Song Tao clutched her forehead, feeling the blood dripping down through the gaps in her fingers.
Yet she stood there, lacking even the courage to ask for bandaging.
Eunuch Wan’s expression was too terrifying, his eyes blazing with ferocity, as if he could devour someone whole.
The Chief Accountant saw this and actually felt a bit of sympathy for her.
He couldn’t help but ask Eunuch Wan, "What do you think we should do about this?"
Eunuch Wan glared fiercely at the Chief Accountant and said sinisterly, "Call the Legal Advisor in!"
Why had he been so bewitched as to listen to Song Tao’s words?
His glance towards Song Tao was filled with disgust.
The Chief Accountant was terrified, quickly pulling Song Tao out.
Seeing that her forehead was bleeding incessantly, he sighed and advised her in a low voice, "You better go find a doctor, and as for Eunuch Wan, I’m afraid you’ll have to exert some effort."
It was like providing charcoal in snowy weather. Song Tao was immensely grateful and quickly sought his advice, "What do you think I should do?"
The Chief Accountant thought for a moment and still gave her a hint.
He stretched out a palm towards her.
That was the fifty thousand taels of silver.
Song Tao’s heart sank.
Although she had managed to drive away some of the Hong Family’s people left in the Kiln Factory using her schemes, there wasn’t enough time, and the accounts could not be fudged. With what little she had managed to secretly save up, it wasn’t even close to fifty thousand taels of silver.
If she gave it all to Eunuch Wan, wouldn’t all her efforts during this time have been in vain? And if she failed to satisfy Eunuch Wan, wouldn’t her investments have been for naught?
Song Tao gritted her teeth and thanked the Chief Accountant.
*
Song Jiyun was making paper kites with Yuan Yunzhong and Song Jixue.
After the Lantern Festival came the Dragon Raises Head festival, which was a perfect time to fly paper kites.
Even before the lights were out, Song Jixue had started tugging on Yuan Yunzhong’s sleeves, begging to go fly the paper kites.
Yuan Yunzhong simply taught her how to make paper kites.
Song Jiyun noticed that Yuan Yunzhong’s teaching was very flexible; not only did he provide broad and varied references but he also adjusted the content, methods, and style of his lessons based on the situation they encountered.
For instance, during the previous Lantern Festival, Yuan Yunzhong had taught Song Jixue how to make a revolving lantern.
And they had indeed succeeded.
Song Jixue held the lantern day and night, which depicted a fluttering bird that seemed to flap its wings and fly due to the rotation of the lamp, unwilling to let go of it.
This involved some elements of physics.
Making a paper kite that could fly in the sky involved very simple mechanics and aerodynamics.
By getting Song Jixue to do it herself, she could slowly grasp these natural sciences during play.
So when she learned that Yuan Yunzhong was teaching Song Jixue to make paper kites, she couldn’t help but come over to take a look.
Then, things went from Yuan Yunzhong teaching Song Jixue to make a paper kite to all three of them making paper kites together; from making a very simple salted fish head and bright paper kite to creating a thirty-foot-long Goryeo paper hundred-legged centipede kite.
Song Jiyun was also seated by Yuan Yunzhong in a bamboo chair under the eaves, helping them draw the pattern of the centipede.
Yuan Yunzhong, who was next to her making paper kites, would occasionally lean over and point out, "Add a touch here to let the color spread gradually, creating a sense of layers, so the centipede’s back appears segmented."
Song Jiyun, of course, knew this, but she enjoyed the leisurely feeling of the warm spring sunlight filtering through the branches and casting shadows on the bluestone bricks in front of them, as if stealing a half-day’s rest.
"What does that matter?" she chatted idly with Yuan Yunzhong. "Once the paper kite is up in the sky, everyone can only see its belly, right? Maybe they can’t even see the belly clearly, just a vague shape of a giant centipede."
Yuan Yunzhong sneered, his fair and slender fingers deftly weaving through the green bamboo strips, a delight to the eye.
"Then you’d better pray to the Bodhisattva that the paper kite I made breaks after just one flight." He lowered his eyelids, his expression serious and focused. "Otherwise, you’ll have to hang this hundred-legged centipede on your wall as a collection."
"Eh, can a paper kite be flown multiple times?" Now it was Song Jiyun’s turn to be surprised.
In her previous life, when she was young, she seldom flew kites and didn’t have many memories of it. In this life, her father often took her when she was little. Some kites would break soon after being launched, wobbling as they fell from the sky; others could be flown multiple times but were very expensive, seemingly made of silk fabric and not as easy to fly as those made of paper.
Song Jixue, huffing and puffing, ran over as she moved the paper kite frame Yuan Yunzhong had finished to the pavilion.
"Sister, brother-in-law bought oil-paper." She was sweating profusely. After Song Jiyun gave her a cup of tea, she continued, "It was brother-in-law who heard that we were going to fly paper kites by the Changjiang River during the Rising Dragon festival and specially had someone buy them from Nanchang!"
She stressed, "It will be you, me, brother-in-law, mother, second sister, Xiao Si, Nanny Zheng... all of us together, oh!"
She added cheerfully, "Brother-in-law also reserved a private room at Guanlan Tower. While mother and Xiao Si play there, we’ll go fly the paper kites. After flying the kites, we can also go to Guanlan Tower for a meal and tea."
Song Jiyun looked towards Yuan Yunzhong.
He had not mentioned it to her.
Yuan Yunzhong responded with a wooden "Oh," and said, "It was Shao Qing’s arrangement. You know how he is, he can’t sit still. He hasn’t really gone out since he came to Jingde Town. Now that the spring breeze feels warm and the clothes are no longer chilling, he wanted to go enjoy the fresh greenery. It’s a good opportunity for Jixue and the others to get out and breathe some fresh air too."
If he hadn’t offered so much explanation, she might have believed him.
Song Jiyun nodded seriously, her teasing remark was about to come out when, speak of the devil, Shao Qing himself arrived.
Shao Qing walked in with a serious expression and a brisk stride.
"Young Master!" After greeting Yuan Yunzhong, he nodded at Song Jiyun and whispered a few words to Yuan Yunzhong.
Yuan Yunzhong frowned, pondering for a while before he put down the bamboo strips, stood up, and clapped his hands, saying to Song Jiyun, "I’ve got something to deal with, I’ll be back soon. Leave the stuff here, and I’ll finish it when I return."
Song Jiyun was not often witness to Shao Qing’s expression; she quickly said, "Go ahead with your business. I’ll take care of things here."
Yuan Yunzhong nodded, swiftly leaving with Shao Qing.
However, they did not return even by the time the drum for the night watches sounded.
Song Jiyun was somewhat worried.
In the middle of the night, it began to rain.
The spring rain murmured, disturbing one’s sleep until the sky began to lighten, and she managed to doze off.
When she awoke, the rain had not stopped.
The branches in the courtyard were sprouting tender green shoots, and the rain-soaked bluestones on the ground glistened wet.
She instructed Xiang Zhan, "Go to Yinyu Hall and ask if Young Master Yuan and Young Master Shao have returned."
Xiang Zhan ran there and back, out of breath, and said, "Miss, Young Master Yuan and Young Master Shao haven’t returned."
They must have been delayed by something.
In the past, they had also been away from home for several days at a time.
Song Jiyun comforted herself.
By afternoon, Steward Wu came to see her. "Eunuch Wan sent an invitation for you to visit the Temple of the Wind God early tomorrow morning," he said.
He added, "The messenger was a servant boy from the Imperial Kiln Factory. He refused even a cup of tea and didn’t accept any reward money. I’m afraid it might be a setup for tomorrow."
"Is there anyone in Jingde Town who doesn’t know that I’ve fallen out with Eunuch Wan?" Song Jiyun nonchalantly took the invitation. "He dares not drink our tea or accept our rewards, which is normal. Don’t worry about it."
Still, being called to the Temple of the Wind God so early in the morning...
She asked, "Do you know if anyone else is going?"
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