Gentle, Delicate Wenruo

Jia Huaigang led Fan Dazhi into the rear courtyard. His anger had yet to subside, and he strode swiftly with his head down.

Fan Dazhi had to jog the whole way just to keep up. His face dark, Jia Huaigang pushed open a door and said, "You want confinement? You want to keep your good brother company, is that it? As you wish. Go down yourself. You'll reach it at the end!" With that, he gave Fan Dazhi a light shove, shut the door, and turned to leave.

The room was dim. Fan Dazhi stared at the pitch-black stairs below, listening to the drip, drip of water falling from the stone wall above them. In the eerie, empty room, the sound was especially clear, like a ghost hidden in the darkness striking a wooden clapper to summon him to his death.

Trembling with fear, Fan Dazhi descended one step at a time. His calves shook uncontrollably, and the farther down he went, the darker it became.

He had no idea how many steps he had descended. Feeling his way along the cold, damp wall, he inched downward. He could not see his own hand before his face, and his fear mounted until he could not help shouting, "He An! He An...!"

His voice carried far down the empty passage, but no one answered. Only the chilling echo of "He An... An... An... An..." drifted through the darkness, making Fan Dazhi's hair stand on end.

He An had spent an entire day sitting on a cold stone slab, circulating his cultivation technique. Even when he truly could not keep going, he dared not rest for too long, because any pause longer than an hour left his whole body chilled.

That cold was simply indescribable. It pierced him to the bone and even invaded his internal organs. The freezing air he inhaled made his stomach ache faintly, and even the breath he exhaled was icy. The blood throughout his body seemed frozen, and breathing grew difficult. Only by continuously circulating his inner cultivation method until his body warmed slightly could he barely withstand the cold.

Over the course of that day, he had practiced the inner cultivation method his uncle had taught him countless times. At first, he could only sustain it for an hour, but the bone-piercing cold forced him not to slacken. As time passed, He An kept pushing the limit of how long he could circulate his energy to resist the cold, from one hour to two, then to three. By now, he could barely manage almost four hours.

Faintly, He An seemed to hear someone calling him. He tilted his head and listened closely. It sounded like Fan Dazhi. He rose to his feet, and Fan Dazhi's trembling voice carried to him again from afar.

Fan Dazhi called as he walked. He had never been brave, and after groping for so long through darkness that alternated between open spaces and narrow passages, he felt terrified, isolated, and helpless. As he kept calling, his voice grew tearful. The path beneath his feet seemed far too long, as though it led into an endless abyss of darkness.

A dim yellow glow suddenly appeared ahead, drifting toward him like a flickering ghost fire. Fan Dazhi's heart nearly leaped out of his chest, but He An's voice rang out just in time.

"Dazhi! How come you're here too?"

"I came down to keep you company... pah, pah! Why does that sound like I've descended into hell? Though this place really does look like hell."

Carrying a lantern, He An led Fan Dazhi to the stone room. Seeing a layer of white frost coating the tips of He An's hair and his eyebrows, Fan Dazhi thought, If He An had a beard, wouldn't he look like an old grandpa with white eyebrows and a white beard right now? He could not help laughing. "We brothers have always shared the sweet and the bitter. Of course I had to keep you company. You've gone a whole day without eating, haven't you?" He pulled a braised-meat bun from inside his robe and handed it to He An.

Warmth stirred in He An's heart as he accepted the bun. Fan Dazhi then proudly began recounting how he had gotten himself sent here, but before he could finish, an involuntary shudder ran through him.

He An hurriedly stuffed the last bite of the bun into his mouth and said, "Start circulating your energy, quick. There's something very wrong with this damned place. If you don't use your energy to resist the cold, you really can freeze to death. But even when you circulate your inner cultivation method, it's sluggish and obstructed, much harder than outside. I've been here a day and only just figured out a little of how it works."

Fan Dazhi followed his advice and began circulating his inner cultivation method. Sure enough, just as He An had said, his true qi moved extremely slowly through his body.

He closed his eyes, carefully sensing it as he recalled, "This place really is uncanny. Last night, I wandered through almost the entire Knowledge and Practice Institute. Going by the Discipline Hall's location and layout, and how long we walked, we should now be... beneath the Pavilion of Knowledge and Practice, where the Imperial Preceptor, our headmaster, lives... ow... it's so cold!"

"Where we are... doesn't matter anymore. What matters is... without circulating our energy, we really can freeze to death!"

"Xiao An, if we stay here the whole time, do you think... when they let us out in a few days... we'll have turned into ice sculptures?"

"Stop talking... concentrate on circulating your energy..."

"No... I'm going to talk. Remember... before I freeze to death... and turn into an ice sculpture, you... have to help... arrange me... in a handsome pose..."

Ding Wenruo finished her first day of classes and walked out through the gates of the Knowledge and Practice Institute in the sunset's lingering glow. She climbed into the black carriage her family had sent to fetch her.

Hooves clopped to the accompaniment of the carriage's creaking as it passed through several streets. Ding Wenruo sat with her knees bent, her chin resting in one hand. Her long lashes fluttered as she watched the bustling crowds through the carved latticework window. Whatever was on her mind, she let out a long sigh.

Grandfather has been ill for so long, sometimes better, sometimes worse. Father has been rather busy lately; sometimes I don't see him all day. I heard Senior Brother Fang went to the Lanzhou Garrison Camp. He's so gentle and quiet-what could he do in an army camp? Everyone says a man's ambitions lie in all four directions, but who cares how a girl feels? That fellow is always pursuing me. His status is certainly distinguished, and his looks aren't bad, but the sight of him brings me no joy at all. In fact... I even dislike him a little... Grandfather loves me most, but his health is poor now. Telling him certain things would only add to his worries. He would tease me kindly, then affectionately stroke the long hair over my forehead, just as he did when I was little... While Ding Wenruo's thoughts wandered, the carriage turned onto Dingding Avenue. In a secluded alley, several clumps of mottled bamboo were shedding their leaves. A loquat branch stretched over a yellow wall, its withered yellow leaves trembling as they fell in the autumn wind.

Ding Wenruo pushed open the carriage window and leaned her lovely head out slightly, catching sight of the two large stone lions at the entrance to the chancellor's residence.

Upon returning to the residence, she first changed her clothes, then left her chambers and went to the courtyard where her grandfather lived. She passed through the rear hall and walked to the middle of the front hall, where several tall, angled screens divided the space. Her grandfather's bedroom lay just ahead.

A delicate fragrance of sandalwood reached Ding Wenruo's nose. She slowed her steps and quietly peered inside through the screens' thin gauze.

Cheng Zi Ya, head of the Practice Division of the Knowledge and Practice Institute, was treating her grandfather. Her grandfather sat on the couch with his upper garments removed, while Cheng Zi Ya sat on a rush cushion on the floor more than ten feet away.

Several sticks of sandalwood incense burned in a censer in the corner. The imperial physician named Hua Zhong sat nearby, silently tugging at his beard. His eyes repeatedly roamed over her grandfather, occasionally turning toward Cheng Zi Ya. His gaze flickered, betraying nothing of his thoughts.

A long inhalation suddenly sounded in the silent room. The curtain beside the antique display shelf fluttered, and the sticks of sandalwood incense in the corner quivered. Their glowing red tips brightened markedly, burning rapidly downward at a speed visible to the naked eye. Within moments, most of each stick had become a curved white column of ash, which fell soundlessly into the censer and crumbled.

As Sandalwood Incense smoke curled upward, Cheng Zi Ya swept his hand from where he sat on the cushion. Eight silver needles flew through the air, their slender shafts glittering as they sank precisely into Ding Fengyuan's Liangqiu, Sanli, Quchi, Lieque, Guanyuan, Qugu, Feishu, and Tiantu acupoints. Brilliant light flashed from his eyes. With a gentle motion of both hands, he sent eight streams of pale-purple primal energy through the needles into Ding Fengyuan's body.

About an incense stick's worth of time later, Cheng Zi Ya opened his right hand, and the eight silver needles flew back into it with a whoosh.

Ding Fengyuan's pale face slowly regained a rosy color. Watching from behind the screen, Ding Wenruo raised her graceful dark brows and widened her almond-shaped eyes, covering her little mouth. A moment later, she quietly tiptoed away.

Ding Fengyuan draped his upper garment over himself and said with a faint smile, "Sorry for the trouble, Zi Ya. Every month, you must make a special trip to treat this decrepit old man. I know full well that this broken body of mine is nearing the point where the oil runs dry and the lamp goes out. Even if I were to let go and depart for the west, it would merely be heaven's decree. Zi Ya... I truly am not worth such effort."

Cheng Zi Ya stood and cupped his hands. "Minister Ding, you have bent your back to the utmost in service to the nation, laboring until you fell ill. All under heaven respect you. It is only right that I do this! Please do not let it weigh on you. Rest and recuperate with peace of mind, and you will surely regain your former health!"

Cheng Zi Ya was powerfully built, his long black hair bound behind his head with a bronze band. He had a broad forehead, straight brows, and double-pupiled eyes, with a swallow's jaw and a tiger's beard. Dressed in a black scholar's robe with a broad horizontal band, he exuded imposing dignity whenever he turned his gaze.

Cheng Zi Ya turned to the imperial physician Hua Zhong beside him. "Once again, I used innate Ziwei energy to regulate Minister Ding's qi and blood. Please prepare the medicine according to the prescription we agreed upon beforehand, Imperial Physician Hua. After Minister Ding has taken three doses, we can adjust it accordingly."

Hua Zhong's expression grew solemn, and he cupped his hands. "With Academy Head Cheng's assistance, the medicine can exert greater effect. Though Minister Ding's illness has not improved, it has not worsened either. Without this, if His Majesty were to lay blame upon me, even ten heads on my neck would not suffice!"

His gaze flickered, and he continued, "One ingredient in the prescription is purple sea wheel. Though it can clear and alleviate the stagnant blood accumulated in the internal organs from chronic illness, it is, after all, an intensely cold substance. Might we add aconite as well, to address Minister Ding's icy extremities and obstructed qi flow... allowing the two to balance and support each other..."

"You worry too much, Imperial Physician Hua. Though purple sea wheel is intensely cold, the medicine requires only a scant half-qian. Boil it over a fierce flame, then reduce the heat and simmer it slowly. That will ensure there is no danger," Cheng Zi Ya interrupted.

"Ah... Academy Head Cheng is entirely correct. I never imagined that not only is your martial prowess divine, but your medicine and pharmacology are also so refined... Your miraculous healing hands are no less remarkable than those of the two great Apricot Grove Physicians today... Though purple sea wheel is rare, I recall there is still some in the palace's medicinal stores... I shall enter the palace shortly and fetch it... That flying silver-needle technique you just used... was it taught to you personally by the Imperial Preceptor?"

Cheng Zi Ya frowned, a flicker of displeasure crossing his mind. Hua Zhong's medical skills were passable, but he sometimes liked to inquire into matters unrelated to treating illness, taking a keen interest in rumors and secrets. At times, he would even spend half a day in the chancellor's residence chatting with servants and elderly maids, digging down to the roots of every matter. Cheng Zi Ya, who visited the residence often, greatly disliked Hua Zhong's inability to know when to advance and when to retreat.

Just then, Ding Feiyong strode in from outside. Upon seeing Cheng Zi Ya, he warmly cupped his hands in thanks. Ding Wenruo emerged from the rear hall carrying a cup of tea and respectfully bowed to Cheng Zi Ya.

"Wenruo, how was your first day of lessons? Could you understand the teachers' instruction? If any blind fool dares bully you in the future, remember to tell me. I'll beat him with the disciplinary paddle myself!" Cheng Zi Ya accepted the tea, glanced at Ding Wenruo, and smiled after taking a small sip.

Ding Wenruo smiled slightly and said it had gone well. The instructors taught wonderfully, and her classmates were all very friendly. She was deeply grateful to the Academy Head for taking the trouble to treat her grandfather every month.

After Cheng Zi Ya and Hua Zhong left, Ding Fengyuan gradually grew tired and fell fast asleep on the couch. Ding Wenruo went to her father's study and told Ding Feiyong about what had happened to He An and Fan Dazhi at the Knowledge and Practice Institute.

Ding Feiyong listened with a frown, stroking his ink-black beard. He shook his head and said, "Though your Senior Brother Fang is young, he has always been steady. With his discernment, he should not have misjudged them. Perhaps there is... something hidden in all this that no one knows. Once their confinement is over, invite them here so I can meet them!"