Chapter 278: Good Food Is Worth the Wait
The next day.
Qin Luoxia made many preparations.
She strapped a piece of leg armor onto her leg, inside which she placed many needles—fine needles forged from meteorite iron, perfect for use as hidden weapons.
She generally didn’t like using underhanded methods.
She preferred broadswords.
However, the world still had some restrictions regarding women.
People always felt it wasn’t right for women to kill with broadswords.
So, she had to use some small props.
Killing by women in the inner chambers had evolved to be highly specialized.
For example, killing with words—making the other person so angry that their mammary glands become blocked, their thyroid hormone secretion becomes disordered, causing high blood pressure, low blood pressure, uterine fibroids—long-term grinding efforts, and one could always achieve the goal.
The advantage is that the cost is low, and it is difficult to be convicted.
The disadvantage is that the cycle is too long, and the side effects might accidentally rebound onto oneself, or one might fail to anger the other person and end up being angered to death oneself.
For example, poisoning—this requires some initiative and a certain foundation of medical knowledge.
The disadvantage is that the act of poisoning someone is equivalent to breaking the law, and once discovered, one will suffer legal punishment.
The advantage is that it is effective quickly, with immediate results.
For example, whispering sweet nothings to get others to kill.
The advantage is that it is difficult to be directly sentenced, at most it is an accessory crime.
The disadvantage is that you must be capable enough to pull off such pillow talk; otherwise, you will be called a poisonous woman. If this person in your bed dares to kill someone else because of your words, one day it will also rebound on you, and it is easy to be bitten back.
Aside from these stereotypes, there is also the direct use of weapons.
Using swords, knives, axes, hammers, hoes, mallets, sticks, flying darts… etc., to kill.
The advantage is that the time is short, though not necessarily short, depending on your skill proficiency.
The disadvantage is that it is a crime, and you will be sentenced.
In short, killing is illegal; do not test the law.
The regulations and detailed rules that the court officials had been reciting these past few days clearly included this point.
It stipulated that one cannot kill imperial officials.
It stipulated that one cannot use knives to kill, cannot use poison to kill, cannot assassinate… but there were still loopholes. You could anger the other person to death, or whisper sweet nothings to the Emperor, letting the Emperor kill…
In short, Qin Luoxia added some equipment for herself: flying knives, a soft whip, mushroom powder, hidden weapon needles, hairpins that could be inserted into a skull… and only then did she go to Taia Temple.
The next day, she didn’t plan to take Mianmian and Xiao Cong.
She let them stay at home and play for a day.
Early in the morning, Qin Luoxia went out.
The weather was slightly cold, the sun was very good, and she went out on horseback.
She looked heroic and spirited.
The weather was slightly cold, the sun was very good, and Gong Qichi and Jiang Feng went out on horseback together.
The two arrived at the riverside.
Jiangzhou was named for being by the Great River.
A part of the old Jiang Family residence leaned against the riverside.
During this period, the mobile personnel from Jingzhou had successively migrated to Jiangzhou.
Gong Qichi settled in Jiangzhou. As Great Marshal Zi’s adopted son, because Great Marshal Zi died suddenly and left no instructions, only Zi Ganjiang, Zi Wenxin, and Zi Yuanqian, three adopted sons, were willing to stay; the others sought better opportunities elsewhere.
Actually, someone from the Seventh Prince had also come to look for Zi Ganjiang.
But he had a good relationship with Jiang Feng. Gong Qichi asked him to stay, and he felt that this Gong Qichi was alright. Although he usually had a cunning look, when his foster Father died suddenly, he didn’t leave but stayed to handle the funeral arrangements and also took care of Cong Heng.
Gong Qichi had said at the time that he wanted to stay and take care of the Young Master.
Zi Wenxin and Zi Yuanqian also stayed.
For Gong Qichi, it wasn’t the worst; even if no one stayed, it was better than being backstabbed later when starting an uprising.
It was good that they left, but even better that they stayed.
Now they knew that the successor to the foster Father chosen by Gong Qichi was not himself, but Jiang the Second.
Everyone didn’t know why Gong Qichi thought so highly of this person.
However, since they were already eating from the same pot, there was no need to rush for the moment.
Everyone settled down together in Jiangzhou.
It was a rare, seemingly peaceful life, free from the worries of the world.
It was truly like a Peach Blossom Spring.
In this seemingly ordinary village, they practiced martial arts, worked, ate, read, day after day.
Zi Wenxin and the others didn’t feel slighted, because Jiang the Second’s eldest son, Jiang Feng, also worked, ate, practiced martial arts, and studied with them.
They were all young people, together, learning and progressing, competing with each other, having a competitive spirit, and cherishing each other.
Originally, Zi Ganjiang loved to say, “I am the greatest in the world.”
The adopted sons taken in by Great Marshal Zi all had exceptional qualities. Zi Ganjiang had a strong physique and a feeling of being naturally invincible.
But Jiang Feng actually fought him to a draw, which made him very convinced.
Zi Wenxin was also called the “Literary Star” (the name was chosen later, “Wen” has the weight of three golds). He had an excellent memory and was very intelligent.
Jiang Feng’s attainments in literature were actually also very good, and he could talk very well with Zi Wenxin.
Moreover, Jiang Feng was not the type of serious bookworm.
He had a cheerful personality, could talk to anyone, and his appearance was of the honest, non-aggressive, good-looking kind, making it very easy for him to build a good relationship with Great Marshal Zi’s three adopted sons.
However, unexpectedly, the one who had the best relationship with Jiang Feng was the one who came last, Zi Yuanqian.
Zi Yuanqian looked quite silent, thin and small, the type of person with a lot of explosive power.
He would bite and not let go, as fierce as a wild dog.
But usually, he was very inconspicuous.
Gloomy.
His relationship with Jiang Feng seemed to become very good very quickly; perhaps they just clicked.
Young people of the same age together, training, growing, learning, imagining the future, and occasionally recalling the past, listening to everyone’s past tragedies, seemed to make their relationship closer.
There was no talk of social anxiety or anything like that.
Because in this era, it was not easy for people to meet and know each other, so once they met and became friends, they were willing to entrust everything.
This was a very beautiful thing.
It was like going to university.
In such a specific environment, slowly developing and growing.
There was a real sense of peaceful years.
Early in the morning, Gong Qichi took Jiang Feng to see the port.
They had created a port; the straight-line distance from the port to the capital was very fast, much faster than land transport.
However, there were many checkpoints along the way, which slowed down the journey instead.
Gong Qichi suggested developing river transport, building ships, and training sailors.
The initial investment for this was very large, and the two were still discussing it.
Gong Qichi liked working with Brother Jiang, because he had a lot of autonomy.
It was the same for Jiang Feng here. Although Jiang Feng was young, he was very steady, sometimes terrifyingly steady. One couldn’t imagine how a young man could be so steady, almost like an old monk entering meditation, as if he had sat in one place for decades.
The affairs of Jiang Village were trivial and complex, but he was not annoyed or angry at all; he was very patient.
He did everything one by one very seriously and never felt annoyed.
Gong Qichi had never seen someone with such stable emotions; he would surely accomplish great things.
The two arrived at the port shore together.
Looking out from the river.
Suddenly, they saw an object floating on the water, looking like a water ghost, with long hair and a large skirt.
Gong Qichi backed away two or three steps in fright.
It was a bit scary.
It was early in the morning.
Jiang Feng jumped down and fished it up.
What he fished up was a girl, a quite pretty girl, who looked like she was dead, but not stiff.
Watching the young man jump into the water to save someone without hesitation in winter, Gong Qichi couldn’t help but say: “You are too kind-hearted; good people are easily taken advantage of.”
Jiang Feng didn’t even look up. He remembered his sister telling him that if a person drowns, they can be resuscitated. She even demonstrated it with a drowned rabbit, which was later braised.
“Father once drowned and was saved by Mother. Because of Mother’s good deed, we exist, so whenever I see someone drowning, I feel they must be saved.”
He said this while performing first aid.
Of course, that wasn’t the real reason.
Jiang Feng just felt that this river should belong to the Jiang Family, so anything that floated over should be picked up.
Frugal and managing the household—he was like Mother in this regard.
Click, click, click—a series of operations.
Gong Qichi closed his eyes on the side, watching Brother Feng patting and hitting a dead girl, wanting to make her come alive.
He felt even more touched inside.
The Jiang Family members always talked about wanting to be bad people, but in reality, the whole family was pure and kind.
Indeed, like Father, like son.
Perhaps Heaven didn’t want to take this girl yet.
After a series of pats, she spat out a mouthful of water, and the girl actually came back to life.
Miss Dong looked at the man in front of her, with sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes.
There was even a Higanbana flower on his eyebrow.
Had she met a ghost messenger?
Do ghost messengers also hit people?
“Am I dead?”
“No, you’ve been saved.”
Miss Dong was stunned.
Looking at the man in front of her, she saw that his hair was also wet, dripping with water.
The weather was cold, and her body shivered.
It was too cold; she woke up for a moment, then almost fainted again.
She felt herself being lifted up. She had just thought the other person was rough, but as she shook, water came out of her mouth.
She felt like a pufferfish; if she shook, she would leak water and also leak air.
Miss Dong was taken back. The water in her stomach should have been shaken out during the bumpy ride.
After changing clothes, her whole body was warm, and after drinking hot ginger tea, she finally saw her savior again.
The other person had also changed clothes. His black hair was like silk, his eyebrows were like swords, and his eyes were like stars. Only the Higanbana mark on his forehead was covered, making him look less enchanting and more honest.
She had just woken up and looked around; this place looked like a farmhouse.
Elegance and simplicity coexisted.
“Many thanks for saving my life, Young Master. May I ask if you are married? Do you have someone in your heart?”
Jiang Feng shook his head.
“Not yet, no.”
Dong E stared at the man’s eyes, seeing them clear and unevasive, and she said: “I cannot repay the kindness of saving my life, so I am willing to offer myself in marriage. My Father is the Minister of Works, my dowry is abundant, I have no bad habits, and I have been healthy since childhood. The only problem is that I once had a marriage contract, but the man broke it, so the engagement was called off. I don’t know if you are willing to marry me?”
Jiang Feng was stunned for a moment.
He looked at the other person again.
She had thick, black, straight hair, a round face, and pale lips, but she should be a girl who loved to laugh; the corners of her mouth were slightly raised when she spoke, and she had dimples on her cheeks, on both sides.
She was not the kind of girl with a stunning, gorgeous appearance, but she was indeed the kind of girl with an extremely pleasing appearance. Looking at her made one happy; she was definitely the type Mother would like.
Jiang Feng nodded: “If you don’t mind that I have no official position, that my family is poor, and that my status is low, I will come to your house to propose.”
Dong E looked at the man opposite her carefully again.
Good-looking.
He was already the best-looking man she had ever seen.
Moreover, his eyes were clear, and he had saved her life. It was fate and destiny, so why not?
Dong E nodded: “Please help me find my servants and maids. They thought I committed suicide, but it was actually just an accidental fall into the water. I will reunite with them and return to the capital first. I will wait for you at home.”
Dong E thought for a moment, then took out the jade pendant she wore with her, which was a chubby fish, very cute and warm.
She handed the jade pendant to Jiang Feng.
“If you don’t regret it, take the jade pendant and come to my house. If you regret it, this jade pendant is worth a lot of money when pawned, and it can also repay the kindness of saving my life.”
After saying this, Dong E politely took her leave.
Her posture when walking was proud and dignified, worthy of the status of a Minister’s daughter.
Back in the room, Dong E clenched her fists, posed herself like the character ‘Fire’, swayed left and right in the room, opened her mouth wide wanting to scream but didn’t have the nerve to make a sound, like a lively civet cat, spun around the room a few times, and then rolled on the bed a few times.
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