El viaje de un mendigo alrededor del mundo

Capítulo 53

He started to walk away, but after a few steps he was stopped. "Wife, are you going down the mountain like this?"

Sensing the disapproval in his tone, she narrowed her eyes and asked humbly, "Should I bring some local specialties?"

The scholar pointed to her head, but she still couldn't figure it out, so he simply took out a peach wood comb from his cloth bag.

She took a step back warily. "What do you want?"

He stared at her soft, shiny black hair, which was casually tied into a bun, his eyes shining with lust. "My lady, you are now a married woman. It is not appropriate for you to wear a girl's hairstyle anymore, uh," her hairstyle was more like that of a boy, "You should wear a woman's bun instead."

Fan Qingbo's mind immediately conjured up images of all sorts of bizarre and stressful hairstyles. A chill ran down her spine, and she quickly covered her hair, exclaiming, "No, I can't!" Good heavens, how could she forget the terrifying thing about having to style her hair after getting married! Was it too late to regret it now?

"It's alright, I know a little bit about this." The scholar indicated that he was very capable and could be of great help.

"No, Confucius once said that a gentleman does not comb a woman's hair. You must not break this taboo for my sake!" Fan Qingbo retreated repeatedly.

“My wife is so joking. Not to mention that I have never said such a thing, there is an ancient story about painting eyebrows. What’s wrong with me combing my beloved wife’s hair now?” The scholar held up the comb and pressed closer step by step.

“Who said Confucius never said anything?” Fan Qingbo said seriously.

Seeing her confident assertion, the scholar believed it to be true and stopped in his tracks, recalling the scriptures he had read. However, he couldn't figure it out and could only ask with shame, "Who is this person?"

Fan Qingbo first gave him a look that said "you can't be carved from rotten wood," and seeing that he was even more ashamed, he said in a serious tone: "It is the one you have been talking about since early morning."

The scholar was stunned. He had been saying "Wife!" three times in a row since early morning.

Fan Qingbo jumped up and kissed his face, which was almost bursting with anger. "A prize for the correct answer!" Then he ran away laughing while clutching his stomach.

The scholar watched her laugh uncontrollably as she stumbled forward, feeling both worried that she might fall and helpless. Whether facing heroes of the martial world, learned scholars, or Taoist masters in the mountains, he was always eloquent and invincible. But with her, he had never won, yet he had never felt the slightest resentment.

He glanced at the peach wood comb in his hand, shook his head, and put it in his bag. Well, there's plenty of time.

There's plenty of time in the future... His eyes lit up again, he dusted off his robes, and took a step to catch up.

36 Jealousy Incidents, Part 4

The scholar and Fan Qingbo walked home, passing through the market. Fan Qingbo casually bought a small book from the Xiaoyao Teahouse. After flipping through a few pages, they finally found the report on yesterday's Qixi Festival banquet in the section on palace secrets. It included several noblewomen's wonderful poems, several noblewomen's tragic and embarrassing stories, and, of course, the indispensable news that Xie Xie, the wife of the Minister of Revenue, suddenly fell ill during the banquet and became unconscious after being sent back to the Minister's residence.

Upon seeing this, the scholar finally remembered how he had lost his composure yesterday. "Wife, those doors at Lord Jie's house..."

Fan Qingbo waved his hand dismissively, "Jie Dongfeng is very stingy. The furniture is all second-hand and not very expensive. He can just deduct it from my wages. But I have to be careful that he doesn't ask for exorbitant compensation for emotional distress."

I casually flipped through a few more pages when a news item caught my eye: Minister Xie's position as a favorite minister of two dynasties is in jeopardy!

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that some scheming individuals in the court were making a big fuss about Xie Yiren's identity, claiming that as the descendant of a traitor, her heart must be treacherous, and that bestowing upon her the title of First-Rank Imperial Lady was the only mistake of the late emperor's brilliant reign, imploring the current emperor to rectify the situation. Although the emperor neither agreed nor disagreed, he recently dispatched another minister to replace Xie Dongfeng for his triennial imperial tour.

Fan Qingbo narrowed his eyes, his face gradually turning gloomy. "Scholar, no need to pay compensation. He deserved it. Let him die."

That bastard! He clearly wanted it and then used it to his advantage, pretending to be so reluctant to trick her into signing a contract of servitude! She'd better get revenge. Although it's said that the common people shouldn't fight against officials, she wouldn't let herself be humiliated so easily. There are countless ways to get revenge; it doesn't have to be a direct confrontation.

Thinking of the romance novel about the most beautiful woman based on Gongye Bai that he was currently writing, Fan Qingbo smiled sinisterly.

Upon seeing this, the scholar standing nearby felt a chill run down his spine and involuntarily took a step back.

Fan Qingbo put away the note, his expression returned to normal, and continued walking, finally returning to Painting Alley. From afar, he saw a crowd of neighbors gathered in front of the bookstore, and as he got closer, he could even hear occasional hoarse shouts.

She walked over and patted one of them on the shoulder. "What happened?"

Without turning his head, the man said, "He's still having a fit! He's been howling all night, sometimes on, sometimes off, and Xiao Fan doesn't do anything about it. Did she like having this screaming next to her when she was on her wedding night with the Master? Tsk tsk, that's a really heavy taste."

"ah!"

The scholar's exclamation made everyone turn around, only to find that the two main characters they were discussing were right behind them.

"Hey, Master? Little Fan? Why are you back from outside so early? What's wrong with the person in the house having an attack?"

The scholar blinked. He had only just remembered that besides smashing down several gates of the Minister's residence, he had also lost his composure last night by only releasing Fan Bing's speech acupoint. After hearing him finish speaking, he lost his mind and rushed out, forgetting that he still had the muscle-relaxing powder on him...

So... probably... he sat in the bridal chamber all night in his wedding dress?

"You bastard surnamed Shu! I'll kill you! Aaaaaaah!"

Once the effects of the muscle-relaxing powder wore off, Fan Bing intended to pursue the scholar, but because he had been sitting for too long, his legs were numb and he couldn't stand up. He tripped and fell flat on his face as soon as he stood up. He glared at the scholar angrily, then, with tears in his eyes, threw himself at Fan Qingbo's leg, "Master! This scholar must be holding a grudge against me for exposing his true colors, and he's deliberately retaliating against me like this! You must avenge me!"

Fan Qingbo, unusually, didn't kick him away; his appearance was simply too bleak. A wrinkled, bright red wedding dress, a crooked phoenix crown, red eyes, dark circles, and a pale, bluish face—he looked utterly pitiful, utterly weathered. Thirteen years old had suddenly become thirty; how could she possibly bring herself to kick him?

Unfortunately, she forgot that she was already a married woman, and even if she didn't kick, someone else would do it for her.

The scholar squatted down and carefully pried Fan Bing's hands off her legs one finger at a time. Then, with a stern face, he said seriously, "Young Master Fan, you are not a child anymore. You should know the difference between men and women and avoid suspicion. Considering that you are not well-educated, here's what we'll do: starting tomorrow, you will study the classics with me."

Fan Bing glared at the scholar blocking Fan Qingbo, his eyes blazing with fury, and gritted his teeth, "You scholar, will you die if you don't go against me?"

He lunged at him and bit him, but he easily dodged. He then frowned and shook his head, saying, "Instead of learning good things, you've picked up your master's bad habit of biting. Young man, this is wrong of you. As the saying goes, 'A child's character is formed by age three,' and it's really not good for you to be so barbaric at such a young age. As the sages said, 'Do not refrain from doing good because it is small, nor do evil because it is small.' Actions speak louder than words. To prevent you from developing bad habits that are difficult to correct later, let's begin your education today. We'll start by learning the *Three Character Classic* and the *Standards for Being a Good Student and Child*..."

The scholar recounted the details with great familiarity, but Fan Bing listened with a headache that felt like a bucket, his facial nerves completely breaking down. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he jumped up, his face twitching, and shouted, "I can't live like this anymore! Enough talk, let's have a one-on-one fight!"

The scholar was taken aback for a moment, then readily agreed, saying, "Okay."

Fan Bing began to roll up his sleeves, but then heard him say expectantly, "What does Brother Fan want to compete in? Whether it's Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, or Legalism, I'm ready to play along."

"Pah! I'm going to choke you and fight you!"

Fan Bing spat in annoyance and threw a straight punch, which the scholar dodged by sidestepping. Fan Bing persisted, throwing punches repeatedly. His moves looked like those of someone who didn't know martial arts, but in reality, each punch was full of skill and ruthlessness, forcing the scholar to retreat step by step.

"Why didn't you fight back?!"

"I have already crippled myself, so naturally I will not make a move again."