His Peasant Wife : Yao Ling

"The unique smell could show up once again with the same recipe that I gave Han Xiang, but of course with slightly different ingredients. If someone was born with the smell, by drinking the medicine once, then it would become a permanent smell. You must have known that Han Xiang had a unique smell, but it’s only faint, right? It’s because it can be said as a fake smell. No matter what a fake is always a fake," Tao Gu Gu said. "If the real daughter’s real unique smell came out, the smell would be several times stronger and more alluring."

Tao Gu Gu sighed, remembering that how as a baby, the real daughter already showed a faint smell that already attracted several butterflies. The Ce Fei told her the bigger the real daughter was, the smell would become stronger and sweeter.

"What a weird heritage!" Yao Ying shook his head in disbelief. It seemed like there were a lot of mysterious things in this world.

It was an indeed weird and unique inheritance. The first time Tao Gu Gu heard about it, she was also confused and in disbelief. It sounded more like folklore than a fact.

"Indeed. The people outside the Ce Fei’s maternal tribe aren’t supposed to know about this secret, however, the number of the tribe’s people already dwindle quite a lot and they blend nicely to the society. The Ce Fei said that there was no need to make it a secret anymore, but of course, only to the people that I trust," Tao Gu Gu explained.

The quartet nodded in understanding.

"Tao Gu Gu, what about the story about Han Xiang’s dance? It was said that her dance could attract butterfly... Was it really because of the smell too?" Yao Ling asked curiously.

"Hmm... This... I didn’t really understand too. If she’s the real deal, she should be able to do it just based on her real unique and sweet smell. However, for Han Xiang, she shouldn’t have that ability. You should probably ask her about it," Tao Gu Gu answered.

"Then... how did she find out about the butterfly thing? Is it actually a coincidence?" Yao Ling asked in confusion. She didn’t really believe in coincidence.

Tao Gu Gu shrugged it off. "I might give her a hint back then, but I didn’t know what trick that she used. After all, that was the only thing that I could do for her. For the rest of the things, she should use her own brain to survive. I didn’t think that she was able to use this kind of trick too. It seems like Han Xiang isn’t a simple girl."

Yao Ling nodded in understanding. Ah... so Tao Gu Gu still got a hand on this matter. She started to think that Han Xiang wasn’t actually really easy to deal with if she was able to come up with this scheme or did she have someone to give her a pointer? Hmmm... Something was fishy about this, but she didn’t have time to think about it for now. She saw that Lin Jian seemed to want to say something to Tao Gu Gu, so she stayed quiet.

"Tao Gu Gu, can... can you give me the secret recipe?" Lin Jian asked.

"What for?" Tao Gu Gu furrowed her eyebrows and asked in surprise. She didn’t think that this secret would be any of use for Lin Jian.

"If somehow I find my sister, I want to use the secret recipe as a way to prove whether she’s the real one or not," Lin Jian answered honestly. He didn’t want to make a mistake in finding his real sister once again.

Tao Gu Gu shook her head. "I remember it inside my mind and besides, it can only be done by women. There’s a special ingredient that only women can do and have. That’s why it will be useless to you."

Without a second thought, Lin Jian pointed at Yao Ling. "Then, you can teach Yao Ling!"

Yao Ling was taken aback when she was pointed. She pointed at herself and asked carefully, "Me?"

Lin Jian nodded. "Can you learn the secret medicine on my behalf?"

"But... it’s a secret recipe! How can you casually let me learn about it?" Yao Ling was quite flabbergasted with the turn of event.

Lin Jian only said three words, "I trust you!" Somehow, these words would be remembered by the trio for the rest of their life and despite everything that would happen later, their trust would become the foundation for their lifetime friendship and how they passed through a lot of hardships together.

Yao Ling turned her gaze to Tao Gu Gu and asked, "Tao Gu Gu, is it really possible for me to learn? I know that the Ce Fei must have some restrictions regarding this secret recipe, right?"

Tao Gu Gu admired Yao Ling’s smartness because she was able to guess the right thing with just little hints. It was indeed several restrictions that Yao Ling had to pay attention to if she wanted to learn this secret medicine. "The Ce Fei didn’t specifically say that I couldn’t teach anyone else, but..." She looked at Lin Jian hesitantly and felt at a loss at what to do. In her mind, Lin Jian was the Ce Fei’s son so he also had the ability to give her an order.

"Tao Gu Gu... Yao Ling is the only one I can trust with this matter, besides, she also has a talent in medicine field. That’s why I believe that she can do this," Lin Jian answered.

Yao Ying would usually feel jealous whenever another man got closer to Yao Ling, but it was a different matter with Lin Jian. The bonds between them had been created. He didn’t see a lustful gaze on Lin Jian’s expression and Lin Jian never hid his admiration to his wife --- but it wasn’t directed to her beauty. Lin Jian admired her cleverness and he admitted that he thought of her as a little sister. Yao Ying believed in him. Besides, he knew how desperate Lin Jian was at the moment. That was why he needed Yao Ling’s help.

If he had his own wife, he probably wouldn’t let Yao Ling do this. Xiao Fang was totally unrelated to them, so how could he let her learn his mother’s secret recipe? The only safe bet for Lin Jian was, of course, Yao Ling. No one else.

"This..." Tao Gu Gu hesitated for a moment before she finally released a helpless sigh. She knew that the mater of proving the real daughter was also important. That secret recipe needed a step that she couldn’t do anymore and she wasn’t sure that Yao Ling would be able to do it too. However, she could discuss this with Yao Ling in private. After all, this matter didn’t seem so urgent for now.

Tao Gu Gu could only nod and say, "Okay... I will discuss this matter with Yao Ling Gu Niang later."

After listening to Tao Gu Gu’s agreement, Lin Jian sighed in relief. He nodded to Yao Ling and said, "Please help this older brother, Yao Ling."

Yao Ling smiled and nodded in agreement. They had no other choice. Xiao Fang felt left out when she saw the bonds between them and somehow, it made her feel envious with their closeness. She could see the friendship between them was quite strong, but the relationship between Yao Ling and Lin Jian was a purely platonic friendship.

Xiao Fang had a best friend once that she treated like her sister, but look how it ended up? How could she not feel envious when Xiao Fang saw the trio’s relationship?

Lin Jian turned to Tao Gu Gu and asked, "Tao Gu Gu, about Han Xiang matter... is there still more that we don’t know about?"

Tao Gu Gu shook her head. "This servant didn’t really want to involve myself with Han Xiang’s matter anymore. After I gave her what she needed, I no longer worked in the palace. I was more concerned with the real daughter’s life. I looked at her from afar and when I knew that she led a good life... I decided to go back to the Shu Kingdom."