Hearing that Su Jin decided to enter the palace to pick up the Imperial Chef that the Emperor didn’t want,
Xie Jingchen’s mouth twitched a few tis, and he almost spilled the tea he was holding.
Could this woman not use such casual words when speaking?
They are people.
Not things.
Would the Emperor really throw the Imperial Chef out of the Imperial Study and let her pick them up to take back to the mansion?
But picking is better than robbing.
The maid brought in dishes, and Su Jin and Xie Jingchen sat down to eat.
After the al, Su Jin went to the backyard to prepare dicinal herbs for Xie Jingchen’s herbal bath.
Inside the room, Su Jin sat at the desk, writing with a pen.
Outside the bamboo house, Xingxing was decocting dicine on the veranda.
The Hidden Guard ca over to help.
A question had been lingering in the Hidden Guard’s mind for a long ti, and he couldn’t help but ask, "How long has the Eldest Young Madam studied dicine?"
"I don’t know," Xingxing replied.
"..."
"Haven’t you been with the Eldest Young Madam since childhood?" the Hidden Guard asked.
"Yes, I’ve been with the young lady for seven years," Xingxing said, shaking a hand fan.
"Then how do you not know when the Eldest Young Madam learned dical skills?" the Hidden Guard asked, puzzled.
"I just don’t know. I’ve never seen the young lady read any dical books," Xingxing said.
"..."
How could that be?
The maid has been with the Eldest Young Madam for seven years and hasn’t seen her read dical books. So who taught the Eldest Young Madam her superb dical skills?
Could the Eldest Young Madam have learned dical skills before she was eight years old?
"Did the Eldest Young Madam tell you not to tell anyone?" the Hidden Guard coaxed.
"No, the young lady just said not to tell the Marquis and Madam, but didn’t say I couldn’t tell you and the young master," Xingxing replied honestly.
Since she’s treating the young master, there’s nothing to hide.
But Xingxing didn’t understand why she couldn’t tell the Marquis and Madam.
But whatever the young lady says goes.
Xingxing continued decocting dicine.
The Hidden Guard’s eyebrows knitted tightly.
Given how much Marquis Dongxiang and Madam love the Eldest Young Madam, why would she hide it from them?
Just as he thought this, he heard Xingxing mumble, "Actually, I’ve always doubted if my young lady really knows dicine."
The Hidden Guard, "...."
Is there even a need to doubt that?
"Why doubt?" the Hidden Guard asked curiously.
Xingxing glanced into the room to make sure Su Jin wasn’t paying attention and that Xie Jingchen was also not there.
Only then did she say to the Hidden Guard, "I can tell you, but you can’t tell the young master."
The Hidden Guard facepald, "I promise I won’t say anything."
Xingxing reassuredly said, "My young lady never learned dical skills. The way she treats the young master’s illness is exactly the sa as how we braise pig’s trotters on Qingyun Mountain."
The Hidden Guard, "...!!!"
The Hidden Guard was blown away.
He really couldn’t associate the young master’s herbal bath with braised pig’s trotters from Qingyun Mountain.
But the maid said it so convincingly that the Hidden Guard didn’t know how to react.
He turned to leave.
Xingxing watched him go. She wanted to call out to him but opened her mouth and realized she didn’t know his na.
She still didn’t know what his na was.
The Hidden Guard went to the bamboo house.
Xie Jingchen was reading.
The Hidden Guard approached, hesitated, and didn’t speak.
Xie Jingchen noticed, casually turned a page, and asked, "If you have sothing to say, just say it."
The Hidden Guard asked, "Young master, has the herbal bath you’ve been soaking in for so long been effective?"
Xie Jingchen gave him a glance, "Why do you ask?"
Isn’t the effectiveness already written all over my face?
What could the Hidden Guard say?
He just promised the maid not to tell the young master.
But the Eldest Young Madam’s maid said she never learned dical skills, and the way she treats the young master is trying to mimic braised pig’s trotters.
The Hidden Guard shook his head, "I just think the herbal bath is too painful for the young master."
"No problem, I can endure that bit of pain," Xie Jingchen said.
Not wanting to disturb Xie Jingchen from reading, the Hidden Guard went to boil so water.
Just as he walked over, Xingxing ran over and asked, "You still haven’t told your na yet."
"Li Cai."
"I can’t guess it," Xingxing said.
"My na is Li Cai."
"I already said I can’t guess it. Why don’t you just tell directly?" Xingxing said with a pout.
"..."
A na should be straightforward to tell; why make her guess? If he told her to guess again, she would be upset!
The Hidden Guard was exhausted.
"My last na is Li, first na Cai," the Hidden Guard said clearly, word by word.
"Li as in ’plum tree,’ Cai as in ’guess a riddle.’"
"..."
"Why did you choose such a strange na?" Xingxing blushed.
"..."
He didn’t want to, either.
It was just bad luck drawing this na.
The Duke had many people under him, making it hard to choose nas. When Old Master Xie was young, he ca up with a thod of drawing lots for nas, which is still used today.
After he entered the Duke Mansion, the first thing he did was determine his na.
Two wooden buckets.
One contained last nas, not the Hundred Family Surnas, just Zhao, Li, Zhou, and Wang.
The other contained first nas, with far more characters, over a hundred to use.
Due to bad luck, he ended up with this na for himself.
He dislikes introducing himself the most, but luckily as a Hidden Guard, he doesn’t get many chances to do so.
But now, he’s no longer certain if he’s even still a Hidden Guard.
"Your na is unpleasant. I was just angry. If you soday had to introduce yourself to the Emperor, he might just chop off your head," Xingxing said.
"..."
The Hidden Guard was caught between laughter and tears.
He wouldn’t have a chance to introduce himself to the Emperor.
Su Jin walked out, and Xingxing went up to her and said, "Young lady, his na is Li Cai."
"I couldn’t guess it either," Su Jin joked.
"..."
Su Jin had heard the previous conversation between Xingxing and the Hidden Guard.
The Hidden Guard blushed furiously.
Xingxing covered her mouth and laughed, "He probably needs to change his na."
"How about Li Qing?" Su Jin suggested.
"There’s already a Hidden Guard with that na," the Hidden Guard murmured.
"..."
"How about Di Qing?" Su Jin said.
The Hidden Guard bowed, "Thank the Eldest Young Madam for the na."
This na was given so casually.
But knowing now how the Hidden Guards are nad, Su Jin’s shoulders shook with laughter.
Such an arbitrary naming process must have produced quite a few peculiar nas.
As expected by Su Jin, it did produce many amusing nas.
But there was a rule that whatever na was drawn had to be used and could not be changed, otherwise Li Cai definitely wouldn’t be called Li Cai.
Hmm.
He might be called Zhao Cai.
Su Jin laughed so hard her cheeks ached.
With a naming thod this convenient, she was curious what kind of person Old Master Xie was.
Thinking of naming, Su Jin asked Xingxing, "There are many brothers on Qingyun Mountain. How are nas decided?"
Xingxing replied, "Those with nas keep them, those without, take the surna of whoever brought them up the mountain. As for nas, the Marquis uses a book, flips to a page, and picks a character from that page for the na."
"So arbitrary as well?" Su Jin said with a dark line.
"The Marquis is very serious. That book is almost worn out from flipping," Xingxing said.
"..."
"Do you know what book it is?" Su Jin asked.
"I don’t know. The title is so worn I can’t read it, but I rember the young master said it was a Military Book. Once, the young master threw it away and replaced it with a new one, and the Marquis found it and punished the young master to kneel before the wordless tablet for a night."
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