Having served their mistress for a long time, the two maids had become just as arrogant and domineering.
For a mere minister’s daughter to dare bully the granddaughter of the Imperial Tutor—she truly had the courage of a bear and the boldness of a leopard.
The two maids advanced threateningly toward Huo Ningyu.
Zhenzhu and Manao immediately stepped in front of their young mistress.
“Let’s see who dares!” an angry shout rang out.
Huo Mingxian had just returned with sweet jujube cakes when he heard Chen Fangli’s arrogant words.
Upon seeing who had arrived, the two maids immediately retreated behind their mistress, not daring to actually lay hands on anyone.
“Huo Ningyu, you’re quite something. No sooner have you broken off your engagement with Xie Zhengyang than you’ve already found some dubious man to stand up for you. And you accuse me of believing rumors blindly?”
It had been too long since Chen Fangli last saw Huo Mingxian, so she didn’t recognize him immediately.
Moreover, after two years of traveling, he had tanned considerably and grown taller. He appeared much sturdier and more robust than before, completely unlike the frail scholar he once was.
“Ah, I just said your brain had been replaced with a pig’s, and in an instant it’s been swapped for a fish’s,” Huo Ningyu sighed dramatically.
“Huo Ningyu, you’re asking for death!” Chen Fangli could no longer contain herself and raised her hand to slap her.
Huo Mingxian lifted his arm to block.
The slap met empty air.
“Third Miss Chen, if your brain isn’t working properly, have your eyes failed you too? I am Huo Mingxian.” His already dark face grew even darker.
Upon hearing the name, Chen Fangli froze.
Her jaw dropped in shock.
To lose her composure so completely in front of a noble young gentleman—
It was utterly humiliating.
She fled with her maids as if making an escape.
“Brother, I truly sympathize with you—being engaged to such a shrewish, brainless person for three years,” Huo Ningyu teased.
“Indeed, it will be a lifelong stain on my reputation. Fortunately, the engagement has been broken,” Huo Mingxian said with immense relief.
He had never bothered to learn what kind of character Chen Fangli possessed.
Young ladies raised in deep chambers always presented themselves properly when outside.
Had he not encountered her bullying his sister on the street today, he would never have imagined that a daughter raised in the Imperial Tutor’s Residence could be so disgraceful.
“Here’s the sweet jujube cake you wanted, still warm. Should we find a place to sit and eat?”
“Alright.”
The two found a stone step to sit on.
“Brother, have some too—it’s very appetizing. Zhenzhu, Manao, you both have some as well.” Huo Ningyu gave each of them a piece.
She popped one into her mouth.
“Wow, sour and sweet, soft and chewy—it’s truly delicious.” How many years had it been since she last tasted this?
Reborn and returned, she once again had the chance to enjoy this earthly delight.
From now on, she would protect her family and live freely and unrestrained.
Munching away, Huo Ningyu casually glanced across the street.
There stood a pharmacy called Rendetang.
“Zhenzhu, look—isn’t that woman Yang Shi?” Huo Ningyu pointed across the street.
Zhenzhu followed her young mistress’s gaze.
A very familiar figure walked into the pharmacy, followed by a young maid.
Her clothing no longer displayed its former splendor, just a simple pale green gown.
“Young mistress, it’s her,” Zhenzhu said with certainty.
“Why is she only coming to get medicine now?” Huo Ningyu wondered.
If she had been bitten by a snake last night, she shouldn’t be getting medicine only now.
She should have called for a physician last night or gone to a clinic.
But Huo Ningyu hadn’t intended to kill them outright—the snake she released wasn’t highly venomous.
She still wanted to keep the mother and daughter alive to help bring down the true mastermind behind everything.
She wondered how much her rebirth had altered the fate of this mother and daughter pair.
Would they still align themselves with the First Prince as they did in their previous life, using the struggle for the throne as an opportunity to annihilate the Huo Family?
But given Jiang Ning’s ambition to rise above others, they would surely seek opportunities.
She would wait and see.
Just as they finished eating, they saw Yang Shi emerging from Rendetang, a small maid carrying a medicine package in her hand.
“Elder Brother, let’s go see what medicine Yang Shi has procured,” Huo Ningyu said, wanting to get to the bottom of it.
“Let’s go.”
The group arrived at Rendetang.
A neat row of medicine cabinets lined the back wall.
A young apprentice lay listlessly across the counter.
The shopkeeper was organizing medicinal herbs.
It was lunchtime, so few people were out, and those who were strolling had gone to eateries or taverns.
“Are you here for medicine or a consultation?” the shopkeeper greeted them warmly, casually slapping the apprentice on the head to remind him to perk up.
“Shopkeeper, do you have any Beautifying Cream? My brother has gotten too tanned from the sun and lost his former handsomeness,” Huo Ningyu said, pulling her elder brother in front of the shopkeeper.
“Little Sister, I’m a man. Why would I need beautifying cream?” Huo Mingxian was quite satisfied with his current appearance—it exuded masculinity.
“But it doesn’t win you any favor with the young ladies. What girl wouldn’t want her betrothed to be exceptionally handsome? You’re not a border guard general. Listen to me, apply some. I’m planning to promote you during the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
“This young lady is right. To be as elegant as jade, a gentleman must first be fair-skinned,” the shopkeeper agreed with Huo Ningyu.
He retrieved a pale green small porcelain bottle from behind the counter.
“Young Master, Young Lady, this is our shop’s best-selling Beautifying Cream. It not only beautifies the skin but also removes blemishes. Eight or nine out of ten young men and women suffer from some acne or rashes, and this works wonders for that.”
The shopkeeper enthusiastically promoted the product.
“Alright, we’ll trust your recommendation. We’ll take one bottle. How much is it?” Huo Ningyu opened the lid and sniffed; the scent was mild, but the color was unappealing—black.
It could only be applied before bed and washed off the next morning.
“Two taels of silver.”
Huo Ningyu promptly made the purchase.
“Shopkeeper, that woman who came in earlier for medicine—what did she get? Could you tell us?” Huo Ningyu placed a small piece of broken silver on the counter and gently pushed it toward the shopkeeper.
“Young Lady, this…” the shopkeeper hesitated.
Patient confidentiality was a rule of the trade that their pharmacy had to uphold.
“Shopkeeper, that’s my second aunt. We had no idea she was ill. My second uncle passed away, and she’s been living alone as a widow. She didn’t even ask us for help when she fell sick. But since we’ve seen her, we can’t just ignore her. Please make an exception for us. We won’t say a word,” Huo Ningyu appealed to the shopkeeper with familial sentiment.
“Very well, it’s nothing serious, really. That woman only procured a dose of antidote for snake venom. She came once this morning, and just two hours later, she returned, but with a different prescription,” the shopkeeper said, showing Huo Ningyu the prescription he had just received.
Coming for snake venom antidote seemed normal.
But the timing didn’t add up.
She took the prescription and glanced at it.
She froze.
“Elder Brother, she wrote this herself,” Huo Ningyu exclaimed in surprise.
She recognized the handwriting at a glance—it was Yang Shi’s.
Shouldn’t it have been a prescription written by a physician?
“Oh? She knows how to write prescriptions?” Huo Mingxian also took it to look.
However, he wasn’t very familiar with Yang Shi’s handwriting and couldn’t discern much, only that it was clearly a woman’s hand—delicate and elegant, lacking the strength of a man’s script.
“Shopkeeper, could you please show us this morning’s prescription as well?”
The shopkeeper retrieved the morning prescription once more.
“Both prescriptions are for treating snake venom, and the second one is more effective. It seems the morning prescription was used first with limited results, so adjustments were made before coming back for more medicine,” the shopkeeper helpfully explained.
Huo Ningyu took it and examined it – it was written by the same person, still in Yang Shi’s handwriting.
Huo Ningyu recalled the conversation she had overheard by the rear window last night.
She had been concealing her true abilities all along – but what exactly was she hiding?
Could it be that she knows medicine?