Chapter 102: Prison Visit

The days that followed seemed no different on the surface.

Princess Taiping, a noblewoman of the Tang dynasty, still lived in Xiashan Hollow, not even planning to return to the city for the New Year.

Helan Minzhi continued living in a gloomy and sullen manner, though every now and then he would seize Wu Ning to press him about how to uncover the truth behind the old case.

When Wu Ning mentioned that the New Year was approaching and insisted they should at least celebrate it properly, Helan Minzhi reluctantly agreed, reasoning that even if it was urgent, it couldn’t hurt to wait out the year’s end.

Chen Zi’ang left. As Wu Ning wished, citing the age of his parents and the saying “a son does not travel far,” he resigned and returned home.

But Wu Ning knew that someday they would meet again.

Before he left, Wu Ning didn’t hold back—he grabbed Chen Zi’ang and kept him in the guest room, making him spend the entire day composing wall inscriptions.

This time, at last, there were no forgeries on the wall.

As for Wu Ning himself, he continued running his little shop and doing the accounts for the Qin family.

However, he was far more diligent than before.

Previously, he felt no urgency, but now things were different. He needed to understand this era as quickly as possible and integrate into it.

To that end, he even read the “Zuo’s Spring and Autumn Annals,” a book he had always disliked, with greater care.

...

—

In the blink of an eye, the New Year was upon them.

This year’s celebration was unlike previous years—not only was Princess Taiping spending it at Wu Ning’s home, but the situation in Xiashan Hollow had improved immensely.

First, several inns had turned a profit; radishes and cabbages brought bountiful harvests to the village’s vegetable fields; and the charcoal kiln was thriving.

As Wu Ning had predicted, the people of Fangzhou were initially skeptical of the new charcoal made from black bamboo—it looked lighter and weighed less.

But once someone tried it, they all praised it highly.

Word of mouth spread, and before half the winter had passed, Xiashan Hollow’s black bamboo charcoal became famous throughout Fangzhou, even showing signs of surpassing the old charcoal.

Merchants from Xiangzhou had already begun placing orders, willing to pay high shipping costs to transport it back to Xiangfan for sale.

Naturally, the old patriarch was making a fortune.

He eagerly calculated how much bonus he could distribute to each family for the New Year; with such a prosperous season, perhaps they should even purchase pigs and sheep from the city to ensure a bountiful celebration for the entire village.

...

Everyone was busy preparing for the New Year, but Wu Ning was not so concerned.

With Princess Taiping at home, naturally no one would allow their household’s festival to be shabby—there was no need for him to worry.

At that moment, Wu Ning sat in the Wuxian Temple, facing Meng Cangsheng and Taoist Xiao.

“Just hurry up and let my face keep breaking out!” he said.

“Heh,” Taoist Xiao laughed, “Zhou Xing has already returned to the capital, why do you still want a pockmarked face?”

“Why ask so much?” Wu Ning replied impatiently.

Did they think he wanted to have this miserable case of chickenpox? It was everywhere, even in his pants.

There was no choice—Zhou Xing was gone, but Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi were still in Fangzhou, and Li Xian as well.

Until he was absolutely certain he could handle everything, it was best that no one recognized his true appearance.

“Just let it keep growing!” Wu Ning insisted.

“But when will it stop?” Taoist Xiao asked.

“When the Wu brothers leave, then it will be over.”

“That won’t last,” Taoist Xiao shook his head.

You think these rashes are domesticated? You can’t just tell them when to appear and when to vanish.

“You’ve had this rash for over a month already—that’s quite a stretch.”

He examined Wu Ning’s face closely. “At most, in three to five days it will be gone.”

“That won’t do,” Wu Ning objected. “Then you better think of a solution!”

“...” Taoist Xiao was speechless. What kind of solution could there be?

After a moment’s thought, he said, “Only one way then!”

He had Meng Cangsheng bring a dogskin plaster, which he warmed over the charcoal brazier, then slapped it onto Wu Ning’s face with a loud snap.

“This time, no one will recognize you for sure!”

“Burning!” Wu Ning protested angrily, but Taoist Xiao had thought of it.

The large plaster covered half his face; when he tried to tear it off, it pulled out some of his hair.

“This won’t do, change it!”

“Change it...” Taoist Xiao pondered for a while, then grit his teeth and, without involving Meng Cangsheng, returned to the back hall to fetch another item.

“What’s this?”

Wu Ning opened it to find a black powder resembling charcoal dust.

“Erysipelas!”

“Holy crap!” Wu Ning exclaimed, nearly tossing it aside.

“Careful!” Taoist Xiao was startled. “Don’t get it on your skin.”

“Huh?” Wu Ning thought, was it really that dangerous?

Taoist Xiao explained, “There’s no one who can keep these water blisters from disappearing. If you want others not to recognize you, this is the only thing.”

“Just a little dabbed on the face, and you’ll be red and swollen to the point your own mother won’t recognize you.”

“...”

Wu Ning thought, this damn Taoist is always messing with strange things—it sounds like industrial waste.

He hesitated, “I-Is it not going to kill me?”

“Heh,” Taoist Xiao sneered, “As long as you don’t ingest it, it shouldn’t kill you.”

“What do you mean ‘shouldn’t’? Can it kill or not?”

The Taoist thought seriously for a moment, “Just don’t add fuel to the fire, and it should be fine.”

Fine, Wu Ning thought, I’ll be careful.

He wrapped the black powder back up and tucked it into his pocket, resolved not to use it unless absolutely necessary.

...

Leaving the Wuxian Temple, Wu Ning didn’t go home.

He had been resting his backside all this time and hadn’t entered the city, let alone worked at Yuan Ning’s cloth shop.

Qin Miaoniang had been bringing the account books to Xun Cui Residence, ostensibly for Wu Ning to review the ledgers, but mostly to look after him.

Now that he could move again and the New Year was near, he had to make an appearance.

But when he arrived at the cloth shop, Qin Miaoniang and Shopkeeper Qian were there, though they were about to leave.

Wu Ning asked why—they were going to the prison to deliver warm clothes and food to Master Qin for the New Year.

“Brother Ning, do you want to come along with me?”

“Me?” Wu Ning tried to dodge, “Isn’t that inappropriate?”

He felt uneasy because Qin Wenyuan had put him in a bind.

Qin Miaoniang thought differently—the two were practically engaged; although her mother did not object, her father needed to be informed.

Since it was the New Year, if Wu Ning could visit her father with the family, it would ease the way for a formal proposal.

“Go. Father often says he wants to thank Brother Ning in person.”

“Really?” Wu Ning was tempted.

If Qin Wenyuan was like this, then it was worth a visit.

But Qin Fu by the side secretly sneered.

Hehe, their master was grateful to Wu Ning for preserving the family estate and handling the exile to Yizhou, but if he found out this young man had run off with his precious daughter, Wu Ning might never get out of prison.

...

“All right!” Wu Ning finally made up his mind.

This prospective father-in-law, he had to meet sooner or later.

Besides, the family would be leaving for Yizhou after the New Year.

Meeting before they left to assure him that his daughter was in good hands was important.

“Shall we go now?”

...