Knowing the Warmth of Southern Tea (GL) - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Rongrong finished packing her luggage and categorizing her medicinal herbs. Time slipped away unnoticed; by the time she regained her senses, it was already evening.

He should be back by now, she thought. With that in mind, she found Zhuang by the well in the backyard, drawing water.

“I guessed you’d be here,” Rongrong said with a smile. She stepped forward, took a wooden ladle, scooped some water, and drank. Finding it sweet, she took another sip. This well water never froze, regardless of the season, and every bucketful was crisp and refreshing.

“The water is cold; don’t drink too much.” Zhuang took the ladle from her and placed it back in the bucket. Rongrong rarely drank cold water anyway; she usually only drank water that had been boiled and cooled.

Rongrong wasn’t bothered by him snatching the ladle. She watched him intently. Their eyes met—suddenly, it was that feeling of a heart skipping a beat.

“You are thinking. Do you have an answer?” Some things need not be spoken to be understood. After being husband and wife for so many years, it would be a waste of time if they didn’t share this level of unspoken understanding.

“Does it matter? Your decision is what is most important. Did you agree?” Zhuang didn’t give a direct answer but turned back to continue drawing water.

“It matters. Your feelings are what I value most. Besides, regardless of whether I agreed or not, the other party would have offered conditions I couldn’t refuse…” Rongrong spoke her mind to ease her guilt. Truly, she shouldn’t have agreed. No matter the reason, when someone comes for you, you should avoid their edge rather than walk into their trap. Rongrong wasn’t worried about anything else—she was just afraid her “darling brother” would be angry. She had to find a way to coax him.

Gu Zhuang didn’t reply but stared blankly at Rongrong. She suddenly stepped forward; Gu Zhuang suppressed his instinct to dodge and stood there stiffly. Rongrong leaned in and gave him a light kiss, as fleeting as a dragonfly skimming the water.

Then she quickly pushed him away and turned around. Gu Zhuang also turned his head. Even as an old married couple, a bit of passion every now and then felt refreshing. Neither was a person of indulgence; in fact, both were rather reserved by nature. Occasionally, Rongrong’s bursts of affection were more than he could handle.

“Alright, alright, the die is cast. Besides, you’re the one who brought them here! I know that even if you hadn’t, they would have found us eventually. Blessings aren’t curses, and curses can’t be avoided. No matter what the other side plans, I have you, don’t I? She’s calculating against us, thinking she’s in the shadows while we are in the light. But now that we are prepared, we are in the shadows and they are in the light. We’ll just deal with whatever they throw at us. Don’t worry!” Rongrong explained, hoping her husband would remain as tolerant of her as always.

Zhuang didn’t speak; he simply reached out and pulled Rongrong into his arms from behind. She leaned back against his chest.

“If only you hadn’t… been with me,” Zhuang had thought this countless times. He felt he never should have involved Rongrong from the very beginning. If they had never met, she wouldn’t be caught in this scheme or dragged into this vortex; she would still be that female physician who refused to save the world.

“Don’t say such things to upset me. I don’t want ‘if onlys.’ Without you, and without Xingyue, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Xiao Zhuang, don’t you dare say things that make me angry. You don’t owe me anything; on the contrary, you’ve given me things most people couldn’t get in a lifetime. I won’t allow you to think like that. If you say it again, I’ll… I’ll…” As she spoke, she began to cry. She had been quite emotional lately.

“Don’t cry.” Gu Zhuang didn’t know how to comfort his little wife and could only manage those two words.

“Hmph, I’m not crying. I’ve already agreed. This time, we’ll solve the problem once and for all,” Rongrong said fiercely, her eyes still red. Every time you try to comfort me, it’s just ‘don’t cry.’ Don’t you get tired of it? No progress at all. But the truth was, Gu Zhuang only ever comforted her—and as soon as he said those words, she would stop. Who was to blame?

“Mhm. We’ll solve it once and for all,” Zhuang echoed, looking at the water in the bucket. Rongrong knew he had agreed, but there was one thing she hadn’t told him: she was pregnant again.

…For an ordinary couple, pregnancy would be a joyful event. But Rongrong didn’t know how to break the news.

Thinking back to when she gave birth to Xingyue, she could never forget how Gu Zhuang stayed by her side with bloodshot eyes, not even glancing at the newborn daughter once. When she asked if it was a boy or a girl, he had just stood there dazed. It was then that Rongrong knew she hadn’t chosen the wrong man; he was worth entrusting her life to.

That previous scare with post-partum hemorrhaging had terrified him. Moreover, after Xingyue, any subsequent pregnancy posed a threat to her life.

Rongrong hadn’t wanted to tell him, but Gu Zhuang had learned of her condition from her master. He had even planned to take medicine secretly to ensure they had no more children, cutting off the risk entirely.

Rongrong had stopped him, of course. However, her master and Gu Zhuang’s relationship grew better because of that incident—but that’s a story for another time.

She knew her own body; Xingyue was likely to be her only child. For years, she had been taking restorative medicine that also acted as a contraceptive. She hadn’t conceived for over a decade.

The medicine was incredibly bitter. Rongrong had wanted to stop after three years, but Gu Zhuang insisted she drink it for five more, and then Xingyue pestered her into another six.

However, after ten years, it had worked; her body was well-regulated now. She could even handle a bit of wine or chili peppers. Recently, Xingyue had been busy at the yamen and had no time to watch her. Rongrong had secretly stopped the medicine, and within a few months…

The next morning, Zhuang and Rongrong said their goodbyes. Unable to let her go alone, he decided to follow. He left the yamen matters to Xingyue for the time being.

Rongrong traveled to Qingzhou with Nan Nuan and Wen Cha. Wen Cha and Nan Nuan shared one carriage, while Rongrong took another, which was packed with various medicines just in case.

If they traveled by horse day and night, they could arrive in five or six days. If they went by water, it would take only a day and a night. Since they were using carriages, they were already behind schedule, so they decided to drive for two days to reach the ferry docks and then switch to the waterway. This would cut down on travel time.

And so, under the protection of the hidden guards, the group began their journey.

Zhuang, naturally, would not let Rongrong go alone and followed behind in secret. Xingyue was left home alone to handle the yamen. She assumed her mother was going for Wen Cha’s sake, and that her father simply couldn’t bear to be apart from her mother and followed her stealthily. She didn’t think much of it, simply viewing them as an old couple who couldn’t stand a day apart. However, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that Wen Cha was using her mother just to get close to her father.

Everything went exactly as Nan Nuan had predicted. She knew Gu Zhuang would follow. But it didn’t matter—her goal had already been achieved.

However, Nan Nuan didn’t expect that Gu Zhuang—the one person she hadn’t included as a chess piece—would become the key figure in the Qingzhou flood.