Chapter 41 2/2

“Your wounds… I brought some good external medicine for you.”

“These are all from before; they’re long healed.”

Seeing Taoyu’s flustered appearance, Huo Shu said, “If you’re afraid, from now on… from now on, I’ll keep my clothes on.”

“I’m not afraid!”

Taoyu quickly said, “I just didn’t know you had so many wounds on your body, and seeing them suddenly startled me.”

She looked up at Huo Shu with concern in her eyes and pleaded softly, “Let me see.”

Seeing the concern in Taoyu’s eyes, even Huo Shu didn’t realise he had relaxed a bit. He reached out and untied his belt.

Huo Shu, who had just taken a bath, had a faint soap scent on him, which was quite pleasant. His upper body, washed by hot water, still had a slight redness.

But Taoyu could only see the mottled wounds on his chest and back, and her eyes couldn’t focus on anything else. There were no longer any romantic thoughts, only a momentary feeling of heartache.

From his neck down to his back, there were various scars, long or short, deep or shallow, including cuts, bullet wounds, and arrow wounds.

Taoyu had only lightly understood war from other people’s mouths or written accounts, but seeing the scars on Huo Shu’s body made her glimpse the true cruelty of war.

“Do you remember when you got these wounds?”

Taoyu gently touched the wounds, which were wider than her fingertip, with deformed, raised, or depressed flesh, and she felt almost unable to breathe from the pain.

If it were an ordinary person, perhaps just one of these wounds would have cost half their life.

He dared not think about how Huo Shu endured such heavy injuries on the battlefield time and time again. Some of the wounds were truly shocking, with nearly seven or eight places that could have taken a person’s life.

The scars spread all over, almost leaving no intact place on his upper body.

“It’s all in the past.”

At first, he actually remembered, of course. How could he not be concerned about his own flesh and blood? But as he went into battle more and more times and got injured in the same place again and again, he couldn’t remember anymore.

The frontline battles were cruel, and every time he went into battle, it was a fight for his life. Amidst the bloodshed, it was almost impossible to tell if the flesh and blood flying around were from the enemy or from himself.

Every time he survived and returned, he was covered in holes from head to toe. As long as he could come back alive, what did a few scars matter?

Taoyu knew that he was unwilling to talk about the hardships of those ten years, so she didn’t ask again to remind him of those past events.

After examining him, she found that some wounds were relatively shallow but still scarred to this day, probably because of the shortage of medical treatment on the frontlines.

“I’ll apply some medicine to help with the recovery of these light scars. Although the wounds have scabbed over and healed, the scars are widespread, and in the long run, they may become pathological.”

Huo Shu didn’t care much about these scars, but Taoyu’s voice was already choked with tears, and when he turned around, he saw her eyes reddening as expected.

He gently brushed Taoyu’s eyelids with his fingertips and said, “Don’t cry; listen to you.”

Taoyu quickly took out her cherished ointment and patiently applied it to Huo Shu’s wounds one by one. After she had applied it all over his body, she had used half a bottle of ointment.

After the ointment dried, Huo Shu put on his clothes, and he emitted a faint herbal scent.

That night, Taoyu still remembered Huo Shu’s wounds, and she usually liked to snuggle up to him and sleep, but tonight she refrained.

Instead, Huo Shu pulled her into his arms and said, “Don’t think too much; everything’s fine.”

Taoyu nestled against Huo Shu and said, “I’m not afraid at all. I’ll be your personal doctor from now on.

Huo Shu’s eyes softened at her words, and he held her tighter.

Now that Taoyu had seen the wounds on Huo Shu’s body, she brought out the medicine stove that had been left idle for some days, and the room was filled with the smell of medicinal smoke all day long. It seemed she was indeed practicing being Huo Shu’s personal doctor.

After a few days, it was the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, which marked the Minor New Year, and there was a temple fair on that day.

The temple fair during the Minor New Year was always particularly lively. With some free time at the end of the year and a bit more money in hand after the autumn harvest, people were more willing to spend during the New Year season, making the temple fair more bustling than usual.

Taoyu had long wanted to go to the temple fair during the Minor New Year, but unfortunately, her parents didn’t feel at ease letting her go out during the harsh winter months.

As the local magistrate, Jiyang Zong had to attend many social gatherings, and during the New Year season, he had to attend every event held by the local families. He often had to drink for several days in a row and had almost no free time to take Taoyu to the temple fair.

With Huo Shu here this year, both Jiyang Zong and Huang Manjing were at ease, and they didn’t ask about the two of them.

When Huo Shu got up, the sky was just beginning to brighten, and for once, Taoyu didn’t linger in bed but got up with him.

When the two of them were ready to go out, they realised that it had snowed a little last night. The green vegetables in the valley were already covered with a layer of white snow.

Huo Shu looked at the gloomy sky, knowing that if it didn’t rain in a while, there might be more snow if the wind picked up.

He had prepared an oil-paper umbrella and tied it to himself in advance.

Originally, he thought that there wouldn’t be many people going to the temple fair in this kind of weather. However, when they reached the road leading to the temple, they found that it was crowded with carts, horses, and pilgrims. The closer they got to the temple, the more lively it became.

When they reached the wide, stone-paved road, they found that it was lined with many stalls selling various goods. In addition to the basic incense, candles, and paper money needed for worshipping Buddha, there were also stalls selling sugar figurines, kebabs, pancakes, and other snacks. The variety of food and entertainment was no less than that in the city. There were also herbal medicine stalls selling lingzhi, wolfberries, dried chrysanthemum, and more. In addition, there were noisy parrots, cats, rabbits, and exotic birds and animals.

No wonder Taoyu had been looking forward to seeing the excitement all this time, and indeed, it broadened Huo Shu’s horizons.

The Jinlong Temple was the largest temple outside the city, and it was said that when the Emperor visited the south, he had come to the temple to burn incense and had stayed for a few days.

As a result, the Jinlong Temple had been renovated and expanded several times, and now the roads were wide and flat, attracting many pilgrims and merchants.

Taoyu found it difficult to walk along the crowded road, so she slid down from the horse and immediately spent two coins on a bowl of hot soup.

Taoyu dashed from one stall to another, and Huo Shu, holding the horse with one hand, held onto her with the other.

He noticed the bustling crowd, with people dressed in luxurious clothes, both from the city and the surrounding villages, carrying baskets of goods. Since arriving in the south, Huo Shu has noticed that whenever there was a major event, people in Tongzhou dressed neatly and beautifully. No wonder Taoyu had looked down on his coarse clothes.

He squeezed Taoyu’s hand and asked, “What is the woman ahead wearing?”

Taoyu, hearing him mention a woman, quickly leant over and saw that the woman was in her thirties, wearing ordinary clothes with nothing eye-catching. She couldn’t help but wonder, “It’s just ordinary satin fabric with patterns that have been around for decades.”

“What’s the price?”

Taoyu was surprised that Huo Shu was suddenly asking about this, but since he asked, she patiently replied, “The satin fabric on that lady’s body is considered medium to low-grade in the fabric shop. If you were to buy the fabric yourself, a piece should cost less than one or two silver coins. If you haggle, you might get it for seven or eight hundred wen.”

“If you buy ready-made clothes directly from the shop, it would cost about five or six hundred wen for a set, which isn’t very cost-effective. It’s better to buy a piece of fabric and make two sets.”

Huo Shu had bought some satin fabric from a shop in the city and had it sent over in the dowry box, but he hadn’t had time to make clothes out of it.

“What’s wrong? Why suddenly ask about these?” Huo Shu furrowed his brows at her words.

He recalled a cousin of his who had once said that everything for his marriage had been arranged, and they had even discussed the price of fabric. However, when they went to enquire about the price at the fabric shop, the marriage fell through.

“That fabric is exactly the same as the one back then.”

Taoyu widened her eyes. “Was our family really so tight on money back then? Buying a piece of fabric and adding it to the dowry only cost a few hundred wen.”

Huo Shu said, “The shopkeeper asked for eight taels of silver for a piece, and my cousin tried to haggle, but a wool merchant bought it at a fixed price.”

“Eight, eight taels?!” Taoyu couldn’t believe it and asked again, “At that time, this patterned satin fabric might have been newer and a bit more expensive, but it certainly wouldn’t have cost more than one or two silver coins. But eight taels is too high, isn’t it?”

Huo Shu shook his head. He didn’t understand much about these fabrics, but because of that incident, he remembered it clearly.

Now that I see this, it is already a different world. He said, “But the shopkeeper didn’t deceive anyone. This fabric is indeed from the south.”

“The north has a shortage of goods, and the clothes and fabrics there are all subpar. But in the southern fabric shops, there is a wide variety of fabrics. A piece of fabric like this in the north wouldn’t fetch such a price, and people would be fighting over it.”

“Do people in the north have so much money?” Taoyu asked incredulously.

Before Huo Shu could answer, a voice interrupted them: “Is this horse for sale? I wonder if you can consider selling it?”

Huo Shu and Taoyu turned to see a chubby man looking at Dah Hei with excitement in his eyes.

Seeing the man persistently asking, Huo Shu’s expression turned cold. “The horse is not for sale.”

Taoyu added, “We’re just here for the temple fair.”

The man persisted, “I can offer one hundred taels. Please consider it.”

Taoyu shook her head.

Seeing them about to leave, the man hurriedly said, “How about this? You name the price, and we can negotiate.”

Seeing that the man was insistent, Huo Shu’s gaze turned even colder. “I said it’s not for sale.”

The man saw Huo Shu’s unfriendly expression and quickly apologised, “Sorry for the trouble, but this horse is really good. If the gentleman has any more good horses in the future, please let me know.”

“I’m Chen Pu from Jiatang Porcelain Workshop in the city.”

Huo Shu nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

As they walked to a quieter area, Huo Shu fell into thought.

Silk and satin from the north could be sold in the south, while horses from the south could fetch a good price in the north. Both sides had what the other lacked. If they were to trade between the north and the south, it could be a profitable business.

Now that he was in Tongzhou, he could choose suitable goods with the help of local acquaintances. On the northern side, he was familiar with the land and people. With a simple calculation, doing some business wouldn’t be a bad idea.