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

The fingers he held were incredibly hot. Zhu Qing quickly pulled her hand away, but she could still feel the lingering warmth on her fingertips. She vigorously rubbed the hem of her skirt, as if that would wipe away the inexplicable heat.

Feng Huaihe remained calm and looked away, saying, "You can go back now."

“Then you…” Zhu Qing looked at the wound on his back with concern.

"It's alright," Feng Huaihe said. "I will take care of the medicine myself."

"All right."

Zhu Qing walked away silently. As she stepped out of the doorway, she wanted to take one last look at Feng Huaihe. She stood under the porch and turned back, only to be met with a pair of deep, dark eyes.

He kept gazing intently at her.

Zhu Qing's heart skipped a beat. That look in his eyes made her want to turn around and leave on the spot, but Feng Ruling was still waiting for her to deliver a message outside the headquarters.

She gritted her teeth and patiently said, "Your father is still waiting outside the shogunate, wanting to ask you to come home. He brought a lot of things from the literary workshop, probably for you. Are you really not going?"

"I'm not going."

Zhu Qing stood by the door, thought for a while, and said, "Actually, in the dream I told you about, if my mother had reached this point..."

She received the insurance policy one day and was drowned the next. She knew that her family needed to rebuild a big house and find a wife for her younger brother.

Who killed her? This was a question Zhu Qing had been deceiving herself about and unwilling to think about, but now she had no choice but to confront it.

She smiled with relief, "I think I'm just like you, I won't go see her."

The evening breeze blew in from outside the door, causing the pages of the book on the table to flutter along with the hem of her skirt. The sunset glowed in the same color, and the evening clouds hung low. In the soft sound, Feng Huaihe gazed at her smile, his heart stirred slightly.

It seemed she wasn't happy in that place called the moon. His fingers twitched restlessly, wishing he could get up, hug her, and soothe her gently.

Perhaps they are all in the same boat, suffering terribly every day.

“But you and I are not quite the same,” Zhu Qing looked up at him, her eyes bright. “Your sisters’ situation is not really your mother’s fault. She just didn’t dare to defy your father because of the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues.”

She said, "She did nothing wrong, so you can actually go and see her."

For some reason, Feng Huaihe suddenly felt the whip marks on his back hurt even more intensely.

He pursed his lips and remained silent, staring down at the lines on the floor.

As the last rays of dawn faded into the horizon and night fell, Zhu Qing didn't linger. "Think it over carefully."

After saying that, she turned and left.

Feng Huaihe looked up and gazed out through the round moon window, seeing her gradually disappearing into the distance under the light of the stone niche, her hazy, beautiful image like a flower in the early morning mist.

-

A crescent moon hung in the dark night sky. It was already night when Zhu Qing and Zhu Feichuan drove their oxcart home.

Along the country lanes of Qingxi Village, the chirping of crickets rises and falls, while the croaking of frogs echoes from the river in front of the houses.

Pushing open the door to the main room, Zhu Zhengyang and Nie Zhen, a married couple, sat around the table, where a small oil lamp was lit.

Nie Zhen was doing embroidery, while Zhu Zhengyang was whittling wooden arrows beside her. The couple occasionally exchanged a few words.

Hearing the door open, Nie Zhen looked up and smiled gently: "Qingqing is back?"

Zhu Zhengyang turned around and asked worriedly, "Why are you back so late today? Did something happen?"

"No, it's just that the new judge is still learning and there are many things he's not yet familiar with, which is why it's late." Zhu Qing didn't mention a word about what happened in the Secretariat.

She sat down next to her sister-in-law, who put the embroidery back in the basket and was about to get up: "I'll go heat up the food."

"Sister-in-law, you rest, I'll go." Zhu Feichuan dashed out.

Zhu Zhengyang poured Zhu Qing a bowl of water and said, "I found a suitable place to live in seclusion while hunting today. There's a cave there with a small entrance, but it's quite spacious inside. We can build a shed there, enough for our whole family to live in. When I join the army, your family can hide there and live there."

Zhu Zhengyang talked at length to Zhu Qing about the cave. Although it was a bit far, it was very close to the water source and there was wasteland around it. He could secretly cultivate some vegetables, set some traps to catch some prey, and raise a few chickens, which would be enough to survive.

But Zhu Qing didn't listen to a word she said.

She had other plans in mind.

At this moment, Zhu Feichuan heated up the food and brought it into the room, and also heated up Zhu Qing's medicine and handed it to her.

While eating, Zhu Qing asked earnestly, "Big brother said he wants to join the army. Have you decided which army to join?"

Zhu Zhengyang pondered: "Let's join Huang Chao, just like we said last time."

Zhu Feichuan said, "Brother, please think it over. Is Huang Chao a rebel now?"

The older brother didn't say anything.

Zhu Qing ate a few bites hastily, then put down his chopsticks and looked at Zhu Zhengyang earnestly, saying, "Brother, if you want to join the army, I have a suggestion. Why don't you head north and join Li Keyong's army in the Jin state?"

"The State of Jin?" Zhu Zhengyang frowned.

The Tang Dynasty is currently divided, and Zhu Zhengyang does not know the specifics of the division. How did Zhu Qing find out?

Zhu Feichuan and Nie Zhen both looked at her with suspicion.

Zhu Qing continued, "Li Keyong is a military talent, and he has a son, Li Cunxu, who is also brave and skilled in battle. Moreover, compared with Huang Chao and Zhu Wen, Li Cunxu is much more benevolent. If we can gain his trust, he will treat our family well."

"How do you know so much?" Zhu Zhengyang asked suspiciously.

Zhu Qing shifted the blame: "I heard it from Feng Huaihe."

"It's him again?" Zhu Feichuan was unsurprised and continued to eat his rice.

Nie Zhen interjected, "But we have no connections or introductions, how can we possibly get to know Li Keyong?"

Zhu Qing said, “I have a plan. I will become Li Cunxu’s strategist and try my best to gain his favor and make him treat you well. We will move the whole family to Jin. My eldest brother will join the army, I will study literature, and my second brother can become a military doctor. In this way, our family will not have to endure the pain of being separated and displaced.”

As Nie Zhen listened, she couldn't help but feel a sense of longing.

She couldn't stop Zhu Zhengyang from joining the army, but she didn't want to be separated from him either. If she had a choice, she would naturally choose a place where they could be together.

She glanced sideways at Zhu Zhengyang, looking at him expectantly.

Zhu Zhengyang secretly took her hand, gently stroking the back of it to comfort her, and said to Zhu Qing, "I don't want you to take risks. Didn't you already give up the path of a strategist, you..."

Zhu Qing: "Brother, if we want a close-knit group, we can't rely on just you alone."

“Brother, you’re being too rigid,” Zhu Feichuan chimed in. “Qingqing is right. Only if we sisters work together can things last!”

He thought for a moment and then said, "However, I have to go on a trade journey and can't stay in Jin with you. I can visit you occasionally when I pass through."

He thought to himself that if Qingqing and his brothers all served the State of Jin, he could offer Jin a discount when he traded goods in the future.

“But I still don’t want you to take any risks,” Zhu Zhengyang said, looking at Zhu Qing with a conflicted expression. “Going to Jin is fine, but not to the strategist.”

Zhu Qing looked at him pitifully: "But I really want to be a strategist, right? Big brother, you certainly don't want me to go on a hunger strike again, do you?"

"..."

Nie Zhen chuckled softly and tugged at Zhu Zhengyang's sleeve.

“Sigh,” Zhu Zhengyang was silent for a while, then finally sighed, “Alright, whatever you say.”

He didn't want to see her go on a hunger strike again; last time, he was so heartbroken he couldn't sleep.

“In that case, if there is a truce, I can go back and see your sister-in-law and Manman,” Zhu Zhengyang said reluctantly.

However, he worriedly asked, "You've taken so much of Tian Lingzi's stuff, can you still quit and leave?"

Zhu Qing: "Yes, I can. I have already told Feng Huaihe that I want to resign. Once he agrees, I can leave the shogunate."

Zhu Feichuan: "I think Feng Huaihe will definitely agree, and he'll even help Qingqing leave the shogunate. He liked playing with Qingqing when they were little. Considering their childhood friendship, he wouldn't refuse, would he?"

Zhu Qing didn't speak; she was actually a little undecided.

Today, when she tentatively brought up the matter of quitting her job, Feng Huaihe's reaction didn't seem like he would help.

At this point, Zhu Feichuan continued, "Once I've finished preparing the grain storage, I'll see you off. I can also visit you whenever I travel for business."

Zhu Qing suppressed his thoughts, not wanting his family to worry, and didn't mention Feng Huaihe's reaction at all. He only said, "Then it's settled. After I quit my job, our family will move to Jin!"

Even amidst chaos and turmoil, she wanted to stay with her family forever!

-

The next morning, Feng Huaihe returned to the Feng residence early.

After decades, returning to this home, even if he had lived to be over a hundred and been weathered by time, when he stepped into the courtyard and looked at the little flowers and grass, the familiar rockery and pavilions, Feng Huaihe felt an indescribable melancholy.

He passed through the moon gate and arrived at the inner courtyard of the Li family.

There is a small spring in the courtyard, and a clump of green bamboo grows beside it. Under the cover of the bamboo leaves, the spring water is clear, and you can vaguely see carp playing.

Feng Huaihe pushed open Li's door.

Li had been ill for many years, and the house was filled with the smell of medicine. As soon as Feng Huaihe entered, the smell hit him, and he was instantly transported back to his past life, to the second half of his life spent in agonizing illness.

He suddenly realized that he and his mother were the same, spending the rest of their lives in such darkness.

Recalling what Zhu Qing had said yesterday, I felt a sudden pain in my heart.

He took a breath, suppressing the many painful thoughts in his heart, and walked around the rustling beaded curtain to see Li Shi on her sickbed.

The bed curtains hung down, blocking out the little light in the room, making it dim and hazy. Only Li's shadow could be seen falling on the bed curtains, a sickly figure withered and emaciated.

A maid brought over a round stool and placed it beside the sickbed. Feng Huaihe lifted his robe and sat down, calling out "Mother" in a distant manner.

“I thought you weren’t coming…” Madam Li picked up a handkerchief and pressed it to her lips, coughing violently a few times. The maidservant quickly poured hot water and fed it to her.

“Simplicity is key,” Mrs. Li said, taking a sip of water to catch her breath, her voice gaining a bit of strength, “before…”

“There’s no need to dwell on the past.” Feng Zhijian raised his eyes and looked at Li’s sickly figure on the bed curtains. “I know how painful it is to be bedridden. This time, Mother will be free.”

After saying this, Feng Zhijian stood up and bowed towards the sickbed: "You only said you wanted to see me once, and now you have. I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."

He turned around and took two steps outside. Suddenly, Li behind him shouted in a shrill voice, "Zhijian!"

Feng Zhijian stopped and turned around.

Seeing Li's withered, pale fingers pull back the bed curtains, and her half-body lean out, looking at him with sorrow and panic: "Feng Ruling has already discovered him. I went through great lengths to beg Taoist Jingwan to invite you here, because I wanted to ask you..."

"Shut up!" Feng Zhijian clenched his fists suddenly.

The two most important women in his life were Zhu Qing and Li Shi.

On their deathbeds, they went to great lengths to see him one last time, hoping he would save others.

Feng Zhijian laughed, a laugh born of anger.

Why doesn't he just stop calling it "Simplicity"? What's with the "Great Way is Simple"?

He should be called "extremely ridiculous" instead!

A note from the author:

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Starting today, Feng Zhijian, no, Feng Zhiji, will begin to act inhuman!

I've finally finished setting the stage, and now it's getting intense! I'll be updating daily from now on, and hehe, after that, be sure to check back for the latest update every night at 9 PM! [hint.jpg] [Please!]