Chapter 170: Chapter 85: Threaten Him_1
Autumn nights are bleak and cold.
The light in the kitchen is dim, like tiny, flickering stars about to be swallowed by the surging darkness of the night.
The woman stands at the door, her camellia-yellow dress rustling in the wind, her hairpin flower fresh and dewy. She looks at the person in front of her and slowly starts to speak.
"Barging into homes in the dead of night without cause, and not even wearing a mask, is truly brazen and reckless," she said.
She paused, eyeing the other’s increasingly round eyes due to surprise, and continued, "If not for being an old acquaintance, I would have thought that the medical shop was being robbed tonight."
Duan Xiaoyan, sitting on the ground, swallowed hard and suddenly felt a bit guilty.
"Doctor Lu."
Before he could come up with a suitable excuse to deceive the person in front of him, he heard her calmly inquire, "Having followed me all day, what important matter brings young master Duan here?"
Duan Xiaoyan’s face changed abruptly as he looked toward Lu Tong.
How did she know!
Early today, Pei Yunmeng left the house, and Duan Xiaoyan, feeling gloomy after the incident with the male corpse at Mount Wangchun the night before, and not on duty today, decided to leave the Fan Mansion and stroll through the market to relax.
Not far from the market was the Fan Family’s mansion. As Duan Xiaoyan passed by, he remembered that this was where he lost his purse, and his step involuntarily slowed.
That moment of hesitation led him to witness Lu Tong talking to a man at the door of the Fan Mansion.
The man was not unfamiliar to Duan Xiaoyan—Qi Chuan, the unfortunate right-hand man of Fan Zhenglian, seen as the confidant, but in reality, he took care of everything from the maids, to shopping, to the housekeeping, and even the nanny’s duties—a real jack-of-all-trades. Unfortunately, despite his talents, he ended up as an unknown Record Keeper.
Lu Tong was talking to Qi Chuan at the entrance of the Fan Mansion.
If this had happened before, Duan Xiaoyan wouldn’t have thought much of it. However, after being framed by a purse the night before and recently warned by Pei Yunmeng to stay away from Lu Tong, Duan Xiaoyan now found every action of Lu Tong to be laden with meaning and not without a cunning plan.
After exchanging only a few words with Qi Chuan, Lu Tong parted ways, and Duan Xiaoyan stood there thinking for a moment before deciding to follow her.
He wanted to see for himself whether Doctor Lu really had any ulterior motives.
For the rest of the day, Duan Xiaoyan felt as though his legs were about to run off.
Lu Tong did not head straight back to the medical shop but lingered in the marketplace instead. Duan Xiaoyan guessed she might be meeting someone in private, so he watched her closely.
When Lu Tong and Yin Zheng watched the variety shows, he stared with wide eyes, watching intently.
When Lu Tong and Yin Zheng watched the acrobats walking on ropes, he held his breath, focusing all his attention.
While Lu Tong and Yin Zheng sat under the stage watching shadow puppets, he watched Lu Tong more earnestly than she watched the show, scrutinizing everyone around her, looking for signs of communication between them.
As Lu Tong and Yin Zheng tasted stuffed fish, pan-fried fish with rice, and mung bean with rock sugar at Nanshi Shop, he squatted in the corner across the street, swallowing his saliva, his gaze unswerving.
Lastly, they went to the Bead Shop.
Duan Xiaoyan didn’t understand. The two of them didn’t buy anything, yet they could look for so long? Didn’t they think it was a waste of time?
In sum, at the end of the day, Duan Xiaoyan felt like his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets, except nothing out of the ordinary happened to Lu Tong. It was almost as if their outing was merely for leisure.
Duan Xiaoyan wasn’t sure if other women had such stamina when shopping, but from his perspective, Lu Tong and Yin Zheng seemed unfazed and tireless after their day of enjoyment. With so many people in the marketplace, he could only have followed them because he was part of the Imperial Guards. Had he been a commoner, he would have lost them in the crowd within an hour, he was certain.
Duan Xiaoyan was convinced that his tracking had been flawless. He followed Lu Tong until she returned to the medical shop, intending to leave since nothing had happened, but then he saw her lingering over a black jar in the back kitchen. Out of curiosity, he sneaked in after everyone had left.
Deep in thought, he was suddenly jolted by a breeze from outside the courtyard, which raised goosebumps on his back. Duan Xiaoyan snapped back to reality and looked at Lu Tong.
"... You’ve noticed me a while ago, haven’t you?" he asked.
Lu Tong remained silent.
In her years at Luomei Peak, she mostly lived there alone on the mountain. A girl of about ten, she was far less brave than she is now.
Afraid of wild beasts, snakes, insects, and ants, afraid of natural disasters that appeared suddenly, and also wary of malevolent individuals with ill intent.
Sometimes, when she woke up in the morning to complete silence, with no one else on the mountain, there was a sense of loneliness and fear, as if she was the only person left in the world. She kept poison powder and scissors on her, always prepared to fight desperately against any sudden dangers.