Liu Yun returned from washing the clothes and sighed silently.
She had once thought she could do anything.
Governing a nation, fighting on the battlefield, music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and song-she had mastered them all.
With a brush in hand, she could bring peace to the world; on horseback, she could settle the realm.
But after living here for a while,
she discovered that she could not even learn the simplest tasks, like washing clothes and cooking.
Seeing Li Ping'an meditating nearby, Liu Yun looked him up and down with her bright eyes.
"Leave the clothes soaking. I'll wash them in a bit," Li Ping'an said without even lifting his eyes.
Liu Yun was a little embarrassed. "No need. I can wash them myself."
They were all intimate garments. How could Liu Yun possibly let Li Ping'an wash them for her?
She sat on the bed, bored out of her mind, watching Li Ping'an cultivate.
Actually, on closer inspection, Li Ping'an was rather easy on the eyes.
His features were sharply defined, clean and crisp.
Exposure to the wind and sun had darkened his skin.
He was nothing like the sons of officials she knew, whose skin was fairer than a woman's and who all smelled of rouge and powder.
Painting their brows and lining their eyes was practically second nature to them.
A long while later, Li Ping'an stood up, feeling refreshed in body and mind.
His stamina seemed better than before. With every breath,
a current of qi rose and fell in time with his breathing.
The effects of this Life-Pulse Powder gave him a sensation he had never experienced before.
Cultivating the Turtle Breath Technique yielded twice the results with half the effort.
But the ingredients for Life-Pulse Powder were simply too expensive, even with Wang Dali's help.
Unless he found a way to earn some money, he would eventually eat through all his savings.
"What would you like for dinner?"
Li Ping'an asked.
Liu Yun did not answer. At some point, she had fallen asleep with her head resting on her folded hands on the table.
Li Ping'an draped a garment over her, then went to prepare dinner.
Liu Yun stretched and glanced at the sky outside.
Then she looked at the garment draped over her, and warmth filled her heart.
When she stepped outside, Li Ping'an was crouched beneath the stove, feeding wood into the fire.
"What are we having today?"
Liu Yun asked softly.
"Corn cakes and mutton soup."
Liu Yun pressed her lips together, as though she could already taste the delicious food.
Half an hour later,
Li Ping'an brought the corn cakes and mutton soup to the table.
Liu Yun took a bite. It was fragrant and soft.
Then she took a sip of mutton soup.
"Mutton soup needs a little chili." Li Ping'an pushed the chili jar toward her.
Fiery red chili oil dripped into the soup.
Another two or three days of quiet, uneventful life passed.
The weather grew hotter by the day.
Summer in Luoshui City was especially hot that year, without a single shower of rain.
The scorching sun left people dizzy and bleary-eyed.
Luoshui City seemed to have regained its peace. The explosion of the Princess Treasure Ship, which had caused such a sensation, seemed to exist only in the gossip of streets and alleyways.
People who had come from all directions to watch the excitement wandered lazily through the streets.
The heat was stifling, without a breath of wind. The thick air seemed to have congealed.
Li Ping'an returned to his old trade, sitting in a corner.
He began playing a little tune.
The beggar beside him was already drenched in sour-smelling sweat, while Li Ping'an exuded a refreshing coolness.
Turtle-Breath True Qi flowed through his body, bringing him a cooling sensation.
"Another one's fainted."
People collapsed from the heat in the street every so often, and everyone had long since grown used to it.
The beggars huddled in corners. Some lay asleep, while others sat on the ground, shaking their heads incessantly.
Some stood staring blankly at the sky.
Bustling and jostling, each in a different state,
they formed a portrait of life's many faces.
"Moo~"
Old Ox called out, reminding Li Ping'an that it was getting late.
Li Ping'an gathered the money in his bowl.
Luoshui City really was different from the small town.
Back in the town, he could barely earn a few copper coins a day.
In Luoshui City, even his worst day brought in over twenty.
Li Ping'an passed a fruit shop.
An attendant carried a large basin of cool well water and poured it into a box.
There were watermelons in the box.
"How much is the watermelon per catty?" Li Ping'an asked.
The attendant glanced at Li Ping'an's eyes and said, "Seven mace of silver per catty."
Old Ox: "Moo~"
Li Ping'an understood Old Ox's meaning. "Don't take advantage of a blind man. My ox tells me the sign clearly says five mace of silver per catty."
Surprise crossed the attendant's face as he glanced at the ox behind him.
Is this ox really that clever?
Old Ox lifted his head proudly.
Liu Yun sat in the room, fanning herself nonstop.
She wore only a thin blouse.
Her generous, ample bosom made her slender waist look all the more lovely and distinctive.
Her hair was tied high, secured with a bamboo chopstick.
She gazed at the window, waiting for Li Ping'an to come home.
She looked just like a wife waiting for her husband to return.
The feeling reminded her of waiting for her mother in the palace as a child.
The difference was that, in the palace, no matter how long she waited,
her mother never came. Only the endless night kept her company.
Now, however, Liu Yun knew that Li Ping'an would definitely return.
"Tap, tap, tap~"
The sound of his cane.
Liu Yun's eyes lit up. He's back~
What delighted Liu Yun even more was the watermelon cradled in Li Ping'an's hands.
"A watermelon?"
Liu Yun could not help smiling, a gentle flame glowing in her bright eyes.
The two of them and the ox sat in the little courtyard, eating the chilled watermelon.
A soft breeze blew, and clear moonlight shone upon them.
Many years later, when Liu Yun recalled those days,
she always felt that no watermelon in the world had ever tasted so sweet again.
Bang, bang!
A sudden knock came from outside the door. The courtyard rarely had visitors.
Holding her watermelon and carrying her stool, Liu Yun slipped into the room.
Li Ping'an opened the door.
The visitors were Wang Dali from Tong Ren Tang and an unfamiliar middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man was named Qian Sheng, the owner of the Yuntong Grand Restaurant.
After the Princess Treasure Ship had been blown up, all the surrounding canals had been closed.
As a result, the Yuntong Grand Restaurant could no longer transport its goods by canal and had to use the roads instead.
But the roads were unsafe, plagued by countless bands of mountain bandits and robbers.
There were also deserters who had fled from beyond the frontier. These men had fighting skills and posed the greatest threat.
They claimed mountains as their kingdoms, robbed traveling merchants, and harassed the common people.
It was not that the authorities had never organized campaigns against them,
but officials and bandits colluding was an iron law that never changed.
When government troops entered the mountains to hunt them down, they fled deeper into the wilderness.
The troops exhausted themselves running after them, all for nothing.
When the soldiers came, the bandits left; when the soldiers left, the bandits returned.
So Qian Sheng wanted to find an expert strong enough to keep things under control.
Qian Sheng told Wang Dali about it, and Wang Dali recommended Li Ping'an.
"It's a three-day journey. Here's the deposit."
Qian Sheng smiled ingratiatingly.
Li Ping'an reached out and felt it. The payment was generous.
But he said nothing.
Qian Sheng glanced at Wang Dali, thinking, Could he feel I'm offering too little?
Wang Dali said, "Brother Li, how about I provide ten more sets of the medicinal ingredients you wanted?"
"Deal."
Before you continue