Chapter 060
Chapter 60: There Is a Mole
Xia Meng Yan said: “Second Sister, may you get what you wish. As I promised that day…”
Xia Qing Yao shook her head: “I already refused. Mother cannot accept it for now. I have nowhere to go, so I want to hide for a while in Sister’s courtyard.”
Xia Meng Yan froze. Xia Qing Yao had refused the Lu Family’s marriage offer?
She did not know much about the Lu Family, but in her past life she had heard Father mention them. Lu Rong Fang seemed set to rank Top Three in the Palace Examination. His writing was brilliant and his character upright, and Emperor Xuan Ming praised him for his uncommon bearing. At that time the Lu Family’s gates were crowded, matchmakers came without end, and even Consort Ping’s favor in the Imperial Palace rose with their tide. By the timing, in one more year Lu Rong Fang would shine.
Right now, Xia Qing Yao only saw that he was concubine-born. She did not know his true nature, so refusing made sense. Only… [Forget it.]
Xia Meng Yan drew back her thoughts and said: “Good timing. Take the property deeds I promised you.”
She led her back to Autumn Lotus Court.
That day in the Imperial Palace, Xia Qing Yao had accidentally seen people carrying a body toward the far side of the lake. She twisted her ankle in panic and, hearing footsteps, thought those people were coming back, so she hid. Only when Duan Yi Chen’s Shadow Guard found her did she learn the man was not dead.
Xia Meng Yan told her about the plan made by Consort Ping and the Old Madam, and promised that once it succeeded, she would give Xia Qing Yao two shops as payment. Second Aunt and Second Uncle valued sons above all. In the future, everything in the second branch would belong to Xia Qing Yao’s full brother. As for her, if Second Aunt did not sell her, that would already be a blessing.
Xia Meng Yan knew this. Xia Qing Yao knew it too, so she agreed to help.
Xia Meng Yan took out the deeds for two shops in the Capital Suburbs and set them on the table: “Shops inside the capital draw too much attention and Second Aunt would find out sooner or later. These two are in the Capital Suburbs. The locations are good, the profit comes in every month, and the yearly net is tens of thousands of taels. When the time comes, open new stores or save the silver as you like.”
Xia Qing Yao said: “Thank you, Big Sister,” and carefully put them away. With these two shops, she had confidence.
Seeing Xia Meng Yan’s pale face, she added: “Big Sister, I will stay next door. I will not disturb your rest.”
Xia Meng Yan asked: “How long do you plan to hide?” She understood Madam Wan. A duck already at the mouth would never be let fly away.
Xia Qing Yao smiled: “A beating cannot be avoided, but if I can delay it, I will,” then she pulled Chun Yue off to the next room.
Nanny Song shook her head and said: “Second Miss is lovely and lively, but she was born into the second branch. It proves the saying: even a shabby bamboo grove can still grow a good shoot.” In her eyes, the only one in the second branch worth dealing with was the Second Miss.
Xia Meng Yan watched Xia Qing Yao’s cheerful back and stayed silent.
After a long while, she said: “Go invite Divine Physician Luo here.”
Nanny Song took the order, and Divine Physician Luo arrived soon.
Luo Jin said: “Stinky girl, you finally have time to see me.” He wore a dark gray robe. He was strong and brisk, walking like the wind. He looked like a man in his twenties, yet the white hairs mingled with his black hair betrayed his age.
Xia Meng Yan told the maids to bring Luo Jin’s favorite tea and snacks. Then Nanny Song dismissed everyone and stood nearby.
Xia Meng Yan presented the tea and said: “I would not dare disturb Master’s rest.” The top-grade Snow Mountain Peak Tea rushed down like a sword from a mountain peak, carrying a cutting chill; one sip and it felt like standing in a cold spring.
Luo Jin took a sip and said: “Good tea.”
Xia Meng Yan said: “Your disciple saved this for Master. Please take it all with you later.”
Luo Jin snorted and said: “Stop that. You call me Master and serve tea, so you must want something.” Xia Meng Yan had never formally bowed to become his disciple, yet she had learned seven or eight parts of his skill, especially the Soul-Chasing Needle Method, where she had even surpassed the original.
Both were free spirits and did not want a formal title to bind their bond. They understood each other and got along more like friends across generations.
Xia Meng Yan grinned and said: “A few days ago at the Imperial Palace I used the Soul-Chasing Needle Method and dragged your name out to shield me. From now on, outside, I will call myself your informal disciple.”
That day when she treated Xiao Mu Zi, many saw it, especially an imperial physician who recognized the Soul-Chasing Needle Method. She could not deny it.
Hearing this, Luo Jin’s eyes showed pride; his invisible tail almost wagged. His Soul-Chasing Needle Method could snatch people back from death. Those people did have some sense, after all.
He said: “For this tiny thing you make yourself call me Master?” He had not forgotten that when he first entered the Xia Family, this girl had chased him around calling him an old thing.
Xia Meng Yan rubbed her nose and lowered her head. She had been too wild in those years. Thinking back, she wondered how she had dared.
She said: “I owe you. Sooner or later I should call you Master.” It was not that she was stalling; it was that Luo Jin disliked Lin Ye Lan.
In her past life, to please Lin Ye Lan, she had stolen many of Luo Jin’s medicines for external wounds. Luo Jin had scolded her for being foolish and warned that Lin Ye Lan was scheming. She got angry, sneaked into his room at night, and cut off his beard. Because of that, Father punished her to kneel in the ancestral hall.
Seeing Xia Meng Yan acting shy and unlike herself, Luo Jin stepped back warily and said: “What do you want?”
Xia Meng Yan said: “Aiya, I am not here to steal from you. I want you to treat someone.”
Luo Jin asked: “Who?”
Xia Meng Yan mumbled: “Lin Ye Lan.”
Luo Jin frowned. He only caught the last syllable and said: “Who? Speak up.”
Xia Meng Yan made up her mind and said: “Lin Ye Lan is asking you to heal his leg.”
The room went quiet.
After a long time, Xia Meng Yan peeked with one eye and saw Luo Jin tilting his head at her as if he were watching a peacock secretly fanning its tail.
Xia Meng Yan said: “It is not what you think. I do not regret, and I do not still have feelings. It is a simple trade.”
Luo Jin smiled and kept silent, so she added: “If you do not want to, forget it. I will trade him something else.”
Luo Jin said: “In the Capital, people who want me to treat them are many. If not half the city, then at least a hundred. Lin Ye Lan came to you to make a deal. Do you think others do not hold any chips?”
Xia Meng Yan did not understand what he meant. Was he worried that if he treated Lin Ye Lan, noble houses across the Capital would come knocking? That was very possible. She said: “Forget it. It is too much trouble.”
Luo Jin’s Medical Arts were unmatched in the whole Xuan Ming Empire. “Bringing the dead back” was an exaggeration, but as long as a person still had one breath, Luo Jin could pull them back from the gates of the underworld. If people in the Capital learned that the Xia Family sheltered him, it would bring needless trouble, not only to him but to the Xia Family.
Luo Jin rolled his eyes and said: “Wrong. I am not refusing Lin Ye Lan because of trouble. I am saying Lin Ye Lan is not simple.” [With a brain like this, carrying a child and divorcing, she will be sold sooner or later.]
He added: “I have been in the Xia Family only a few days, and I have kept to myself. By reason, Lin Ye Lan should not even know I am here, at least not this fast.”
Xia Meng Yan narrowed her eyes and said: “You mean there is a plant inside the Xia Manor?”
Luo Jin said: “It is possible.”
Xia Meng Yan knew he was saying that to save her face. Aside from the long road, the reason he disliked entering the capital was the proud power of the noble houses that seeped into everything. She had promised to protect his privacy, yet after a few days he was already exposed.
She said: “I will investigate. How is Yue’er’s illness?” If there really was a mole, Luo Jin needed to leave the Capital soon.
At the mention of Yue’er, Luo Jin’s face softened and he said: “Congested blood is pressing the vessels in her brain. Once the clots clear, she will be normal.”
Xia Meng Yan nodded and said: “Leave the prescription. If you do not want to stay in the Capital, I will send people to escort you out in secret.”
She had offended quite a few people recently and did not want to drag Luo Jin in.
Luo Jin stood up and said with a laugh: “Do I look that weak?” He stood tall like a pine in a mountain ravine, neither proud nor humble, unafraid of wind or snow. He said: “Let Lin Ye Lan come find me himself. Whether I treat him is my decision.”
He picked up the tea leaves and snacks and wandered off.
Next door, Xia Qing Yao was bored and watching the window. She saw a man come out of Big Sister’s room and covered her mouth in shock.