Chapter 541: Chapter 191 Improvement_3
"Let him take the medicine for two more days."
Qi Qingdan said, "If there’s nothing unusual, return to the Board of Rites Office after two days."
...
The night breeze was slightly cool.
Within the Capital Marshal’s Mansion, under the dim light of an oil lamp and a wooden window, a long table was piled high with documents.
A young man sat in front of the table, holding a tarnished silver ring between his fingertips, staring at the ring in a trance without uttering a word.
Opposite him, Xiao Zhufeng glanced at him: "You’ve been looking at it all night, have you noticed anything different?"
Pei Yunmeng remained silent.
"All you’ve lost is the name of a fiancé," Xiao Zhufeng sneered, "why put on such a cold face for everyone at the Marshal’s Mansion to see."
Pei Yunmeng’s brows furrowed slightly: "Can’t you be quiet?"
Xiao Zhufeng shrugged his shoulders.
During the day, Duan Xiaoyan had returned to the Marshal’s Mansion and spoke with Pei Yunmeng before her shift at the palace, which Xiao Zhufeng happened to overhear while passing by the door, thus learning of a secret.
Lu Tong’s fiancé, who appeared and disappeared like a ghost, whose identity was a mystery, noble and aloof, and connected by fate from a past life, had been found in the Medical Officer Institute, none other than Grand Scholar Ji’s son, Ji Xun.
Xiao Zhufeng seemed to realize something.
No wonder Lu Tong, who was running a clinic on West Street comfortably, suddenly took part in the imperial exam to enter the Medical Officer Institute. Seeking revenge for the Qi Family might be one of the reasons, but perhaps it was also to get closer to Ji Xun.
She carefully preserved the White Jade of Ji Xun, and not long after repairing it, it was hanging on Ji Xun’s waist, signifying that the two of them were clear about their past connection.
But...
The White Jade repaired by Pei Yunmeng at a great expense was hanging on another man...
Anyone in his place would probably find it hard to feel at ease at this moment.
Xiao Zhufeng shook his head and continued to read the military register.
Pei Yunmeng looked down at the ring, his handsome face covered with a frosty expression.
During the day, Lu Tong was in a hurry, busy going to the medical storeroom, so that a myriad of questions had yet to be explained.
"I knew Doctor Ji from before in Su Nan, and we had a past connection at that time."
That was what Lu Tong had said.
Ji Xun, a person from Shengjing, how could he have met Lu Tong in Su Nan? What exactly was their past connection? When did Ji Xun know her, even earlier than he did? Why, when his ring and Ji Xun’s White Jade were put together, in such a vast Liang Dynasty, there were not a few people connected to her?
Who exactly is the fiancé mentioned by Lu Tong?
He recalled that day when he and Duan Xiaoyan went to the pharmacy of the Medical Officer Institute, Ji Xun was sitting in the room, and their atmosphere was odd. In retrospect, Lu Tong always seemed different in front of Ji Xun compared to usual, like the last time when Ji Xun reprimanded her at the entrance of the Medical Officer Institute, the usually eloquent Lu Tong was left speechless and unusually downcast.
Pei Yunmeng’s expression was cold as he picked up a tea cup from the table and took a sip, then frowned: "Why is this so bitter?"
Xiao Zhufeng looked at him in disbelief: "Have you lost your sense of taste? This is sweet water."
Because Pei Yunmeng had recently developed a strange taste, the bitter tea in the Marshal’s Mansion gradually changed to various types of matured water and clear dew, with added honey that was both clear and sweet, yet he called it bitter?
Either his brain was damaged, or his taste buds were.
The young man’s face was expressionless as he put the tea cup back on the table, and then suddenly stood up.
"What are you doing?"
"It’s too stuffy inside the room, just going out for a walk," Pei Yunmeng said, as she tucked the silver ring back into her bosom and looked up to see Qingfeng pushing the door open from the outside.
"My lord. The Privy Council has sent a message; Minister Yan asks for your presence."
Pei Yunmeng’s steps halted, and she frowned.
A moment later, without saying anything, she picked up the silver knife from the table: "Fine, let’s go."
...
The silent night was cloudless, with the moon shining white like frost.
Lin Danqing returned to her lodging after conducting her medical visits and saw a food basket with pastries on the table as soon as she entered the room.
"Eh? This is for me?"
Lu Tong nodded.
"You’re so kind," she planted herself before the table, wiped her hands, picked up a piece and put it into her mouth. After a few chews, her eyes lit up, "This is delicious, much better than the one we bought from Official Lane the other day! Younger Sister Lu, where did you buy this?"
"I don’t know," Lu Tong said, "A friend gave it to me."
"Your friend has good taste," Lin Danqing complimented, "Next time tell him to send more, not for free, I’ll pay with silver."
Lu Tong smiled.
On the table was the Magpie Food Basket. Lu Tong rested her cheek in her hand, slowly flipping through medical texts in front of her, her expression distracted.
During the day, Pei Yunmeng and Duan Xiaoyan had come by, and they had run into Ji Xun. It wouldn’t have meant anything had they not seen the white jade tied around Ji Xun’s waist.
Given Pei Yunmeng’s acuteness, she would probably guess the past connection between her and Ji Xun soon enough.
What her relationship with Ji Xun was, what their past connection entailed, it should be none of his business. Yet, for some reason, Lu Tong always felt inexplicably guilty. It didn’t bother her when she was busy, but in the quiet of the night, she couldn’t help thinking about it.
Perhaps it was because she used Pei Yunmeng’s silver to mend the white jade.
Using someone else’s silver to do a favor always felt improper.
As she thought this to herself and turned another page, she heard Lin Danqing, who was sitting at the table and having tea, say, "Speaking of which, I passed by the Envoy’s House tonight and saw that there were no lights on."
Lu Tong’s page-turning paused.
For a time, contrary to his usual behavior, Cui Min had been staying at the Medical Officer Institute until late at night, sometimes leaving the lights on in the pharmacy all night long. Everyone speculated that it was because the Qi Family’s elder young master was in poor health, which kept Cui Min so busy.
But today was different.
"The Envoy didn’t come to the Medical Officer Institute tonight; does that mean Qi Yutai has recovered?" Lin Danqing asked.
"Perhaps," Lu Tong said, "It has been quite a while."
Lin Danqing nodded: "That’s true."
After finishing the last jasmine-flavored pastry, she dusted the crumbs off her hands, stood up to wash up, saying: "These past few days, there hasn’t been a stir in the house. It’s so strange, even after laying down rat poison. At the very least, show me a corpse. With everything so calm, the rats at the Medical Officer Institute couldn’t have become spirits and learned to mix their own antidotes, could they?"
Her jesting words made Lu Tong laugh as well.
"How could that be?" she closed the book, "Since they’ve been poisoned, let’s just wait patiently."
"Sooner or later... they’ll all have stomach troubles."