Chapter 57: Casual Talk

Ke Mingxu had mentioned that he would come to see her when he had time. Clinging to that single promise, Jing Hu had stayed in bed, pretending to be ill for two full days. By the time her neck grew sore from straining to watch for him, and she was truly on the verge of falling sick, he still had not come.

In truth, there was nothing actually wrong with her. After hearing what Douluo said that day, she had happily taken another nap and woke up feeling entirely refreshed and vigorous.

Because of his words that he would come over, she had even sent people to gather numerous purple wildflowers in the dense forests of Jianye, thoroughly decorating the side hall where she lived.

Unfortunately, her seductive glances had been cast upon a blind man. Jing Hu leaned against the windowsill, gently toying with the petals of the small purple flowers in the ceramic vessel. These blossoms grew wild and uninhibited among the mountains and could last for a long time; local officials in Jianye said they could bloom all the way into November.

Yet inside her vase, they would likely wither very soon.

Since the mountain would not come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain. Gathering an armful of wildflowers and several bottles of hemostatic ointment she had purloined from her third brother, Jing Hu made her way toward Ke Mingxu’s quarters.

The wildflowers were meant for Ke Mingxu to enjoy, while the ointment was stolen from her third brother specifically to be given to Qi Yuanfang. She could not always wait passively for her young Master Ke to ask her why she was looking for him; she could take these bottles of medicine and go with him to visit Qi Yuanfang.

The Lady of Huaiyi had regained consciousness after being in a coma for a day, but Qi Yuanfang had yet to wake up even after three or four days.

Although she did not like the Lady of Huaiyi, she sympathized with her ordeal this time. And though she had little interaction with Qi Yuanfang, her impression of him was quite favorable.

Over the past few days, Jing Hu had run into Jing Xun on several occasions. Even though he had performed a meritorious service, he still looked dust-stained and weary every day because the Emperor was flying into a rage in the throne room daily, pressing the Imperial Guard to unearth the culprit.

Clearly, everyone knew in their hearts who was responsible, yet finding concrete evidence proved difficult. The Third Prince’s birth mother had just been posthumously granted the title of Noble Consort Yuanrong. Having suffered such injustice for all these years, the Emperor surely felt a degree of remorse toward her.

For a sovereign to be so sentimental, and so fond of buying himself the reputation of a devoted lover, only meant suffering for the common people.

As soon as Jing Hu stepped into the side hall where Ke Mingxu resided, Huifeng trotted up to greet her as usual, saying, "Little County Princess, we haven't seen you in a while."

She smiled and replied, "I don't have any pastries for you today."

Huifeng chuckled. "I can't possibly expect the Little County Princess's pastries every single day. I heard from the Master that you were feeling unwell the other few days. Are you completely recovered now?"

Seeing how well-behaved he was, she felt an urge to tease him, but holding the bunch of small purple flowers left her hands occupied.

She had recovered completely, or she wouldn't dare wander about aimlessly. Looking around the hall, she did not seem to see Ke Mingxu.

Jing Hu placed the flowers she held into Huifeng's arms. "Where is young Master Ke? Has he gone to keep company with the Emperor again?"

Huifeng carefully received the flowers. "He went over in the morning and hasn't returned yet. I'm not sure where he ended up; perhaps he went to sit with Master Jingshan."

"His spirits haven't been very good these past few days, and he always has things to discuss with Master Jingshan."

Jing Hu's heart grew quiet. Qi Yuanfang was not only his junior fellow disciple, but the tragedy this time had occurred precisely because Qi wanted to speak up for the common people along the Yellow River.

For both public and private reasons, he must be grieving deeply. If Master Jingshan could comfort him, it was likely because the master was learned and open-minded. What, then, could she do for him?

She sat on a stone stool in the courtyard, resting her chin on her hand propped against the table, pondering for half a day without coming up with any solution. In the end, she had to let the matter drop for the moment.

Since even Huifeng did not know where he had gone, she could not search for him blindly like a headless fly and had no choice but to wait here. Rather than sitting in dull silence, she might as well continue chatting with Huifeng.

"What does your master usually do when he's not on duty?"

Huifeng answered her, "Generally, he goes to the Grand Princess Chong'an's estate to speak with Elder Zhou, or to discuss scholarship, and sometimes they go out together."

Elder Zhou’s mother was the Founding Emperor’s youngest sister, the Grand Princess Chong'an, and she was the biological older sister of Lady Zhou of the State Duke Ding's residence.

"When they go out, what do they usually do?"

Huifeng thought for a moment. "That's hard to say, and when they go out, they don't usually take Liuxue and me along."

"I only know that sometimes they go for a spring outing in the suburbs, sometimes they accompany Elder Zhou to visit his old friends, and sometimes they do nothing at all, going to a teahouse in the south of the city and sitting there for an entire day."

Jing Hu recalled what he had once told her—how his teacher frequently took him out to experience the warmth and cold of worldly affairs.

The southern part of the city was where ordinary commoners of Yanjing gathered, far less bustling than the eastern district. Back when her wastrel third brother was young and ignorant, he had once loudly proclaimed that he would never set foot in the southern district; a small courtyard there was worth less than a single jade pendant at his waist.

Doubtless, when they sat in a teahouse for a day, that was what it meant.

"Oh, right, Teacher also often visits the charitable hospice in the south of the city. He does bring Liuxue and me along for that. Years ago, he came across other children who were even younger, and since it was inconvenient to raise them in the residence, he sent them to the hospice."

Jing Hu found this much more interesting than what they had just been discussing. "Tell me in more detail. I've heard that although charitable hospices are funded by the government, the people inside are not all kind."

"Why not entrust those children to household servants to foster, instead of raising them in a hospice?"

Huifeng seemed quite pleased that he could answer her question. "It's because Teacher said that if they are fostered by household servants, they inevitably pick up the habits of servants. These are all children from good families; they shouldn't have to grow up like that."

"The charitable hospice in the south of the city is said to be very well-run, and the children there care for one another, which is why Teacher sent that child there. Whenever he has free time, he goes to check on them and look after the other children."

Listening to this, Jing Hu felt he was truly a remarkable person. A man of immense wealth who never acted proud of it, never looked down upon others, and always considered matters for others down to the smallest detail.

When you like someone, you always feel everything about them is wonderful. Yet Ke Mingxu was different; he had always been wonderful in every way.

She did not know where the teahouse in the south of the city was, and even if she did, it would be unseemly for her to show her face there. But the charitable hospice sounded like a good place—perhaps she could find an opportunity to go there with him.

In the past, she rarely cared about anything outside her own life. When Zhenning and the others dragged her into caring about something that once chanced upon her, she had found Ke Mingxu. He was so good, yet she was not yet good enough; she ought to try doing things within her power.

It was not to engineer an accidental encounter with him, but simply because she also wanted to do good deeds, as a way of repaying the fortune that had brought them together in this mysterious way.

The last time she had spoken to him in the Chileshe language, he had not shown much surprise. If one day he suddenly realized that she, too, was doing the same kind deeds as he was, he would surely be astonished.

Perhaps, just like when they had first met and he praised her fine embroidery, he would offer her generous praise once more.