good season

Chapter 140 Everything Has Changed (Two Chapters Combined)

Standing by the window, the bright sunlight couldn't illuminate the boy's expression.

He slowly turned around, a faint smile playing on his lips, but his pupils were constricted like a cat standing on the edge of an abyss, as he scrutinized the little girl in front of him.

She wore a plain-colored dress made of fine material, but it wasn't a tribute item; it was something that could be bought with money.

Her jet-black hair was styled into simple double buns, with a small pearl flower inserted on each side. Apart from that, there were no other decorations. She was as plain and simple as a figure who had stepped out of a traditional Chinese ink painting.

Fortunately, the young girl was in the prime of her life, with almond-shaped eyes, peach-blossom cheeks, bright eyes and white teeth. Even though she was dressed simply and without makeup, she was still radiant and dazzling, as bright as the morning sun.

"You are..." A long-forgotten name flashed through his mind, and Yang Shengqiu subconsciously wanted to escape, but the next moment, he met a pair of bright, star-like eyes.

Zhao Shiqing looked at him and said again, "Little Sheep Brother, do you really not remember me?"

Yang Shengqiu felt as if his heart had been gripped by an invisible hand. His body trembled violently, and he murmured, "Little Nannan? You are Little Nannan?"

Zhao Shiqing smiled and her eyes curved into crescent moons: "Little Sheep Brother, you finally remembered. I am Little Nannan, and I have grown up."

Yang Shengqiu's breathing became heavy. He looked at Zhao Shiqing in disbelief: "Are you really Xiaonannan? Where have you been all these years? What about my grandfather? How is he?"

The smile on Zhao Shiqing's face gradually faded, and a layer of mist appeared in her eyes: "They were killed by villains ten years ago."

The boot that had been hanging over his head for ten years finally fell, and Yang Shengqiu slumped into a chair with a thud.

Zhao Shiqing took the letter out of her bosom and gently placed it on the table in front of him: "That year, Emperor Xiaokang suddenly suffered from an eye ailment. Lord Meng sent someone to Zhuxitang to invite the venerable physician Yang to the capital to treat Emperor Xiaokang."

The room was silent, and the girl's voice flowed slowly in the stillness. The tone was neither too loud nor too soft, but to Yang Shengqiu's ears, it was like a storm, stirring up a storm.

He kept his head down, the letter lying in front of him, within easy reach. The handwriting on the envelope was both strange and familiar; even after ten years, he could still recognize it as his grandfather's handwriting.

The envelope was thin and light; a gust of wind could carry it away.

Thinking of this, Yang Shengqiu suddenly raised his head. The windows of the bookstore were closed, so no wind was blowing in, and the letter couldn't be blown out, so it wouldn't be picked up by someone with ulterior motives.

Yang Shengqiu breathed a sigh of relief, but then met those bright eyes again.

This is the second time I've made eye contact with this little girl. Oh, right, she has a name. Her name is Xiao Nannan, and she's the youngest daughter of the Shi family.

Yang Shengqiu suddenly remembered something and asked, "Are your eyes better?"

Zhao Shiqing nodded: "Okay, actually this is the first time I've met you. So, Brother Little Sheep, if you had pretended not to know me just now, I would have really thought I had mistaken you for someone else."

Whether he was overthinking it or not, Yang Shengqiu could detect a hint of sarcasm in the little girl's tone.

He quickly said, "That year when I came back from school, I found the gate locked. Everyone in the village said that my grandfather and your family had gone to another place to seek medical treatment. I was young then and believed it to be true, thinking that you would come back after a while. But I waited and waited, and I never saw you again."

Zhao Shiqing chuckled softly. She was young and hadn't learned to be patient yet. She didn't want to waste her time and would say whatever came to mind.

“Then you must have often gone back over the years, wandering helplessly outside my door, fantasizing that one day, Dr. Yang and our family will appear in front of you.”

Yang Shengqiu paused, a hint of guilt flashing in his eyes: "No, I only went back once, and I haven't been back to Zhuxitang since."

Zhao Shiqing's gaze softened a bit. "So you weren't lying, you really only went back once."

Your grandfather is gone, and so is your benefactor's family, but you're not worried, not even curious.

"Why? I'm asking why you didn't go back. Did you already know they weren't coming back?"

Yang Shengqiu was taken aback; he hadn't expected his little girl to be so aggressive after growing up.

Come to think of it, although she was blind when she was young, she was incredibly intelligent.

Since she's asking this now, she must have some suspicions.

Yang Shengqiu didn't intend to hide anything, and he told the truth: "My grandfather was an upright man who offended many people when he was a physician in the capital. Later, he was ostracized and had to leave the capital. I lost both my parents when I was young, and my grandfather was my only relative. The place where I studied was more than a hundred miles away from Zhuxitang. My grandfather was worried about me and repeatedly told me that unless your father came to pick me up, he would not let me come back on my own."

When I returned to Zhuxitang that time, my adoptive father accompanied me. By the way, my adoptive father was my mentor. He saw that I was all alone, so he took me in as his adopted son and raised me to adulthood.

Later, my godfather took me to Hancheng, and we stayed there for many years.

It sounded perfectly reasonable, but Zhao Shiqing had secretly read the letter. Thinking about the map in the letter, she felt that things weren't so simple, and that the grandfather and grandson were keeping a secret.

She smiled and nodded: "Thank you for your hard work, Brother Lamb."

Yang Shengqiu smiled wryly: "And you, where did you go after you were rescued?"

On her way here, Zhao Shiqing wanted to tell Yang Shengqiu all her experiences over the years. She felt that she and Brother Xiaoyang were in the same boat. In that catastrophe, she lost her loved ones, and Brother Xiaoyang also lost his grandfather. They were both orphans of the victims.

But now, she suddenly doesn't want to talk about it anymore.

The person in front of me is clearly Brother Little Sheep, but he is not Brother Little Sheep.

Her little lamb brother, like the roses of that year, disappeared before she could even see him.

"A kind person took me to a doctor, but he was a heartless one. As soon as the kind person left, he sold me to a slave trader, who then sold me to a beggar who specialized in mutilation and organ harvesting."

Upon hearing the words "harvesting and mutilating," Yang Shengqiu was taken aback and looked Zhao Shiqing up and down again.

The girl in front of me showed no signs of disability; she was charming and pretty, with a composed demeanor—the kind of temperament that comes from being pampered and raised in luxury.

No matter how you look at it, she doesn't seem like the kind of girl who grew up in that kind of place.

Seeing the surprise in his eyes, Zhao Shiqing smiled slightly and continued, "The net of heaven is vast, and though its meshes are wide, nothing escapes it. The yamen was arresting kidnappers, and that evil beggar was brought to justice. I and the other children were rescued, and later my grandfather found me."

Every word she said was true, except that she omitted the Liang Prince's Mansion. But Yang Shengqiu already understood that she had grown up in another family all these years.

Back then, the Yang family grandparents and grandchildren were only staying at the Shi family's residence temporarily. They were unaware of Shi's mother's background, and didn't even know that she was actually an adopted child of the Shi family. Therefore, when Zhao Shiqing said that she had been found by her maternal grandfather, Yang Shengqiu had no doubts whatsoever.

"So you came to the capital with your maternal grandfather?" Yang Shengqiu asked.

Zhao Shiqing nodded: "Yes."

“Where do you live? I will visit you another day. Your grandfather will help me bury my grandfather. I will repay your kindness tenfold.”

Zhao Shiqing gave her home address and then said, "Now that I'm handing the letter to you, I can finally say goodbye to the divine doctor. We'll stay in the capital for a few more days before heading back to Wu. Little Sheep, will you come back with us?"

Yang Shengqiu said with some helplessness, "I am currently in the Hanlin Academy and have to go to the palace every few days. I'm afraid I won't have any holidays for the next two or three years."

Zhao Shiqing understood and said, "It's okay. Next time I go back, I'll burn more gold ingots for you for the Divine Doctor Grandpa. He loves you so much, he definitely won't blame you."

Yang Shengqiu smiled bitterly: "Thank you, little girl. You're still the same as when you were little, you haven't changed." Zhao Shiqing also smiled: "Really? Actually, I don't remember very clearly anymore."

As she stepped out of the bookstore, Zhao Shiqing's smile faded. She bit her lip, her heart filled with indescribable emotions.

She felt incredibly tired after just delivering a letter and exchanging a few words, a feeling comparable to her scheming to make Zhu Yu a eunuch.

She didn't hire a sedan chair and walked with her head down.

Suddenly, a carriage walked right up to her. Startled, she quickly moved aside, but then heard a soft cough. She looked up and saw a familiar fake face leaning out of the carriage window.

"Uncle Zhen?"

Xiao Zhen: Can't you just not call me uncle?

"Get in the car," Xiao Zhen said calmly.

Zhao Shiqing lightly jumped onto the carriage and sat opposite Xiao Zhen: "What a coincidence, where are you going?"

Xiao Zhen said, "You've made such a commotion, of course I had to come out and see what's going on."

"Hahaha!" Zhao Shiqing laughed loudly, all her previous unhappiness vanishing with the sound of her laughter.

"You just met Yang Shengqiu?" Xiao Zhen asked.

"Huh? How did you know?" Zhao Shiqing asked curiously.

Xiao Zhen: "I was the one who told you about that bookstore, and the place you just appeared from wasn't far from that bookstore."

Zhao Shiqing sighed and leaned casually against the car wall: "You're pretty good, you got everything right."

Xiao Zhen asked, "Is Yang Shengqiu different from the one you remember?"

Zhao Shiqing blinked. Was Xiao Zhen a mind reader? How did he know everything?

Xiao Zhen: If I can't even guess this, I've wasted my two lives.

Zhao Shiqing let out a sigh that seemed out of place for her age: "I don't know how to say it, it's just that, it's just that, I feel that Brother Xiaoyang is not what I imagined. Well, actually I don't even remember what he looked like when he was little. Besides, people have to grow up, and it's normal for him to be different from when he was little. Sigh, but I just feel that there is a little bit of regret, yes, regret, like something is missing."

Her voice grew softer and softer, and her head drooped lower and lower until she finally shrank her entire body under the table, with only her forehead touching the edge of the table. Xiao Zhen could only see the top of her head.

Xiao Zhen suddenly felt an urge to coax her, but he didn't know how.

His lips moved, and after a long while he finally said, "You've been in the capital for so long, have you ever seen a play about joining the army?"

Zhao Shiqing didn't look up, but just shook her head to indicate that she hadn't seen it.

Xiao Zhen said, "If we're talking about military plays, the most popular ones are the Hou Qi and Hou Ba brothers. They perform two shows every afternoon at the Baoji Teahouse in Dashijian."

Zhao Shiqing became interested and finally looked up: "Isn't Dashikan a women's prison? How come it's a teahouse?"

She remembered clearly that Liu Qi was a yamen runner in the Dashikan Women's Prison.

Xiao Zhen explained: "Da Shi Kan is the name of that area. There are three streets there. Besides being a women's prison, it is also a gathering place for all sorts of people, so it is very chaotic."

It's normal that you don't know; a loach wouldn't dare take you there to play.

Mudskipper was born and raised in the capital. He had been a thief since he was a child with his adoptive father. He must know about the Great Stone Threshold and must have been there. However, he could take other people there, but he dared not take Zhao Shiqing there.

How could the second young lady of the Liang Prince's Mansion go to such a place?
Zhao Shiqing's eyes widened: "Uncle Xiao, can you take me there?"

Xiao Zhen: Okay, so you've gone from being Uncle Zhen to Uncle Xiao again.

“Okay, but you’d better change into men’s clothing,” Xiao Zhen said.

"Okay." Zhao Shiqing said to Dazhuang, who was driving the carriage outside, "Dazhuang, we'll pass a clothing store ahead, could you please stop for a moment?"

Xiao Zhen smiled as he looked at her. A young girl is a young girl after all. She was just looking downcast, but in the blink of an eye, she was full of energy.

Not far away, there was a clothing store. Zhao Shiqing skipped and hopped inside, and a moment later, he changed into men's clothing, transforming into a handsome young man.

She sat back down opposite Xiao Zhen, snapped open her folding fan, flicked away the few shards of paper that had fallen onto her forehead, and felt as if she were the dashing and handsome young Pan An.

Yang Shengqiu was completely forgotten by her.

The carriage traveled for another half hour before finally arriving at the legendary Great Stone Threshold.

After getting off the carriage, Zhao Shiqing was immediately drawn to the lively and bustling atmosphere. She looked around excitedly, not forgetting to say to Xiao Zhen, "Why didn't you tell me there was such a wonderful place in the capital?"

Before Xiao Zhen could explain, Zhao Shiqing had already abandoned him, tilting her head back and staring intently at the marionette hanging from the two-story building in front of her.

"Look, those are puppets, puppet shows!" she exclaimed happily.

Xiao Zhen chuckled. "Kids will always be kids."

"There's a shadow puppet show up ahead. If you'd like to see a puppet show, we can go up and watch it."

Zhao Shiqing hurriedly asked, "Won't we miss watching the opera about joining the army?"

Xiao Zhen said, "The puppet show will continue until night, one show after another. After we finish watching the military enlistment play, we can watch it here again."

Zhao Shiqing was overjoyed and pulled him forward by his sleeve: "Quick, let's go see the play about joining the army!"

Xiao Zhen looked at the sleeve that Zhao Shiqing had pulled up and followed her forward involuntarily. After a few steps, Zhao Shiqing suddenly stopped and let go of Xiao Zhen.

Xiao Zhen wanted to say, "You don't need to let go of me, I don't care."

Zhao Shiqing: "Where is that Baoji Teahouse you mentioned that has a play about joining the army?"

Okay, she doesn't know the way.

Xiao Zhen didn't really remember; the last time she came here to see Hou Qi and Hou Ba perform a military play was in her past life.

After asking around, the two finally found Baoji Teahouse on another street. They saw that the teahouse was surrounded by children, and laughter could be heard from inside.

Just as Xiao Zhen was about to lead Zhao Shiqing inside, a familiar figure suddenly flashed before his eyes.

How come he is here?