HomeAfter I Bloom Hundred Flowers DieChapter 20: Identity Revealed

Chapter 20: Identity Revealed

Exotic flowers and herbs filled the air with their medicinal fragrance.

Shen Xihe, being someone who enjoyed tending to plants, felt joy seeing the garden full of medicinal herbs and flowers at Xinglin Garden. Her expression softened noticeably.

She wasn’t the only visitor. There was also a tall, corpulent man who appeared to be over thirty.

He wore a glaringly purple-red gold robe with taotie patterns, round collar, and narrow sleeves, cinched with a jewel-inlaid jade belt, and six-harmonies boots.

On his head sat a soft-winged hat woven with gold thread and studded with several gems. At his waist hung a white jade pendant carved with flowering branches, also filled with precious stones in its openwork spaces, which was really…

Standing there, he looked like a pile of glaring gold. Under the sunlight, living creatures’ gazes automatically avoided him – it truly hurt the eyes.

“Miss Shen, this is Hua Fuhai, known as Hua Taoyi,” introduced White-Haired Elder, a thin old man with snow-white hair. “Hua Taoyi, this is Miss Shen from Suzhou.”

Taoyi was an honorific title for extremely wealthy individuals.

Hua Fuhai lived up to his name – renowned across China, and wealthy across the four seas.

He was one of their region’s wealthiest men, which explained his attire.

“Miss Shen.”

“Master Hua.”

They exchanged greetings. Standing closer, an elegant and distant fragrance drifted past Shen Xihe’s nose, making her lower her eyelids.

This was the scent of Yihe incense, known not only for its elegant and lasting fragrance but also its natural nobility – many other fragrances seemed vulgar in comparison.

However, Shen Xihe detected an extremely faint trace of agarwood within the Yihe scent.

Since when had agarwood become so common?

Enduring the eye strain, Shen Xihe discreetly observed Hua Fuhai more closely.

He was extremely tall – Shen Xihe’s head only reached his shoulder. His protruding belly and plump appearance made it difficult to connect him with last night’s Embroidered Uniform Guard. He rolled two walnuts in his hand, which was as white and plump as the rest of him.

White-Haired Elder said: “You both must have brought the paintings I had returned. Why don’t we display them together?”

Zhenzhu and Hua Fuhai’s servant unrolled the paintings together. Both depicted the Immortal’s Cord, and remarkably, though not painted by the same person, aside from slight differences in technique, the coloring, size, and direction of the images were identical.

If overlaid, the two paintings would largely match.

As the paintings were revealed, the two exchanged glances. Shen Xihe remained unperturbed while amusement flickered in Hua Fuhai’s eyes.

But in that glance, Shen Xihe confirmed Hua Fuhai was the Embroidered Uniform Guard from last night!

Though his eyes had changed shape and last night’s sharp alertness had vanished, those ocean-deep pupils were too unique.

With both the agarwood scent and those same eyes, even though his bearing and expression were completely different, Shen Xihe instinctively knew it was the same person!

“I have a painting as well,” White-Haired Elder unrolled his scroll, also of the Immortal’s Cord, though quite different from the other two, but depicting the same object. “Both of your paintings show the Immortal’s Cord. This old man wishes to see the real thing – where is it?”

Shen Xihe glanced lightly at Hua Fuhai, not speaking first.

After a moment’s wait, Hua Fuhai said: “Elder, I indeed found this item among the cliffs of Mount Heng. However, its roots were extremely deep. After I picked it up, the cliff collapsed and poisonous snakes suddenly attacked. While dodging, I fell with the item into the deep river below. When I awoke, it had vanished.”

Shen Xihe raised her eyebrows – so he was the one who had fallen from the sky that day.

White-Haired Elder nodded at this and looked toward Shen Xihe: “Miss Shen?”

Shen Xihe signaled Zhenzhu, who opened the jade box she was holding, revealing the Immortal’s Cord.

The Elder’s face immediately flushed with excitement. He rushed forward to smell it, then with trembling hands, traced its length in the air, mumbling shakily: “It’s… it’s really… Finally, I’ve seen it.”

The old man began to tear up. Shen Xihe and Hua Fuhai stood silently, waiting for him to compose himself.

The white-Haired Elder rubbed his reddened eyes and directly handed the box his servant was holding to Shen Xihe, saying nothing.

Shen Xihe accepted it but said: “Elder, I found this by the riverside. I did indeed see someone fall from the sky, and the Immortal’s Cord appeared afterward.”

Shen Xihe wasn’t overly righteous – this Hua Fuhai was too mysterious, and she didn’t want to acquire things this way and incur his displeasure. She never made enemies of those she couldn’t read.

To date, she has encountered this man three times.

First, without seeing his face clearly, he climbed treacherous mountains alone to gather rare treasures.

Second, disguised, infiltrating the Emperor’s trusted Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Third, disguised again as Hua Fuhai, wealthy beyond measure.

What contradictory and incredible triple identities!

“This old man doesn’t care about such matters. As I said, whoever brings the Immortal’s Cord shall receive my legacy as a gift,” White-Haired Elder’s voice still carried traces of tears. “Whatever grievances exist between you two, resolve them yourselves.”

“Master Hua?” Shen Xihe looked toward Hua Fuhai.

“Miss Shen, I don’t want the letters or the Elder’s guidance. What I seek is the Bone-Shedding Pill,” Hua Fuhai said directly.

Shen Xihe gripped the box tightly, not answering Hua Fuhai, instead turning to the White-Haired Elder: “Elder, would you please check my pulse?”

If there were other ways to cure herself, she wouldn’t mind giving up the unproven Bone-Shedding Pill to him.

“Follow me.” White-Haired Elder led them to an inner room and carefully took Shen Xihe’s pulse.

He had already noticed from Shen Xihe’s complexion that her internal organs were deficient – heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, all weak. These were signs of early death. After checking her pulse, he was still shocked: “That you’re still alive, girl is miraculous.”

“You were born weak, with heart and lungs weaker than normal. Excessive pampering in your upbringing led to deficient liver and kidneys, and frequent consumption of sweet dates has damaged your spleen.” White-Haired Elder shook his head. “For your condition, only my Bone-Shedding Pill, taken in small daily doses for nourishment, can save you. There is no other way.”

“Without the Bone-Shedding Pill, how long do I have?” Shen Xihe asked.

“No more than three to five years. If you encounter wind, cold, summer heat, or suffer any shock, your life could end in a single night,” White-Haired Elder said gravely.

Her only path to survival was this Bone-Shedding Pill. She asked further: “Elder, this Bone-Shedding Pill…”

White-Haired Elder smiled: “Little girl, I stake my life on this – another Bone-Shedding Pill won’t appear for a hundred years. The formula is in the letters I gave you, with detailed instructions for preparation.”

Shen Xihe took out the letters and turned to the Bone-Shedding Pill formula. It only had nine ingredients. Century-old ginseng and century-old polygonum multiflorum were obtainable, but century-old snake gallbladder and century-old golden eagle bone…

Snakes and golden eagles that could live to a hundred years were rarer than hundred-year-old humans.

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