Chapter 303

Chapter 303: Don’t Hurt Her

Pulling herself back to the present, Han Lian Qiao turned to Yu Zhi Yi and asked softly: “Second Miss Jiang, could we step aside to talk?”

While Han Lian Qiao spoke, Xia Ming Xia kept sneaking glances at her, eyes full of hope. When Han’s gaze fell on her for a moment, Xia Ming Xia’s heart leaped. [Will she… be here for me?] But when Han looked away, that fragile thought broke. She gave herself a small, bitter smile. [Right. With a reputation as ruined as mine, who would still want to be my friend?]

No-that wasn’t true. There was one person.

Xia Ming Xia looked at Yu Zhi Yi. At once, the dimness in her eyes cleared. [There is someone in this world who has seen my mess and shame, who knows how people twist and attack me, and still believes I am clean-and is willing to trust my medical skill, to give me a chance to prove myself.] That was enough. She would stop expecting things from anyone else.

Thinking this, Xia Ming Xia let out a long breath and finally set down the stubborn, painful past.

The road-clearing continued. Yu Zhi Yi chose a quiet spot away from the noise. Facing Han Lian Qiao, she asked in a steady voice: “Miss Han, what is it?”

Han had come to apologize, but when she opened her mouth, the apology turned into: “Second Miss Jiang, have you heard about Xia Ming Xia’s situation?”

In truth, Yu Zhi Yi had been standing nearby while Xia Ming Xia treated the injured horses. Han Lian Qiao had been there too. They had both heard the nasty things other people said about Xia Ming Xia. Even so, a stray thought rose in Han’s mind: [What if Second Miss Jiang didn’t hear clearly?] She didn’t even know why she asked.

Yu Zhi Yi raised an eyebrow and asked back, mild but sharp: “Miss Han, do you hope I’ve heard, or hope I haven’t?”

Han Lian Qiao paused, then said, careful and cool: “It has nothing to do with me, so there’s nothing to hope. I just think, if you want to be friends with someone, you should learn every side of them-and be ready to stay friends for the long road. Don’t pour your heart into the bond and then, because of worldly eyes, toss the other aside like trash. That way, Second Miss Jiang will hurt, and the one abandoned will hurt too.”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at her oddly and said, voice light: “Like Miss Han did back then?”

Han Lian Qiao’s eyes widened. “You… you…” Her tone turned cold as she snapped: “Did you investigate me? Or did you get close to Xia Ming Xia on purpose just to get back at me?”

It wasn’t strange she jumped to dark thoughts. Very few people knew she and Xia Ming Xia had once been close-mostly just their families. Two or three years had passed. Han Lian Qiao had found new friends and a new little circle. None of them knew she had once been friends with the now-notorious Xia Ming Xia. No wonder, then, that her guard rose and her mind filled with shadows.

Yu Zhi Yi gave a small laugh: “I have no grudge with you. Why would I target you?” She shook her head. “Besides, even if I wanted to target you, I wouldn’t use an innocent person to do it.”

Han Lian Qiao neither admitted belief nor denial. Her eyes stayed wary. “Then why did you get close to Xia Ming Xia?”

She truly couldn’t understand. Knowing how ugly the rumors were, why would anyone invite Xia Ming Xia to share a carriage? It was like handing gossipers a knife. If the other person had been a man, his reputation might get dinged, but it would only be called “young and careless.” It wouldn’t really hurt him. But a woman? Once a woman walked close with Xia Ming Xia and got dragged into her bad name, people would say she had chosen to sink low. They’d let their minds wander and, without any proof, call her shameless.

Back then, that was exactly what happened to Han Lian Qiao. She was lucky that few knew of her connection with Xia Ming Xia. Even so, the looks from relatives back home turned strange. She once swore she would never abandon a friend for the sake of worldly eyes. But when even the household servants looked at her with disdain, she began to crack. She just couldn’t keep going.

Yu Zhi Yi looked at her as if this were simple: “I invited Miss Xia because I had matters to discuss with her. Personal matters don’t need to be explained to Miss Han.”

Han Lian Qiao wanted to press-What matters?-but Yu Zhi Yi cut off the thread with that one sentence. Han pressed her lips together, eyes complicated. After a while, she forced out a single line: “Don’t hurt her. She’s been through enough.”

Yu Zhi Yi answered without hesitation: “Rest easy. I don’t have a habit of hurting people. I sought out Miss Xia because her medical skill is excellent. I want to hire her as my resident physician.”

Han Lian Qiao blinked, clearly not expecting that. She lowered her eyes, then nodded: “Her skills truly are very good. Although her methods are different from other physicians’, her results are no worse than those of many long-famous physicians.” [To be honest, I think her skill is better than many of them-including her own father.] She didn’t say that part aloud; it sounded too outrageous. Few would believe it.

“I know,” Yu Zhi Yi said lightly. “That’s exactly why I looked for her.”

Watching Yu Zhi Yi’s graceful back as she left, Han Lian Qiao felt a hollow ache. After a long time, she breathed out and whispered to herself: “I hope you really met a good person this time.”

When Yu Zhi Yi returned to the carriage, she felt a faint, flickering gaze from beside her. She glanced at Xia Ming Xia. The young woman sat ramrod straight, properly posed, eyes fixed on the window, as if she hadn’t looked at Yu Zhi Yi at all. But that nervous expression and tense posture didn’t lie.

Yu Zhi Yi shook her head with a quiet laugh. To keep the physician she’d finally found from bottling herself up to the point of bursting, she took the initiative and said: “Miss Han came to see me to apologize.”

Xia Ming Xia understood at once what that apology meant. She let out a breath of relief, yet in her heart there was a faint, unnameable sadness.