"Sigh."
Jiang Ying Mei heard her big sister sighing for the umpteenth time and couldn't help but ask, " Big sister, what's wrong?"
Jiang Jiang Yue, who was leaning against her bed, looking outside the window in a trance let out another sigh full of helplessness on hearing this.
"Well, it's nothing much... it's just that I am stuck at home. Every time I step outside our mansion I always run into trouble...it's never peaceful." Jiang Ying Yue mumbled softly like a sulking child as she kept staring outside the window.
Birds and butterflies were playing outside and the day was not too hot not too chilly, just a perfect warm day for a stroll.
It had been three days since she stepped out of the house, obviously pretending to be bedridden.
Since she had managed to create such a big farse, so it was only right for her to play her part thoroughly till the end.
It was what madam Jiang had said.
" Pfft." Jiang Ying Mei suppressed her laughter when she saw her sister sulking.
On that day, they had learned that Jiang Ying Yue had recovered her ability to cultivate which brought them both shock and excitement at the same time.
They were shocked to learn that the seemingly desperate attempt of Jiang Ying Yue, which they were not least bit optimistic about, had wonderfully worked. It was just amazing and they were too happy and excited.
Madam Jiang finally felt relieved at her daughter's condition but with that, she also had more things to worry about.
Jiang Ying Yue had explained to them that her meridians were completely fine and it was poison which had rendered her useless. It was a poison which not only meant for destroying one's cultivation but also for taking one's life.
Madam Jiang was enraged beyond words and also fearful of such an unscrupulous royal family.
She knew those people had been watching them closely. So, to protect her daughters from these crooked people she had to be always on guard and couldn't let the previous mistake repeat.
So, Jiang Ying Yue was ordered to stay at home. No one must know that she had recovered her ability until she grew strong enough to protect herself.
Alright, now back to the present.
Jiang Ying Yue cocked her head, her face expressionless as she glanced at her sister. Her eyes looked calm and emotionless and her posture nonchalant.
But Jiang Ying Mei felt that her suppressed laughter might have pissed her off. For some reason, she found her current sister even more terrifying than before. She thinking of an excuse to slip away when she heard her sister's drawling voice, " Mei'er....."
Jiang Ying Mei flinched, " Ye...yes, sister."
" Do you know, this morning mom was telling me that you have been eating too much sweet recently might have a tooth ache again....Do you want to know what I said in return?" Jiang Ying Yue was speaking so gently as if narrating a story to a child, a small and gentle smile hung on her lips.
But Jiang felt her scalp turn numb.
"What..what did you say, big sister?"
"Well, I said to mother since Mei'er had eaten so much sweet just feed her that amount of some bitter herbs or vegetables, that will do. The bitterness will neutralize the sweetness and you won't have to suffer from any toothache. My Mei'er is so cute how can I watch her suffer?" Jiang Ying Yue smiled sweetly and even reached out to ruffle the little head of Mei'er. While...
Mei'er: "..."
"What happened? Why aren't you laughing now? Aren't you happy? Your big sister solved such a big problem for you.....and oh, no need to thank me." With that Jiang Ying Yue got out of her bed and walked out of her room with her hands tucked behind her back. A benevolent smile of an elder still pasted on her face.
Heh, it felt great to tease younger siblings.
Mei'er was still wearing a horrified expression, unable to figure out what had struck her.
****
In a small alley that was connected to Jiang Residence's back courtyard, a young boy in white crisp robes was hanging on a tree branch as he prepared himself for a jump.
" Huh...that was not easy." The boy sighed, sounding quite familiar.
Jiang Ying Yue, currently donned as a boy, straightened her hair and clothes before walking out of the alley in her leisure steps.
She had gone through much trouble disguising herself and climbing walls and trees while escaping the eyes of maids and guards.
She had been out today to look for some herbs and an alchemy furnace. She remembered Abhram had said that practicing Alchemy could bring benefits for cultivation.
Speaking of that guy, that little boy had gone for cultivating, it's been three days. He was very diligent.
Tianfeng Trading House,
Jiang Ying Yue had been looking around for a while she hadn't found any suitable furnace for herself, most of them were the lowest grade ones and wouldn't run for long and the one that she liked was alright if not the best, but it's the price was unreasonable.
So, Jiang Ying Yue decided to look somewhere else.
For learning alchemy, it was necessary to good furnace to prevent accidents from happening. There was a high possibility that one could get seriously injured due explosion of the furnace during pill production. So, if one had a choice one rather buy an expansive furnace with good durability than rotten low-grade ones.
" I heard that you are volunteering to go to Beast Heaven mountain?"
Jiang Ying Yue heard a few girls chatting beside the counter and didn't leave.
Standing from a distance heard their chatter attentively.
" Yes, there are ten people in our group. Why don't you come along? It'll be fun." Responded the girl who was asked with a smile.
" Fun? Won't it be dangerous? I heard there many ferocious high-grade spirit beasts in that mountain." There was a fearful look on her face as the girl asked this.
" Well, there are indeed many high-grade beasts, but they mostly dwell in the inner mountain and we won't be entering there. We are just going to scout the outer layer of the mountain and look for herbs. You know how troublesome learning alchemy is. The herb halls can't satisfy my herb demands and even if they have the herbs I need they are too costly. I might as well go collect them from the mountain and buy the ones that I couldn't find. It will save me a lot of money." The girl who was volunteering explained this to her friends.
Jiang Ying Yue listened quietly from the side and agreed to all this. When she bought those herbs for her detoxification, didn't it cost her a bomb?
How could she forget that trauma?
It was not that she was stingy but herbs were too costly. Besides, she was too poor to be not affected by this. Their Jiang family was declining in recent years and they also had to support thousands of soldiers of the Raging Phoenix army by themselves. On top of that, they were also often oppressed by the emperor.
No wonder they were poor!
It was all thanks to their forefather's savings that they had been able to withstand so much financial pressure all these years.