Chapter 25

Chapter 25: I’ll Do It

Chun Zhi took things off the cart to wash and said without looking up: “I guessed.”

“You guessed?” Huo Zheng found this answer surprising.

While rinsing the tofu frames, she said: “My name wasn’t Chun Zhi before, but I forgot what it was. They called me Chun Zhi the instant they arrived. That’s clearly a problem.”

“They did change to calling you Little Yu later,” said Huo Zheng.

“Yes, and you could see it too. They switched on the spot,” said Chun Zhi.

She worked quickly. In a short time she had the tofu frames clean and set them in the yard to dry.

She turned and said to Huo Qi: “Close the gate.”

By now, Huo Zheng was used to her sending him on small errands. He said nothing, just turned back and shut the gate.

The small yard held only the two of them. Once the door closed, all the noise outside felt far away.

Watching Huo Qi walk slowly toward her on his crutch, Chun Zhi said: “I’ve lived in Linshui Town for so many years, and my birth parents never came. How did they show up the moment I got married?”

“It might be a coincidence,” said Huo Zheng.

“When Auntie Li told me my family had come, I also thought maybe it was real,” said Chun Zhi. But the moment she saw the three, her first feeling was that they were not her family.

“People say blood relatives have a special sense for each other, but when I looked at them, I felt nothing,” she said.

“Just because of that?” asked Huo Zheng. He could not tell if this girl was careful by nature or if she acted by feel.

“Not only that,” said Chun Zhi. “Madam Feng cried too much. It looked fake.”

Huo Zheng was silent for a moment. Then he said: “But they knew you have a peach?blossom birthmark on your lower back.”

“That is the strangest part,” said Chun Zhi. She almost said that she did have one there, but saying that in front of Huo Qi felt improper, so she swallowed the words halfway.

Huo Zheng waited for her answer, eyes fixed on her.

“Strangers who know about my birthmark, that’s the problem,” said Chun Zhi. In all of Linshui Town, only Old Madam Lu and Lu Jing Yun knew about the peach?blossom mark. And lately she had fallen out with the two of them. Setting aside whether the Lu clan would ask people to pose as her family, it was already suspicious that the Su family wanted to take her away and marry her off to someone else.

She listed the odd points one by one for Huo Qi to hear: “If they truly searched ten years to find their daughter, why didn’t they want to spend time with me as a family first? Why did they talk about finding me a new husband the moment they saw me? Isn’t that strange?”

Huo Zheng did not speak. His gaze was dark as ink as he watched her. So this girl was not careless at all. She was thoughtful and guarded. Letting him stay and heal had already used up all her kindness. The idea almost made him laugh.

Not knowing what he was thinking, Chun Zhi went on: “If they were my real parents, when they found me they would at least ask how I’ve been living and what kind of man I married.”

Over the years, she had imagined again and again what it would be like to find her birth parents. A thousand different scenes. None of them looked like today.

“They didn’t ask anything. They just said to come with them. It didn’t sound like taking me home for a good life. It sounded like tricking me to sell me,” she said.

Huo Zheng chuckled and said: “You are pretty alert.”

“If I’m not alert, what am I supposed to do?” said Chun Zhi. “I look decent. If someone sold me, I would be worth a good amount of silver.”

Huo Zheng found a chair in the yard, sat down, and set his crutch aside, saying: “We were discussing the situation. How did you start praising yourself?”

At that, Chun Zhi suddenly remembered he had once said she had clear features but an average face. Right. Huo Qi did not think she was pretty at all. She did not feel like arguing. She smiled and said: “Then why didn’t they try to trick you? With your looks, if someone sold you, you would fetch more than me.”

Huo Zheng snorted and said: “Since when is being tricked a good thing?”

“Of course it isn’t,” said Chun Zhi. She had thought her family had come, but it turned out to be a scam. She was a little disappointed and wanted to talk. The man clearly did not like the topic, so she stopped. She lifted the pork and pigeons off the cart and said again: “Today we’re making Four Happiness Meatballs and pigeon soup. Huo Qi, come help.”

Huo Zheng had just sat down, but when she called, he slowly pushed himself up on his crutch.

In truth, the things she asked him to do were not necessary. Without him, she could handle everything. But she liked to let him take part.

Huo Zheng had been born noble. In the Capital, when he was Prince Chang’an, he had a crowd of servants and never touched chores. After a few days of healing at Chun Zhi’s place, he had picked up a bit of everyday life.

Chun Zhi did not like killing pigeons. She held the knife and hesitated, then said without looking up: “Start the fire.”

Sitting at the stove, Huo Zheng soon had the fire going. He had learned just by watching her these last two days.

The fire burned and the water in the pot began to boil, but Chun Zhi still hadn’t done anything to the pigeon.

Seeing this, Huo Zheng asked: “I’ll do it?”

“Have you ever killed a pigeon?” asked Chun Zhi.

“No,” said Huo Zheng.

The sages say a gentleman stays away from the kitchen. Before Chun Zhi brought him home, Prince Chang’an had never even stepped into a kitchen, let alone started a fire or killed a pigeon.

“Then can you even do it?” she asked, not quite at ease.

“I should be able to,” he said calmly.

It was only a pigeon. It could not be harder than killing a person. Even in this last attack, he alone had killed more than twenty assassins.

“Then be careful,” said Chun Zhi as she handed him the pigeon. “Do it fast so it won’t suffer. And don’t get blood on your clothes…”

Before she finished, Huo Zheng’s hand moved. The knife flashed, and the pigeon was ended in one clean stroke.

The bird did not even have time to flap. He had already cut the throat and held a bowl to catch the blood. Not a drop spilled outside. Even his hands stayed perfectly clean.

His movements were so crisp and quick that he was faster than a butcher who kills chickens for a living.

Chun Zhi stared and fell silent: “…”

[Just what kind of man did I bring home?]