?

  Zhou Xuan's boat was over 80 feet long, a new-style Lou Chuan with watertight compartments and riveted joints adopted by the Fuzhou Shipyard. It was sturdy and stable, not easily sinking even when running aground or receiving heavy impacts. With four sails set, it could sail against the wind. There were more than thirty sailors, helmsmen, and boatmen on board, making the ship quite comfortable, similar to a small mansion with stables for two fine horses, including the white-nosed mule that had been brought along.

  Zhou Xuan gazed at the two young wives who were seeing him off on the riverbank in the cold wind, feeling very reluctant to part with them. However, he couldn't bring both of them to the capital for now. He had to establish himself first before he could bring them over. It would take at most half a year or at least four months for him to make a name for himself in the capital and then bring Zuo Er and Zhen Er over. As for Zuo Er, she would naturally be in charge of managing "Cloud Dress". As for Zhen Er, he had to find her a job at the Imperial Medical Office in the capital.

  The sail was puffed up by the wind, and the boat sailed faster and faster. The people on the shore who were seeing them off had already become indistinct, when Zhou Xuan suddenly remembered that Yang Xiao hadn't come to see him off. This silent and taciturn young beauty really left him perplexed!

  A large boat sailed down the river to the east, and in one day and night, it could travel nearly 200-300 miles, much faster than taking the land route to Jinling. However, on this third day of the first month, after sailing over 40 miles with favorable wind and water, the leading boat slowed down and docked by the riverbank just past the mouth of Poyang Lake. The boatmen shouted out. The other boats also came to a stop.

  The big ship on which the two judges of the Department of Justice, Fan and Lin, were riding, lowered a small boat. Two boatmen rowed to Zhou Xuan's ship and shouted under it: "Master Zhou - Master Zhou - Judge Fan asks you to come over for an urgent matter."

  Zhou Xuan then got down to the small boat, rowed to the side of the big ship, and sat in a sedan chair on the big ship. Lin Heishan and Fan Dangguan came forward to greet him. Fan Dangguan said: "Young Master Zhou, I didn't think this through. I didn't expect the young lady would get seasick. This kind of big ship is as stable as land, generally people don't get seasick. The young lady usually rides horse-drawn carriages back and forth, but she's never been known to get carsick. Who would have thought that as soon as she got on the boat, she'd get so violently seasick? Some of the sailors said that ginger soup can cure seasickness, so I hastily ordered the chef to make some ginger soup for her, but the young lady doesn't like ginger and refused to eat it. As Young Master Zhou's wife is a female divine doctor, Young Master Zhou must have learned from her and have another good method."

  Actually, Judge Fan knew that Lin Xiaojie had a soft spot for Zhou Xuan, so he asked him to persuade Lin Xiaojie to drink ginger soup. This trip couldn't be delayed.

  The Douhu Fu's large ship was even more luxurious, over twenty yards long and seven yards wide. The layout on the boat was like a street alley, divided into four courtyards. Lin's two sisters' courtyard was the most extravagant. Carved beams and painted buildings, red carpets covered the ground, maidservants came and went, just like the scene of Douhu Fu.

  The two charming maids, Jianyue and Mingfeng, from the "Jiunan Mountain House" came forward with furrowed brows and said: "Master Zhou has come to take a look, our young mistress is suffering, Master Zhou should think of a solution."

  Two maidservants escorted Zhou Xuan into the boudoir, where it was warm and fragrant with a faint sweet scent. Jingyi, the gentle maiden, was half-sitting and half-reclining on a couch, while Lin Hanyin was gently massaging her back. Upon seeing Zhou Xuan enter, she quickly sat up straight and called out: "Young Master Zhou!" Then, feeling nauseous, she hastily covered her mouth with a handkerchief.

  Lin Han said with a pout: "Zhou Xuan brother, look at my sister, she's in so much pain, and she won't drink the ginger soup. Can you please persuade her?"

  Zhou Xuan looked at Jingyi Xianzi's delicate appearance and couldn't help but think of the pregnant needle, with a slightly evil thought: "Who made the fairy pregnant?" This playful idea flashed by, knowing that Jingyi Xianzi must be seasick, said: "Dao Yun sister, drinking ginger soup is the most effective for seasickness, if you don't drink it, you won't get better, and people will suffer a lot——"

  The boat stopped, and Jingyi felt a bit better. "I really can't drink it," she said. "As a woman, I've never eaten even half a piece of raw ginger since childhood. The moment I smell that flavor, I want to vomit."

  "Open the window and take a look at the riverbank view."

  The maid pushed open the wooden window, and a cold gust of wind poured in. Lin Huan's neck shrunk: "Wow, it's so cold!" She quickly put on her sable cloak, and the maid, Mingfeng, also hurriedly helped Jingyi Xianzhu put on her cloak.

  Jingyi leaned against the windowsill, gazing at the snowy riverbank and said, "Mmm, this feels a bit more comfortable."

  "But on a cold day like today, it's no good just blowing wind either. The boat won't be dizzy, but it will catch a chill."

  Jing Yi Xianzi heard Zhou Xuan's tone, which seemed to have a hint of resentment, and her mood suddenly turned gloomy. She said lightly: "That woman will go ashore and take the carriage back to Jiangzhou, don't delay your journey."

  "This won't do, sister must accompany me to Xijing, I heard from the guests that Xijing is a very fun place, there are all kinds of things to play with."

  Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "What Sister Dao Yin said is nonsense. Isn't it just a Weiqi competition on Yuanxiao? If I'm not in time for the competition, then I won't participate. But I must go with my sister to Jinling. However, I have a method that can cure seasickness without eating ginger, which I saw in my father-in-law's medical book. I don't know if Sister is willing to try it?"

  Jing Yi Xianzi was just feeling ashamed of her previous words and hastily said: "That's great, the female Dao will naturally agree to try."

  Zhou Xuan let the two maids close the window and leave first, leaving only Lin Huanyu here, then said: "This is

  "Try massaging the 'Jiu Wei' and 'Li Dui' acupoints to cure carsickness," said Miao's sister. "I'll give it a try." She thought to herself, "Ancient people are so vague, just call it massage already, why use terms like 'hand guiding technique'? Hehe, hand guiding, guys can easily get the wrong idea."

  Lin Han said dully: "I don't know how to recognize it, Brother Zhou Xuan, you come instead."

  Jingyi Xianzi hastily said: "Han Yun, you come."

  Lin Han Yun saw her sister's anxious appearance, suddenly enlightened, and smiled: "Sister, Zhou Xuan is also your brother, he is now pretending to be a doctor, doctors don't need to avoid anything for their patients, avoiding illness and fearing medicine isn't good, oh sister."

  Jingyi Xianzi blushed and hastily said: "Watch it or sister will hit you."

  Lin Han Yun "Gegere" smiled: "Okay, I'll guide sister - Zhou Xuan brother said, where are the two acupoints?"

  Zhou Xuan said: "First press the 'Ligou hole'. The 'Ligou hole' is located at the outer side of the root of the second toe, half an inch away. Use your thumb and index finger to pinch it, and rub for about one breath each time, repeat ten times."

  Lin Han Yun listened and without saying a word took off her sister's embroidered shoes and white cloth socks.

  Zhou Xuan moved the brazier closer, so as not to let Jing Yi's feet get cold.

  Jingyi's two snow-white slender feet were exposed under Zhou Xuan's eyelids, and she was so shy that she couldn't bear it. But it wasn't good to let Zhou Xuan leave either. He was a doctor!

  Lin Han pinched her sister's toes. Intentionally not pinching the right spot, she tilted her head and asked: "Is Brother Zhou Xuan here? No, it's not! Is it here? It's not either, this hand guiding is so difficult, let Brother Zhou Xuan come and help my sister with hand guiding."

  Jingyi Xianzi quickly withdrew her feet and curled up her legs, like a mermaid's pose, saying: "No need for Brother Xuan to take action, I'll guide it myself."

  Jingyi Xianzi no longer calls him "Zhou Gongzi", but instead calls him "Xuan Di". The subtle psychological nuances behind this change are indeed worth pondering.

  Zhou Xuan looked at Jingyi Xianzi's beautiful feet and had a strong urge to play with them, saying: "It's not good for you to do it yourself. This needs to be done while lying down. Take slow breaths, let me do it instead."

  Zhou Xuan took a deep breath and simultaneously used both hands to grasp the "Lei Duo" acupoint on Jing Yi's second toe of her left and right feet. With a gentle press, Jing Yi felt blood rushing to her forehead, her ears buzzing loudly, and she almost fainted. If not for the veil covering her face, one could see that her complexion was as radiant as the dawn clouds.

  Lin Han Yun said, "Zhou Xuan brother, you really have some skills, no wonder your father-in-law and wife are both famous doctors in the provincial medical office. As soon as your hand touched her, my sister's whole body started trembling, it was very effective, wasn't it, sister?"

  The Tang Dynasty woman had not yet bound her feet and did not think that small feet were more precious than chastity, nor was there the kind of distorted chastity of later generations where if a man touched her hand she would cut off her hand, or if he touched her foot she would commit suicide. However, no matter what, having two toes held by Zhou Xuan like this, the feeling of shame was extremely strong, and there was also a kind of stimulation that had never been felt before, spreading from her toes to her entire body in an instant, causing her to shudder uncontrollably.

  Zhou Xuan said seriously, "Dao Yun sister, relax your body, breathe calmly, breathe - relax -". His thumbs and index fingers pinched the slender toes one by one, massaging them, his eyes gazing at those delicate and beautiful feet. The faint blue veins seemed so vivid and lively, making Zhou Xuan want to hold them up and kiss them.

  It was far from just ten times, Jingyi Xianzi's two toes were rubbed until they were red and hot, how could she breathe calmly, her chest heaving violently, one hand stretched under the veil, as if covering her mouth.

  Zhou Xuan finally gave up and said: "The Lihui hole massage is almost done, I can't massage the Jiwei hole for my sister, let my sister massage it herself."

  Lin Han Yun said: "Where is the Ji Wei hole? Brother Zhou Xuan, don't be lazy, your guidance is very good. Look at my sister, she looks very comfortable."

  Zhou Xuan said: "The Que Pen hole is directly below the heart, just a little bit below the lowest rib, it's easy to find. This position is not good for me to massage for Dào Yùn jiějie, jiějie please come and do it yourself, rub it while adjusting your breathing, and make sure your breath is long and smooth. This acupoint can cure motion sickness immediately."

  Jingyi Xianzi moaned weakly: "Zhou Gong - Xuan Di, can you go out for a moment? I'll massage myself."

  Zhou Xuan said: "Alright, I'll come back to visit my sister later." He walked out of Jingyi Xianzi's boudoir and directly exited the small courtyard. In his heart, he felt a bit regretful, not knowing what expression Jingyi Xianzi had on her face as she clutched at her chest, was it like Xi Shi holding her heart?

  Fan the judge had been waiting outside the court for a long time and did not dare to enter without being summoned by either of the two young ladies, how could he be as bold as Zhou Xuan who just lifted his foot and entered!

  "Zhou Gongzi, how is Big Sister doing?"

  "It should be fine, I'll go in and check again later, it's almost time to set sail again."

  Fan Judge flattered: "Master Zhou is really incompetent, what difficult things can be solved by Master Zhou! By the way, Master Zhou, why not move to this side of the big boat? This side is still very spacious. Master Zhou has only one servant and two old men, San and Si, who live downstairs."

  Lin Heishan also said: "Yes, Xuan Di, move over here, it's more convenient for brother to find you to drink."

  Zhou Xuan is a person who likes lively scenes, and can travel with Heishan Ge and Linshi sisters on the same boat without feeling lonely. Otherwise, even though the two boats are only tens of feet apart, it would be hard to say a word, truly "a vast expanse of water between them, yet unable to communicate".

  Fan the judge immediately ordered Zhou to use a small boat to bring over the servants, while also instructing the government workers to clean out five rooms right across from Lin's sisters.

  The maid Feng came out and said: "Young Master Zhou, our immortal mistress invites you in."

  Zhou Xuan asked while walking: "Is the immortal better?"

  Ming Feng replied: "Yes."

  Jingyi Xianzi said as soon as she saw Zhou Xuan: "Xuan brother, let them set sail, the female Daoist feels that her chest is no longer stuffy."

  "Alright, I'll go tell Master Fan to order the boatmen to slow down and not sail too fast. Once Miss Dao Yu gets used to it for a while, she'll be fine."

  Lai Fu, Xiao Xiang, San Chi and Si Chi all boarded the big ship, and the fleet set sail again. The speed of the voyage was much slower than before.

  Zhou Xuan stayed in Jingyi's room all the time, ready to massage "Lihui acupoint" for Dao Yun at any moment.

  It's really strange. The boat sailed out for more than ten miles, and Jingyi Xianzi no longer showed any signs of seasickness.

  *****************************

  Qin Que sent six servants to chase after Yang Xiaomei. Two of the servants asked many boatmen at the dock by the river, but none of them had seen a beautiful woman hiring a boat alone to go downstream. The other four servants chased in the direction of Jinling for thirty miles, but there was no trace of her either, as if Yang Xiaomei had vanished into thin air the moment she left the Zhou residence.

  That night, six servants dragged their tired bodies back. Qin Xiao and Zhen Jian didn't find any news about Yang Xiao, they were extremely anxious.

  Dr. Qin frowned and said, "My son-in-law mentioned it before he left, if we have any difficulties, go find Lord Du Hu, the commander of the imperial guards. When we saw him off earlier, Lord Du also said that no matter what difficulties arise, just go to him. If the Commander's mansion takes charge and sends people to search for her, they will definitely be able to find Xiang Xiaoyin."

  It was already late at night, and Qin Que said: "Tomorrow morning, Que Er will go with Zhen Er to see Uncle Lin."

  The next day at the fourth watch, Qin Bo Shi, Qin Que and Zhen arrived outside Chaoyang Fang. The official servant went in to report, and on this cold and frozen first month of spring, the governor was still asleep. Upon hearing that Xuan's two wives had come to see him, he wondered what major event had occurred and hastily got out of bed to receive them.

  Qin Que and Zhen Shi Li explained their intention, Lin let out a sigh of relief and thought to himself: "It turns out that they lost a small family servant girl. Maybe she had been wanting to run away for a long time. Yesterday, many people from the mansion went to see off the guests at the riverbank, and she took advantage of the chaos to escape. It's not like they're going to chase after Xuan Zhang or anything." He said: "Don't worry, Uncle will immediately inform Xu Cishi to send out captors and yamen runners to search everywhere and definitely find that little servant girl Yang Xiaotian! Also, I'll write another letter and send it by fast horse to pursue them by land, intercepting Xuan Zhang's boat fleet from the front. Maybe that servant girl is really on the boat."

  Xu Steward heard that the Zhou Mansion had lost a small family slave, and he didn't slack off. He dispatched constables and runners to pursue an investigation in various counties of Jiangzhou, but there was no news whatsoever.

  Qin Que whispered to Zhen: "Sister Zhen, that little lamb is something my husband brought back from Hongzhou, I wonder if it will secretly run back to Hongzhou?"

  Zhen nodded and said: "It's very likely that this little lamb has also forgotten the favors, husband treated her so well, but as soon as he left, she ran away!"

  ********************************

  A young woman with a small bundle, containing some loose silver and clothes, wore a hooded hat with a veil hanging down to cover her extremely beautiful face. She walked out of the gate of the alley and had already noticed that there were many carriages in front of the Zhuque Alley, soliciting customers. She found a driver who looked kind and without saying a word, she lifted the curtain and sat into his carriage.

  The car driver felt strange and asked: "Where is the girl going?"

  Yang Xiaoyin said, "Pengze County." She knew that Pengze County was a must-pass waterway to Jinling, so she wanted to rush there first and wait for the young master's big ship to arrive by the river.

  The coachman said: "Miss, Peng Ze is over a hundred miles away. In this icy and snowy weather in the first month, the fare should be doubled to three or four taels of silver."

  "Yes!" came from inside the carriage.

  The cart driver was worried and asked, "Miss, which household in Zhuque Lane are you from?"

  "The Zhou Mansion."

  The coachman was delighted: "So it's Master Zhou Qi's mansion, I'll harness the horses and set off immediately."

  The carman was an honest man and did not have any bad intentions towards Yang Xiaojin just because she was a lone woman, and he also knew that it was the residence of Master Zhou Qizuo, who was the nephew of the great master. Therefore, he treated Yang Xiaojin with great respect throughout the journey, and after driving for over 100 miles, they arrived at Pengze County in the late afternoon.

  Yang Xiaoyin told the cart driver not to enter the city and go straight to the dock by the river.

  The carter, after receiving three taels of silver at the dock by the river, turned his cart around to head back to Jiangzhou. Seeing that it was getting late, he remembered that he had a distant cousin in Pengze County who he rarely visited. Since he was already there, he bought some gifts and went to pay his respects under the guise of New Year's greetings. It just so happened that his cousin's eldest son was getting married, and he was warmly invited to stay for three days of drinking. By the time he returned to Jiangzhou, the officials sent by Governor Xu had already searched the entire city without finding any news, and the matter was dropped. No one asked the carter if he had been hired by a lone woman to take her east.