Chapter 64: Soybeans

There was a reason Feng Ruonan asked. Sooner or later, she would have remembered one particular detail. Seeing the wine pot merely brought it back to mind sooner. After arriving here, she had barely eaten or drunk anything. The only thing she had consumed during the ceremony was one cup of wedding-cup wine. So how had she fallen victim to the drug? Could the problem have been in the wine?

Wenxin replied, "It was sent over from home."

Feng Ruonan asked again, "Was the wine inspected?"

Wenxin said, "This servant personally saw the steward bring people to inspect every item of food and drink sent here very carefully. There shouldn't have been any problem."

Feng Ruonan fell silent. Her family was worried that the imperial court might secretly move against Shang Chaozong, so they would certainly have inspected everything with great care. There should not have been any problem. And logically speaking, her own family would never do this to her. Then where had the problem arisen?

She pressed them. "Did the wine pass through anyone else's hands on the way here?"

Both maidservants shook their heads.

Wenxin said, "This servant doesn't know about the wine served to the guests, but the wine sent to the bridal chamber was a jar of the finest quality. Once it arrived, it was specifically handed directly to us. It never passed through anyone else's hands."

Feng Ruonan asked heavily, "You're certain no one else touched it?"

The two maids wondered what was wrong. Did she think someone had poisoned the wine? They shook their heads again.

Then what had happened?

Feng Ruonan muttered to herself. Her gaze fell on the candle stand. She rose and slowly walked over. Her steps were not as free as usual. Someone had tormented her badly the night before, and this morning she had only managed the chase because rage made her forget the discomfort.

At the candle stand, she found that the two large red candles had already burned out. Only mottled lumps of melted wax remained. She peeled off a piece of wax and brought it to her nose, sniffing.

She was just about to order someone to have it examined when Wenli suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! Young Mistress, I think someone did handle the wine."

Feng Ruonan spun around.

Wenxin looked surprised. "Someone did?"

Wenli asked, "Did you forget? Yesterday, didn't that old man with the white beard stop us and inspect everything?"

Wenxin froze. Then she remembered and immediately nodded toward Feng Ruonan. It had indeed happened.

Feng Ruonan ground her teeth. "Where did some old man with a white beard come from?"

Wenli said, "This servant doesn't know either. He said he was one of His Highness's guards."

The instant she heard it was one of Shang Chaozong's people, Feng Ruonan pressed urgently, "Quickly. Tell me exactly what happened."

"Yesterday, when the two of us were carrying the wine over..."

Wenli explained the entire encounter in detail. Once she finished, Feng Ruonan strode over, picked up the wine pot from the floor, removed the lid, and sniffed. She could detect nothing unusual. She peered inside. Most of the wine had spilled away when the room was wrecked. Only a tiny amount remained. She thrust the pot toward Wenxin.

"Drink it!"

"Uh..."

Wenxin stared at her. She had no idea what her mistress was trying to do. Originally, she had not believed there could be anything wrong with the wine. But after Feng Ruonan's increasingly ominous questioning, even she had become frightened. Still, she had no choice. She accepted the pot with trembling hands, slowly raised it to her lips, and poured the remaining wine into her mouth. There was only enough for a single swallow. She forced herself to gulp it down. Then they waited.

Feng Ruonan returned to the bedside and sat down. She closed her eyes and waited in silence, apparently having calmed herself completely. About the time it took to drink a cup of tea passed. Then Wenxin gave a faint murmur.

"Young Mistress..."

Feng Ruonan's eyes snapped open. Wenxin was swaying. Her strength seemed to leave her bones, and she collapsed heavily onto the floor.

"Big Sister!"

Wenli cried out and immediately crouched to support her. Feng Ruonan rushed over as well. Wenxin's limbs had gone completely limp. She looked weak and drowsy, her eyes half open and half closed. One look was enough for Feng Ruonan to understand. This was exactly the same condition she had experienced the night before. There truly was something wrong with that wine!

"Young Mistress, what's wrong with Big Sister?" Wenli asked anxiously.

Feng Ruonan waved for her to help Wenxin onto the bed and lent a hand herself. Once Wenxin had been laid down, Feng Ruonan turned to Wenli.

"Don't worry. She's fine. Let me ask you something. Do you know the name of that white-bearded man?"

Wenli shook her head. "This servant doesn't know."

Feng Ruonan asked, "If you saw him again, would you recognize him?"

Wenli nodded repeatedly. "Yes."

Feng Ruonan ground her teeth and muttered several vicious threats under her breath that only she herself could understand. Her mood seemed to have shifted. She began searching for her clothes and dressing properly. Earlier, when she chased Shang Chaozong, she had worn nothing beneath the outer robe she had thrown on. Few women in this age would have dared run outside like that. She truly was a woman who had spent too many years living among men...

At the Commandery Governor's residence, Feng Lingbo and Peng Yulan were sitting at the table eating breakfast while someone nearby reported what had happened at Feng Ruonan's side.

When they heard that Feng Ruonan had kicked Shang Chaozong out of the bridal chamber at dawn and chased him with a sword, husband and wife both froze with their chopsticks in hand. They knew their daughter was fierce. They had not realized she was this fierce. Feng Lingbo waved the messenger away, smiled bitterly, shook his head, and lowered his face to continue eating. Peng Yulan, however, looked deeply worried. She reached over and pulled the chopsticks right out of his hand.

"They fought once last night, and early this morning she chased him with a sword. Things have already reached this point and you still have the appetite to eat?"

Feng Lingbo spread his hands.

"What else am I supposed to do? This is a quarrel between husband and wife. Even an upright magistrate finds family disputes difficult to judge. We can't stop eating and starve ourselves to death over it, can we? Besides, the situation is obvious. Shang Chaozong isn't your daughter's match at all. Since he can't beat her, she isn't the one suffering. Shang Chaozong is the one being hit. What exactly are you worried about?"

Peng Yulan glared at him. "What kind of thing is that to say? They can't keep living like this forever!"

Feng Lingbo sighed.

"If you ask me, you should never have let her practice martial arts in the first place. It's fortunate Shang Chaozong is the one who married her. Put an ordinary man in front of those fists and feet and your daughter might have beaten the groom to death on the very first night. Now that would truly have become a joke!"

Peng Yulan looked miserable. "What's the use of saying that now? Think about it. After this, how could Shang Chaozong possibly treat her well?"

Feng Lingbo lowered his eyes and answered calmly, "You think things would become good merely because she stopped hitting him? You know perfectly well why Shang Chaozong married Ruonan. Don't worry. It's still the same principle. As long as he depends on the Feng family, he won't dare do anything to your daughter. Our people are watching as well, so he couldn't do much even if he wanted to. Ruonan keeping her distance from him for now may not be a bad thing. Once that matter is resolved, you can teach your daughter how husband and wife should live together. There will still be time then..."

The morning sun rose. Beside a flower bed, Niu Youdao bent at the waist and leaned close to examine a blossom carefully. It was a variety he had never seen before. He plucked one flower and studied it from several angles.

Thump!

A half-filled burlap sack landed beside his feet. Niu Youdao looked back at the sack, then at Yuan Gang standing before him.

"What's this?"

Yuan Gang said, "See for yourself."

Niu Youdao nudged it with his toe. Whatever was inside consisted of many small pieces. He still had no idea what it was. He casually tucked the flower behind one ear, bent down, untied the sack, and pulled the opening apart. Inside was half a sack of small yellow beans. He scooped up a handful and looked up in surprise.

"Soybeans?"

He had thought Yuan Gang had found something rare enough to personally bring over for him to see. It turned out to be this.

Yuan Gang said, "They don't seem to grow much of this here. I never saw any at Small Temple Village and never heard anyone mention it. This was among the food sent over yesterday by the Commandery Governor's residence. I happened to notice it just now. I asked the cook. Soybean yields aren't high, so not many people grow them here. Ordinary people rarely get to eat them. Most have never tried them."

Niu Youdao looked suspicious.

"Don't tell me you're thinking of promoting soybean cultivation. Or are you planning to take some back and have the people of Small Temple Village grow it? If that's what you're thinking, give it up. You just said yourself that the yield is low. In times of chaos, everyone's first concern is filling their stomachs. No one wants to grow something that produces so little. Trying to promote it would be useless. Save your effort."

Yuan Gang said, "I asked the cook. He's never heard of tofu. Make some."

He knew how to cook with tofu if someone gave him the finished product, but he had no idea how to turn soybeans into tofu himself. He had vaguely heard of the method, but had never tried it. Master Dao, however, definitely knew. Master Dao had always been interested in traditional crafts and knew quite a few old techniques.

"No tofu?"

Niu Youdao stared in surprise, then looked down at the soybeans again. He could not help shaking his head with a sigh. Now that Yuan Gang had mentioned it, he found himself missing the taste as well. He understood Yuan Gang's feelings. They were the same as his own. He nodded.

"Another day, when there's time. We're leaving tomorrow. There's no time to make it now."

While they were talking, Shang Shuqing arrived. After Lan Ruoting's warning, she had come directly here. From a distance, she saw the two men standing around a sack and discussing something with great seriousness. She had no idea what could possibly merit such attention. Only when she approached did she realize the sack contained soybeans. She looked somewhat surprised.

Niu Youdao smiled. "The Commandery Princess looks calm and composed. I take it there was no serious problem with His Highness."

Shang Shuqing asked directly, "Was the drugging your doing?"

So they already knew. Niu Youdao knew his actions had been somewhat obvious. Even so, he immediately shook his head.

"I didn't do it."

Shang Shuqing said, "Master Dao denied it before even asking what I was talking about?"

"Do I need to ask?"

Niu Youdao turned his head toward Yuan Gang.

"First, I didn't do it. Second, supposing I did do it... would I have been wrong?"

Yuan Gang knew Niu Youdao was not asking whether drugging someone was wrong in itself. He was asking why it had been done. Yuan Gang shook his head.

"You weren't wrong."

Niu Youdao immediately turned back and stared at Shang Shuqing.

"Then does the Commandery Princess believe I was wrong?"

If Shang Shuqing said yes, matters would become simple for him. There would be no need for many more words. At some suitable point on the road, he would immediately take Yuan Gang and disappear without even saying goodbye. Everything he had done for Shang Chaozong and Shang Shuqing was not truly for the brother and sister themselves. The two of them were not worth enough for him to stake his life in their service.

Why should he?

Was he really supposed to risk himself for so-called cultivation resources that had not even shown a shadow of themselves? What a joke. He did not care which emperor ruled this realm. Still less did he care who had been wronged and who had gained advantage in some internal struggle among the imperial clan. Whether in his previous life or this one, he had never had the habit of risking his life in someone else's service. The reason he had stayed to help was simple.

He had sent Yuan Gang out to handle something, and Yuan Gang had afterward felt that he had wronged others. As the man who had given the order, Niu Youdao could hardly wash his hands of that. Two lives as men, one lifetime as brothers. What mattered between them was loyalty. He did not want his brother to spend the rest of his life feeling that he owed someone a debt of conscience. One might deceive others, but one could not deceive one's own heart.

He had stayed to help Yuan Gang make that debt good. By now, he had already opened the game for Shang Chaozong and his sister, paved the road, and built the bridge.

Measured against what Yuan Gang owed them, the value of what Niu Youdao had done was already more than enough to repay it.

If the other side now believed that all the effort he had spent helping them was wrong, then Niu Youdao would simply ask Yuan Gang one question: We've already done what we should. They don't appreciate it. Is there any reason for us to stay?

Once the knot in Yuan Gang's heart was untied, Niu Youdao would naturally take him far away from the center of this storm.

[End of Chapter 64]