Ch.182: Hero Defeated by a Penny

Before the entire city was locked down for a strict search, Xie Lian and company traveled all night and came to another city.

He still settled the king and queen in a secluded place before he himself and Feng Xin went out to earn money. However, they who couldn't earn much money in the other city wouldn't magically be luckier in a new one.

The two still worked a full day's labour only to earn meagre pay like always, but since the group of three who had never left each other's sides was suddenly missing one member, the other two were both having a hard time getting used to it. For example, in the past it had always been Mu Qing who was responsible for keeping the money pouch, constantly keeping count. Now that Mu Qing left, Feng Xin straight up said he might lose the money pouch by accident, so Xie Lian had no choice but to keep it on his person. Every time he counted that sad bit of money, he really couldn't believe it was all he earned after a hard day's labour. It must be known that, in the past, the amount of money he granted beggars wasn't even this little.

With Mu Qing gone, the one who brought food for the king and queen was also gone, so Xie Lian had no choice but to take Feng Xin with him and personally deliver all sorts of daily necessities to the king and queen's hiding place. That she could see her son so frequently, the queen was very happy, and when she got happy, she entered the kitchen. That day, she once again made Xie Lian and Feng Xin try her newly-stewed soup, dragging them to the table.

"You both need to fatten up, look how thin you've become."

Feng Xin was streaming cold sweat, and the moment his butt touched the bench he bounced up, waving his hands. "No no no, Your Majesty, Feng Xin doesn't dare, I absolutely mustn't!"

The queen chided pleasantly, "My child, what's there to be afraid of? Come, sit down."

How could Feng Xin dare tell her? He really didn't dare, and after he forced himself to sit down, the queen delivered the fruits of her labour. Feng Xin inhaled sharply and removed the pot cover. Xie Lian sat at the head of the table, and when the both of them saw what was in the pot, they both looked ghastly.

Xie Lian said under his breath, "This chicken…died a tragic death."

"…" Feng Xin's lips trembled. "Your Highness, you didn't see right. There's no chicken in this."

"??? Then what's that thing floating like a dead chicken?" Xie Lian wondered.

"I think it's stew paste…but the shape is a little off?" Feng Xin replied.

The two studied the pot for a good while, but still couldn't figure it out. The queen ladled a full bowl for Xie Lian, and Feng Xin himself rushed to ladle himself a bowl. When the queen went to the back rooms to find the king, they instantly poured out the soup in their own bowls and pretended to wipe their mouths, looking as if they ate it up in one sip and hadn't had enough.

"I'm full, I'm full."

Seeing this, the queen was delighted. "Was it good?"

Xie Lian praised hollowly, "It was, it was!"

The queen said happily, "If it's good, then have some more!"

Xie Lian almost spat out a mouthful of that nonexistent soup and raised his handkerchief to pretend he was wiping at his lips.

Just then, the queen seemed to hesitate before speaking. "My son, I want to ask you a question, please don't think your mom is nosy."

Xie Lian stiffened and placed the handkerchief down. "What is it? Please ask."

The queen sat down next to him and asked, "Where's that child Mu Qing? How come he hasn't come the past few days?"

He knew it.

Xie Lian's heart squeezed tighter at her mention of Mu Qing. "Oh, I gave him a mission, so he's gone off elsewhere."

The queen seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. Then right after, she asked, "When will he be back?"

"Maybe, he'll need to be out for a long time…he won't be back any time soon," Xie Lian replied.

Hearing this, the queen seemed troubled, and Xie Lian noticed.

"Is something the matter?"

The queen instantly replied, "Oh, it's nothing."

Feng Xin was the sharper one, and he suddenly spoke up, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with your hands?"

Hands?

Xie Lian looked down and was instantly shocked.

His mother's pair of delicate, exquisitely-maintained wealthy hands were, at this moment, looking rather horrifying. The joints were scraped and peeling, and there were faint traces of blood. Xie Lian stood up abruptly and grabbed her hands.

"What's going on?"

The queen quickly explained, "It's nothing. I only just washed some clothes and blankets, but I'm not very good at it."

Xie Lian blurted, "Why are you doing the washing yourself? You could've…"

But he was stumped before he finished his words. Could've what? Could've had the palace attendants do the washing? Could've had Mu Qing do the washing? All of that was impossible now.

On the road of escape, it had been Mu Qing who was the acting personal attendant, and his duties included taking care of all personal necessities; including the care for Xie Lian, the king, and the queen. With him gone, suddenly there was no one to attend to all the nitty-gritty.

No one to cook, no one to wash, no one to fold the blankets. The simple days of the past suddenly became difficult. Xie Lian himself was alright in suffering through it, since there were far too many other things to worry about. But his mother, who had lived a comfortable, luxurious life, when had she ever done such crude labour? But if the queen didn't do this work herself, who else could take over?

After some silence, Xie Lian said, "Don't let this trouble you. I'll take care of the washing."

The queen smiled. "No need. You just take care of yourself. I've never done laundry nor cooked before, but since my time is free every day, doing the chores myself is still quite fun. Especially since you both enjoyed the meal, it's made me quite happy."

That pot of soup was stewed by such a pair of hands like his mother's. Xie Lian and Feng Xin exchanged a look and felt rather horrid.

Just then, the queen added, "Oh yes, there was another thing. Is there any way you can bring some medicine back tomorrow?"

Xie Lian's eyes widened slightly. "Medicine? What kind of medicine?"

The queen's face was troubled. "Sigh, I'm not quite sure either. Why don't you go to the pharmacy and inquire, see what kind of medicine should be taken for symptoms like coughing up blood?"

"Coughing up blood?!" Xie Lian was shocked. "Who's coughing up blood? You? Father? Why didn't you say something sooner?"

His voice was raised and the queen immediately hushed him. "Lower your voice!"

However, it was too late, and an outraged voice came from the back of the cottage. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY ANYTHING UNNECESSARY!"

It was the king. Seeing that he had already heard, the queen didn't worry over hushing anymore and called towards the back rooms, "But it won't do if this keeps up!"

Xie Lian walked straight into the rooms and saw the king was huddled in a bed of ragged blankets. He hadn't looked closely recently, but now that he saw, the king was looking ill, his cheeks sunken, appearing even more sickly inside a gloomy room. There wasn't any kingly aura at all; he was nothing more than an ashen-faced old man.

Xie Lian didn't need to check his pulse to know that he must've been ill for a long time, and nothing light either. In fact, the entire room was permeated with the suffocating, musty air of sickness. Recalling that the queen had said the symptom was "coughing up blood", in his moment of distress, his voice was raised.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE??"

The king steeled his face. "What's with that tone?"

Both the queen and Feng Xin entered the room, too.

Xie Lian admonished, "Who cares what tone I'm using. If you're sick, why didn't you say something sooner?"

The king was furious. "Are you lecturing your king? At any given time, what this king can and cannot say is not for you to say!"

Seeing that he was still acting tough, Xie Lian was in disbelief. "You're unbelievable! Are you still throwing the weight of your title around at a time like this?"

The king was outraged. "GET OUT! GET OUT OF HERE!"

The queen and Feng Xin immediately dragged Xie Lian out. "My son! Don't be like that. He's your father, and he's ill. Take a step back."

On the run and ill, this was like adding frost to snow. Xie Lian buried his face in his hands.

"Mother! Why didn't you both say something sooner? If you had, the illness wouldn't have escalated to coughing up blood! Do you know how hard that is to cure?"

Or rather, based on their current situation, it was impossible to cure!

The queen was both dismayed and aggrieved. "We…We didn't know either, that it'd worsen like this."

Feng Xin added, "Yeah. Besides, we've been dodging Yong'an pursuit this entire way, there was no time to stop."

Xie Lian pulled his face from his hands. "I'll take him to find a doctor in the city right now."

"NO NEED!" the king cried from within the room.

Xie Lian looked back and was just about to rebuke with "I'm the one who makes the call right now", but Feng Xin responded first. "Your Highness, if you take His Majesty to the doctors in the city, you'll be discovered for sure."

Hearing this, Xie Lian instantly froze.

The queen also spoke up. "That's what we were afraid of, which was why we didn't say anything in the past few days. My son, why don't you just…think of a way to bring back some medicine first?"

In the back rooms, the king started coughing violently again, and the queen went in to look after him. Xie Lian was dazed for a good moment, then he turned and went out.

Feng Xin called out, "Your Highness! What do you plan to do?"

Xie Lian didn't answer, but started rummaging through all the shelves and chests in the cottage.

Feng Xin asked, "What are you looking for?"

He didn't respond, and a brief moment later, he dug out something from the bottom of a chest. It was an ancient sacred sword.

Feng Xin looked and questioned him, "What are you doing, taking Hongjing out?"

After some silence, Xie Lian replied, "I'm going to pawn it."

Feng Xin was shocked, and immediately exclaimed, "YOU CAN'T!"

Xie Lian slammed the chest shut heavily. "I've already pawned off so many swords, this is just one more."

Throughout their journey, in order to make up enough funds for carriages and bribes for crossing checkpoints, Xie Lian had already pawned off over half of his collection of beloved sacred swords. And since they couldn't go to large, bustling pawn shops, sometimes they'd even be blackmailed by shady merchants who had discovered their identities and had to suffer bargained sales.

Feng Xin exclaimed, "It's not the same! Don't you really like this sword? Otherwise, why haven't you pawned it already, and instead stuffed it at the bottom of the chest? Besides, this was a sword the Emperor gifted you, it won't sound good if this got out!"

Xie Lian said tiredly, "No matter how much I like it, it's still not as important as a life. Let's go, let's go."

The two made their way to the city with the sword, both looking downtrodden. When they came to the pawn shop, Xie Lian stopped in his step and looked at the Hongjing in his hand.

Feng Xin peered at him. "Why don't we forget about pawning it? Let's try…let's think of another way?"

Xie Lian shook his head. "It's too late. Besides, we don't know if there's any other way that can make up enough money."

If they went to steal, to rob, to trick, no mortal would be a match for them, and money would pour in much faster. However, it was precisely because they must uphold their moral compass and adhere to the ethical regulation of mortals, earn money honestly, that things were so difficult.

Having made up his mind, Xie Lian said, "This has to be pawned. Once it's pawned, let's go buy medicine."

While he said so, his feet still didn't move.

Feng Xin knew he was reluctant to let go, that this was the last sacred sword Xie Lian had. So he said, "Let's look around some more."

Right then, on the other end of the street came clamouring noise, shouting and yelling, and someone cried out.

"WHO'S CAUSING TROUBLE??"

"THE AUDACITY!"

"CATCH HIM! CATCH HIM!"

The two were both startled, and Xie Lian instantly backed up to the side in alarm. "Who?!"

Feng Xin was alarmed, too, and went over to check, returning after he was assured. "It's nothing! Don't worry! It has nothing to do with us. It's not anyone looking for us, and it's not the Yong'an soldiers either."

Only then did Xie Lian's tension relax. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Feng Xin said. "Looks to be a fight between some mad servants, want to go see?"

"Let's go see," Xie Lian said. "Hopefully it's not some thug."

The two shuffled over to watch. They saw in the centre there were a couple men who were brawling, and the surrounding audience was cheering.

Feng Xin patted a passerby on the side who was enjoying the show. "Hey buddy, what's going on here?"

That passerby chuckled. "You don't know? This is too exciting! The servant is beating the master!"

Such an affair! Xie Lian was speechless. "How come? And why is it a good thing?"

"Of course it's a good thing!" that passerby said. "This master really is no good! This servant followed him since he was young, very loyal, but him! He only knew how to take advantage, not only did he give no pay, he even worked him to the bone. The servant couldn't take it anymore, so you see, you see! They're fighting!"

Sure enough, the one doing all the beating was cursing as he threw punches, yelling things like, "I've had it with you for a long time!", "Why don't you figure for yourself what you've given me??", "My family's so poor we have nothing to eat, but you still ride over my head all high and mighty!", "From today onwards, I ain't your dog no more!", and so on. The master who was getting beaten was hugging his head and screaming while the crowd cheered, but their shouts were making Xie Lian's heart lurch in waves, giving him chills for some reason, and he glimpsed at Feng Xin's face without thinking.

Feng Xin didn't notice his strange behaviour at all, and when he heard of all those crummy deeds, he commented offhandedly, "I see, then this master really is no good, no wonder the servant is rebelling."

He didn't mean anything by it, but Xie Lian's heart cracked, and he gripped Hongjing tighter.

After much headache, Hongjing was pawned, and the two finally had money. They immediately went to inquire after a doctor and purchased over ten different kinds of medicine to take back.

The medicine to cure symptoms of coughing blood was expensive, and the quantity needed was immense. It wasn't just one or two packets of medicine, healed in a couple days, and how things turned out afterwards must be closely observed. That evening, Feng Xin unwrapped a few bundles of medicine and started stewing them outside the cottage, fanning wildly at the flames with a torn fan. As for Xie Lian, he was once again rummaging through the shelves and chests all over the house. After a while, he finally fumbled out a soft, shimmering golden belt.

Originally, Xie Lian had a number of golden belts, but their end was the same as those sacred swords, all pawned off. There was only this one left, and Xie Lian had wanted to keep it as a souvenir at first. But now, he had decided to use it for something.

Coincidentally, Feng Xin looked up at him. "Your Highness, what are you doing holding that belt? You're not thinking of pawning it too, are you?"

However, Xie Lian walked over and handed the golden belt to him.

Seeing this, Feng Xin's eyes bulged, and he was bewildered. "… What are you doing giving this to me??? Your Highness, when you shut the chest just now you didn't also shut your brain in too, did you???"

"…" Only then did Xie Lian remember that, in the Upper Court, to gift a golden belt had a special meaning, and his face instantly darkened. "You think too much, I don't mean it that way at all. You just take it, like it's regular gold!"

Then he shoved it on him. Feng Xin glared with that shimmering golden belt around his neck.

"No. You still gotta tell me, why are you suddenly stuffing me with gold?"

"Just take it as compensation that I've owed you for so long," Xie Lian said.

Feng Xin was confused. "No, but. What's with you all of a sudden? Why are you talking compensation to me at a time like this? You might just as well pawn this off and buy more medicine for His Majesty. It's fine if you don't pawn it, too. Keep it for yourself. This is something that only heavenly officials can possess."