After appeasing her family, Zhu Changle hopped out to escort Qiuli from the main hall. As they passed by Aunt Feng, Zhu Changle whispered something into her ear.
When they got seated in the room, Aunt Feng stepped in with several jars of liquor and placed them on the table before turning to leave.
Sealing the clay pot, Zhu Changle asked something that suddenly came to her mind, "Can your throat handle drinking? Don't worry if it can't, we will eat soon."
Qiuli raised an eyebrow, not knowing if this was excessively polite or not polite at all. However, such straightforward behavior was rather rare among women; most would act more tentatively, unlike Zhu Changle.
He extended his hand, allowing his actions to speak for him.
Zhu Changle’s eyes twinkled as she poured a cup and placed it next to him, then filled cups for herself and Dingding. Raising her cup, she declared, "I won't thank you now. Consider it a favor Zhu Changle owes you, one I'll pay back in the future."
Qiuli clinked his cup against hers. Watching as she drained her cup without leaving a drop, he found it infectious to spend time with such free-spirited people.
"Last time we met was in the capital city. Did you travel here from there?" Zhu Changle asked while refilling the drinks.
Qiuli nodded.
"I dragged my family along and hence our delay. But why are you, traveling alone, also this slow?"
Qiuli remained motionless, and Zhu Changle didn’t seem to expect a response. They clinked glasses again and both drained their cups. She was feeling a bit thirsty.
After two cups, she was still not quenched. She nudged Dingding, "Go get some hot water."
Dingding reclined uncooperatively. Without having determined Qiuli's background, he couldn’t leave, "I'm in pain. Let Aunt Feng do it when she arrives."
Acknowledging his wounds were worse than hers, Zhu Changle dropped it, teasing, "You're too weak, always unsuccessful in your learning."
Unseemly bothered by Zhu Changle’s teasing, Dingding gazed towards the ceiling, lost in thought. Had he heard the name Qiuli somewhere before? He was skilled and handsome, and with a previously damaged throat, he should be easy to remember. But he couldn’t place anyone among the younger generation with these features.
Zhu Changle didn't labor over it. She never looked at someone's background while making friends. Heck, she even has a deep friendship with a devout old monk! It was no problem if Qiuli couldn't speak. During her two years on an island, she communicated warmly with wild monkeys. Qiuli, at least, could nod or shake his head in response. That was enough.
"Did you come here by mere coincidence?"
He shook his head.
"So you came here intentionally?"
He nodded.
"Then you came here to help?"
He shook his head.
"Was someone asking for your help?"
Qiuli drank a mouthful of wine, pondered the question mildly, and finally nodded, as if to confirm.
Zhu Changle also drank her wine, pondering. So, someone asked him for help, he came intentionally. From the previous interactions, she knew that the person was not Little Lid, so who could it be? She rifled through her acquaintances, many suspect, but on further reflection, no one seemed obvious. After all, no one knew she was a damsel of officialdom, or that her father's demotion would spark reprisals, except for Little Lid. She couldn't think of anyone else.
Enough thinking. She would naturally know when the time comes.
Zhu Changle cheerily lifted her cup for a toast with Qiuli. Regardless of who invited who, every gathering was to be treasured! Once she overcame this hurdle, she would surely repay the kindness. If she can't, there was always her master. Hehe.
The cunning smiling on her face amused Qiuli, leading him to drink again. He hadn’t paid attention to the fact that Zhong Ningmei’s disciple was the youngest daughter of the Zhu family. Who would have thought that Zhu Maonian, such a straight-laced stickler for rules, would allow his daughter to learn martial arts with those from the martial arts world? To those court officials, martial artists were uncouth and ignorant, only good as hired thugs.
Like this instance.
He tapped on the table to get Zhu Changle's attention and wrote on the table with the condensation from his drink: "Notice anything different?"
"A murder plot?" Zhu Changle contemplated as Qiuli nodded. "I think everything seems normal. Since they want our family dead, anything they do is to be expected."
Qiuli wrote in the condensation again, "Normal?"
Zhu Changle played with her drink. "I know what you want to ask. Initially, I was quite surprised that the people from the martial arts world got involved, especially with oaths in place. But when I thought about it, it didn’t seem so strange. People are forgetful. They forget yesterday's issues today. So expecting them to remember an oath from seventy years ago for hundreds or thousands of years? Dream on."
Finished with her explanation, she laughed and slyly moved closer to Qiuli. "Judging by their familiarity, this oath may have been broken a long time ago. Kill everyone, and there will be no one left to know, right?"
Qiuli, raising an eyebrow, found this unexpectedly aligned with his own thoughts.
"After we reach our destination and my parents are safe, I'll go to the Exquisite Pavilion to gather intel. Nobody who plots against me gets away."
Zhu Changle stretched luxuriously, until halfway through, remembering her mother's thunderous roar, she hesitated before completing her stretch defiantly. She knew her mom wasn’t around, but she still guiltily cast a glance at the door.
Oh no, she sighed, her mom was running her ragged.
Qiuli watched her nonchalantly, curious about how her family dealt with her. Zhu Changle was indeed… a bit wild.
Aunt Feng came in carrying a basket. She lifted the cloth on top to reveal a plate of meat and what seemed like a pot of soup, "Didn't have time to prepare more."
Rubbing her singing-empty-tune belly, Zhu Changle would not turn up her nose at any food now, not even a smidgen. But remembering the guest, she served the first bowl of soup to Qiuli, said a curt 'help yourself' and shoved a bite of meat in her mouth.
As for Dingding - Who was that?
The forgotten Dingding fended for himself, grabbing his chopsticks and taking a swipe at the meat. There was plenty of soup, so he could drink later. He could not let Zhu Changle eat an extra piece of meat!
No matter how much the two fought for food, the two from Qiuli's side did not move. Their pile was quickly diminished, except for the middle part which was divided as if by an invisible boundary.
Originally, Qiuli had no intention of eating, but as he stared at the clear boundary of the dish for a moment, he picked up his chopsticks and selected a piece. With a light brush of his chopsticks, the meat slid down, and the quick-handed Zhu Changle promptly caught it and ushered it into his mouth. He looked victoriously at Dingding, who was a moment too late, grinning triumphantly. Rolling his eyes, Dingding tightened his grip on his chopsticks.
Slowly chewing, Qiuli then... put down his chopsticks. The visible disappointment in the eyes of the other two pleased him. With an unhurried sip of his wine, he took up his chopsticks again, held the meat and skillfully set off an avalanche on his side of the mountain.
The other two men dove into the meal, chopsticks flying. In terms of the amount of meat eaten, Zhu Changle triumphed, but Qiuli's side remained untouched.
Dingding, who'd intended to save some face for his little buddy in front of others, was furious. "Zhu Changle, are you even a woman? How can you eat so much?"
"Should a woman not eat? At least I've grown taller after eating, you've eaten so much but are still not as tall as me!"
Having grown up together, the two had compared everything except what one had that the other did not. Naturally, height was of utmost importance, but the annoying fact was that Dingding had never won in this aspect. This had always been his sore spot, and any mention of it hit him where it hurts. He was already angry for not getting the meat, but being hit at his sore spot, he whipped out his beating stick and chased after Zhu Changle.
Zhu Changle, having foreseen this, laughed heartily and sprinted away, from the house to the courtyard, then the roof, disappearing in a blink of an eye.
Aunt Feng silently cleared the table, "Sorry about that, I'll fry another dish."
Qiuli shook his head and stood up looking at her.
Aunt Feng understood, and led him to rest in the room.
