Chapter 263 The Green Plum Blossom Arrives a Step Faster Than Heaven!
dusk.
The sunset was ablaze with fiery red.
The moon hides in the western sky.
Donglin Temple, Sanhui Temple.
Zhao Qingxiu gently pushed open the courtyard gate and walked into the quiet courtyard.
Old Man Sun walked out of the ward, yawning, his white hair quite messy.
"Girl, why are you so late? Where's the food? I'm starving! Is there any meat? Bring me wine, bring me wine! You have to make sure I'm full and have enough, otherwise my hard work all day helping this kid digest the tortoise shell beetle will have been in vain."
"Mmm." Zhao Qingxiu obediently handed over a food box.
Inside the courtyard, Old Man Sun happily accepted the box, pried open a crack, smelled the aroma of wine and food, and walked away satisfied, making way for the room behind him.
Zhao Qingxiu reached out her hand and opened her mouth, but hesitated to speak.
Old Man Sun waved his hand impatiently, trying to shoo them away:
"Go away, by the time he wakes up, the food will be cold. The medicine is too strong, and he'll need some time to digest it. Just leave a couple of steamed buns by his bedside for him to eat when he gets up in the middle of the night."
"Hiss, mute girl, your cooking smells really good, but it's a bit too spicy. I've seen it all before, you can't even order 'mild' spicy food in your hometown. Those two words are more deceptive than any wandering Taoist priest."
"Wait, something's not right." Old Man Sun, whose attention had been entirely focused on the food box, realized something and turned back, muttering to himself:
Why did you bring him food? Aren't you afraid he'll taste it and guess it was you? How will you get out of there then?
"No, no, I must eat all these dishes. I can't leave him here."
The old Taoist priest, dressed in a crane-feather cloak, held delicacies and fine wine in his arms, exuding an aura of righteousness.
The pretty mute girl lowered her head, her small hands, hidden in her skirt, habitually clutching her sleeves.
Standing in the courtyard in the twilight, she brushed a strand of hair that had fallen beside her ear with her fingertips.
"You want to see what he looks like when he wakes up? Do you not trust my medical skills or what?"
Old Monster Sun curled his lip:
"No, even if we pretend to be cooks again, it won't work. He saw what we looked like in the underground palace, so he's definitely suspicious."
He mimicked in a strange voice: "How can a mute girl unwanted by the Beitian Almshouse cook my hometown dishes? Strange, very strange. Could it be my mute wife?"
He caught a glimpse of the mute girl in the center of the courtyard suddenly squatting down and hugging her knees, her small body trembling.
Old Man Sun immediately stopped talking and waved his hand towards the ward behind him:
"Alright, you can go in now."
As the sun set, the old Taoist priest, dressed in a crane-feather cloak, held a food box in one hand and a wine pot in the other, tilting his head back and opening his mouth to catch the trickle of wine.
He smacked his lips and walked away alone, disappearing from the courtyard gate.
A Taoist priest's voice drifted into the courtyard, carrying a profound meaning:
"Dumb girl, take a good look at him before it gets dark."
"Yes, just one last look."
With the sharp-tongued old man Sun gone, Sanhui Courtyard returned to tranquility.
The mute girl, who had been hugging her knees, silently stood up.
He walked to the well, drew a bucket of cold water, and scrubbed his hands, which were covered in vegetable oil, vigorously.
It was wiped very clean.
The sound of the door creaking open echoed in the room bathed in the slanting sunlight of dusk.
Zhao Qingxiu, her feet bathed in the intoxicating glow of the setting sun, paused beside the sickbed of a handsome young man with short hair.
I glanced back into the room.
It's empty.
Two people, one lying down and one sitting, were by the bed.
The mute girl let out a soft "ah" sound and gently stroked Ouyang Rong's thin and resolute face with her fingertips.
Her movements were gentle, as if she were afraid of waking him from his deep slumber.
Now only she and her lover were left.
Zhao Qingxiu suddenly remembered.
The first time they met, it was in the same way:
A quiet dusk, an empty house, a sickbed filled with the smell of medicine.
And there's him, still unconscious...
At that time, her family was one of the poorest in the village. The only wealthy relative mentioned by the elders was her cousin who had married into the Ouyang family.
The Ouyang family was a prominent clan in the village, with many members, and each generation had scholars who passed the imperial examinations.
My aunt didn't have a good life in the Ouyang family either. She was widowed young and had to take care of her only son, who was also frail and sickly.
However, the Ouyang family, being from a poor family, passed down their tradition of scholarship and farming. The clan had designated fertile land, the produce of which was used to support the education of their sons and other young men, and also to provide assistance to widows in the clan.
My aunt's family still lives a much better and more respectable life than my family.
From the time Zhao Qingxiu could remember, she knew that she was a "money-losing child" in her parents' eyes. Later, she had a high fever, and when she opened her eyes, she could only make silly "ah ah ah" sounds. She became a mute girl who was ridiculed and teased by the neighborhood children.
Zhao Qingxiu still remembers the perpetually silent and oppressive atmosphere in that small, simple thatched hut, the family of three eating in silence, and the creaking table.
I remember my father sitting on the doorstep, his back to me, silently smoking his pipe.
I remember that every time my parents looked at me, their brows were furrowed and their eyes held a troubled look.
I still remember their occasional arguments, the earthenware pots and wooden shelves that were smashed on the ground, and so on.
No matter how hard she tried to bury herself in embroidery and needlework to supplement the family income, her little face was full of hope as she looked up, but she still couldn't see her father and mother smiling.
Until that day, a day Zhao Qingxiu would never forget.
A smile finally broke out on her father's sunken face, which was covered with dry, wrinkled lines, as he gently rubbed her little head with its crooked sideburns.
That day, the cloth she wove was not exchanged for rice, but was instead cut by her mother into a new garment.
The mute girl changed out of her tattered clothes, put on new clothes, and was sent to a high-walled compound.
Outside, one could hear the ingratiating voices of the father and mother, and the reluctant-looking Aunt Zhao chatting.
Forgotten in the outer room, she, like today, walked alone into the inner room filled with the aroma of medicine.
I saw him sleeping soundly on his sickbed.
The setting sun cast its golden rays on my profile, as if covering it with a layer of gold, clean, peaceful and beautiful.
Zhao Qingxiu fell in love with Tanlang the moment she first saw him.
I don't know why.
The faces of my father and mother, which I should have remembered clearly, have long been blurred and forgotten, but that glance at them on their sickbed that day has been etched in my memory for many, many years.
Later, as expected, Zhao Qingxiu became Ouyang's child bride.
She didn't blame her parents for "selling" her; on the contrary, she was happy for them because she was finally no longer a money-losing burden who ate rice for free.
Meanwhile, in front of Aunt Zhao and Madam Zhen, the mute girl Zhao Qingxiu couldn't help but lower her head, feeling inferior and guilty, and realizing that she was not good enough for her beloved.
Her beloved was a scholar whom she admired and envied immensely.
Zhao Qingxiu was very content and cherished her husband very much, even though he often coughed on his sickbed and was sometimes awake and sometimes unconscious.
She quietly stayed by his bedside, embroidering with a gentle smile, silently keeping him company.
Zhao Qingxiu will never forget those peaceful and beautiful days by her sickbed.
Later, Tanlang would wake up occasionally and discover that she was mute, but he didn't mind at all.
When he was lucid, he took out the Book of Poetry and began to teach her to write, supporting himself up.
Three hundred and seven characters.
Zhao Qingxiu clearly remembers that Tanlang taught her a total of 307 characters until the white ape appeared by the window.
The first character, which is also her surname, is "Zhao".
The last character is "清" in "有美一人，婉如清扬".
As for the later story of how the restless white ape appeared, causing misunderstandings between her mother-in-law Zhao and her aunt Zhen, and how she was kicked out of the house, Zhao Qingxiu and Ye Weilai told it in detail.
After being taken back to Yunmeng Sword Marsh by her master who happened to be passing by, Zhao Qingxiu spent countless days and nights looking back and fantasizing.
If Tanlang hadn't fallen seriously ill and into a coma at the time, and she had tried her best to explain the truth behind the white ape stabbing her to him with her meager three hundred words of knowledge, perhaps she wouldn't have been kicked out of the house by her mother-in-law and aunts.
But then I thought, such a bizarre thing, even if explained, would be hard for my husband and his aunts and grandmothers to believe.
Or rather, even if she saw the white ape with her own eyes and believed it, her sitting quietly in the deep room, as still as a virgin, attracted a restless white ape that stabbed her young husband.
Perhaps in the eyes of the conservative and closed-minded people in the countryside, this would be an ominous sign; she might even be greeted by a pig cage...
In the words of his master later: It's all fate.
Zhao Qingxiu sometimes believed in fate, and sometimes she didn't want to believe in fate.
People in the martial arts world all praise that Yue Chuzi inherited the mythical spirituality, was born with knowledge, fought against the agile white ape, awakened her peerless swordsmanship, which was perfectly natural and unparalleled in the world.
But only Zhao Qingxiu herself knew that when the white ape sneaked into the house, seemingly to attract the attention of the quiet and mute girl, it mischievously grabbed an embroidery needle and stabbed her lover.
Despite her timidity and cowardice, Zhao Qingxiu bravely picked up the embroidery needle and stabbed the white ape.
Her heart was only devoted to her husband, and she had no desire to learn any peerless swordsmanship.
Is this... fate?
The same thing is happening now. When they found Tanlang twice in Longcheng, he was seriously injured and unconscious both times.
Before the sickbed, the setting sun gradually disappeared, and the view inside the room became dim without anyone noticing.
Zhao Qingxiu bent down and leaned closer, carefully examining his sleeping face, gently stroking it with the four fingers of her right palm.
Before it got dark, she wanted to remember his face.
Because soon, it will be dark for her.
After a short while, the infatuated mute girl slowly lowered her eyes, withdrew her gaze, turned around and walked to the table, putting all the handwriting and manuscripts from her communication with her senior sister, Xie Lingjiang and others over the past few days into her sleeve.
Among the various sentences on these papers were the three hundred and seven words she knew by heart.
It was written by Zhao Qingxiu in a daze late at night when she was keeping vigil by her lover's bedside.
I so want him to see the characters she's learned.
Zhao Qingxiu's gaze fell intently on the last character "Qing" on the paper in her hand.
The name "Zhao Qingxiu" was given to her after she returned to Yunmeng Sword Marsh with her master.
Previously, they had always called her "embroiderer".
On that day, he bid farewell to his beloved and left behind the hometown where he had lived for more than ten years. His master turned around and asked him his name.
Sitting blankly on the muddy ground, she used her index finger to write the character "清" (qing, meaning clear/pure) on the mud beside her.
From then on, the world lost a child bride named Xiu Niang and gained a beautiful young woman named Zhao Qingxiu.
Zhao Qingxiu's story is simple.
Her relationship with Tanlang was also simple.
So simple that there is only one man in her heart.
Clean up all traces she left in the house.
Zhao Qingxiu slowly turned around.
"Cough cough cough—!"
At that moment, a violent cough came from the direction of the bed.
Zhao Qingxiu's delicate body stiffened, and she hurriedly hid in the shadows.
But then, as the coughing of someone on the sickbed grew louder, she, who was nervously biting her lip in the shadows, suddenly realized something was wrong.
Approaching the bedside again, Zhao Qingxiu was stunned for a moment upon seeing Ouyang Rong's pained expression, followed by panic.
"Water...water...water..."
The good news was that the young man on his sickbed finally spoke weakly; the bad news was that his face was flushed, his eyes were tightly closed, and he was gritting his teeth and tearing at the collar of his shirt, as if he was unbearably hot.
"Ah, ah, ah!" Zhao Qingxiu was so anxious that she was pacing around in circles.
She first stepped forward to the table, poured a full cup of cold tea, and fed it to Ouyang Rong.
Seeing that her abnormally hot state showed no signs of abating, the mute girl hurriedly ran out and pulled over an old Taoist priest in a crane-feather cloak who was wiping his mouth with wine.
"What's the matter that's so urgent? Explain yourself... Never mind, it's really hard to deal with someone as mute as you."
Old Man Sun sighed, put his hands in his sleeves, and calmly entered the room.
As he strolled leisurely, he first glanced at the strange-looking Ouyang Rong on the sickbed, then immediately switched to a serious expression with furrowed brows, and gasped:
"not good!
"Dumb girl, it might be that the medicinal properties of the tortoise shell longhorn beetle are too strong, or it might be that the prescription contains safflower and salvia miltiorrhiza that clash, stimulating the vigorous qi and blood in the Guanyuan acupoint below the abdomen."
"ah?"
"Anyway, the situation is not good now."
"Ah ah ee ya!"
"You ask what to do? Well, it's not easy to do, but it's not difficult to do either."
"In short, this child is currently experiencing heat in his blood and qi, with an excessive amount of yang energy in his body, which needs the yin energy of a virgin to balance it."
Without batting an eye, Old Man Sun said in a serious tone:
"I almost forgot, this kid was lacking in spirit before, but his blood and qi in his body had always been vigorous and undiminished. Now, he was unexpectedly ignited by the heavenly lightning... What a disaster."
He looked around, spread his hands, and sighed, "I am a Taoist doctor, not a brothel madam. Where am I supposed to find him a virgin so late at night? Besides, I'll have to pay extra for this extra business."
After hearing this, Zhao Qingxiu, who had been looking anxious, slightly parted her pink lips.
Just then, she noticed that a certain unscrupulous doctor next to her was glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
Her cheeks immediately burned.
But when he turned his head, he saw a hot young man twisting and turning his clothes.
Zhao Qingxiu was at a loss again.
Old Master Sun casually looked away and sighed:
"Hey, it seems there's a rule among Yue women that they can never marry, or they'll be punished. Oh well, rules are the most important. If I don't let him vent his anger soon, he'll be done for...
"I should go and call that pretty female scholar surnamed Xie. She seems to care about this boy quite a bit. And since he's a virgin, she'd probably be willing to grit her teeth and suffer a great loss."
Old Man Sun turned to leave, but as soon as he took a step, his sleeve was tightly gripped by a small hand with only four fingers.
"Uh, mute girl, what are you doing? Let go quickly, it's too late for this child."
She shook her head vigorously, refusing to let go.
Old Monster Sun suppressed a smile, feigning a thoughtful frown: "So what you mean is..."
The mute girl's clear eyes reflected the image of the young man on the sickbed.
For a fleeting moment, I considered helping others achieve their goals, but then I felt inexplicably empty inside, as if I were about to lose everything completely.
This is... her beloved.
Old Monster Sun nodded and said to himself:
"Oh, so you mean, come on over... You young people are really too shy."
Zhao Qingxiu's pretty face flushed bright red instantly, so embarrassed that she wished she could find a hole to crawl into and never come out again.
But Old Man Qiu, with his crane-cloak, had already made the decision for her:
"Being forbidden to marry for life does not mean being forbidden to lose one's virginity for life, right?"
"You're quite resourceful. Alright, I'll prescribe some medicine for you later to cover it up. Just make sure your senior sister doesn't find out. Luckily, we have a gynecological expert here."
"Alright then, I'll go outside and keep watch from a distance. You stay here and think about how to save him."
Old Monster Sun went out.
Zhao Qingxiu buried her face in her chest, quickly closed the courtyard and house doors, took out her sword, stood it in front of the door, and set up a defensive formation.
She turned around, and there were only two people left in the room.
Looking at the familiar empty and quiet house, and her beloved husband's sickbed,
Zhao Qingxiu's face suddenly regained some calm.
Her eyes held a mixture of relief, shyness, and joy.
It's fate.
...
Old Man Sun walked out of the house, away from the Sanhui Courtyard.
He shook his head while drinking.
"This silly girl, since she likes him so much, how can she not want anything in return?"
"We have to ask for something."
"I'm just doing a good deed, but wait, something's not right. Why does it feel like the woman is at a disadvantage in this kind of thing? The mute girl is going to suffer again?"
The old Taoist priest immediately shook his head and muttered under his breath:
"That's not right either. You claim to be a virtuous gentleman, a famous virtuous gentleman? Hypocritical! Don't try to protect yourself and build up some kind of gentlemanly facade."
"Alas, the most righteous are often butchers, while the most ungrateful are often scholars."
...
I don't know how much time has passed.
On a hospital bed.
The young county magistrate closed his eyes and slept peacefully.
The mute girl was clumsy, with teeth marks on her thin neck. Her small face was blank, as if she were lost in thought.
"Hmm... Eeya..."
The mute girl clutched her neck wound, her entire gaze fixed on the pristine white wall in front of her.
The wall is empty, she is full; the wall is hard, she is soft; the wall is white, she is pink; the reflection in her eyes rises and falls; the wall is moving.
She smiled.
In that instant, she finally possessed everything he had.
Okay, I've finished describing the scene I've been wanting to depict. It was all for this bowl of vinegar that I made a meal of dumplings... (holds head in hands)
(End of this chapter)
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