Yun Xuesheng paid the silver readily without much haggling, and the shopkeeper was only too happy to have her come more often, naturally willing to accommodate her.
“Please, go ahead!”
Just then, a waiter came up from downstairs. “Shopkeeper, the two guests downstairs who came with this young lady say they want her to go down and settle the bill.”
Yun Xuesheng was about to leave through another exit on the second floor. She turned to look at the shopkeeper upon hearing this. “Shopkeeper, whoever buys the goods pays for them, wouldn’t you agree?”
The shopkeeper realized that this young lady before him might have had a falling out with the two downstairs.
The Baicaotang was a large establishment and didn’t fear customers not paying, but they truly didn’t want to get into conflicts either. He hesitated for a moment. “Miss, perhaps you could go down and have a word with them?”
Yun Xuesheng’s smile faded slightly. “Shopkeeper, just because they say I should pay, does that mean I have to?”
“What if I say I don’t know them?”
The shopkeeper furrowed his brows, about to speak, when a door on the second floor suddenly opened, and a young man dressed as a guard walked out. “Manager Lin, let this young lady leave.”
“My master says, whoever buys the goods pays for them. As for those traveling together, let them sort it out among themselves.”
Manager Lin’s expression turned serious, and he quickly apologized. “Miss, I’m truly sorry. I was mistaken in my thinking. Please go ahead—I’ll have the goods delivered to your residence shortly.”
Yun Xuesheng nodded and, without delay, took Banxia out through the back door.
After the two had left, Manager Lin composed himself with a solemn expression and entered the room to the side, standing at attention with his hands at his sides.
Inside, a young man sat by the window, his finger tapping on the list—the very one Yun Xuesheng had just given to the shopkeeper.
After a long moment, the young man turned to look at the shopkeeper beside him. “What are the medicines on this list for?”
The shopkeeper replied respectfully, “To answer Your Excellency, these are all blood-circulating and bruise-removing, body-strengthening medicines.”
The young man raised his head, revealing a handsome, noble face. If Yun Xuesheng had seen him, she would certainly have recognized him as the person who had appeared at the Yun family’s small courtyard that day.
“Nothing for poison?”
The shopkeeper shook his head. “No.”
The young man tapped the table with his index finger, his mind racing: The eldest young lady of the Yun family said she wanted to cure Yun Hong of poison, yet she had to come out to buy these medicines herself.
He refused to believe that Chengen Bo Fu didn’t even have these medicines. Clearly, Yun Hong’s situation within Chengen Bo Fu was extremely dire.
But these were matters he couldn’t easily interfere with.
Still, he was curious—this young lady hadn’t purchased any antidote medicines. Did she already have them, or could she cure poison without medicine?
Suddenly, he stopped tapping and looked at the shopkeeper. “If this young lady comes to buy medicines again in the future, supply them at the lowest price and keep the lists.”
The shopkeeper’s heart tightened, and he immediately realized he had nearly made a mistake just now. He quickly replied, “Yes!”
Sunlight streamed through the window lattice onto the young man’s face, his pale complexion almost translucent, causing the hearts of those in the room to clench.
A thought flashed through his mind.
His master didn’t have much time left!
Boundless sorrow flowed through his heart.
“What’s the matter with your Baicaotang? I told you to have her settle the bill, and you let her go!”
The clamor came from downstairs, and the shopkeeper quickly said, “Your Excellency, this subordinate will go handle it immediately.”
Meanwhile, Yun Xuesheng had already returned to the residence with Banxia.
The Baicaotang delivered the goods quickly, and Yun Xuesheng spent the entire afternoon in the courtyard with Banxia, pounding and grinding away. During that time, Wu Zi tried to come out and help but was chased away for being clumsy.
Wu Zi felt a bit aggrieved. “Second Master, how am I clumsy? Am I not far better than that maid Banxia?”
Yun Hong didn’t answer. He looked through the window at the busy figure outside and suddenly thought of his eldest sister-in-law.
When his eldest brother had married, he was already on the battlefield. Later, when he returned to the capital to receive his title, he had met his sister-in-law once.
She was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Though his niece was also beautiful, she still fell short of her mother.
Back then, the family had interrogated him about what rewards he had received and whether he had secretly kept any silver. Only his sister-in-law had given him a bundle of prepared medicines when he left.
Those medicines had been distributed to the wounded soldiers, and according to the military physician, they were extremely effective.
Yun Hong’s thoughts returned to the present as he looked at this niece who resembled her mother so closely, pondering: Could it be that his eldest brother, that rotten bamboo, had actually produced a good shoot?
“Bang bang bang!”
The courtyard gate was suddenly pounded violently.
“Who’s so rude? Second Master, let me go check.”
Before Wu Zi could even leave the room, Yun Xuesheng had already opened the courtyard gate ahead of him, and immediately a roar came from outside. “Yun Xuesheng, how dare you toy with me!”
“Second Master, from the voice, it’s Third Young Master of the eldest branch.”
“No need to go out!”
Yun Hong lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the table, lost in thought.
At the gate, Yun Xuesheng coldly watched Yun Sumu’s outburst until he had finished, then spoke. “When did I ever agree to pay the silver for Third Brother?”
“Wasn’t it all Third Brother’s own decision to try and please Yun Man?”
“Since Third Brother wants to win someone over, he should pay the silver himself.”
Yun Sumu snorted coldly, “Who was I doing that for? It was all for you. Now that Father has married Second Aunt, you were never Grandmother’s favorite to begin with. If you make Father dislike you because of Manman, then what are you going to do?”
The moment Yun Sumu thought about the humiliation he suffered at Baicaotang today, he couldn’t help but want to smash the face in front of him.
Yun Xuesheng had grown bold—she actually dared to toy with him!
That shopkeeper at Baicaotang today had mocked him, saying if he couldn’t afford it, he shouldn’t buy it. He had lost face completely.
Manman had picked out several patent medicines, and he had almost run out of silver on him. If he truly couldn’t pay, how could he ever hold his head up in the capital again?
It was enough to make him die of anger.
Thinking of what Yun Man had said: “Third Brother, it’s fine that Sister doesn’t like me, but she even left you behind—that’s simply too much.”
Moreover, Manman had even tried to give him silver—unlike Yun Xuesheng.
At that thought, Yun Sumu said with full malice, “Yun Xuesheng, you can’t even compare to a single finger of Manman’s.”
“No wonder you can’t win Father’s favor.”
Not even worthy of a single finger of Manman’s!
Hah, and these were the words of her own blood brother.
Even knowing what these people were like, Yun Xuesheng’s heart still couldn’t help but sting.
Yun Xuesheng pressed a hand to her chest, suppressing that strange feeling, and said word by word, “Third Brother seems to have forgotten—I am now Second Uncle’s daughter. Second Uncle is my father.”
“Whether you like me or not no longer matters!”
Nothing mattered anymore. From now on, she didn’t want their affection.