Yun Hao tidied up the teacups in front of him.
He walked over to the pond beside the wooden hut.
Using his spiritual power he gathered a handful of water and gently washed the teapot.
As he washed he thought about what he could do for Senior Sister.
It had only been five days since they met.
He still did not know what she liked.
Yet Senior Sister had not only saved him but also turned him into a cultivator.
How could he repay her now?
Yun Hao had not noticed that whenever he mentioned Senior Sister his eyes would unconsciously fill with joy and a smile would spread across his face.
Even after he finished cleaning the teapot thoroughly put it back inside his wooden hut and returned beneath the osmanthus tree he still had not come up with any useful idea.
He stared at the osmanthus blossoms that had once again covered the stone table and fell into a daze.
Osmanthus… osmanthus… “Noble flower?!”
Suddenly Yun Hao remembered a conversation from his childhood with his mother.
“Mama what kind of flower is this? It’s so white and pretty.”
“Yun’er this flower is called osmanthus. Some people also call it ‘noble flower.’”
Under the setting sun Li Yue who had just finished her chores held the young Yun Hao in her arms.
They stood inside the storeroom looking at the freshly bloomed osmanthus in the courtyard.
She thought that another year’s August or September had arrived.
In a few more days Yun’er would turn five.
“What do you mean osmanthus and ‘noble flower’? Does it have two names? But they sound the same.”
Li Yue watched Yun Hao in her arms asking questions like a curious little baby and found him even more adorable.
She explained to him.
“This flower’s original name is osmanthus and it blooms every year in the eighth or ninth month.
But ‘gui’ sounds the same as the ‘gui’ in ‘noble and wealthy’ so people have given osmanthus the meaning of wishing others good fortune and prosperity.
That is why it is also called ‘noble flower.’”
Little Yun Hao listened in confusion.
He shook his head in Li Yue’s embrace looking completely puzzled.
“What osmanthus or noble flower? Mama I don’t understand.”
Seeing her son confused Li Yue did not say more.
She stroked his head and comforted him.
“It is fine if Yun’er does not understand now.
You will understand once you learn to read next year.”
Then she coaxed him gently to sleep.
After he had fallen soundly asleep Li Yue looked at her son’s peaceful little face and stroked it with a pang of heartache.
Yun’er was about to turn five.
In Hua Fu Kingdom that was the age when children started private school to learn characters.
Next spring no matter what she would ask the madam to let Yun’er accompany the second young master to the teacher’s classes.
She did not care how much hardship she had to endure or how many whippings she received.
As long as Yun’er could live a safe and peaceful life she would be content.
If only you had been born into an ordinary family at least your childhood would have been carefree. Now it is your mother who has harmed you.
Li Yue held the sleeping Yun Hao and slowly stood up.
She walked to the small wooden bed in the storeroom placed him down gently closed the door and left.
She still had work left unfinished.
The servants’ clothes should be ready by now.
She would have to stay up late washing them or else Yun’er would go hungry again tomorrow.
The hope of him accompanying the second young master as a study companion next spring was nothing but a distant dream.
………..
Yun Hao slowly came back to himself from the memory.
He thought of his mother again.
He recalled the little moments from his childhood with her and the entrustment she had given him four years ago.
*Yun’er even if Mother is no longer here in the end you must live well on your own.
When you have children one day bring them to Mother’s grave and I will be able to rest in peace.*
Yun Hao’s nose felt a little sore now.
He silently said in his heart.
Do not worry Mother. Yun’er is doing very well now.
I have met a very gentle Eldest Senior Sister. She treats me extremely well and I am living happily.
When I am able to leave the mountain one day I will definitely return to Hua Fu Kingdom to pay respects at Mother’s grave and tell her in person about my current life.
Yun Hao looked at the osmanthus blossoms covering the ground and an idea came to him.
He noticed that Senior Sister often drank tea but never seemed to have anything to nibble on which always felt a little lonely.
It was like drinking wine without any dishes—something was missing.
He wanted to make a pastry so that Senior Sister would have something nice to accompany her tea.
There were so many osmanthus blossoms now.
He could make osmanthus cakes.
One part was for Senior Sister to eat and the other was to honor his mother’s memory.
He stood up and gathered all the osmanthus petals from the table filling a large cloth bag.
Yun Hao wondered if it was too much but then thought that he would be making them all year round.
Even if Senior Sister ate only one piece a day she would need three hundred and sixty-five pieces in a year so it was better not to skimp.
He carefully collected the petals on the ground that had not been stepped on and ended up with several more large cloth bags.
He left the blossoms still on the tree untouched for now.
Senior Sister must like osmanthus otherwise she would not have planted the tree beside the house.
Yun Hao guessed this and felt that if he stripped the tree bare now Senior Sister would no longer see the flowers she liked and would probably feel a little disappointed.
He would just pick them up as they fell naturally.
At worst he could gather them a few more times.
Yun Hao washed the osmanthus petals beside the pond with a heart full of joy.
After rinsing them clean he spread cloth underneath and laid them out in a sunny spot.
Beneath the osmanthus tree the youth’s smile sparkled through the gaps in the sunlight.
Even the surrounding breeze seemed to pause as if stopping to admire the handsome youth’s profile.
A hazy love quietly broke through its shell and sprouted taking root in the young man’s heart with the gentle caress of the osmanthus petals.
………
After finishing with the osmanthus petals Yun Hao considered what else he would need.
He had once worked as a helper in the prince’s mansion kitchen and knew how to prepare ordinary dishes.
He had some cooking experience.
But when it came to pastries he was still a novice.
Still Yun Hao knew what a pastry generally required—flour glutinous rice flour honey sugar and the like.
He thought carefully.
He already had firewood and a steamer inside his small wooden hut.
What he needed now were the ingredients for osmanthus cakes.
Yun Hao took out his sect token and examined it closely.
The front was engraved with the character “Yun” and the back with “Inner.”
He held the token up to the sunlight.
The jade token glowed with a pure sheep-fat white luster.
Although Yun Hao did not know the quality of the jade it looked excellent.
Moreover his token was different from the ones Senior Brother Song Yang and Senior Brother Bai Shengxiao had carried the other day.
Theirs had been bronze while his was jade.
The Proud Sword Sect would not have specially made a token just for him and they had not even known he would be coming.
The only explanation was that Senior Sister had arranged this token especially for him.
At the thought Yun Hao could not help feeling happy.
Senior Sister really was good to him.
He recalled what Senior Sister had told him that morning about how the token could activate the transportation arrays.
He decided to head down the mountain to the miscellaneous service hall.
High-level cultivators did not need to eat.
They had long since achieved fasting.
As long as spiritual power existed around them they would not feel hunger.
At Luo Shuiling’s realm the body even produced spiritual power on its own so it could be called true fasting.
But the Proud Sword Sect was not made up only of cultivators.
There was also the miscellaneous service hall that handled all the sect’s daily chores.
The people there were either orphans the sect had occasionally taken in from outside or more commonly personal servants of Proud Sword Sect disciples who had angered their masters and been abandoned there without another word.
Outer sect disciples of the Proud Sword Sect were not allowed worldly ties.
Once they entered the sect they belonged to it for life.
Only if they became inner sect disciples or reached the hall master’s cultivation level could they occasionally leave to handle mortal affairs.
Most outer sect disciples however had limited talent and their cultivation usually stopped at the Nascent Soul realm.
That was why families would send them a few personal servants when they joined the sect.
That way even if they could never see their parents again they would still have someone to look after them.
This was how the people in the Proud Sword Sect’s miscellaneous service hall came to be.
Even if they had been abandoned by their masters they still needed to eat.
If he went and asked perhaps he could find the ingredients for osmanthus cakes.
If he was lucky enough to meet a servant who had made them before he might even learn the recipe.
Yun Hao had just reached the transportation array when he noticed the sun was already sinking low.
He guessed it was probably the you hour.
He thought that going now might be too late.
Besides Senior Sister had told him to cultivate diligently.
He had already spent the entire afternoon on this.
If he stayed out too late it would not look good for Senior Sister.
After thinking it over for a moment he decided to let it go for today.
There was no rush for the osmanthus cakes.
He would cultivate properly today and it would not hurt to go tomorrow instead.
Moreover he wanted to make the cakes in secret so he could surprise Senior Sister the next time she had tea.
With this anticipation the young man returned to his wooden hut and began his cultivation.
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