Finally, I bit my finger, tore off a piece of clothing, and wrote two words in blood on it: Give me money.
Tie it to Da Feng's feet and solemnly said to him, "If you don't bring this note to Lou Xiyue within two days, I'll sell you."
[三五] Willows on the embankment
Upon reaching Anding, Qi Xiao and I were completely out of food.
The strong wind has gone and will never return, which pains me deeply. We can share happiness, but we cannot share hardship. This is very bad for carving books.
I know medicine, and Qi Xiao can dance, so I'm wondering whether we should sell our skills or our medicine.
Considering the living standards of the hundred or so people in Anding Town, I thought that having Qi Xiao dance in the street, a refined art form, would create a sensation, but it might not necessarily bring in income.
So I took out a few packets of atractylodes and coptis powder from my bundle, mixed in some licorice root, and set up a stall with Qi Xiao at the market to sell antidiarrheal medicine.
Business was bad; there were very few people at the stall. Looking at the old lady selling eggs next to me, I felt a lot of pressure.
I wondered, "Won't the people in Anding Town get diarrhea?"
Qi laughed and said, "Maybe people don't understand the importance of being prepared."
I frowned. "But when it comes to diarrhea, you can't wait until you feel the urge to have diarrhea before you start looking for medicine. By the time you find the medicine, the diarrhea has already started. Time waits for no one."
Qi Xiao sighed and remained silent.
I thought about it for a long time, and then laughed with Qi, saying, "I've come up with two solutions."
Qi Xiao looked over and asked, "Hmm?"
I said, "First, your graceful dance on the side can attract the attention of some people."
Qi Xiao rubbed his forehead. "Let's use the second one."
I said, "Okay, the second thing is to put some croton seeds in the well in town. Since there is no demand, then we will create demand."
Qi Xiao thought for a while, then rubbed his forehead and said, "Let's keep it as the first one."
In the end, Qi Xiao didn't dance because it was getting cloudy and rainy, so we had to retreat and take shelter under the eaves of someone's house.
We squatted under the eaves, watching as streams of water slid down the blue tiles, splashing onto the ground.
Qi Xiao stared blankly at the misty, rain-shrouded town of Anding, as if deep in thought.
I nudged her. "Xiaoxiao, what are you thinking about?"
She snapped out of her reverie and replied, "I remember when I was a child in Yangzhou, it rained a lot in the summer."
I rested my chin on my hand and said, "The most urgent thing is to raise the money. Perhaps I should go and ask this family if they need a doctor."
So I knocked on the door, and a thin man in a long robe answered it.
My conversation with him ended abruptly after just the first sentence.
I asked him, "Is anyone in your family sick?"
He glanced at me and slammed the door shut.
When the rain stopped, feeling frustrated by my lack of opportunity, I decided to pawn the luminous pearl I was wearing at the town's pawnshop.
I emptied the stones I had collected from my bundle and, looking for the brocade pouch containing the luminous pearl, tried to negotiate a good price with the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper squinted at it for a moment, then asked, "Miss, how much do you want to pawn this Persian jade?"
I followed his gaze and saw the green stone with the words "Three Lives" carved on it that Lou Xiyue had given me earlier.
I pondered for a moment, then said, "This... is inappropriate."
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "I'll give you fifty taels for this Persian jade."
My heart skipped a beat; I hadn't expected this stone to be so valuable.
I feigned surprise, "You think you can trade this treasure for fifty taels? No way!"
The shopkeeper said with difficulty, "As the saying goes, jade with flaws is less valuable. Persian jade is valuable, but this piece of yours has words engraved on it..."
I slammed my hand on the table. "One hundred taels."
Without saying a word, the shopkeeper immediately took a hundred-tael silver note from the counter and handed it to me.
On the way thereafter, I kept thinking about whether I had lied to the shopkeeper or the shopkeeper had lied to me.
When I arrived in the capital, it was late autumn.
I settled into an inn and Qi Xiao went alone to the Prince Xuan's residence.
There was a storyteller in the teahouse, and I thought I heard the words "Prince Xuan," so I put down my teacup and stared intently at him.
The storyteller slammed his gavel on the table, waved his feather fan, and said, "His Majesty's elder brother, Prince Xuan, once promoted General Jin Lang and was very kind to him. When the general died in battle at Yanmen County, the prince was heartbroken and wept bitterly."
One of the listeners said, "I heard that during the battle of Yanmen County, the general requested reinforcements, but the prince refused. If he is truly a beloved general, how could he stand by and watch his men die?"
I thought I had misheard, so I asked the diners next to me, "Is this Prince Xuan they're talking about the Emperor's elder brother?"
The man nodded. "Of course."
Although I do not concern myself with court affairs, I do know that it is currently the thirty-second year of the Chongyuan era.
Even if His Majesty ascended the throne at the age of ten, this Prince Xuan would be at least forty-two years old, and I, who am suspected to be his brother-in-law, am about the same age as my father.