Chapter 14 Fasting (1)

  In the afternoon, Zhao Chu bathed and changed into a plain white robe, moving into the Taoist temple. He planned to fast for three days to pray for blessings for the Emperor. People often say that if you don't want others to forget about you, then you mustn't forget about them either. To make the Emperor remember that he had a son far away in the countryside, he would have to think of ways to remind him, perhaps when the Emperor was in a good mood, he might allow him to return to the capital. He certainly didn't want to spend his whole life stuck in this rural area.

  The Taoist temple had been cleaned, but with no one living there for a while, it felt unusually quiet and lacked vitality. In the hall, Zhao Chu placed three plates of pastries and three plates of fruit on the offering table, lit two red candles as thick as his arm in front of the statue of Zhenwu Emperor, took over the incense stick from Xian Xi who had lit it with a candle, knelt down on the prayer mat and bowed twice with "piety", inserted the incense stick into the incense burner in front of the offering table, and that was it for the ritual. Changing the incense sticks later would be the job of the two little yellow doors who came together.

  The master's living quarters were in the east wing of the temple, which was not very large. The main hall was just a suite, with an outer room where Qingyun received guests and read books, and an inner room for sleeping. Now it had become Zhao Che's temporary residence. On the wall hung a painting of Laozi riding an ox out of the pass, and on the floor were soft mats that looked like Japanese tatami mats. A long, low table held writing brushes, paper, inkstone, and incense burner with sandalwood incense burning inside, emitting a faint fragrance that involuntarily refreshed one's spirit.

  "Are these things all used by that old guy Qingyun?" Zhao Ye took off his shoes and sat on the soft couch, lazily half-reclining and said. There were two braziers lit in the room, both using high-quality silver charcoal, without any smoke, making the room warm and cozy, not feeling cold at all.

  "Second Master, yes!" The charcoal stove on the low table was boiling water. Xi gave Zhao a cup of tea and said, "Qingyun that guy was so scared, he didn't bring anything except for the clothes on his body when he ran away!"

  "You didn't even bring any money?"

  "Damn it, I've been searching for half a day and can't find a single copper coin. It seems they all took them away." Xian couldn't help but blurt out a curse, but quickly reacted to the teasing smile on Wang Ye's face and hastily explained: "Second Master, this time I really didn't secretly hide it, he indeed took all the silver away!"

  "All right, you scared me. I was just casually saying that, he's only mixing with the officials in the government to get by, and still has to refine his alchemy skills. We give him some money, but not much is left!" Zhao Ke said, kicking Xian Xi lightly.

  "Second Master, you scared Xiao half to death!" Xian Chang let out a sigh and said. Ever since Zhao Yi exposed his corruption, he had been afraid of being held accountable. Now that he had finally secured his position, he didn't want to go back to sweeping floors and cleaning toilets again.

  "Hehe, I quite like the way you scold people, this is what a man should be like!" Zhao Yan said with a smile, scratching the soles of Jian Xi's feet.

  "Second Master, don't make fun of me," Jian Xi said with a gloomy face. He had entered the palace since he was a child and didn't have any experience, so he was most afraid of others bringing up this topic.

  "Sorry, I didn't mean it!" Zhao said, immediately regretting his words. He knew he had misspoken - wasn't this like calling someone short in front of a dwarf?

  Jian Xi was taken aback, they were just flattering their master to make him happy, let alone tease him a couple of times, even if he beat him to death, no one would apologize for him. "Second Master" had red eyes, and the usually eloquent him didn't know what to say, but in his heart, he was delighted, which meant that Wang Ye treated him as a person, not just a disposable servant.

  "Jian Xi, how should we write the congratulatory memorial to be presented to the Emperor?" Zhao Yi sat up straight, picked up his tea cup and took a sip before speaking.

  "Second Master, aren't you making things difficult for me? I don't even know a basketful of characters, how can I possibly write a congratulatory tablet?" Xixi said with a face that looked more dead than his father's.

  "What can we do? I don't know how to write, and neither do you!" Zhao Che said in a low voice, tapping his fingers on the small table. "That gentleman should be able to write, but damn it, he's run away! We can't just find anyone to write it for us, that would be disrespectful to the Emperor!" He was really at a loss, and making himself write a formal congratulatory message in classical Chinese was like asking him to hang himself. Of course, he couldn't do it even if he wanted to, and Zhao Che racked his brains trying to think of anything from his elementary school days to university, but it seemed that when the time came to use it, he had learned too little. He couldn't even recall a single piece to copy from memory.

  Jian Xi quietly poured water for the king, then retreated to one side. If it weren't for the king's fingers moving, he would have thought the king was already asleep. Jian Xi had seen Huang Jing before when he was deep in thought, but couldn't understand why a child would also put on such a solemn expression.

  "Got it!" Zhao suddenly sat up straight and said, "Xian Xi, prepare the pen and ink, I'm going to start writing the congratulatory memorial!" Upon hearing the king's order, Xian Xi hastily summoned a small eunuch to fetch things from the warehouse. The paper used for writing memorials to the emperor was specially made, which Qingyun didn't have.

  The sky had already darkened, and more than a dozen lanterns had been lit in the courtyard. Xianji let out a breath, rubbed his ears, and thought that Wangye had written congratulatory notes for an entire afternoon, but he hadn't eaten dinner yet, nor was he allowed to go inside and disturb him. He himself was afraid of being summoned by Wangye, so he didn't dare to wander off either, and could only stand there in the cold!

  "Come on in!" The shout finally came from inside the house. Jian Xi hastily picked up the food box and entered the house.

  "Finally finished writing, it's more tiring than doing squats!" Zhao Yan stood up, stretched his waist and complained non-stop.

  "Your Highness must be tired and hungry?" Jian Xi hastily added charcoal to the almost extinguished brazier, took down the lampshade and replaced it with a new candle.

  "You seal up the congratulatory tablecloth and send it off early tomorrow!" Zhao Ye opened the food box, took a piece of pastry and said with his mouth full.

  "Yes, Your Highness, please wash your hands before eating!" Jian Xi put the memorial written by Zhao Che into a small box, picked up a piece of fire lacquer and melted it in the brazier to stick it on the box, and quickly stamped the seal while it was still hot. The king had already started eating and hastily said.

  "It doesn't matter if it's dirty or clean, eating it won't make you sick, and starving is even worse!" Zhao Yan stuffed all the pastries into his mouth, then washed his hands in the basin.

  Zhao Zhe washed his hands and saw Xi had already tidied up the low table, arranging the dishes from the food box one by one. "Xi, aren't you a vegetarian? How come there's fish and meat?" he said, pointing at the dishes on the table.

  "Second Master, this time the chef's skills are not bad. He learned from Xiangguo Temple and made some delicious dishes. This is fake steamed lamb, three fresh dishes with real chicken, yuan fish, and also some side dishes like fake roasted duck, rice crackers with sheep's milk, pan-fried fake black fish. The rice is made of three fresh ingredients, and there are a few small desserts. They sound greasy but are actually all vegetarian!" Xianyi reported the names of the dishes one by one.

  "Never mind, whether it's meat or vegetarian, let's eat first!" Zhao picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. "Xian Xi, you haven't eaten either, have you?" He looked up to see Xian Xi swallowing hard, realizing that he must not have had dinner yet either.

  "Second Master, I'll serve you first before eating!" Xi laughed and said.

  "Sit down and let's eat together! There are so many dishes, I alone can't finish them all!" Zhao Yan said, pointing to the space beside him.

  "Second Master, I'm just a servant, how dare I eat with the master? You go ahead and eat first, I'm not hungry!" Xi said nervously.

  "Nonsense, there's no one else here. You've been busy all day and must be starving!" Zhao Yan dragged Jian Xi down to sit, handing him a pair of chopsticks.

  "Grandfather!" Seeing Xi called out and suddenly got up on his knees, when he lifted his head, his face was already streaming with tears.

  "Jian Xi, what's wrong with you? Hurry up and get up!" Zhao Che was startled. He didn't expect Jian Xi to be like this. He quickly put down his chopsticks and pulled him up, sitting next to him. "Jian Xi, since I left the palace, every day it's only been you accompanying me. On the day we encountered the assassin, although you were scared to death, you still blocked in front of me. I regard you as family, as my brother!"

  "Second Master, you really treat me as your brother?"

  "Of course, don't you consider me as your brother?"

  "I've long lost my loved ones! Second Master is willing to treat me as a family member, Xian Xi" Xian Xi also gave Zhao Chu a bow. His parents had died early and he was left alone, his only uncle being greedy for a few taels of silver, found someone to castrate him and sent him to the palace. He had long given up hope on familial love, Zhao Chu's words deeply moved his long dormant heart.

  "Alright, if you cry again, the house will be flooded and we won't even need to eat dinner!" Zhao Yan wiped away his tears with her sleeve and handed him a bowl of noodles, teasingly saying.

  The two of them were hungry and finished their meal quickly. After clearing the table, Jian Xi poured a cup of tea for Zhao Yi and sat down beside him, asking, "Second Master, I heard that on that day, after two thunderclaps, the assassin died. Is it true that you released a heavenly thunderbolt like a deity?" This question had been hidden in his heart for a long time.

  "Haha, I wish I had that skill, the thing that killed the assassin you've actually seen!" Zhao Che said with a smile.

  "I've seen it before, but I don't know!" Xian Xi thought for a moment, couldn't think of anything, and shook her head in confusion.

  "It's this one!" Zhao Zhe took out a revolver from his pocket and put it on the low table.

  "What's this?!" Jian Xi stretched out her hand to touch it, then quickly withdrew it, looking frightened.

  "Don't worry, these things were all found by you helping me, and once installed together, they're unrecognizable?"

  "Oh, I was wondering why it looked so familiar. So this is what Second Master asked me to do! But how can something so small be so powerful?" Jian Xi said carefully, still not daring to touch it, and rubbed his head.

  "Come on, you'll know once you try!" Zhao Ke made a demonstration of holding the gun and handed it to Jian Xi, helping him pull back the hammer and aiming the muzzle at the copper incense burner under the portrait, gesturing for him to pull the trigger.

  With a loud "crack", the room was filled with smoke, and Jian Xi, startled, closed his eyes. His hand shook and the gun fell to the ground with a "clatter". After a while, he opened his eyes again. "Go!" Zhao Chu smiled and pointed at the incense burner that had fallen to the ground. Jian Xi walked over to pick it up, only to find that there was now a thumb-sized hole in it.

  "Wow, it's so tough! Not even human bones are this hard!" Xiqi exclaimed, sticking out her tongue in amazement.

  "Look at this, it's a lifesaver, and it's also a secret between the two of us. Without my permission, don't tell anyone, including Officer Huang!" Zhao said as he picked up the gun.

  "Second Master, rest assured that I will not reveal it to anyone!" Xian Xi nodded vigorously and said in his heart, "Since the king trusts me so much, even if I were beaten to death, I would not reveal the secret. But he was a bit curious how the king could think of making such a weapon, and he was still just a child, but he didn't dare ask."