Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 441 Ending
"I left my marriage and went to Beijing when I was 21. That was the most confusing time of my life."

Qi Zhaohua sat on the railing, while Pei Ye lay on the railing beside him and listened. From this perspective, the small garden with mountains and rivers looked like a flat painting.

"You know I can't practice cultivation. For many years I read books and wrote poems, and I earned a high reputation in Bowang City. People say I am the most talented woman, and I am quite proud of it. Every day I read and write poems, and exchange poems with scholars and high officials. I think I am completely different from those girls waiting to get married in the boudoir."

“That’s how I spent my entire youth.”

"Until the Qi family happily and proudly told the matchmaker that their daughter, who was originally only able to be engaged to the son of the Chamber of Commerce, could now be matched with the son of the governor."

"."

"So when the invitation was handed to me, I felt like I woke up from a dream." Qi Zhaohua smiled, "It turns out that I am still a flower, but with a layer of pure and elegant color, and I can enter a richer family."

"I don't hate him, but even if Jiang Hong hadn't been waiting for me, I'd always thought highly of myself and always thought I'd do something remarkable in my life." Qi Zhaohua said slowly, "This incident dealt a heavy blow to me. I came to the capital alone with my books packed in anger. At that time, I looked at this unfamiliar and prosperous metropolis, with its majestic palace and hundreds of squares lined up like stars, but I felt that my future was uncertain and my life was confusing. I had nothing but ambition and stubbornness."

Qi Zhaohua paused, tilted his head and looked quietly out the window, as if recalling that time.

"At that time, I wandered the streets of Chang'an every day, and carriages passed by me one after another, with unknown nobles sitting inside. I grew up in a wealthy family, but I was quite envious at that time. I often stood there and watched them drive into the inner city, wondering which government office they would drive into." The woman recalled, "So I worked hard in the capital, applying for positions everywhere, attending banquets and writing poems, and visiting officials. Gradually, I really became a person called 'Qi Zhaohua'."

"The feeling I had in Bowang came back again: respect, attention, admiration, yearning, and some ill will from different sources. I have long been accustomed to dealing with these things, almost like a duck in water." Qi Zhaohua was quiet for a while, looking at the moon, "but the confusion has been lingering."

"Every day I feel that what I am doing is a waste of my life, but I don't know what I can do. God gave me a good appearance, and I learned poetry and prose since I was a child. This is my sharpest and most useful weapon."

"Until I met Enjun at a poetry gathering."

"That was four years ago. It was a banquet of the highest standard that I had been seeking for half a year before I was able to attend. I heard that there were ministers, famous scholars, and aristocratic families like the King of Zheng at this poetry gathering. At that time, I really wanted to see what the 'upper' of this big city was like, and I couldn't help but imagine that I could be valued by someone and rise to prominence from then on."

"I made a lot of preparations for that poetry gathering, and in the end I really won the applause of the whole audience with an exquisite seven-character poem. That was my greatest success since I came to Beijing alone. Being sought after in a place like Shenjing and at a poetry banquet of such scale, the benefits I could get were unimaginable." Qi Zhaohua said, "In that banquet, I really got what I had always dreamed of - Zheng Zhaochen, the Minister of Personnel, invited me to the small courtyard behind the garden after the banquet and was willing to recommend me to the government. After I passed the imperial examination, I would serve as an official under Zheng."

"I only asked him to sleep with me for one night."

Pei Ye turned his head in surprise. The slender woman was still leaning against the railing, her cheeks slightly flushed from drinking.

She turned her head and pursed her lips for the first time: "I really considered it seriously at that time."

"."

“That made me even more upset.”

"I actually realized that my luck was a bit bad this time - there were some rumors about this Zheng Zhaochen. If I had been appreciated by that son of the Shangshu or that literary elder, I'm afraid these disgusting things wouldn't have happened. But do you know what really makes me feel that everything is meaningless?"

She looked at the young man beside her: "I suddenly realized that the unprepossessing fifty-year-old scholar who was ranked second at the banquet actually wrote much better poems than me."

"."

Qi Zhaohua turned his head and looked quietly at the white moon in the sky, remaining silent for a long time.

"There has never been a more confusing moment than that night. On the Phoenix Terrace after walking out of the courtyard, the night rain was a little cool. I leaned on the railing for a long time. I came to Shenjing for years, but I felt that I was still standing in the same place. That night I thought that I left my hometown to cut off my original self, but when I came to Shenjing, I still relied on poetry and appearance to enter these thresholds. What is the difference between writing poetry and lyrics to attract people's appreciation and putting on powder and makeup to attract people's love?"

"I've been hanging around in literary circles and poetry gatherings for many years. It's all flattery."

"That's when I met Enjun." Qi Zhaohua retracted his gaze and said softly, "I don't know when she stood beside me. She was wearing a gray cloak, with maids holding umbrellas on each side. She was holding a small pot of warm sake and used her hands to catch the night rain."

"Many times later I thought, if I hadn't walked out of that courtyard that night, I wouldn't have met her." Qi Zhaohua turned around and smiled at him, his eyes misty from the alcohol. "No knife could have cut through my life for the past twenty years more sharply than that sigh. I still remember every detail of that chilly spring night clearly."

"She said, 'Who do you rely on to make a living? You are just a pretty face with a foolish body.'"

Pei Ye's eyes widened slightly, and Qi Zhaohua smiled and said, "Yes, later I learned that this was Enjun's "He Xinlang·Self-Ode", and I have always kept it in my heart."

"That night we talked about many things, about each other's life experiences and aspirations. For the first time, I understood why the ancients said that for serious illnesses, 'there is no medicine or stone, only acupuncture and moxibustion can be used to treat them, and they can be cured by speaking the wonderful truth.'"

Pei Ye listened quietly. Perhaps the woman had never confided her feelings to anyone before, and Pei Ye could feel her relaxation.

At this time, he also understood why Qi Zhaohua said that Xu Chuo's kindness to her was like a helping hand that cleared the clouds and brought light to the sun. Isn't it just such a kindness to pull a person out of the predicament of the outside world and herself?
But the woman beside him, who had calmed down, whispered, "But, Pei Ye, do you think this is my fault?"

Pei Ye turned his head in shock.

Qi Zhaohua was looking at him: "Why should I go to compose poems and have a banquet?"

"."

"Why can't I let go of this 'beautiful skin and foolish body'? Why do I and those fifty-year-old scholars have to practice this flattering skin before we can enter those government offices? And what did he lose to me?"

"."

Qi Zhaohua withdrew his gaze, looked into the empty space and said softly: "My benefactor has helped me by clearing the clouds, but I am just repaying a favor. He made me swear to follow you until death, which is my ambition to 'see the sun'."

"She said there are a million people like me in the world."

"."

The two remained silent for a long time. Qi Zhaohua called the waiter, took another small bottle of wine and poured himself a drink.

"I have never told anyone this, Master Pei." She lowered her head and whispered, "This is why I returned to Shenjing. I stayed with Enjun for two years, and I realized that it was too foolish to think that 'Bowang has no room for me', so I wanted to go back and do something on my own without Enjun's support."

Pei Ye recalled: "That's why we met."

Qi Zhaohua took a deep breath, as if he had completely escaped from the hazy memory, and said with a smile while drinking: "Yes."

Pei Ye suddenly said: "I have actually seen the name of the owner of the museum."

"Oh?"

"When she was still in Feng Huai, it was written in the July national newspaper that she was the top writer of the Southern Country Literary Society. The saint also gave her a name. That was three months ago, right?" Pei Ye looked downstairs, "Doesn't that mean she is only twenty years old?"

Qi Zhaohua paused and smiled: "Almost."

Pei Ye couldn't help but frown. How could she be "almost" when she was that old? But since Qi Zhaohua didn't explain, he had no choice but to ask.

So when she met Qi Zhaohua four years ago, she was only sixteen years old.

After a quick meeting in the daytime, he was still very unfamiliar with the owner. As for the word "backer", it was a little more powerful than he had imagined, so it was also shrouded in a thick veil of mystery. Openly publishing "The Broken Bone of the Xia" in the national newspaper, and sending him to the capital with a transfer order, Xing Zhi, Yan Feiqing and other disciples of big sects, even if they could not be said to be her subordinates, surrounded the chariot, and under the pressure of the Prince of Yan's Mansion, he was still released from prison in a short time. The out-of-control Huang Xie was probably backfiring on the people who operated it.

This process definitely requires the in-depth cooperation of the Immortal Platform, and what role does the Sun-Swallowing Society play in this?

Pei Ye already believed in her calm and strong approach, but what he couldn't understand was: could the so-called "daughter of the former prime minister" have such broad and tenacious tentacles?

He clearly remembered that the old prime minister had passed away some years ago.

When he asked this question, Qi Zhaohua became speechless and only sighed: "Young Master Pei now understands the legacy of the officialdom. I don't want to lie to you, you will understand it naturally in the future."

"Okay." Pei Ye was not impatient now.

But there is still a more urgent question: "Miss Qi, where will I live in the future?"

"You can live in Xiuwen Hall. Scholars from other places, your grace will provide you with food and lodging."

"But I'm a warrior, and I have a lot of things to do." After all, it's uncomfortable to live in someone else's place, Pei Ye said. He now has money on him, and he is not shy. "I still want to buy a house for myself, so it will be more convenient to live in."

"That's fine. Living in the capital for a long time, it's not appropriate to live in Xiuwen Hall to entertain friends and relatives." Qi Zhaohua nodded, "I know there is a small house near the East Market. The asking price is very reasonable, only 570 taels. What do you think?"

"."

"."

Qi Zhaohua was silent for a moment. "Yes, in Chang'an, the east is rich and the west is rich. If you don't make friends with officials, you don't need to live in these two places. The north side under the imperial city is not good either. Well, the south side is not bad. A small courtyard with two entrances must be less than 250 taels. What do you think?"

"."

"."

"It's OK to go further south. Anyway, there's the Suzaku thoroughfare, so it's not difficult to travel back and forth. The second entrance is also difficult to manage, so just a small courtyard will be fine. One hundred taels of silver will do the deal."

Qi Zhaohua looked at him quietly. The young man coughed twice and asked, "Miss Qi, are you well off?"

"Young Master Pei has been in Shaolong Mansion for two days. Have you learned how to drink flower wine?"

"without!"

"And where's your money?"

"A total of two hundred taels, thirty taels were paid to Taishan Medicine House, and I left the one hundred taels in cash to Piao Qing because I thought I was going to die. I didn't have time to ask for it back." Pei Ye said in a muffled voice, "Now there are seventy taels stuffed in the Jiao Ring."

It's really not the young man's fault. He sold his Fenghuai house for a total of twelve taels of silver. He thought that the price in the capital was higher and fifty taels of silver could buy him a place to live. Who knew that this was simply robbery!

Qi Zhaohua looked at him with some pity: "It turns out that Young Master Pei worked very hard for two months, earned a great reputation, but didn't lose a penny."

Pei Ye silently took her half bottle of wine.

The two tipsy people walked downstairs. Qi Zhaohua paid the bill. Pei Ye took a look and saw that it cost seven damn taels of silver.

This made the young man even more silent. Qi Zhaohua sighed and said, "I am here to realize my ambitions, not to make money. Fifty taels is the most I can lend you. Remember to pay it back."

Pei Ye nodded.

"You can walk around the city these two days and find a place to stay." Qi Zhaohua hesitated, "What's the situation between you and the young master now?"

".how?"

"Write her a letter. Since she's not dead, ask for the money back."

"." Pei Ye thought about the last letter he sent her. When he thought of the words on it, he immediately shook his head in resistance.

Qi Zhaohua rolled his eyes slightly.

But thinking that this boy is only seventeen years old this year, and is pitifully clumsy in the face of first love, he can't help but comfort him in a gentle voice: "The first time you fall in love will inevitably accompany you for a lifetime. Sometimes the person is not right, sometimes the time is not right, and it is always difficult to choose. Now that you can't get it, just work hard on your cultivation. If you have any sadness and can't get over it, you can come to me for a drink."

"Thank you, Miss Qi."

The alcohol gradually took effect and Pei Ye was too lazy to sober up. He took a carriage back to Xiuwenguan. Qi Zhaohua gave some vague instructions and the waiter took him into a room.

This was his first night in this city, and also the first time in two months that he allowed himself to get drunk and fell asleep in the house.

One day, Pei Ye slept until noon and then opened his eyes lazily.

The black cat was standing on his chest, calmly patting his face with its front paws.

".What?" Pei Ye asked vaguely.

"Get up."

"It's nothing again." Pei Ye covered himself with the quilt in annoyance.

"Qu Xin is here to pull down your pants."

Pei Ye jumped up with a start and looked around vigilantly.

However, the room was clean and there was no trace of the simple girl.

Pei Ye turned around and glared, but Black Cat showed no guilt: "Since you're up, wash your face. We still have the whole afternoon. It's time to go to the Sword Training Academy to register."

Pei Ye yawned, his Qi circulated, the alcohol smell was gone, and his body felt clear. This was a feeling of vigor that he hadn't felt in a long time. With the sword in his hand, he felt eager to try again. He didn't need Xiaomao to urge him anymore, so he took the sword and went out.

This was actually his first time walking in Xiuwen Hall. He saw many scholars walking in a hurry along the road and by the pond, and some were gathered in groups of three or five to talk, sing and chant. Among them were some people with extraordinary demeanor. He looked around and from time to time his curious eyes fell on this strange warrior with a sword.

Pei Ye greeted every glance with a smile and walked out of the gate of Xiuwenguan.

(End of this chapter)