Knowing the Warmth of Southern Tea (GL) - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Wen Cha’s occasional sighs turned into constant, day-long lamentations, nearly driving Rongrong into a state of sympathetic depression.

But there was no helping it! Rongrong was not Nan Nuan; she could not untie the knots in Wen Cha’s heart. Everyone else could see Wen Cha’s distress, yet Wen Cha herself remained oblivious.

Alas, the player is lost while the bystander sees clearly.

Gu Zhuang also noticed Wen Cha’s abnormality, but he didn’t care. He asked An Shi in private, who indicated that Rongrong’s health faced no major issues.

Of course there were no major issues—did anyone think the title of “Physician Immortal” was earned for nothing? With just a few needles, she could alter the state of her pulse. Forget An Shi; even if all the doctors in Qingzhou were summoned, the result would be the same. In this world, only two people could see through Rongrong’s techniques: one was wandering the world, and the other was in the borderlands.

Gu Zhuang didn’t entirely disbelieve it, nor did he fully trust it. He contacted his own people in secret, but that would take time to bear fruit. Ever since Zhuang returned, he had taken total control over Rongrong’s diet. Rongrong could no longer order Wen Cha to buy snacks for her; after all, if she let someone else buy them and then didn’t eat, it would look suspicious.

“Do you see it?” Rongrong sat sideways on the long corridor, asking as she watched Wen Cha counting soapberry pods under the tree. Zhuang stood behind her, massaging her shoulders.

“Merely self-deception,” Zhuang said, as laconic as ever. However, the act of massaging his wife’s shoulders had already thoroughly ruined his “cold and aloof” persona.

“Yes, self-deception.” Rongrong fell silent and gazed quietly at the soapberry tree as well. As she watched, she suddenly felt hungry. Her appetite had been remarkably good lately!

“Shall the two of us go eat some pea-flour cake?” Rongrong was prone to sudden whims. Zhuang seemed to consider it for a moment, then nodded in agreement. The two snatched the hawthorn cakes from the corridor table and slipped away.

When Wen Cha snapped out of her daze, she realized her foster parents were gone—and they hadn’t even left her a single piece of hawthorn cake…

Wen Cha was not ignorant of the affairs between men and women, nor was she emotionally oblivious. But just as the storybooks wrote, it was always the “young master” and the “young lady” who ended up together. Two women were, after all, not the “orthodox path.” Even if her feelings for Nan Nuan were real, what about Nan Nuan?

It could only be sisterly affection, right?

Ultimately, Wen Cha convinced herself that her bond with Nan Nuan was purely sisterly. But the tears kept flowing and flowing!

Sigh, if only I knew how to make snacks like foster father. If I made them for Nuan Nuan, she would surely like them.

Why am I thinking about her again? We’re clearly just sisters!

Wen Cha looked at the soapberry tree, where two small birds were huddling together. Even the birds were in pairs…

What on earth should I do?

…

Nan Nuan, the object of these thoughts, could not perceive Wen Cha’s inner conflict. In fact, she was quite happy. She had finally succeeded in delivering the ledgers of corruption into the hands of the Imperial Censor.

The Censor believed he had exerted Herculean effort to finally “clear the clouds and see the moon,” uncovering a major scandal that his predecessors had missed. He immediately reported the matter to the Imperial Court, confiscated the Waterway Governor-General’s property, and threw him into prison.

When the Emperor learned of this, he was furious and ordered a thorough investigation. This dragged out a long string of officials, all of whom were partisans of the Fourth Prince. The Emperor rebuked the Fourth Prince in open court, calling him “unfit for great responsibility.” This effectively severed the Fourth Prince’s path to the throne.

Nan Nuan hadn’t expected the Fourth Prince to be dealt with so easily. Her backup plans weren’t even needed, which she found almost a pity. In truth, the Emperor acted intentionally; when some people commit grave errors, they cannot be let off lightly. After all, if the Son of Heaven breaks the law, he shall suffer the same punishment as the commoners.

Coincidentally, a Buddhist Master calculated that Qingzhou would soon face a flood and advised the immediate reinforcement of the levees. The Emperor appointed a special envoy to supervise the works and allocated two million taels of silver.

The special envoy was an old acquaintance—Jiang Gai.

Having solved the corruption case in Bingzhou, Jiang Gai had been promoted from the Secondary Second Rank to the Primary Second Rank. Some might think his rise too rapid, but Jiang Gai was the son of the Crown Prince’s childhood study companion. His father was a close confidant of the Emperor, and the Emperor had watched Jiang Gai grow up. He could have entered officialdom directly; for him, the Imperial Examination was merely a stepping stone. Moving from a fresh graduate last year to the Primary Second Rank this year made him the fastest-rising official in history.

The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be buffeted by the wind. If this Qingzhou mission succeeded, no one would question the strength of this new Number One Scholar. If it failed, it would serve to hide his sharp edge; Jiang Gai was a capable minister the Emperor was grooming for the next sovereign.

This ordeal dragged on for another month, and the date of the predicted flood drew closer. The first thing Jiang Gai did upon arrival was to visit the residence to find Nan Nuan. For this entire month, Wen Cha and Nan Nuan had barely seen each other. Jiang Gai’s arrival stirred quite a commotion.

“It has been a long time. Are you well, Nuan Nuan?” Nan Nuan received Jiang Gai in the courtyard. Jiang Gai watched her brew tea; it was a pleasing sight.

“Very well. It has been but a few days, yet Mr. Jiang’s elegance remains unchanged,” Nan Nuan replied directly.

“Nuan Nuan, you should know that my purpose in coming is for Qingzhou,” Jiang Gai said, moving quickly past the pleasantries.

“Speak plainly, sir. Nan Nuan shall do her utmost to assist.” Nan Nuan handed a cup of tea to Jiang Gai. He took a sip and found it tasteless. As a high-born young master, he had been trained in many arts, but no matter the training, he still found tea bitter. He quickly picked up a hawthorn cake from the table; he did so with such grace that one couldn’t tell he had been put off by the bitterness.

“I wish to entrust the reinforcement of the Qingzhou levees to you, Miss Nan Nuan,” Jiang Gai said after swallowing the snack.

“Is this… your idea, sir?” Nan Nuan asked.

“This is… the Emperor’s idea,” Jiang Gai replied with a smile.

Nan Nuan froze for a moment, then smiled. “The Emperor truly sees even the tip of an autumn hair!” The Emperor was truly a monarch worthy of the name. This world, after all, remained in his hands, to turn into clouds or rain at his whim.

“Miss Nan is a clever person. The Emperor very much hopes to have a Crown Princess like you. Nuan Nuan, as a personal friend, I have a sentence for you: ‘Under the wide heaven, all is the King’s land; within the sea-boundaries of the land, all are the King’s servants.'” Jiang Gai spoke with sincere conviction. He admired a remarkable woman like Nan Nuan and did not wish to see her wither away.

“Thank you for your candor, Mr. Jiang. If there is nothing else, please take your leave.” Nan Nuan issued a direct order for the guest to depart. Jiang Gai rose to say goodbye, leaving the official silver behind as he left…

…

How could the Emperor have known? This journey had been extremely secretive. Was it Mr. Gu? No, Mr. Gu wouldn’t do something so thankless.

“An San, is there any news from the Capital?”

“Reporting to Master, this was the idea of the Young Master (Nan Wei).”

No wonder. No wonder.

“Is there anything else?”

“It is said that this was calculated by the Chief Buddhist Abbot.”

“Years ago they ‘calculated’ a Crown Princess, and now they’ve ‘calculated’ another one? Can the Imperial family not change their methods for once? I am not so easily fooled.”

“Master, please calm your anger.”

“Withdraw.” Nan Nuan crushed the teacup in her hand into powder.

In truth, Nan Nuan wasn’t angry at all; she was merely performing for outsiders. Everything was proceeding smoothly.