Immortal Travel of Longevity

Yu Hongjin felt somewhat uncomfortable under Chen Changsheng's gaze. She clutched the hem of her clothes, attempting to mask her nervousness.

Chen Changsheng's gaze turned toward the Kitchen in the courtyard, and he quickly guessed the gist of the matter.

Chen Changsheng asked, "Is Miss Yun not here?"

Yu Hongjin paused for a moment and said, "Sister went to the tea house to check the accounts. She'll be back in a while."

Chen Changsheng nodded, then walked over to the nearby pavilion and sat down.

Yu Hongjin followed and sat down beside him.

Chen Changsheng asked, "Are you in the courtyard all by yourself?"

"Ah, yes." Yu Hongjin exuded nervousness from head to toe.

She truly was not very good at lying.

Chen Changsheng did not expose her. Instead, he changed the subject and asked about other things.

"Has Qingshan City been relatively peaceful these past two years?"

"Peaceful, it's peaceful..."

"There shouldn't have been any wars or anything like that, and the fighting shouldn't have reached Qingshan City."

"No, everyone has been living quite well."

"Mm, that's good."

Chen Changsheng asked, "I heard that a strategist serving the King of Wei came looking for Miss Yun a while ago."

Hearing this, Yu Hongjin said, "That did happen. It seems they wanted Sister Yun to help them, but Sister Yun refused, and they never came back after that."

She blinked and added, "Actually, they did come back later, but it looked like they were looking for trouble. However, they were all killed by the old man next door. I even helped clean up the mess. Sister Yun doesn't know about this."

"They haven't come back since then, right?"

"They haven't. Perhaps they got scared."

"That is good."

Chen Changsheng nodded, then asked again, "I also heard that Zhishu passed away?"

At the mention of Zhishu, Yu Hongjin immediately stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Chen Changsheng looked at her.

Yu Hongjin's heart tightened. "No, it's nothing..."

"Sister Zhishu, she, um..."

Feigning sadness, Yu Hongjin said, "She passed away the year before last."

"How did she pass?" Chen Changsheng asked.

Yu Hongjin replied, "She fell ill, and there was nothing that could be done. The underworld deputies from the City God Temple said Sister Zhishu's mortal lifespan had ended and she couldn't be saved."

"I see..."

Chen Changsheng began to ponder this, however, and asked, "But as far as This Chen knows, the City God Temple has never declared that a person's mortal lifespan has ended, have they?"

The City God only possessed the authority to ferry departed souls; they could not determine a person's lifespan, and the notion of a predestined mortal lifespan had never existed.

"Is... is that so?" Yu Hongjin stammered. "I can't remember clearly. Perhaps the underworld deputies said something else at the time."

Chen Changsheng shook his head and said, "Now that we've reached this point, why won't you tell the truth? Yu Hongjin, in your early years, you weren't a girl who liked to lie."

Yu Hongjin froze upon hearing this.

She opened her mouth as if to cover it up again, but quickly realized her little schemes could not be hidden from Chen Changsheng.

She fell silent, seemingly thinking of how to explain the matter to him.

"Creak..."

Right at that moment, the door to the Kitchen in the courtyard was suddenly pushed open.

Yu Hongjin paused, then turned her head.

She suddenly grew tense and wanted to run over and shut the door. Halfway there, she turned her head, only to see that Chen Changsheng had already witnessed the scene.

She knew then that she could hide it no longer.

Zhishu looked at Yu Hongjin and said, "Little miss, just tell Mister Chen..."

Yu Hongjin looked at Zhishu, then at Chen Changsheng.

She, who had always seemed like a little girl, now let out a soft sigh, appearing as though she had suddenly aged.

Looking desolate, Yu Hongjin brought Zhishu over to the pavilion.

Zhishu arrived before Chen Changsheng. She bowed and said, "This servant, Zhishu, greets Mister Chen."

Yu Hongjin looked at Chen Changsheng and said, "You saw it all."

Chen Changsheng said, "What exactly is going on? Tell me the truth."

Yu Hongjin opened her mouth, but was interrupted by Zhishu. "Allow me to tell you, Mister."

"The story must start from when we first arrived in Qingshan City..."

At that time, Zhishu was in the prime of her youth and beauty.

Having just arrived in Qingshan City, she was completely unfamiliar with the place, nor did she know any of the local shopkeepers.

As a stranger in a new place, she felt out of her depth whether she was going out or asking the subordinate shopkeepers for help. Fortunately, someone came to her aid at that time.

"It was Mister Cao from the tea house."

Chen Changsheng paused upon hearing this and asked, "Who did you say?"

Zhishu pursed her lips and replied, "It is the disciple you took in before, Mister Cao Fa."

Chen Changsheng was briefly taken aback.

He looked at Zhishu, then glanced at Yu Hongjin.

This matter truly left him a bit dazed.

"Didn't he later go to the Capital?" Chen Changsheng asked.

Zhishu said, "It happened before he went to the Capital."

At that time, Cao Fa had sunk to rock bottom because of the incident with Master Jin San, drinking heavily and wallowing in depression all day.

It just so happened that Zhishu was looking for a shopkeeper's help, and Cao Fa guided her there. This allowed her to smoothly resolve the matters her young lady had instructed her to handle.

Since Zhishu visited often, Cao Fa gradually became familiar with her. Sometimes, when Zhishu needed to buy things like grain, oil, rice, or flour, Cao Fa would tell her which shops in Qingshan City were the best and closest. Zhishu silently committed these details to memory.

To thank Cao Fa for his help, Zhishu asked around and bought him a jug of wine the next day.

Cao Fa was a little surprised. In his eyes, it had merely been a small effort on his part. But he couldn't bring himself to refuse her kindness, so he accepted it.

After that, the two became much more involved with each other.

Sometimes, when Zhishu saw her young lady feeling depressed and wanted to take her somewhere fun, she would seek out Cao Fa to ask for suggestions. Cao Fa would answer all her questions, and there would always be a token of gratitude; every time, Zhishu would bring him a jug of wine.

Slowly, the relationship between the two became somewhat unusual.

Zhishu considered him a friend. Sometimes, when she saw him feeling low, she would offer a few words of advice or accompany him while he drank. Of course, Zhishu didn't drink alcohol, so she substituted tea for wine.

During the time when Cao Fa was depressed, Zhishu was one of the few people he could confide in.

Besides, what maiden doesn't awaken to love? Zhishu was also at an age where feelings begin to blossom, so it was inevitable that some deeper emotions were mixed in.

But from beginning to end, neither of them ever voiced those feelings.

Until later, when Cao Fa was about to leave for the Capital.

Zhishu went in person to see him off. When he left, she even gifted him a pair of handmade shoes, urging him to return safely.

After Cao Fa accepted them, he departed for the Capital. He made no promises when he left, but the way he looked at Zhishu was certainly far from platonic.

He also had things he absolutely had to do.

Before resolving all of that, he dared not give Zhishu any promises.

"Later, he would frequently send letters back."

"As the end of the year approached, he also visited me often, bringing things. He even bought Rouge and the like..."

Zhishu blushed a little as she spoke.

She was older now, and recalling these memories inevitably brought a flush to her cheeks.

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