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Chapter 305 - 301: Not a Small Courage_1
Chapter 305 - 301: Not a Small Courage_1
Chapter 305: Chapter 301: Not a Small Courage_1
Early the next morning, Yingbao followed her Second Senior Brother down the mountain.
Zhang Min, being familiar with Prefecture City, hired a donkey cart as soon as they descended the mountain. They quickly found Kang’an Pharmacy.
Yingbao stood at the entrance of the pharmacy, peering in before stepping inside.
It seemed the shop had just opened. A young shop assistant was dusting the counter. Seeing two children in medical robes, he couldn’t help but take a second look.
“Is Sister Wen Shu living here?” Yingbao asked.
This pharmacy wasn’t very big, just two rooms, but there was an inner courtyard. Wen Shu had written in a letter that her family lived in that inner courtyard, and that her younger brother Wen Hengyin also came from Yuzhou and was studying in Prefecture City.
“May I ask who you are?” The shop assistant queried.
“I am her good friend, Jiang Yingbao. Please go and call her!”
The little shop assistant, having heard of Jiang Yingbao before, promptly nodded. “I’ll go call her right away.” He then quickly ran to the back door, and shouted, “Cousin Wen Shu! Jiang Yingbao is here!”
After shouting, the shop assistant ran back, laughing as he introduced himself: “My name is Xiu Liang. I am Wen Shu’s cousin. I’ve heard about you, Miss Jiang Yingbao.”
Yingbao blinked in surprise: “So you’re Brother Xiu Liang.” She had heard Wen Shu mention him briefly, recounting that he was a distant relative whose family had fallen on hard times and now an apprentice at their pharmacy.
Shortly afterward, the sound of footsteps became audible as Wen Shu and her younger brother, Wen Hengyin, emerged from the back door.
“Yingbao!” Wen Shu walked around the counter and hugged the seven-year-old girl. “I finally got to see you. When did you arrive in Prefecture City? Where are you staying? Would you consider staying at my house? We can sleep in the same room.”
Yingbao hugged Wen Shu back: “Master and I are staying at the Golden Summit Taoist Temple.” She then pointed at Zhang Min: “This is my Second Senior Brother Zhang Min.”
Wen Shu bowed to Zhang Min: “Nice to meet you, Senior Brother Zhang.”
Zhang Min scratched his head in response and returned the salute.
At this moment, Wen Hengyin squeezed through and, after sizing up the young girl, asked: “Yingbao, why are you wearing the student robes of the Medical Bureau?”
“Because I’ve joined the Yin Yang Department of the County Medical Bureau.” Yingbao had not yet informed Wen Shu about these developments, so she was unaware.
Wen Shu was shocked: “Why did you choose to study in the Yin Yang Department?” The theories of the Yin Yang Department were completely different from those of the Medical Department, so she couldn’t understand why Yingbao would choose to study it.
Yingbao let out a sigh: “It’s a long story.”
Wen Shu quickly grabbed Yingbao’s hand: “Let us sit inside and have a chat.”
Wen Hengyin invited Zhang Min to go to the backyard as well.
Once they had arrived in the backyard, Xiu Zhenniang appeared. She held Yingbao’s hand and they sat down together on the Luohan couch: “Yingbao, what brings you here?”
“My master, Elder Zhou, has been travelling and we happened to pass by here.” Yingbao went through the whole story: “Elder Zhou said we would stay in Prefecture City for a month, then continue traveling.”
“Your master is Master Zhou Wuchang?” Xiu Zhenniang asked.
Yingbao nodded: “Yes.”
Xiu Zhenniang smiled, “Yingbao, you are very lucky to be able to study under Master Zhou.”
Forbidden Curse Masters were valued highly; those of high moral standing were especially revered. Out of all of these, Master Zhou was the most outstanding.
Yingbao, surprised that Lady Wen also knew Elder Zhou, couldn’t help but be curious: “You also know him?”
“Who in this Provincial Government doesn’t know him?” Xiu Zhenniang laughed: “He’s a man of unusual status, a powerful Forbidden Curse Master. Many people wish to witness his magic firsthand.”
She glanced at her son, “If Master Zhou was still accepting students, I would have sent Hengyin to be his apprentice.”
Wen Hengyin:
After chatting with Lady Wen for a while, she heard her say, “Yingbao, stay here. When the Golden Summit Temple festival ends, you can go back. I need to go to the Wei Residence now, to diagnose Lady Wei.”
This year, Lady Wei’s body was particularly frail. She was frequently shivering and feverish, bedridden, and nothing she tried helped, including the ginger produced by the Jiang Family.
Yingbao replied: “Master, you can go ahead. I will chat with Sister Wen.”
Xiu Zhenniang patted Yingbao’s head, rose, and went to fetch her medicine box.
In the end, she left with a maid, heading straight for Wei Residence.
The Wei residence was not far from here, and it was only about a 15-minute walk away.
Xiu Zhenniang was just stepping inside the side gate when she saw Wei Zhan hurrying over.
“Madame Wen, is Wen Hengyin home?” Wei Zhan stopped abruptly upon seeing Xiu Zhenniang, “I want to play with him.”
After arriving at the Prefecture City, Wen Hengyin was attending the best school in town and happened to be in the same class as Wei Zhan.
Xiu Zhenniang smiled, “He is at home, but Yingbao is also here. He is playing with Yingbao right now.”
“What? Yingbao is here?” Wei Zhan’s eyes lit up, and he darted out the door as if he were flying, “I am going to see her!”
Xiu Zhenniang shook her head and went into the inner courtyard with the maid, following a servant woman from the Wei Family.
Wei Zhan sprinted the whole way and soon arrived at the Wen family’s shop.
Two young lads followed him, panting heavily, “Young master, you… you please slow down a bit.”
Ignoring them, Wei Zhan rushed straight into the Wen’s house and started shouting from the courtyard, “Yingbao! Yingbao!”
Yingbao, who had been conversing with Sister Wen Shu, was startled by his loud voice, then caught sight of Wei Zhan charging into the living room.
“When did you get here? Why didn’t you come to see me?” Wei Zhan gazed with delight at the little girl.
Yingbao retorted, “I wanted to come see you, but I didn’t know where your house was.”
Wei Zhan’s eyes curved into crescents, “Then let me take you there right now.”
Sister Wen Shu laughed, “Yingbao just arrived at our house. Wait a couple of days before going to your house.”
Wei Zhan rubbed his nose, giving a grunt of acknowledgement.
At noon, the Wen family served lunch, and Wei Zhan also stayed for the meal.
After lunch, Zhang Min was besieged by Wen Hengyin and Wei Zhan.
They both eagerly requested Zhang Min to demonstrate how to draw a charm for them.
With no way out, Zhang Min accepted the paper and pen they handed over and drew a charm on it.
“Wow, wow, wow! This is so interesting, I also want to learn the Forbidden Curse Technique!” Wei Zhan was wildly excited, “Later, I will learn to draw charms with Yingbao.”
Upon hearing this, Wen Hengyin frowned.
The few children played for a while, then accompanied Zhang Min to the street to buy blank charm papers, brushes, and cinnabar ink, and started learning how to draw charms.
Two nine-year-old children and a twelve-year-old boy randomly drew a few messy charms and quickly lost patience.
Wei Zhan suggested going to the stream near the Xiao Family to catch fish so they could roast them in the evening.
The boys, of course, had no objection. So, they rushed out, found some branches and bamboo sticks, then assigned a servant to dig for worms, which they intended to use as fishing bait.
In the end, they did not catch any fish, but instead caught a lot of big crabs, big prawns, and even an old turtle.
Wei Zhan was ecstatic and immediately ordered a servant to prepare these creatures, intending to bring them to the Wen Family later.
“Tonight, we’ll have crabs, preferably fried.” Wei Zhan recalled the fried fish and fried prawns he enjoyed at the Jiang Family’s.
“Good! Fried!” Wen Hengyin nodded in agreement.
While they were having fun, they saw a young boy approaching them from a distance.
“Wei Zhan, why aren’t you in school? What are you doing here?” The boy asked.
“It’s our day off today; we don’t have any lessons,” replied Wei Zhan.
The boy came closer, scrutinized Zhang Min, and then his gaze sharpened.
Zhang Min noticed him as well and slowly stood up, “Xiao Chengjun.”
Xiao Chengjun sneered, “Zhang Min, you dared to come to the prefecture city after causing my injury. You are brave!”