Chapter 47: Returning Wind

That night, the young lady of the county had a pleasant dream. The autumn night’s stars were scattered unevenly, far less brilliant than those of summer nights, yet the starry sky she once gazed upon with Ke Mingxu was always more beautiful than the Milky Way adorned with countless stars in summer.

For several days after, she did not encounter him again. She inquired discreetly about his residence, only to be told by the young attendant guarding it that Master Ke was attending the emperor at the Chongming Palace.

The current emperor seemed to hold him in high regard, which was why so many civil officials did not accompany the emperor to Jiankang, yet he could.

But the more he stayed close to the emperor, the more anxious she felt. The emperor was fond of arranging marriages for others; the match between the fifth son of the Duke of Dingguo and the fifth daughter of the Duke of Hengguo’s family had been his decree.

The Dingguo and Hengguo households had long vied for the top noble status in Yanliang, with the Hengguo family being thoroughly suppressed by Dingguo. Though they appeared cordial, their hearts were far from harmonious. She wondered how the emperor could have issued such an order.

It was said that during a flower appreciation gathering held by Concubine Bai in the palace, the fifth daughter of the Zhao family requested the marriage alliance. Quite a lively affair, for a woman to be so bold. Unfortunately, she was in Jiangnan at the time and did not attend the event.

Ke Mingxu was already of marriageable age. Serving daily beside the emperor, would the emperor on a whim decide to marry him off to a noble lady?

As she walked toward Ke Mingxu’s residence, she pondered these matters. If only she were a little older, then she could imitate Zhao’s fifth daughter and take the initiative first, so no one else would dare to lay eyes on him.

Not even in dreams.

She arrived at the door, where the young attendant Hui Feng stood. Over these days, she had come to know of Hui Feng. Except for the first time, she had brought sweets and snacks for him on each visit.

Hui Feng was a year younger than her and usually managed Ke Mingxu’s affairs himself. Previously, when she met Ke Mingxu, there was never a young attendant by his side. This time, because he had come to the temporary palace, it was inconvenient to be without a servant, hence he brought Hui Feng along.

The young lady stepped forward to greet Hui Feng as usual, but he asked her to stand aside. “Master currently has a guest. Young lady, please sit in the courtyard; Hui Feng will bring you some tea.”

She smiled and patted his head. After all, he was just a child younger than her. She quite liked children who were so obedient and well-behaved.

“You don’t need to trouble yourself. I won’t drink tea. This box of snacks is for you.”

Glancing toward the window, she asked, “Who is the guest in Brother Ke’s room?” She had seen him before, at the palace banquet, speaking with Ke Mingxu.

Hui Feng took the box of snacks somewhat shyly. “Always troubling the young lady like this.” Then he said, “The guest is the great scholar of our time, Master Jin Shan, who has recently been attending the emperor alongside Master Ke at Chongming Palace.”

A great scholar of the age, Master Jin Shan — none of these titles interested her.

Jing Hu muttered, “Being together every day attending the emperor, how could they have so much to talk about as if they could never finish?”

Hui Feng smiled. “Master Jin Shan once stayed in the northwest and traveled through many Western regions. Master Ke is very interested in these matters, so they often sit and drink tea together, sometimes for an entire day.”

“For a whole day?” Jing Hu raised an eyebrow, glancing anxiously inside. “Would they really talk for that long today as well?”

Hui Feng thought for a moment and shook his head. “Unlikely. The emperor summoned Master Ke in the evening to play chess.”

But it was still many hours until evening. Jing Hu’s gaze lingered on Ke Mingxu inside the hall. She wondered if she pretended not to know about the guest and just barged in, would he be upset?

Hui Feng seemed to see through her thoughts. “Young lady, my master dislikes being disturbed when he is speaking.”

Then she let it be. After all, she had nothing pressing to do today. Sitting in the courtyard, occasionally glancing at him, she found the time well spent.

Jing Hu then chatted with Hui Feng. “Why do you call Brother Ke ‘Master’? Aren’t you his servant? Shouldn’t you address him as ‘Young Master’ or something similar?”

Hui Feng smiled. “Master Ke never has servants attending him. I imagine the young lady is familiar with this. He likes to handle things personally, and we generally don’t have to intervene.”

“We call him ‘Master’ because he teaches me and Liu Xue literacy and reading. He doesn’t consider us servants, nor does he want us to think of ourselves as such.”

Jing Hu said, “So there is another young attendant like you named Liu Xue? Did Brother Ke choose the name? ‘Liu Xue’ and ‘Hui Feng’ sound like they come from some literary work.”

“From ‘The Rhapsody on the Goddess of the Luo River’: ‘Faintly like light clouds veiling the moon, drifting as the returning snow in the flowing wind.’ Previously, the attendants who served Master were named ‘Light Cloud’ and ‘Faded Moon.’”

“I see.” She was truly a bit unlearned. Her teacher had taught “The Rhapsody on the Goddess of the Luo River” well before, but she failed to recall it at once, unlike a mere young attendant.

Well, after all, Hui Feng was taught by the top scholar. Her own teacher was merely an old candidate who repeatedly failed the imperial exams.

She asked, “Are you a natural son of the Ke Grand Tutor’s household? Why did Brother Ke choose you?”

Hui Feng was silent for a moment before smiling. “No. Liu Xue and I both lost our families in the sixteenth year of the Zhaoyong era due to the great epidemic in Daxing. That’s why we followed the master.”

They were both from Yanjing and could not have forgotten the epidemic of the sixteenth year of Zhaoyong. She felt a bit embarrassed for having touched on such a painful subject.

Hui Feng, however, was very composed. “At that time, Daxing was almost a living hell. Several checkpoints were set up within dozens of miles of Yanjing, allowing entrance but forbidding exit.”

“There were simply too many sick. No matter how many doctors the court sent, it was like a drop in the ocean. We thought the master was just a doctor. No, his bearing was so dignified, standing among the crowd diagnosing patients like a deity.”

“He treated people with such kindness and humility, with no airs. We all thought he must be an imperial physician, but who knew his background was so illustrious? When we found out, Liu Xue and I were both shocked.”

Jing Hu had no idea about this. He had actually been at the center of the epidemic, diagnosing and treating the common folk during the worst of times.

She had thought highly of him before but now realized she had underestimated him.

She wanted to ask more about those times, but though Hui Feng was open-minded, recalling the epidemic that took his family must be very painful.

So she reached out and gently patted Hui Feng’s head again.

This time, Hui Feng stepped back a little.