Ji Yunqian looked at the Fifth Princess with a hint of fear in his eyes. “Thank you for Your Highness’s concern. I’m feeling much better now.”
The Fifth Princess was furious. “What kind of look is that? Even you suspect this princess now?”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
Ji Yunqian didn’t say no—only wouldn’t dare—because the physician had said they’d been given something… not exactly proper.
The Fifth Princess was about to explode. “Lan Shuang ran off so quickly—who knows, it was probably her doing!”
“Your Highness, she’s not that kind of person.”
When Ji Yunqian thought of Lan Shuang, a faint ache spread through his heart. “She was devoted to me. How could she possibly want me to end up like this with another woman?”
“Ji Yunqian, you’re still thinking about her, aren’t you?”
The Fifth Princess was on the verge of losing her mind. Large tears rolled down her cheeks. If her body hadn’t yet recovered, she would have scratched Ji Yunqian’s face right then and there.
“Your Highness, you promised me—you said you’d let her stay in the marquis’s residence.”
“I did promise,” the Fifth Princess said smugly. “But she herself refused to be a concubine. What could I do about that?”
She smiled with satisfaction. “Ji Yunqian, she’d rather suffer hardship with her family than stay behind. Seems she didn’t love you all that much after all.”
“Your Highness, Shuang’er has a simple nature. She probably doesn’t yet understand what kind of hardships await her.”
Ji Yunqian’s lips curved upward as he thought of Lan Shuang. “Once she’s had a taste of suffering, she’ll definitely come crying back to beg me.”
“Heh…”
The Fifth Princess felt as if something were stuck in her throat. Though the two of them lay on the same bed, an invisible rift had already formed between them.
Lan Shuang, meanwhile, found everything dull and uninteresting. Under cover of night, she quietly left the marquis’s residence and followed the same road out of the city.
By this hour, the city gates were already closed. It took Lan Shuang quite a bit of effort to get out.
She moved quickly. Just as Xu Family Village was coming into view, she suddenly heard the sounds of fighting not far away.
Lan Shuang had no desire to meddle in other people’s affairs. She merely paused for a moment, then continued on her way.
But the fighting sounds soon stopped. Feeling puzzled, she slowed her steps and crept closer.
Standing behind a large tree, she saw several bodies sprawled on the ground.
With a scavenger’s mindset, Lan Shuang covered her face, picked up a wooden stick, and walked over.
She poked the black-clad men one by one, confirming they were no longer breathing, then began searching them.
After rifling through six or seven of them, the haul wasn’t bad—each pouch held a few pieces of silver and a small gold ingot.
Just as Lan Shuang was getting into it, she prodded the last man with her stick and bent down to search his money pouch.
The next second, the man suddenly opened his eyes, nearly scaring Lan Shuang out of her wits.
Holy crap—there’s still one alive!
Frowning, Lan Shuang retreated several steps, not intending to get involved. She turned to leave.
“Save… me…”
A weak male voice sounded behind her. Lan Shuang ignored it, not even turning her head.
“Gold…”
The word gold made Lan Shuang whip around instantly. She walked back over and looked down at him from above.
“I have… gold.”
At this point, Pei Yanzhou was breathing more than he was inhaling. He struggled to get the words out.
Earlier, he’d vaguely heard this person laughing greedily while looting the bodies.
Lan Shuang squatted down to check his pulse, then frowned. “You’re badly injured. Lucky for you, you ran into me—but the gold you promised better be worth it.”
She muttered to herself as she pulled open Pei Yanzhou’s blood-soaked outer garment. Her completely unrestrained manner was nothing like that of an ordinary young lady.
“Hiss…”
Pei Yanzhou sucked in a breath of pain at her rough movements, while Lan Shuang frowned at him in annoyance.
“You’re a grown man—what are you groaning for? You’re not going to die.”
She worked swiftly, applying medicine to his wounds. When she was done, she pulled out silver needles and rapidly pierced several points on Pei Yanzhou’s body.
Pei Yanzhou: ……
Was she saving him—or finishing him off?
Once she was done, Lan Shuang felt hungry. Using her cloth bag as cover, she took out a few big meat buns, turned her back to Pei Yanzhou, and started eating.
Pei Yanzhou: ……
In pain and starving.
He closed his eyes in agony. To die like this—he couldn’t accept it.
Finally, after finishing the buns, Lan Shuang—still masked—began removing the needles. Pei Yanzhou slowly opened his eyes once more.
Then he was shocked.
Because he could feel the inner strength he had lost slowly returning, and even the pain from his wounds seemed to be easing.
Her medical skills were actually this good?!
“All right. Looks like your fate isn’t sealed just yet.”
Lan Shuang put away her silver needles and immediately started patting him down from head to toe in search of her payment.
Pei Yanzhou: ……
Grinding his teeth helplessly, he said, “On the right side of my waist.”
“Found it.”
Lan Shuang excitedly yanked off the money pouch from Pei Yanzhou’s body. Opening it, she saw only a few gold peanuts and a handful of broken silver pieces.
“That’s all your life is worth?”
With a look of disgust, Lan Shuang continued searching his body. Pei Yanzhou’s face turned red with embarrassment—he wished he could just die on the spot.
“There’s also a jade pendant.”
If he could move right now, he would definitely flip this little money-grubber away.
Hearing that, Lan Shuang removed a jade pendant from his waist. It felt smooth and warm to the touch. It was too dark to see its quality clearly, but her instincts told her it was good stuff.
“I’ll take the jade. After this, we’re even!”
With that, Lan Shuang casually tossed the jade pendant into her storage space. Just as she was about to leave in a carefree manner, Pei Yanzhou called out to her.
“Wait—may I ask the benefactor’s honored name?”
“I’m a physician. I like traveling around saving lives. A name is just a label—not worth mentioning.”
Lan Shuang didn’t dare have too much interaction with him. Someone with this many black-clad enemies was clearly dangerous.
She didn’t want to get dragged into trouble just because they became acquainted.
So Lan Shuang waved her sleeve and left without taking a single cloud with her, leaving Pei Yanzhou twitching at the corner of his mouth.
“Little money-grubber.”
If not for the lure of gold, she probably wouldn’t have saved him at all.
“Master, this subordinate arrived late!”
A shadow guard suddenly appeared, urgently checking Pei Yanzhou’s injuries.
“Go receive your punishment yourself.”
Pei Yanzhou looked in the direction Lan Shuang had disappeared, a thoughtful glint flashing in his eyes.
…
Lan Shuang sniffed her clothes—there was a strong smell of blood on them. She changed into a fresh set, then grabbed some gold and silver pieces.
She also took some rice, oil, salt, and meat she’d looted earlier before knocking on the courtyard gate.
“Who is it?”
Min Ruolan’s voice from inside was tense—it seemed she’d been on guard and hadn’t rested much.
“Eldest sister-in-law, it’s me.”
The moment Lan Shuang spoke, Min Ruolan opened the door and hurried over to let her in.
“Shuang’er, you’re finally back. Just now, the younger sister-in-law’s grandaunt came again and pulled up all the vegetables in the yard.”
Thinking of that fierce woman made Min Ruolan’s head ache—she was unbearably petty.
“We’ll get some seeds later and plant more,” Lan Shuang said.
After running around all day, she was exhausted. She carried the grain into the kitchen.
“Shuang’er, where did all this come from?”
Min Ruolan was pleasantly surprised, but also worried about her. “Shuang’er, given our current situation, as long as we’re alive, that’s enough. Don’t take risks.”
“Don’t worry, Eldest Sister-in-law. The source is legitimate. I’ll go check on Grandmother first.”
Lan Shuang didn’t explain further. Carrying her cloth bag, she knocked on Old Madam Lan’s door.
But after knocking several times, there was still no response from inside.
“Grandmother, I’m back.”
“Perhaps Grandmother is tired?” Min Ruolan muttered to herself.
By then, Lan Shuang had already kicked the door open.
Old Madam Lan lay motionless on the bed, her face flushed red, sweat beading across her forehead.
“Oh no—Grandmother has a fever!”