"Young Madam, feel free to ask your servant anything. I can answer while standing."
Chu Qing hastily declined. How could a servant sit at the same table as her mistress? It would be improper and against etiquette if word got out.
"It's fine, there's only you and me here. And I'm ordering you to sit, so you must obey. This is the mistress's command, which you cannot disobey."
Mustering the air of a mistress, Feng Jin directly and forcefully ordered Chu Qing to sit beside her.
She had a lot of questions for Chu Qing, and it would be awkward to speak with one person sitting and the other standing. Besides, her neck had only just started to feel better, and she didn't want to strain herself by looking up to talk to Chu Qing, which would exhaust her.
Unable to refuse, Chu Qing reluctantly sat on the chair, feeling as if she were sitting on pins and needles. Chu Qing immediately tensed up.
"You don't need to be nervous, relax."
Feng Jin noticed Chu Qing's tension and reached out to hold Chu Qing's somewhat cold and trembling hand.
"Chu Qing, who did you learn martial arts from?"
She had personally witnessed Chu Qing's prowess just now, and it was definitely not as simple as the superficial explanation Chu Qing had given earlier.
"Someone Sun Mama found taught it to your servant."
Sun Mama. Upon hearing these three words, Feng Jin's eyes involuntarily narrowed. She quickly asked, "Were there others among this batch of people who entered Eastern Chu who, like you, knew martial arts?"
"Those who learned martial arts with me were not among them. As for whether there were others, your servant doesn't know."
They were trained separately, and they didn't even know how many spies Western Liang had trained in total.
Feng Jin nodded slightly and leaned closer to Chu Qing. "Chu Qing, I see you're quite skilled. Can you teach me?"
Chu Qing was startled and didn't reply for a long time. When she came back to her senses, she quickly waved her hands and refused, "Young Madam, learning martial arts must start from childhood. You... you starting now is too late. Forcibly practicing might injure your body, so it's best not to learn."
Chu Qing's words were exactly the same as Ling Mo Han's. Feng Jin's recently ignited hope was instantly extinguished, and she slumped like a deflated eggplant, her smile vanishing without a trace.
"Young Madam, you..."
Sensing Feng Jin's disappointment, Chu Qing tentatively called out.
"I'm fine, just a little disappointed."
From disappointment to a glimmer of hope, and then the shattering of that hope – this feeling was truly unbearable.
If she had known it was destined to be full of disappointment, she would have preferred never to have had hope at all.
"Young Madam, please rest assured. With me here, I will protect Young Madam."
Chu Qing patted her chest and guaranteed that from now on, even if it cost her own life, she would protect Young Madam.
Feng Jin looked helpless. There was no other way. She reached out and patted Chu Qing's shoulder. "Having you is truly my good fortune."
"It is your servant's greatest fortune in this life to have met Young Madam."
Since meeting Young Madam, she felt like she was living like a real, flesh-and-blood person.
"It's all good fortune, good fortune."
Feng Jin echoed Chu Qing's words, but a smile was no longer on her face.
"Young Madam, why didn't Sister Cai Qing return with you?"
Chu Qing had been guarding the two children here the whole time and naturally didn't know what had happened outside.
"She can't return for the time being."
If Lu Shi didn't wake up, it would be difficult to see Cai Qing. If Lu Shi did wake up, and then needed a few more days of care, she still wouldn't be back. At most, Cai Qing would be back in a few days.
"Ah?" Chu Qing exclaimed in confusion. "Sister Cai Qing can't return for the time being, what does that mean?"
Feng Jin reluctantly explained the whole story to Chu Qing. By the end, Chu Qing's mouth was wide open in surprise. After a long while, she said, "Will people gossip if Sister Cai Qing stays to take care of him?"
For a young lady to take care of a man, with the man unmarried and the woman unmarried, gossip was inevitable.
Men were better off. How could Sister Cai Qing, a woman, endure being pointed at and talked about?
"That's fine. We can just say that the two of them have been engaged for a long time. If an fiancée takes care of her fiancé, it's only natural. No one will have nothing better to do than to gossip about it."
She had already thought of all the possible explanations when she agreed to let Cai Qing stay and care for Lu Shi.
Besides, both of them had feelings for each other. And after Lu Shi's heroic rescue, coupled with Cai Qing's anxious crying outside the door, she had seen it all clearly. It was only a matter of time before the two of them got married, so saying this was not inappropriate.
"Young Madam is indeed wise, thinking of this so early."
Chu Qing admired Feng Jin even more. In her heart, Feng Jin's status was incomparable to anyone else.
"Of course."
Everyone likes to be praised. Feng Jin felt a little smug at this moment.
"You're quite pleased with yourself."
Ling Mo Han's untimely voice sounded, and Feng Jin's recently uplifted mood immediately fell again.
"Can't you say a few less words?" Why did he have to appear at this moment to douse her enthusiasm? His presence ruined her good mood.
Ling Mo Han rubbed his nose. He hadn't meant to.
"Young General, Young Madam, your servant remembers there are still things to do and will take her leave."
As Chu Qing left, she didn't forget to take the two children with her, leaving the two of them to have some private time.
Ling Mo Han watched Chu Qing's retreating figure until she disappeared before withdrawing his gaze.
"Why are you staring at Chu Qing like that?"
"Is she the Western Liang palace maid you took in?"
"Yes, didn't you already know? Is there anything improper about your expression?"
Feng Jin asked with some concern, Ling Mo Han's demeanor made her a little worried.
"It's nothing. Her martial arts are quite good."
He had personally witnessed Chu Qing's prowess in battle, how she had held off more than a dozen assassins without letting them get close. Indeed, she had good skills.
He hadn't expected the spies trained by Western Liang to be so formidable. If such people infiltrated Eastern Chu, it would not be so easy to destabilize it.
"I didn't expect Chu Qing to know martial arts either. I only found out today. I didn't expect her to be so formidable."
Ling Mo Han's eyes deepened, and he looked at Feng Jin, asking in a low voice, "Are you determined to keep her by your side?"
After all, she was a spy from Western Liang, and Ling Mo Han was still somewhat uneasy about letting her stay by Feng Jin's side.
One had to know that if she were to betray them, her first target would be Feng Jin and the children. He was truly worried.