Chapter 51: Selling Wine at the Counter (Part 1)
Shen Tang's words made Chu Yao pause, but he quickly recovered and the slight bitterness on his face turned into composure: "In life, we always need to believe in something to survive, or to comfort ourselves. This is just 'a wise man keeps his talents hidden until the right time to act.'"
Otherwise, living would be too difficult.
He endured each day, pouring his heart and soul into it.
From the year before his coronation when he was replaced by Wenxin and had that dream, to the subsequent ups and downs, fifteen years have passed.
Shen Tang sighed, "But this is too painful."
There's no need to suffer so much. Rather than clinging to an unreliable "prophecy," it's better to focus on the present.
Chu Yao shook his head and remained silent.
Faced with reality, did he never waver?
That's impossible.
He was just an ordinary person, and he would waver when faced with endless hardships, more than once.
However, he nipped any wavering in his heart at the first sign of trouble in the bud. Firstly, his temperament wouldn't allow him to give up halfway; secondly, that dream was the only time in his life he had used the "way of the scholar," and how could he be content without considering the outcome and his destiny?
One can know one's destiny, and one can cure stubborn diseases...
If the prophecy in the dream prescription comes true, it means that his life will truly turn around and turn from bad to good, instead of spending his whole life rolling and crawling in the mud at the bottom of the mortal world with a lowly status.
The only thing I didn't expect was—
Chu Yao tilted his head slightly, secretly glancing at Shen Tang.
Goro's destiny was far from what he had imagined.
He believed that destiny should be that of a powerful and ruthless ruler, a righteous bandit, or a chivalrous knight-errant... Such a person should be open-minded and unrestrained, not bound by trivialities or social status, not biased or prejudiced, and not foolish enough to think that a scholar is worthless without literary talent, and would not mind allowing someone of his "lowly" origin to make a name for himself.
However, reality and ideals are always different.
The man riding on the back of the white mule looked to be an eleven or twelve-year-old boy, innocent and naive, which was completely inconsistent with the plans he had devised and formulated over the years.
She is indeed quite lively, innocent, and naive.
Shen Tang didn't have the ability to read people's minds, so naturally she didn't know what Chu Yao was thinking in such a short time.
He muttered to himself, "Ginseng, rhubarb, aconite, rehmannia... these should be the Four Treasures of Medicine, right? Does it refer to the Four Treasures Prefecture?"
Coincidentally, Xiaocheng was the prefectural capital of Sibao County.
Chu Yao said calmly, "Hmm."
Shen Tang understood.
"Then I understand how to interpret this prescription."
The concept of "a few drops of moonlight" is the easiest to understand.
On the surface, it sounds like some strange medicinal ingredient—because according to the usual way of medicine, the so-called "moonlight" should be the morning dew on the leaves or petals that has absorbed enough essence of the yin.
Collect three ounces to use as a decoction ingredient.
But it can also be explained from another perspective.
Yuehua can refer to Yuehua Tower, and Sanliang may have other interpretations, but Chu Yao believes that Sanliang refers to "three taels of silver for redemption", which is why she said that before, but she still has one question.
"What is destiny? What is this incurable disease? Judging from the words alone, I'll assume I am 'destiny,' but I don't know medicine, so how can I cure this incurable disease? Is there some other destiny at play?"
Chu Yao lowered his eyes and said calmly, "I don't know."
"You really don't know?"
Chu Yao remained calm: "I don't know."
Shen Tang didn't ask any more questions. In her heart, she thought, "Old Master Chu is quite pitiful, having no one to rely on. If they get along well, I will take care of him in his old age and see him off in the end, out of consideration for the future 'half-teacher' relationship. Anyway, I am young and strong, and I can support an old man."
Thinking about it this way, I was almost moved by my own actions. It would be a shame not to award her a "Five-Good Youth" certificate.
"Sir..."
They remained silent the whole way, but Chen Tang had mild ADHD.
They're either physically or verbally active, or their mind is racing. They feel restless when they're not busy and have to find topics to talk about so that people will pay attention to them.
Unlike Qi Shan, who sometimes only paid attention to him depending on her mood, Chu Yao was very considerate and responded immediately.
"What are your orders, Wulang?"
“Uh…” Shen Tang paused for a moment. She didn’t actually have anything to do, but she just couldn’t stay still. Chu Yao responded, and she didn’t know what to ask. In a flash, she remembered her encounter in Yuehua Tower. “Does the master know about the power of words to read people’s minds?”
"I know, why is Goro suddenly asking this?"
Shen Tang felt aggrieved just thinking about that "Mr. Gu." For someone with such a vivid imagination like her, "Mr. Gu" was someone she would forever blacklist. She said, "I just met a scholar at Yuehua Tower; his ability to read minds was truly amazing..."
"sharp?"
"I was read and spied on in a single glance, with absolutely no privacy whatsoever," Shen Tang asked. "How should I deal with this?"
"You can't judge a book by its cover." Chu Yao remained calm and composed.
Shen Tang exclaimed "Ah!" and didn't react for a moment.
What do you mean by "you can't see into someone's heart"?
Chu Yao said, “It’s a word of power to resist being spied on. However, it’s not very meaningful to learn it, and it’s generally not needed. There are quite a few scholars who practice mind-reading words, but very few can master it. Every time it is used, it will put a great burden on the literary mind. If the person being spied on is also a literary mind scholar and has some defenses, the price to pay is even greater, and there is a risk of being backfired if one is not careful.”
He had secretly learned similar mind-reading techniques after replacing Wenxin, and he was quite familiar with them.
Shen Tang: "I see. No wonder that person looked like a sickly, prematurely aged man, making one suspect that he would fly away like a kite with the slightest breeze. But with such a heavy burden of incantations, is it necessary to abuse them on me? Or does he think his own lifespan is too long?"
Is the burden too heavy?
I really couldn't tell.
Shen Tang felt that the other person was quite adept at handling things.
Chu Yao had never met the scholar Shen Tang mentioned, so he couldn't judge for himself, but one thing was certain—
"Keep a respectful distance from those who are not good."
Whether that scholar was so powerful that he could disregard his burdens, or whether his "scholarly way" was about reading minds, he was no pushover.
"I understand that, but the tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease... I just hope I'm not so unlucky as to be caught in a fire."
Some things are beyond her control, no matter how much she wants to avoid them.
Given her relationship with Gong Cheng, neither that courtesan nor Mr. Gu would truly trust her; they might even send someone to investigate her secretly.
It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark.
Thinking of this, Shen Tang shook her head—
She wasn't the original owner of this body, and she had no intention of getting involved in messy things. Gong Cheng wouldn't betray her either, since in a sense, the two of them were in the same boat.
With her arrested, can Gong Cheng still rest easy?
As ordinary, law-abiding citizens, we should think more about how to make money than worry about the messy affairs of important figures.
Clothing, food, housing, and transportation—which of these doesn't cost money?
Once she crosses the river and dismantles the Qishan Bridge, she will be left to rely on Mr. Chu for survival, and the responsibility of supporting two people will fall on her shoulders. She, a strong and healthy young woman, cannot expect Mr. Chu to go out and wash dishes to support them if she doesn't provide for the family.
We still need to make money.
Shen Tang had a flash of inspiration and came up with an idea.
"Let's go buy wine jars wholesale."
September 1st, which means it will be available tomorrow! I'm a little nervous, rubbing my hands together.
(End of this chapter)
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