Hearing him mention medicine, Xie Lian looked back and turned his gaze towards the interior of the cottage where the king and the queen were resting. A moment later, he said, "I can think of other ways for the medicine, so just take this."
Xie Lian was determined to give and Feng Xin couldn't understand why, so he was both confused and felt it kind of funny, and he shrugged, picking up that ragged cattail leaf fan and continued to fan the flames to stew the medicine, "Fine then, I'll keep it for you for now. Whenever you want it back just let me know."
Xie Lian shook his head, "I won't ask for it back, you can do with it as you will."
After pawning HongJing, their pockets were a bit fuller, and they finally managed to have a few good meals. Since the queen's skills were so shocking, Xie Lian graciously asked mother to look after father and absolutely not enter the kitchen as he himself would take over and manage the cooking. Although he didn't have much experience, but even if he'd never had pig's feet he'd seen pigs walk, what he made was still somewhat edible, so the party was saved from mouth and stomach troubles.
That day after the fight with the king, Xie Lian was actually feeling regretful, but he didn't know how to apologize to his father, so he could only do his utmost in caring after him. A patient who coughed blood couldn't be chilled, so he added more blankets and small heaters for him.
The YongAn soldiers were coming down hard on catching all the escaped XianLe nobilities, and soon, this city also heightened security. They finally settled but now they must leave again.
Xie Lian had already lost count of how many cities he had passed while on the run with his parents in tow. To be honest, what he'd seen on the road, everything was much more peaceful than he imagined. The most tragic was only the royal capital of XianLe; everywhere else didn't seem to have been severely affected.
After all, to regular civilians, the king, the crown prince, the royal capital, the nobility, were all things that were extremely faraway. The change of a king didn't seem to have made much difference. Especially since the new king wasn't a tyrant, and once he ascended the throne there weren't any particularly strict decrees, so other than having a new topic for after dinner conversations, there weren't much more laments.
"When the king was named Xie I planted this plot of land; now the king is named Lang and I still plant the same plot of land!" Xie Lian heard people say.
They weren't wrong. But the strange thing was, in regards to the rumoured crown prince who went from invincible to losing every battle, everyone's attitude towards it were all amazingly unified, as if the moment they spoke of him everyone would suddenly transform into a patriotic citizen of XianLe. He really couldn't understand nor accept it.
However, he really didn't have much mind to worry over those things anymore. The money they made from pawning HongJing didn't last for a few months before it was all depleted.
An illness that made one cough blood was already hard to cure, plus the king was frustrated and depressed, so there needed to be a great amount of medication to help him hang on in a passable state. If the medication should be cut off, his condition would no doubt worsen considerably. Xie Lian had nothing left on hand to pawn, and on this day, after having loitered the streets for a long time, he mulled and mulled before finally turning to Feng Xin, "Why don't we... give it a try?"
Feng Xin peered at him, "Then let's, give it a try?"
It wasn't the first time the two hesitantly thought to "give it a try", it was just before now, they hadn't made up their minds. Besides, there was once when they were conversing, the king overheard their intent and became outraged, throwing a huge fit, and was intransigent that Xie Lian not do such shameful things for money, otherwise he would refuse to drink his medicine, so in the end the two had to abandon the thought. Yet now that they were in dire straits, there was no need to say it clearly; they both understood each other. Xie Lian nodded, and wrapped the white silk band tighter around his face.
"Your Highness, you don't have to do this, just me alone is enough." Feng Xin said, "So even if the king asks it'd be alright!"
Then, he inhaled deeply, held his breath for a moment, before suddenly roaring at the pedestrians on the street, "DEAR FOLKS ON THE STREET, DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS–"
All the pedestrians jumped in surprise, and they all gathered around, chattering, "What's with the yelling?!" "What're you guys up to?" "What've you got to show us?" "I wanna see shattering boulders on the chest!"
Feng Xin removed the bow on his back and boldly pulled at it, "My... My nickname is "Godly Archer"; I can shoot a bullseye from a hundred feet away. I will show off my embarrassing skill for everyone to see. If you all enjoy the show, will you p-, please grant some coins!"
What "Godly Archer", what "embarrassing skill"; those were all words they learned watching street performers. While they kept saying they would never busk, they had long since kept in mind how all the others had been doing it. The crowd grumbled, "Stop wasting your breath! Just get on with it!" "We've been waiting! Now hurry up!"
Feng Xin placed an arrow upon the bow, pointed at an idle man in the crowd who was munching on a fruit and said, "Will this uncle please step out, place this apple on your head, and I can shoot it without fault from three hundred steps away!"
That idle man shrank his neck and withdrew into the crowd, "I'M NOT DOIN' IT!"
Feng Xin exclaimed, "I won't hit you, don't worry! If I shoot you by accident I'll pay however much in recompense!"
That idle man yelled back, "I'm no fool! If you shoot me by accident, it won't matter how much you pay me back! Since you're out here to perform, don't you got an assistant or somethin'? Shouldn't you be shooting the one next to you?!"
The crowd all chimed in, "Yea!" Xie Lian said too, "Let me." Someone from the crowd tossed over a fruit and Xie Lian caught it, ready to put it on his head. However, Feng Xin never had the intention of having Xie Lian get involved, so why would he allow this? In his moment of panic, he grabbed the fruit and ate it up himself, then he changed the direction of the arrow, targeting a banner hanging high up on a tall building and cried, "I'LL SHOOT THAT!" Then he shot the arrow. He was extremely skilled in archery, so of course he shot the target, and the surrounding audience all cheered and laughed, "WELL DANG! YOU DO GOT IT!" They laughed and babbled, and there were actually some who tossed a few coins.
Small, round little coins tumbled and rolled on the ground, and Feng Xin went up to pick them up. Xie Lian also silently crouched down to pick them up, but his heart was feeling low, like he lost something.
In the past, Feng Xin was the crown prince's servant; nevermind the common peasants, even normal ministers had to be courteous and polite when they saw him, some even tried to get friendly. Before when they hauled rocks and earth, just heeding the hollering ringleaders was stifling, now they had to endure being watched like monkeys. His skill of shooting in hundred feet wasn't used to kill enemies in battle but to entertain the masses, just thinking of it made his stomach turn.
Just then, the sharp voice of a woman came, "WHO'S SHOOTING ARROWS IN THE STREETS??"
When Xie Lian heard, his heart dropped. Everyone in the crowd pointed at Feng Xin, "IT'S HIM!"
Feng Xin was bewildered and the crowd parted as several women came stomping over, holding an arrow, the one Feng Xin shot out earlier. Those women surrounded him, "You damned brat! DID YOU SHOOT THIS? WHAT GUTS! Shooting weapons randomly in broad daylight, you destroyed our screen! Tell me, how are you gonna pay this??"
"Yea, you've scared away so many of our customers!"
Turns out, the banner Feng Xin shot through earlier was so powerful that it flew all the way to someone else's yard. Feng Xin already didn't like talking to women, and these ladies wore heavy makeup, their foundations layering their faces, smothering and suffocating. They probably came with ill intent, and yelled to the point where he kept waving his hands, backing away. Xie Lian hastily came to shield in front of him, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He didn't mean to. As for compensation, we'll think of something..."
Those women's tempers were flaring, and they pushed and shoved, "AND WHO ARE YOU? YOU..." yet unexpectedly, with this push and pull, the white bandage covering Xie Lian's face slipped, and when those women saw his face, their eyes lit up, their tones taking a greasy turn, "Aiyoh, what a handsome little gege!"
Xie Lian: "???"
One of the women clapped, her eyes crescent and blossoming, "VERY WELL! It's decided! You're together, right? We'll take you as repayment then!"
Xie Lian: "???"
Before his head had even wrapped around this development, Xie Lian was dragged away by those women, all the way to a rather lavish little establishment. When he looked up, the higher levels were all women dressed like blossoming flowers, chirping like birds. Only then did Xie Lian realize he was taken away by a bunch of brothel mistresses!
Instantly goosebumps raised on his skin, "Wait, I don't have money, I really don't have any money!"
Those brothel mistresses cackled, "Of course you've got no money, that's why we've brought you here to earn money!"
"??? Sorry, but, I'm a man?" Xie Lian exclaimed.
The brothel mistresses replied in annoyance, "We know you're a man, we're not blind!"
Feng Xin, who was surrounded by the crowd finally broke through the sea of people and darted over, shouting, "LET GO OF HIS H... LET GO OF HIM THIS INSTANT!"
The two were in a horrid state and bolted, and since they knew they were in the wrong, they didn't dare fight back. The enraged brothel mistresses called over some thirty fighters, chasing them all over the city. They had never been involved in such a situation, and all in all, they would never dare approach that area again.
But, the two could confirm that busking was a viable way of earning money, so they changed a place and set up shop. They were fresh faces so the locals were all very interested, plus Feng Xin was an honest, good man with a proper appearance, looking rather handsome, so in the first few days, they did manage to earn a small fortune that could help pay for food and medication for at least half a month. However, good things didn't last, and it didn't take half a month before someone came knocking.
That day, after Xie Lian and Feng Xin had packed up, several beefy men came to look for them. Xie Lian was greatly alarmed, scared that they were YongAn soldiers, his fists ready to strike under his sleeves, and he demanded in a low voice, "Who are you?"
The leading man humphed, "You guys have been dallying on our turf for days, but you don't know who we are?"
Xie Lian and Feng Xin were both puzzled. Another man spoke up, "You stole so much of our business, don't you think it's rude if you don't explain yourselves?"
The two finally understood what was going on. Turns out, those were the other local street performers.
Every working man in the world belonged in guilds and gangs, drawing their own turf. When the two of them came, they took all their customers away, so when the others couldn't make money, of course they'd come looking for trouble. The two of them weren't learned of the world, so how could they possibly know this set of etiquette?
'If it wasn't because we're at the end of our ropes, who'd want to steal a business like this?' Xie Lian thought bitterly, but he still spoke courteously, "It's not really a matter of stealing, right? People will go watch what they want to watch, it's not like we were forcing anyone to come watch our... shooting performance."
As if the other party would listen, and they exclaimed rudely, "NOT A MATTER OF STEALING? NO ONE'S MADE ANYTHING THE PAST FEW DAYS, YOU'VE TAKEN ALL THE GRUB!"
CRACK! The mob jumped in surprise and looked over, and saw Feng Xin drop his fist from the wall on the side, and on the wall was a giant punch mark, cracks crawling out all around.
He said coldly, "Are you all looking for trouble?"
The mob of beefy men were certainly here to start trouble at first, to talk with their fists, but after Feng Xin's punch, there was no doubt that his fist was more solid than theirs, and instantly their fires were extinguished by half. Still, they refused to let this go so easily, and the leading man changed his tune after having been stumped for a second, "How about this, we'll do this by the rules. Let's compete our skills, and the winner gets to stay, the losers will pack up and leave, never to set up shop in this area again!"
Hearing that it'd be a competition, Feng Xin was even more glad. Of course he was glad. How could mortals possibly compete with them? It was a sure win!
Xie Lian also breathed a sigh of relief, "I agree to this. How do you want to do this?"
That man proclaimed loudly, "We'll use our best busking trick!"
In between talk, two other men had brought over a few long, rectangular stone slates, and that man patted the stone slates, "Shattering boulders on the chest! How about it, do you dare?"
Seeing how proud he looked, it seemed this was indeed his specialty. Xie Lian also squatted down and felt that slate and looked up, "This won't be a problem for me, but, will this really not be a problem for you?" That slate was the real deal. That man laughed, "Judging by the shape of you, you best worry after yourself!"
Feng Xin squatted next to him, "Your Highness, let me?" Xie Lian shook his head, "No. You've worked hard the past few days, let me do this, this time." He should exert some effort too.
Thus, Xie Lian and that man both laid down on the ground, a stone slate pressing down on both their chests. Feng Xin received a large hammer, turned it in his grip, and was just about to smash it down when Xie Lian suddenly spoke up, "Wait."
The others were delighted, "What, do you admit defeat? It's not too late to admit defeat now, we'll let you go!"
"No. I want to add another slate." Xie Lian said.
Hearing this, the mob was shocked, "ARE YOU CRAZY???"
Xie Lian explained lazily, "Didn't everyone say so? This is a competition. If we both used one slate each, there'd be no difference in skill so how can it be considered a competition?"
The street performers all looked doubtful, some even thought he went mad, and some thought he was bluffing. After much discussion, they indeed added another stone slate on top of his chest. Yet unexpectedly, Xie Lian wanted them to add another one!
Now everyone was sure he was losing it, and they added a third slate incredulously. Thus, upon Xie Lian's chest were three stone slates weighing heavily down, looking rather terrifying.
Under the concentrated watch of the crowd, Feng Xin raised the large hammer, and without blinking, he smashed down, and those three stone slates cleanly cracked into multiple pieces. Amidst cheers, Xie Lian crawled up from the ground, uninjured and calm, dusting off his robes in ease while everyone watched in awe. The leader's face was pale and dark, and Xie Lian thought, 'Now he should know to back off, right?'
He had thought the other party would concede to his victory and never come seek trouble again, yet unexpectedly, that man's expression changed and changed, and suddenly, he gritted his teeth, "Add two more on me too! No, add three more!"
"Big bro, you can't!" The mob exclaimed, "This man must know wicked spells, there's no need for you to go along with him!"
"Yea, he must be faking it!"
Feng Xin exclaimed angrily, "What the fuck? You're the ones who lack skills but you'd turn around and say we're using wicked spells and faking it?"
However, the leader cried, "THE STONE SLATES AND HAMMER ALL BELONG TO US, HOW WOULD WE NOT KNOW IF THERE'S WICKED SPELLS? THIS BRAT DOES HAVE SOME SKILLS, BUT, STACKING THREE SLATES IS NOTHING! I CAN STACK FOUR! AS LONG AS WE WIN, THEY HAVE TO LEAVE!"
"That's impossible, give up!" Feng Xin said, "Don't lose your life over this." But that man was bullheaded, forcing the others to stack four sinkingly heavy stone slates on his body, "YOU JUST WATCH!"
Xie Lian could tell things were going wrong and whispered, "Feng Xin, should we stop this? There's no way mortals can take four slates." Feng Xin whispered back, "Let's watch first? He shouldn't be asking for death, just a couple smashes and he should know to back off."
Xie Lian frowned slightly and nodded, deciding to watch and see. Sure enough, the little buddy holding the hammer only apprehensively knocked once and that man's face changed. The one holding the hammer immediately stopped, not daring to move again, but that man yelled, "HARDER! DID YOU MISS A MEAL? WHY IS YOUR SMASH SO PATHETIC?"
That little buddy didn't dare to be sloppy and the second time, he used all his strength, and BANG!, after that loud sound, the face of that man exploded in red, like he was holding back a big mouthful of blood. Xie Lian and Feng Xin both saw things were going in the wrong direction and quickly called out, "Wait! Don't force yourself!"
That man yelled, "WHO'S FORCING THEMSELVES? THIS IS MY SPECIALTY! JUST WATCH, I'LL MAKE YOU THOROUGHLY CONCEDE YOUR DEFEAT!" With a distraught face, that little buddy smashed again. Now he'd done it. That man 'PFFT'-ed and spat a full mouthful of blood all over the ground, scaring the little buddy and he dropped the hammer. The mob all rushed up, "Let it go, let it go, big bro, if those two bastards want to cling onto this place then let them cling, your life is more important!"
Veins popped on that man's forehead and blood foamed at his mouth, "I WON'T LET THIS GO! It's been days since we all had a bite to eat, if this keeps up, isn't this asking for our livelihoods? CONTINUE! I refuse to believe that I can't compete with this tender, delicate little brat! THIS IS MY SPECIALTY!"
Xie Lian couldn't watch anymore and spoke up first, "Let it go. If this is the case then I concede defeat. Starting tomorrow we won't come anymore. Come on, Feng Xin!"
Then he turned to leave. Behind them the mob cheered, and Feng Xin followed up, "Your Highness, we're gonna give up this place just like that?"
They finally found a way to earn money but now they had to abandon it. Xie Lian sighed, "There's no other way. That few rounds just now already caused great internal injuries in him, I'm afraid he's almost half handicapped. If we kept competing someone will die. If that happens we won't be able to stay either."
Feng Xin scratched his head and cursed, "He really was asking to die!"
"We're all trying to make a living." Xie Lian said simply.
Xie Lian was also feeling a little bad. Had he known, he wouldn't have asked to stack three slates, and would've admitted defeat early so that man wouldn't force himself to take on four slates. Even if he was boorish and reckless, there were still parts of him that was respectable.
"Don't talk about it anymore," Xie Lian said, "We don't absolutely have to busk here, putting all our eggs in one basket."
However, that night, when they returned to their hiding place, the queen sorrowfully informed him that the king's symptoms were worsening, and that he might not be able to endure any more moving, that he needed rest for a while. Which meant, they could not leave this city for the time being.
Xie Lian rummaged through the shelves and chests again but he couldn't find anything to pawn, so he sat next to the chest, spacing out. Feng Xin was stewing medicine, humming as he did so. He hummed and hummed, sounding more and more offkey, and while Xie Lian didn't pay attention at first, he couldn't ignore it after a while, "What's with you? In a good mood?"
Feng Xin looked up, "Huh? No?"
Xie Lian didn't believe him, "Really?"
He had noticed that in the past few days after they started performing on the streets, Feng Xin was acting a bit strange. Sometimes he'd grin like a fool for no reason, sometimes he'd suddenly turn troubled. When Mu Qing was around, Xie Lian and Feng Xin rarely left each other's sides. After Mu Qing left, sometimes Feng Xin would have to go deliver food or run some other errands for the king and the queen, so he'd be gone for a period of time in a day. Xie Lian felt he must've bumped into something, but he didn't have the energy to care. Eyeing the medicine pot in front of Feng Xin and silent for a while, Xie Lian questioned, "Is this the last packet?"
Feng Xin flipped through the bundles on the ground, "It is. If we don't go tomorrow..." He remembered the king was inside the cottage and couldn't have him overhear, so Feng Xin lowered his voice, "If we don't go busk tomorrow what'll we do?"
"..."
After a long while, Xie Lian abruptly stood up, "You stay here and guard. I'll go think of a way."
Feng Xin was confused, "Where are you going? What way can you possibly think of?"
Xie Lian left without looking back, "Don't mind me. And don't follow me."