A night of cold wind.
Leaves falling in profusion.
Gong Qichi awakened to the sound of sweeping fallen leaves.
"Swish swish swish."
"Swish swish swish."
For a moment, he found the sound quite pleasant.
It seemed rather soothing.
He woke up to find himself in a change of clothes, with a new set laid out by the bedside.
He vaguely recalled chatting with Brother Jiang late into the night.
For some reason, he had felt particularly energetic last night and wanted to engage in a candlelit conversation with Brother Jiang.
Then, in the middle of the night, the Younger Sister-in-law had even brought them a bowl of steamed eggs.
Gong Qichi felt very appreciative.
This meant they were treating him like family.
He had been quite busy lately and felt his body wasn't as robust as before.
But at Brother Jiang's house, he felt excited.
As it turned out, Brother Jiang passed out after eating the steamed eggs.
Apparently, they were cooked with alcohol.
Brother Jiang couldn't hold his liquor.
The Younger Sister-in-law had to carry him back.
As for Gong Qichi, he still felt quite excited after finishing his portion. However, upon returning to his room, he was likely caught by a cold breeze and ended up vomiting.
He threw up a lot of black water and felt generally awful.
His whole body stank.
Then, servants helped him clean up and change.
This morning, Gong Qichi looked at his body and was startled.
Yesterday, he had been so startled that he accidentally used hidden weapons.
Well, he was a scholar after all, and it was normal for a learned man to have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Jiang Feng had been injured too. He had won through his craftiness; all's fair in love and war, and a scholar's tricks don't count as cheating.
As Zi Wenxin was making excuses for himself, he looked up to see Jiang Feng approaching. His face was fair and rosy, his gait graceful as a jade tree in the wind, his eyes unswollen, his face not puffy, and he wasn't limping at all.
Impossible, absolutely impossible. He had used hidden weapons on him yesterday and had seen him injured.
"Brother Jiang, you're not injured?" Zi Wenxin asked incredulously.
"I was injured, but I recover exceptionally fast. I've been injured often before, and I'm usually fine after lying down for two days. The worst injury I ever had nearly killed me, but I was fine after just one night's sleep. Perhaps heaven especially favors me," Jiang Feng smiled.
Zi Wenxin: ...
Meng Shaoxia: ...
Breakfast was sumptuous.
Zi Wenxin found the morning meal quite to his liking.
It's just that Young Mrs. Meng seemed a bit displeased with him, glaring at him constantly.
He felt an inexplicable chill down his spine.
Gong Qichi and Zi Wenxin still had official business, so they left early with the music troupe.
The group of nine, who originally relied on selling their looks and talents, found themselves unexpectedly loaned out as a package.
The young master said they were considered to be on a business trip, working outside, with allowances. They would receive daily compensation for transportation, food, and lodging, which meant that every day they were out, they'd earn several times their monthly wages.
They were even provided with guards to accompany them.
In the past, they always felt that leaving the mansion meant being sent away or sold, moving on to the next master's house, never knowing if the new master would be kind or cruel.
Now, they were being loaned out, with the possibility of return...
With allowances...
With assigned guards...
It all felt quite surreal...
As they bid farewell to their young master, the group felt an inexplicable reluctance to leave.
Donning these robes seemed to cover their past hardships.
With straight backs, they set out on a different path.