Xie Yingyue still regretted her younger brother standing up for her a few days earlier.
So this time, even if unwilling, she had to listen to her mother.
Her brother was only twelve, at an impulsive age. With Songyin staying in the Xie household and seeing him daily, if she spoke to him more, he would become a weapon in her hands, which wouldn’t be good for him.
Even if she had to oppose Songyin, that was her own affair.
Since Madam Meng and Xie Yingyue were in agreement, Xie Jiyan had no choice but to nod reluctantly, despite his displeasure.
After receiving the prescription today, the household physician began preparing the Vitality Pill. However, making the pill wasn’t simple and would take two more days to complete. The Tranquilizing Powder and Health-Boosting Decoction were much easier. That very evening, Madam Meng tried some.
With many recent family matters, falling asleep hadn’t been easy. But after drinking the Calming Decoction, she closed her eyes and drifted off within moments. She woke before dawn, yet felt no fatigue upon waking—instead, she was full of energy. After drinking the Health-Boosting Decoction in the morning, she didn’t feel tired at all throughout the day.
She had heard from her younger son that Second Young Master Jiang was energetic every day, needing only two or three hours of sleep, which gave him much more time than others. Despite such little sleep, he never appeared weak or drowsy.
Jiang Gu’an had a weak foundation before. When he first entered the academy, he couldn’t keep up with the teacher’s lessons. Yet in just two or three months, it was said he could already compete for the middle ranks.
In another year or so, he might even rank among the top.
His reputation for diligence was known throughout the academy.
Madam Meng hadn’t expected the medicine to be so effective…
However, good as it was, not everyone could use it, especially the yet-to-be-completed Vitality Pill. Ingredients like polygala root and sweetflag were easy to find, but Dragon Bone, Lingzhi Mushroom, and even Raw Hawksbill were quite expensive. Even with minimal amounts, the cost of the pill wouldn’t be low.
That day, Xie Jiyan obediently brought his things to the academy.
For the afternoon arithmetic class, the substitute scholar was still Jiang Gu’an.
Jiang Gu’an was quite handsome. At eighteen, he was tall and slender, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. His white robe fluttered in the wind, and his ink-black hair was simply tied back, exuding an indescribable ease.
When the Jiang family was poor, Jiang Gu’an had been extremely thin. But after nearly two years of recuperation, his physique had strengthened considerably. Under the influence of the capital’s academy, he had gained some noble bearing.
Xie Jiyan was much younger than him, and Jiang Gu’an had plenty of reasons to discipline him.
Watching Xie Jiyan being sent out to stand in punishment, Jiang Gu’an’s lips curved slightly upward, revealing a hint of contempt.
Xie Jiyan knew arguing further was useless.
“Do you know why I punished you this time?” Jiang Gu’an asked condescendingly after finishing the lesson.
His attitude was as if looking at an insignificant ant.
Xie Jiyan snorted and turned his head away, not begging for mercy: “Of course, it’s because you’re narrow-minded and deliberately seeking revenge! What else can you do besides making me stand? Could you possibly have the power to expel me from the academy?!”
“Truly incorrigible!” Jiang Gu’an declared with righteous indignation. “At such a young age, not only do you lack ambition, but your character is also so despicable. If someone like you were to pass the imperial examinations, it would be the common people who suffer in the future! Songyin is a healer, inherently kind-hearted. If not for the fact that you’re still a child, she wouldn’t have helped your Xie family escape disaster. Now that your family is safe and sound, why are you still holding Songyin captive and refusing to release her? It must be that your Xie family sees an opportunity for gain and has forcibly imprisoned her, isn’t it?!”
Upon hearing this, Xie Jiyan grinned.
“No wonder you’ve been causing trouble for me these past two days. Claiming to teach me arithmetic, but really just trying to pry into my sister’s situation, right?” Xie Jiyan said deliberately.
“She is not your sister, don’t call her that!” Jiang Gu’an frowned, feeling that such a term from Xie Jiyan insulted the woman in his heart, who was as pure as the bright moon.
Xie Jiyan didn’t particularly like calling her that either, but Jiang Gu’an was angry!
“She is my own sister. Not only do I call her that, but we siblings are as close as the deepest sea! My sister now reads to me every day at home, tells me stories, and even says that you’re a selfish and hypocritical scoundrel, telling me to stay away from you! You think our family has imprisoned her? Then go ahead and report us to the authorities if you dare!”
As he spoke, Xie Jiyan made faces, utterly triumphant. “My eldest sister dotes on me especially. Hearing that I struggle with studies and am always bullied by you, she even gave me many prescriptions. My sister said she tested the medicine on you, and it worked well! Thanks for your hard work!”
He was just boasting, after all. Songyin couldn’t hear him, so he felt no shame.
“What prescriptions?!” Jiang Gu’an’s heart tightened, and he frowned.
Xie Jiyan grinned at him but refused to say more.
Yet even if he didn’t speak, someone else would tell Jiang Gu’an.
Jiang Gu’an’s classmate and close friend, seizing the moment after class, hurriedly came looking for him.
“Brother Gu’an!” The classmate pulled him aside. “Those Vitality Prescriptions of yours have already spread among the teachers… Didn’t you say they were family secrets, not to be shared with others?”
Though they were close to Jiang Gu’an, they only bought these medicines when needed, and never in large quantities.
“Impossible! I didn’t tell anyone…” Jiang Gu’an instinctively replied, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized something. Shocked, he turned to look at Xie Jiyan and, seeing the other’s smug expression, angrily rushed over and grabbed Xie Jiyan by the neck. “It was you!? Speak! Those prescriptions… did you steal them?!”
He knew the prescriptions might have been given by Songyin.
But he couldn’t believe it. After all, just a few days ago, Songyin and he were on good terms.
Although his sister had returned home angrily that day, saying Songyin insisted on going to the Xie family to acknowledge her relatives, he still believed a woman as good as Songyin wouldn’t collude with the Xie family.
Even if Songyin was their biological daughter, so what? Could the Xie family treat her better than he did?
Women always marry eventually. He and Songyin were in love, and in the future, she would be his, destined to stand by his side. So no matter where she went, she could never betray him or his sister.
Songyin… she was just momentarily deceived. She would come back eventually!
Jiang Gu’an’s actions startled everyone. His classmate quickly intervened, pulling the two apart.
Xie Jiyan’s eyes burned with fury as he glared at Jiang Gu’an through gritted teeth. “Of course my elder sister gave it to me! What, do you think only you in this world are allowed to use such fine things, while others cannot?!”
“Shut up! Impossible! You must have tricked her somehow!” Jiang Gu’an roared like an angry lion. “What will it take to release her? If you dare harm even a hair on her head, I will not let you off!”
While angry, Xie Jiyan also thought this man was insane.
Putting on such a lovesick act toward Songyin, yet he hadn’t even bothered to go looking for her!
Could it be he was waiting for Songyin to be driven out of her home by her father before making an appearance?
Only now, when he had taken Songyin’s prescription, did he finally start to panic?