The Slender Waist-Chapter 115 - 90: The Hidden World’s Healing Hand
Feng Yun calmly finished writing, causing Xiaoman, who had already recognized a few characters, to be greatly astonished. She stared at their family’s girl with a face flushed red with embarrassment.
By this time, Azuo and Ayou had finished eating. The two youngsters bounded over, not seeing their brother, and without even asking, appeared exceedingly happy, as if they were birds that had just been released from a cage. They surrounded Feng Yun, curiously examining her.
One said, "Aunt, you’re really pretty."
One said, "Aunt, you are prettier than Uncle."
One said, "Eldest Brother isn’t as pretty as Aunt."
One said, "The dog in our house isn’t as pretty as Aunt either."
Feng Yun: ...
Comparisons couldn’t go on any further.
If they kept on comparing, even the mice in their house might not be as pretty as her.
Feng Yun, with a stern face, asked, "How did you two get here?"
Azuo replied, "We came by carriage."
Feng Yun asked, "How about I send you to the Lord of Pingyuan County?"
Ayou’s head shook like a windmill, "No, no, the Lord of Pingyuan County went to find the handsome young lord. It’s not fun following her. We want to stay with Aunt."
Feng Yun corrected again, "You must not call me Aunt."
Azuo asked, "Then what should we call you? Aunty?"
Ayou smacked him, "Didn’t you hear what Eldest Brother called her just now?"
Azuo finally understood, "Miss."
Feng Yun was both amused and exasperated by the twins, pinching each of their cheeks.
"You can call me by my name, or Miss. Just not Aunt."
Azuo asked, "Why can’t we call you Aunt? The Lord of Pingyuan County said that, since you are Uncle’s concubine, you should naturally take care of us."
Ayou replied, "You’re so silly! Uncle hasn’t invited us to a feast, and Aunt hasn’t been brought home through marriage; it’s not something you can openly say."
Azuo suggested, "Then how about we call her Aunt-to-be?"
The two little ones agreed tacitly, then each took an arm of Feng Yun.
"Aunt-to-be, you must take care of us. If you don’t, we’ll end up homeless, begging on the streets..."
Feng Yun, made to feel a headache by their noise, pulled the children aside with a bit of force.
"But right now I have things to do. So, just stay in the Yutangchun, waiting for your father to send someone to pick you up."
"No..."
"Don’t want to!"
When it came to making a scene, the two little ones had plenty of tricks. Feng Yun really wondered if they were actually Ao Qi’s children, given how sensible and well-behaved he was. How could he have such mischievous siblings?
In the end, Feng Yun reluctantly took the two little troublemakers and stuffed them into the donkey cart.
"If you want to follow me, that’s fine, but from now on, you must listen to everything I say. Otherwise, I’ll send you to the Lord of Pingyuan County, or leave you with your sister-in-law."
The two little ones nodded their heads in unison.
Ayou spoke up weakly, "She’s not our sister-in-law."
Feng Yun raised an eyebrow. Didn’t they seem quite happy to call her that yesterday?
Azuo pouted, and Ayou hung his head.
"Eldest Brother got angry. If we call her sister-in-law again, he won’t acknowledge us anymore."
The two little ones had grown up under the pressure of Ao Qi’s bloodline, which was like an insurmountable mountain for the two children since they were young.
But...
They really did talk a lot.
They were like two little chatterboxes...
Whether Feng Yun liked it or not, they gave her a complete account of the events at the General Residence the night before...
Ao Qi was angry, and Cui Zhi cried.
The Lord of Pingyuan County had his fill of drama.
In the end, Ayou nodded affirmatively.
"Eldest Brother likes Aunt and is willing for us to follow Aunt."
Even though Feng Yun was well aware that the way children ’like’ someone is different from adults, the words still had an indescribable taste to them.
She thought of the young man’s fervent embrace.
She had always assumed Ao Qi was young, but now she reconsidered; Ao Qi was less than a year younger than her...
As soon as the donkey cart arrived at Huaxi Village, it was spotted by the villagers.
"The Village Chief’s wife is back!"
"Hurry up and find out, how is the battle going on the southern shore..."
News was scarce in the village, but being at the frontier of a battlefield, they were more or less aware of the current situation.
When Feng Yun’s donkey cart entered Changmen Village, she was immediately encircled by the villagers.
A group of people, smiling warmly yet with a lack of respect, called her the Village Chief’s wife.
Azuo and Ayou had never seen such a display before.
In their home, all the servants had to behave properly.
"Aunt..." Ayou was a girl, and being in a strange place for the first time, she clung to Feng Yun’s side, tugging at her sleeve, unwilling to get off the cart.
Feng Yun patted her little hand and scooped her up from under her arm to lift her down.
"Don’t be afraid."
Ao Qi was handsome, and his siblings were exquisitely beautiful children, with fair, tender faces and bright, black eyes—a rare sight in the village.
The onlooking villagers widened their eyes.
"Such a handsome little young master."
"Such a beautiful young miss!"
"Oh, whose children are these?"
Ayou clung tightly to Feng Yun, too shy to lift her head up.
Azuo, a bit bolder, faced those pairs of eyes and seriously said:
"We are the Great General’s nephews."
The villagers were startled for a moment but quickly came to their senses.
The Village Chief’s wife was really capable.
She had won over General Pei’s nephews so quickly they were already calling her "aunt." This skill was not something an ordinary person possessed.
Feng Yun couldn’t help but find it funny and sad as she looked into those people’s eyes.
She was almost smothered by their clinginess.
"Xiaoman." Feng Yun handed the two children over to her, "Take them to my room, watch them closely, and make sure there are no slip-ups."
Initially, the two children refused, but they obediently followed Xiaoman after Feng Yun put on a stern face.
Feng Yun had come back on this trip for an important matter.
She gave brief replies to the villagers’ questions and then called out to Mrs. Wang in the crowd.
"Sister Wang, I have something to discuss with Doctor Yao, is he at home?"
Mrs. Wang’s eyes crinkled with a smile.
"Yes, he’s at home. Old Yao has been eager to hear about the war situation on the southern bank, but it wasn’t appropriate for him to come out and ask. With the Village Chief’s wife visiting him, you’re going to make him very happy."
Feng Yun smiled and followed the crowd to the Yao Family’s house.
Doctor Yao was in the middle of cutting and grinding medicine with a chopper and a pestle in his room.
Without a medicine hall, he had split his bedroom in half.
There was a bed made of wooden frames inside, and the outside was filled with medicinal herbs—it was indeed fortunate that Mrs. Wang was willing to endure hardships with him.
As Doctor Yao saw Feng Yun, he hurriedly got up to greet her.
"The Village Chief’s wife has come, please take a seat here."
Feng Yun returned the greeting and laughed, "I’m here to ask Doctor Yao for medicine."
The last time Doctor Yao gave medicine for Alou’s injury, it was very effective. Alou had been severely wounded by Wei Zheng, but within a couple of days, he was able to walk around the room with crutches.
Alou recovered quickly, and Doctor Yao also handled the external injuries of the young boy from the Sun Family very well. The Sun Family even brought over a hunted young pheasant to thank Doctor Yao.
It was then that Feng Yun discovered, to her amazement, that this new neighbor was actually a skilled healer, and she shamelessly sought out Doctor Yao.
"On the battlefield, the situation changes rapidly, and external injury medicine is most useful. I ask Doctor Yao to prepare some extra for me."
"Certainly, certainly. Does the Village Chief’s wife need it urgently?"
Feng Yun thought for a moment, "Urgently."
Doctor Yao nodded without asking anything further, and immediately took out all the stock he had in the house, giving it to Feng Yun along with the prescription without any reservations.
Feng Yun was extremely grateful, "Doctor Yao, if there’s ever anything you need my help with in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask."
Mrs. Wang saw her politeness and beamed with a smile.
"What are you talking about, Village Chief’s wife? Neighbors next door are like family. It’s only right to help each other. We all hope for the Great General to win the battle so that Andu can be peaceful."
Doctor Yao stroked his beard and smiled with a kind face.
"My wife is right. As a healer, this is what I should do. If my Yao Family’s medicines can save one more person, then that would also be my fortune."
Feng Yun thanked him repeatedly, and after bidding farewell, she instructed Xing Bing to send a stone of grain to the Yao Family’s house. She also sent a piece of fabric with a simple and elegant pattern to Mrs. Wang as a token of thanks.
-
Ao Qi arrived in Huaxi Village just as the sun was about to set.
Feng Yun prepared a farewell meal for him and called over the twenty or so guards that Pei Jue had left behind.
"I’m quite safe in Huaxi Village and don’t need so many people. Take them all with you, Guard Ao."
Ao Qi shook his head and refused.
"The General instructed before he left that these men are for you."
In fact, Feng Yun was only farming in Huaxi Village, and having more than twenty guards seemed a bit like an overkill. She couldn’t order them around as she would with her own subordinates.
But they refused to leave.
Ao Qi called Ye Chuang over and left the men in his care.
"After I go, follow the lady’s orders as if they were your own."
All the guards replied in unison, "Yes."
Feng Yun didn’t say anything more. She stuffed the prepared medicine and a letter into his saddlebag.
"Be careful in everything."
Ao Qi mounted his horse, and as he gazed at Feng Yun’s hair lifted by the gentle breeze, his eyes burned with intensity, his voice a mere whisper, "I will, take good care of yourself."
It looked like he had just bathed; his hair wasn’t fully dry, and in the glow of the setting sun, his cheeks bore the tender greenness unique to young men. Each hair on his skin was visible, but within his dark eyes, there was an indelible depth of emotion.
Feng Yun smiled faintly, "Take care."
"Take care."
Ao Qi’s throat tightened. With the ones seeing him off so close by, it wasn’t appropriate to say much more, only turning his head to caution Ye Chuang.
"If the lady comes to any harm, you might as well not be alive."
Ye Chuang knew Ao Qi well and understood his thoughts completely.
If it were any other day, he would have teased him mercilessly.
But going off to battle was no child’s play—blades and swords don’t recognize faces, and the brother who you joked with today could be gone in an instant.
Thus, there was an unwritten rule in the Beiyong Army—never speak of ill-omened things before heading into battle.
Ye Chuang patted Ao Qi’s horses’ head, pressing his cheek against it.
"Don’t worry."
Then looked up, with a voice so faint it’s barely a breath, meant only for Ao Qi to hear, "I’ll look after the one in your heart."
Ao Qi’s face flushed slightly, he glared at Ye Chuang, then, not daring to look at Feng Yun again, he spurred his horse into a trot with a "giddy-up" and rode off kicking up dust.
Feng Yun hugged the two little ones, "Say goodbye to your elder brother."
The two children stood on their tiptoes to see the solitary figure and horse in the distance, shouting loudly to their brother.
"Brother, you must return safe and sound."
"Brother, come back and marry sister-in-law!"
Ao Qi didn’t look back.
In the sunset, man and horse became one, gradually shrinking into a small black dot.
Fading away.
