Jinyi Spring

Chapter 112 Past Regrets
Aunt Wang laughed loudly, "Thank you for your kind words, young lady. However, I must remember my duty as a servant and do what I'm supposed to do."

On the afternoon of the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, the Feng family hosted a feast with eight tables, eight large bowls, and five meat dishes and three vegetable dishes.

Six people came from the countryside, and they also invited Dr. Fang and the Hu couple, along with neighbors they had good relationships with, the clinic's staff, and several women who had given birth before, making a total of more than fifty people.

Aunt Wang insisted on paying for it herself.

Xiao Shuping, dressed in a red silk robe, was clever and pretty. He kowtowed to Aunt Wang in front of everyone.

"Your son Shuping has met his mother. Your son will be filial to his mother."

Aunt Wang shed tears of joy.

I have offspring now; I never dared to dream of such a good life before.

Then he had his son kowtow to Feng Chuchen and her siblings to thank their master for taking them in.

As temperatures rise and spring returns to the earth, plants sprout tender buds, and early-blooming forsythia flowers burst into bloom in the wind.

February has arrived in the blink of an eye.

Construction on the clinic resumed, and the Sun family next door finally vacated their yard.

Uncle Wu hired someone to renovate the yard over there.

Madam Ming's health has improved significantly. Although she is not fully recovered, she can now engage in moderate, slow exercise every day.

Perhaps the person who didn't want her to get better was Wanping. Once Wanping left, there was no one left in the Ming family to cause her trouble.

February 3rd was the last day of this treatment course.

After the treatment, Granny Li accompanied Feng Chuchen and the other person to dinner.

Her words were evasive, as if she had something to say but was too embarrassed to say it.

Seeing this, Banxia quickly finished her meal and went to talk to the maid.

Granny Li put down her chopsticks, cleared her throat, and laughed, "Doctor Feng is a miracle doctor. In just over five months, Madam's illness has been greatly cured. Ever since my lady contracted this disease, there has been no way to help her... alas, that's why we made that slut Wanping our concubine."

“Wanping doesn’t appreciate Madam’s kindness and even wants to harm her. Although we’ve driven her out, the Duke is in his prime; he can’t stay like this forever… Doctor Feng, you’re a doctor; even if you haven’t experienced it yourself, you should understand many things…”

She was too embarrassed to continue, and her face turned bright red.

The lady and the Duke have been at odds for so long, and the Duke has been constantly subservient. If this continues, and the Duke goes off to find another temptress, it will be the lady who suffers the most...

Feng Chuchen knew what she was going to say.

She didn't blush; even though she wasn't married in her previous life, she often talked to her patients about whether or not they should have sex.

She said, "After treatment, Mrs. Ming's condition has improved to a mild level. You can ask other doctors about certain precautions. However, you should be careful in everything you do to avoid aggravating her condition."

Granny Li understood the implied meaning and laughed heartily, showing just how happy she was.

When Feng Chuchen left, he gave her four gold-inlaid jade armor pieces.

"The lady said that although Miss Feng doesn't grow her nails long, she can wear them when she feels like it, which is quite interesting."

Inside the car, Feng Chuchen fiddled with the armor.

Very beautiful, with openwork design in red gold and inlaid with a few small red jade stones.

During this era, noblewomen also wore nail guards, while women from ordinary families mostly did not, as they found them cumbersome.

Feng Chuchen doesn't even keep her nails long, let alone wear nail guards.

She wore one on her pinky finger, but felt it looked awkward and unattractive.

Then I took it off.

She and they are not the same kind of people after all.

When she got home, Mu Jin opened the door.

"Miss Cai has arrived. Aunt Wang had lunch with her and is now helping out at the clinic."

Feng Chuchen and Banxia changed their clothes and went to work at the clinic.

At Shenshi (3-5 PM), Cai Yuxiu finally finished her work and went to Feng Chuchen's clinic. Three patients were lying in the inner room, and Feng Chuchen was instructing them on Banxia acupuncture.

Cai Yuxiu pulled Feng Chuchen into the consultation room, where they whispered to each other, their heads close together.

"When I arrived, I saw Lord Shangguan on the street. He was being dragged out of that shameless place by Young Master Xue and Young Master Jiang."

Cai Yuxiu blushed. "What a pity, such a good person, how did he end up hanging out with them again? Next time he comes here, please advise him not to hang out with those two spoiled brats..."

"I heard that the eldest princess wanted the Empress Dowager to bestow a marriage upon her and Lord Shangguan. Not only were the Empress Dowager and Princess Yanghe unwilling, but the Imperial Concubine was also unwilling. The eldest princess made a scene for many days..."

Feng Chuchen remained silent, sighing inwardly. What a good kid; we just pulled him up, we mustn't let him be led astray again.

As for the eldest princess, she was arrogant, domineering, and heartless; after listening to a few instigations, she would harm unrelated people.

At this moment, Mu Jin came over and handed Feng Chuchen a letter, whispering, "It was sent by Master Duan."

Duan inkstone?

Feng Chuchen opened it; it was cursive script, the characters vigorous and unrestrained, not Shangguan Ruyu's handwriting.

"For Miss Feng's perusal:"

I have important business to discuss with you at Wufeng Teahouse. I eagerly await your arrival.

"Shangguan Yunqi's handwritten letter"

Wufeng Teahouse is located on Beifu Street.

It was written by Shangguan Yunqi, and the language was very polite.

Feng Chuchen felt that Shangguan Yunqi was probably looking for her because of Shangguan Ruyu.

She also wanted to return that hot potato, so she decided to go through with it.

Feng Chuchen smiled at Cai Yuxiu and said, "I have to go out for a while. I'll have Uncle Wu take you home after dinner tonight."

Cai Yuxiu said without hesitation, "Okay, go ahead and get busy."

When Feng Chuchen returned to the house, Duan Yan was waiting in the courtyard with his carriage.

He bowed slightly, "Miss Feng."

Although Duan Yan was a servant, he was Shangguan Ruyu's servant, and his father was the chief steward of Princess Yanghe's mansion, second only to Guo Jialing in status.

But when facing Feng Chuchen, he felt genuinely intimidated.

"Master Duan, please wait a moment."

"I wouldn't dare." Feng Chuchen went inside, wrapped the gold beaded necklace in cloth, changed into a slightly worn dark green embroidered jacket, and tidied her hair in front of the mirror.

They went outside and got into the carriage.

The carriage arrived at Wufeng Teahouse in a little over fifteen minutes.

Feng Chuchen got out of the car, and Duan Yan also got out, handing the car over to another person.

Duan Yan led Feng Chuchen up to the second floor and stopped in front of a room with a sign that read "West Three Private Room".

A guard waiting outside opened the door and said, "Miss Feng, please."

Feng Chuchen pushed open the door and entered.

The room was elegantly furnished. Shangguan Yunqi stood by the window, his dark blue robe accentuating his pine-like figure. Sunlight streamed through the windowpanes, enveloping him in a pale gold veil. His face beneath the jade crown was refined and picturesque, his eyes as deep as an autumn pool.

If you ignore the short mustache at the corner of his lips, he seems like a banished immortal, detached from the world.

He smiled faintly and gestured to the chair in front of the table, "Miss Feng, please have a seat."

The two sat facing each other at the tea table.

Amidst the rising steam of tea, Feng Chuchen remained as still as a deep, cold pool, her eyes devoid of any ripples, as if waiting for him to speak first.

Shangguan Yunqi paused for a moment before speaking, "I have taken the liberty of inviting you today because of that child, Ruyu. Alas, I have wronged him... He is clearly a bright and intelligent child, yet I have watched him grow up to be like this."

There are many things he finds difficult to say clearly.

“Miss Feng saved his life and provided him with great guidance in medical skills and life. Shangguan Ming was deeply grateful... But since last month, the child has suddenly changed. Although he has not completely returned to his previous state, he is almost back to normal.”

He gave a wry smile. "That child grew up in a pampered environment; he's not as resolute as Miss Feng..."

Feng Chuchen remained silent, quietly watching him.

This made Shangguan Yunqi, who considered himself as steady as a rock, somewhat uneasy. Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe them away.

After a moment's thought, he still asked, "Did you break off all contact with Yu'er because of that old matter?"

Now that he had broken the ice, Feng Chuchen no longer tried to hide it.

She parted her lips slightly, her voice like icy shards striking each other, chillingly cold, "My aunt has a habit of keeping a journal, mostly medical records, occasionally jotting down trivial matters. But one sentence is particularly abrupt,"

A hint of pity flickered in her cold eyes as she slowly recited, "We sleep together under the same sky, yet each of us feels the chill of our shared quilt."

He looked directly at Shangguan Yunqi without any attempt to hide his gaze.

Shangguan Yunqi was taken aback, and softly repeated, "We sleep under the same sky, yet each of us feels cold under our own silk quilts."

Feng Chuchen's gaze drifted away, and she continued, "No cause, no effect, just a solitary sentence. I only just realized that even someone as strong-willed as my aunt once had someone she loved, but I don't know who that person was..."

"On her deathbed, she only wished to be reborn as a bird in the sky, free and unrestrained. She did not long for a good man in this life, but wished to be a bird in the next. If she had not been deeply wronged, she would not have come to this."

Feng Chuchen's eyes were red-rimmed, and she lowered her gaze, tightly clutching the small package in her hand until her knuckles turned white.

Shangguan Yunqi's Adam's apple bobbed, and he sighed softly, "It's my fault, I've let my sister down."

Feng Chuchen raised her eyes, her gaze seemingly piercing through the person before her. "Last year at Jiulingpo, I noticed the old purse on your waist, which was exactly the same color as the one my aunt wore when she passed away, so I became suspicious."

"At the magistrate's birthday banquet, I learned that you are the father of Shangguan Ruyu and the imperial son-in-law Shangguan Yunqi. Only then did I suddenly understand the profound meaning of that poem, 'Sleeping together under the same sky and earth,' where the sky is the clouds, which is you; and the earth is the flowers, which is her."

"My aunt was proud and aloof her whole life, never currying favor with the powerful and wealthy. If you hadn't taken the initiative to provoke her, how could she have given her true feelings and then lived a lonely life?"

Feng Chuchen's anger intensified, her face as cold as ice. "While she was being beaten with fire and water by the yamen runners, you were marrying a princess. While she was alone with her child by the lamp at night, you had a son. But you, you not only betrayed her, but you even asked her to deliver your wife's baby when she was in labor..."

"She was filled with pain and had nowhere to confide in, so she could only write that poem without beginning or end... She could have found a good man, someone to comfort her and wipe away her tears when she was sad, someone to hold her hand and support her when she walked at night..."

Feng Chuchen could no longer hold back, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“My aunt is also a woman. She dreams of her grandfather and her embroidered pillow is soaked with tears. She knows that her time is coming to an end and she wants to wear that old purse that she can’t forget… Prince Consort Shangguan, if you can’t afford it, why bother with him!”

The last sentence was what angered her the most.

Shangguan Yunqi touched his forehead and tears streamed down his face.

After a long while, he wiped away his tears with a handkerchief, got up and walked to the window. Only after calming down did he slowly turn around.

His eyes were slightly red, and his deep, magnetic voice echoed in the room.

"I met my sister twenty-eight years ago. On the battlefield in southern Xinjiang, I was poisoned with a strange poison, my whole body turned black except for a white patch on my chest. No one in the army could cure me, and my life was hanging by a thread."

"Marshal Ming found an elder of the Southern Barbarian tribe who said that I was poisoned by the Black Crow Poison. This poison is incurable once it enters the heart. Only the 'Ghostly Witch' of the Heartless Valley of Huangyin Mountain can cure it. He also said that the Ghostly Witch might have an old grudge against the previous dynasty, and that I must not reveal her true identity."

"I trekked for five days and five nights to reach Huangyin Mountain, but before I reached Wuqing Valley, I was poisoned and fainted. When I woke up, I found myself lying in a wooden house, where a young woman was brewing medicine. The young woman was tall and beautiful, not a woman from the South, but clearly a young woman from my Great Yan."

When he spoke of the girl, a warm feeling welled up in Shangguan Yunqi's eyes.

"She claimed her surname was Feng, and that she was the apprentice of the Ghost Witch. Her master had gone to Siam to gather herbs and would not return for two to three months. She had already diagnosed me with the Black Crow Poison, and there happened to be an antidote in the valley. The antidote would take a month, so I stayed..."

His gaze drifted out the window, as if recalling those bygone days.

"She could tell from my accent that I was from Beijing. I didn't dare tell the truth, so I lied and said that an elder of mine had been convicted and sent to the army... She said that her family was also in the suburbs of Beijing, and that they had fled there because an elder of mine had committed a crime..."

A smile appeared on Commander Yunqi's lips. "That month was stolen time. She cured my poison, and I followed her to gather herbs, pound herbs, and sell herbs."

"Upon learning that she was three months older than me, I called her 'elder sister.' Not only was she stunningly beautiful, but she also had beautiful handwriting, a clear and melodious singing voice, and her folk songs were even better than those of the southern barbarian girls..."

"The poison in my body was slowly being cleared, but I became greedy and only wished to stay a little longer. On the thirty-fifth day, while gathering herbs, I accidentally fell into a deep pit, and she pulled me down with her. The bottom of the pit was scorching hot..."

Shangguan Yunqi pursed his lips, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face.

"My sister said that a strange herb grew in the pit, and we were both poisoned by love... After I woke up, I vowed to marry her, and she readily agreed, giving me a purse as a token of her vow. She said that when her master returned, he would ask for some rare and precious medicines to offer to the general so that I could be redeemed. After she learned some skills, we would return to the capital together to make a living. The reason we had to return to the capital was that she had a sickly younger brother."

Shangguan Yunqi sighed deeply, his eyes filled with sorrow. "I dared not lie anymore and reveal my true identity... but my sister suddenly changed her expression, drove me away, and ordered me to forget everything. She then hid in a mountain cave and refused to see me again."

“I waited anxiously for a day and a night, thinking that she might be afraid that my noble birth might cause trouble. I thought I would first go back to the military camp to retrieve the family heirloom jade pendant, and then ask Commander Ming to write the betrothal letter on behalf of the elders. With these two things, my sister can marry me with peace of mind.”

"Upon returning to camp, I was met with war. A month later, when I returned to the Valley of Heartless with the jade pendant and the betrothal letter, I only found the Ghostly Witch. She hit me and threw a letter in my face, saying that Feng dared to save a descendant of the Shangguan family and that she had been expelled from the sect."

"That was my sister's handwritten letter, which read: 'You are a cloud in the sky, while I am a blade of grass in the mortal world. How can I bear such a disparity? I wish you would forget me...'"

Shangguan Yunqi's voice choked with emotion as he pressed his fist to his lips and turned away.

After a long while, he turned around and slowly spoke, "I asked where my sister went, and the old woman said that Feng's skills were not yet perfected, so she probably went to Jiaozhi to find her master..."

"After the war ended a year later, I did not follow the army back to the capital. Instead, I stayed in the south as a military officer and searched everywhere for my sister. For her sake, I secretly mobilized troops to enter Jiaozhi and attack the southern barbarians... I ignored several orders from the Ministry of War."

"Four years later, the imperial edict arrived, forcing me to return to the capital. My father produced the 'Iron Certificate of Righteousness' that my grandfather had earned, which barely saved my life, though I was punished with eighty strokes of the cane. The emperor, remembering my grandfather's past merits, granted me the privilege of marrying Princess Yanghe, but the Shangguan family had completely lost the emperor's favor..."

Shangguan Yunqi let out a long sigh, his voice filled with helplessness and sorrow, "Yanghe had a difficult childbirth, and everyone said that the midwife Feng from the western suburbs was highly skilled. When we finally invited her, we found out... it was my sister. It turns out she had already returned to the capital. I was tricked by that wicked old woman..."

(End of this chapter)