Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Lady Weiguo, Shao-ge'er, and Yulian (2)

The Shao-ge of today is no longer the young lad the Lady Fu once knew.

His original name was Liu Qiang, a modern man. Four years ago, he woke up suddenly to find he had become an ancient youth during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, discarded like a corpse in a mass grave outside the city walls by the river. Later, he was saved and brought back to life by a strange old Taoist. Only then did he gradually realize that he had "died" during the Later Han period, in the war where Guo Wei suppressed Li Shouzhen’s rebellion.

The old man claimed to have attained the status of a half-immortal, known to others as the Sleeping Immortal or Fuyaoji. He saved Liu Qiang because he felt the Five Elements energy in him was contradictory; his physiognomy suggested water, yet he possessed an aura of fire. Liu Qiang was terrified at the time, fearing the old man wanted to throw him into an alchemy furnace for research, so he sought an opportunity to escape. He failed, but when the old man caught up to him, he didn't do anything to him. Instead, he tore out a few pages of paper covered in diagrams and text, gifted him an "immortal pill," and told him to practice according to the diagrams to purge the fire attribute from his body. Liu Qiang, of course, did not eat the pill; he accepted it, offered his thanks, and made his escape.

From then on, he lived among the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms as an ancient. The attachments of his past life had faded over the long span of four years, yet there were always two or three things that perhaps even time could not heal. Some regrets, some attachments, and some unfulfilled wishes.

...

"Clang, clang..." Hammer blow after hammer blow, he continued to forge. He was not forging ironware for sale, but a breastplate.

The sunset had already vanished deep behind the towering Chongming Gate tower, leaving a brilliant orange-red afterglow in the western sky, making the ancient gate tower appear even more solemn and majestic. A full day of non-stop, heavy physical labor had worn out even the sturdy Shao-ge; his arms felt weak, and his head felt dizzy.

Guo Shao had an impression of the noblewoman he had seen earlier, one that came from memory—the memory belonging to that "young lad." Especially the images seen right before death; when reawakened, they were exceptionally clear... The increasingly blurred vision, the distant, receding hem of a skirt, the graceful figure. The young lad had lain on the ground, struggling to reach out with a blood-stained right hand, as if trying to grasp something, or perhaps wishing for that beauty to look back one last time, to see her once more. The image in his vision finally froze.

"Clang!" Guo Shao swung the hammer with great force. The young lad in his memory was too young; in his short life, he hadn't even understood what this world was about. The obsession he had shown toward the "wealthy and beautiful" Lady Fu was something the current Guo Shao could not accept.

However, one thing was certain: the greater a person's conviction or desire, the more they were willing to pay in price and effort.

At this moment, Yulian called from the back room that dinner was ready; she had already prepared the meal. The old man working the bellows stood up to fetch water and said, "Shao-ge, the sun has set. Let's finish tomorrow."

"You all eat first, just leave me a pancake; no need to wait for me. Mistress Chen has to rush back to cook for her husband after she eats," Guo Shao said without turning his head. "I’ll finish this armor with a few more strikes. I won't have time tomorrow; I have to go to the drill grounds at dawn to take roll call."

The old man asked, "Is the Imperial Guard really going to cross the border to fight?"

Guo Shao gave a casual grunt in response.

This shop was Guo Shao’s property, bought with his accumulated military pay. There were three people in total, though they were not a family. The old man, surnamed Huang, and the young wife, Yulian, were both hired help. Old Man Huang was a village blacksmith who made hoes, kitchen knives, and similar tools; the sales and prices were far inferior to the shops in the Eastern Capital. Working here, his wages were more substantial than what he earned selling ironware in the countryside.

As for the young wife, Yulian, her background was a coincidence. In the "young lad's" memories, when he was a guard at Li Shouzhen’s manor years ago, she had been a maid there. They were people who had once known each other. After the vicissitudes of life and drifting about, they had met again in the Eastern Capital. When Guo Shao learned that her life was very difficult, out of nostalgia, he hired her to do odd jobs at his smithy. In reality, she likely took more than half of the shop's profits, because whenever Guo Shao was on duty, he would be in the Imperial Guard for days and unable to manage the business, leaving Yulian to handle it as she pleased.

Her name was Yulian, and the neighborhood said her surname was Dong, though that might just have been a name she made up on the spot.

Yulian’s husband had a broken leg and could not work, and since she was a young woman working in a bachelor’s home, washing clothes and cooking, rumors were inevitable. Guo Shao didn't care, but for her, it seemed very difficult... Being gossiped about and having one's reputation chewed on was clearly not a pleasant experience. He often saw Yulian keep her head down whenever she stepped outside, walking quickly and not speaking to anyone.

Gradually, night fell completely, and Guo Shao finally put down his work. The stall set up outside had already been cleared, so he used wooden boards to piece together a closure and shut the shop. The entire front wall of the smithy was open, and without large door panels, this piecemeal wooden board method served, in his view, the same purpose as a rolling shutter door from the future.

Guo Shao walked into the backyard and immediately saw that the food on the table in the dining room remained untouched. Yulian was sweeping the floor with a broom, and Old Huang was sitting on the threshold repairing a pair of iron tongs. Only then did Guo Shao realize that the ancient rules of status and hierarchy were laid out on the table, not subtle at all. He was the youngest, but he was the master; if the master hadn't eaten, no one dared to touch their chopsticks.

The staple food was soup noodles made of white flour; this was likely the material guarantee that kept people here. In this era, not to mention places of famine and starvation, even local wealthy landowners were reluctant to eat white flour often.

After dinner was finished and cleaned up, Yulian hurried to leave. Seeing that it was dark outside and that the deep alley leading to her home was poorly lit, Guo Shao stood up and said, "I'll walk you."

Yulian quickly waved her hands. "No need, no need. Master Guo, get some rest early. I'll come to make breakfast tomorrow morning."

Guo Shao insisted, "The Eastern Capital only looks peaceful."

Yulian picked up the basket she had prepared, and Guo Shao followed her out the back door into an alley. In this commercial district, the front facing the street was lined with shops, while the back was just a high, narrow alley to save space. Merchants and craftsmen lived in the back, often throwing trash into the drainage ditches in the alley; if it didn't rain for a few days to wash it away, the alley would reek with a foul stench.

Yulian walked in front with her head bowed, looking timid and embarrassed, occasionally glancing back and forth quickly as if afraid of running into someone she knew. Guo Shao walked behind, quietly admiring her back. In truth, her figure had lovely lines; her waist was supple, and her hips filled out her skirt to form beautiful folds. Even though the skirt was tattered, a truly good figure could not be hidden by coarse cloth and simple hairpins. The patched, grey-cloth, cross-collared top contrasted sharply with her fair neck, reminiscent of a lotus flower in the mud.

"What is it?" Yulian turned back, seeing Guo Shao’s strange gaze, and couldn't help but ask.

Guo Shao shook his head and gestured with his chin toward a door ahead. "You're here. Go on in."

"Mm." Yulian seemed to want to say something polite, but she hesitated for a moment and silently fled into her old, dilapidated home.

The light of an oil lamp flickered on the bamboo-framed, paper-covered window. Suddenly, there was a loud "slap," followed by a woman’s scream. A man’s voice cursed, "You shameless slut! Off with your lover again!" The woman’s sobbing could be heard saying something softly, and immediately after, the "clatter" of a ceramic container shattering echoed.

"I may have a broken leg, but I’m not deaf! If you have the guts, go collude with that adulterer and kill me!"

Guo Shao heard it clearly from outside. Although he sympathized with Yulian, he was helpless. No one would feel good hearing rumors about their own wife... but heaven is his witness, he was innocent. Perhaps the Chen man hadn't fully grasped his own situation; he had fallen to this state, and he could either live in humiliation or die and be done with it. Besides that, could he really blame his wife?

Soon, he heard the man’s voice again: "Wine! Wine! There’s no wine left!"

Yulian’s voice was very soft, and he couldn't hear what she said, but suddenly there was another chaotic clatter, and the woman’s crying became truly miserable.

Guo Shao was furious. He looked down and saw some firewood nearby; he grabbed a piece and started walking forward. Just then, the door opened. Yulian ran out, one hand covering her face, the other clutching her arm, her face covered in tears. She froze when she saw Guo Shao.

She immediately noticed the wooden club in Guo Shao’s hand and the murderous look on his face. Her sorrowful expression turned to terror, and she said in a low voice, "What are you doing? The neighbors are all spreading rumors. If you beat him to death, do you think the authorities won't know?"

The man inside shouted, "Who are you talking to?"

Yulian gritted her teeth and waved her hand, signaling Guo Shao to leave quickly. Just then, the man inside yelled again, "Since you're so lewd, go serve that adulterer all night, and you'll have money for wine, won't you? Hahaha..."

*Crack, crack.* The firewood actually groaned under the pressure of Guo Shao’s grip. With the arm strength he had practiced to pull a three-stone heavy bow, if he swung this wood at someone, either bones would break or the wood would!

Yulian held her breath, staring fixedly at his face. Her eyes were bright, waiting for something. Her expression held pleading, yet it also seemed to carry excitement and anticipation.

"I'm not sure yet," Guo Shao said coldly, then bent down and placed the firewood steadily and gently back onto the pile.

Yulian watched his back, somewhat confused... Not sure about what? A strong young man serving in the military—could he not be sure he could beat a disabled man who couldn't even stand?

Lights flickered on in several nearby windows. The commotion here had likely provided the neighborhood gossips with great amusement, and Shao-ge’s movements could hardly be hidden. As the saying goes, if you don't want people to know, don't do it.