“Wh-what’s there to be afraid of?”
Jiang Shijin had never believed in ghosts or gods, but now, under the gaze of those clear, almond-shaped eyes, he felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.
“Then hurry up and say it, Second Young Master Jiang,” Gu Ning smiled again. “If you don’t, we’ll go to the county magistrate to settle this. If you can’t produce any evidence by then, you’ll be punished with twenty strokes of the cane. A bit of physical pain is one thing, but if Master Jiang finds out…”
“Fine, I’ll say it!”
His eldest brother had gone out with the merchant caravan on business and would return in half a month. He had to keep the old man in high spirits before then—nothing could go wrong.
The shop he had worked so hard to reclaim must not become someone else’s gain!
“I, Jiang Shijin, hereby swear,” he raised three fingers and took a deep breath, “if what I said just now is false, may my tongue fester, my skin rot, my appearance be utterly ruined, and may I die a miserable death!”
If oaths really worked, thunder would have struck the world countless times by now.
See? He was still perfectly fine, not a single thing wrong with him!
“Gu Ning, you’re nothing but a fickle, shameless woman!”
After making the vicious oath, Jiang Shijin felt as if he had sealed Gu Ning’s “guilt” with finality, and a malicious sense of satisfaction surged in his heart.
He stood up and smiled at the crowd outside the door. “Everyone, look! I’m perfectly fine! Everything I said is true!”
The onlookers whispered among themselves—some were shocked, some disdainful, and others murmured quietly about Gu Ning.
Jiang Shijin took in their expressions with satisfaction.
Beside him, Gu Ning stood quietly, her eyes lowered, her expression calm, seemingly unaffected. Shen Jinyan instinctively reached out, as if to pat her shoulder to comfort her, but hesitated and ultimately withdrew his hand. Gu Ning might have noticed, or perhaps she didn’t care, remaining as still as a lotus flower, untouched by the mud around her.
A strange anger suddenly welled up in Jiang Shijin’s heart.
Why?
He had fawned over her so eagerly, yet she had looked down on him?
And now she was rushing to the Shen family?
Now that she had hooked Shen Jinyan, she was reverting to her old ways?
Who did she think she was?
Just a lowly medical girl!
“Gu Ning,” he sneered, “what do you have to say for yourself now?”
Someone of her lowly status should be kneeling obediently at his feet! Just as he had knelt before Shen Jinyan earlier!
“Second Young Master Jiang,” she slowly stepped forward, covering her lips with a handkerchief, her fingers hidden beneath the fabric, her smile still gentle. “Are you sure you’re fine?” She pointed a finger. “But why do I see a red patch on your face?”
Jiang Shijin froze, instinctively touching his face. It seemed… there was indeed a slightly rough spot, tinged with a faint sting.
“Ah! What is this?” someone in the crowd exclaimed.
“Look, his face!”
Before the words faded, dense red patches, mixed with blood, crawled across his entire face. Like crimson ivy, they spread from his forehead to his eyes, then down to his neck… inch by inch, strand by strand. At the same time, a sharp, intense pain spread throughout his body.
“Ahhhhh!”
Jiang Shijin screamed, clutching his face and curling up on the ground.
“Skin rot.”
Jiang Shijin struggled, suddenly realizing this was a trap Gu Ning had set long ago! He pointed a finger at her, hatred blazing in his eyes. Report her to the authorities! He would make this vicious woman die a miserable death!
But when he opened his mouth, his lips and tongue were numb, his mouth stung, and his throat could only produce hoarse, rasping sounds.
“Ulcers in the mouth.”
As she spoke, Gu Ning bent down slightly, using a handkerchief to wrap her hand as she pried open the palm he had pressed against his face. The skin on his face was like shattered porcelain, peeling off in pieces.
“Appearance utterly ruined.”
Staring at the figure writhing on the ground like a silkworm pupa, Gu Ning chuckled softly.
Now, she didn’t need others to protect her.
She could protect herself.
Outside the door, the crowd erupted like boiling water poured into hot oil, instantly exploding.
“Heavens, three of the four curses Second Young Master Jiang swore have already come true!”
“So he really was spreading rumors?”
“Even the heavens couldn’t stand it!”
The crowd shook their heads and sighed, their gazes falling on Jiang Shijin with even more disdain.
“As for the last curse,” Gu Ning looked down from above, half-light and half-shadow falling on her face. She was still smiling, still gentle. “Does Second Young Master Jiang still want to wait for it to come true?”
Almond-shaped eyes, slightly round, naturally gave a pure and innocent appearance on a person’s face. But with the eyelids half-lowered, the shape of the eyes appeared somewhat elongated. If the pupils were larger and darker than usual, they resembled the eyes of a doll—staring straight at you without a trace of emotion.
Jiang Shijin stared into her eyes and couldn’t help but swallow hard.
Gu Ning… this madwoman! She would truly act against him!
“Second Young Master Jiang,” she asked again, “do you wish for it to come true?”
“Gah… gah…”
Jiang Shijin instinctively begged for mercy, but he couldn’t utter a single complete sentence!
Gu Ning shook her head gently and sighed. “It seems you do,” she said, lifting her skirt as she stepped over the threshold and glanced back. “Then, Second Young Master Jiang, may you have good fortune.”
Her gentle voice was like a cool breeze skimming over water lilies, fading away with her footsteps.
“Gah… gah…!”
Madwoman!
Evil ghost!
She didn’t even let him speak! How could he apologize?
No matter how Jiang Shijin cursed her in his heart, the water lily-like figure did not look back. She stepped onto a stool and entered the carriage. The blue-roofed carriage rumbled forward, gradually disappearing into the bustle of the streets.
In the crowd, Liu San witnessed everything that had just happened…
The carriage swayed as it passed several medicine shops.
Gu Ning boarded the carriage with several packages of medicinal herbs and took out a slip of paper from her sleeve, listing the herbs she intended to purchase on this outing. The Jiang family’s medicine shop had been taken over by Jiang Shijin and couldn’t be visited for a while, and some items might not be available elsewhere. Gu Ning sighed softly.
“Why are you sighing at such a young age?” Shen Jinyan was also sitting in the carriage, legs crossed as he tossed peanuts into his mouth one by one. “Overthinking will give you wrinkles.”
“If you eat peanuts like that, you might choke and kick the bucket.”
“Seriously, you look so gentle and soft-spoken, but your words are so venomous?”
“Learned from you,” Gu Ning said, lifting the carriage curtain. “A-Song, let’s head straight back.”
We’ll visit the remaining medicine shops another day.
She glanced at Shen Jinyan. She had no idea how he had managed to slip out, but she guessed the Shen family was probably turning the world upside down looking for him now.
“No, I’m not going back!”
Are you kidding? He had finally managed to escape. Going back now would be like walking right into a trap.
Gu Ning remained silent, only revealing a few silver acupuncture needles from between her fingertips.
“Hey, hey, hey!” Shen Jinyan leaped back in a single bound, his face full of wariness. “I’m warning you, Gu Ning, don’t even think about sticking me with those needles! I saw clearly how you drugged that rumor-mongering lunatic just now! If you insist on taking me back, I… I’ll tell my mother about this!”
By then, his mother would definitely not let her stay in the Shen residence with that scheming scoundrel.
Gu Ning suddenly felt a headache coming on. If Shen Jinyan kept resisting their attempts to treat him and continued causing trouble, then obtaining the Moon-silk Flower… would be a distant dream.
She had to find a way to make him lower his guard.
Come to think of it… how had she managed it three years ago?
Gu Ning lowered her dark eyes, her fingers lightly tapping on her knee.
Suddenly, an idea came to her.