Chapter 29: Late Night Chat

“I remember that I often had nightmares back then, and my senior sister would hug me, comfort me, and tell me many stories about great heroes…”

Zhao Qin was also brought back to her memories. “You often woke up crying, and you refused to tell me what you dreamed about. Every time, I had to tell you that a great hero would protect you in your dreams before you could go back to sleep.”

Shen Fu turned over, looked at Zhao Qin, and said, “Senior Sister, do you know? In fact, it wasn’t just because you told me the story of the great hero that I could sleep; it was because you were by my side that I wasn’t afraid.”

“So you come to sleep next to me every night. Do you think of me as your guardian angel?” Zhao Qin pretended to be angry.

“Yes, Senior Sister is my protector.” Shen Fu leaned her head on Zhao Qin’s shoulder, feeling the familiar warmth. She smiled and added, “Senior Sister protected me before; now it’s my turn to protect you.”

Zhao Qin understood that Shen Fu was referring to the matter of everything going smoothly.

Shen Fu’s words made her feel happy that her junior sister had grown up, but also a sense of loss that she couldn’t quite explain.

“Who needs your protection? I’m still a little girl; who can I protect? Just protect yourself.”

Shen Fu had done well this time.

If she and Chu Baige had not risked their lives to find Shun Xin Ruyi’s base and discovered that valley, it was hard to imagine the impact and damage such large-scale poppy cultivation would have caused to the State of Zhao.

But Zhao Qin was essentially a rather selfish person.

She supported her younger brother and targeted the aristocratic families. Rather than doing it for the sake of the common people, she did it because she didn’t want to be a puppet in the hands of the aristocratic families and wanted to have real freedom. “For the sake of the world” sounded too grand and glorious. Zhao Qin claimed she was not worthy of such words. At most, she happened to accomplish certain things while achieving her goals.

Compared to the rise and fall of empires, other things were insignificant.

This was the child she had raised, the product of her decades of love and affection. She could not allow her to be damaged in the slightest, nor could she allow others to tarnish her. From beginning to end, this person must be hers.

So even though she felt pleased in her heart, she still had to say harsh words.

How could Shen Fu not know what her senior sister meant?

“I know that Senior Sister loves me, spoils me, and protects me. From childhood to adulthood, Senior Sister is the one who loves me the most. She is also the one who feels the saddest every time I get hurt. But Senior Sister, A Fu has grown up. A Fu is an adult now…”

“So when you grow up, you can stop listening to your senior sister?”

“If I listen to my senior sister, when will I be able to climb into her bed…”

Shen Fu muttered something, and Zhao Qin blushed instantly.

She continued as if she hadn’t heard anything. “I didn’t disobey you; I just wanted to tell you that I’m capable of protecting myself and I can protect you. You can’t always treat me like a child. I know you want me to stay in the mountains, accept the protection of the Embroidered Spring Blade, and not get involved in anything. But I can’t do that. I can’t just stand by and watch coldly when I know you’re facing so many difficulties and obstacles. And I’m afraid…”

“What are you afraid of?”

Zhao Qin couldn’t understand why Shen Fu was so afraid.

“I’m afraid… the senior sister on Immortal Mountain is my senior sister, but the senior sister who leaves the mountain is the eldest princess of Zhao State, the emperor’s sister. There are so many young talents looking up to you and admiring you. I am unique on the mountain, but what about below the mountain? I am so afraid that one day you will forget me, forget that there is a little junior sister on Immortal Mountain…

“What I’m more afraid of is that if I hadn’t faced those difficulties with you and stepped over those thorns together, I would have remained the innocent and ignorant little junior sister on Immortal Mountain. You would have loved me when you were a teenager, and you would have liked me when you were in your twenties, but as you grow older, there will be more people around you who are more innocent and more beautiful than me. What should I do…”

She couldn’t be the canary in the cage, waiting for the master’s teasing.

If she couldn’t fly out of the cage, she would never gain true freedom.

This freedom not only referred to physical freedom but also included her love.

To be honest, Zhao Qin hadn’t thought about it that much.

Shen Fu’s words made her heart ache. She had never considered that her Ah Fu had thought so deeply when she couldn’t see her. More importantly, what Shen Fu said… was not completely unreasonable.

People change.

No one dares to make up their mind to remain unchanged.

If two people are separated for one or two years, perhaps the changes are still within an acceptable range.

What if it’s three years or five years?

From the time they went down the mountain to the time Shen Fu found her in the princess’s mansion, the two had only been separated for a little over a year or two.

If Shen Fu hadn’t taken the initiative to approach her, Zhao Qin would have actually had some idea of how to face her.

She had changed so much.

People in the court were all cursing, saying that Xiuchundao was a group of royal lackeys, running dogs, and executioners.

How clean can the person holding this knife be? What is the best way to intimidate? It’s not about gathering one group to beat another, but about killing them.

She had killed so many that their heads rolled, instilling panic, fear, and awe in others. She made people look down on her while daring not to provoke her.

Those who feared her called her a lunatic to her face and behind her back, comparing her to a butcher, a femme fatale, and a vicious woman.

Many times, when Zhao Qin closed her eyes, she could smell the blood in her nostrils, and the echoes of screams filled her ears.

To put it bluntly, she was also human. Before she took up the sharp weapon known as the Embroidered Spring Knife, she had been just a clever little girl.

She could sit there and watch prisoners being tortured without changing her expression, not because she was cruel and cold-blooded by nature, but because she had learned to suppress her emotions in front of outsiders. Even when the feeling of nausea rose in her throat, she forced herself to suppress it and pretended nothing had happened.

She wouldn’t allow anyone to serve her closely, nor would she permit anyone to be by her side while she slept. It wasn’t because she liked to do everything herself, but because she feared that a close maid would hear her scream when she woke from a nightmare in the middle of the night, see the fear on her face, and the cold sweat on her forehead.

Over the years, did Zhao Qin dare to say that what she had done was absolutely just?

She didn’t dare.

Eliminating dissidents was never a just process.

In politics, correctness is always relative, not absolute.

Her hands were already stained with blood, but what about Shen Fu?

Whenever Zhao Qin thought of Shen Fu’s innocent smile, she felt unworthy of her.

During the two most turbulent years, Zhao Qin’s only comfort was the letters sent by Shen Fu from Shenxian Mountain.

She often sat in the study and read all night long. The two days before the letter arrived were when her temper was the worst, and the two days after the letter arrived were when her temper was the best.

At that time, she often wondered what kind of husband she should find for Shen Fu.

It wouldn’t be good to have a family background that was too high, especially from aristocratic families. The rules were strict, and women had a low status. Family rules were more important than national laws, not to mention her majesty as the eldest princess. If Shen Fu married into an aristocratic family, she would easily be wronged. The key was that if she was bullied, Zhao Qin wouldn’t be able to help her.

People with low family backgrounds weren’t good either. Even if they were educated, they often lacked upbringing, especially those with parents at home. Nine out of ten were foolishly filial, either placing too much importance on money or disregarding it entirely. Shen Fu had been raised in a pampered manner by Zhao Qin, and she could not hand her over to such a person.

Zhao Qin picked and chose among all the young men in the capital but couldn’t find one worthy of Shen Fu.

Zhao Qin was annoyed by the provocation.

At that time, she didn’t realize that the feeling she had toward Shen Fu was called possessiveness.

It was called…

Like.

The once pure and innocent relationship had already deteriorated during the days and nights spent together.

Zhao Qin didn’t know what to say to comfort Shen Fu.

She could only gently touch her hair and say, “Afu, you are fine.”

“Better than anyone else in the world.”

She was the bad person.

Shen Fu laughed at her words and seemed very happy.

“Senior Sister.”

“Um?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Without waiting for Zhao Qin to refuse, Shen Fu turned over and pressed against her.

Zhao Qin closed her eyes, feeling Shen Fu’s face approaching, her breath spraying on the tip of her nose, blending with her own. Finally, something soft pressed gently against her lips.

This was the second kiss between them.

The first kiss had been so anxious, so unexpected, with a bit of punishment and a bit of questioning.

That kiss had been painful, stained with blood and tears.

This kiss was extremely gentle.

The tips of their tongues gently intertwined, their breaths mingling.

The two soft hearts seemed to be tightly connected, each feeling the cherishment and affection of the other.

Flowers have fragrance, and the moon has shadow…

In the swing courtyard, the night was dark.

…

Song Jiuzhen was a doctor.

In martial arts novels, miracle doctors usually have their own quirks.

What are the three things you cannot save? What is saving one person and killing another?

In short, it seems that if you don’t have a quirk, you’d be embarrassed to call yourself a miracle doctor.

Therefore, Song Jiuzhen often said that he was not a miracle doctor, but just a fairly good doctor who had learned from his master.

An ordinary, mediocre doctor who knew a little about acupuncture.

He traveled around all year round, staying in one place for a few months and then moving on to the next.

During his stay, he either treated patients or taught students.

Other doctors, when teaching students, always emphasized family traditions or tricks up their sleeves, but he was different. He wanted to cram everything he knew into his students’ minds in just a few months, like a cramming machine. He hoped that everyone could become a miracle doctor, that everyone could cure diseases, and even better, that there would be no disease in the world.

If someone had a serious illness, they just had to write him a letter. If he had no other patients, he would rush over even if he was thousands of miles away. The reward he asked for was mostly free diagnosis and treatment and free medicines for half a month at the local clinic.

Early the next morning, someone told Shen Fu that a man had come outside claiming to be a doctor named Song Jiuzhen.

“Fan You’s disease can be cured!”