As they spoke, Wen Qingci and his father finished gathering the firewood and walked in.
The man walking beside Wen Qingci appeared to be about the same age as the current Emperor.
But his demeanor was both scholarly and simple, completely opposite to the one in Taishu Palace.
He smiled and nodded, greeting Xie Bufeng, this “friend.”
Then he sat at the table, rubbed Wen Qingluo’s head and said to her: “Remember to wear new clothes when you go to Songxiu Prefecture.”
Wen Qingluo wasn’t very interested in medicine, but she liked to follow her father to plant and gather herbs, often getting her clothes stained with dirt.
“I definitely will!” Wen Qingluo said with a smile. “Brother brought new clothes for all of us when he came back.”
Wen Qingci’s mother also smiled: “Yes, they’re beautiful. Let’s try them on after dinner.”
Xie Bufeng never knew that the common people of Wei would dress up carefully just to see the royal family.
He couldn’t help saying: “What’s so special about people from the palace…”
After speaking, Xie Bufeng realized his words were somewhat inappropriate.
However, Wen Qingluo didn’t get angry as Xie Bufeng had expected.
“Oh, I heard my brother say that His Majesty is about the same age as Father. So the princes must be at the most handsome age, just like my brother. Don’t you want to see what those princes look like, Brother Su?”
Song Junran said while eating: “I bet they’re not as handsome as your brother.”
Xie Bufeng paused for a moment, then suddenly said: “I’ve heard… that the Crown Prince in Taishu Palace is a monster. What’s there to see in a monster?”
“Ah…” Wen Qingluo blinked in confusion. She seemed to have never thought about this question, or perhaps didn’t understand what the word “monster” meant.
But the atmosphere at the dinner table became awkward for a moment because of Xie Bufeng’s words.
‘How can Qingci’s friend be so tactless?’
Song Junran’s voice came to Xie Bufeng’s ears.
Meanwhile, Wen Qingci, sitting to the side, suddenly put down his chopsticks and looked at Xie Bufeng seriously.
“There is such a rumor.”
After speaking, Wen Qingci’s expression became extremely solemn.
“It’s said that the Crown Prince has no sense of pain, born different from ordinary people,” he paused, then continued, “but what does that prove?”
Xie Bufeng was stunned, staring at Wen Qingci.
Everyone else at the table did the same.
“If a person loses one of the five senses-sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch-people would treat them as patients, with care. How is it that losing the sense of pain makes one a monster?”
Wen Qingci’s tone was no longer calm, but rather carried a hint of indignation.
In the days since they’d met, Xie Bufeng had never seen him so agitated.
The room was silent, and Wen Qingci’s voice reached everyone’s ears clearly.
“In my view, he’s just an ordinary person. If there’s anything special about him, it’s no different from those unfortunate enough to lose one of their five senses.”
“I, I also think there’s nothing ‘monstrous’ about not feeling pain…” Wen Qingluo couldn’t help adding, “But brother, isn’t not feeling pain a good thing? You can’t compare it to patients who have lost their five senses.”
Hearing his sister’s words, Wen Qingci shook his head slightly, frowning as he said: “Without the sense of pain, one doesn’t know when they’re injured, and naturally loses the concept of danger. This is not a good thing.”
After speaking, he suddenly turned to Xie Bufeng, looking earnestly into his eyes and said: “Young Master Su, please don’t speak like that again in the future. It’s quite disrespectful.”
Then he picked up his teacup from the table and took a small sip.
Throughout, Xie Bufeng hadn’t heard a single inner thought from Wen Qingci.
-These words weren’t a joke, nor were they meant to please.
Wen Qingci truly believed what he said.
After a long silence, Wen Qingluo said softly: “Brother is right.”
Wen Qingci’s parents also slowly nodded in agreement.
The woman in the short robe even sighed softly and said: “His Highness’s mother must worry about him all day.”
After that, everyone at the table suddenly changed the subject.
All talk of “monsters” and “Crown Prince” was cast aside.
Only Xie Bufeng couldn’t help but lower his head to look into his bowl.
Unlike the palace, even in the prosperous Songxiu Prefecture, ordinary families didn’t eat purely white rice.
The white and yellow rice mixed in the bowl looked sticky and emitted an unfamiliar smell that Xie Bufeng had never encountered.
Xie Bufeng was accustomed to living amidst malice, used to people calling him “Crown Prince” to his face while referring to him as a “monster” behind his back.
…For over a decade, the young man had never thought that one day, someone would understand him.
Yet today, in this unfamiliar place called Shanyu Jian, Xie Bufeng heard for the first time someone earnestly say that he was just an ordinary person.
“Young Master Su, what are you daydreaming about?” Wen Qingci’s gaze fell on Xie Bufeng’s bowl.
He picked up the serving chopsticks, took some fish, and gently placed it in Xie Bufeng’s bowl: “Try it, my mother’s cooking is excellent.”
After speaking, he looked at the young man expectantly.
“…All right, all right.”
Though Xie Bufeng often heard people mock him behind his back, being scolded to his face was truly a first for him today.
He was stunned for a moment, then incredibly obediently swallowed the fish.
If people from the palace had seen Xie Bufeng’s current demeanor, they would certainly have thought he was possessed.
Seeing this, Wen Qingci finally shifted his gaze away.
Meanwhile, Wen Qingluo, sitting on the other side, secretly made a face at Xie Bufeng, showing an expression of shared suffering.
Evidently, she too was often “educated” by Wen Qingci in this manner.
Most of the fields in Shanyu Jian were planted with medicinal herbs.
Therefore, common crops were limited to just a few varieties.
For home cooking, they were even more sparing with oil and salt.
The flavors were somewhat bland.
To be fair, the “feast” carefully prepared by Wen Qingci’s mother would barely qualify as simple fare in the eyes of Xie Bufeng, who had grown up in Taishu Palace.
Yet this was the most comfortable meal he had eaten in all these years.
“How wonderful, young Su at this age should eat more to grow taller,” Wen Qingci’s mother praised while cleaning up. “Look at you, you’re only in your teens, right? Already as tall as Qingci. When he was your age, he could barely eat a few mouthfuls.”
“Mother!” Seeing his family exposing his shortcomings, Wen Qingci carried his bowl while softly protesting, “I’m not short-it’s just that Young Master Su is too tall, all right?”
To be fair, Wen Qingci’s height was certainly not considered short.
He stood straight and slender, like a stalk of green bamboo.
“All right, all right,” hearing her son’s objection, Wen Qingci’s mother laughed and teased him, “This child, how can you still be so sensitive about it.”
Without realizing it, a smile had also appeared on Xie Bufeng’s lips.
He couldn’t help standing beside Wen Qingci, somewhat childishly comparing his height with this physician who was several years his senior.
At the same time, he secretly wondered… when would he grow taller than Wen Qingci?
Xie Bufeng’s actions were probably quite obvious.
Noticing what he was doing, Wen Qingci immediately stood up straight: “Mother, look how you’ve corrupted Young Master Su!”
“Hahaha, how can this be blamed on me?” the woman said laughingly.
Finding his intentions discovered, the young man turned around and cleared his throat somewhat unnaturally.
Everyone in the room joined in the laughter.
Only Song Junran’s inner thoughts were somewhat jarring: ‘This person can really eat.’
After dinner, Wen Qingci was assigned by his mother to wash the dishes.
Xie Bufeng, who had been closely following him, went with him to the riverside.
Without noticing, the sky had completely darkened.
A silver moon hung in the sky, illuminating the small stream until it shone like silver satin.
Around them were the sounds of cicadas, birds, and distant laughter.
Though Xie Bufeng had no money for medical treatment, his clothing and demeanor made it clear that he was definitely some family’s young master.
Wen Qingci had already assumed at some point that Xie Bufeng had quarreled with his family and run away from home, which explained his lack of money.
Wen Qingci gently placed the wooden basin full of bowls and chopsticks by the stream, and ladled a scoop of water into the basin.
Then he took some dried loofah pulp from the side and carefully began scrubbing the bowls.
“I’ll help you.” After speaking, Xie Bufeng also knelt by the river and picked up a bowl.
Wen Qingci didn’t stop him, but pointed to a small wooden jar nearby: “Good, Young Master Su, remember to sprinkle a bit of this in the bowl.”
“What is this?” Seeing the black substance in the jar, the young man couldn’t help but frown.
Wen Qingci smiled and raised his hand to wipe away water that had accidentally splashed onto his forehead: “It’s wood ash. Don’t worry, it’s very clean after burning.”
Xie Bufeng hesitated for a moment, then imitated Wen Qingci’s actions and slowly began to clean the bowl.
“In Shanyu Jian, we usually use the stream water for washing dishes and clothes,” Wen Qingci casually mentioned while washing. “Try it, isn’t it warm in winter and cool in summer?”
The young man nodded slightly: “Yes.”
It was just after mealtime, and the stream was crowded with people washing dishes.
Not far away, two boys around twelve or thirteen years old were washing dishes while playing by the stream.
As they played, one of them suddenly noticed Wen Qingci and shouted loudly: “Brother Qingci-”
Then he splashed water toward Wen Qingci.
Unable to dodge in time, Wen Qingci’s clothes were immediately half-soaked.
But he wasn’t angry at all. Instead, he immediately put down what he was holding, scooped up a handful of water, and splashed it toward the children.
After counterattacking, he realized that Xie Bufeng’s clothes had also been accidentally splashed by the two children.
He smiled, stood up, and shielded Xie Bufeng behind him, then rolled up his sleeves and said: “Don’t worry, Young Master Su. Stand behind me, I’ll help you get revenge.”
Just as he finished speaking, the two boys from a distance splashed water over again.
This time, the water splashed directly onto Wen Qingci’s face.
His long black hair immediately clung to his temples.
The collar of his moon-white summer robe also became partially transparent.
But the smile on Wen Qingci’s face didn’t diminish in the slightest.
“No need.” Xie Bufeng’s voice suddenly came from beside Wen Qingci’s ear.
His tone was characteristically calm.
Before Wen Qingci could understand what Xie Bufeng meant, the young man gently placed his hand on his shoulder and stepped around to stand in front of him.
“…Young Master Su?”
“I’ll help you get revenge.”
After speaking, Xie Bufeng crouched down, put his hand into the cool stream water, and suddenly raised a huge splash toward the two boys in the distance.
In an instant, the two children were soaked like drowned rats.
“Brother Qingci has called for reinforcements!”
Someone started it again, and in a moment, no one along the stream was quietly washing dishes anymore.
Wen Qingci was stunned for a moment, then also stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Xie Bufeng, jointly defending against the “attacks” from the opposite side.
The stones by the stream were slippery, and Wen Qingci instinctively placed his hand gently on Xie Bufeng’s shoulder.
“No, let’s do this together-”
Under the moonlight, a heavy “rain” fell by the small stream in Shanyu Jian.
The “downpour” soaked the young man’s black clothes.
He couldn’t help but secretly glance back in the rain, carefully looking at the person beside him.
Then he quietly raised the corners of his lips in a smile.
##
