Chapter Seventy-Four: Tranquil Flow and Serene Abode

  Today's first update is late, sorry about that. I've been busy these past few days, so it's a bit delayed. Sorry to Xuan.

  Dazed by the wind, she was stunned on the spot. Her appearance remained the same, but her voice had changed a lot, becoming much coarser and no longer as delicate as before. The most crucial thing was that the previous quiet and gentle girl had turned into a boy in men's clothing?

  Before he could react and speak, Jingliu hastily said: "Fourth Brother, this is not a place for conversation, please go inside." As he spoke, he made a welcoming gesture. The two warriors following behind him quietly walked to the door and pushed it open completely.

  The doubts in his heart had never been as intense as they were now, to the point where he wanted to ask everything. His memories were crystal clear, Jing Liu was a young girl about the same age as him.

  But why did it become a man when it came to Mr. Takahashi's mouth? He thought that Mr. Takahashi was mistaken, or for some other reason, but today he came over and saw with his own eyes that Shizuru was dressed in men's clothing, which was quite different from what she wore on Mount Tai before. Why did she dress like this, is it just a temporary interest or is there another reason?

  As soon as I entered, a refreshing fragrance wafted up to my nose. The cold winter of the twelfth lunar month had already passed, and if it were in Central Plains, the season of blooming flowers would have arrived. For some reason, the climate here in Japan is later than that of Central Plains by about a month, and it's only in March that I get a hint of early spring.

  In the courtyard, various flowers and plants are planted. On both sides of the path are two rows of cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms were originally from Tibet, only found on the snowy mountains in southern Tibet, but later spread to Japan through Dali and Central China.

  Soft and delicate, pale pink petals, occasionally visible are bees flitting about in the flower clusters. The pink petals wrapped around a light yellow stamen, like a spirit snake spitting out apricot kernels, lively and lovely. A gentle breeze blows by, the branches tremble, and scattered red snowflakes fall.

  Under the tree, a soft voice said: "Wind brother, how have you been since we parted ways at Mount Tai?" This sentence was spoken in standard Mandarin.

  Her heart was shaken by the wind, and her eyes almost sparkled with light. The tone of this sentence is exactly like Jing Liu's sister back then.

  Seeing the wind not speaking, the quiet stream said softly: "Wind brother, now I am the young master of the Fujiwara family, don't make a mistake."

  Now, in her heart, she somewhat understood, but didn't know why this beautiful and lively little girl would dress up as a man.

  As the wind nodded slightly, Sei also put down his heart and changed to speaking in Japanese, his tone becoming much coarser, like a young man. "Sui big brother, you guys came at just the right time, our family has just prepared dinner. Why don't you all come join us, we can talk about whatever on the dinner table."

  There must be some hidden reason for Jing Liu's change in behavior before and after, but every time she saw her slightly raised mouth corner, she always felt that what was behind it wasn't happiness.

  After that, Ah Niu was led to a separate room by the Fujiwara family's servant, because the dinner table was filled with high-ranking members of the Fujiwara family, and Ah Niu's identity was not suitable for appearing. Apparently he himself also knew this point, and didn't have any resentment.

  As soon as she entered the main hall of the Fujiwara family, Shizuru put away the faint smile that had been hanging at the corner of her mouth, and her expression also became somewhat solemn. The entire main hall was extremely large, with many Japanese screens arranged on both sides, although they were painted with flowers, birds, fish, and insects, but still quite different from the style of the Central Plains.

  However, the overall layout and arrangement are all inherited from the Tang method. As soon as I saw these, my heart was slightly pained. The large hall of the Su family in Yangzhou back then was also about this size, with a table and chair that were very similar.

  "Come, this way." The soft voice broke into San Jia's gradually drifting thoughts.

  She followed her from the side door of the main hall into the dining hall, which was not very large. As soon as they entered, there was a screen door. Before she could see clearly, two voices laughed loudly and said: "Shuang Shaoxia, we meet again."

  Startled by the wind, Fujiwara Kōji recognized him, but who was the other person? Only after leaving the screen could he see clearly that there were only five seats at this dinner table and four people had already sat down. Indeed, two of them were familiar to him: one was Fujiwara no Kōji from the Fujiwara family, and the other was surprisingly Takahashi Nokaze.

  He never thought that Mr. Takahashi was a member of the Fujiwara family.

  Seeing the surprised expression on Sui's face, Mr. Takahashi burst into another fit of laughter, "How about it, didn't you think I'd be a staff member of the Fujiwara family? Actually, I had already heard about you from Mr. Hakugen's letter when we were on the boat, and after getting off the boat, I guessed that you would come here, and unexpectedly, you really did."

  Mr. Bo Er couldn't help but laugh and said: "Mr. Sui, it turns out you're a guest. Whatever your purpose, let's sit down and talk about it first. I'll introduce you."

  Mr. Hakuo said so, and Kazefumi suddenly realized that the remaining two people were the master of the Fujiwara family, the current Kampaku-sama of Fusang, and the other was the son of Takahashi no Fuyu - Takahashi no Katsuo.

  "Along with Mr. So, the one who brought you in is the only son of the Fujiwara family, Fujiwara Yasutomo, I suppose you've already met him before. No need for me to introduce him further, right?" Mr. Hakuo smiled slightly and winked at Kazefuku while saying this.

  A sudden chill in my heart, and I understand even more clearly that there must be a deeper meaning behind this.

  However, what he didn't expect was that when Bo Er introduced Jing Liu, Takahashi Kazuo revealed a hint of malice and gloom, which made Feng Wu look puzzled. He had only met him for the first time today, so why did he have such hatred towards himself without any reason?

  "Gentlemen, I'm sure you've all heard by now. As a native of the Central Plains, I found myself in trouble on the rivers and lakes, and after a series of unfortunate events, I was seriously injured. Luckily, I was rescued by Mr. Takahashi, which is why I've ended up here in Japan. However, being unfamiliar with this land, it's difficult for me to make ends meet. That's why I've come to the Fujiwara household today, hoping to find a place to settle down." With that, he bowed slightly and greeted everyone at the dinner table with a calm demeanor.

  Mr. Hakone burst out laughing, looked at Mr. Takahashi and said: "I had heard from my younger brother that he met a young hero in China. I wanted to invite him back to Fusang as a guest, but unfortunately, the person left without saying goodbye. Later, Mr. Takahashi also said that he saved a young hero on the boat, but couldn't invite him back either. Unexpectedly, we still meet here today, and it's hard not to say that it's the will of heaven."

  Smiling on the surface, but full of doubts in her heart, what profound meaning did Bo Yi's words have?

  He hadn't thought it through yet, when he heard Bo say: "Since the gentleman thinks highly of my humble abode and wants to stay here as a guest, then that's perfectly fine. Although my house is not big, if the gentleman has any requests, I will definitely do my best to satisfy them. In the mansion, the gentleman can feel free to do as he pleases, no need to explain anything to us." After saying half of it, he paused again and continued: "Now that everything has been said, the gentleman is considered one of our own people. I suppose the gentleman must be very puzzled, why Jingliu Hui is a young master, but not the young lady the gentleman saw before?"

  Suddenly stunned, he didn't expect Bo Yi to bring it up voluntarily. But since he said so, Feng had no choice but to nod in agreement, indicating that he knew.

  When the host mentioned himself, Jing Liu's face turned slightly red, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at Su Feng.

  Fujiwara no Tadazane's expression changed, and he was no longer as relaxed as before. "I suppose you also know, sir, that the position of Kampaku has always been held by my Fujiwara family. However, heaven did not bless my Fujiwara family, and in my generation, I didn't have a single male heir. My wife gave birth to a child easily, but it was still a girl, and that's Shizuka. Without a male heir, there would be no one to inherit the position of Kampaku. If the position of Kampaku were not ours, who knows how many enemies our Fujiwara family would face...

  So you're saying that's why you claim Jingliu is a man to outsiders?

  Bo's eyes were somewhat dim, filled with helplessness and emotion. He nodded heavily, "We had no choice but to change her name from Jing Liu to Jing Liu. From a young age, we raised her as a boy, referring to her as Young Master Jing Liu outside the family. And so, this secret has been kept until now."

  Suī fēng xīn li hěn bù shì zī wèi, ruò shì kě yǐ xuǎn zé, tā dào nìng yuàn yǒng yuǎn yě bù zhī zhè ge mì mì. Jìng liú zhè bān nián lí yào miàn duì de yā lì kě xiǎng ér zhī, kuàng qiě zhè zhǐ guò cháng cháng kāi shǐ, suí zhe tā nián lí de yī diǎn diǎn zēng zhǎng, jì rú shì jìng liú gōng zǐ zǒng yào jià qī shēng zǐ ba, zhè yòu gāi rú hé jiě jué ne?

  Suī fēng hěn shì zhī qù, zhī dào jiē xià lái nà xiē wèn tí cái shì zhēn zhèng guān jiàn suǒ zài, kǒng pà hái qiān yòu dào jiā zú xǔ duō hé xīn de jī mì, shì yǐ méi yǒu zài wèn.

  "Just lightly said: 'Please rest assured, master, this matter will definitely be buried in the belly of the wind, and it will not be mentioned to anyone else.' Although he said so, the wind also knew that this was just a move to win people's hearts."

  Mr. Bo smiled brightly, stroking his mustache, and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, from now on we are considered one family, these things naturally have the right to know. In the future, young master will live in the Fujiwara house, there is no requirement, just need to clean up the villains who want to harm the Fujiwara at the necessary time. I wonder what kind of weapon you usually use?"

  Although he already had the pure sword in his hand, as a person under someone's roof, he still had to be low-key and said: "Returning home, I usually use ordinary swords."

  Mr. Bo nodded and smiled, "Well, it's a coincidence, there is a precious sword that has been idle in the house, since you're here, of course, the sword should go to the hero." After finishing speaking, he clapped his hands three times.

  Before long, a servant emerged from behind the screen with a three-foot-long sword in his hand and walked up to Suifeng.

  "What does this mean?" Although she had already guessed Bao Yi's intention with the wind, she still pretended to be surprised for a while.

  "Heh heh, take a look at this sword, is it suitable for you?" Bo Yi smiled slightly.

  With a slight hesitation, Qingjian Sword still couldn't let the Fujiwara family know, so he took over the long sword from the attendant's hand. A clear sword hum, a faint sky blue sword light flashed in the dining hall, and Feng had already drawn his sword.

  After arriving in Fusang, Suifeng soon discovered that the people of Fusang often used long knives and rarely saw swords. However, this sword was indeed a standard double-edged sword, no different from those found in the Central Plains. The sword's body resembled clouds, with waves rolling along its edges, its deep blue color like ink, its sharp tip reaching for the sky, its hilt small yet exquisite, with three Chinese characters engraved on it: "Tian Yun". Could this be the legendary divine artifact of Fusang? Suifeng secretly marveled at the sword's extraordinary qualities, fearing that even the famous Water Dragon Humming Sword of the Murong family might pale in comparison.

  Bo Yi smiled faintly and said somewhat profoundly: "Although this sword is not the genuine Tiancui Yunjian, it is also a rare divine sword in Fusang."