Chapter 172 — A Letter from the Valley

CHAPTER 172

A Letter from the Valley

“A letter for Shi Feng,” Zhou Ke said.

Shi Feng stopped beside the reporting desk. The attendant held a narrow envelope with Hundred Flower Valley's mark across the outer fold.

Shi Feng accepted it and signed. The handwriting on the smaller inner fold was familiar enough that he didn't need to turn it over twice.

Ling Qingzhu.

He put the letter away before leaving the busy hall. Several candidates were arguing over tomorrow's viewing seats. A merchant wanted the official to confirm whether his expensive platform cushions were allowed.

The ordinary noise continued while Shi Feng walked through it.

At the inn, he closed his room's door and set the sword beside the table. Then he opened the envelope.

The first page began with the youth review in Great Liang's capital.

“I was sixteen when I first saw you, a month after your test,” Ling Qingzhu wrote. “Your household had brought you after the public test of two hundred and thirty-seven meridians. You stood beside Lu Qingxue. The prince wasn't at the review, but his household's steward offered you patronage in front of everyone. People moved aside before he finished speaking. They thought your answer had already been decided.”

The next paragraph continued beneath it.

“You thanked him and put the patronage token back. When he waited for you to bow, you asked whether he wanted your answer or your forehead. Then you left with Lu Qingxue. I had never seen anyone refuse them so calmly. I remembered it long after the others stopped discussing your meridians. You didn't notice me. I know that now.”

The handwriting filled the second page too.

“You fetched Lu Qingxue's tea before taking your own. She wore a white-jade pin you'd given her, and you moved her cup away from an elbow before it spilled. I was jealous of Lu Qingxue at the review. I'm still a little jealous now. It was foolish to envy a cup of tea, but I knew you hadn't done those things because anybody ordered you to.”

“I heard how you ended the engagement. You changed the paper, refused the stones and didn't say a bitter word about her. When I saw you in Sky Pavilion square, I wanted to know whether the man from the review was still there. He was. Your fall made it possible to approach you without handing my clan to another faction. It wasn't what made me want to approach you.”

The final paragraphs were shorter.

“I told you why I needed a husband. I didn't tell you why I wanted that husband to be you. I called it convenience because admitting more would have let you refuse something I couldn't blame on politics. That was my pride. It doesn't excuse how I treated you afterward. The repayment settled the stones. It didn't settle the times you told me the truth and I chose not to listen.”

“I reached the Valley safely. The teacher is strict, and the instruction is useful. I hope your final goes well. You needn't answer this.”

Ling Qingzhu had signed beneath the last line.

Shi Feng read the letter once, folded both pages along their creases, and put them inside his spatial ring.

He didn't take out paper for a reply.

Duan Yichen found him in the inn courtyard later that afternoon. The sabre user carried two bowls from the kitchen and looked pleased with himself.

“Plain food,” Duan Yichen said. “The innkeeper stopped calling it a champion's meal after I asked whether he included a champion.”

Shi Feng accepted one bowl.

“You're improving,” Shi Feng said.

“At ordering food?” Duan Yichen asked.

“At not paying for the name,” Shi Feng replied.

They ate beneath the narrow shade. The inn was busier now, with visitors hoping to glimpse the finalists before the next morning.

Duan Yichen ignored the people peering through the gate. He was studying the list of Martial Palace's training methods he'd received after the placement match.

“They offered you a place?” Shi Feng asked.

“Not the final papers yet,” Duan Yichen replied. “They're making certain I know how fortunate I should feel.”

“You are fortunate,” Shi Feng said.

“I know,” Duan Yichen replied. “I just don't need them to explain it between every two bites.”

Shi Feng smiled. Ninth place was a real opening for the sabre user. Being grateful for it didn't require losing every ordinary opinion he possessed.

They finished without turning the silence into a problem.

After Duan Yichen left, Shi Feng went to the medicine street for one small purchase. His sword needed fresh binding near the hilt. The old strip loosened after repeated matches, and he didn't want to notice it under a spear tomorrow.

Tan Gu, the shopkeeper, was at Qi Condensation and knew enough about weapons to keep the pitch short.

“Grip cloth or leather?” Tan Gu asked.

“Leather,” Shi Feng replied.

“Soft?” Tan Gu asked.

“Not when wet,” Shi Feng said.

The shopkeeper handed him a plain strip and named an ordinary price. Shi Feng paid, thanked him, and left.

Back at the inn, he removed the old binding and checked the hilt beneath it. The weapon was inexpensive, but he'd learnt its weight and the way its edge accepted qi.

It had brought him through the earlier rounds without demanding a greater name.

He wrapped the new strip tightly, tested the grip, and set it aside.

Then he cultivated.

His own pills strengthened the foundation without resistance. He guided the medicine steadily, waited for the gain to settle, and checked the next morning's reporting time.

Then he opened Xu Changhe's sword notes. Returning Tide depended on recovering the blade without leaving the wrist open. He repeated the shortened turn beside the bed, slowly enough to stop before the edge reached the wall.

Duan Yichen had warned him about Gu Zhan's second thrust. The warning needed practice, not another conversation. Shi Feng adjusted his rear foot and tried the turn again. The sword came back closer to his arm.

He put the notes away when the movement stopped pulling his shoulder forward.

Near sunset, Zhou Ke passed the inn with a final reminder for both finalists. Shi Feng met him at the gate and accepted the written time.

“Rest tonight,” Zhou Ke said. “The stands won't forgive either of you for sleeping through the bell.”

“I'll arrive,” Shi Feng replied.

“Gu Zhan asked whether he could arrive early,” Zhou Ke added.

“How early?” Shi Feng asked.

“Now,” Zhou Ke said.

Shi Feng looked toward the distant arena roofs and shook his head.

“Tell him the platform won't run away,” Shi Feng said.

“I did,” Zhou Ke replied. “He said that wasn't what he was worried about.”

The attendant left with a tired expression. Shi Feng went back inside and closed the gate before the curious visitors could invent another reason to enter.

On the table, the sword lay ready beneath its new binding.

The letter remained in the ring.