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Chapter 07: Demons
At the sight of this man, Zhou Qing’s face turned abruptly pale as paper. Her manicured and smooth nails scratched fiercely against the edge of the window frame. Her ten fingers connected and the tingling pain made her frown.
With her almond eyes fixed on Xie Chong’s back, Zhou Qing knew that she shouldn’t take it out on him; after all, Luo Yu had drugged the wine that night, the trap had been set long ago and no one could escape.
Even though she could understand this in her heart, she couldn’t help but feel a bit resentful when she thought of the suffering she had endured in her previous life. Her breathing became slightly uneven.
The senses of a martial arts practitioner were much sharper than those of an ordinary person, and Xie Chong’s expression was cold as he was already aware of the gaze that got exposed before him.
He raised his head abruptly and looked back in the direction of the prying eyes, and found a young woman standing on the first floor of the teahouse. Her skin was extremely fair, like the snow hanging on the branches in winter, and her beautifully shaped almond eyes seemed to contain glistening light.
Zhou Qing never thought that Xie Chong would find her. He was known in the capital as the “Evil Ghost”, and the Northern Zhenfu Division under his command was like hell.
She had only just returned to life, her revenge hadn’t yet begun, and the traitor in her family hadn’t yet been uncovered.
The color of her red lips had faded, and Zhou Qing trembled gently, forcing her head down in fear and not looking at him again.
The stubble-faced He Baihu couldn’t understand why the commander had stopped and asked in a jarring voice, “Your Excellency, is there something wrong?”
Xie Chong shook his head slightly, his handsome face didn’t show a single sign of fluctuation as he said in a deep voice, “Nothing, go back to the Zhenfu Division first.”
He was quite sure that he had never seen that woman before, yet he felt unusually familiar with her, and was unclear on what was going on.
The Jin Yi guards moved on quickly and gradually disappeared around the corner, and the street, which was dead just now, resumed its usual bustle.
Zhou Qing exhaled a breath of foul air and found that her palm was covered in a fine layer of sweat, which was sticky and slippery, making her feel uncomfortable.
Before she could leave the window, she saw Wang Lu emerging out of the shop, hunched over, his eyes looking around, his thick, honest face a little apprehensive.
Zhou Qing sensed that something was wrong and handed the silver to the server, then darted downstairs, seeing that Wang Lu was about to cross the bridge, she followed not far behind so as not to be discovered by him.
Zhou Qing’s father had taken on two pupils, but unfortunately neither Wang Lu nor Yu Fu had any talent for herbalism. But Wang Lu was different. He spent his days in the shop, the scent of the herbs he had prepared wasn’t outstanding, and the recipes were memorized by rote.
Because Wang Lu was usually very honest and spoke very little, Zhou Qing didn’t suspect him at all, so much so that she was shocked to see him in such a perverse state.
The area around the Long Bridge wasn’t overly crowded. There were many willow trees planted along the river bank, the willows with thick green branches and leaves swayed lightly in the wind, and there was a girl with a double maiden bun standing under the tree.
Because of the distance, Zhou Qing couldn’t see the maid’s face, but looking at her white face, she could guess that she looked lovely.
Wang Lu walked up to the maid and took her hand in an intimate gesture, not knowing what he had said.
Zhou Qing’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and her small hand pulled off a few willow leaves and rubbed them in her palm, which soon gave off the distinctive aroma of grass and wood.
The world was clearly full of people who were unfeeling and ungrateful.
Wang Lu got married three years ago and Zhou Qing even went to the banquet at that time.
Now he was having an affair with another woman. How could he live up to his wife and daughter?
There were many begging children on the river bank, the older ones were 12 or 13, the younger ones were only seven or eight years old. Zhou Qing took out two copper coins from her purse and handed them to a small, frail, and thin beggar.
“What is your order, madam?” He asked as he hurriedly stuffed the coppers into his arms.
Even though Zhou Qing was born young and beautiful, she wore the hair style of a married woman, so naturally no one would mistake her identity.
“There is a maiden in a green-waisted dress across the river, go keep an eye on her and see which family she belongs to, come back when you find out, and I will give you ten more coins.”
This wasn’t a difficult task. The little beggar got up, stretched his neck and looked around to make sure of his target, before darting onto the long bridge. As soon as Wang Lu parted with the maid, the little beggar followed her all the way.
After standing in the same place for half an hour, the little beggar finally came back, winked his eyes at Zhou Qing, spread his palm and called out for Madam.
Zhou Qing complied and gave him ten copper coins. Although it wasn’t much, the money came easily, the little beggar smiled like he couldn’t see his teeth.
“She entered the Liu House, the family that runs the Alum House.”
Even though she had expected it, Zhou Qing’s state of mind still couldn’t be calmed. Her father had treated Wang Lu well and taught him everything he had learned in his life, it was his own lack of talent that made him only a small shopkeeper, who could blame him? Now he was colluding with the Liu family for a mere maid. In another month, would he do something as evil as burning down the warehouse?
Zhou Qing waved her hand. A chill had slipped into her bones as she walked back to the herbal shop in a state of distraction.
As soon as she entered the door, she saw Wang Lu and Yu Fu arguing. Yu Fu was especially livid that his face became red and his neck thickened as he yelled, “Master said he wanted clove, but you bought sandalwood on your own.”
“Sandalwood is more expensive and I did it to make the shop’s business better, where’s the fault?”
The two of them saw Zhou Qing and asked her to comment. She saw Wang Lu’s squared face dripping with anger, the corners of his forehead bursting with veins, and a vicious look as if he wanted to eat someone.
“Miss, do you think that I have made a mistake in bringing in the sandalwood?”
Yu Fu was indignant, “We already have sandalwood left in our warehouse. The cost of sandalwood is high; if it is not kept well, the fragrance will escape and the price will plummet. Besides, many customers have come to sell cloves every day. You are only selling expensive herbs, isn’t this destroying the sign of our herbal shop?”
Her long eyelashes twitched, and Zhou Qing’s petite hand, hidden in her moistened sleeve, clenched into a fist, her nails digging into her flesh, causing pain. But on the surface, she did not show any sign of it and said calmly.
“I think there is something wrong with what Senior brother did; because the price of sandalwood is higher than that of the clove, you shouldn’t have bought it. Not to mention, father had ordered you to purchase cloves.”
Wang Lu opened his mouth, not knowing how to argue, beads of sweat fell down his head, he hurriedly raised his hand, wiped it with his sleeve, and said dryly, “I only did it for the sake of the herbal shop.”
Zhou Qing gave him a fixed look and said to Yu Fu, “Brother Yu, go and talk to Boss Qian and ask if the sandalwood herb can be returned.”
“No!”
Wang Lu sharply stopped them, but both Zhou Qing and Yu Fu ignored him, and after the latter answered, he ran off towards the supply place.
When Yu Fu had left, a cold look crossed Zhou Qing’s almond eyes, “Senior brother, remember to inform father about everything, don’t make decisions without permission.”
With those words, she lifted the curtain and turned around to go to the backyard.
Zhou Qing remembered clearly that in her previous life, when the herbal shop’s warehouse caught fire, the reason why there was such a big loss was because of the many precious sandalwood herbs placed inside. At this moment, it seemed that Wang Lu secretly changing the goods should have been the plan a long time ago. Thanks to Yu Fu’s cautiousness, he found out that something was wrong and argued with him, which did not lead to harmful consequences.
Walking towards the room in the back, Zhou Qing pushed open the door and saw a burst of green smoke wafting from the porcelain incense burner.
“Father, this tranquilizing herb doesn’t seem to be the same as before.” Walking over to Father Zhou, she sat on her knees on the pale yellow cushions and discerned before saying with certainty.
Gently pinching the beard under his jaw, Father Zhou sighed, “I made this according to the recipe, and although the herbs have not changed, there is one thing missing.”
Last time when he mixed the herbs, Zhou Qing had cut her finger with the herbal spoon and her blood dripped out, affecting the scent of the tranquilizing herb and adding to its calming effect on the mind.
Today, however, the effect wasn’t so mystical.
After his daughter left that day, Father Zhou tried it again with his own blood and found that the fragrance was mixed with a faint patina that didn’t smell good. In this way, he was sure it was Qing’er’s blood that was different.
“This matter must never be mentioned to others. That gift is a curse, not a blessing.” Father Zhou looked serious as he reminded again.
Zhou Qing’s face was grave as she nodded, she had barely been able to live again, so naturally, she had to preserve her life responsibly.
“Father, there is something this daughter must tell you.”
“What is it?”
When she told him about Wang Lu’s private exchange of goods, Father Zhou frowned and became discontented with his eldest apprentice, “How could he be so confused? It’s true that the price of sandalwood is higher, but the most important thing for the longevity of a herbal shop is the trade of everyday herbs and spices.”
Zhou Qing thought to herself, “It’s not that Wang Lu doesn’t understand this, but he has been bribed by Liu Zhaoqu to try to bring down the Zhou family’s herbal shop, so how could he be half-hearted?”
“Father, this daughter will be staying at home for a while anyway; why not leave the matter of buying goods to me? There will definitely be no mistakes.”
Father Zhou was hesitant. He was afraid that Qing’er would have to work too hard, he had to take a careful inventory of the goods, it wasn’t a light job.
“Don’t you trust me? You have to take care of your health, and my brother has to take his exams, so you can’t delay.”
He couldn’t resist her, so Father Zhou finally let go.
Zhou Qing’s heart was happy, and a smile spread across her modest palm-sized face, clearly relieved.