A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 12

"Have you...killed anyone?" she asked again after a long pause.

"I've killed them."

Are you afraid of ghosts?

"Those who die by my sword do not die unjustly, I am not afraid. ...Have you killed anyone?"

"No."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

“I’m afraid those ghosts will mistake me for someone else…” she said softly, her answer very serious.

Zhan Zhao smiled silently. Afraid of seeing corpses, afraid of ghosts, she was clearly still a child, huddled by the fire. He bent down and picked up a few small stones. When the cicadas started chirping again, he threw the stones in his hand. With two "plop, plop" sounds, silence fell instantly.

"It's getting late, go to sleep," he said gently.

She seemed to mutter something to herself, wrapped her clothes tighter, buried her head in her robe, and then fell into a deep sleep.

In just two or three hours, a few rays of dawn pierced through the gaps in the trees. The fire had long since died down, leaving only a wisp of smoke that mingled with the morning mist and drifted away.

Zhan Zhao groggily opened his eyes, and just as he was about to get up, a sharp pain shot through his lower back, forcing him to sit back down. He silently gritted his teeth; this was an old ailment, a chronic injury that ached every morning upon waking. In the dead of winter, it would become as stiff as iron, requiring a hot towel to be applied for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before he could move it. It was only early autumn now, and perhaps because he was in the countryside, with the dew heavy and the cold seeping into his body, the pain was even more intense.

He reached down to his waist and rubbed it for a while before slowly standing up, leaning against a tree. Looking up, he saw Mo Yan, who had somehow woken up, staring at him with her large, dark eyes…

"Your back injury is an old one, isn't it?" She yawned wearily, sat up, stretched, and said sympathetically, "You can bear it now, but it will be hard to endure when you get old."

What she said was true, but it was certainly not pleasant to hear.

Zhan Zhao just smiled and remained silent.

"I know a good medicinal wine, why don't you give it a try?" She frowned and thought for a moment. "I wonder if it's available in Jiangning or Suzhou?"

"It's just an old ailment, no need to trouble yourself," Zhan Zhao declined. The injury was in his lower back, making it inconvenient for him to massage himself, and he disliked troubling others, so he would only go to the clinic to have a doctor massage him when he had free time.

Mo Yan shrugged, said no more, packed her things, and the two set off.

Chapter Eight

After traveling for another two days, they arrived at a small town by the river at dusk. It was already late, and they couldn't find a boat to cross the river, so they had no choice but to stay in the town.

The town was small, with only one inn. Zhan Zhao and Mo Yan hadn't had a hot meal for several days, so now they could finally get some rest.

As Mo Yan enthusiastically ordered food, Zhan Zhao looked around. Perhaps because it was located at a river crossing, this small inn, though quite simple, was surprisingly doing good business. Several tables of guests sat in twos and threes in the lobby, speaking various accents, clearly from different places.

"...Do you have sea bass? I want one that weighs more than a pound. I won't pay for anything less than a pound!" Mo Yan had been staring at the menu on the wall for half a day and asking questions for half a day, but still hadn't decided what to eat.

"I'm so sorry, we don't have any sea bass in our shop, but we have a silver carp in the backyard. We can braise it, steam it, or make soup with its head. Why don't you give it a try?"

"Silver carp?" She thought for a long time, propping her chin up with her hand, before shaking her head and saying, "No!"

Zhan Zhao had been waiting for half a day, but she still hadn't finished ordering. Just then, two burly men entered through the door. The waiter wanted to go and greet them, but hesitated because of Mo Yan, who was taking the order.

"Our shop also has fresh wild duck meat, stewed until very tender. Would you like to try some, young lady?" the waiter said patiently.

"Wild duck meat...did you add dried tangerine peel?"

Mo Yan was still hesitating when she turned her head and saw Zhan Zhao staring at her helplessly. So she asked him, "Do you want some wild duck meat?"

"Wild duck meat it is, along with two seasonal vegetables and a bowl of soup," Zhan Zhao said decisively to the waiter. "The soup should be light."

"Alright! Please wait a moment, sir, your food will be here shortly!"

The waiter, fearing that Mo Yan would go on and on, hurriedly ran to take care of another table.

Mo Yan said with dissatisfaction, "You ordered the food so carelessly without asking any questions. What if it doesn't taste good?"

"As long as we can eat our fill, this is fine. It's just a small country shop, and I doubt they'll be too particular about how they cook. Why make things difficult for them?"

“I didn’t make things difficult for him,” Mo Yan muttered, turning her face away to look elsewhere. But after a moment, she turned back and whispered to him, “The people at that table are also from the capital.”

Zhan Zhao followed her gaze and saw two burly men who had just entered, sitting three tables away from them.

"Bring out all the best wine and dishes, and get two more superior rooms," one of the burly men said to the waiter, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally drifting towards Zhan Zhao's table.

"You recognize them?" Mo Yan asked curiously.

Zhan Zhao shook his head: "I don't know them."

"But they seem to recognize you." She idly fiddled with the chopsticks in her hand. Zhan Zhao was quite famous in the capital, so it wasn't surprising that some people recognized him.

Both men carried swords. Although they were dressed in ordinary clothes and looked like江湖人士 (jianghu figures), their demeanor and manner inevitably carried the air of officials, making them seem more like government officials.

"The square scarf the person on the right is wearing looks like it's from the Silk Market in the capital. I heard it's as thin as a cicada's wing and as light as a floating cloud, and it costs three taels of silver a piece."

Zhan Zhao stared intently. Although he didn't know the material of the headscarf, he saw the cat's eye inlaid on the sword sheath and knew it was quite valuable. When they came in, he had noticed their footsteps, which clearly indicated that they were skilled in internal martial arts. In addition, the fact that they were both wearing worn-out official boots made him even more certain that these two were government officials in disguise.

How could two people like this appear here? Zhan Zhao had doubts in his heart, but he remained calm on the surface and just smiled at Mo Yan: "You're new to the capital, but you know quite a lot about fabrics."

"I originally wanted to buy one for my second brother, but I didn't have enough money, so I had to give up," she said regretfully. After bribing the prison guards, she only had a little bit of silver left.

As they were talking, the waiter brought out the food. On the tray was a large bowl of fragrant wild duck meat, fresh river clams with stir-fried grass, and two bowls of white rice.

Mo Yan ate with great relish, finishing her meal in just a few bites. She then said she was worried about the horses and needed to check on them, before turning and leaving. Zhan Zhao finished his meal alone and returned to his room.

Upon returning inside, Zhan Zhao deliberately made some noise, pretending to extinguish the candle and go to bed. After a moment, he opened the window, leaped onto the roof, and silently made his way eastward along the ridge. He had paid attention to the two burly men when they returned to their rooms, secretly noting which room they were staying in. Now, reaching the top of the room, he used a backflip to swoop down, pressed himself against the window, and heard people talking inside…

"So Zhan Zhao is also heading to Jiangnan? Most likely it's because of that matter?" one of the people inside said irritably.