Yan Du lay back down after all and returned to his own courtyard, where Nan Xun went in to apply the medicine for him.
At first, Yan Du refused to cooperate. The young general opened with, “It’s merely a superficial wound.” But the moment he heard that she had prepared the medicine herself, his attitude changed. Without even allowing the military physician to examine him closely, he had Nan Xun apply it.
Sanqi was rendered speechless by his trust.
She suddenly wanted to remind Young General Yan that one could never truly know another person’s heart, and that it was better not to trust people so easily.
But then she thought about it. As a “living corpse” whose so-called family had drained her to the bone, did she really have the qualifications to advise anyone else?
Yan Du had won glorious military achievements at such a young age. How could he be a fool?
So…why exactly did he trust her?
As she pondered this, Nan Xun came out and invited Sanqi inside. He praised her without end. “Commandery Princess, your medicine is truly miraculous! Our general’s backside was bleeding like a stream, but the moment you sprinkled on that medicine, the bleeding stopped immediately…”
“Nan—Xun!”
The young general’s slightly chilly voice came from behind the screen, carrying a faint edge of gritted teeth.
Nan Xun chuckled sheepishly, shut his mouth, and gestured for Sanqi to enter.
Once inside, Sanqi saw that Yan Du had already dressed himself. Since the fact that he had been beaten with a rod had been exposed, he was no longer concealing it and was lying on his side on the couch.
In a red robe and black cloak, with a jade belt and golden crown, he resembled a piece of cold jade tempered in blazing fire. Without the intimidating distance he carried when clad in armor and riding to war, he now reminded people of his other identity: the Empress’s nephew, the qilin son of the Yan clan, the Duke Protector of the Nation—an indisputable nobleman of imperial blood.
The young general was truly beautiful, but Sanqi did not pay much attention to his face. She had not even noticed that anything about Yan Du’s clothes was unusual.
When he failed to receive the reaction he had expected from her, Yan Du pressed his thin lips together a little more tightly. After a moment, he said, “There are many tricks to the rod punishments administered in the palace. My injuries only look frightening. In truth, they have merely damaged the skin and flesh slightly and have not harmed my muscles or bones. A few days of rest will be enough.”
Sanqi nodded, but did not agree.
Liu Shi had beaten her with a cane before. Those had also been superficial injuries, but they had hurt terribly. It was not as effortless as Yan Du made it sound.
Yan Du had been watching her expression closely. He continued, “I have been too greatly favored by His Majesty, and the court was already divided over how I should be rewarded after returning victorious from this campaign.”
“This arrangement is fine as it is.” He looked at Sanqi. “I merely went along with the situation.”
“I don’t understand matters of the court,” Sanqi said. “But you helped me, Young General, and there is no doubt about that.”
As she spoke, Sanqi nodded at him with complete seriousness. “Thank you!”
Yan Du fell silent.
The two of them stared at each other.
After a moment, they spoke at the same time.
“You can just call me Yan Du.”
“You have no connection to me, Young General. Why did you help me?”
Sanqi did not know which of her words had been inappropriate. She only felt that the temperature surrounding the young general seemed to have plummeted, as though a basin of cold water had been poured over a vigorously burning fire.
Unable to understand, Sanqi could only continue. “I will remember your kindness, Young General, and I will certainly repay you in the future. However, it really isn’t appropriate for me to continue staying at the general’s residence…”
Yan Du suddenly interrupted her. “You don’t like the general’s residence?”
Sanqi paused and shook her head, about to speak.
“I don’t think it’s inappropriate,” Yan Du said.
Sanqi looked at him in confusion.
Yan Du pressed his lips together slightly and shifted his gaze away, pretending to speak indifferently. “His Majesty has bestowed a residence upon you, Commandery Princess, but it needs to be renovated. The Ministry of Works will need some time to prepare it. Until then, stay at the general’s residence.”
“His Majesty has also approved this arrangement.”
Sanqi: His Majesty even manages matters this trivial?
She wanted to say something else, but when she looked at Yan Du’s expression, he seemed as though he did not want her to stay after all.
Not knowing how she had offended him, Sanqi did not remain to annoy him. She left with her unanswered questions.
After she was gone, Yan Du closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before calling Nan Xun inside.
“Help me change.”
Nan Xun stared at him. “Huh? General, you just changed into these red clothes. I had to turn the whole place upside down to find them…”
Yan Du cut him off. “Vulgar!”
Nan Xun: You were the one who said wearing red would make your complexion look better. How had it suddenly become vulgar now?
“There’s one more thing. Go take care of it,” Yan Du said. “Buy a residence next to ours.”
Nan Xun: “…”
You’re making the impossible possible, my Young General!
The residences surrounding their general’s estate all belonged to ministers of at least the third rank or higher! If you wanted a residence near your own gates, you should go to the imperial palace, roll around on the floor before His Majesty, and request an edict confiscating someone’s estate!
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Sanqi prepared to go out. She had not exactly stayed indoors during the past few days, but this was the first time she would be going out openly.
Yan Du had ordered people to move all of His Majesty’s rewards to her quarters. They were all priceless treasures worth thousands of gold pieces, but unfortunately, none of them could be exchanged for money outside!
Sanqi knew that Yan Du had secured all these rewards for her, so she had not intended to accept them. Holding them made her feel as though she had picked up something scorching hot.
Besides, other than looking pretty sitting there, they were completely useless to her.
Since she was temporarily staying at the general’s residence, she could not continue eating for free while also reaching out to ask for money, could she?
More importantly, if she did not go out, how would certain people ever get the chance to meet her?
Nan Xun rode with her to Baochun Hall, the largest medical clinic in the city.
The moment the shop assistant at the entrance saw her, his eyes lit up. He ran inside shouting, “Shopkeeper! Miss Meng is here!”
Nan Xun was curious. Meng? Wasn’t the Commandery Princess’s surname Yu?
Sanqi did not explain. When she had once been short of money, she had come to Baochun Hall to sell medicine. At the time, she had used an alias, borrowing the surname of Granny Meng, who had raised her in Huangquan Village.
The shopkeeper of Baochun Hall was surnamed Zhou. When he heard that Sanqi had arrived, he immediately came out from the back hall to welcome her personally.
“Miss Meng, I’ve been searching everywhere for you!” Shopkeeper Zhou ushered her upstairs and personally poured her tea. His enthusiasm was so excessive that even Nan Xun found it astonishing.
Sanqi did not bother with pleasantries. She took out a bottle of medicine and pushed it across the table.
Shopkeeper Zhou held his breath and accepted it with utmost care. He poured out the pills and sniffed them closely, then cautiously scraped off a bit of powder and tasted it. His entire body trembled with excitement.
It was this medicine!
Last time, it had been thanks to these Chang’an Pills that he had received such a generous reward. The Old Madam in his household suffered from a chronic cough, but after taking the Chang’an Pills, she had not coughed even once for an entire month.
Shopkeeper Zhou had bought six bottles from Sanqi back then, which amounted to only half a year’s supply. Unfortunately, Sanqi had never appeared again afterward, and Shopkeeper Zhou had regretted it for a long time.
“Miss Meng! I’ll take these Chang’an Pills! Ten taels of gold per bottle. No matter how many you have, I’ll take them all!”
At the side, Nan Xun’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
How much?
What kind of medicine was the Commandery Princess selling? Ten taels of gold per bottle?!
Wait, this medicine looked strangely familiar. Wasn’t the powder the young general had applied to his backside yesterday made by grinding up these pills?
Did that mean the young general had ten taels of gold applied to his backside? No, more than that—at least thirty taels!
What an expensive backside!
Sanqi, however, shook her head. “I don’t have any more. I’m only selling one bottle this time.”
Shopkeeper Zhou grew anxious. How could one bottle possibly be enough? There were only thirty pills in a bottle, at most enough for one month!
He assumed Sanqi was dissatisfied because he had driven too hard a bargain the first time. “I was blind to your true worth back then, Miss Meng. Please don’t take offense. How about this? I’ll make up the money from the previous purchase as well, and for this medicine…” He gritted his teeth. “I’ll double the price. Twenty taels. What do you think?”
Nan Xun had gone numb beside them. He raised his fingers and began calculating his own salary.
Oh, there was no need to calculate. His salary was not even worth a single mole on the young general’s backside.
“Ten taels is enough,” Sanqi said calmly. “From now on, I’ll come once every ten days. If Shopkeeper Zhou agrees, then we have a deal. If you find it too difficult, I won’t impose.”
How could Shopkeeper Zhou possibly disagree? He was terrified that Sanqi would leave.
He sighed repeatedly and pleaded unwillingly, “Miss Meng, truly, can’t you charge a little more?”
“Making this medicine is exhausting and labor-intensive. If I weren’t short of money, I wouldn’t sell it.” Sanqi spoke honestly, leaving Shopkeeper Zhou with nothing more to say.
Of course, he knew that this medicine was extraordinary. To put it shamelessly, he had even had other people study the pills. They had managed to identify a few of the ingredients, but anything beyond that was impossible.
He had heard that the Old Madam in the residence had even invited an imperial physician to examine them, yet the physician had not been able to unravel the formula either.
Shopkeeper Zhou carefully stored away the medicine, but he brought out one hundred taels of gold. Sanqi took only ten. “The goods and payment are settled.”
Sanqi did not accept the money Shopkeeper Zhou offered to make up for the previous purchase—not because she did not want it.
Rather, that transaction had been mutually voluntary. The cause and effect had been fulfilled. If she took more now, she would incur an additional karmic debt.
Shopkeeper Zhou was terribly disappointed. He did not fear her taking too much; he feared her refusing to take anything at all!
“Oh, right.” Sanqi suddenly stopped before leaving and turned to Shopkeeper Zhou. “You may sell this medicine to anyone, but there are two families you must not sell it to.”
Shopkeeper Zhou thought that the medicine was so precious that even his own Old Madam did not have enough. Why would he sell it outside?
Still, he asked, just in case he accidentally caused trouble by flooding the Dragon King’s temple.
“May I ask which two families, Miss Meng?”
“The Yu family of the Ministry of Rites’ Assistant Director… Oh, it should be called Registrar Yu now. And lastly…” Sanqi curled her lips. “The Boyuan Marquis’s Residence.”