Chapter 267
Chapter 267
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Unknown]
Chapter Title: Morning at Home and the Riverside Wait
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Chen Tang had steadied his emotions by the time he returned home.
He pushed open the door to find Blackie Pot busy cooking. The meal was nearly ready. Several maids stood nearby, chatting and laughing with the dog. When they saw him arrive, they quickly stifled their laughter.
Chen Tang set down the buns, still piping hot. But Blackie Pot's breakfast was clearly more lavish: four stir-fried dishes with both vegetables and meat, plus a pot of porridge and two platters of cold appetizers.
"Who bought these vegetables?" Chen Tang asked, puzzled.
The Chen household's servants wouldn't usually buy so much. One of the maids pointed at Blackie Pot.
Chen Tang set the buns aside and headed to the backyard. There he saw Chen Shi combing his mother's hair. It was clear he didn't do this often—the comb snagged at the roots and couldn't pass through smoothly.
"Let me do it."
Chen Tang stepped forward, took the comb, and started near the tips. He smoothed the ends first, then worked in more hair, gradually untangling the mess. Chen Shi gently wiped his mother's face with a warm towel, his movements careful and precise.
Chen Tang finished combing, then styled her hair into an updo, adorning it with hairpins. His actions were practiced and deft—he clearly did this often. He even trimmed her nails. Chen Shi watched closely from the side, committing it all to memory.
"She can't move on her own, so you need to help work her joints and muscles to get the blood flowing."
Chen Tang lifted Chen Shi's mother upright and showed him the movements.
"You can use your own qi and blood to assist, stimulating hers to circulate through a few cycles. That way, when she wakes up one day, she won't be paralyzed. Oh, and Xijing is full of all sorts—don't mingle with just anyone. Stay away from that one called Little Five, especially."
"Creation Little Five? Fifth Uncle?"
Chen Shi grew excited and laughed.
"I've heard he's in Xijing, stirring up corpse clouds and causing panic everywhere."
Chen Tang snorted.
"He's no good. Keep your distance. There's another called Qiao Zhuo— he's trouble too. If you run into them, steer clear."
Chen Shi was surprised inwardly.
*Uncle Arduous? How is he no good?*
He didn't argue, focusing instead on learning how to circulate the qi and blood.
"I've got plenty of spirit herbs here. Can they cure Mother's condition?"
Chen Tang shook his head.
"We've tried every spirit herb out there, and nothing's worked well. Her soul's gone missing— even Granny Sha couldn't track it down."
Chen Shi said, "My spirit herbs are different."
Chen Tang's heart stirred.
"From Qingzhou?"
Chen Shi nodded lightly.
"Stronger than the ones from back then."
He had gathered fifty-five spirit herbs in Qingzhou and planted them outside the little temple. Bathed daily in sunlight, moonlight, and starlight from the ancestral hall, their potency had soared far beyond their original state.
On the road to Xijing, Sun Yisheng's nascent soul had nearly shattered from an explosion, only to be painstakingly mended by these herbs. That said it all about their power.
"Plenty of juren scholars here are experts in pharmacology. After breakfast, I'll track some down."
Chen Shi smiled.
"Ask them to come treat Mother and compound the medicine."
Chen Tang shook his head.
"Spirit herbs can improve her condition a bit, sure. But the key is still recovering her soul."
Chen Shi thought for a moment.
"I actually know two whose soul-searching skills rival Granny Sha's. Maybe I can ask them for help. They should be in Xijing by now. Father, any rivers here lined with pleasure houses? You know, the scenic kind with brothels on both banks."
Chen Tang stared at him.
"Brothels?"
Chen Shi met his gaze squarely.
"That's where those two make their living."
Chen Tang said, "Don't hang around shady types. There is a river in the city called the Qu Sang River—red lanterns and wine on both shores. If you go, I'll come with you."
Chen Shi said, "No need. Not heading there now. It's too early; the brothels aren't open, no business yet. Come evening, that's when things pick up— that's when I'll find them."
Blackie Pot called Chen Shi for breakfast. Chen Tang had already eaten, so he stayed behind, slowly walking Chen Shi's mother around. Worry creased his face.
"Ruru, Chen Yindu might not have taught Chen Shi properly."
He murmured, "Thirteen years old, and already so familiar with brothels. Chen Du must've taken him there."
Chen Shi finished breakfast and was about to head out when Chen Tang stopped him.
"I bought you a new outfit—it's in your room. Try it on before meeting your friends."
Chen Shi went to his room. The robe was black with white lapels and red silk ties. It looked sharp on him, if a bit subdued and reserved.
It was slightly large, but not by much.
Chen Shi put it on and checked himself in the mirror. Chen Tang had picked it in his own style— not quite Chen Shi's taste. Still, he had to admit he looked rather dashing. He stepped out, and Chen Tang gave him an appraising look. The boy seemed much more presentable now.
"Your hair's a mess. Let me fix it."
Chen Shi sat on the veranda. Chen Tang removed the two pins securing his hair and crown, then combed it smooth. When he reached the scalp, his fingers brushed something. Chen Tang felt it—a healed bone scar.
His hand trembled. He recalled discovering his son's corpse, the back of the skull pried open. He shook his head sharply, banishing the grim image.
He gently traced the centipede-like crimson scar from one ear, across the head, to the other side. No one survived a wound like that.
Yet this one had healed. Chen Yindu had truly succeeded.
"Does it still hurt?"
Chen Tang couldn't help asking.
"Nope. Just aches a bit during rain or thunder. Loud claps make me dizzy."
Chen Shi said. Chen Tang fell silent, finished tying his hair, fitted the golden crown, and inserted the gold hairpin.
Chen Shi, now fully dressed, set out at once.
Before long, he returned with several juren scholars, all laughing and joking. When they spotted Chen Tang, they sobered up at once and bowed in greeting.
Chen Tang looked at these young men in surprise. Chen Shi had actually brought apothecaries. They brimmed with youthful vigor, none too old, but years of roaming the countryside had exposed them to countless ailments. They gathered around Chen Shi's mother, analyzing her condition.
After much discussion, they drafted a prescription. Chen Tang examined it: herbs to calm the mind and steady the thoughts, bolster vital energy, and invigorate blood flow. Plus several potent sedatives. This formula would ease worries, fortify the foundation, and stabilize the soul.
"Without the soul, there's little more we can do."
Huang Fengnian told Chen Shi, "You must recover it. When your mother's soul returns, if her body's been well-conditioned, she'll feel no pain and her soul will anchor firmly."
Chen Shi thanked them profusely. They waved it off.
"You're our esteemed teacher—how could we accept such thanks from you?"
Chen Tang was utterly stunned.
Chen Shi fetched the main herbs and had the household servants prepare the brew per the recipe. Huang Fengnian and the others helped refine it into pills.
"Once it's elixir form, no need to boil daily. Just dissolve one in honey water each day and feed it to her."
They refined the medicine until noon. Chen Tang invited them to stay for lunch, but the juren declined with laughs.
"We'll eat at the guild hall—can't trouble the lord further!"
Chen Tang saw them off. Back inside, he eyed the vermilion elixirs dubiously, hesitant to give one to Chen Shi's mother.
He swallowed one to test its potency. It dissolved in his gut, and suddenly the world felt wonderful. He lounged lazily in the courtyard, his qi and blood circulating on its own, vitality brimming. All worries melted away.
When the effects faded, he realized he'd wasted the afternoon—skipping his Ministry duties! He examined the lingering effects closely and felt a jolt.
"My lifespan..."
One pill had boosted it from a century to over two!
Chen Tang froze, then rushed to find Chen Shi— but he was gone. He asked a servant, who said, "Young master went to the Qu Sang River."
"To the brothels?!"
Veins bulged on Chen Tang's forehead. He clenched his fists.
Chen Shi arrived at a dock near the Qu Sang River in Xijing and waited quietly.
Too early for the brothels; the girls were still primping, doors unopened. Few boats plied the docks.
But plenty of scholars and officials already waited. Scholars clustered in twos and threes, chatting amiably. Officials stayed in their sedans.
Vendors hawked yang tonics to the crowd, weaving through endlessly: "Sirs, care for some?"
Most dodged the question or laughed it off, waving hands: "Me? Need that?"
Chen Shi noticed a few buying discreetly.
"Not bad business. I'll tell Huang Fengnian later— he could make a killing here."
Chen Shi thought.
Then a scholar mentioned court politics. The brothel-bound crowd sighed in dismay.
Border armies strained, sea demons assailed the coasts nonstop, yet the court recalled them to Xijing. Traitors in the government!
One scholar slapped his fan against his palm, righteous fury blazing.
"Are the cabinet ministers just eating rice for pay? Such a muddled decree! In my view, the demons aren't in the seas or the rivers and lakes— they're in Xijing, in the cabinet!"
The words ignited the group.
An elderly man with silver hair beside Chen Shi fumed, "If I were Grand Secretary, I'd drag those empty-talking old courtiers, those corrupt scum, straight to the imperial prison! Torture 'em till they spill!"
"Well said!"
Cheers erupted.
"Are the Six Ministries and Three Dukes all loyal?"
An official stepped from his sedan, impassioned.
"Tomorrow, I'll speak out in court, flay the ills of the age, shame those parasitic fossils! Let them see how the people's lives wither—even the gentry can't afford meals or carts!"
Resonance swept the crowd; applause thundered.
"Make Xijing's lords leave the capital, see the provinces!"
They flattered each other, warming up, talk growing heated.
Chen Shi listened as they shifted seamlessly: top courtesans and their skills, graceful dances, hit tunes sweeping Xijing and beyond. Then recent poems by notables, recited with flair.
Onto lifelong ambitions, vows to make their mark— then back to cursing the court. Gossip of a noblewoman caught abed with an out-of-town monk. Windy matters turned court talk again, ending in more rants.
"The brothels are open!"
Someone shouted.
The crowd surged toward the docks, scrambling aboard boats. Boatmen yelled, "Easy, easy—the boat'll tip!" "My shoe's gone!" a scholar wailed amid the crush.
Few boats, quickly packed; many left behind. A boatman called, "Room for one more—who's in?"
Arms shot up, voices clamoring: "Me! Me!"
Chen Shi shook his head. Then a painted barge approached. The crowd rushed over, waving wildly: "Here! Dock here!"
Chen Shi leaped up, strolling midair to land lightly on the barge.
The boatman steering it was a familiar face. Inside, the boat girl primped, hairpin in mouth, hands twisting her hair. She grinned.
"Xieyuan lord, a bit eager today, eh?"
Chen Shi laughed.
"You two, I need a favor."
On shore, scholars stomped.
"Landing or not? Business or no?"
Impatient ones jumped for the boat. Their cultivation was no joke—some nascent souls who could tread air. But they overshot, splashing into the water one by one.
The boat girl secured her hairpin.
"What's up?"
Chen Shi explained his mother's wandering soul.
"I beg you two for help. I'll reward you handsomely."
The boatman stayed silent till the end, then shook his head.
"Can't do it."
Chen Shi frowned slightly.
"With your skills, finding her soul's easy. And I'm not coming empty-handed."
He produced the sheep's-horn celestial spirit lantern and set it before them.
"Find her, and it's yours."
The boat girl hesitated, glancing at the boatman, tempted.
They were yin escorts too, but ranks varied among them. Their boy celestial spirit lantern was a grade below Chen Shi's sheep's-horn model.
The boatman shook his head.
"Can't do it."
Chen Shi pressed, "Why?"
The boatman eyed him deeply.
"Doesn't Xieyuan Chen remember the underworld?"
Chen Shi paused, shook his head.
"Forgot it all."
The boatman said, "That explains why you'd ask us to save her. Back then, when you fell to the underworld, didn't your mother's soul find you?"
Chen Shi went still.
The boat girl added, "After you entered the underworld, your mother's soul followed to search. I saw her—you two were together. Later, when your case blew up, she was jailed as your accomplice in the Yuan Chen Palace."
The boatman said coldly, "Rescue her, and we'd have to break her out. That makes us your partners. We're already bald stirring a hornet's nest—one big lump on our heads. Prison break? No returning to the underworld."
Chen Shi murmured, "Mother's been with me all along?"
His eyes reddened.
"She found me?"
"Should be right."
The boat girl said.
She suddenly recalled something, tugged the boatman's sleeve, and pulled him aside for hushed talk—in ghost tongue, incomprehensible.
After a moment, the boat girl beamed at Chen Shi.
"We'll break her out for you— no need for the lantern even. But Xieyuan lord, you do one small thing for us father and daughter."
Chen Shi perked up.
"What?"
The boatman said, "Small thing. Someone escaped the underworld. They're tasking us to catch him. He's reincarnated for years; they only recently tracked him."
Chen Shi puzzled, "Who is this fugitive?"
The boat girl said, "Some errant yin escort, they say—details sparse. Reborn less than twenty years, still fogged by fetal amnesia, memories dormant. Just nab him. He's nearby, old home a day's ride."
"Good!"
Chen Shi agreed.
"What do you know about this errant escort?"
"A lowly one. Reborn a frail scholar, can't fight worth a damn."
The boat girl laughed.
"You'll take him easy. Oh, right— name's Zhong Kui.