Jun Jiuling

Chapter 166: Not a Gentleman, Not a Scoundrel

Was Fang Chengyu talking about his illness or the pain during Mis Jun’s treatment?

Fang Chengyu spoke warmly and gently, but with the particular seriousness of a youth. It brought delight to those who listened to him.

He was unlike normal young men.

He never shouted or screamed. He spoke quietly, making the atmosphere much more harmonious.

He really was a child that could make people worry-free.

Obviously, people needed to take care of him because of his illness, but he tried his hardest to avoid giving them more trouble.

Miss Jun smiled.

"I've experienced pain before," she replied.

When she had died, she had been hacked to death.

The Jinwu Guards had used their military-issue blades. The swords were wide, their tips filed neatly, and they were extremely thick. It was a sharp weapon, effective even when cutting armor.

Her flesh and blood body was like tofu before those armor-piercing blades.

She remembered that the first strike had been to her shoulder, and her whole arm had fallen off.

Then came a slash across her back.

If any more force had been used, she probably would have been cut in half.

It had really hurt.

It was the difference between heaven and earth when it came to Jun Zhenzhen’s pain of hanging herself.

Miss Jun rubbed her neck.

Fang Chengyu caught it, and remembered when she had hung herself.

Dying was very painful? It must have been especially so for Jun Zhenzhen who actually didn’t want to die.

He resisted the urge to smile. Living was also painful, but not so painful that you would wish to die.

Miss Jun finished treating the wound.

"Is this because of that person?" he suddenly asked. "He is not just a woodcutter?"

She shook her head.

"My wound is definitely not his fault," she said. "Actually, he is someone who saved my life."

Saved her life?

Miss Jun recounted what happened. Of course, she just said that she recognized that the herb was expensive so she went to pick it.

Fang Chengyu, and Lei Zhonglian who had returned, heard this, and their backs ran with cold sweat.

They didn’t know what they wanted to say, or what they should say.

Should they tell her to be more careful next time? But who can know which step is safe and which dangerous?

"This time it was due to my carelessness," Miss Jun said first. "I knew the characteristics of the Immortal Ziying Plant, where it grows. I should have tied a rope around myself before going to pick it."

‘Was this Immortal Ziying Plant for my sickness?’ Fang Chengyu wondered, then paused for a moment.

"That said, this Immortal Ziying plant is very precious," he said. "That person was not being too overreaching, because it was exchanged for Elder Cousins’ life."

This was said with some regret.

"We should have given him a bit more money."

This sounded very reasonable, but Lei Zhonglian couldn’t help but feel somewhat strange.

"But that person, that person’s conduct was too…" he couldn’t help but say.

He didn’t even know how to describe that person.

"We don’t know if he was a gentleman or a scoundrel," he finally finished.

If he was a true gentleman, why would he save someone’s life only to take the herb that they almost lost their life for? If only he had at least tried to ask for it. Could it be that Young Lady was unwilling to give it to the person who saved her life?

Miss Jun shook her head at this.

"I wouldn’t have given it," she said, "if it weren’t for him threatening me with his hatchet."

She thought about it again, then nodded in affirmation.

"I could have given him more money, but definitely not the herb."

If it hadn’t been for the threat to her life, she definitely would not have given the Immortal Ziying Plant so submissively to anyone, even if he had saved her life.

Lei Zhonglian was speechless.

Perhaps that young man saw this, so he simply took it and left.

Both of you are truly not gentlemen.

"I’m a girl traveling on my own, there is no such thing as gentleman or not," she said, stroking her silver bracelet.

That time, she had returned to the capital on her own. Master had not guarded her, but had given her some items to protect herself with.

Of course, the majority of those things were shameful tricks people would not deign to do; not a gentleman’s conduct.

"You are girl traveling on your own, what are you playing at," Master had said.

Miss Jun felt her lips curl into a smile.

But she still sighed when she remembered that her Immortal Ziying Plant had been snatched away.

"I really have no grounds to hate him. His conduct was not gentlemanly, but it was not of a scoundrel either. Otherwise, he would not have saved me and carried me down the mountain," she said.

Fang Chengyu nodded.

"It’s a hard demand for people not to hurt others, but requiring people to revere others and respect them is far too exacting," he said.

At such a young age and so seriously, he said something befitting of an old man.

Miss Jun smiled again.

"However, I still don’t like his attitude," she said. "It’s not because he took my item, rather, it’s because he used the hatchet in dealing with me. I didn’t question him, but he was guarded against me. It doesn’t matter whether or not he is a scoundrel; he has, at the very least, a scoundrel’s heart."

It isn’t because he took your thing?

If he hadn’t taken away your item, then he wouldn’t need to guard against you, and you wouldn’t need to care about him.

‘A young lady seriously saying words to strike the cheek is very interesting,’ thought Lei Zhonglian.

When risking your life to pick a plant, but then ending up with nothing—anyone would feel the pain, moreover when it happened to a child.

"Young Lady, you should eat," he suggested, passing over the piping hot food.

The matter was over and done with. There was no need to take the troubles to heart; she should continue moving forward.

Fang Chengyu took his medicine, Miss Jun took her meal, and Lei Zhonglian stood to the side, gripping his wooden stick, lost in thought.

"Fortunately he wasn’t those people," he said suddenly.

Fang Chengyu and Miss Jun looked at him.

Fang Chengyu did not say anything, while Miss Jun looked thoughtful.

"The bandits you encountered when you were escorting Master Fang?" she asked

Lei Zhonglian was quiet.

Miss Jun knew who he was. Lei Zhonglian also knew that Miss Jun knew, so much so that he could faintly guess why he was chosen to escort them.

Since they had started their journey, the had never spoken of this.

Lei Zhonglian didn’t know if he should say anything.

Ten years ago he had said the story many times, but no one believed him. Instead, his humiliation was increased.

He couldn’t accept the unfairness, so he remained in the Fang Family.

At the start, he had told everyone that would look at him, but in the end no one acknowledged him. They sent him to watch the carriages, spoke to him like he was a beast of burden.

He had asked so many times why, but in the end he could obtain nothing.

These years, he hadn’t spoken of it at all.

He had never thought that, now, there would be someone asking him about it.

And it was one of the young mistresses of the Fang Family.

Wasn’t this what he had always been looking forward to? Why did he suddenly clam up, not daring to say anything?

Was it because he didn’t want the aftermath of after he spoke? He didn’t want to feel that despair, disappointment?

Miss Jun did not push him. Fang Chengyu also did not ask him. Neither curious or questioning, just like they were chatting about no longer relevant affairs.

Lei Zhonglian slowly relaxed his grip on the wooden stick.

"He resembled those people," he said.

Miss Jun looked at him.

"You mean to say that it’s like he’s not a real woodcutter, and that year, those bandits were not true bandits," she said.

What Lei Zhonglian had always been saying, this time someone else had said it first.

He squeezed the wooden stick again.

"They, they did not have the aura of bandits," he said, looking off into the forest.

There was no longer any trace of that man.

"Did they have the aura of military?" Miss Jun followed up.