Lou Xiyue said, "You don't need to do that, just put the blanket down."
I pulled off the blanket, peeked at him through my eyes, and he stared at me intently, his fingers stroking the jade flute back and forth.
I said slowly, "After I heal your third uncle, I want to go back to Medicine King Valley. There are many medicinal herbs in the valley, and they will easily wither if no one takes care of them."
Lou Xiyue paused, then stood up and walked towards the door. "Whatever."
After sunrise, we packed our belongings and prepared to return home.
As we passed through the Wenlai market at midday, we suddenly heard the bells ringing loudly in the main hall, "Dong—Dong—Dong—", the deep sound of the bells echoing in the air again and again.
Then, funeral music began, and the people prostrated themselves on the ground, burying their heads between their arms, in a gesture of submission.
I was completely bewildered when Lou Xiyue pulled me down to kneel down with her.
I secretly looked up at the people around me; they were muttering something under their breath.
I roughly understood: Zi Mo is dead.
Purple smoke rose from the distant palace, like a purple passionflower, blooming and then withering, turning into a wisp of smoke that no one could grasp or see through.
As I listened to the drum music, feeling the sorrow of the people of the East, and thinking of my master quietly watching Zi Mo, I gradually felt a chill.
If a person is alive, there is still room for many things to turn around; if a person is dead, even if you meet them again and don't recognize them, you will probably never forget them.
I saw the clouds and orchids woven into the small bridges and eaves of Jiangnan houses, and I wondered if I would still be able to wait for my master in the valley.
As the funeral music ended, the people rose and made way for the emperor. In the distance, horses and carriages led the way, and the emperor's expression remained imperceptibly indifferent.
I was bumped by the crowd and almost fell. Lou Xiyue reached out and grabbed me. He glanced at me, his brows furrowed slightly, and his fingertips traced across my palm without saying a word.
During the rest of the journey, a long period of awkwardness ensued between Lou Xiyue and me. I didn't speak to him, and he didn't speak to me either. We communicated through Ji Jiu.
After traveling for several days, we stopped at a small restaurant in a tiny market town to rest.
Beside the town is Fang Biqing's pond, which is full of lotus flowers. Legend has it that there is a flower fairy in the pond. When the lotus seeds ripen, she will possess a lotus seed. Whoever eats the seed will be able to command the flower fairy to do whatever she wants before the lotus seeds ripen the following year.
Such legends have undoubtedly contributed to the booming development of the lotus seed harvesting industry.
I think the flower fairy probably came from Nezha, who transformed from a man into a woman in the Central Plains.
Watching the people in town running around telling everyone that the lotus seeds were ripe, I couldn't help but feel a little tempted and wanted to pick a few to eat. I directed the wind to flap its wings and try to pick a few from the pond, but every time it couldn't get them to me, it would eat the lotus pods instead.
Lou Xiyue rested her forehead on one hand and looked out the window, occasionally taking a sip of tea.
A clear voice rang out, "Brother, buy some lotus seeds for the two older sisters."
I turned around and saw a little girl, about thirteen or fourteen years old, not yet old enough to wear a veil, with rosy cheeks and carrying a bamboo basket on her back.
Lou Xiyue looked at Ji Jiu and said, "Ji Jiu, if you want to eat, buy some."
Ji Jiu said, "Lotus seeds are bitter, I don't want to eat them."
He glanced at me indifferently and said to the girl, "No need."
At the next table, some people were discussing something. One of them said, "The country has nothing, it's far worse off than us. When a man there marries a woman, he will give her a small bowl of lotus seed soup so that she can have children. Lotus seeds are a rare commodity there, you can't buy them no matter how much money you have."
Another person laughed, "Does that mean all women who leave the country can't have children?"
Upon hearing this, Lou Xiyue placed a piece of silver in front of the girl and said, "I'll buy everything you have in your basket."
Then, without even looking at me, he casually said, "Didn't you want to eat lotus seeds?"
Before I could correct the people at the next table's erroneous views of our country and their blindly arrogant, small-farmer logic, a commotion arose. A group of people entered the tavern, the leader carrying a scroll of portraits, which he unrolled and began asking questions.
The person in the portrait was probably a wanted criminal, but her features happened to look about 80% like mine.
I shuddered and quickly reviewed my recent actions.
Apart from the fact that Zi Mo died the day after meeting me, I have indeed not done anything else that is immoral or shocking.
Main text [31] Lotus Pavilion
Actually, I think it's really not a reliable way to put a warrant for a young woman's arrest in the East, because everyone is masked. Besides, there are probably a lot of robbers and assassins in this area, so if someone is masked, they'll be practically undetectable in a crowd.
However, Lou Xiyue had just bought a basket of lotus seeds. I felt bad about disappointing him, and at the same time, I was really looking forward to eating Nezha, so I took off my veil and put it on the table to peel the lotus seeds and eat them.
As the leading officer was asking questions, I happened to look in the direction of the sound.
The soldier and I stared at each other in silence for a while. He looked at me suspiciously, probably because he didn't expect that such an unreliable thing would actually turn out to be reliable.
His lips moved slightly, presumably instructing someone to say that the wanted criminal had been found.
A group of people walked towards us.
Lou Xiyue slammed his teacup down on the table. With a flick of his fan, lotus seeds rolled out of his basket. He then casually grabbed a few and flung them at the newcomer, using them to apply pressure points. Afterward, he grabbed me, jumped out of the window, and mounted his horse to run away.
I asked him, "Why did they arrest me?"
He didn't answer, but just pulled on the reins and spurred the horse's belly.
I sighed, "What a pity about that basket of lotus seeds."
Lou Xiyue remained focused on driving the horse, without saying a word.
I figured he didn't want to talk to me; we hadn't spoken face-to-face for days. During this time, I tried several times to make small talk, hoping to get closer to him and ease the awkward atmosphere, but to no avail.
I started another round of making small talk.