Episode 161

Guan Qing and Song Caitang were afraid that Guan Wan would be emotionally affected, so they waited until two days before their scheduled departure to tell her about the upcoming trip.

To their surprise, Guan Wan didn’t burst out crying.

Her hands shook, her eyes were watery, her eyelashes trembled…

But it was not from fear.

Her pretty eyes were glowing with excitement. “I get to go out? I get to go on a long trip to a faraway place?”

It was clear that this girl wasn’t the type who was afraid of the world out there, or a homebody who didn’t dare to leave the house. This girl was obviously filled with curiosity about the world and was so excited, she couldn’t wait to go out!

Guan Qing was VERY surprised.

Guan Wan even double checked with her older sister, “Eldest Sis, are you serious? You’re willing to let me leave the house?”

Guan Qing suddenly felt really upset. She gritted her teeth, “So, are you going to pack your things or not?”

Guan Wan nodded vigorously, picked up her skirts and ran back to her room quickly as though she was afraid that Guan Qing would change her mind.

Guan Qing was speechless.

Song Caitang threw her cousin a sympathetic look.

Guan Qing scoffed and glared back at Song Caitang to prove that she wasn’t upset at all, then turned to walk away elegantly. “You too! Remember to spend the money I’ve given you and don’t stinge on yourself! If there’s one thing this house doesn’t lack, it’s money!”

Song Caitang shrugged.

As Guan Wan packed, she couldn’t help but feel that she didn’t have everything she needed. She kept feeling like she had missed something. What if this happened? What if that happened? And so, she excitedly dragged Song Caitang out of the house to go shopping with her.

Song Caitang… didn’t have anything else to do, so she agreed to go out with Guan Wan.

They ended up going down several streets to buy a thousand things, including food, essential items, things to keep them occupied, and things that were for emergency situations.

Song Caitang never realized how much stamina this girl had. She didn’t seem tired at all!

Guan Wan cupped her little face and frowned as she let out a sigh. “It’s a pity I can’t bring too many ingredients along with me. We’d be on the ship for more than ten days and I won’t be able to use all of it…”

Song Caitang looked at all the bags that were hanging off the servants and maids, as well as the bags that they were also carrying in their hands and stopped Guan Wan from continuing. “Wanwan, that’s quite enough.”

Guan Wan scanned the piles of things in front of her, frowned as she paused to think, then reluctantly nodded. “Alright then… we’re going on a trip, so it’s better to be less picky. If we bring too many things along, someone is bound to complain.”

Song Caitang was glad the girl understood.

The way her large eyes blinked and her cheeks were puffed from her frustration was actually really cute.

Song Caitang smiled and asked, “Do you want to buy something for Eldest Sis?”

“No!” Guan Wan’s eyes widened, then she realized that her tone was off, so her face reddened and she quickly tried to explain herself, “Eldest Sis doesn’t need any of these things… If she wants something, she just needs to give someone instructions and it would be delivered to her. We’re buying so much because we’re going on a trip.”

But she started to think very seriously about whether she ought to walk into some other shops to buy something for her sister.

“We’re going on such a long trip. Won’t you miss Eldest Sis?” asked Song Caitang.

“I’m so happy that she’s letting me go on a trip!” Guan Wan looked like she wasn’t going to miss her sister at all. She was smiling so brightly, her eyes curved like crescent moons. “I heard that there’s nothing nice to eat on board and every meal is just fish, so a lot of passengers end up throwing up. But not me! I’ll make sure I make the best fish so you’d never tire of it!”

Then again, perhaps it was better this way. At least Guan Wan was excited about the trip and filled with positive energy.

Song Caitang patted Guan Wan’s head. “That sounds nice… I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Yay!” Guan Wan turned and suddenly felt like shopping again. Her cousin was right – she was done shopping for herself, but she ought to buy something for her sister too!

Oops. Song Caitang realized that motivating Guan Wan in the right way was going to make her even more tired instead.

“Who do we have here? Aren’t you the female coroner who knows nothing else besides touching dead bodies?” resounded an extremely sarcastic and ridiculously familiar voice. Song Caitang didn’t need to turn around to identify that voice as Ling Qianqian’s.

She straightened her sleeves and raised an eyebrow as she smiled faintly. “Miss Ling hasn’t returned to the capital yet? Is it because Luanze is too amazing of a place, or is it because you’ve made too many mistakes and your family doesn’t welcome you back?”

“Nonsense! My family dotes on me the most, so they wouldn’t do that! What happened was an accident! An accident!” Ling Qianqian stomped her feet angrily.

“Oh, it was an accident…”

The sun shone brightly in the sky and Song Caitang’s already fair skin seemed to glow as she stood beneath the sun’s rays. Her gaze carried an alertness and intelligence, and even the way she carried herself was different from the other womenfolk.

It was as though… the other girls were a lake where the wind made ripples on the surface, a quiet and peaceful place filled with the faint fragrance of flowers, or they were like the fish in the lake, some gold, some red, some black and yellow. But Song Caitang was special. She was like the clouds in the sky, a pearl in the ocean. Pure and flawless, naturally intelligent and beautiful.

Even her smile was elegant, even if a different message was hidden behind it and wasn’t genuine.

So irritating… Song Caitang’s very existence was irritating!!

Ling Qianqian gripped her handkerchief tightly, her eyes reddening the more she glared at Song Caitang. She was about to die from how angry she was!

“You haven’t seen Zhao-gege in a while, right?” She narrowed her eyes at Song Caitang when she remembered this. “Do you know why?”

Song Caitang didn’t expect her to ask such a question and had a slightly confused look on her face.

Ling Qianqian saw her confusion as a sign of weakness and thought she had got her. She was smug as she said, “You don’t know, do you? Let me tell you!”

“It’s because you’re nothing to him! You’re just a low class coroner who can help him to crack cases! You thought you were different? You thought you were special? No! Only one person is special to him, and that’s Lu Yuxue-jiejie in the capital!”

Ling Qianqian took a step forward and looked even more imposing than before. “Only Xue-jiejie can touch Zhao-gege, and her things are the only things that he would keep. As long as she says the word, he would be willing to even die for her!”

She stared intensely at Song Caitang. “Do you know why he doesn’t get married? It’s because Xue-jiejie is in poor health and he’s been waiting for her!”

“There’s only one person in his heart and her position is unmovable! Nobody can replace her!”

That last sentence was practically a shout. Ling Qianqian was enjoying her chance to provoke Song Caitang, but there was a hint of jealousy as well.

But Song Caitang didn’t feel particularly provoked.

It did bother her that Zhao Zhi hadn’t come to visit her for quite a while now, but that was because they had a misunderstanding that they hadn’t resolved yet. They had not parted ways on the best terms the last time they met, and she felt the need to explain things and resolve the misunderstanding. But for as long as Zhao Zhi did not come over, the misunderstanding remained a misunderstanding, and that was the thing that bothered her.

As for whether Zhao Zhi was holding a torch for someone or not… It was clear to her that Zhao Zhi had some sort of psychological trauma, so there had to be a reason for it. Perhaps it was because of a romantic relationship he had.

He had been badly hurt before. He had gone through some really tough times.

And he had also told her before that he wasn’t going to get married.

Her heart did feel a little unsettled by what Ling Qianqian said, but she figured that she was just feeling sad about how life had treated Zhao Zhi. His story could be extremely tragic, and she felt that she would feel just as upset if such a thing had happened to another person.

But these emotions had nothing to do with romantic feelings or jealousy.

Ling Qianqian had picked the wrong method to attack her.

Song Caitang wished this girl could be a little smarter about such things.

These words were not only useless on her, but they actually ended up hurting Ling Qianqian herself the most.

Song Caitang sighed quietly. “Since you already know that, why don’t you give up? You’re making such noble sacrifices and you’re suffering inside, but he will never care or feel bad for you.”

Those words were like a stab in the heart. Ling Qianqian’s eyes turned even redder and she began to tear up. “My decisions are none of your business!”

“I think it’s better to just forget about him.”

Song Caitang was very serious in trying to counsel Ling Qianqian, but that made the younger girl even angrier and her tears threatened to fall. “Song Caitang! I don’t want your pity! You’re even more pitiful than I am!”

Guan Wan had been busy picking out items, but when she noticed the commotion around her cousin, she quickly ran back.

The last time, this woman bullied my cousin and to protect me, she even injured her arm and had to apply stinky herbs on her bruise for days before she got better. This time, I must protect my cousin! See if this unreasonable Young Mistress from the capital dares to do anything funny again!

But by the time Guan Wan rushed over, her cousin was perfectly fine, while the unreasonable Young Mistress was in tears. In fact, the younger girl was crying in such an ugly manner. Her eyes were red and tears covered her face. Her handkerchief was so wet, the colors on it started to run. She looked absolutely terrible and mucus was dripping from her nose too!

Guan Wan looked at her calm-faced cousin, then looked at the wailing younger woman, then quietly took a few steps back and hid herself.

It turned out that her cousin was bullying the girl this time! She didn’t have to worry!

In fact, it was best that she didn’t step in and mess up her cousin’s plans.

Ling Qianqian probably realized that she had really embarrassed herself this time. She hadn’t been successful in provoking Song Caitang, and ended up crying instead. She stomped her feet and glared at Song Caitang, and was about to leave when someone actually came running over to make her even angrier.

Qi Yan came running over with perspiration all over his face. He grabbed hold of Ling Qianqian’s collar and started apologizing to Song Caitang, “I’m so, so sorry. Did this immature girl upset you again? I took my eye off her for just two seconds and she slipped out to do something like this again…”

Ling Qianqian tugged and pulled but she couldn’t get out of her cousin’s grip. More and more people were gathering and pointing fingers at her too. She couldn’t control her expression anymore and pure frustration burst out from both her embarrassment and her anger.

“BOOHOOOOO!” Ling Qianqian covered her face and wailed miserably.

“All of you are bullying me… all of you are bullying me…”

Song Caitang felt a little sorry for her.

The girl was only 13 or 14, so she was around the same age as Guan Wan. She was a little prideful and a little immature, but she hadn’t caused a lot of trouble. As the adult, it looked bad for Song Caitang to continue finding fault with her.

“Oh no, no, Miss Ling happened to notice me and came over to say hello, that’s all. Nobody was bullying anybody, so please don’t misunderstand, Mr. Qi.” Song Caitang motioned to Qi Yan to let go of his cousin and waved Ling Qianqian’s maids to come over and help to straighten out her clothes. “Miss Ling is a good girl and she’s very mature.”

Ling Qianqian started crying even harder and glared nastily at Song Caitang. “I don’t want your hypocrisy!”

Song Caitang paused to reflect. It was true that her statement could have come off like that.

But as long as she wasn’t guilty of hypocrisy, it didn’t matter.

She looked seriously at Qi Yan, “It’s rare that the young lady gets to come outside and have fun for a while, so don’t have such high expectations of her, and stop threatening to punish her all the time. You have a younger sister you’re close to and you have to take care of now, so cherish it, because such times will not last forever.”

These words hit Qi Yan hard. He sighed and looked a lot more gently at Ling Qianqian.

“I’m already done with what I need to do here, so if nothing goes wrong, Qianqian and I will be heading home tomorrow. The journey will be tough on her, so I will not punish her anymore. You don’t have to worry about that, Miss Song.” Qi Yan put a hand over his other fist politely.

Song Caitang didn’t intend to pursue this matter in the first place, so she just smiled and nodded, “Take good care of her.”

Qi Yan was well informed, so he had also heard that Song Caitang was headed to the capital. He sounded a little sad as he said, “It’s too bad that I’m in a hurry to leave and our trip has already been fixed, so I can’t travel back with you… Once you reach the capital, you must contact me so that I can be a good host to you.”

He did not suggest travelling together, since it was hard for a man to travel with a woman. Everyone already had their own plans, so insisting on travelling together was not necessarily a good idea.

Since he knew how to toe the line, Song Caitang did not brush him off. “Sure, I’ll do that. I will have to bother you when the time comes, and I hope you won’t find me troublesome.”

“HAHA! Of course I wouldn’t find you troublesome…” For some reason, Qi Yan suddenly thought of Zhao Zhi and his expression fell as he grumbled, “Brother Zhi is the troublesome one. He disappeared without a word and didn’t even leave any message behind…”

After he said that, he rounded up all the servants and Ling Qianqian, then said, “I’ll bring her home now. See you in Bianliang, Miss Song!”

And as usual, he winked cheekily at her as he used his folding fan to fan himself and walked away.

Song Caitang was speechless.

Guan Wan walked out of her hiding spot after Qi Yan and Ling Qianqian had walked away. She tugged at Song Caitang’s sleeve. “…Cousin?”

Song Caitang smiled at her. “Done shopping? Shall we go home?”

Guan Wan smiled adorably and nodded vigorously. “Okay!”

On the day they left, Song Caitang and Guan Wan said goodbye to their grandmother first, then Guan Qing accompanied them to the large ship waiting at Qingling River.

The two girls were travelling by boat with their own trade caravan, and the Green Gang members were protecting this ship. The journey was going to take longer than travelling on land, but it was a calmer, smoother and safer way to travel.

Guan Qing, as always, was concerned even though she looked like she didn’t care. She went around to make sure that everything was in place, and once she had personally confirmed all the details, she got them to start the boat.

“This is a very important matter, but it’s not urgent. Taking care of yourselves is of utmost importance. So, you are not to worry about nothing, and you’re not to get carried away with having fun, you hear me?”

Song Caitang and Guan Wan nodded in unison.

Guan Qing pursed her lips as though she wanted to say something, but she didn’t say anything in the end. She just waved, then turned around and walked away.

She walked away very quickly without any reluctance.

The ship quickly left the dock.

The waves were gentle and the wind blew a little harder than usual.

Guan Wan stood at the deck and watched Guan Qing walk away. Even after Guan Qing had walked out of sight, she was still standing there in a daze.

Over the past two days, it had seemed like Guan Wan had no idea what it meant to leave someone for a long time and to miss them. She didn’t seem sad either. She was a little reluctant when she said goodbye to her grandmother, but did not feel like crying.

But now, when she realized that her older sister had walked out of sight and they were moving further and further away from the shore, and everything started to look unfamiliar, a panic began to fill her heart. She felt as though a large hand had gripped her heart tightly and it was cramping in pain.

There was no need to wait for her emotions to build up. Her tears rolled down slowly for just a few seconds before she burst out crying.

Song Caitang sighed and pulled the younger girl into her arms.

It wasn’t that Guan Wan was happy to leave. She felt relaxed only because she hadn’t really left yet.

“Boohoo… Cousin…” Guan Wan held onto Song Caitang’s sleeves tightly and gasped as she cried.

Song Caitang patted her back and asked gently, “You miss Eldest Sister already?”

Guan Wan was very honest with her feelings and wailed miserably, “Yes…”

“But we’ve already left the dock. Wanwan, do you regret coming on this trip? Do you want to go back?”

They could still turn the boat around at this juncture.

But Guan Wan shook her head violently and she was even hiccupping from how hard she was crying. “No… no… I’ll be fine after crying for a while… HIC! I will get used to it… HIC! I don’t want Eldest Sister to be disappointed in me… HIC! Wanwan doesn’t want her to call me troublesome…”

Song Caitang didn’t expect Guan Wan to say such things.

Guan Qing was a bold and straightforward woman, while Guan Wan was a resilient and intelligent girl. The two sisters were always caring and sacrificing for one another. They both knew that, and they had been working hard to become the best person to each other.

Gosh, the young ladies of this era were all such outstanding women…

Song Caitang patted Guan Wan’s back with a gentle smile on her face.

Perhaps girls like Ling Qianqian were a minority.

“Wanwan, don’t be afraid. Eldest Sis isn’t here, but you’ve got me.”

After crying for a while and letting everything out, Guan Wan slowly calmed down. She held Song Caitang’s hand even more tightly now as she nodded.

“Do you want to make some snacks?” Now that she seemed to be more or less back to normal, Song Caitang started thinking about how she could motivate her. “Something sweet, or something soft? Something that’s not available on the ship and only you can make…”

Guan Wan was immediately distracted and stood up. “That’s right, I promised to make you good food!”

In an instant, the little girl was filled with motivation. She ignored everyone watching her and ran toward the kitchen.

Song Caitang breathed a sigh of relief. Her gaze happened to notice a person in white along the shore who looked a little like Wen Yuansi.

Her trip was a private one that had nothing to do with work, and since it was better for single men and women to keep their distance, he didn’t come to see her off. But he sent her a letter on the day of her departure.

The letter contained his family’s address in the capital and said that he had already told his grandmother that she was going over. Old Madam Li had left Luanze for a long time now, and in her earlier letters home, she had mentioned Song Caitang several times and really missed her. He told Song Caitang that his grandmother would be very happy to know that she was heading for the capital, so she could feel free to visit Old Madam Li anytime without worrying if she was troubling the old lady.

Song Caitang knew that he was showing his concern for her in this manner. The capital city would be completely foreign to her, so the best thing he could do was to send her to his grandmother.

She thought that Wen Yuansi wouldn’t come to see her off, but he did.

He was very far off, so she wasn’t sure if he could see her, but she raised her hand high and waved at him. She only walked back to her cabin after she could no longer see the shore.

Meanwhile, Wen Yuansi stood by the shore for a long time without moving until a strong wind suddenly started making his clothes and hair flap wildly.

He turned and said, “Let’s go back.”