Poison Physician Consort

“You… don’t think about Pei Wuchen all the time! Look at him! He has you dancing on the palm of his hand… You don’t even act like a young lady anymore.” That feminine man might look very shrewd, but he did seem to truly dote on Feng Wan’er.

“Senior brother is making fun of me again.” Feng Wan’er pretended to be angry and rebuked.

The feminine man shook his head and showed a helpless expression. Just as he was going to leave, he recalled something and informed Feng Wan’er. “In a few days, the time will come. This is the most important mission and you better focus on the task at hand. Cultivate diligently and even if you cannot break through at this critical moment, you will still be able to stabilize the spirit qi in your body. Don’t make a mistake at a crucial time.”

When Feng Wan’er heard her senior brother’s words, she withdrew her improper attitude and replied in a serious tone, “I know. I know what I need to do. Many thanks for senior brother’s advice.” When she was replying, one could see a trace of pride that an immortal sect’s disciple should have.

“Achoo!” Bai Luochu let out another loud sneeze and thought that something was really wrong. How are there so many people badmouthing me behind my back? Did I really catch a cold?!

Bai Luochu looked at the splendid sun that was high up in the sky and checked her own pulse, immediately denying her suspicion.

“Mistress, what is happening to you today? You have been sneezing repeatedly. Did you catch a cold last night?” Cai Ling heard Bai Luochu sneezing for the whole day and couldn’t help but show her concern.

Bai Luochu was obviously unable to explain the reason behind her behaviour. She simply gave an ambiguous answer, “I must have kicked off my blanket when I was dreaming at night. You came just in time, I need to tell you something.” Just like this, Bai Luochu shifted the topic.

When Cai Ling heard that her mistress had something to talk to her about, she poured a cup of tea for Bai Luochu and stood properly by the side. She waited patiently for Bai Luochu to speak.

“It seems like my uncle and his family are afraid of stirring up trouble. None of them dares to cause trouble in the residence. Tomorrow, I will promote you to be my chief servant and I will inform Uncle Liang to record it down in the book. After you are promoted to the chief servant, you don’t need to do physical labor any longer. You will have a lot of spare time but you cannot idle around as I need you to learn a lot of things. I will speak of your tasks now and you need to remember it well.”

When Cai Ling heard Bai Luochu’s words, she quickly nodded and acknowledged. “This servant will do as Mistress says.”

Seeing Cai Ling’s solemn vow, Bai Luochu felt reassured and mentioned about the tasks that  she had for Cai Ling. “During your free time, I want you to visit the Remote Paddy Inn and learn from Ying Lan. You are a personal attendant that Ying Lan specially arranged for me. Before Ying Lan could finish training you, I already asked to bring you along with me. With my special identity, there will surely be plenty of conspiracy and schemes in the future. If you don’t have the ability to protect yourself, in times of danger, you will only be able to block the attack with your body and will waste your life for nothing. I do not wish for an attendant painstakingly picked out by Ying Lan to disappear like this. This is the first task.”

“As for the second task… I found a secluded courtyard in the residence and I am preparing to turn it into a secret base for our Palace of Brilliance Resurgence. I already did some simple clean up and there is still a need for discussion about the interior arrangements. When you are learning from Ying Lan, you will also need to relay this piece of information to him. Ask him to quickly construct the secret base in the residence so that we will be able to meet up easily.”

“As for the third task… I will need to ask you about it. You were born and raised in the outskirts of the capital city. Did you come across  any ownerless mountain in the vicinity of the capital?”

“Mistress, why are you asking about this? Is our Palace of Brilliance Resurgence going to occupy a mountain? Are we going to be mountain bandits?” Cai Ling couldn’t understand and asked bluntly.

Bai Luochu didn’t know if she should cry or laugh, but she couldn’t blame Cai Ling for this as she really sounded like a bandit when asking about the mountain. Without a choice, Bai Luochu patiently explained, “It’s not what you’re thinking. Think about it, be it the Three Great Immortal Sects or the rest of the small sects and factions, all of them possess a territory of their own. Our Palace of Brilliance Resurgence has been established for quite some time and only has a few shops as our foothold. Since we are recruiting people, we have to provide them with a decent place to cultivate. We can’t allow others to think that our Palace of Brilliance Resurgence is incompetent.”

When Cai Ling heard her explanation, she immediately understood Bai Luochu’s thoughts. She pondered for a long time about the mountains in her memories. After some time, she muttered, “A mountain without an owner outside the city or in the capital’s outskirts…”

Just as Bai Luochu was going to give up and search for one herself, Cai Ling seemed to recall something and suddenly spoke up, “Mistress, this servant remembers. Outside the imperial city, towards the east, there is a majestic mountain. I do not know if it has an owner or not, but I think that the mountain is the only place to establish our base. Other than the mountain, there are only small hills in the vicinity of the capital city.”

Bai Luochu let out a sigh of relief. At the very least, she could save some time as she didn’t need to look around for a mountain personally. She then immediately instructed Cai Ling, “Good, then the third task is for you to search for this mountain in your memory. Bring Ying Lan along if you have to. If there are other sects or factions on the mountain, report back to me and we shall look for another place. If there are bandits on the mountain, kill them all and take the mountain for ourselves. Treat it as though we are getting rid of evil for the sake of the general populace. It will be best if the mountain is deserted and you can immediately occupy it, do you understand?”

“Understood. This servant remembers all of Mistress’ instructions. After this servant is promoted to the chief servant, I will head out of the residence and immediately look for Commander Ying to discuss the tasks. If Mistress is worried, you can write a message slip for this servant to bring over to him. Seeing how dependable Commander Ying is, he will definitely be able to remember all the tasks.”

Bai Luochu originally wanted to write a letter as per Cai Ling’s suggestion. However, she thought about it and decided otherwise. Since she had decided to put this servant girl into an important position, she had to trust her. Bai Luochu could take this as a test for the little servant girl. Bai Luochu shook her head and said, “Not necessary, I trust you.”

Bai Luochu wouldn’t have imagined that this statement of hers would cause Cai Ling to become completely loyal to her and would gradually develop into one of Bai Luochu’s dependable and trusted aides in the future.