A Slip of the Tongue

Father was going to pull that boy into another conversation again. He treated him even better than he treated her. Was it just because she was a daughter?

Su Ziji was a little baffled. But Little Pepper was like that—usually very good to him, then suddenly turning on him without warning, her face changing as fast as a dog's.

"You mean, you want Buhui to go with me to the prefectural city now?"

After hearing only a few sentences, Su Ziji found himself troubled. "I have no objection, but you haven't recovered yet. You need someone to care for you."

"I have already thought of a solution. I'll stay at the clinic for a few days." Ye Weihan repeated to Su Ziji what he had said to Ye Buhui.

"Stay at the clinic?" After thinking it over, Su Ziji actually felt the plan was workable.

But the problem was, even if Ye Weihan was willing to stay at Doctor Zhao's clinic, could Ye Buhui really be persuaded so easily?

Ye Weihan sighed. "This child does not understand my painstaking intentions. My body is already like this, and she will soon come of age. By then, she can be matched with someone. If she does not enter the chess tournament now, she may never have another chance. How could I let her leave behind such a regret?"

"Besides, a dowry is the best protection for a young girl. Our family cannot give her much of one now. I can only hope she gains more abilities. If she can marry with a chess player's title, then even if something should happen and the husband and wife are not very harmonious, she can still live on that title and her chess skills. Then I will no longer have to worry."

As he spoke, Ye Weihan broke into another violent coughing fit.

What he said was very practical. That was indeed how it was.

Beauty faded easily, and love—one could not say it did not exist, but one could not gamble on such luck. When a young woman married, great Lineages relied on the standing of her natal family, while ordinary families relied on her dowry.

After all, whether under the laws of Great Wei or the current laws of Great Zheng, a woman could take her dowry with her once a marriage ended. This was her final safeguard for survival.

Su Ziji hurriedly helped pat his back and nodded repeatedly. "Uncle Ye, I understand what you mean. Rest assured, I'll persuade Buhui to listen."

"There is no need for you to persuade her. Go call her in, and I'll speak to her." Ye Weihan waved his hand and had Su Ziji fetch her. But when Su Ziji stepped outside, he saw Ye Buhui standing blankly at the door, holding a bowl of porridge still steaming hot. He did not know how much she had heard.

"You heard what Uncle Ye said just now?" Seeing that she did not speak, Su Ziji pondered for a moment before saying, "Uncle Ye is worried. He hopes you can enter the chess tournament and earn a chess player's title."

"I think you should go."

"Uncle Ye's condition is not critical for the moment. If you earn a chess player's title, it will make him happy. When joyous events come, the spirit brightens. Perhaps Uncle Ye's health may even improve."

"I understand." Ye Buhui's voice was muffled. She turned and went inside. Naturally, Su Ziji could not eavesdrop on a private conversation between father and daughter, so he went to Doctor Zhao's clinic to explain the situation.

"Rest assured. Brother Ye is an old neighbor of ours—we have known each other for decades. I cannot boast of anything else, but at my clinic, his medicine will be boiled and his prescriptions taken on time, without fail." Doctor Zhao said, patting his chest.

Su Ziji trusted him. When he returned to Ye Bookshop, he saw Ye Buhui standing there with a bundle in hand.

Her eyes were somewhat red and swollen. Though dressed as a girl, she had deliberately changed into a light blue outfit for ease of travel. It was not a man's attire; over it was a cloth skirt reaching only to her knees, tied with a red sash. It made her slender waist look so delicate that it seemed one hand could encircle it.

At fourteen or fifteen, she was still green and immature, yet also at the age of budding flowers. This girl, almost fifteen, was like a graceful little flower blooming by the roadside, and Su Ziji stared for a moment.

"What are you looking at, fool? Hurry up and go." Seeing Su Ziji standing there dazed, Ye Buhui shot him a glance and headed forward first.

Touching his nose, Su Ziji secretly scorned himself. She only changed her hairstyle and clothes. How was that worth staring at until I went blank?

He had only just caught up when Ye Buhui slowed down again. She looked back at the closed shop doors, sorrow surfacing in her crescent-shaped eyes.

"Su Ziji, am I useless? Father only has me, this one daughter. If I were a son, or if I had an older brother, I would surely be able to help Father hold up the family business. It would not be this desolate—our business used to be quite good."

Su Ziji spoke softly at this. "It is not like that. When Uncle Ye opened the bookshop, he had caught a favorable time. Great Zheng had only just been founded, livelihoods were recovering, the literary spirit was gradually awakening, and not many people had entered the field, so everything went smoothly as a ship under full sail."

"Now we have entered a prosperous age. There are more wealthy people and more investors. Uncle Ye also does not wish to expand the scale of his business, so it naturally is not doing as well as before. There is nothing to be done about that. It is not your fault."

Ye Buhui had only made a casual remark, never expecting to hear this. She could not help glancing sideways at him, feeling even more unwilling. The moment she heard his words, they sounded entirely right, but why could she not think of such things herself? Was the gap between sons and daughters really so great?

Feeling even more depressed, she walked on blankly for a while before suddenly lifting her head. "I heard that Mount Tong Temple and Three Mountains Temple are both very efficacious. Do you think Father's illness could be brought there to ask the immortals and gods for their blessing?"

At the mention of Mount Tong Temple and Three Mountains Temple, Su Ziji's eyelid twitched. "Mount Tong Temple is a place where Daoists cultivate in purity. It was never a place for seeking immortals or medicine."

"As for Three Mountains Temple, it is an illicit shrine."

Su Ziji knew full well that calling it an illicit shrine at such a time was improper, and she would not listen. He could only say, "The so-called illicit shrines worship evil ghosts and wicked gods. They drain people's vital essence and fortune. Worshipping them will only make things worse."

"Besides, even if immortals and gods exist, how can they save someone without karmic ties? Rather than pinning your hopes on that, you would be better off cultivating into an immortal or god yourself, then saving your family." Su Ziji possessed fourteen years of memories, but after awakening to his past life, his past-life personality had become dominant. Without thinking, he let those words slip out.

"Cultivate into an immortal or god yourself?" Ye Buhui's eyes immediately lit up, as though a great door had opened before her.

Su Ziji was instantly alarmed, realizing he had misspoken. His mouth had run ahead of his thoughts. In a world where ghosts and gods existed, this was practically the same as saying, "Is the Son of Heaven born with a special seed? Whoever has the strongest soldiers and horses should be emperor!" If ghosts and gods heard it, disaster would descend at once.

Just as he was wondering how to take those words back, they arrived at the inn, and Yu Lü came out to greet them.

"Brother Su, this must be Miss Ye?" Since Su Ziji had mentioned bringing Ye Buhui along to the prefectural city, Yu Lü immediately guessed her identity when he saw the young girl following him.

Facing Yu Lü, Ye Buhui was very polite. "Greetings, Young Master Yu."

"No need for such formality. Miss Ye looks even younger than I imagined. Seeing you is like seeing my own younger sister. You may regard me as an elder brother." Yu Lü smiled, then looked at Su Ziji. "I have booked a boat and arranged for an ox cart to take us there. We will go to the docks first, then travel upstream by boat."

"I heard that this prefectural chess tournament will be held at Coiling Dragon Lake in the prefectural city. We can sail directly into the lake and join them there. Quite a few scholars may already have gathered there."

"Excellent, excellent."

Yu Lü had brought a bookboy on this journey, and his arrangements were very proper. Su Ziji did not stand on ceremony and agreed at once.