Brotherhood Sworn in Blood

Brotherhood Sworn in Blood

"Brother! You said this room will be mine from now on?"

Zheng Shan asked Zheng Fa dazedly, her grin stretching from ear to ear as though she could not believe the arrangements Zheng Fa had just made.

"What? Afraid to sleep alone?" Zheng Fa laughed.

"I'm not!" his little sister hurriedly said.

Their new home in the Zhao Family was not particularly large, but compared to the mud house they had lived in before, it was extravagantly spacious.

The small courtyard had one room on each side. Zheng Fa planned to use them as the kitchen and woodshed.

The main house had four rooms in total, not counting the central sitting room.

Of the remaining three rooms, Zheng Fa intended for each of the three family members to have one.

This delighted Zheng Shan beyond measure. She held Zheng Fa's index finger and looked toward her own room.

Then she nodded with great solemnity. "My new room is so pretty!"

Zheng Fa peered inside. The room was completely empty, with nothing but dust all over the floor.

He had no idea where his little sister saw anything pretty.

"Your sister is still young. This room should be kept for you as a study." Mother Zheng hesitated for a while before speaking. "You're the Young Master's book boy now. Studying is important. Your sister can just sleep with me."

Hearing this, Zheng Shan lowered her head without saying a word. Her little mouth pursed into a pout, and she looked terribly wronged.

Zheng Fa knew that Zheng Shan had always been somewhat uncomfortable sleeping with Mother Zheng. Since their father's death, Mother Zheng had worked herself to exhaustion. She could not stay up late, and she was a light sleeper. Zheng Shan, on the other hand, was full of energy and slept late, yet she was considerate enough to know her mother needed rest.

Every time Mother Zheng fell asleep, the little girl did not dare move an inch for fear of waking her mother. For someone as lively and restless as her, it was truly torment.

That was why, before coming to the new home, Zheng Shan's greatest wish had been to have a bed of her own.

"Little Sister may be young now, but she'll grow up eventually. Since we have an extra room, letting her sleep here will save us from having to move her later." He said to his mother.

His little sister suddenly raised her head and gave Zheng Fa a silly, giggling smile.

Seeing Mother Zheng about to speak again, he continued, "If I want to study, I can do it in Teacher Shen's classroom or in Seventh Young Master's study. Even when I come home, can't I read in the sitting room?"

"But... I saw Steward Wang's household set up a study after Wang Gui enrolled in school. They said scholars ought to have a room specifically for keeping books."

Zheng Fa waved a hand and laughed. "Poor students have too much stationery... Ahem, I mean, books are useless sitting on shelves. They need to be in your head."

"But..."

"Mother, Wang Gui studied all the way into Mist and Rain Pavilion, and even studied his father's steward position right out from under him. If we're going to learn, let's learn something worthwhile."

"That's true!"

Thank Wang Gui for making Mother Zheng so easy to persuade...

Zheng Shan raised both hands over her head and cheered, "Mother! I want to arrange my own room!"

"Then you can clean it yourself." Seeing her daughter so happy, Mother Zheng smiled as well.

"I'll clean it myself! I'll clean Brother's room too, and Mother's room too!"

Mother and daughter happily pressed their heads together and began whispering about how to arrange the furniture Steward Gao had sent. Zheng Fa glanced at the sun and said to them, "Mother, you two discuss it first. I need to go train with Instructor Xu."

Mother Zheng waved him off without even looking at him, immersed in the joy of arranging their new home. It gave him the forlorn feeling of having fallen from favor.

Inside a room at the training grounds, Instructor Xu stroked several thick manuals before him and heaved long sigh after long sigh.

His rough, bold face was unexpectedly full of delicate sorrow.

Instructor Xu's young disciple, who was also his clansman nephew, came over and saw his master's expression. He could not help asking with concern, "Uncle, what's wrong?"

"Sigh, Madam sent over the Spirit Crane Body. She wants me to teach it to that boy Zheng Fa."

"The Spirit Crane Body!" Instructor Xu's nephew exclaimed, looking toward the books in Instructor Xu's hands. Sure enough, the cover bore the three words: Spirit Crane Body.

His eyes immediately could not move away. "Uncle, can I take a look?"

"Do you want to die? I served the Zhao Family for twenty years before Madam took notice of me and allowed me to learn the Spirit Crane Body. Yet..."

"It took you twenty years to earn that qualification, Uncle." Instructor Xu's nephew lowered his voice. "Isn't that a little too unfair...?"

"Shut your mouth. Your nerve is getting bigger and bigger. Is Madam someone you can gossip about?" Instructor Xu smacked his nephew on the head.

Instructor Xu's nephew rubbed his head and bared his teeth in pain. "Didn't I see you sighing, Uncle? I was only standing up for you!"

Instructor Xu's expression improved considerably. "That's not why. It's... Didn't I want to take Zheng Fa as my disciple before?"

"You can't take him now!" Instructor Xu's nephew suddenly understood.

"Exactly. He's earned Madam's favor now. How could I have the face for that? What would Madam think of me?" Instructor Xu nodded. "It's just that I should have told Zheng Fa about taking him as a disciple sooner."

"If you'd told him sooner, he'd be my junior brother!" His nephew understood.

"Even if he can't become my disciple, saying it earlier would have forged a good bond!"

Instructor Xu looked deeply regretful, not noticing his nephew's eyes roll as he quietly headed outside the training grounds.

When Zheng Fa arrived at the entrance to the training grounds, he saw a young man crouching there as if waiting for someone. The man looked familiar, seemingly one of the people who had stood beside Instructor Xu last time.

He paused, gave the other man a slight bow, and prepared to enter through the gate.

Then he saw the man leap to his feet, looking at him with a face full of delight as he warmly exclaimed, "Brother Zheng!"

"Hm?" Zheng Fa stopped and looked at him in confusion. "And you are?"

"We met last time! Instructor Xu is my uncle."

"Brother Xu, what do you need from me?"

"Nothing important!" The other man stepped forward and enthusiastically grabbed Zheng Fa's arm. "When we met in passing last time, I felt at first sight that you and I were kindred spirits, Brother Zheng! And now, by such a coincidence, we run into each other here. What fate!"

Zheng Fa looked at the two shallow pits the man had crouched into, then leaned his head back to avoid the other's fervent spit. "Indeed, a pleasure to meet you!"

"How about this? Let's swear brotherhood!" Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Zheng Fa watched with his own eyes as the man pulled out an incense burner from where he had been crouching. He inserted three sticks of incense into it, and three wisps of blue smoke curled upward.

"Isn't this a little hasty?"

"As they say, two carriages may meet beneath a tilted canopy and forge a friendship. That was exactly how I felt when I saw you, Brother Zheng."

The man was so enthusiastic that Zheng Fa could hardly strike a smiling face. He could only tactfully say, "Well... there's no need to swear brotherhood. How about we simply address each other as brothers in daily life?"

"If that is..." Seeing that Zheng Fa was unwilling, Instructor Xu's nephew seemed to feel he should not force him. He could only nod reluctantly and say with heartfelt sincerity, "You must remember, in my heart, I already see you as a younger brother, Brother Zheng!"

"Brother Xu, I have things to do, so I'll be leaving first!" Zheng Fa called back, then hurried away.

The other man remained where he was, shouting, "We'll catch up on our brotherly bond another day!"

Zheng Fa entered the training grounds and found the room where Instructor Xu was.

Instructor Xu stood in the room with his hands behind his back. His tiger eyes brimmed with tears as he looked at Zheng Fa with an expression full of emotion, as though he were gazing upon an old friend.

"Instructor?" Zheng Fa cautiously asked.

"Little Zheng, do you know what day it is today?"

"What day?"

"When I was young, I had a younger brother born of the same mother. We were extremely close, but sadly he died young. Today is the anniversary of his death..."

Zheng Fa softly said, "Instructor, please restrain your grief."

Instructor Xu wiped his face and said, "To be honest, the first time I saw you, I felt you resembled that younger brother of mine who passed away so early."

"..."

"Let's swear brotherhood!"

"Wait, that sounds... a little familiar." Zheng Fa looked at the incense table behind Instructor Xu and frowned.

(End of Chapter)