Chapter 95
Since the vast majority of people followed the prison van, the usually bustling streets became deserted. The shops and restaurants on both sides of the road had their doors wide open, but there were hardly any people inside.
Vegetable leaves and filth were scattered everywhere on the stone-paved road, creating a mess. Yin Qiushen followed Man Jiangxue with uneven steps, weighed the money pouch at his waist, and said, "It's still breakfast time. We don't need to eat the big fish and meat dishes at the restaurant. Uncle, take me to eat a bowl of noodles instead."
Man Jiangxue gazed at the long street, her eyes sweeping over the vendors who were packing up their stalls one after another, and said, "The candy sellers have all left."
Yin Qiu peeked out from behind her, widened her eyes and looked around. Sure enough, there wasn't a single vendor on the street. Yin Qiu said, "The day's work starts in the morning, why isn't anyone doing business?"
Man Jiangxue pointed to the ground at her feet: "I'm afraid they're all sold out."
Following her finger, Yin Qiu saw a number of bright red, glistening candied hawthorns, as well as many pastries and beautiful sugar figurines scattered on the ground. They must have been bought by the people to smash the prison cart.
"What a waste," Yin Qiu said sincerely. "So much candy, I could have had it."
Yin Qiu has loved sweets since she was a child. Although she has never been a picky eater, she always chooses the sweet dishes first whenever she is at the dinner table. Seeing her regretful expression, Man Jiangxue smiled and said, "Well, there's nothing I can do about it. There's no candy today."
Yin Qiu gave her a resentful look and couldn't help but complain, "It's all my fault, Martial Aunt. I didn't want to eat candy, but you mentioned it to me eight hundred times today, and now I want to eat candy."
Man Jiangxue bent down as if to bend over, and said very seriously, "Then pick it up, wash it, and it's still edible."
"No!" Yin Qiu shouted immediately. "Candy that's fallen on the ground will rot your teeth! That's what my martial uncle said!"
Man Jiangxue said "Oh" and stood up straight as if nothing had happened. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw Yin Qiu's tense expression.
·
During her years at Jingyue Peak, Yin Qiu was spoiled rotten by her fellow guards.
Because she was happy to practice swordsmanship with her senior brothers, she was never late and would even ask them to teach her. Even if her senior brothers ganged up on her while she was practicing, Yin Qiu would not get really angry. She had an excellent temper, so her senior brothers liked her. Seeing that she liked to eat candy, they would all share some of their drinking money and pool it together to buy candy for Yin Qiu.
Yunhua Mountain is far from the city. Even riding a horse to Shangyuan City takes half an hour. Therefore, the palace's supplies are delivered monthly by disciples from the foot of the mountain. So, although the palace's food is not bad, they don't buy snacks or the like. When Yin Qiu was in the disciples' courtyard, Man Jiangxue would bring her some back when she went down the mountain on official business. But since she went to Jingyue Peak, the martial arts world has been peaceful for the past few years. Man Jiangxue rarely leaves the palace, so Yin Qiu rarely gets to eat candy.
More importantly, Man Jiangxue was very strict with her for the first two years, and forbade Yin Qiu from eating candy.
Because her senior brothers bought so much candy during that time, Yin Qiu's cupboard couldn't hold it all. Every day when she went to Mingguang Hall to learn martial arts from Xie Yijun, she would still have candy in her mouth. Since there was no place to spend money in the palace, Yin Qiu would use her money pouch to store her snacks. Every move she made while practicing swordsmanship was accompanied by a sweet fragrance. Xie Yijun saw through her but didn't say anything, but she complained to Man Jiangxue behind her back. When Man Jiangxue heard about it, she defended Yin Qiu, saying that she was still young and no one had ever bought her candy before, and told Xie Yijun to let her do as she pleased.
Xie Yijun didn't want to be a strict elder that the children disliked, so she turned a blind eye to it.
Until one spring night with continuous thunder, Yin Qiu ran to Chenxing Palace with a small pillow, saying that the thunder was scary and that she wanted to sleep with Man Jiangxue. Man Jiangxue pulled Yin Qiu onto the bed and leaned against the headboard to read the palace documents by the light of an oil lamp. For as long as she read, Yin Qiu kept chattering beside her.
Then, unable to bear it any longer, Man Jiangxue threw down the memorial, reached out and pinched Yin Qiu's cheek, saying, "It's almost midnight, and you're still not asleep, still eating candy. I've spoiled you too much. Go down and spit it out."
Yin Qiu quickly spat out the candied fruit in her mouth, and said indistinctly, "No, I don't want to eat anymore... I'm going to sleep now..."
"Give me the money pouch," Man Jiangxue flipped Yin Qiu over like a pancake, her hands patting her waist. "Starting tomorrow, if I see you bringing candy to Mingguang Hall again, I will punish you by making you go to the ancestral hall to light lamps and pray for the ancestors, and copy the Buddhist scriptures one hundred times."
The ancestral hall enshrines the memorial tablets of the various masters of Yunhua Palace. It is a place with few people, and the smoke from the incense burner gives it a strong sense of coldness. Yin Qiu has been there a few times, and seeing those memorial tablets always gives her nightmares. The place she fears most in the palace is the ancestral hall.
Yin Qiu clutched her money pouch with a look of terror, and said righteously, "I won't take it anymore... I'll focus on practicing my sword from now on and I won't take any more candy!"
Man Jiangxue ignored her and snatched the money pouch away. She nimbly got off the bed, pushed open the door, and was about to dump all the food in the money pouch when Yin Qiu, sitting on the bed, cried out in surprise and used her lightness skill to pounce on Man Jiangxue.
In reality, Man Jiangxue was just trying to scare her, but Yin Qiu's pounce caused Man Jiangxue to lose her grip, and the whole bag of candy rolled down the steps with a clatter, not a single piece was spared.
Thunder was still rumbling in the distance, and the soil was already damp before the spring rain even began to fall. Yin Qiu's heart was bleeding, and she hurriedly ran barefoot down the steps to pick up the candies and wrap them in a handkerchief.
Whether she was comforting herself or the candy, Yin Qiu muttered to herself as she wiped it clean, "It's alright, it's alright, it'll still be edible after washing..."
“Eat up,” Man Jiangxue said coldly, standing on the steps. “Candy that falls on the ground will rot your teeth.”
Yin Qiu looked up in disbelief, feeling a little angry. She shouted at Man Jiangxue, "You're talking nonsense!"
Man Jiangxue pointed in the direction of Wu Hui Peak and said calmly, "You've seen Vice Elder Li's rotten teeth. He just ate too much candy that fell on the ground. If you don't believe me, ask Huaiwei."
She was obviously lying to Yin Qiu.
Elder Li is quite old; why would he like sweets? He has spent his whole life studying disguise techniques, spending all his time in his room tinkering with various materials and refining his skills. Moreover, he refused to take on apprentices until a few years before his death, so he had no peers to discuss things with. Whenever he encountered a bottleneck or a problem, he would always take a couple of puffs of tobacco to perk himself up. His teeth were really bad, but not because of eating sweets; it was from smoking.
When Yin Qiu first met Vice Elder Li, he secretly told Man Jiangxue about the old man's rotten teeth. Now, after hearing Man Jiangxue's serious words, Yin Qiu's hand holding the handkerchief was a little loose.
After a long while, Yin Qiu finally couldn't help but pout, on the verge of tears, and complained, "It's all my uncle's fault! Couldn't you have told me before you threw my candy? I could have caught it in time..."
Just as Man Jiangxue was about to retort, "Do I have to report to you if I throw your candy?", she saw several secret guards peeking out from the maple tree like monkeys.
"Oh, Xiao Qiu, your martial uncle is just kidding! That candy is edible!"
"Xiao Qiu is an idiot! You actually believe that?"
"Take it and wash it! Wash it clean before eating, why would it rot your teeth?"
Man Jiangxue's face, backlit by the light, seemed to be coated with a faint glow. This description should have been gentle and warm, but as she stood under the eaves, her whole body seemed to be covered in frost, enough to make people shiver from a distance.
"Haha! Who would have thought that, Ba Xiaoqiu, it was actually your senior brothers who were lying to you!"
"That's right! Uncle-Master is absolutely right! That candy will make your teeth rot!"
"Xiao Qiu, throw her away quickly! Go to sleep early!"
After the disciples of the secret guards finished speaking like they were spilling beans, they immediately fled into the maple forest, their speed like that of being chased by wild dogs, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Holding the candy, Yin Qiu frowned and asked, "Really, I can't eat it?"
Man Jiangxue said, "Didn't you hear what those brats said? Rotten teeth."
Yin Qiu sighed hesitantly, threw away the whole bag of candy, and said sullenly, "Then I won't eat it..."
“You believe them when they say you have rotten teeth,” Man Jiangxue said, “but you can’t believe me when I say I do.”
Yin Qiu stepped on her left foot with her right foot, then her right foot with her left foot, and said, "Who told my martial uncle to throw my candy..."
Seeing her pitiful little appearance, Man Jiangxue felt both annoyed and amused. She picked Yin Qiu up from the ground, went back to the hall, got a wet cloth to wipe her feet, and then put shoes on her.
Yin Qiu dared not speak anymore, and her temper subsided. As soon as Man Jiangxue let go, she hurriedly ran to the couch, but was caught by Man Jiangxue again after only a few steps.
"gargle."
Yin Qiushuang, as if wringing an eggplant, obediently rinsed her mouth before following Man Jiangxue back to her bed, where she fell asleep with a heavy heart.
Early the next morning, the sugar cabinet in Yin Qiu's room was moved to Chenxing Palace.
It rained last night, and the courtyard was damp. A few birds were perched on the maple tree, but there was no one in sight.
But Man Jiangxue still spoke to the maple tree in the same tone as usual: "If any of you think your monthly salary is too high, starting today, it will be halved for all of you."
There was no wind, yet several maple trees trembled for no apparent reason. The secret guards huddled behind the branches and leaves, none daring to make a sound.
Yin Qiu lingered in the bedchamber for a while, waiting for Man Jiangxue to start brewing tea in the hall before she walked out with her head bowed and greeted Man Jiangxue. Then, under Man Jiangxue's indifferent scrutiny, she walked towards Mingguang Hall as if she were being watched closely.
The eldest brother stopped her on the small bridge outside the courtyard and said to Yin Qiu earnestly, "Junior sister, this is all the help we can give you. You should eat less candy and practice your sword more in the future. Don't anger your uncle. Do you know what it means if you anger your uncle?"
Yin Qiu asked, "What does it mean?"
The eldest disciple looked up at the sky and sighed, "It means that the other disciples aren't having an easy time either..."
·
The wind swept away the fallen leaves, leaving a mess on the ground. The wind carried the sweet and fragrant smell of sugar frosting. Looking at the dirty sugar on the ground, Yin Qiu felt as if she had been transported back to that spring night a few years ago.
Now that she's grown up, she naturally knows that Man Jiangxue was lying to her back then. How could eating candy that fell on the ground cause rotten teeth?
Yin Qiu muttered to herself, then looked up at Man Jiangxue, who was also looking at her. The two women exchanged glances and revealed different expressions, clearly recalling the interesting events of that year because of their conversation.
Yin Qiu said, "Outsiders always say how good my uncle is, but my fellow disciples and I all know that he is bad and likes to bully people."
The vendors had all packed up their stalls and gone home. People gradually started sweeping up the dirt in the market. Man Jiangxue pulled Yin Qiuxing to the side of the street and said frankly, "I have never said that I am a good person."
“Now I finally understand why my master is unwilling to accept disciples,” Yin Qiu said mischievously, her eyes gleaming with cunning. “If too many people come to Jingyue Peak, my master will be exposed for what he really is, and his reputation and good name will suffer. My master is afraid that people will discover your true colors!”
Man Jiangxue smiled silently: "That's right, you're absolutely right."
The two walked hand in hand, strolling through the city along the streets. There were few vendors on the street outside the post station, but the market next to it was bustling day after day. Yin Qiu was not very familiar with Yao Dingcheng, and kept looking at the restaurants around her, struggling to decide which one to eat at. Until a teahouse appeared at the end of her line of sight, Yin Qiu turned her eyes and saw a steaming stall set up opposite the teahouse, which was as popular as ever.
Yin Qiu's eyes lit up and she immediately said, "I want to eat that!"
Man Jiangxue glanced at the place and realized it was a noodle stall specializing in wonton noodles. She then led Yin Qiu over, paid, and ordered two bowls.
Each wonton resembles a gold ingot, exquisitely and adorably shaped. The broth in the pot is fresh and fragrant, its aroma whetting the appetite.
When she was ten years old, Yin Qiu was taken away from Sangyu Mountain by Man Jiangxue and brought to Yaoding City. She slept in the inn for a few days in a daze. Then Man Jiangxue took her out for some fresh air. It was there that she ate wonton noodles at this noodle stall. It was also in the teahouse across the street that Yin Qiu learned about her background.
Time flies, and several years have passed in the blink of an eye. Standing in front of the stall, Yin Qiuli seemed to see a sickly and thin little girl in Man Jiangxue's arms, watching the stall owner skillfully cooking wontons.
“I didn’t expect this noodle stall to still be here,” Yin Qiu suddenly said with some emotion. “Back then, I really thought the wontons my uncle bought for me were the most delicious things in the world.”
Man Jiangxue's eyes flickered, and he reached out to touch her head.
There were quite a few customers, and a long queue formed in front of the stall. Just like in the old days, all the seats at the stall were taken up. The stall owner, holding two white porcelain bowls, said with a smile, "Ladies, there are no seats at my stall. Please go sit in the teahouse across the street. You have already paid. I will go and collect the bowls myself in a while."
Yin Qiu smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you."
There weren't many customers in the teahouse today, and the main hall was empty. Yin Qiu specially chose a table by the window and said happily, "I used to sit in this spot too." She looked back and added, "It's just a pity that the storyteller isn't here anymore, so I can't hear any more stories."
Man Jiangxue rinsed the chopsticks with tea and handed them to Yin Qiu, saying, "If you want to hear a story, you'll have to come in the afternoon. Nobody comes to the teahouse in the morning."
Yin Qiu thought about it and agreed. She took a deep breath at the wontons in front of her and smiled, "They smell so good."
These wontons are extremely simple to make. The broth is made from pork bones, white and light, with no extra seasonings. A little pepper is added, giving it a slightly spicy aroma. Sprinkle with chopped green onions, and it's even more fragrant. Eating a bowl of this on a cold winter day will warm you up from head to toe.
Yin Qiu ate with great enjoyment, and while he was eating heartily, he noticed that Man Jiangxue's eating movements were still as elegant and proper as ever, so he asked, "Uncle, are you not used to the food?"
“I’ve heard you talk about this stuff a lot in the past few years,” Man Jiangxue said, her chopsticks held in a special way, with a kind of solemnity. “I tried it today, and it’s nothing special.”
Yin Qiu made a face and said somewhat unhappily, "That's because Uncle Shi has eaten too many delicacies. Naturally, Uncle Shi wouldn't look at these street snacks. Besides, I was starving every day back then and couldn't get enough to eat. Even if you bought me a dry pancake, I would think it was the best thing in the world. Uncle Shi has never been hungry!"
“How could I not have gone hungry?” Man Jiangxue said, “When I was young, there were constant battles in the Northeast. How could I not have gone hungry?”
Upon hearing this, Yin Qiu almost blurted out, "How could the princess go hungry?" Fortunately, she stopped herself in time and kept her mouth shut, secretly thinking how close she had come to disaster!
Yin Qiu silently took a sip of soup, trying to remain calm as she said, "Uncle-Master, you can tell you come from a wealthy family. In chaotic times, wealthy families probably can't go hungry..."
Man Jiangxue put down her chopsticks, poured herself a cup of tea, and said in a calm tone, "Where did you get the idea that I come from a wealthy family?"
Yin Qiu said, "I guessed."
"A guess?" Man Jiangxue looked at her. "Didn't Nangong Min tell you?"
Yin Qiu was stunned, and a sense of panic suddenly welled up inside her.
She paused, swallowed the wonton in her mouth, and said somewhat guiltily, "What do you mean by that, Martial Aunt...?"
“She can tell you things like I didn’t attend my senior sister’s wedding and birth anniversary,” Man Jiangxue said. “Then she certainly won’t be stingy with words about my background.”
Unexpectedly, she indirectly admitted her background at this time, which made Yin Qiu somewhat astonished.
"So...is it true?" Yin Qiu asked in a very soft voice.
Man Jiangxue observed her reaction with great interest, and asked knowingly, "What do you mean?"
Yin Qiu said, "Of course, I'm referring to my martial uncle's background."
Man Jiangxue looked at the hot tea in her cup, her pale face reflected in the tea, becoming slightly blurred in the tiny ripples.
She gave a low "hmm," then met Yin Qiu's probing gaze and said softly, "It's true."
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