Chapter 147
Chapter 147: Aimed at You
On the walk back, Xia Meng Yan had already thought it through. Wang Yu was clever, but not enough to be this precise. Someone had guided him. Both the first and second branches were victims today. If the second branch had staged it themselves, the odds were low. If it was someone else, she had no clear thread yet.
Wang Yu stayed kneeling at the threshold with respectful posture as he admitted: “Cousin Miss is wise. There is someone behind me. He said that if I wanted Divine Physician Luo to save my mother, I had to pull you in. I had no choice but to follow his plan.”
Xia Meng Yan’s expression cooled as she weighed his words, thinking: [Someone has set their eyes on Divine Physician Luo?] She asked at once in a clipped tone: “Do you remember what he looked like?”
Wang Yu shook his head: “He wore a mask. But this servant noticed he limped.”
“Limped?” Xia Meng Yan frowned. The Lin Family seemed to have no one who limped. She asked again, testing: “If you saw him again, could you recognize him?”
Wang Yu furrowed his brows and, after a moment, shook his head: “I would not dare lie. We met only at night. He stood outside the window to speak. Even if he stood in front of me now, I would not be sure.”
Xia Meng Yan was disappointed by how little they had. She asked one more thing: “Was it also he who told you where Divine Physician Luo lives?”
“It was not,” Wang Yu said firmly. “I discovered that on my own.”
Xia Meng Yan lifted a hand, ending the questioning: “I will speak to Divine Physician Luo. As for whether he can cure her, that depends on your mother’s illness.”
Wang Yu knocked his head in thanks again and again: “Thank you, Cousin Miss. So long as Divine Physician Luo examines my mother, whether he can cure her or not, this servant will have no complaint.”
After Wang Yu withdrew, Duan Yi Chen stepped out from behind the screen and asked in a low voice: “Is the man in the dark trying to drag Divine Physician Luo into the open? Why?”
Xia Meng Yan also could not see it clearly. “The greatest power in Man Lin City is Prefect Zheng,” she said, thinking aloud. “Right now he is forced to trade with the Lin Family. By reason, he would not break the rules at this time. If not Prefect Zheng, then who?”
“Step by step,” she decided, her tone calm. “Divine Physician Luo is stubborn. Not just anyone can meet him.”
Duan Yi Chen nodded. “I am not worried if he makes a move. My people will watch in the shadows. If he acts, we will find a clue.”
Xia Meng Yan agreed with a small nod. She had thought she was only pulling out a hidden spy, but many threads had come loose with it. She touched her belly and thought with quiet resolve: [Man Lin City is not safe. After the child is born, we should leave.]
At dawn, Eldest Master sat in his parents’ courtyard and reported the results to the two elders. As for Divine Physician Luo, he said he wanted to hear Father’s view.
Old Master Lin’s face was stern, yet he did not scold. He first asked about Xia Meng Yan: “Has Yan’er been frightened? Send a physician to check her in a while. As for Divine Physician Luo, I will go once, but there is no guarantee.” The Lin Family was in the wrong; since the matter had blown open, they had to show the right attitude. If someone with ill intent seized this as a handle, the consequences would be hard to imagine.
Eldest Master would rather be scolded himself than have Father clean his mess, so he rose and knelt, saying with guilt: “It was my negligence that left an opening.”
Wang Yu’s sister’s death was only the fuse. The real target was Divine Physician Luo. Once the doctor’s presence was exposed, no one could guess what storms would come.
Old Master Lin sighed and helped his son up. “This is not your fault,” he said gravely. “Someone wants to catch the Lin Family by the throat. Even without Concubine Su’s trouble, there would have been something else. It cannot be avoided.”
Eldest Master’s guilt deepened. If he had not favored Concubine Su, she would not have dared such a mistake. He bowed his head and said steadily: “Father means to protect us, but I cannot hide behind you. Since this began in the first branch, the first branch should face it. I know I have little face with Divine Physician Luo, but I still want to try. Please allow me.”
Years ago Father saved Divine Physician Luo by chance. Grateful for that, the doctor had, over the years, treated five or even ten people whenever Father asked. That old debt was long since repaid. Now, if Divine Physician Luo still helped, it was for old friendship and for Yan’er. If the Lin Family pressed him by pulling the string of that old debt, they would cut off any goodwill left between them.
Old Master Lin read his son’s resolve and did not stop him. “Then go try,” he cautioned, “but do not force him.”
“I understand,” Eldest Master said.
At that time, Divine Physician Luo was taking Xia Meng Yan’s pulse.
Seeing the doctor knit his brows, Duan Yi Chen grew anxious and asked in a rush: “Is Yan’er’s body in trouble? Speak.”
Xia Meng Yan gave him a look that told him to hush.
In matters touching Xia Meng Yan, Duan Yi Chen could not stay calm. After a moment, Divine Physician Luo withdrew his hand and said in an unhurried tone: “Nothing serious. She is thinking too much. Sleep more, read less.”
Duan Yi Chen let out a long breath and said, half laughing at himself: “You frowned just now. I thought something was wrong.”
Divine Physician Luo knew who Duan Yi Chen was and knew his tie to Xia Meng Yan, so he said with no mercy at all: “You stick to her every day and still make her worry. It would be strange if she had no issues.”
Duan Yi Chen swallowed his retort and sat to the side, sulking.
Xia Meng Yan drew back her wrist and told Divine Physician Luo what had happened the previous night, finishing with a direct question: “Someone has targeted you, Master. We have not yet learned who. Will you go or stay?”
Divine Physician Luo only nodded, unsurprised. “Every day people are injured,” he said calmly, “and everyone wants the best care. But I am only one man.” Then his eyes sharpened with thought as he added, “Wherever I go, it will be the same. Since he knew to use you to pull me out, he is likely a person who knows you.”
Xia Meng Yan paused. She had not thought of that. If the man behind the scenes knew her and knew her bond with Divine Physician Luo, then last night’s games were not simple. She frowned, thinking: [Which familiar enemy hates me enough to do this?]
Seeing her worry, Divine Physician Luo’s gaze softened with a hint of fondness. He had traveled for years seeking a worthy heir. Now that he had found one, of course he would protect her. He said gently: “Do not worry. It is not a big matter. Wang Yu’s mother is a hard-luck woman. If I can cure her, it will be a good deed.”
“That is not the point,” Xia Meng Yan said with tight anger. “They used dirty tricks to force you. I cannot swallow that.” Since her rebirth, she could tolerate many things, but not eating a loss.
Divine Physician Luo’s eyes brightened with an idea as he said: “If you feel guilty, then start learning medicine from me tomorrow.”
Xia Meng Yan froze, her hand halfway to her teacup. Learn medicine? Her heart jumped with a very clear refusal: [Don’t tell me to taste a hundred herbs again. That is too bitter.] She protested aloud at once: “Master, I am still pregnant. I cannot.”
He snorted. “Look at you. So many people outside would kill for the chance to learn, and you turn it down when it is handed to you.”
She bargained quickly: “As long as I do not have to taste hundreds of herbs, I will learn.” Back then she had refused to take him as her master precisely because of that training, so she had chosen acupuncture instead. She had not expected that, years later, she would still have to suffer.
“You do not study medicine, and when your child falls ill or someone plots to harm your child, you will not sense it,” he replied.
Xia Meng Yan fell silent. [That reason… I cannot say no.]
Just then Nanny Song came in, glanced at Divine Physician Luo, and reported: “Eldest Miss, Eldest Master is here. He asks to see Divine Physician Luo.”
Divine Physician Luo stroked his beard and rose, saying with a soft huff: “I will go. You rest and do not overthink.”
Before Xia Meng Yan could answer, Duan Yi Chen stepped forward and declared: “Do not worry. With me here, she is safe.”
Divine Physician Luo gave him a look and snorted: “It is exactly because you are here that she is not safe.”
He could not openly guard his disciple? In Divine Physician Luo’s eyes, that was not what a man should be able to say he was proud of. He looked down on that.
Catching the scorn in the doctor’s eyes, Duan Yi Chen bristled and pointed at Divine Physician Luo’s retreating back as he sputtered: “What kind of look was that? He looks down on me? On what grounds? No, I am going to argue with him.”
He rushed out after the doctor.
Xia Meng Yan pressed a hand to her forehead. [Master Luo acting like a three-year-old is trouble enough. Now Duan the three-year-old too. How am I supposed to live like this?] She told her maid in a dry voice: “Chun Yue, follow them. Do not let the two of them fight.”
She added under her breath, half amused and half resigned: “If Master sticks in one needle, Duan Yi Chen will sleep for three days.”
Chun Yue smiled and answered with a light nod: “Yes.”