Chapter 6 Replacement 3 I am not a slave
Bai Jinan's kindness hides exploration and scrutiny, just like a hunter exploring and scrutinizing the prey that is about to be caught.
Su He met his gaze and asked, "I wonder what conditions you would like to offer?"
"Girl, are you sure you want to know?"
"Junior must know this."
"Okay." Bai Jinan put down his fishing rod, stood up, and walked out of the valley on the snow.
Su He also hurriedly got up and followed him.
When they reached the mountainside, Bai Jinan stopped and waved to Fang Yicheng who was not far away, "Go back, young man. Don't stand here in the cold wind."
Fang Yicheng did not respond, but watched quietly as the two of them turned the mountainside and disappeared under the heavy snow.
Bai Jinan led Su He into another more hidden melting cave.
The cave was full of narrow stone paths with many twists and turns. After walking for about two cups of tea, I finally arrived at a stone door.
Bai Jinan twisted the stone pillar next to him, and the stone door suddenly opened.
The two of them walked in one after the other.
Torches were burning in the cave, springs were gurgling, and a stone bed was placed in the open space in the middle. A young man was lying flat on the bed, wearing a white robe and with his eyes closed.
Bai Jinan stepped forward and used a wet towel to wipe the man's face and tidy up his clothes.
Then he sat down and sighed deeply, "This is my grandson, Bai Chen. He was born with a fetal toxin, which caused him to suffer from a serious illness. I searched for a good doctor and finally found a life-extending prescription for him. After taking this medicine, he will fall into a five-year sleep. After waking up, he must drink human blood as a guide and recuperate for another five years before the toxin is eradicated."
Su He studied the sleeping man for a moment, then understood: "Senior, do you want me to be your grandson's blood bank?"
Bai Jinan also glanced at his grandson. "If you could use my blood, I wouldn't have to rely on anyone else. However... I'm old and frail, and my blood is turbid. I'm no longer able to do anything useful, so I resorted to this last resort."
Su He muttered: "Five years..."
Bai Jinan emphasized: "It's just regular blood draws, it's not life-threatening."
After a moment, Su He nodded and said, "Okay, as long as Senior can help me reshape my bones, I am willing to provide blood for your grandson for five years."
Bai Jinan breathed a sigh of relief, "The girl is really straightforward."
He gave Su He a steady look, then turned and paced slowly inside the cave. "Looking at your face, I suspect you're not only in dire straits, but also embroiled in a great vengeance. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so determined to reshape your bones. My grandson has been asleep for four years and will awaken in another year. Therefore, I will give you a year to complete your unfinished business. After a year, you must come and donate blood as promised."
Su He replied: "The younger generation will return as scheduled."
Bai Jinan still had a kind look on his face, "I never trust people." After saying that, he suddenly stopped and pushed a pill into Su He's mouth with lightning speed.
Su He was unable to react in time and the pill went into his mouth.
She covered her chest and coughed a few times, then asked in a hoarse voice, "What did the senior give me to eat?"
Bai Jinan replied, "This is the poison of the Heart-Eating Flower. When the poison takes effect, you will feel the pain of thousands of ants gnawing at your heart and hot oil pouring over your bones, until you die from the pain. But don't worry, I will send you the antidote regularly every month. When you return to Fuzi Mountain after a year, I will completely detoxify you."
Su He felt a chill on his back: "Senior is very scheming."
"Having lived to this age, the most profound truth I've learned is that one must be on guard against others, so I hope the young lady will forgive me."
"It seems that the younger generation cannot be forgiven."
Bai Jinan smiled amiably again, "I don't want you to make any mistakes this year, so after I've finished shaping your bones, I'll pass on my poison-making skills to you, hoping you'll be able to protect yourself while you complete your unfinished business."
Su He looked at the white-haired old man in front of him, feeling mixed emotions.
The two reached an agreement and prepared to start bone shaping the next day.
Bone shaping requires extreme concentration and no one else is allowed to disturb you, so the bone shaping location is set in the Rong Cave where Bai Chen is.
Zhang Xiuhua was still puzzled as she sent Su He away. "This old man sculpted my young lady's bones for free. What do you think he wants?"
Su He smiled slightly: "No matter what he wants, at least we got what we wanted."
She naturally couldn't reveal the blood supply matter, otherwise Zhang Xiuhua would definitely jump out to object.
"If the pain is too much for you, Miss...if you can't bear it, then we won't do it."
"Don't worry, auntie. I can handle it."
Su He comforted Zhang Xiuhua and then left alone.
Fang Yicheng stood on the mountain road ahead, holding a sword, as if waiting for her.
When she came closer, he cast his eyes on her face without any pressure for the first time, and stared at her blankly for several breaths.
Su He took the initiative to speak: "Master Fang is finally willing to look me in the eye?"
Fang Yicheng was forced to look away and looked up at the mountains in the distance: "I'm just worried... that I'll forget your face."
Su He didn't care: "Forget it, forget it. I will have a new face anyway."
Fang Yicheng pursed his lips slightly and said no more.
Su He stopped talking nonsense, brushed past him, and walked into the melt cave on the other side.
He stared at her back until she disappeared.
The snow started falling again, flying in large clumps, as if it would drown the entire sky and earth.
Bone shaping is like going back to the furnace and being reborn from the ashes.
The bones, blood, and flesh are ground and crushed by the bone shaper, and then reconstructed into new bones, blood, and flesh. The pain of this process is like the sky falling and the earth collapsing, and one struggling to survive in a desperate situation.
At this time, in Rong Cave, Bai Jinan had hung up Li Shuli's portrait high up, and added a few bright torches on the wall, making the surroundings as bright as day.
There were also two large cushions and a bucket of water on the ground.
Bai Jinan went forward and closed the stone door, then asked Su He to sit on the cushion, and he sat on another cushion.
He asked, "Do you have anything else to say, girl?"
Su He replied: "Thank you for everything, Senior."
"It will hurt, girl, you have to hold on."
"Don't worry, senior."
"Then let's get started."
Su He took a deep breath and replied "Okay".
But in just a moment, she felt a huge force breaking through the top of her head. Her entire head was about to shatter and her entire body was about to crack, like the cracked ice in winter.
The pain from the needle prick came surged throughout her body, causing her to sweat profusely and having difficulty breathing. It was like she was in hell!
Her consciousness was fading, and she seemed to see her mother. Her mother said, "Hehe, just bear with it a little longer. It will pass if you bear with it."
She saw Li Shuli again, and she was cursing, "You lowly slave, how dare you steal my face, you shameless lowly slave."
She said, "I am not a slave."
She was shivering and shaking. She wanted to faint, so she could be unconscious. But the pain was like a ruthless hand, pulling her back, back into the dark and endless hell...
While Su He was enduring the severe pain, Zhang Xiuhua was pacing back and forth anxiously, and from time to time she would go to the melting cave to check.
Fang Yichen was standing outside the cave, almost like a tree stump covered in snow.
Zhang Xiuhua asked, "Is there any movement inside?"
Fang Yicheng replied: "No."
"Does it really require ten days of seclusion?"
"That's what Senior Bai said."
Zhang Xiuhua blew some warm air into her palm and asked tentatively, "Yicheng, do you think this old man Bai Jinan is a good person or a bad person?"
Fang Yicheng said solemnly, "Aunt, why do you say that?"
"You charged thirty taels of silver just for leading the way, but he didn't ask for a cent for shaping my young lady's bones. What do you think he wants? Will he do anything bad to my young lady?"
Fang Yicheng's expression was quite complicated for a moment. After a moment, he said, "Aunt, there's no need to think too much. Just wait patiently."
It was useless to ask, so Zhang Xiuhua sighed and turned back to the Rong Cave to rest.
Rongdong was also Bai Jinan's residence, so she had to check around. She couldn't explain what she wanted to check for, but she just wanted to find some evidence to hold him accountable in case Bai Jinan did anything bad to the young lady.
Zhang Xiuhua walked around the cave and then went to Kongrong Cave where Bai Jinan slept.
There was only a table and a bed in the cave, but there were several wooden boxes under the bed.
Zhang Xiuhua opened the wooden boxes one by one, and found nothing special inside, except some clothes and bottles and jars.
Finally she found a rectangular brocade box in the corner under the bed.
The brocade box is made of rosewood and is carved with exquisite auspicious clouds. It is obvious at first glance that it is of great value.
Zhang Xiuhua couldn't wait to open the brocade box. Inside the box was a scroll inlaid with gold edges. When she opened the scroll, she saw several lines of neatly written words on it, and a seal was printed at the end of the words.
She has never been to school and cannot read.
But she recognized the seal at a glance. Many years ago, the deceased sister Su had told her that such a seal came from the palace, perhaps it was the emperor's seal.
Zhang Xiuhua gasped in fright, quickly put the scroll back, and hastily closed the brocade box.
"The palace" was a place she dared not even imagine.
She was becoming more and more confused and frightened as to who Bai Jinan was...
At this time, a grand birthday banquet had begun in the palace.
The emperor was nearly fifty years old and had been bedridden for many years. The court and the imperial family hoped that this grand banquet would drive away evil spirits and protect the emperor's body.
The Ministry of Rites had begun preparations two months ago, so there was a wide variety of dishes and drinks, and even the fruits on the table were tributes from the Western Regions, and were rare and precious.
The emperor even issued an edict that all civil and military officials in the court could bring their families into the palace for the banquet, so that the emperor and his ministers could enjoy themselves together.
All these grand events are not only opportunities for the emperor and his ministers to enjoy themselves together, but also opportunities for ministers to interact and connect with each other. The best way to connect, besides chatting and socializing, is to establish in-laws.
Through marriage relationships, those who seek profit will get profit, and those who seek sex will get sex.
It can be said that everyone gets what they need and achieves satisfaction.
The emperor was also happy to see this happen. When he was drunk and excited, he couldn't help but grant the marriage on the spot on a whim.
At this time, the banquet hall was crowded with young men and ladies from noble families dressed in gorgeous clothes. They seemed to be well-behaved and polite, but in fact they were secretly looking at each other and glancing at each other in private.
Even Shangshu Ling Zhou Ping came with his grandson Zhou Yuanzhang.
Even the petty official Li Taian came with his concubine Li Jianye.
Xie Wuhen, Shaoqing of Dali Temple, arrived late.
It was not until the banquet was about to start that he appeared at the door of the hall, bored.
As soon as he appeared, there was quite a commotion in the hall, and all the noble ladies stretched their necks to look in his direction.
There was admiration, loss, and even resentment in their eyes.
Xie Wuhen, the only son of the eldest branch of the Xie family, is arguably the most perfect yet most ruthless man in the capital.
He came from a distinguished family and was extremely handsome. His father was Xie Lei, the General of the Cavalry who was personally appointed by the late emperor, and his mother was Xu, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Zhenguo.
When he was ten years old, his father died in the battlefield, and he has since supported the Xie family on his own.
In the imperial examination, he ranked first among the top three, becoming the number one scholar personally selected by the emperor and becoming famous in the capital.
On the battlefield, he led his army to fight against the neighboring Dongyi Kingdom, and defeated the enemy's 50,000 troops with only 5,000 men, shocking the court and the public.
Now, he has just come of age and has held an important position, becoming the youngest Shaoqing of the Dali Temple.
But such a favored son of heaven who is both civil and military and is favored by the emperor, is not interested in women and has no mood for love. He has privately rejected countless marriage proposals. How can people not love or hate him!
A noble lady murmured quietly, "I don't know how to get Master Xie to glance back."
Another noblewoman sighed, "If Master Xie glanced back at everyone, I'm afraid his neck would be broken from looking at them."
Wu Sheng also murmured quietly beside his master: "If I had known there were so many noble ladies present, I should have changed my clothes before coming."
Xie Wuhen came directly from the government office, wearing an official uniform, and he didn't even have time to take off the official seal from his waist.
He said nonchalantly: "What's there to exchange? I'm just here for a meal."
"But the old lady said that if the boss doesn't get engaged, she will kill herself."
"She said she'd been killed in a car accident many times, and if she was going to get into a car accident, she would have done it long ago."
Wu Sheng choked and had nothing to say.
Xie Wuhen was too lazy to pay attention to him. He walked into the hall, greeted his immediate superior, Liu Qinian, the Minister of Dali Temple, and then found a seat to sit down and have his meal.
During the banquet, the emperor sent a eunuch to bring him a cup of golden pumpkin tribute tea, and also told him to go to Weiyang Palace after the banquet.
Xie Wuhen clasped his fists and nodded slightly to the emperor sitting on the main seat not far away, then saw the emperor leave early.
Xie Wuhen ate a few bites of food and left early.
When he walked out of the banquet hall, he caught a glimpse of Shangshu Ling Zhou Ping and Zhongzhou Changshi Li Tai'an sitting at the same table and chatting animatedly.
One is a senior official in the court who is nearly 60 years old, and the other is a sixth-rank minor official who is nearly 40 years old. The two have very different identities, so it is obviously not normal for them to be so friendly.
Wu Sheng, who was standing by, asked quietly, "Boss, do you know the reason?"
Xie Wuhen glanced at him: "Do you know?"
"Of course, my nickname is 'Busy Teller.'" Wu Sheng looked proud, but he lowered his voice consciously: "I heard that the Li family is planning to marry into the Zhou family."
Xie Wuhen frowned: "Is Zhou Ping's grandson going to get married?"
"It's not Zhou Ping's grandson, it's Zhou Ping himself, marrying a second wife."
Xie Wuhen paused: "He's a sixty-year-old man, who would he marry from the Li family?"
Wu Sheng replied, "The Li family's legitimate daughter, Li Shuli, whom the boss has met, is the Miss Li who lives in the West Hill Villa."
Xie Wuhen: “…”
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