As Zhu Changle had anticipated, the day remained calm and uneventful. They arrived safely at Shuangqi Town, even earlier than expected.
"Sigh." Under the moonlight, Zhu Changle lay on the highest point of the inn's roof and quietly sighed for the third time. Though she had made a bold promise to her Big Brother, she truly had no solution. After much consideration, she realized the only option was to face the challenge head-on.
Someone appeared beside her. Thinking it was Little lid, she didn't even bother to lift her eyelids as she said, "You don't need to keep me company. Go warm up the bed first. I'll bask in the moonlight and see if I can get some inspiration."
The sound of a fan snapping open told her it wasn't who she thought it was.
She bolted upright, met the person's amused gaze, then flopped back down as if her bones had turned to jelly. "Can we start over?"
Qiuli obliged, leaping down and then floating back up to the roof, walking over to sit beside her.
"Who is it? I don't need company. I'll just moonbathe and then go to sleep."
Qiuli snapped his fan open again. Zhu Changle lifted her head with feigned surprise, "Oh, Qiuli, it's you."
Qiuli nodded.
Zhu Changle chuckled, scratching her head as she sat up, making her already messy hair even more disheveled.
She opened her mouth to speak, then covered it, pulling out paper and a brush from her pocket. Ever since Qiuli had joined their group, these had become items she always carried with her.
"My Big Brother and I both think they'll make their move tomorrow. There's no better place than here, but I can't think of a way to turn the tables," she wrote.
It was the middle of the lunar month, and the moonlight was bright. With his martial artist's keen eyesight, Qiuli stared at the line of text for a long while without moving. It wasn't that he couldn't recognize the characters or didn't know how to respond. He just found the situation somewhat peculiar.
Since he had stopped speaking to people, everyone around him treated it as a taboo, afraid that even a wrong word might offend him. This kind of written conversation was unprecedented. They probably thought that since he could hear, doing this would also anger him.
Zhu Changle, however, had none of these concerns. Can't speak? No problem, I'll talk and you listen, you express and I'll guess, you write and I'll read. Not convenient to speak now? Then let's write! We already have paper and brush ready, no need to fetch anything, how convenient. If someone were to ask her if she was afraid of hurting his pride by doing this, she would probably find the question bewildering.
She was a person with an overflowing heart. Her happiness, her cheerfulness, her kindness, and all the other good things she possessed seemed to spill out from within her. She wasn't stingy either, generously sharing these inexhaustible good things with everyone around her, as if wanting everyone to have what she had. She was both incredibly simple and pure to the extreme, seeming neither like a daughter raised in the Zhu family nor a disciple taught by Zhong Ningmei.
Zhu Changle waited for a while, but when he didn't take the paper and brush, she leaned in, bringing herself right under his nose, and silently asked, "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"
Qiuli met her gaze, reached out to ruffle her hair, then took the paper and brush and wrote: "If it can't be avoided, then fight."
Zhu Changle had been thinking about the possibility that "he might be her long-lost brother" due to Qiuli's familiar gesture, but upon seeing these words, she immediately pushed that thought aside. She wrote back, "Can we win? What if there are a lot of them? What if they use underhanded tactics? My family members are all useless scholars, they won't be of any help."
Qiuli read the words "useless scholars" and could immediately picture her saying it out loud, as he had witnessed before.
"We can," he wrote.
Seeing these two words, Zhu Changle's eyes sparkled. Wow, her powerful ally was so confident! Let's go for it then! She took back the paper and brush and drew a sword after the words "We can," even adding a few dots to represent dripping blood for dramatic effect.
Qiuli looked at it, then took the paper and folded it in half.
Zhu Changle didn't think much of it and stretched, saying, "Time to sleep, sleep. Tomorrow will be a day of life and death struggles."
Qiuli raised the paper in his hand, silently saying: Useless are the scholars.
Zhu Changle's face immediately fell. "Qiuli, when you act like this, I suspect even more that you're my real brother!"
Real brother? What did that have to do with anything? Of course, this was something that even the clever Qiuli couldn't figure out.
Zhu Changle seized the opportunity to snatch the paper, tore it into several pieces, and tossed them into the air like flower petals. She winked mischievously, silently mouthing 'no evidence' before running off.
Qiuli listened to the sound of doors opening and closing below. He lightly waved his fan, and the paper scraps slowly floated up. Under the fan's direction, they obediently rearranged themselves. In no time, the paper was restored. Another gentle twirl of the fan, and all the pieces fell into his palm.
He picked out the piece with the sword drawing and looked at it for a moment. Qiuli lay down, placing his fan over his face to block out the overly bright moonlight. He thought about how someone with Zhu Changle's trusting nature would likely suffer many setbacks in the jianghu. Yet, he had never heard of her being taken advantage of. His grand-master once said that some people are born with deep blessings and enjoy heaven's favor. Could Zhu Changle be one of those people?
The more he thought about it, the more intriguing it became. Qiuli felt somewhat inclined to test his grand-master's words.
Early the next morning, carriages stopped in sequence at the inn's entrance, with servants busily moving back and forth, packing things up.
On the empty street, Zhu Changle hugged Little Golden and whispered to it for quite a while before letting it fly away. Dingding and Lan Ping were used to her treating Little Golden and Little Tail like people, but others couldn't help but give her a few extra glances.
The faint cry of a child reached her ears. Zhu Changle turned back to look, and Madam Xu, who was carrying the child, hurriedly said, "I'll give him the medicine right away."
Zhu Changle felt that she must look particularly ugly in Madam Xu's eyes to elicit such a strong reaction. She wasn't particularly bothered by it though. If this perception could keep Madam Xu in line, she was willing to be the ugly villain.
However, she did care about Little An'an. Just as she was about to say a few words about the medicine's properties, she heard her Second Brother speak, "Changle, should this medicine only be used at critical moments, or can it be used regularly? Are there any precautions we need to take when using it?"
Zhu Changle was momentarily stunned. Although she had heard from her Big Brother that Second Brother had become more sensible, she hadn't expected him to be this clear-headed. This normal attitude of how siblings should talk to each other made her feel as if her brother had... returned.
Trying hard to control her upturned lips, Zhu Changle tilted her chin up, "This medicine is just for calming the mind. It's not harmful to the body. I wouldn't give it to just anyone, hmph!"
"I can vouch for Changle. I used it yesterday and slept very well," Zhu Changwang said as he walked out of the room, supported by Zuo Qing. He looked to be in very good spirits.
Zhu Changle ran over to check her Big Brother's pulse. Although it was still weak, it was now a normal kind of weak. Yesterday, she had barely been able to feel his pulse at all.
"Keep resting during the day today."
Zhu Changwang understood the meaning behind her words and nodded with a smile, "I'll listen to Changle."
Changle, emboldened by the indulgence, let out another heavy "hmph" towards her Second Brother, even pouting her lips, looking very aggrieved.
Zhu Changning's heart melted completely. He walked over and patted her head, "Second Brother will listen to Changle too."
"If you don't listen to me, I'll beat you up," Zhu Changle raised her fist, both coquettish and domineering. But Zhu Changning clearly saw that her eyes had reddened.
The Old Madam came out holding Lady Zhang's hand. Looking at the siblings, she said, "It seems that beating wasn't in vain."
Lady Zhang smiled, "This daughter-in-law only regrets that Changle didn't do it sooner."
"That's right, that's right." Changle ran over to support her grandmother on the other side, her face full of smiles without a trace of gloom, making everyone who saw her smile along with her.
