Chapter 28: Talking about the Past

“Eat your meal. You’ve slept for a day and a night. Aren’t you hungry?” Zhao Qin picked up a piece of meat with chopsticks and offered it to Shen Fu.

“I was hungry, but I felt full after seeing my senior sister.”

Zhao Qin knew Shen Fu was about to say something mischievous, but she couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”

Shen Fu looked at her with a smile. “Because beauty is a feast for the eyes.”

Chu Baige, who hadn’t eaten a single bite, burped beside them.

This dog food is really good.

He silently shed two tears of a single dog.

…

The task of clearing out Shun Xin Ruyi was taken over solely by Xiuchundao, as they were professionals in this area.

Shen Fu didn’t understand why Zhao Qin had kept Shun Xin Ruyi and hadn’t dealt with it herself. “Senior Sister, you obviously know a lot about Shun Xin Ruyi. Lao Chu and I were able to get in because of the Embroidered Spring Blade. Logically speaking, it should be easier for your people to infiltrate than for Lao Chu and me.”

“Who said I don’t have anyone inside?” Zhao Qin held Shen Fu’s hand and walked slowly along the corridor. “Have you forgotten everything I taught you? If you want to deal with opponents, the best way is not to kill everyone, but to become one of them.”

“There are many people who oppose you. You can’t deal with and persuade them one by one; you may not even be able to find them in the crowd. At this time, a planned and organized opposition is very important. Instead of targeting a single person, it’s better to gather everyone together. This way, whether it’s supervision or direct action, it’s much simpler and easier than taking action one by one.”

“Afu, I know you don’t want to be calculating about these things, but you have to know what to do. Understand?”

Shen Fu looked at her, unsure if she had heard her words or not, but her eyes sparkled. “Senior Sister, you are amazing.”

Zhao Qin, who was originally serious and trying to impart life experience to Shen Fu, suddenly lost her composure and couldn’t help but laugh. She rubbed Shen Fu’s forehead and said, “Little flatterer.”

Shen Fu replied, “I’ll just be Senior Sister’s little flatterer.”

Zhao Qin faced forward and strode ahead. In the corridor, only her helpless sigh could be heard. “You…”

Shen Fu blushed when she saw her senior sister’s ears peeking out from her hair.

…

The little girl was very quiet.

Zhao Qin herself was a quiet person, and she was even quieter than Zhao Qin.

If Zhao Qin didn’t talk to her, she could sit there without saying a single word for the whole day.

This was very abnormal.

Zhao Qin had never raised a child, but there were children aged three or four in the palace.

Children of this age are curious about the outside world and have their own thoughts and ideas. They chatter all day long, regardless of whether others can hear them clearly or understand what they mean. They just want to express themselves.

However, Shen Fu would only give monosyllabic answers of “um,” “ah,” or “oh” after Zhao Qin asked her several times.

The little girl had no memory.

No one knew what had happened to her. She always looked dazed, as if she had suffered a great shock and had not yet recovered from her slumber. She often stared blankly at one spot. When Zhao Qin asked her what she was thinking about, she would shake her head and refuse to say a word.

Although Shenxian Temple was not open to the public, it was not completely uninhabited. Residents living nearby would bring vegetables and fruits to offer to the gods in the temple. Over time, the Taoists in the temple and these villagers became very familiar with each other. For example, Zhao Qin knew a villager named Aunt Zhu, who was said to have given birth to more than a dozen children, all of whom survived.

In an era when medical care was underdeveloped, giving birth was like walking through the gates of hell for women, and at least five out of ten children would die. Aunt Zhu’s fertility rate was extremely shocking, but Zhao Qin was more envious of her for raising each of her children to be very lively. The one who came with her to burn incense was the youngest child, a boy of average looks. Although he was not as cute as Shen Fu, his eyes were lively, and he looked very smart at first glance.

When she saw him, Zhao Qin thought of her wooden little girl.

I felt a bit unwilling.

Logically speaking, with her status, she shouldn’t be talking to these lowly poor people. However, thinking of the little girl, Zhao Qin mustered the courage to engage in conversation with Aunt Zhu, who was preparing to stay with her children for a vegetarian meal after burning incense.

Aunt Zhu didn’t know Zhao Qin’s identity and was very enthusiastic toward her. When she heard that the girl was three or four years old and didn’t like to talk, she became even more anxious than Zhao Qin. “Is there no one talking to her normally? I know that your wealthy families have their own rules, and maids and servants are not allowed to speak to their masters, but how can a child not have someone to talk to?”

“If no one talks to her, she will never learn to speak. It’s fine when she’s young; she just doesn’t want to speak, but she’ll correct it quickly. But if she grows up, especially when she becomes an adult, I’m afraid she won’t be able to speak at all.”

As a princess, Zhao Qin usually read books on military strategies and formations, so how could she know these things?

She asked anxiously, “What should I do then?”

Aunt Zhu thoughtfully offered some advice. “I’m from the countryside; I don’t have much cultural knowledge, but I have many children. If you trust me, go home and talk to your sister more. Tell her everything you have, and she may gradually become more talkative.”

This really put Zhao Qin in a difficult position.

She herself was a quiet person, let alone teaching others to speak.

There were a few little Taoist priests in the temple who couldn’t stop talking all day long. It would be easy for Shen Fu to learn to talk from them, but Zhao Qin didn’t want to share her hidden little girl with those people. She was also afraid that Shen Fu would be led astray by them and become a chatterbox.

Zhao Qin worried that if Shen Fu didn’t speak, it would be a problem, but if she talked as much as those people, Zhao Qin would worry again.

Shen Fu, who had just been picked up by Zhao Qin, did not respond to anything Zhao Qin said.

Most of the time, she was in a daze or looking at Zhao Qin quietly, making it seem like she was listening seriously. But she was like a recorder; she didn’t even respond after listening. When Zhao Qin finished speaking, Shen Fu would naturally turn her eyes away, as if she had only been looking to record the audio.

In the Taoist temple, the princess, who was of noble status, cold personality, and liked to keep to herself, had to start talking to herself to take good care of the children. She could even talk for half a day about a flower.

“Look, this is snakeberry. Isn’t it beautiful in red? There are some small thorns on it. Do you want to touch it? Do you know why it’s called snakeberry? Because it is said that snakeberry grows where snakes crawl. This snakeberry is so close to the cave. Are you afraid?”

“If you are afraid, just call me sister. I will protect you from being bitten by snakes, okay?”

Seeing that Shen Fu didn’t react, Zhao Qin reluctantly gave up the idea of scaring her. “Okay, I won’t lie to you anymore. This is called snakeberry because it can treat snake venom… Don’t eat it. It’s slightly poisonous and can’t be eaten casually.”

She snatched the little red fruit from Shen Fu’s hand and threw it far away.

Shen Fu was like a puppy, staring at the parabola of the snakeberry, making Zhao Qin feel that if she just said “go,” Shen Fu would run over and retrieve it.

Taking care of a child was really exhausting.

She was still a child herself.

But while feeling tired, Zhao Qin also enjoyed it.

A living person, now completely hers.

This was something she had never dreamed of.

There was no need for suspicion or doubt. Next to Shen Fu, she could set aside her princess’s reserved nobility and just be a girl who was a little willful, awkward, and prone to temper tantrums—although most of the time, Shen Fu didn’t seem to notice her temper.

Zhao Qin felt so slow that she couldn’t even breathe.

Obviously, she was tormented to the point of wanting to cry but had no tears. She had already said for a long time that Shen Fu would ignore her, but all Shen Fu needed to do was stretch out her soft little hand, gently tug at the hem of Zhao Qin’s clothes, and look at her with her gem-like black and white eyes, and Zhao Qin would surrender and return to the role of nanny.

“Okay, are you hungry or thirsty? Do you want some water or sleep?”

The first clear response came when Zhao Qin clumsily combed Shen Fu’s hair into two small buns.

There was no mirror in the cave, so they had to go to the waterside to look at their reflections. The bright water light revealed a little girl with a chubby face and big, round eyes. Zhao Qin couldn’t help but say, “Sister is beautiful.”

Shen Fu only took a glance, then looked away, touched the bun on her head, and said to Zhao Qin, “Sister is beautiful.”

“You are the most beautiful, and you have the most beautiful eyes.”

Shen Fu was born with almond-shaped eyes, which made people feel good at first sight. However, Zhao Qin inherited phoenix eyes with slightly upturned corners, which made her look a little fierce, especially as she grew older. Even though she was still young, the aura she exuded was enough to intimidate people.

“Sister, you are beautiful. I like your eyes.” Without waiting for Zhao Qin to answer, Shen Fu continued, as if afraid of being outdone, “Your mouth is beautiful, your nose is beautiful, your eyebrows are beautiful, your ears are beautiful… this hair is beautiful, that hair is also beautiful…”

Children’s logic is difficult to understand.

Even though Zhao Qin herself was still a child.

But it didn’t stop her from feeling happy after hearing Shen Fu’s long speech.

“Good sister, talk more, talk more.”

Shen Fu had been saying this for more than ten years.

From “Sister, you’re so beautiful” to “Senior Sister, you’re so beautiful, I want to sleep next to you tonight.”

The grown-up girl always found various ways to get close to Zhao Qin and take advantage of her.

Zhao Qin originally thought that after Shen Fu was brought back to the Temple of Immortals by the abbot, she would no longer be her little pet. Unexpectedly, she transformed from a captive pet into a follow-up pet. Every morning when she woke up, the first person Zhao Qin saw was Shen Fu. At night, when she went to bed, she had to fight with her wits and courage to get rid of the person who had climbed onto her bed at some point.

Of course, most of the time, she just went along with it.

In winter, it felt quite warm to hold a small heater in her arms. In summer, her room had the most ice in the entire Taoist temple, so it was only natural for Shen Fu to seek refuge there.

Shen Fu and Zhao Qin lay side by side on the bed. The lights in the room were turned off, yet both of them had their eyes wide open, unable to sleep.

Their hands remained tightly clasped under the quilt. Shen Fu suddenly laughed and said, “Senior Sister, we look like we’re still on Immortal Mountain.”