CH 9

Chapter 9 – Trip To The City (2)

Once the children make noise, she tends to forget.

“Aiya!  It’s not nice for me to take them, save them for your children…….”

This little lady indeed treats others with courtesy and honesty.

“I’ve saved up a lot!  They are my food rations.  It’s just that living in the mountains is inconvenient, so I can only feel at ease when I’ve prepared a bit more food.  That is the reason why I don’t want to sell them.”

Accidents are the most feared and being prepared eliminates worries.

“That’s what I was talking about.  The children are still small and you’ve worked hard.  This time the snakes are still alive, so how about we give you the same price as the last time?”

When the shopkeeper saw the good quality herbs in the bamboo basket, he wanted to quickly pay for the snakes first before checking on the quality of the medicinal herbs in the basket.

After they finished the casual talk, they switched to the main topic and Li Jing’er spoke in a business-like manner.

“Alright.  Let me have 5 taels of silver, some copper coins, and the rest in silver ingots.”

“Sure, Madam Li, but it’s not good to carry too much silver on you.  The medicinal herbs you brought are of good quality, so I will give you a price………”

There are indeed many good things in the mountains.

The shopkeeper in the medical hall was about to quote the price for the wild cinnamon, wild ginger, cocklebur, Bupleurum, Cimicifuga, Pinellia, Prunella Vulgaris, Patriniae, and other herbs when a thunderous voice suddenly barged into his ears.

“Shopkeeper, do you have Sanqi*?!  Give me whatever you have!  Send it to Sanhe Guard Base!  Be quick, don’t delay!……….”

(Sanqi is a Chinese medicinal dried root that can help to remove blood stasis, stop bleeding, promote blood circulation and relieve pain.)

The voice was so loud and ear-shattering that it could be heard a long distance away and the children started to cry in fright.

“Military Lord, please lower your voice.  Look, you’ve scared the children.  If you want to buy medicine, just give us the order.  With medicine in our shop, do you think the medical hall won’t sell it to you?”

A good doctor will never ignore or stop treating the sick.  Renxin Medical Hall will never do anything against its conscience.

“Mother, I’m scared!  Thunder!  Wu…….wu…….very scared, go home……. thunder……. scared……wu…….scared…….”

Upon hearing the soft cries of the child, Chen Dasheng, whose face was full of beard, was startled.  His face was dark, so no one noticed his face had turned red but his embarrassed expression was very obvious.  He laughed dryly and scratched his hot ears.  Although he wanted to apologize, he did not know the appropriate words to speak.

He is a soldier, a crude man who only knows to fight and although literate, he had not studied much.  After spending a long time in the military camp that was filled with men, his words had become coarse and harsh to the ears.  Usually, he would talk nonsense with the group of brothers without any restraint.

But he had forgotten that the moment he stepped out of the military camp, he would be facing ordinary folks.  Commoners do not carry knives or spears.  They are well-behaved and work honestly for a living.

As soon as his thunderous voice roared, a few people were frightened and their faces even turned pale.

All the customers who were buying medicine in the medical hall showed terrified expressions and pale faces.

The only exception was probably Li Jing’er who was coaxing her daughter.  As a mother, she was strong and was not afraid of anything.

“Little Sister Yue, don’t be afraid.  Uncle Lei’s voice is loud.  Look, when it’s about to rain, the sky will turn dark.  Then there’ll be flashes of light and the sound from Lei Gong* is telling us to go home quickly.  It’s going to rain heavily…….and it is telling us to hide from the rain………”

(Lei Gong means Thunder.)

“Wu, wu.……isn’t he a bad guy?……..”  Choking on the words, she sniffled and her little shoulders were shaking.

“Of course, he is not a bad guy.  Look at Uncle Lei, he is wearing a military uniform.  He is a heroic warrior from the imperial court and helps us to kill the bad guys.  Only with a loud voice can he scare the bad guys to death.”

Li Jing’er gently wiped the tears on her daughter’s little face and the falling golden beans made people feel heartache for her.  At the same time, she also patted her son’s back to reassure him and then pulled Shuangzhen’s hand to comfort her and to let her know that no one could hurt her with her mother present.

A heroic warrior……..

Because of those words, Chen Dasheng, who was based in the military, was moved to tears.  He had been in the army for many years and had never heard a single word of praise.  He put his life on the line to fight and kill without getting many benefits and only gained the reputation of being a ‘reckless man’.

He was ecstatic that someone could see their sacrifices, risking their lives and shedding blood.  It was not to seek promotion or fortune but to protect their family members who were at the rear.

Chen Dasheng, who is a straightforward man, did not realize that when the Baihu* behind him heard Li Jing’er’s soft voice, his eyes suddenly shone brightly.  He turned sideways and looked at the young woman who was carrying a child in her arms.  His eyes shifted back and forth between the faces of the mother and daughter as if to confirm something.

(Baihu – During the Ming Dynasty, there was a special military secret elite force called the Jinyiwei that was directly under the sole command of the Emperor.  The Jinyiwei was known as the Embroidered Uniform Guards and it was a powerful military force that had the authority to arrest, interrogate and punish anyone including noblemen and members of the royal family. The levels within the Jinyiwei ranged from the seventh to the third and the lowest rank was the seventh.  The Leader and Commander with the highest position in Jinyiwei held the title of a third-rank official in the Imperial Court which was the highest for the force.  A Baihu ranked sixth in the Jinyiwei rankings and held the title of a sixth-rank official in the Imperial Court.  In Jinyiwei, Baihu was considered a mid-rank official with a hundred military households under his control, and each military household had to send one male to be a soldier in the army.)

“Mother, I’m still scared……..”

Little Sister Yue’s meaning was that she was still frightened but she was not referring to the bad guy.  She wrapped her arms around he mother’s neck and refused to let go.

“After getting scared a few times more, you won’t feel scared anymore.  Look how brave your Elder Brother is.  He wants to protect his mother and sisters.”

Courage has to be trained up and one shouldn’t scare oneself upon seeing a shadow.

Elder Brother?

The light in the straight-faced Baihu’s eyes suddenly dimmed.  His eyes turned dark and it was difficult to read.  He glanced at the child clutching his mother’s skirt.

“Yes, Elder Brother is not…….not afraid.  I’m not afraid of you, Uncle Lei……and you mustn’t scare my sister.”

Shuangming, who was so scared that his palms had turned cold, grabbed his mother’s hand and with his other hand, he held on to Shuangzhen.  His small body, which would certainly fall if given a push, was shaking violently but he still stepped forward to show that he wanted to protect the person who was the most important to him.

“My name is not Lei Gong.  My surname is Chen and you can call me Uncle Chen.”

Chen Dasheng tried his best to put on a friendly face but his naturally bad guy face was truly not likable.

When Shuangming saw his big face suddenly moving nearer, he was so frightened that he gripped his mother’s hand tightly and almost cried.

“Uncle…….Chen, you mustn’t scare……..scare people.”

“Alright, I won’t scare people.”

This child is so cute.  The two ancestors of his younger sister cannot even match up to him.

“I’m not afraid of you anymore.”  As soon as he finished speaking, he lifted his small pale face.  “Mother, I’m not afraid of him.  In the future, I’ll protect you.”

“……..And my sisters…….”

It was to establish the concept and existence of love in his family.

He looked at Shuangzhen again.  “Younger Sister, don’t be afraid.  Elder Brother will protect you and I will also protect Little Sister.  I am the man in the family.”

Man in the family?

When she heard this, Li Jing’er almost burst into laughter.

This little guy dares to talk big.  This matter should be discussed this 15 years later.

“Yes!  Elder Brother is good, I like my Elder Brother.”

Shuangzhen, who was crying and hiding behind her mother, stuck out her small head timidly.

“I also like my Younger Sister, my Mother, and my Little Sister.”

The more he spoke, the louder his voice became and it was as if he was no longer afraid of anything.

Uncle Lei Gong……..no, Uncle Chen’s voice is just loud and not scary at all……..Uh, but I still feel a little scared.

“Like……Guo-Guo…….”

As soon as Little Sister Yue, who had joined in the fun, opened her mouth her 8 milk teeth looked very cute.

“It’s Ge-Ge!  Little Sister repeat after me…..Ge-Ge.”

Little Sister is very smart but why can’t she learn to call him Ge-Ge?

“Guo-Guo.”  The little girl, who still had teardrops clinging to her eyelashes, started to giggle.  Feeling it was fun, she got down from her mother’s arms to hold her brother’s hand.  She smiled and her innocent big eyes curved like the crescent moon.

Shuangming looked sad when he could not teach her to speak properly.

“Alright, you can call me Guo-Guo!  But you must remember that I am the only one who can be your Guo-Guo and you can’t acknowledge others randomly.”

“Guo-Guo.”

Little Sister Yue could not understand and kept shouting ‘Guo-guo’ which made all the adults present laugh.  Seeing her cute and lovable appearance made others want to give birth to a daughter as well.

It was especially so for the Baihu standing behind Chen Dasheng.  He nearly stretched out his hands to snatch the little girl over and hug her in his arms but he suppressed the urge and clenched his hands into fists.

Upon a closer look, there seemed to be some similarity between his and Little Sister Yue’s facial features.  He has a small dimple on his left cheek which the little girl also has and when she smiles, everyone also has the urge to smile at the same time.

“Little lady, you’re very fortunate.  Your three children are so well-behaved that everyone likes them.  Why didn’t your husband come along with you?”

It should be quite tiring to bring the three children with her alone.

Chen Dasheng thought of the demon incarnates in his sister’s family.  Other people’s children are obedient and sensible but his nephews only knew to hit dogs, chase after cats and turn the house upside down.

“Dead.”  Li Jing’er replied with one word.

The husband who had a daughter with the original owner of this body was already dead.  She had never seen the child’s father and only remembered the name engraved on the memorial tablet…….

She recalled the tablet was engraved with the characters  – The Memorial Tablet of Xiao……..something.

Uh, actually she can’t remember the name of the Xiao Family’s Second Son.  The Xiao Family always called him Xiao Lao Er* but didn’t mention his name at all.  Perhaps they might have mentioned it before but a long time had passed and she had long forgotten.  As for that man, she truly didn’t know anything about him.

(Xiao Lao Er means Second Son Xiao)

Compared to her indifference, Lord Baihu narrowed his eyes which showed a little pain.  He silently chewed on the word ‘dead’ and the light in his eyes dimmed.

“Ah!  Dead?!”   Did he say something wrong?  Chen Dasheng felt embarrassed.

Upon seeing Chen Dasheng’s reaction, Li Jing’er was very broad-minded.

“Anyway, I’m not familiar with him.  If he is dead, he is dead.  The dead can’t come back to life.”

But if the dead can come back to life, wouldn’t he be the only one?

“Not familiar?”  The words were……..heartbreaking.

Chen Dasheng showed an awkward smile and looked at her children.

She already had three children but still insisted that she was not familiar with her husband.  How many more children does she need to give birth to before he is considered familiar?  It is indeed pitiful to be her husband.

Li Jing’er did not intend to explain and just let him misunderstand.  It was not necessary to tell outsiders that her children were picked up which could hurt the children’s feelings.

“Since you have something to discuss with the shopkeeper, I won’t disturb you.  I’ll come back later when you’re done talking……”

“Madam Li, please wait!  We’ll take all the herbs that you have.  Do you agree with this amount?”

Afraid that she would sell the good quality medicinal herbs to the other medical halls, the shopkeeper hurriedly called out to her and showed a hand gesture that was used in making business deals.