When Pei Xiu could not be roused, Su Ying half knelt on the bed, lifted his arms, and carried him piggyback.
Though Pei Xiu was still a youth and slenderly built, he was already taller than a grown man.
Even with Su Ying’s considerable strength, carrying him was no easy task.
Fortunately, the pharmacy was not far from the alley entrance. Su Ying quickened her pace and hurried out of the courtyard, only to run straight into three people.
The one in front was a youth of sixteen or seventeen. The girl half a step behind him was around the same age, and her features bore a seven-tenths resemblance to his.
Behind them was a young man with a swollen, bruised face, his original appearance almost impossible to make out.
He was a head shorter than the youth in front, and looked to be only twelve or thirteen.
Ming Zhou had originally arrived in a furious mood. Even his wild, handsome features were tinged with ferocity. But when he saw Su Ying emerging from the courtyard, he froze, and the anger instantly drained from his face.
His gaze then fell on the clearly gravely ill youth on her back, and his expression grew even more complicated.
“Ming Jiu, are you truly certain they injured you without cause? It wasn’t that you started trouble and provoked them yourself?”
Ming Caiyun turned around and glared at Ming Jiu, whose face was swollen like a pig’s head. He shrank back but did not answer.
Ming Jiu.
Su Ying remembered that name. The unlucky fellow Pei Xiu had pinned to the ground and beaten half to death that night had been called Ming Jiu.
She did not need to ask anything else to understand why the three of them had come.
“My younger brother has a high fever and is unconscious. I need to take him to see a physician. If you’ve come for revenge, please come another day.”
As she spoke, Su Ying moved to the side, intending to go around them.
Ming Zhou looked at her distant, composed features, then at Pei Xiu’s bruised and swollen face. Even the exposed arm was covered in contusions.
He stepped forward and deftly took Pei Xiu from Su Ying’s back.
Su Ying’s brows drew tightly together, and she demanded sharply, “What are you doing?! I already said to come back another day if you’re looking for revenge. Do you really want to get yourselves entangled in a murder case?”
“Weren’t you taking him to see a physician? I walk fast.”
After dropping that sentence, Ming Zhou strode away. Ming Caiyun glanced from side to side, then followed up in support of him. “My brother spends all year running around in the mountains. Even Brother Qi can’t match his pace. Trust him.”
Su Ying’s expression did not ease in the slightest. She hurried after Ming Zhou, clutching one of Pei Xiu’s hands as though afraid he might carry him off.
That hand was slick with sweat, and burning hot to the touch.
Su Ying recalled that three years ago, not long after she had entered the Pei Residence, Pei Xiu had fallen gravely ill. His high fever would not subside.
Five days later, Pei Xiu had managed to return from the gates of death with his life—but the price had been a pair of eyes.
Su Ying felt a little panicked, afraid that what was happening now was the same as what had happened three years ago.
Ming Zhou’s pace was indeed remarkably fast. Even with Pei Xiu’s comparable build on his back, he still moved with long, easy strides.
After only a few words, he had already carried Pei Xiu to Qin’s Pharmacy at the mouth of the alley.
Qin Xuelan was leaning against the counter, peeling a pomegranate. When she saw Su Ying return, she was about to tease her, but then noticed that Su Ying’s usually calm face had unexpectedly taken on a trace of panic.
“Sister Xuelan, stop eating and save him!” Ming Zhou urged.
He placed Pei Xiu on a wicker chair. Qin Xuelan set down the pomegranate and leaned over to look at him. “Oh? Who’s this? He looks completely unfamiliar.”
“My younger brother. His fever is severe,” Su Ying said.
At that, Qin Xuelan took one of Pei Xiu’s hands and checked his pulse, then examined his pupils. Without the slightest sign of panic, she asked, “We’ve known each other for two months. How come I’ve never heard that you had a younger brother?”
“He has trouble with his eyes and doesn’t often come out to meet people.”
“Oh.”
Qin Xuelan went to the back room and washed her hands. “Bring him inside and take off his shirt.”
Su Ying was just about to do it herself when Ming Zhou’s expression turned strange again. He went ahead of her, carried Pei Xiu into the inner room, and removed his upper garment.
The bruises covering his entire body were revealed without reserve. Qin Xuelan clicked her tongue softly. “Look at all these injuries. They were definitely caused by that little bastard from the Zhang Family. He bullies people all over this street every day. How has the government still not taken that menace away…”
Ming Zhou awkwardly rubbed his nose, having more or less guessed why his younger brother had been beaten.
When he saw Su Ying follow them inside, his gaze flickered away for a moment. Then he muttered under his breath,
“Even if she’s his actual sister… they should still avoid impropriety, shouldn’t they?”
Su Ying ignored him and asked Qin Xuelan, “Physician Qin, how is Pei—my younger brother?”
Qin Xuelan glanced up at her and chided, “Call me Sister Xuelan, and I’ll tell you.”
“Sister Xuelan,” Su Ying obediently called her.
Qin Xuelan smiled in satisfaction. She took out acupuncture needles, pricked each of Pei Xiu’s ten fingertips, and squeezed out the black blood. Then she inserted another needle into his wrist and one into his chest.
“Jin Ping, bring two slices of danshen in here!” she called.
“Coming!”
Before long, Jin Ping lifted the curtain and entered. He pinched both sides of Pei Xiu’s jaw, easily dislocated it, swiftly tucked the two slices of danshen beneath his tongue, and reset his jaw.
Ming Zhou gave Jin Ping a thumbs-up from the side and laughed loudly. “Good lad. Sister Xuelan was right not to let you follow me into the mountains to hunt. Look at you now—you’ve got the makings of someone who saves lives and heals the wounded.”
Despite the praise, Jin Ping did not look happy. “I’ve guarded this pharmacy every day until the medicine’s practically seeped into me. Following Second Brother would be much better. Now that’s freedom!”
Qin Xuelan shot him a cutting look. “Have you finished preparing Aunt Chen’s prescription? All you know how to do is shirk work. Get out.”
“That’s completely unreasonable! You were the one who told me to come in and deliver—”
Before Jin Ping could finish complaining, one cold look from her frightened him into silence. He hurriedly fled through the curtain, still muttering under his breath, “Even the tigress on Guling Mountain isn’t as fierce as you…”
Su Ying had not heard a word of their exchange. She crouched beside Pei Xiu, and when she saw that he still had not regained consciousness, she asked, “Qin… Sister Xuelan, what illness does he have? Why hasn’t he woken up yet?”
“It’s nothing serious. His heart condition flared up. He’ll wake soon.”
“…Heart condition?”
“You didn’t know?” Qin Xuelan stared at her in surprise. “Isn’t he your younger brother? With a heart condition this serious, he must have suffered attacks many times over the years. How could you not know?”
Su Ying did not know how to explain, so she simply kept quiet.
She had not known Pei Xiu suffered from a heart condition, and there had never been any rumors about it throughout the Pei Residence.
Suffered attacks many times…
When Su Ying had been at the Pei Residence, she had not served in Pei Xiu’s courtyard. Instead, she had assisted the old gentleman who tended the gardens.
She had only occasionally heard that Minister Pei had sent the steward to the Imperial Academy to request leave on Pei Xiu’s behalf, saying that he had caught a chill and needed to rest for a few days.
Back then… it had not actually been a chill, but his heart condition?
Qin Xuelan continued peeling the pomegranate and cast her a casual glance. “Sister Ying, you know how to identify medicinal herbs yourself. Surely at least one person close to you knows some medicine. How did none of you notice such a serious heart condition?”
As she spoke, she leaned over and carefully examined Pei Xiu’s features. “Why do I feel that the two of you look nothing alike? Are you really brother and sister?”
Without changing expression, Su Ying casually fabricated an answer. “He has no family left. My parents adopted him when they were younger.”
“Mm… That explains it.” Qin Xuelan nodded in understanding and sighed. “Life isn’t easy for anyone. They adopted a child who was blind, too. Being able to raise him to adulthood already shows that they’re kindhearted. It’s understandable if they weren’t especially attentive to him in everyday life.”
Ming Zhou glanced at Su Ying, then at Pei Xiu’s bare upper body, and stammered,
“So you’re not actually brother and sister…”
As though he had suddenly thought of something, his face flushed bright red. Stumbling over his words, he said,
“If—if you’re not blood siblings, how could you not know to avoid impropriety?!”