Fish Meat – Chapter 173

The Fourth Year of Zhao Wu

Double Silk Net (8)

The lingering scent of sleeping incense still permeated the room, but Zhong Ji had already taken the antidote and was fully alert.

            

Xiaohua had been struggling to get out of bed all day. She knew today was the Young Lady’s wedding day, and she wanted to witness it no matter what. Not to see the wedding banquet’s festivities, nor to glimpse the Young Lady in her wedding dress, but because she sensed danger.

She felt something would happen at this wedding.

Initially, Xiaohua thought these ill omens were just delusions from her prolonged illness, but since this morning her condition had severely deteriorated. It clearly wasn’t the agony from the Ghost Dove Poison that prevented her from leaving the room; she could barely stay conscious. During her rare moments of clarity, she realized someone was deliberately causing these obvious impediments. This person didn’t intend to kill her, only to confine her to this room.

            

Xiaohua understood; in fact, she had understood all along.

“Get out!” Xiaohua could barely stand, as a powerful force in her mind was trying to steal her consciousness. If Zhong Ji would leave the Young Lady’s room now, everyone could remain safe – otherwise, she didn’t know what she might do.

Xiaohua’s threat had no effect. Zhong Ji let out a cold laugh, refusing to lower the knife.

            

“My days are already numbered. This is the perfect opportunity to kill Wei Tingxu. If not now, then when?” As Zhong Ji’s knife began to fall, Xiaohua, horrified, sprang into action.

Though her body was filled with poison and her strength wasn’t what it used to be, when Wei Tingxu faced danger, Xiaohua’s body erupted with limitless energy, allowing her to dash like lightning to Zhong Ji’s front, landing two consecutive punches to her abdomen and shoulder, sending her flying.

As Zhong Ji’s knife fell to the ground, Xiaohua quickly grabbed it, checked Wei Tingxu, and let out a great sigh of relief upon finding her unharmed.

            

Wei Tingxu, having inhaled the sleeping incense, remained unconscious, not even stirring from all the commotion.

“Cough… cough cough cough…” Zhong Ji lay on the ground coughing violently. Xiaohua looked at her and saw blood gushing from her mouth, instantly staining the ground red. Xiaohua was puzzled – having been poisoned for so long, she was no longer as fierce as she once was, her punches carrying minimal force. Moreover, those two punches were merely meant to separate Zhong Ji, not take her life, so she hadn’t struck with full force. Why then was she coughing up so much blood?

“Has your poison also spread?” Xiaohua stood before Wei Tingxu’s bed, shielding her.

            

The violent coughing nearly exhausted Zhong Ji’s last bit of strength. Once it finally subsided, she looked at the dagger in Xiaohua’s hand and said:

“You’ve been struck by the Ghost Dove Poison and my Bone-Scattering Pill, yet you still possess such strength. Xiaohua, you’re a first-rate martial artist, why willingly serve as the Wei family’s pawn? You clearly know Wei Tingxu’s ambitions extend far beyond her current position as a mere fifth-rank female official.”

“My Young Lady has lofty aspirations; naturally, she looks beyond the present.”

            

Zhong Ji laughed mockingly, spitting up more blood: “How can you willingly help such an evil person?”

Xiaohua replied: “You drugged the guards and the Young Lady outside, while claiming to treat my Ghost Dove Poison, you poisoned me instead, keeping me in a daze so I couldn’t assist the Young Lady. You call her evil, but how righteous are your own actions? When we first met in Beilou, you were a benevolent doctor. Why attempt to assassinate the Young Lady? What grudge exists between you two?”

Speaking of the Beilou past, Zhong Ji’s resentful gaze softened slightly.

            

“I thought you wouldn’t remember. Or even if you did, you wouldn’t care.”

Xiaohua didn’t respond to Zhong Ji’s words.

When Xiaohua was sixteen, she was in Beilou, as Wei Tingxu happened to be traveling there that year.

            

Beilou wasn’t in the north, but rather a peninsula in the southeastern coast of Da Yu. Wei Tingxu came to travel there after hearing about a famous scholar from the Zhenghong Period who had been exiled there.

This scholar was deeply versed in classics, described as having “knowledge filling five carts” [xué fù wǔ chē – idiom meaning extremely learned]. He opposed the prevalent trend of Pure Conversation [qīng tán – philosophical discourse style] and even criticized the newly popular Furong San. It’s worth noting that Furong San was being widely cultivated in various prefectures as an official business – few dared to challenge it. Anyone who spoke against it had to be prepared to lose their head. This scholar not only spoke out but continued doing so for an entire year. Perhaps because he had been the Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor during Li Ao’s time as Crown Prince and was the current Emperor’s teacher, they couldn’t kill him. Emperor Ming had no choice after being pestered for a year and could only exile him.

Wei Tingxu greatly admired this scholar and wanted to discuss matters of state with him, so she specifically traveled to Beilou after learning his whereabouts.

            

At that time, Xiaohua hadn’t yet been poisoned by the Ghost Dove Poison, had delicate features, could eat six bowls of soup pastries in one sitting, and Lingbi was a lively, talkative young woman. Wei Tingxu, though only thirteen or fourteen, could match the couplet [duì zi – traditional Chinese paired verses] posted on the scholar’s thatched door perfectly. The scholar invited her in. As everyone watched in amazement, Xiaohua pushed Wei Tingxu inside. When Xiaohua tried to stay and accompany her, the scholar drove her out.

“No need to be so nervous, the family’s hidden guards are protecting her. Who could harm the Young Lady?” Lingbi said while stretching, “Beilou Peninsula has beautiful scenery. The Young Lady said we should take walks when free to relax.”

Xiaohua ignored her, but Lingbi dragged her to walk around Beilou city. The Young Lady’s discussion would take at least an hour or two, and she needed to prepare clothes and dried provisions for their journey to the next city.

            

Lingbi dragged Xiaohua along like pulling a cow to help carry things. Xiaohua listlessly followed behind Lingbi, weaving between grain shops and cloth stores, her arms full of Lingbi’s carefully selected items blocking her view. She didn’t notice a young woman crouching ahead, seemingly hiding from something.

When they collided, the young woman was sent flying, knocking over several fruit stands in the process.

Just as Xiaohua was about to apologize, she saw the young woman scramble to her feet, covered in bleeding scrapes, and without a word or even a glance at Xiaohua, quickly fled.

            

Lingbi had bought two jars of fine honey and was leaving the shop contentedly when, before she could call out to Xiaohua, a group of running people crashed into her, shattering the honey jars to pieces on the ground.

Lingbi flew into a rage, frantically looked around for a stick, lifted her skirts, and chased after them like a madwoman. Xiaohua called after her to no avail, and had no choice but to follow behind Lingbi awkwardly with her arms full of goods, neck craning forward, all the way to a deserted grove.

The southeastern region’s climate was humid and hot, with dense vegetation, and there were faint footsteps in the grove.

            

Lingbi and Xiaohua walked side by side deeper in, when suddenly they heard a “bang”, like a stick striking someone. Lingbi glanced down at her own unused stick, then led Xiaohua forward to see what was happening.

“Let’s not go,” Xiaohua said, “The Young Lady is waiting for us.”

“No way, these scoundrels knocked over my honey jars, how can I let them off? They must at least pay compensation!” Lingbi grabbed Xiaohua, preventing her from leaving. Having no choice, Xiaohua set down her bundles and went with Lingbi to collect the debt.

            

Through the dense trees, they saw a woman beaten to the ground on the slope below, blood flowing from her head – it was the same person Xiaohua had collided with earlier. No wonder she had fled in such a hurry; she was being hunted.

A group of men dressed as local farmers and woodcutters had bound the woman thoroughly, with a rope around her neck, forcibly dragging her forward. When the woman refused to walk, the group continued to punch and kick her.

Lingbi couldn’t stand watching a group of people bullying a helpless woman, and grabbed her stick to go beat them. But as she took her first step, she tripped over a protruding tree root and hit her head on the ground, losing consciousness.

            

Xiaohua: “…”

In just a few moves, Xiaohua drove the men away and rescued the blood-covered young woman.

The young woman pulled out a medicine box from her bosom and calmly applied the medicinal powder to her head wound, while thanking Xiaohua and explaining the situation.

            

She said her name was Ah Yong, a traveling physician seeking experience.

In Beilou, there was an uncivilized tribe who worshipped a deity called La Yi Wei. When sick, they would only pray to their god and refused all doctors. If someone recovered, it was considered a divine blessing; if they died, it was because their sins were too heavy and their souls needed to be cleansed through reincarnation. Ah Yong happened to be practicing medicine there when a child was bitten by a poisonous snake and lay dying on the altar, forced to await death. Ah Yong saved him, but as a result, the locals accused her of being a witch, claiming she had defiled the child’s soul and prevented him from reaching their true god. They wanted to burn her to death, which was why they had bound her.

Xiaohua saved this Ah Yong, who would later become Zhong Ji.

            

At that time, Ah Yong was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl who wanted to repay the kindness. Xiaohua waved it off, saying it wasn’t necessary, but Ah Yong wouldn’t listen and kept following her.

Xiaohua walked back to the city with a cold expression while Ah Yong continued following closely. Knowing Wei Tingxu disliked strangers approaching, she grew angry and tried to shout Ah Yong away.

Ah Yong’s half-clotted wounds started bleeding again, but even a face covered in blood couldn’t hide her brilliant smile, revealing two rows of white teeth:

            

“It’s alright, benefactor, I know you’re shy. I won’t disturb you, I’ll just watch you from afar.”

Ah Yong hid in the shadows while Xiaohua waited for Wei Tingxu to emerge from the scholar’s thatched cottage. Xiaohua kept feeling a pair of eyes staring at her from behind, making the back of her head tingle.

Xiaohua turned around and saw a bloody head peering out from behind a wall, which immediately withdrew upon being discovered.

            

Xiaohua: “…”

Wei Tingxu came out and, seeing only Xiaohua, asked: “Where’s Lingbi?”

Xiaohua: “…”

            

When they went to find Lingbi in the grove, she was still unconscious, unaware of having been abandoned.

After Wei Tingxu’s group left Beilou and continued their journey, Xiaohua hadn’t noticed anything amiss and had even forgotten about Ah Yong, until Wei Tingxu asked her:

“Who keeps following us? They don’t seem like an assassin, but they won’t show themselves.”

            

When Xiaohua went to find Ah Yong, she had been starving for three days and was barely alive.

Xiaohua threw her a bag of milk and steamed buns, then punched a hole through a nearby willow tree as thick as a child: “Stop following me, or I’ll kill you.”

Ah Yong was frightened and didn’t dare follow anymore.

            

Xiaohua quickened her pace and shook off this great trouble.

The two lost contact after that, though Ah Yong never forgot her lifesaving benefactor and kept trying to find her.

Over the next decade, Ah Yong changed her name and personality, carrying a deep blood feud. When she met Xiaohua again, neither was the same as before.

            

“So you’re actually Xie Fuchen’s person,” Xiaohua said, “We wrongly blamed Doctor Xu back then.”

“No,” Zhong Ji said, “Both Doctor Xu and I serve the Xie family. We support each other, and when necessary, we put on a show to ensure at least one survives.”

“Why do you serve Xie Fuchen? Could it be that you too aid tyranny for what you call the greater good?”

            

Zhong Ji looked at the sleeping Wei Tingxu: “If Wei Tingxu were awake, I would certainly ask if she remembers those innocent painters she killed. My father, my only relative, was among them.”

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