Falling Dreams Of Fang Hua

Chapter 20: Lord Nongyu

I cradled a stack of paper money[1] in my hands, completely senseless...there were also ten brilliant gold leaves resting on the table, their veins and arteries delicately carved distinctly into the metal.

I swallowed a mouthful of drool.

Holding back the urge to jump on it all, I took a good look at the man's face. He had a rather apologetic smile. "I left in a hurry, so I didn't bring enough silver taels, but these should be enough to cover the sum of two taels of gold."

I blinked a few times, poking at the mass. "This..."

"Please tell us whatever is most convenient, young master." He was a man with a sagely air, the sparkle in his eyes unusually moving. Occasionally, flashes of well-intentioned feeling flashed in his pupils as he gazed upon me.

I felt like an idiot, my thoughts all awhirl.

Two taels of silver.

In a flash, they'd turned into two taels of gold.

I bit myself, then pinched a corner of my face, twisting the skin.

It hurt...

Then I quickly opened up my sleeves to accept the lot.

"Young master's temperament is both generous and straightforward. Come, have a drink." His face was wreathed in smiles as he stood up to pour more wine for me. A sweet fragrance rose from inside his sleeves, mixed with the unique odor that all men had, making me feel a little dizzy.

The more I looked, the more I thought this young master was quite handsome.

"That's right, it's been this long but I still don't know young master's respected surname?" His magnanimous posture while pouring the wine had the elegant carriage of a young gentleman. It was obvious he had a good grasp of ceremony and propriety.

"Shao..."

He stopped to look at me. My eyes did some quick calculations as I waved the cup between my fingers with a smile. "My surname is Shào, and my given name is Yu[2]."

While in the outside world, one must not only be a ruffian, but act shamelessly when the situation called for it.

If he knew the prices for these pills were so low in the surrounding shops, wouldn't he find me to cause trouble? I lowered my head to take a sip from my wine cup, raising an eye towards him. "And how shall I call you, young master?"

He smiled as if reading my thoughts. "This one..." He slowly opened his mouth and spat out two words. "Nong...Yu[3]."

Choke.

I didn't manage to hold it in, and spewed a majestic stream of alcohol.

I called myself Shào Yu, and he called himself Nongyu (fooling around with Yu).

No matter how I listened to it in my head, it still sounded strange...

He lowered his head to rub off the bits of liquid on his robe as if he didn't mind a bit. The next time he saw me, his eyes were like limpid pools of water. I shrank back, turning my body as I thought to myself. Was I being too suspicious? No matter how I looked at this, it didn't seem so simple.

He seemed to have seen through my misgivings, and put down his chopsticks to offer me food. A smile flashed on his face. "I won't hide it from young master. I'm an imperial physician for the emperor that came here to search for valuable medicinal plants. Unexpectedly, I ran into you...young master is very young, yet you have so many poisons and miracle pills on your person. Thus, I have a presumptuous request."