Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 37

Yun Qing naturally liked the flowers.

Who wouldn’t like flowers, especially ones so beautiful?

However, she thought Jiang Baiyu must have been drunk; otherwise, with his personality, he wouldn’t have done something so flamboyant.

The boat swayed, and Jiang Baiyu’s body swayed with it. Fearing he might fall headfirst into the water, Yun Qing reached out to steady him.

Just then, he happened to lift his arm as well, she missed grabbing his arm as intended and instead firmly gripped his wrist.

Jiang Baiyu suddenly went still.

“Let’s go back,” Yun Qing said, pulling him along. Afraid he might sway and fall overboard, she didn’t let go of his hand.

The dancing and singing girls were by the boat’s edge admiring the lotus flowers, chattering like a flock of ducklings with their down still unshod.

Cheng Suiyan was being chummy with Chu Yanchuan, arm around his shoulder. After listening to him talk for a while, Chu Yanchuan suddenly asked, “Suiyan, the current Prime Minister also has the surname Cheng. Is your Cheng family branch related to the Prime Minister’s Cheng family?”

“Ah, I suppose so. We’re… distant relatives, yes, distant relatives.”

Chu Yanchuan smiled. “No wonder you’re so knowledgeable.”

On the other side of the pleasure boat, Fu Xue and Chu Yanhe were arguing.

Fu Xue: “These lotus flowers bloomed for my senior sister! My senior sister is on this boat!”

Chu Yanhe: “These flowers bloomed for my big brother! My big brother is the Lord of Linglong City, the entire city belongs to him, and the lotus flowers must obey him too!”

Fu Xue: “Nonsense, my senior sister is much more powerful than your big brother!”

“My big brother is powerful; he excels in both literary and martial arts!”

“My senior sister is powerful; she’s accomplished both internal and external!”

“My big brother’s elegance is unmatched in the world!”

“My senior sister’s beauty is unparalleled!”

“My big brother faced national crisis alone with just a knife!”

“My senior sister cleared hordes of demons with a single sword!”

Yun Qing was embarrassed enough to want to cover her face.

She pretended not to know them and quickly helped Jiang Baiyu into the cabin, avoiding them.

By the railing, the little duckling-like girls laughed and played. “Look, there’s a twin lotus!”

“There’s another one there!”

“I see one too!”

“Aren’t twin lotuses very rare? We’ve never seen them before, but today there are so many.”

“The immortals must have descended to the mortal world!”

“Quick, make a wish, hehe!”

….

Yun Qing thought Jiang Baiyu really had good drinking manners. He wasn’t causing any trouble, just quietly allowing himself to be led by her. When she told him to sit, he sat, and after sitting down, he tilted his face up to look at her.

His eyes, no longer calm as usual, now sparkled with light. His pupils followed her movements, his gaze constantly tracking her.

Yun Qing felt her scalp tighten under his stare.

She admitted to herself that she hadn’t reached the realm of sainthood yet. He was handsome, smelled nice, and was now looking at her with those eyes—it was almost too much to handle.

She poured him a bowl of sobering tea, handed it to him, and then turned to leave.

After leaving the cabin, Yun Qing saw Chu Yanchuan on the deck. He apologetically said to her, “I really didn’t expect the twenty-year ‘Don’t Know the Year’ wine to have such a strong aftereffect.”

“It’s fine. He’ll sober up quickly.”

“I was just discussing with Brother Suiyan—inns are rather inconvenient. Why don’t you all stay at our residence? The Lord’s mansion is very spacious, with plenty of rooms. It would be better for you to have proper care at the Lord’s mansion.”

He didn’t specify what kind of care, but this reminded Yun Qing of something else. “There is indeed someone who needs your attention.”

She then told him about Li Siniang’s situation.

A widowed mother with money was like a child carrying gold through a busy market—easily targeted by those with ill intentions. With the City Lord’s backing, her life should be easier.

After listening, Chu Yanchuan smiled and said, “A small matter.”

“Then I thank you.”

“I should be thanking you. She is a citizen of Linglong City, and we of the Chu family are supported by the citizens of Linglong City—it’s our duty to provide protection.”

His words surprised Yun Qing, and she looked at him with appreciation.

Chu Yanchuan blushed and turned away, his gaze falling on a twin lotus on the lake’s surface.

Yun Qing felt someone watching from behind and looked back.

Jiang Baiyu was leaning against the window, his arm resting on the carved flower-patterned windowsill, supporting his chin as he watched them through the window.

His hair ribbon had loosened, and his thick black hair cascaded over his shoulder like a black waterfall.

The moon-white soft ribbon brushed against the side of his face, fluttering slightly in the breeze, like a finger caressing his jade-like face.

As Yun Qing turned away, she thought that his current outfit was a bit plain and didn’t match his face.

She didn’t speak further, silently observing the scenery on the lake island.

The lake island was covered with houses—pink walls and dark gray tiles, arranged at various heights. The island grew vegetables, raised poultry, and had many fruit trees.

Among them, a persimmon tree was particularly tall. At this time of year, the tree was full of fire-red persimmons, like thousands of small lanterns gently enveloping the houses below.

As the pleasure boat passed the lake island, it didn’t stop but continued to the other side of Jade Ring Lake.

The other side featured a stone cliff about a hundred zhang tall. The cliff was draped with lush vines, and its base was covered with moss.

In the middle of the cliff was a red carving about five or six cun wide and over ten zhang long, with red inscriptions beside it.

Chu Yanchuan pointed to the carving and explained, “That marks how high the water rose during the great flood twenty years ago.”

Cheng Suiyan looked at it with amazement and asked, “I suppose the inscriptions beside it record the details of how Sheng Xi controlled the flood?”

“Yes. When the boat gets closer, you’ll be able to see clearly.” Chu Yanchuan nodded with a smile. “Suiyan, Yun Qing, look at the southeast corner of the cliff.”

Cheng Suiyan shaded his eyes and looked for a moment, then smiled. “I see it. That must be Holy Xi’s calligraphy?”

As he spoke, he pointed to the southeast corner near the top of the cliff, where two large characters were carved and colored with cinnabar.

The strokes were graceful and unrestrained, the carving sharp and even, done in one breath, as if someone had written directly on the cliff with a sword. It was quite different from common cliff inscriptions.

Yun Qing looked in the direction he pointed.

With just one glance, her mind exploded like thunder. She stood frozen, her skin involuntarily breaking out in goosebumps.

Cheng Suiyan didn’t notice Yun Qing’s silence; in fact, he was feeling quite awkward himself.

He realized that Sheng Xi’s calligraphy consisted of only two characters, and he couldn’t recognize one of them, which was embarrassing. He wasn’t fond of studying, but he wasn’t illiterate either!

“What… ‘tian’? Yanchuan, how is that character pronounced?” Cheng Suiyan asked.

Chu Yanchuan smiled and said, “It’s ‘sheng tian’ (conquering heaven). The writing style of this character is indeed special; people who aren’t from Linglong City probably wouldn’t recognize it. When the great god Cangjie created characters, the script underwent many changes before reaching its current form. No one knows what the original script looked like. Goddess Sheng Xi was an ancient deity, so she must have used the original script.”

Sheng tian, sheng…

So that character in Emperor Xi’s Wordless Book was “sheng” (conquer)!

Yun Qing stared fixedly at the character “sheng,” her emotions surging. After being puzzled for so long, she finally had an answer. She wanted to laugh out loud and cry at the same time.

How she wished she could share this good news with her master, with Fu Xue, with Baiyu and Suiyan.

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t do anything.

This enormous secret had accompanied her for over a decade. Before, she had kept quiet for fear of heavenly punishment, but now it involved her master’s life and death. She couldn’t even show any unusual reaction.

Extreme excitement, yet extreme suppression.

Extreme ecstasy, yet extreme loneliness.

Her heart felt like it housed a deep sea with raging winds and furious waves. Yet her face remained extremely calm, as serene as a compassionate sculpture.

Cheng Suiyan wanted to comment further on the cliff inscription and perhaps compose a poem to wash away the shame of being illiterate, but just as he was about to speak, he noticed that Yun Qing had turned and entered the cabin.

“Yun Qing? Yun Qing?”

“I’m tired. Need some rest,” Yun Qing replied stiffly.

“Oh.”

As Yun Qing passed Fu Xue and Chu Yanhe, they were no longer arguing but standing shoulder to shoulder, looking at Sheng Xi’s calligraphy.

Chu Yanhe was vividly describing to Fu Xue how Sheng Xi had written those two characters, as if she had witnessed it herself.

Yun Qing ruffled Fu Xue’s head and then continued into the cabin.

…

Jiang Baiyu sensed something was off with Yun Qing.

Though her expression hadn’t changed, her eyes were unusually bright, and she was breathing faster than normal.

Jiang Baiyu poured a cup of tea and handed it to her.

Yun Qing’s heart was still pounding wildly. She took the tea and downed it in one gulp.

Because she drank so vigorously, a drop of tea escaped from the corner of her mouth, flowing down her chin and tracing a thin line of moisture along her long, fair neck.

Jiang Baiyu’s gaze swept over that glistening trail as he took her empty teacup. Even in such a simple action, he exuded dignity and elegance.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, gently setting down the teacup.

“Baiyu.”

“Mm.”

“I’m very happy today.”

Jiang Baiyu smiled. “It’s good to be happy.”

“Baiyu.”

“Mm?”

“Let me give you a new set of clothes.”

Jiang Baiyu asked curiously, “Why suddenly give me clothes?”

“I told you, I’m happy today.”

Jiang Baiyu was somewhat bemused. Was buying things for others her way of expressing happiness? No wonder she was always short on money—she must be happy quite often.

He smiled, “Alright.”