Chapter 44 "Sister" is called "Barrier" instead...
By the end of the simple meal, Su Shi felt a strong sense of fullness, unsure whether it was from the delicious stewed mutton or the melon he had just eaten.
Su Shi considered himself to be the latter.
Especially after he "saw through the truth" with his discerning eyes, the increasingly less eye contact between the Eighth Prince and Zhao Xiaolang corroborated his conjecture.
At that moment, Su Shi's mind was filled with all sorts of wildly imaginary scenarios, from bloodline mysteries to dramatic love stories. Even the widely circulated "The Prince Replaced by a Civet Cat" would pale in comparison.
He even felt a sense of mission: he had to keep his friend's secret!
Fusu noticed that as lunch progressed, a mysterious smile began to appear on Su Shi's face. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the Eighth Prince offered to see them off and give each of them a thank-you gift. However, Su Shi did not seem particularly happy; instead, he appeared thoughtful and occasionally worried.
Fusu: "...?"
He went straight to the point: "Are you unhappy?"
Su Shi was taken aback for a moment: "No, no."
Fusu was certain of his judgment: "You're clearly unhappy. What's wrong? Did the Eighth Prince do something to make you uncomfortable? Explain yourself first, he really didn't mean to look down on me."
"Mmm-hmm."
Su Shi: "I'm not blind, of course I can see it!"
It's not just "not looking down on them," it's practically...
Fusu looked at Su Shi suspiciously and asked tentatively, "So you were sleepy after eating and drinking your fill?"
Su Shi: "..."
Don't make me sound like a pig!
But before his friend revealed the truth, Su Shi was unwilling to disclose that he had already discovered the secret. That would have made Zhao Xiaolang extremely embarrassed.
He could only bitterly take the blame: "Well, a little."
"Come on, come with me to the East Market to buy some dried fish for Dongjun. It's money we just earned, might as well spend it!" He pushed Fusu's back. The latter had no choice but to follow.
The two boarded the prince's sedan chair and asked it to take them to a street market, which, according to Su Shi, was the location of the largest pet market in Bianjing.
As soon as he stepped out of the sedan chair, the sounds of dozens of animals and the clamor of human vendors assaulted Fusu's eardrums like waves of sound. The unpleasant odors from animal husbandry further assaulted him, bringing tears to his eyes.
Fusu couldn't control himself: "yue..."
"Young man, young man, are you alright?"
Fusu wanted to say "I'm fine," but the acid reflux was uncontrollable, so he could only lower his head, cover his mouth, and shake one hand repeatedly. His appearance was anything but fine.
This body is too young and too delicate. Raised in the deep palace and cared for by special people every day, it rarely even gets bumped or bruised. It is also well-fed, so it can't stand the smell.
The worst was over. Fusu straightened up, breathing heavily as she wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes: "Let me rest for a while..."
Su Shi twitched his nose: "The smell inside is even stronger. If you go in, you'll definitely throw up again."
what to do?
The area was crowded and chaotic; leaving three-year-old Fusu alone at the market entrance would surely lead to trouble. Su Shi cast a pleading glance toward the servants of the Eighth Prince's mansion beside the sedan chair, who were about to leave.
"Brothers, could you please watch over Zhao Xiaolang for a while before you leave? I'm going inside to buy some dried fish, I'll be right back."
The servants exchanged glances. The leader nodded in agreement: "Alright. Young man, don't worry, we'll wait for you right here. We'll make sure Young Master Zhao doesn't get lost."
These two young men are both honored guests of the prince, and he specifically sent people to escort them to their destination. "There can be no mistakes," were the prince's exact words. If they were to abandon one of them who was unwell and turn around and leave, it would be a clear sign that they didn't want to work there anymore.
"Thank you so much for your help, brothers!"
Su Shi then grasped Fusu's shoulder and said, "Take good rest and stay away from here. I'll be back in a bit."
Fusu was both amused and touched: "Go ahead without worry. Just make sure you don't get left inside."
Su Shi chuckled and said, "If something really happens, I'll just mention Master Jingjue's name."
He waved and turned to squeeze into the crowd. He looked back at Fusu several times along the way, clearly worried about Fusu's health. Each time he turned back, Fusu would wave to people, his expression helpless, but a warm feeling flowing through his heart.
This was the first friend of his third generation.
Su Shi's small figure disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye, leaving Fusu and three servants from the Eighth Prince's residence staring at each other. For a moment, no one spoke, and a faint tension and awkwardness filled the air.
Fusu's toes twitched for a moment, then, unable to bear the awkward silence any longer, he broke the ice. He licked his lips: "Uh, well, gentlemen..."
"What are you doing here!?"
An incredulous voice interrupted Fusu. The speaker glanced at the person behind Fusu and revealed his identity in one sentence: "...His Highness Prince Cheng."
Fusu was so frightened that his heart skipped a beat.
Who? Who recognized him?
After seeing the person's appearance clearly, he couldn't help but marvel at the coincidence of fate: wasn't this the same person who had just appeared in his conversation with Su Shi?
"Little Master Jingjue, what a coincidence, what are you doing here?"
It seems that Jingjue mistook the servants of the Eighth Prince's mansion for people from the palace, and because he didn't see Su Shi, he revealed his true identity.
The servants' pupils dilated in shock as they exchanged glances to confirm they hadn't misheard: His Highness Prince Cheng? Wasn't that the Emperor's own son? No wonder the Prince himself identified him as an honored guest!
Fortunately, they didn't refuse to ask for help... Wait, did they neglect His Highness Prince Cheng in any way?
Several servant cats in the universe.
Jingjue said, "The weather has been hot lately, and several koi in the temple pond have floated to the surface. So the abbot sent me to buy some fish fry."
Yes, when the weather gets hot, the oxygen content in the water decreases, and the fish will naturally suffocate and float to the shore.
Fusu nodded: "Then you should go ahead, little monk. I'll wait here for Su Shi. He went to buy dried fish. You might even run into him and say hello!"
They had only met by chance, and the small talk should have ended there. But Jingjue looked hesitant, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
"What's wrong?" Fusu asked.
Jingjue hesitated for a moment, then stammered, "Does Your Highness still remember that scoundrel who was disrespectful to you at the night market last time?"
"I remember him. What happened to him? Did you let him escape?"
"No, no!" Jingjue quickly waved his hands: "After we taught him a lesson... we caught him and sent him to the yamen!"
cough.
It seems like something has been exposed.
Fusu selectively ignored it.
“We took him to the government office and found a woman in his house. The neighbors said she was his wife. But the woman said that she had been kidnapped by bandits and begged us to take her back to her hometown.”
What Jingjue didn't tell Fusu was that the woman's wounds were extremely shocking and tragic. So much so that he tossed and turned in his dreams about them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have presented Fusu with such a troublesome problem the moment he saw him. Unfortunately, finding people was definitely not Xiangguo Temple's forte.
Fusu: "!!!"
He immediately said, "Could you take me to see it?"
Jingjue hesitated instead, and several servants also hesitated, unsure whether to offer advice—a rogue's house sounded extremely unsafe.
But Fusu's attitude was firm: "Little Master Jingjue, you told me it's because I'm the only one among the people you know who can solve this problem. Then what's there to hesitate about? If you miss this opportunity, you probably won't be able to sleep tonight, will you?"
He then turned to his servants and said, "Could you please come with me one more time?"
The servants, of course, hurriedly replied that they would obey His Highness King Cheng's orders.
Jingjue then realized something was amiss. Those behind him didn't seem to be government officials. Had he gotten himself into trouble? "Who are these people...?"
Fusu: "They are from the Eighth Prince's Mansion."
Oh, someone from the Eighth Prince's mansion? That's alright then. We can still let him intimidate us a bit.
The group quickly made a decision: one of the servants would stay behind to wait for Su Shi's return and then escort him safely back to the Imperial Academy. The rest of the group immediately headed to the location of the poor woman. This group consisted of four people: two burly men and a monk—a group most people wouldn't dare mess with.
During the journey, Fusu said, "Tell me the details about that woman."
"yes."
Jingjue agreed.
But he talked for a long time about the woman's tragic situation. He didn't know anything about where she came from.
Fusu asked in bewilderment, "Didn't she tell you where she's from? How are we going to get her home?"
"She said... she forgot."
Fusu choked for a moment, then sighed, "This is troublesome."
Even in my second life, when the entire country was interconnected, so many trafficked women and children still couldn't return home. How much less so in the Northern Song Dynasty, where information flow was far less efficient?
All he could say was, "I will do my best."
After walking for a while, Jingjue stopped at the entrance of a narrow alley and pointed inside: "Your Highness, we've arrived."
Honestly, if Fusu didn't trust Jingjue enough, he really wouldn't have dared to enter this alley so casually. It was so narrow that only one and a half people could pass through at a time, and looking from one end of the alley to the other, the middle was pitch black, like some kind of natural cave.
Fusu felt a stickiness on his feet, though he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination. He pursed his lips, overcame his mental block, and resolutely went inside. The others followed closely behind, and, guided by Jingjue, pushed open a narrow door.
"……who?"
A faint sound came from inside the room.
The person who pushed open the door was a gaunt woman. She was wearing ill-fitting clothes, clearly men's clothing, with patches of bluish-purple and brownish discoloration crisscrossing and merging where she was exposed, completely obscuring her natural skin color. Even though Fusu was somewhat prepared, he was still startled.
This is the part that was exposed.
What about those that weren't shown?
When the woman saw the strange man at the door, her teeth chattered with nervousness. But when her trembling gaze fell on Jingjue, her eyes suddenly lit up: "Little Master, it's you. Are they... the people you brought?"
"Yes, Third Sister, please let us in."
Without hesitation, the woman named "Third Sister" opened the door and immediately hid far away, concealing her entire body in the darkness. The house was completely dark inside, illuminated only by a sliver of sunlight filtering through the gaps in the roof tiles.
Fusu discovered that near those scattered specks of sunlight, there was an unfinished fabric and a ball of thread.
...Is she making a living by spinning and weaving in Sunlight?
That would definitely be bad for your eyes.
Even ordinary embroiderers become severely nearsighted after working for a long time. How much more so in such poor lighting?
Jingjue said at just the right moment, "Your Highness, as you have seen, Third Sister is extremely wary of strangers. She only became slightly nicer to me after witnessing me beat her husband... cough cough cough! Otherwise, I would have made her move to Xiangguo Temple long ago."
Daxiangguo Temple is a sacred Buddhist site and also has places of charity and almsgiving, so the conditions are obviously better than living like a dark-skinned mole. But San Niang has severe PTSD, and the monks at Daxiangguo Temple are all men. She doesn't dare to move there yet.
"Master, who is speaking?"
“I’ve already said, I’m not a master yet. And this one…” Jingjue gestured to Fusu with his eyes, and after receiving the latter’s permission, he said, “This is His Highness Prince Cheng. The other two are guards of His Highness, they won’t harm you. His Highness will also stand up for you, Third Sister, please pay your respects to His Highness.”
"Your Highness, Prince Cheng?"
Fusu noticed that San Niang's accent was very unique. Although it had traces of Bianjing Mandarin, another accent was also very strong. Perhaps this was the key to deciphering her hometown.
He wanted to get Third Sister to say a few more words.
"Third Sister, may I call you that?"
“…No, no! You shouldn’t call me sister. No, I’m not worthy of you calling me sister.”
Perhaps because she hadn't spoken to anyone for a long time, San Niang's language system often faltered. In addition, it was her first time meeting Fusu, and she was stunned by his identity, so it was quite remarkable that she could speak fluently.
But Fusu immediately determined her background.
"It is the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun."
He said, "It should be called... Jizhou now, right?"
"Huh?" Jingjue was stunned. He seemed to have never expected that the problem that had troubled him for so long would be solved so easily.
"Your Highness, how...how did you know?"
Fusu's expression was strange for a moment: after all, the only place in the world where calling someone "sister" could be called a "barrier" was that place.
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Author's Note: The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun instance is now open!
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