Chapter 24: A Kiss with the Taste of Bayberries

Chapter 24: A Bayberry-Flavored Kiss

"Alright, the temperature has completely cooled down now," exclaimed Liu Wan, his hand excitedly touching the wall of the long kiln.

Then, all seventy-plus villagers who had participated in building the long kiln and making the brick blanks reached out to feel it, nodding in unison and declaring, "It's time to open the kiln."

Seeing their bustling, eager movements, Zhao An felt equally thrilled, even though their long kiln had been built rather hastily. They had only found two villagers skilled at repairing stoves to serve as foremen, then, following the blueprints he provided, dug a trench into a suitable small hillside behind the village and constructed a rudimentary kiln opening from yellow clay.

By the standards for firing porcelain, the kiln should have been built with fire-resistant bricks. But Zhaojia Village simply lacked such resources—all they possessed was raw strength. Fortunately, their goal was merely to fire some bricks and a dozen or so experimental flowerpots.

So, each household hoping to receive free bricks and tiles sent one person. Following Zhao An’s instructions, they were divided into four groups: one for building the kiln, another for digging yellow clay, a third for making bricks, and the fourth for chopping firewood. All preparations were completed in just one day. They then spent three days using bonfires to dry the assembled kiln and the large stacks of firewood. Once both the brick blanks and the kiln were thoroughly dry, the firing began.

The firing process took an entire day. Zhao An had previously interacted with fire-type supernatural power users and knew that the closer the flame color was to blue-purple, the higher the temperature, followed by white, while the lowest temperature was actually orange-red. Although he had spent a long time drying the firewood, they had no access to higher-quality coal, so the kiln fire only achieved a faint whitish hue.

However, since they were only firing bricks, as long as the temperature reached 800 degrees, it would be sufficient for pottery firing, so he wasn’t overly concerned.

Before opening the kiln, though he felt a surge of excitement, he managed to maintain a calm expression and told the eager villagers, "Everyone, step back a little. Let Group One handle the kiln opening."

Afraid that too many hands might damage the newly built kiln, everyone quickly followed Zhao An’s instructions and retreated. Then, over a dozen strong men and women emerged from the crowd and approached the kiln to remove the stones sealing its entrance.

As the first bluestone slab was removed, a wave of heat and dust rushed out, dispersing the cool morning breeze and making everyone cough.

But the Group One members, holding torches, wiped the soot from their faces and quickly moved closer to the kiln to peer inside. The others followed their gaze and saw that the dozen or so flowerpots placed at the very edge appeared intact. Cheers immediately erupted: "It worked! It worked!"

Hearing this, Zhao An couldn’t help but feel pleased. The calm expression on his face finally broke into a broad smile. But after a moment of joy, he stopped himself from stepping forward to get a closer look and instead called out loudly, "Alright, get to work quickly. Everyone else, line up. We’ll go in soon to move the bricks out."

The villagers, who had been about to rush forward at the sound of the cheers, quickly halted and lined up as Zhao An had trained them to do over the past few days. After days of following Zhao An’s instructions, they had grown accustomed to obeying his commands.

As for those who didn’t comply—those who deliberately caused trouble were sent home, and those who made occasional mistakes were denied meat at lunch.

Indeed, while building the kiln, Zhao An hadn’t contributed much money or labor, but he still spent a significant sum to buy two pigs. Every noon and evening, Hai Bo and Qin Tong, who had returned from the prefectural city, cooked meals for the working villagers.

So now, his words carried more weight than even Village Chief Zhao, the old scholar, or Clan Leader Liu. The members of Zhao Tongming’s family didn’t dare show their faces around him anymore.

After those responsible for opening the kiln moved all the stones aside, someone approached Zhao An to request instructions: "Young Master Zhao, can we start moving them now?"

Zhao An said, "Go ahead. First, bring me those flowerpots to inspect. Move the bricks to the open area where we stored the firewood."

Liu Wan brought the flowerpots. His third son, Liu Guijin, was also in the brick-moving team. Liu Wan usually helped Zhao An manage affairs, so no one would dare accuse him behind his back of slacking off or taking advantage of the villagers for bricks and tiles.

The flowerpots were all made by Zhao An himself. Without a professional pottery wheel, he had rolled yellow clay into long strips and coiled them layer by layer to shape the pots. Though his hands were quite skilled, the fired results were still somewhat uneven in thickness. Still, they were more than adequate for planting strawberry seedlings.

Of course, he didn’t entirely rely on the villagers to make enough flowerpots for the urgent need. He had also asked Feng Shaoping to hurry the city’s professional pottery families, working day and night to meet the deadline.

Fortunately, as Feng Shaoping had said, Eunuch Xu was indeed indulging in the land of tenderness—watching operas one day, listening to music the next, and boating on mountain streams with beauties and scholars the day after. In short, he seemed to have forgotten the purpose of his visit to Changxi County and never pressed Zhao An to hurry with preparing the strawberry seedlings.

"This is my father’s skill. Otherwise, as a mere tribute scholar who started as an eighth-rank instructor, how could he have climbed step by step to the position of county magistrate just by flattering his superiors?" Feng Shaoping sat in the watchtower cabin of Daqing Village, drinking wine and sarcastically bad-mouthing his father to Hu Sheng.

Hu Sheng’s sharp gaze pierced through the cabin’s small window, looking toward the distant boats on the stream. The sound of music drifted over the mountains, reaching his ears as nothing more than a faint, elusive shadow.

"Shang Xijing’s associates say he’s secretly painting portraits of Zhao Qingcheng. Brother An’s sister is truly peculiar—it seems every man who meets her is captivated by her." After listening silently to Feng Shaoping’s complaints, Hu Sheng suddenly spoke, bringing up something entirely unrelated.

Feng Shaoping’s attention was immediately captured by Hu Sheng’s words. Just from that short sentence, he had much to say—first, the intimate term "Brother An," then the strangeness of Zhao Qingcheng, and finally, a very practical thought: "His Majesty has never shown mercy to those who covet the Noble Consort. Should we find a way to bring this to his attention?"

Hu Sheng shook his head. "Shang Xijing returns to the capital with the achievement of defeating the Xiongnu. Given Li Xiuye’s temperament, he’s already a dead man walking. I just want to ask you to help me contact someone from the capital to take Zhao Tongming’s entire family there and deliver them to Shang Meijing."

Feng Shaoping quickly gave Hu Sheng a thumbs-up. "You’re ruthless! You want the entire Shang family executed, and by the way, help your sweetheart vent his anger."

Hu Sheng smiled but said nothing.

Shang Meijing had always been fiercely competitive, even more so than her brother Shang Xijing. Yet, such a woman had still lost to Zhao Qingcheng in the palace. Previously, this had surprised him. But after meeting Zhao An, he suddenly felt it wasn’t so surprising after all.

No matter how many tricks and schemes Shang Meijing employed, she might never win Li Xiuye’s love. This was what Buddhists called "unattainable desire."

And he—he had already fallen in love with Zhao An and was willing to do anything for him, no matter how trivial.

Feng Shaoping might think helping Zhao An solve his problems was just a convenient gesture, but Hu Sheng knew his own feelings. The fundamental reason behind all his arrangements was to stir up conflict in the capital, burst the long-festering abscess, and ensure Zhao Qingcheng and Li Xiuye had no time to turn their attention to Zhao An.

Otherwise, once they learned about Zhao An growing strawberries, any decision they made would be unfavorable to him.

To others, Zhao Qingcheng was a peerless beauty, but based on what Hu Sheng had uncovered, she was nothing but trouble for Zhao An.

Zhao An was deeply aware that he and Zhao Qingcheng might be fundamentally incompatible. So when all the strawberry seedlings were packed and he went to see Eunuch Xu off, and Eunuch Xu asked if he had any message or letter for the Noble Consort, he only said, "Please convey my greetings to the Noble Consort."

When the emperor learned that the Internal Affairs officers had returned from Changxi County, he specifically sent someone to inquire. Upon hearing that Zhao An had only asked to pay respects to Zhao Qingcheng without any other words, he finally gave up on sending secret guards to deal with Zhao An.

Because Zhao An was too unruly—even after being exiled a thousand miles away, he still managed to grow strawberries to try and attract Qingcheng’s attention.

After dismissing the Internal Affairs officers, Li Xiuye smiled and went to the rear palace. "Qingcheng, look, these are the strawberries praised to the skies outside. Taste them and see how they are."

Zhao Qingcheng ate a freshly picked strawberry. It was a bit sour but fragrant, with a lovely pink color—perfect for her during pregnancy. But her expression remained cool and detached, like a jade-carved beauty. "Not bad."

Li Xiuye was accustomed to Zhao Qingcheng’s icy demeanor around him. He said in a reproachful tone, "And this was discovered by your brother. He didn’t even think to send some to you, his sister. And here you are, worrying about him all day—what an ungrateful wretch."

Zhao Qingcheng had already heard similar words from her subordinates, though they didn’t dare openly criticize Zhao An. Hearing Li Xiuye say it now, she frowned slightly. "How is An’er doing?"

"He’s doing just fine—bullying this person today, that person tomorrow, using your status as Noble Consort to have your cousin beaten, and even setting a vicious wolf on your nephew, biting off his leg." Li Xiuye spoke as if genuinely criticizing a troublemaking brother-in-law.

Tears welled up in Zhao Qingcheng’s eyes, crystal droplets tracing paths down her fair cheeks. "Your Majesty, how could he? How could he do this?"

She seemed to forget that Zhao An had been sent back to his hometown because of her sneaking out of the palace. And as for the character of her brother versus that of her cousin’s family—who was bullying whom?

But all her attendants were sent by Li Xiuye, and they whispered criticisms of Zhao An in her ear daily. The change in her impression of her brother couldn’t entirely be blamed on her.

Li Xiuye held her tighter, a smile of satisfaction on his face, and patted Zhao Qingcheng’s back. "Fortunately, your cousin’s family has been brought back to the capital by the Internal Affairs officers. You can take good care of them from now on. As for Zhao An, without my decree, he wouldn’t dare leave Changxi County. As long as he stays in that small place, any trouble he causes is insignificant. For your sake, I will ensure he lives a safe and wealthy life."

Zhao An, unaware of events in the capital, threw himself into kiln firing after Eunuch Xu left with the strawberry seedlings.

The kiln he was working on now was certainly not the original crude brick-and-tile kiln but a new kiln built with fire-resistant bricks, intended for firing ceramic pipes. He planned to take advantage of the villagers rebuilding their houses to renovate his old home, adding bathing and drainage systems.

There was no helping it—as summer arrived, using the toilet had become an ordeal, what with the pungent smell and swarming flies. Bathing was also troublesome, so he deeply missed modern facilities, even just a simple squat toilet and shower.

To achieve this, he spent heavily to poach experienced masters from the Zhang and Wang families to make ceramic pipes for him. But creating squat toilets and showers wasn’t as simple as imagined—the tricky parts were the bends and joints. Fortunately, the grapes and silver fungus he recently grew could be sold for good prices, or he would soon be spending more than he earned.

He was so busy every day that he barely had time to touch the ground, greatly reducing his time for romance. Not to mention his earlier boast about learning martial arts from Hu Sheng—that was completely forgotten.

Of course, his romantic life wasn’t entirely stagnant. As Zhao An watched the kiln’s fire opening being sealed and gazed at the full moon in the sky, he thought happily about how, two days ago, Hu Sheng had brought a basket of bayberries to see him. His lips stained red with bayberry juice, Hu Sheng had wiped the corner of his mouth, and he had secretly licked Hu Sheng’s finger. Their eyes met, and they exchanged a kiss tasting of bayberries.

A little sour, a little sweet. As time passed, the memory grew sweeter. Unfortunately, the sound of little Qin Tong returning with firewood interrupted their intimacy.

Moreover, Hu Sheng had many matters to attend to and couldn’t stay by his side every day. After leaving that night, Hu Sheng hadn’t reappeared. Zhao An touched his gradually flushing cheeks, missing him quite a bit.

Perhaps people simply can’t withstand longing. When Zhao An returned home, he was pleasantly surprised to find Hu Sheng already waiting at the table. Zhao An quickened his steps to approach him, wanting to ask where he had been these past few days. But unexpectedly, Hu Sheng suddenly asked, "How much money do you have?"

Zhao An was puzzled. "Do you need to borrow money? I have twelve taels of silver left." Initially, from selling the strawberry seedlings, the village had allotted him three hundred taels, but he had spent it all hiring workers and building a brick dormitory for the workers to live in.

Hu Sheng shook his head, as if he had expected this, and placed one hundred taels of silver on the table. "Grain prices are about to rise. Go stock up on grain quickly."