Song of Silent Promise

16. Deciding On A Path (1)

Fu Chun spent the next morning helping Xu Yejing pack, piling up clothes, sanitary items, and other kinds of necessities a noble clan's daughter might ever need for travel.

The pile of items on the table caused Xu Yejing to balk, "Chun-jie... . You really don't have to pack that much." Xu Yejing looked at a prescribed medicine packs amongst the pile, containing herbs to alleviate women's monthly cycle discomfort, "Even without most of them, I can endure a bit of discomfort." Her courtyard back at Xu Bijie's house was sparse and she did not have any other assigned maids apart from Fu Chun. Unlike Xu Bijie's other daughters, she had been taught by Fu Yan and Fu Chun to be not as delicate.

Fu Chun glanced at her and returned to the task at hand, sighing, "You can endure a bit of discomfort. Someone else can't!"

"Uh, what do you mean, Chun-jie?"

Fu Chun pretended she had not heard anything, "I like your voice. It's different, isn't it? Although with the jade I could understand your thoughts just fine, hearing your voice is something else altogether." She patted Xu Yejing's head, causing the latter to giggle.

Although Xu Yejing had blood related sisters from the same father, Fu Chun was the closest older sister figure she had. Thus, she let Fu Chun busy herself, understanding the female cultivator was doing all this for Xu Yejing's future travel comfort in mind.

Xu Yejing wanted to return to the Xu clan's estate to retrieve some herbs she had in her courtyard. After previously seeing the medicine packs Fu Chun had prepared, Xu Yejing was reminded of her own apothecary garden. Remembering Fu Yan was sometimes weak to cold weather, there were some herbs she could use to look after him in her capability.

Fu Chun was busy and she could not find Fu Yan to escort her, but she soon found Pan Lang, He Zhanyi, and Qin Zhe discussing some matters. Pan Lang's and He Zhanyi's punishment to be hung upside down from the tree while reciting the Flaming Cauldron Sect's book of conduct had finally finished shortly after dawn.

Qin Zhe gave Xu Yejing a smile as soon as he saw her. Xu Yejing nodded back, returning the cordiality.

"Why are you by yourself?" Qin Zhe asked, "Where is Miss Fu Chun?"

Xu Yejing replied truthfully, "She is packing. You can find her at the east quarter. She should still be around."

Qin Zhe's feelings towards Fu Chun was probably visible to everyone else apart from the person herself. Pan Lang teased, "Young Master Qin, a mortal's life is fleeting, you must cherish this time and paint this mundane life with some colorful flowers."

He Zhanyi, however, was less enthusiastic, "Lang-shidi, when you're confident you can beat Fu-shijie in a fight, then perhaps you can tease her all you want." Addressing Pan Lang by his little name and Fu Chun by her surname indicated Pan Lang's and He Zhanyi's closer relationship, "And what gives you the impression of Fu-shijie being a colorful flower?"

Qin Zhe decided to ignore the two men, "What do you need, Yejing?"

"I want to fetch some things from the Xu clan's estate. Chun-jie is busy and I can't find Yan-xiong everywhere... ."

Qin Zhe smiled, "I can ask for some of my family guards to escort you there." He pretended to not notice Xu Yejing's choice of words; 'the Xu clan's estate', not 'home'.

Pan Lang offered, "I can escort you along as well," he turned to He Zhanyi, "Zhanyi-xiong, please tell Fu-shijie I'm taking our shimei to her paternal home." He Zhanyi groaned in response, not hiding his lack of enthusiasm in becoming a news bearer for Fu Chun.