"How did you two wretches handle the task!?" Li Anbo struck Zhang Da across the face with his palm.
Zhang Da grimaced in pain. It was not because of Li Anbo's blow, but because kneeling down had accidentally pulled at the wound on his shoulder. "We were originally going to make our move, but Hou said this couple was hardly anyone formidable, so why treat them with such caution, so we, we…"
"So what?"
Li Anbo asked in a low voice.
"So he dragged me off to drink at a brothel." Zhang Da hemmed and hawed. "The two of us got carried away and drank too much…"
"Useless fools who bungle everything they touch!"
Even though he had already smelled the alcohol on him, Li Anbo could not help but curse furiously. "I warned you time and again, and you treat my words as wind past your ears? If something goes wrong and the higher-ups blame us, how many heads do you have to fill the gap!"
Zhang Da was so frightened he dared not raise his head.
Li Anbo's anger would not subside. "Where did that unfilial brat run off to?"
"When I left, he was still snoring away in the tavern…"
Li Anbo laughed in extreme anger, his gloomy eyes fixed on Zhang Da. "Five days. You two had best settle this couple for me. If you dare delay the Mountain God's marriage, you'd better watch out for yourself."
Hearing the thick warning in Li Anbo's words, Zhang Da shrank his neck, crying out in endless misery.
He knew this time he had touched Li Anbo's reverse scale, but he was helpless too—
"Guess which one is poisoned?"
In the mountain forest, the woman squatted before him with a smile, two pills pinched between her fingertips.
Her figure was delicate, her smile gentle and warm. She looked frail by nature, yet in her other hand she held a dripping bloodstained cleaver.
He had no choice but to choose, no choice but to choose wrong.
Beads of cold sweat slid down the bridge of his nose. His shoulder hurt so much his vision blurred. Forced to tremble with fear, he picked one.
Just as he stuffed it into his mouth, a silvery, pleasant laugh rang out.
"I lied to you. Actually, both are poisoned."
Blinking, Jiang Weiyao said, "The one you chose is called Luoni Pill. If you don't get the antidote within three sticks of incense after taking it, your flesh and blood will rot into mud—hence the name. This poison is extremely precious. You truly are blessed."
Jiang Weiyao looked at him with keen interest. "I haven't used this poison in a long time. Today is a good chance to admire it once more."
He was so frightened he nearly fainted dead away, wishing he could vomit up even yesterday's meals.
That fear still shrouded his heart to this day, impossible to shake off.
"Get out."
Seeing that Zhang Da had learned fear, Li Anbo snapped impatiently.
Zhang Da hurriedly got up to flee. He had barely taken two steps when he heard Li Anbo speak again. "Wait."
Zhang Da turned around cowering.
"That man always strikes me as strange."
His brows drew together. Li Anbo pondered for a moment, then ordered, "Like this—you and Li Hou join forces first and kill him. As for that little woman…"
"No strength to truss a chicken. We can leave her for now." Li Anbo waved his hand impatiently.
"……"
His expression twisted. Zhang Da nearly dropped back to his knees on the ground.
Li Anbo frowned in displeasure. "What on earth is wrong with you?"
"N-nothing…" Rubbing his red, swollen bulbous nose, Zhang Da lowered his head and mumbled, "Just that my legs are a bit weak…"
That night they had left in a hurry, and the Zhou family's door had been left ajar, unclosed. These past two days Uncle Liu had been helping to keep an eye on it. Jiang Weiyao rose early to fetch Erya's change of clothes for Pei Yunheng.
Uncle Liu didn't say much, but he kept a worried watch outside the courtyard the whole time.
When she pushed the door open, a faint fragrance greeted her—she couldn't quite place what kind of spice it was.
She had smelled this same fragrance on Erya before.
Uncle Liu was still pacing in the yard. Jiang Weiyao's gaze quickly swept across the room—not particularly spacious—and she followed the scent inward.
It was a wooden cabinet.
The fragrance was drifting out from this cabinet. When she opened the wardrobe, the smell grew stronger.
Aunt Zhou was diligent and efficient; she had cleaned everything inside and out, and even the clothes were neatly folded.
"Lady Jiang, haven't you found them yet?"
Uncle Liu walked to the window and peered inside suspiciously.
"I've found Erya's. I was thinking about whether to grab two sets for Aunt Zhou as well—seems like the weather might turn in a couple of days."
Jiang Weiyao placed the clothes she'd taken out on her lap.
"Do as you see fit." Uncle Liu waved his hand impatiently, then urged, "Once you've got them, hurry out."
Her fingertip traced to the last garment. Jiang Weiyao's eyes narrowed slightly, and she slipped her finger inside to feel—sure enough, something was wrong.
A smooth, cool sensation, as if a handful of tiny pebbles were hidden inside.
She fished out two of them and concealed them in her sleeve, then stood and replied to Uncle Liu, "Got them. Coming out now."
Seeing her obediently carrying several sets of clothes, Uncle Liu withdrew his scrutinizing gaze. "When you get there, tell Sister Zhou that I'm keeping an eye on things here—nothing will go wrong."
Jiang Weiyao murmured an acknowledgment and headed out.
How could pebbles carry a fragrance? After smelling them for a while, she could even detect two distinct notes of medicinal herbs.
She was just thinking about how to get the pebbles to Wang Mingke for examination when she returned home—and saw that familiar figure.
Her footsteps paused slightly.
Between her and Wang Mingke, it had always been the case that he only came after she sent word.
Unless something urgent had happened.
Her fingertips curled slightly, and she walked in.
"I've come twice and you weren't here either time. Even for a follow-up consultation, there's no rule that a doctor waits for his patient. I'll have to charge extra for the consultation fee later…"
Wang Mingke had just finished taking a pulse and was chattering on, ignoring Pei Yunheng's cold expression. Hearing footsteps, he turned his head. "Perfect timing—you probably heard me just now, Lady Jiang. Go get the consultation fee."
Jiang Weiyao reluctantly took out a few copper coins and handed them to him. "There's no rule about charging extra consultation fees either…"
Wang Mingke widened his eyes as if about to argue with her, but Pei Yunheng rose and said calmly, "I'll go bring the donkey cart around."
This was directed at Jiang Weiyao. She nodded.
Even after Pei Yunheng had gone far, Jiang Weiyao and Wang Mingke still behaved distantly.
The two sat in silence without speaking. Only when Wang Mingke finished writing the prescription and handed it over, what fell into Jiang Weiyao's hands was not just the prescription.
A small packet of medicinal powder and a note.
With a slight movement of her fingertips, both items vanished from her palm. Jiang Weiyao took the prescription properly. "Let me see you out."
"No need."
Wang Mingke slung his medicine box over his shoulder. "I've already memorized the roads in your village."
No sooner had he left than Pei Yunheng returned.
The stove had collapsed, making the kitchen unusable. The two had skipped lunch and set out before noon.
A donkey cart was no match for a fine horse; it trundled slowly forward, and Jiang Weiyao was jostled uncomfortably.
After they had traveled some distance, the deeper they went into the forest, the denser the vegetation grew and the fewer signs of human presence there were.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Jiang Weiyao suddenly spoke up.
A cold light flashed in his dark eyes. Pei Yunheng pulled the reins tight and swept his gaze across the silent mountain forest once more, his brow furrowing slightly.
The forest was too deep; even the wind couldn't penetrate. It was utterly silent now, without the slightest sign of disturbance.
Could it be that he was being overly suspicious?
Pei Yunheng pressed his thin lips together lightly.
Jiang Weiyao had already jumped down from the donkey cart, her skirt swaying gently with her steps. She ran toward a spot in the woods and exclaimed in delight, "There are actually several wild camellia bushes here."
Since last night, she had been distracted the entire time, and only now did she regain some spirit.
Pei Yunheng observed Jiang Weiyao's every move without betraying any emotion.
But Jiang Weiyao was only picking flowers.
Her movements were careful. She snapped two or three flowering branches and gathered them into her arms, her fingertips still pinching a single delicate pink blossom.
Walking over, she held it up before Pei Yunheng's eyes: "Look, what a beautiful camellia."
It was indeed a wild camellia.
Pei Yunheng withdrew his gaze. Though his face showed no expression, his tense shoulders and neck slowly relaxed a fraction.
Looking at the lush cluster of wild camellias, Jiang Weiyao tucked one blossom into her cloud-like hair and asked Pei Yunheng, "How is it?"
Seeing Pei Yunheng lower his eyes, she accommodatingly bent down and leaned into his line of sight, her dark apricot eyes holding a faint, clear smile.
Left with no choice, Pei Yunheng could only raise his eyes to look.
She was indeed beautiful—a standard oval face, delicate willow eyebrows neither too thick nor too thin, apricot eyes with clear black and white, round and bright and translucent, like a gleaming jewel.
Her soft hair was pinned up with a wooden hairpin, and that camellia—charming yet not vulgar—was tucked behind her ear, complementing her fair features, vermilion lips, and white teeth.
His dark eyes settled on her face for a moment, then Pei Yunheng looked away: "Let's go."
"You still haven't answered me—is it pretty or not?"
Jiang Weiyao was relentless.
Picking up the reins, Pei Yunheng lowered his long lashes and gave no intention of speaking.
Jiang Weiyao was equally unwilling to compromise. She reached out and tugged at his sleeve again, pressing: "Is it pretty or not?"
Pei Yunheng's arm lifted slightly, yet his sleeve did not budge in the least. He finally spoke: "It is spring."
"…Thank you for telling me," Jiang Weiyao thought, here we go again. "Otherwise I wouldn't have known spring had arrived."
Pei Yunheng's tone was flat: "Grass grows, orioles fly, fierce beasts roam."
Jiang Weiyao's expression stiffened involuntarily.
Raising his eyes to look at her, Pei Yunheng said: "Come nightfall, there will be tigers and wolves."
"……"
Her small face paled. Jiang Weiyao hurriedly let go and climbed back onto the donkey cart.
The whip cracked through the air, and the donkey cart slowly resumed its journey.
After a moment, Jiang Weiyao poked her head out.
Glaring resentfully at Pei Yunheng's back, she was unwilling to let it go. She huffed twice: "So you've read a few books and know a couple of idioms—big deal! All you do is scare people!"
Lowering his eyes, Pei Yunheng drove the cart with an air of indifference. Hearing this, the corners of his thin lips curved upward almost imperceptibly.
Rushing all the way, it was still not until nightfall that the donkey cart slowly rolled into the city.
Stopping before the medical clinic, Pei Yunheng led the donkey into the back courtyard while Jiang Weiyao stood beneath the corridor waiting for him.
Listening to the sound of the cart wheels gradually fading into the distance, the gentle expression on her face slowly faded. She took out the packet of medicinal powder and held it beneath her nose for a light sniff.
It was Soul-Loss Powder.
Without hesitation, she immediately unfolded the note. On it was Wang Mingke's bold, flamboyant handwriting.
As though written in haste, the strokes were very sloppy—
Something's wrong. Jade lacks fragrance.
Jiang Weiyao's eyes narrowed slightly.
Wang Mingke was not a rash person. For him to disregard their agreement and hurriedly send word like this, it could only be related to Pei Yunheng.
Jade lacks fragrance.
Jade lacks fragrance…
It seemed there was a problem with that replicated jade pendant.
The counterfeit jade pendant had been returned to Pei Yunheng.
Had he noticed anything?
Swallowing the note, Jiang Weiyao sank into thought, but a moment later, the corners of her lips curved upward.
Finally.
After all this time maneuvering around Pei Yunheng, it was finally her turn to make the first move.