Bai Kou felt an inexplicable hostility toward this woman disguised as a man. Upon hearing her words, she quickly spoke up, but Xia Qingyu glared at her, then turned to Sang Luzhi and smiled, "It is just a superficial understanding; there is no need for you, Miss, to listen to this maidservant's nonsense."
"Hypocritical."
Lu Yunxiao gave a cold snort. He recalled that this ex-wife had clearly cured his grandmother earlier—a critical illness that even the Imperial Physician was helpless against and had declared terminal. Yet now, she claimed to have only a "superficial understanding." If that wasn't hypocrisy, what was?
Xia Qingyu ignored him. Seeing that they had reached the entrance of the village and thinking that the sky was growing dark, and that the wind had become damp—a clear sign that rain was about to fall—she couldn't help but feel secretly relieved. She thought to herself that since she had encountered a scumbag, it was best to ignore him; the important thing was that she hadn't been caught in the rain.
"Madam Xia, are you still planning to spend the night at Madam Shi's house?"
As the ox cart drove into the village, Brother Ye turned his head and asked with a smile. Seeing Xia Qingyu nod, he laughed, "Then hurry along. It smells like chicken soup; Madam Shi must have slaughtered a rooster..."
Before he could finish, he saw a young boy not far away walking over with two roosters in his hands. His expression turned serious, and he muttered, "Whose child is this? Isn't that the rooster with the reed-flower feathers from Madam Shi's house that he's carrying?"
A chicken thief?
Xia Qingyu suddenly looked up, staring intently at the two large roosters in the young boy's hands. The fat roosters struggled incessantly in his grip, yet he didn't seem to find it strenuous at all as he walked past the ox cart with ease.
Are children in ancient times all this capable? Xia Qingyu was completely baffled. She also felt that this chicken theft was being carried out a bit too openly and honestly. Because suspicion had arisen in her heart, she was just about to ask when she heard the boy's crisp voice say, "Brother Huang, I bought two large roosters. I'll have the host pick the dried mushrooms hanging on their roof and stew them together; it will be very nourishing. The Young Master hasn't been feeling well these past few days, so he needs some nourishment."
"So it turns out they were bought."
Xia Qingyu muttered to herself and let out a sigh of relief. Watching the boy and the man he called Brother Huang enter the Zhou family's courtyard, she smiled at Brother Ye, "It seems these are more travelers looking for lodging. Sister-in-law Zhou is about to give birth, so having this stewed chicken to nourish herself is a good thing."
Brother Ye laughed, "Indeed. Ever since you came to stay in our village these past few days, several groups of guests have come looking for lodging. It is clear that you are a magnet for guests."
Xia Qingyu laughed, "Stop, stop, stop. I don't want that credit. In truth, it is just because this place is so remote, with no village in front and no shop behind. Once they miss the chance to find an inn, they see the smoke from the chimneys here and just come over." After she finished speaking, the old ox cart stopped in front of a house. Xia Qingyu, Bai Kou, and Bai Wei got off the cart and said goodbye to Brother Ye and Sister-in-law Ye. Then, without even looking at Lu Yunxiao, she turned and walked into the courtyard. Bai Kou and Bai Wei, however, hurriedly offered a bow before following Xia Qingyu into the courtyard.
With only Lu Yunxiao and his group left on the cart, Brother Ye said awkwardly, "Young Marquis..." He had only said three words when Lu Yunxiao said indifferently, "I will stay here for the night, so I hope you can help me keep my identity a secret. I don't want to go out tomorrow morning and have the villagers come to watch, wondering if the Young Marquis is a monster with three heads and six arms."
Everyone laughed at his words. Brother Ye felt that this Young Marquis, Lu Yunxiao, was truly approachable and had even less airs than the village head. He nodded, then said with difficulty, "I only have three rooms in my house, so I'm afraid I cannot accommodate the Young... your entire group. Come to think of it, the house next to the Zhou family is where his parents live. Their family is well-off, so if that group of people isn't too large, there might be two empty rooms."
Lu Yunxiao then sent Mu Yun to inquire. After a while, he returned and said with a smile, "Indeed, Old Master Zhou's house has empty rooms. There were only four or five people who came to stay earlier, and they have already settled in their son's house. However, for us to stay, they want some silver money. They said two rooms would cost fifty wen for the night. I thought this was nothing, so I gave it to them. They seemed quite happy and are even bustling about to add more dishes."
Lu Yunxiao said faintly, "That is only right. You have to pay money to stay at an inn." After saying this, he looked at Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun understood, took out a money bag from his person, took out a small silver ingot worth about three taels, and handed it to Brother Ye, smiling, "This is for the cart fare. Our Master said we cannot ride your ox cart for free. Although this blanket is coarse, it is brand new. I fear you just bought it, yet we have ruined it. Take this money and buy a new one tomorrow."
Three taels of silver was enough for an ordinary family to live on for several months. The couple refused to take it, but as they were declining, they heard Sang Luzhi smile, "Since he gave it to you, just take it. It is about to rain, and if you let the Young Master get caught in the rain because of this, you wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility. Besides, while this silver is heavy for you, it is nothing to us. Take it."
Hearing her say this, the couple accepted the silver and thanked them profusely before driving the ox cart away. Lu Yunxiao, Zhao Yun, and Mu Yun walked back and soon arrived at the Zhou family's courtyard. Sure enough, they saw an old man waiting there. Seeing them, he smiled, "The old woman is cooking; please come in, honored guests."
Lu Yunxiao couldn't help but look up and recognize that the house where Xia Qingyu and the others were staying was three houses away from here. He nodded with satisfaction, secretly thinking that this was good; he was finally far enough away from that detestable woman so that he wouldn't have to face the disgust of seeing her every time he looked up. Thinking this, he exchanged a few pleasantries with Old Master Zhou before stepping into the courtyard.
✦✦✦
"How can this be? In such a vast Jiangnan, to actually meet the Master here. Sigh! Could it be that the fate between the Master and the Grandmother has not yet been severed? Is that why the heavens arranged it this way?"
In the inner room of Madam Shi's house, Bai Wei was sewing a piece of clothing under the oil lamp. Bai Kou was resting her chin on her hand, leaning on the simple table, watching her and sighing as she spoke.
"The Letter of Divorce has already been given, so what fate could there be? Even if there is, as the Grandmother said, it is all just a karmic debt." Bai Wei was quite calm about this matter. She finished speaking without raising her head, then couldn't help but laugh, "Come to think of it, I truly admire the Grandmother now. She originally had the chance to stay, but she saw things so clearly and left so gracefully. As expected, our Master is a magnet for peach blossoms. Even on this road for disaster relief, he can attract two beautiful young ladies. But does he not know? That Miss Sang is also the daughter of the Director of the Imperial Hospital. Could it be that the Master is destined to be entangled with the daughter of the Director of the Imperial Hospital for the rest of his life?"
"What? That is the daughter of the Director of the Imperial Hospital?" Bai Kou was startled and quickly asked, "How do you know?"
Bai Wei said indifferently, "You came to the manor late, so you don't recognize her. I, however, have followed the Grandmother since I was a child. Because Master Sang and our Master were colleagues in the Imperial Hospital, I had seen that Miss Sang twice before with the Grandmother. She was still young then, but she was a competitive person. The Grandmother disliked her very much, so she cut off contact with her after that. Last year, I met her on the street. I was curious about the person wearing a half-mask beside her. I heard people say she was the daughter of the Director of the Imperial Hospital, and that person seemed to be a servant from her household. I told the Grandmother about it when I returned, and the Grandmother even mocked her, but we never saw her again. Who would have thought we would meet her here now."
"My goodness." Bai Kou stuck out her tongue, "I also saw the person with the half-face. Clearly, the other side of the face looked fine, but with that iron mask, it made one feel afraid."
As soon as she finished speaking, a voice came from outside the door, "What is there to be afraid of? Pfft! I don't know what kind of martial arts novel they read to come up with such a thing to impersonate a hero; it's disgusting. Sitting on the cart without saying a word, acting cold—you're afraid of someone like that? Bai Kou, your courage is truly not even as good as a mouse's."
Bai Kou stuck out her tongue and said nothing. Xia Qingyu stepped forward, snatched the clothing from Bai Wei's hands, tossed it onto a stool, and put on the dignity of a Master, "The water is ready, go take a bath quickly. I've told you how many times: the light is dim, don't do this detailed work; hurting your eyes is a lifelong matter, yet you just won't listen."
Bai Wei and Bai Kou stood up and went to bathe hand in hand, leaving Xia Qingyu alone. She was stunned for a moment before she laughed in spite of herself, "Alright, so soon you've broken free from feudal thinking and dare to resist me with silence? What happened to the hierarchy that cannot be messed with? Hmph!"
After a while, Bai Kou and Bai Wei returned from their bath. Seeing Xia Qingyu staring blankly at the window on the bed, the two thought for a moment, and Bai Wei said cautiously, "Grandmother, we really didn't expect to meet the Master here. What should we do?"
"What do you mean what should we do? Just let it be."
Xia Qingyu turned over. Seeing the bewildered expressions on the two maidservants, she waved her hand and said, "Alright, alright, you don't need to be like this. Just as I said before, the road is wide, let's each go our own way. They will probably leave tomorrow, right? We still have to collect herbs here for a few more days. Today was just a chance encounter; you don't need to take it to heart."
Bai Kou smiled, "As long as the Grandmother doesn't take it to heart, how could we servants take it to heart?"
"That's good." Xia Qingyu reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I have an immunity to scumbags. Alright, it's getting late, blow out the lamp and sleep. Otherwise, if Madam Shi sees the light still on at this hour, she'll feel bad about the cost of the lamp oil again."
"How could Madam Shi be such a stingy person? She is just afraid that we will hurt our eyes by reading or working. If Madam Shi heard you say that, she would definitely say that tonight's chicken soup was fed to you in vain."
Bai Kou couldn't help but laugh as she walked to the couch by the window and lay down. Bai Wei blew out the lamp and came to lie on Xia Qingyu's bed. Just as she was about to say something, a "rumble" of spring thunder sounded. Not a moment later, a rustling sound began outside the window.
Xia Qingyu yawned, shook her head, and smiled, "The rain actually held off until now. I just don't know how long it will last. If it rains all night, it won't be easy to go up the mountain tomorrow." Before she could finish, because she had been tired all day, her eyelids closed.
✦✦✦