Deng Qing flexed his numb arm, secretly startled. The gap between their strengths was almost impossible to measure.
"What's in here?"
The White-Clad Woman shook the Bamboo Tube.
Deng Qing smiled. "It's a fruit tea I prepared especially for you, Senior. It's perfect for this weather."
The White-Clad Woman shook the Bamboo Tube again but did not drink.
Deng Qing prodded her. "You won't drink it, Senior? Could it be you're worried it's poisoned?"
A soft laugh came from beneath the conical hat. "You think you could poison me?"
With that, the White-Clad Woman opened the Bamboo Tube and took a sip.
The chilled tea touched her tongue, bringing first the sweet-tart taste of fruit, then a faint fragrance of tea that spread through her mouth.
Finally, the honey balanced the tea's bitterness just right. It tasted surprisingly good.
The White-Clad Woman had only meant to take one sip to prove she did not fear Deng Qing's poison. But after that first sip, she immediately took another and could not help asking, "What's this tea called?"
It doesn't have a damn name, Deng Qing thought. He nearly called it "Mixue Ice Cream & Tea" off the cuff, then decided that would lower his standing.
After all, he had just put on that display of "Who beneath heaven was worthy of white robes?" His thoughts raced before he said, "This drink is called Peach and Plum Spring Breeze."
The White-Clad Woman looked at the chopped fruit in the Bamboo Tube. "Is there a story behind it?"
"It comes from an old poem," Deng Qing said. "It goes: 'A cup of wine amid peach blossoms and spring breeze; ten years of lamplight through night rain on the wandering road.'"
The White-Clad Woman paused. She turned the two lines over in her mind