Chapter 9: Qi Eating Spirit (4)

“Creak—”

Seeing that it had quieted down outside, Madam Shen waited silently for a moment, but no one came in.

So she opened the door and poked her head out, looking left and right.

Beneath the osmanthus tree at the center of the small square courtyard sat a handsome, refined-looking man. His long, narrow phoenix eyes tilted slightly upward, giving him a cold, forbidding air that kept others at a distance.

Sitting across from him was a Daoist priestess wearing a hibiscus crown and a bamboo-green Daoist robe. Her palm-sized face was bare of makeup, her distant-mountain brows arched slightly upward, and her peach blossom eyes drooped faintly at the corners. Her eyes were very light in color, pale as weak tea, making her entire aura seem just as faint and ethereal, like an immortal fairy untouched by the mortal world—cold, clear, and otherworldly.

But when she smiled with curved brows and eyes, that cold and distant air vanished, leaving only an elegant, delicate beauty, with graceful features and rosy lips, like a lotus rising fresh from clear water.

The moonlight was like water. With the vast starry sky behind them, the two spoke beneath the midsummer osmanthus night, blending into the twilight. For some reason, they looked rather well matched.

Madam Shen stood there watching for quite some time, then silently sighed. She thought to herself that perhaps she was too anxious about Fourth Young Master’s marriage, to the point that even a Daoist nun now seemed suitable.

She stepped closer and asked, “Daoist Master, has the evil spirit been removed?”

Zhou Xin stood up, took Madam Shen’s hand, untied the money pouch from her waist, and placed it in her palm. “Court Minister Shen beat it back to its original form. I didn’t help much in subduing the demon this time, so please take this money back.”

“How could I?” Madam Shen refused. “Daoist Master saved Tannu. I saw that with my own eyes!”

Shen Jibai said, “Since Lord Lingyun has spoken, Aunt should not refuse.”

“Then... all right.” Madam Shen accepted the pouch and smiled. “This tea has long gone cold. It can’t be drunk anymore. I’ll go boil another pot for Daoist Master.”

She went into the side room on the left of the main house. A moment later, she returned with a pot of tea and poured Zhou Xin a fresh bowl.

“Thank you.”

“Daoist Master is too polite! It is already late, and the ward gates have long been closed. Daoist Master cannot return tonight. Why not make do at our humble home for the night?”

After saying this, as though afraid of being refused, she pointed at the room on the west side of the courtyard. “That room has always been empty, and even the bedding is new. Daoist Master has worked so hard for Tannu, so please give me a chance to show some hospitality as the host.”

Shen Jibai said, “She has a waist token. The Jinwu Guards won’t stop her from leaving the ward.”

Madam Shen looked slightly embarrassed. “Well...”

Zhou Xin said, “How could this poor Daoist refuse Madam Shen’s kind invitation?”

“Wonderful!” Madam Shen answered with a beaming smile, rolling up her sleeves as she walked toward the side room on the left of the main house. “You’ve been busy until now, Daoist Master. I imagine you haven’t had dinner yet! As it happens, we haven’t eaten either. Why don’t we eat together?”

Hearing this, Shen Jibai put down his teacup rather speechlessly. “We had shepherd’s purse porridge for dinner. It hasn’t even been two hours, Aunt. Have you already forgotten?”

Madam Shen turned back and gave him a look that was half warning, half reproach. Then she smiled and explained to Zhou Xin, “Don’t listen to his nonsense. The shepherd’s purse porridge was last night!”

Shen Jibai pursed his thin lips, turned his face away, and said nothing more.

“Does Daoist Master have any favorite foods?”

Zhou Xin loved spicy food and liked Sichuan cuisine best, but chili peppers had not yet been introduced in the Tang dynasty. Even if she wanted to eat them, she could not.

As for dishes without chili peppers, she could not think of any for the moment, so she settled for the next best thing and asked, “Is there meat?”

“Yes, yes, of course!” Madam Shen smiled. “There’s still a piece of lamb that hasn’t been cooked yet. Then let’s make wontons stuffed with lamb and chives. They won’t be greasy at all when eaten with vinegared celery!”

“All right.” Zhou Xin nodded.

Shen Jibai glanced sideways at her, scrutiny in his gaze. “Can those who cultivate the Dao eat meat and fish?”

“Why couldn’t they?” Zhou Xin said. “Daoists aren’t monks.”

Daoism was divided into several branches. Some required fasting, some required strict observance of rules and precepts, and some even forbade marriage and children.

The lineage of Taiqing Temple advocated that the Great Dao was simple and cultivation lay in the heart, so there were not that many rules.

Energetic and spirited, she followed Madam Shen into the side room and smiled with curved eyes. “I’ll help Madam Shen.”

“No need, no need—” Madam Shen refused, speaking as she pushed Zhou Xin out of the side room. “I heard Daoist Master and Fourth Young Master discussing the case. You should continue with your proper business.”

There was an open window in the side room, facing the stone table beneath the osmanthus tree, and the distance was not too great.

After Zhou Xin sat back down, she realized that from here, she could see everything happening inside the side room clearly.

She watched Madam Shen bustling about in the room, picked up her teacup, and took a sip of hot tea. Before she could swallow, she spat it back out.

Shen Jibai glanced over at her indifferently.

“It’s too hot.”

Zhou Xin smiled, took a new teacup, picked up the cooled pot of tea, poured herself a cup, and drank a few mouthfuls before suppressing the salty taste on her tongue.

This cold tea was just ordinary tea leaves boiled in water, but the hot tea had quite a few seasonings in it. Could boiling tea with pepper and salt be the Tang dynasty’s way of treating guests?

“Lord Lingyun.” Shen Jibai looked at the teacup in her hand. “That pot was not the one Aunt just brewed.”

Zhou Xin set it down as though she had taken it by mistake and steered the topic back to the case. “How did Zhang Qingqing go mad?”

“He was frightened by the hamster demon.”

“Before he went mad, was there anything suspicious about him?”

“No,” Shen Jibai said. “However, on the night the King of Ten Thousand Foxes broke free of its seal and escaped the Demon-Locking Tower, he happened to attend Third Young Master Tang’s birthday banquet at Duke Tang’s residence and stayed overnight at the Tang residence.”

Wasn’t that the night Chao Nanyi was killed?

But Chao Nanyi had been killed in the locust forest outside Luoyang City. The killer had not been inside the city that night, so it could not possibly have been someone from the Tang residence.

Probably seeing her disappointment, Shen Jibai added, “Third Young Master Tang left the city the next day to make offerings to his ancestors and has not returned since. Once he returns, Shen will send someone to Taiqing Temple to inform you.”

Zhou Xin nodded. “That works.”

Shen Jibai picked up his teacup and sipped his tea mouthful by mouthful, clearly with no intention of speaking further. Zhou Xin did not speak again, nor did she drink any more tea.

The night wind blew over. She propped her cheek in one hand and turned her head to watch the busy Madam Shen, suddenly feeling a trace of warmth.

So she noticed.

Zhou Xin thought.

She had noticed that Zhou Xin kept drinking tea not because she was thirsty, but because she was hungry.

When Madam Shen brought out a clay pot full of wontons, she picked up a large sea bowl, filled it to the brim, and placed it in front of Zhou Xin.

Zhou Xin: “...”

She had thought that bowl was prepared for Shen Jibai.

Looking again, she saw that Shen Jibai’s and Madam Shen’s bowls were both very small, probably less than one-fifth the size of the sea bowl.

She blinked, looked at the full bowl of wontons, then at the four side dishes on the table, both meat and vegetables, and suddenly felt Madam Shen’s enthusiasm.

This was how normal people expressed gratitude, right?

She ate a wonton, and her brows lifted in satisfaction.

She did not know whether it was because she had gone too long without meat, or because Madam Shen had used some secret method, but although the filling was lamb, it was not gamey at all. Once eaten, its fragrance lingered between her lips and teeth.

Zhou Xin wolfed down the wontons one after another, not even having the time to eat the side dishes on the table.

Shen Jibai glanced over frequently, his expression somewhat surprised, as though Chao Nanyi normally did not eat meat or fish.

Seeing Zhou Xin eat with such relish, Madam Shen was very happy. She asked with curved brows and eyes, “Daoist Master and Fourth Young Master are colleagues?”

Zhou Xin mumbled through her food, “I wouldn’t dare claim that. This poor Daoist is Court Minister Shen’s subordinate.”

Madam Shen grew interested. “How come Fourth Young Master has never mentioned that there is a female bailiff at the Court of Judicial Review? Aside from Daoist Master, are there any other young ladies? Anyone he gets along with?”

Shen Jibai seemed to think of something, and his expression turned ugly.

“In the entire Court of Judicial Review, Lord Lingyun is the only woman. Also, your nephew has no intention of marrying. Aunt, please do not mention this again in the future.”

“I see...” Madam Shen was somewhat disappointed and said nothing more.

Remembering the words of those people at the teahouse, Zhou Xin lowered her head and suddenly felt that even the lamb in her bowl no longer tasted good.

＊

“Cock-a-doodle-doo—!”

Before dawn, the rooster in the courtyard began crowing with great vigor.

Zhou Xin pulled the quilt over her head. Hearing a startled cry from next door, she shouted impatiently, “Shen Jibai, what are you yelling about so early in the morning?”

The person next door slapped the wall hard, his tone rarely flustered.

“Chao Nanyi! The qi-eating spirit is gone!”

“What!”

Zhou Xin instantly lost all drowsiness. She hurriedly put on her shoes, threw on her outer robe, and ran next door, her voice turning urgent as well. “What do you mean, gone? How could it be gone?”

As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw the man bare-chested on the bed, searching for something. The muscles of his chest were smooth and well-defined, but below his pectorals, his stomach had grown large, swelling to a height comparable to that of a woman four or five months pregnant.

Oh?

Didn’t he say the qi-eating spirit was gone? Could it have burrowed into his stomach?

Shen Jibai reacted quickly, yanking the quilt over himself. His snow-white arm propped against the bed, the veins on the back of his hand faintly bulging.

Half embarrassed and half angry, he shouted, “Chao Nanyi, don’t you know you should knock before entering someone else’s room?”

“Court Minister Shen shouted so loudly that Chao was worried. For a moment...” She rubbed her nose. “I didn’t have time to think about it.”

Shen Jibai turned his head away. “Get out!”

Zhou Xin was puzzled. “It’s not as though you aren’t wearing pants. What’s the big deal? Besides, you happen to not be dressed yet, so hurry and let Chao see what exactly is going on with your stomach.”

Shen Jibai had been on duty at the Court of Judicial Review for several years and had seen all kinds of people, but he had never encountered someone like her.

He emphasized through gritted teeth, “Get out!”

Zhou Xin was not annoyed. She patiently coaxed him, “Your stomach swelled to this state overnight. Isn’t Court Minister Shen worried?”

“What if I am?”

“If you’re worried, then let Chao see what exactly is going on! Only by determining what did this and how it acted can we find a way to deal with it. Otherwise, in desperation, you may rush to the wrong doctor and suffer for nothing, only making things even more chaotic.”

Her words were reasonable and well-founded, leaving no room for rebuttal even if one wanted to argue.

Shen Jibai pondered for a moment, then said, “Though Lord Lingyun is a cultivator of the Dao, you are still a woman. It is inappropriate for you to interfere in this matter. In Shen’s view, it is already daylight, and Perfected Linghe should be awake by now. Rather than wasting words here, it would be better to go to Taiqing Temple as soon as possible.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly covered his mouth and retched.

Zhou Xin: “?”

No way!

The effect was this realistic? It even came with morning sickness?

This had completely exceeded her understanding, so she could only nod and say, “All right. Then Court Minister Shen should get ready as quickly as possible. Chao will go inform Madam Shen.”

She turned and walked out, closing the door behind her, then stepped over to the front of the main house and knocked on the door.

“Knock, knock, knock—”

The door opened from inside. Madam Shen, draped in an outer robe, blinked sleepily. When she saw who was knocking, she instantly woke up halfway. “Daoist Master?”

Her gaze swept over Zhou Xin, and she asked, “Has something happened?”

“How did Madam Shen sleep last night?”

“Quite well. Tan’er’s complexion is much better than yesterday too.”

“That’s good.” Zhou Xin said, “Court Minister Shen seems to have provoked some unknown evil spirit and needs to go to Taiqing Temple as soon as possible. This poor Daoist came to inform you.”

Hearing this, Madam Shen’s expression stiffened, and worry suddenly climbed onto her face. “Something happened to Fourth Young Master? What happened? Is it serious? How is he now?”

For a moment, Zhou Xin did not know how to explain. She drew out an “uh” for a long while, then said without much confidence, “Perhaps, probably, maybe... he’s fine?”

Madam Shen: “!”

She hurriedly said, “No, I have to go see!”

Zhou Xin tried to stop her. “Although the situation is somewhat special, the problem should not be too serious. Madam Shen need not worry.”

“No, if I don’t see him with my own eyes, I won’t be at ease.”

As they spoke, Madam Shen had already walked toward Shen Jibai’s room, even forgetting to close the door.

Zhou Xin was just about to close it when she saw an old, worn talisman pouch lying on the floor inside the room. Its style looked very familiar.

She picked it up and examined it carefully. When she saw Perfected Linghe’s seal mark printed on one corner of the talisman pouch, she realized that this was a consecrated protective talisman unique to Taiqing Temple.

Strange.

This talisman warded off evil and avoided misfortune. With it present, the qi-eating spirit should have been completely unable to approach this room, let alone enter and harm someone.

In that case, why had Tannu still fallen victim?