The person who came was around seventeen to eighteen years old. She was in the flourishing period of her life. Her braids reached down to her waist, her complexion was beautiful, and she was wearing a set of azure-colored robes like the rippling surface of lake water, bellowing like willow leaves. However, that was all she was. She wasn't considered a dazzling beauty, let alone the face of one who would make flowers cower in shame.
There were three other people accompanying her: her maidservant, an elderly man with a white beard, and a child who was carrying a medicine box.
"Thank you, my Lord." The young woman in azure-robes replied kindly as she seated herself. When her gaze fell upon Feng Xiao, she was unavoidably stunned for a moment.
Practically every young woman would induce this kind of reaction upon meeting Feng Xiao. After so many years, he had gotten used to it. Now, no matter how many gazes stared at him like that, it wouldn't have been enough to affect him.
However, the young maiden came from a prestigious family; so, although she was curious, she did not rashly point it out.
"Your Lordship, your complexion suggests that you are unwell, mayhaps you are often ill and plagued by insistent coughs?" The elderly man, one of the maiden's traveling companions, inquired Cui Buqu on his own accord.
Cui Buqu, "That's right. This was the way I was born. It was fortunate that I have managed to retain my life, now I am but only cheating through my days."
The elderly man said with a tranquil tone, "If the young master does not mind, please allow me to check your pulse."
Cui Buqu replied with a faint smile, "I appreciate your good intentions. However, this illness has long been in my bones and cannot simply be saved by the skills of mortal men. Mister, you need not squander your efforts."
Since he was unwilling to let him check his pulse, the elderly man merely sighed and did not push further. Instead, he took out a ceramic bottle from his bosom and gave it to him.
"These are Qingxin pellets I have manufactured myself using licorice, wolfberries and other common herbs. It could soothe the meridians of the lungs and clear the liver. Young master only needs to take two pellets a day; although it cannot cure any severe illnesses, it could refine your body. After some time has passed, the results will show themselves."
This time Cui Buqu did not reject him. He accepted the bottle of medicine, "Many thanks, mister. May I ask how much do these pellets cost?"
The elderly man gave him a fleeting smile, "I've said just now that these are made from common herbs, so they do not cost much. After you finish them and deem the results satisfying, you can purchase more from the Baoning Hall in Anping city."
Cui Buqu, "Then it would be disrespectful of me to decline."
As both of them conversed, a horse carriage passed by. From the looks of it, the people inside also wanted to enter the city, but since they were a minute too late, another old man and a few children descended from the carriage. Their gazes suggested that they were in a good mood as they sat inside a teahouse further ahead.
"Doctor Sun!" The old man held his grandchild's hand as he made his way here to greet them, and spoke in surprise, "It's a surprise to see you here. Were you on your way back to the city?"
Sun Jimin ruffled the young child's head before saying kindly, "Yes I was, but I came too late. It seems like we can only enter the city tomorrow morning. Where are the lot of you going?"
The old man, "I am bringing my grandchildren home. Da Lang, come, greet grandpa Sun!"
Sun Jimin chuckled, "There is no need. Quick, rise from your feet!"
The old man quickly added, "This is necessary. As people, we cannot forget the kind deeds of others, so he should definitely remember the favor you did us, Doctor Sun!"
People inside the teahouse wandered to and fro; some of them who were not locals found it interesting, so they sought to inquire from people around them. Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao both conveniently listened to their conversation.
The old man's surname was Cong, the only son of three generations of his family. A few years ago when his daughter-in-law had a case of dystocia, her life was on the line. Their family was so poor that they couldn't even employ a midwife, so the entire family was practically cornered and could only watch as a pregnant woman's life slowly ebb away. It was all thanks to Sun Jimin who happened to pass by and heard the crying; then he then brought his assistant with the medical box, rushed in and personally delivered the child. Thanks to him, both the mother and the child were safe. After that, Sun Jimin even issued a medical formula to allow the mother to refine her body, assisting her past the dangerous stage. Due to the family barely making ends meet, he never took a penny from them. Instead, he took responsibility for all the costs required for his assistant to acquire the necessary medicine and deliver it to them.
After that, elder Cong allowed his son to serve as an intern for a merchant group and learned to do business away from home. Eventually, because the son was a visionary, the family's situation changed over the span of a single night. When his grandchild was five years old, they were already a considerably well-off household, and the Cong family never once forgot the favor granted to them, so they named the grandchild 'Nianen'. Every festive season, they send poultry and fish over to Doctor Sun.
The azure-robed young woman noticed that both Feng Xiao and Cui Buqu were still listening, so she added for them, "In the past, Doctor Sun established his own medical house for his patients, but every time he encountered people who could not afford to pay, he pitied them and waived their fees. In time, his earnings couldn't even cover his own expenses, so he was employed by our Baoning Hall instead. However, even after that, he still insisted on waiving medical fees for his first ten patients every day, so those who really cannot afford to pay for their medical fees would start queuing up in front of the clinic the night before."
Cui Buqu, "How may I address this maiden? Are you the apprentice of Doctor Sun?"
The azure-robed woman smiled, "My surname is Cui. I am the ninth among my siblings. You people may call me Ninth Lady Cui. I wanted to pursue Doctor Sun in his studies, but Doctor Sun was not willing to accept me as his intern; for trivial things such as following him around, I was accepted only because the elders in my house begged for it."
Sun Jimin was bantering with elder Cong and his grandchild, but once he heard Ninth Lady Cui's words, he turned around and said to her: "The career path of a doctor is for life; carrying medical books, recognizing medical herbs, it's not natural to remain in one place, one must travel the world and bear the heart of aiding it. Your family was one of the wealthy, there is no need for you to make ends meet; when you are of age, you will marry and raise your children with your spouse. Why would you go seeking trouble for yourself?"
Ninth Lady Cui replied to him in all seriousness, "Doctor Sun, in the past days before the sun even rose, I followed you out of the city and ventured into every corner of the village searching for herbs to manufacture medicine. Was this not enough to prove my sincerity in wanting to become your disciple?"
Sun Jimin sighed, "Ninth Lady, I watched you grow up since you were a little girl, and I've known your grandfather for many years. Even if he permitted you to follow me out of the city for a few days, he would have declined if he knew you were to pursue me in medical study."
Ninth Lady Cui protested, "If he refused to allow it, then I would beg him until he did!"
Feng Xiao listened quietly for the most part of the argument, until suddenly he interfered, "Consider me slow, but is Ninth Lady Cui from the house of Boling Cui?"
Ninth Lady Cui blinked, "Yes, I am. I still do not know the names of both my Lords."
Feng Xiao's expression was unchanging, "Oh, my surname is Pei, and my name is Jingzhe. I travel the world in search of knowledge and somehow passed by Boling. I heard that during this month of every year, the Cui family organizes a Literary Festival. Even though my abilities are rusty and my knowledge shallow, I would like to join the crowd and see for myself the skills of great scholars."
He pointed at Cui Buqu, "This is a friend I met on my journey. We found that we synchronize with each other, so we've decided to travel together, he's called…"
Cui Buqu finished his sentence at the right moment, "My name is Feng Xiao. Feng from the word 'Pheonix', and Xiao from 'Sky'."
Feng Xiao: "…"
Ninth Lady Cui immediately said, "That's a good name!"
Cui Buqu, "Hardly, perhaps a bit too garish. When I was little, I was plagued by many illnesses, so my mother named me 'A-Gou', so I felt that Feng A-Gou sounded more pleasant to the ears. Ninth Lady Cui can directly address me as Feng A-Gou (Feng Dog)."
Feng Xiao twitched the corner of his lips, he couldn't help but reach out his hand and poked Cui Buqu's sides mercilessly!
Cui Buqu squirmed drastically and literally jumped from his seat.
Ninth Lady Cui said in surprise, "Are you alright, Young Master Feng?"
Cui Buqu, "A smelly little rat followed me along the road. Its habit to bite me never ceased and just now it took the chance to bite me again."
Ninth Lady Cui was scared and immediately looked around, "Where is the rat?!"
"Relax, it's been chased away by me." Feng Xiao said, "What is this Literary Festival all about? Please do tell us all about it, Ninth Lady Cui!"
When her name was spoken by him, she immediately forgot all about the mouse and said, "The Literary Festival was organized by my fourth uncle, Cui Pei. After that, due to more and more people attending each year, grandfather decided that on every fifth month of the year, by the end of spring and the first days of autumn, the festival will be held. This year, the theme should be 'pomegranate flower'. I heard that the new city's garrison would also come forth to attend this year. My grandfather has always been happy to help and he loved young talents. Both of you are scholars, so why don't you follow me back to see my grandfather? If he likes you, he might even allow you to stay in the Cui manor, so there is no need for you to go looking for an inn and your money can be saved."
Although she was speaking to both of them, her gaze would pause on Feng Xiao from time to time; her words seemed biased as if she deeply wished that Feng Xiao specifically would agree to stay.
However, what Feng Xiao noticed was that when Ninth Lady Cui mentioned her grandfather, a cold smile appeared on Cui Buqu's face, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"This…would it not be too much of a trouble? After all, we have never met before…" Feng Xiao said reluctantly.
Ninth Lady Cui smiled, "Be at peace! My grandfather and fourth uncle would often invite passing scholars to stay the night. However, my fourth uncle is not present at this moment, I fear that both of you should first visit my grandfather. If both young masters really are brimming with talent, my grandfather would definitely treat both of you like honored guests."
When she put it in this way, the 'young and vigorous' Feng Xiao agreed immediately.
"Naturally, we are not uneducated people!"
Ninth Lady Cui smiled sweetly, "That's excellent. Tomorrow, both young masters can follow me into the city!"
At present, the teahouse has mostly been cleaned up, and judging by the color of the sky, nightfall drew near. The teahouse was prepared to turn in for the day, and everyone else has also concluded their discussions, retiring to their rooms to rest.
In these sorts of places, where people from outside the city often came here to stay, the mattresses couldn't be changed every day; even once a month was considered to be frequent. Feng Xiao wanted the boss to change the mattress for him, but the other could not find one. However, Feng Xiao would never treat himself so badly.
So, after Cui Buqu took a bath, a Zuoyue guard came in to report that Feng Xiao had moved all the soft pillows and cotton-padded mattresses into the room.
There was no need for Cui Buqu to guess what the other was up to. He sent the guard away with a wave of his hand before walking to the house next door.
Once he entered, the fragrant scent of soap filled his nose. After his bath, Commander Feng had let loose his damp hair, allowing them to spread all over as he laid on the bed on his side, one hand propping his head up and one leg propped on top of his other leg. There was a piece of candied fruit in his mouth and next to him stood an employee from the inn who was reciting from a book—
"The sun was high in the sky this day, yet Maiden Song and her maidservant went to the Jade Buddha Temple to offer some incense. The moment they arrived outside the stone stairs, the weather took a turn of moods, strong wind and rain begun…"
Cui Buqu recognized him as the employee who guided them to the inn just now. He roughly knew how to read; he even knew how to recite the menu for them as if he was singing a song.
Feng Xiao really gave him a couple of prompt and useful talents.
The inn's own mattress was now discarded on top of the table.
Feng Xiao squinted his eyes and waved a hand at Cui Buqu from the door, "A-Gou, come in, what are you doing standing there for?"
After a moment of silence, Cui Buqu asked seriously, "I want to know, do all top ten martial artists known to mankind also behave like this behind closed doors?"
Author's Notes:
Fo Er: "??? Not me."
Yu Xiu: "??? Neither do I. I am very graceful, alright?"
Who would make flowers cower in shame: This was a phrase used to describe Yang Guifei, one of the four great beauties of China.
Da Lang: 'Lang' is a form of address for a young boy.'Da' means big or eldest, 'Er' means second, and 'San' means third, 'Si' means forth. These terms will appear in future chapters, but I will leave footnotes.
Nianen: 'Nian' means 'To ponder about' and 'En' means 'favor/deeds'.
A-Gou: 'Gou' means 'Dog'.