The thug nodded. “It’s absolute truth, it was indeed the Eldest Princess. In the past three days, I sent two groups of people out: one group stayed squatting at the Yuelai Inn to keep an eye on that pair of beggars, while the other group went around asking people near the place where I was knocked unconscious.”
“I confirmed that the female qianyuan went straight into the Eldest Princess’s manor, and someone even said they saw her before during the free clinic at the Imperial Medical Bureau, staying together with Dr. Zhuo and the others to help examine patients. It seemed Dr. Zhuo even addressed her as the consort.”
“Could it be that good-for-nothing from Qiandiao?” The senior physician associated Ji Kongqing’s face, which looked somewhat different from that of the Jiaming people.
“If it really is her, then she’s simply relying on the Eldest Princess’s backing to dare not put our Jishi Medical Clinic in her eyes.”
“Then what should we do now? Should we notify the Second Imperial Highness?”
“You may step down first,” the senior physician pressed his lips together. “I have my own judgment.”
“Understood, shopkeeper.” The thug stepped down. The senior physician turned and walked into his pharmacy, wrote a few lines of small characters, and released a carrier pigeon.
That night, he went to Lianxiang Pavilion, the most famous pleasure quarter in the capital.
This place was of the same nature as the Qingling House.
Unlike the Qingling House, which was basically filled with high-ranking kunze, Lianxiang Pavilion was filled with low-ranking kunze.
Their primary sexes were both male and female, mostly born into impoverished families and sent in because their families couldn’t afford to raise them, with a small portion being relatives of disgraced officials who had committed crimes.
Kunze were a scarce reproductive resource in this world; those of Grade B and above had the opportunity to procreate excellent offspring.
High-ranking kunze born into impoverished families could at best enter wealthy households to become concubines, while low-ranking kunze below Grade B lost this reproductive value.
They could only enter such pleasure quarters to serve others for entertainment and amusement.
Before entering this place, their mating marks were maliciously destroyed so they could neither be bonded nor reproduce. Without marks to secrete scents, their lifespans were also shorter than ordinary people’s, with most failing to live past fifty years of age.
When the senior physician found Jiang Yu, he was indulging in pleasure and merry-making. His upper body was bare, and he was holding a kunze in each of his left and right arms, and the two kunze even had different primary sexes.
“Zhou Fuyun, speak, what is the situation, why are you in such a hurry to see me?” Jiang Yu drank the wine delivered to his lips by a kunze with a wicked smile on his face, his hand sliding uninhibitedly into the male kunze’s clothing.
Zhou Fuyun was evidently unfazed by the scene before him.
He bowed to Jiang Yu and briefly explained what had happened when he encountered Ji Kongqing.
Upon hearing Zhou Fuyun’s description, Jiang Yu pushed away the kunze on his body, signaling them to leave first.
After they left, Jiang Yu dropped his frivolous demeanor, sitting up straight and nodding. “Mn, I have met Jiang Sui’s good-for-nothing consort. It is indeed the appearance you described, eight out of ten times it’s her.”
Once Zhou Fuyun received confirmation from Jiang Yu, he felt a bit more secure in his mind.
“Your Highness, do you think the Eldest Princess purposely arranged this? Was her purpose to dent your morale and cause you displeasure?”
“Otherwise, as a hostage from a small country, she should have kept her tail tucked between her legs, yet she still came to provoke you. It really doesn’t make sense.”
Associating this with Ji Kongqing whom he had seen at the return-to-manor banquet last time, Jiang Yu frowned. “That good-for-nothing Ji Kongqing does indeed differ somewhat from her performance in the intelligence reports. Last time I didn’t get any advantage from her end.”
“Later, Jiang Ya and Noble Consort Ya also stumbled over her. Whether this stunt you mentioned was her personal doing or instigated by Jiang Sui is really hard to say.”
“Then what should we do now?” Zhou Fuyun couldn’t make up his mind.
Jiang Yu sneered. “What else can we do? Of course, we fix her! I might not be able to destroy Jiang Sui, but can’t I destroy a good-for-nothing like her?”
“Moreover, messing with her not only teaches her a lesson but also gives Jiang Sui a warning, letting her know that even if she has made great military achievements, upon returning to the capital, she still has to keep her tail tucked between her legs. It kills two birds with one stone.”
Having made up his mind, Jiang Yu crooked his finger. Zhou Fuyun cooperatively leaned in close to him to listen to his plan.
After hearing it, Zhou Fuyun smiled. “Your Highness, this method is indeed feasible, but what if the Eldest Princess flies into a rage?”
“Rage?” Jiang Yu showed a look of disdain. “Jiang Sui has returned to the capital for a mere three months, with no foundation whatsoever in the capital. Upon her return, she even voluntarily handed over the tiger tally. With not even military power in her hands, what more can she do to me?”
“Do you still think she is the former Jiang Sui? No matter how strong she is, she is still just a kunze. From the moment she differentiated, the crown was cut off from her.”
“Your Highness speaks wisely, this slave will go arrange it immediately.” Zhou Fuyun bowed and turned away to make the arrangements.
Three days later, Ji Kongqing rose early in the morning and went to the inn to visit the grandfather and granddaughter.
The moment she pushed open the door, Liu Tingting’s grandfather burst into tears at first sight of her and knelt before her.
“Benefactor, you must be our benefactor! Thank you for saving our lives! You saved both of us, and Liu An has no way to repay you. I am willing to sell myself to you as a servant and pledge my life to your loyalty.”
“No need, no need, old man, please don’t kneel, you’ll shave years off my life.” Ji Kongqing bent down to pull him up, her face filled with awkwardness and helplessness.
Liu An shook his head, his eyes full of tears. “No, benefactor, you deserve this bow. My granddaughter and I drifted all the way here, experiencing family members dying and going missing one after another on the road, until finally only the two of us were left to rely on each other.”
“To survive, we fought with beggars for scraps, fought dogs, slept in ruined temples and caves, and ate grass roots and tree bark, wandering in displacement before finally reaching the capital.”
“Humble folks like us, no one is willing to help us. Benefactor is the first person willing to extend a helping hand. If not for your help, this old man would really have lost his life. If I died, my granddaughter wouldn’t truly know what to do.”
“You are our adoptive parents reborn; we truly have no way to repay you, only this remaining bit of physical strength is still of some use. Please do not refuse us, benefactor.”
Hearing him recount their experiences, Ji Kongqing felt a surge of sympathy and could only sigh. “Alright, get up first and speak.”
Seeing that Ji Kongqing was no longer refusing their repayment, Liu An obediently stood up.
“Is your illness better?” Ji Kongqing signaled Liu An to sit down and proceeded to check his pulse.
Liu Tingting hurried forward to explain the situation. “Benefactor, the medicine you gave was super effective. Grandfather’s fever broke that very night, and by the next morning he was sober. He just still has a slight cough, but otherwise there are no major problems.”
“There are still some problems.” Ji Kongqing shook her head with a serious expression.
Liu Tingting’s expression stiffened, her eyes instantly brimming with tears. “Does Grandfather still have physical problems?”
Not expecting Liu Tingting to burst into tears so easily, Ji Kongqing immediately uttered the second half of her sentence. “Malnutrition is a problem too. The two of you have been starving for too long and are sallow and lean; you need dietary therapy to make up for your nutrition, otherwise your health will get worse and worse.”
Hearing that it was merely malnutrition, Liu Tingting let out a breath of relief.
Liu An stroked her head and smiled apologetically. “Benefactor, it’s just my granddaughter making a fuss over nothing.”
“She has been terrified for too long, afraid of losing you as her only relative.” Ji Kongqing shook her head. Looking at the insecure Liu Tingting, many scenes she had witnessed in her past life flashed through her mind.
In her past life when she served as a battlefield surgeon, she had seen far too many orphans whose families perished in wars, all without exception sharing Liu Tingting’s state, with many even suffering from stress disorders and depression, a psychological trauma that lasted a lifetime.
“It is I who failed her, letting her suffer.” Sorrow filled Liu An’s aged face. “The ones who should have survived were my son and daughter-in-law. Why on earth was it an old man like me who survived with such luck, utterly useless and unable to do a single thing?”
“Old man, don’t belittle yourself,” Ji Kongqing shook her head. “These are all natural and man-made disasters; they are not things one can decide for oneself. What you can choose is to live on well.”
Hearing Ji Kongqing’s comfort, Liu An and Liu Tingting let their tears flow like an opened sluice gate, completely unable to stop.
Looking at this pair of grandfather and granddaughter, Ji Kongqing sighed. “During this period, you and Tingting should continue staying at the inn to nurse your bodies back to health. As for where you will go, I haven’t quite figured it out yet.”
“To tell you the truth, my own situation is not good either, and I don’t have much ability to help you yet. At most, I can help you find some odd jobs; otherwise, there really is nothing else I can do.”
“You can talk about what you excel at and what you can do, and I’ll think about where to place you.”
Hearing this, Liu Tingting immediately spoke up, “Benefactor, my grandfather is an old scholar who writes a fine hand. Before the disaster, he was even a tutor at the village private school, and he understands a great deal.”
“Although I cannot read, I can do anything. Washing clothes, mopping floors, cooking, and washing dishes are all fine. Benefactor, as long as we can follow by your side and have enough to eat, we don’t ask for any money.”
Ji Kongqing hadn’t expected this sallow, lean old man standing before her, who looked like he could be knocked down by a gust of wind, to actually be a scholar. In ancient times, someone who could pass the imperial examinations to become a scholar was no simple person; after all, most commoners couldn’t even fill their stomachs, let alone study.
Since he had this status, it would be even easier to arrange a place for him.
Ji Kongqing rubbed her chin and made a mental note of this. After heading downstairs, she paid some more silver to have the innkeeper arrange more nutritious meals for the grandfather and granddaughter.
Leaving the inn, Ji Kongqing prepared to return to the princess’s manor.
This time, as she passed by the Jishi Medical Clinic once more, she encountered the same situation as before: the entrance of the Jishi Medical Clinic was crammed with people, and it seemed something else had happened.
Frowning, Ji Kongqing squeezed into the crowd and discovered that this time, unlike her previous encounter with Liu Tingting and the others, the Jishi Medical Clinic was neither bullying people nor beating anyone.
They simply allowed a patient to lie at the entrance of the medical clinic, refusing to render medical aid.
“I beg Dr. Zhou to save my son, I beg you, I beg you!” A man kept knocking his head heavily against the ground, stains of blood quickly seeping onto his forehead.
Beside him lay a small boy covered in blood, his eyes tightly closed without any response.
“What happened here?” Ji Kongqing pulled someone beside her and asked.
“What else could happen? It’s just that Dr. Zhou demanded twenty taels of silver for the consultation fee, and he couldn’t afford it.”
Ji Kongqing frowned. “Why don’t they go to other medical clinics?”
The person beside her sneered. “Of course, it’s because they’ve already gone elsewhere and couldn’t be saved. Jishi Medical Clinic is the property of the Second Imperial Highness’s uncle, and the Qian family is the richest merchant family as well as imperial merchants. All the famous doctors in the capital practice at Jishi Medical Clinic.”
“The most precious medicinal ingredients can only be found at Jishi Medical Clinic; other clinics can only treat minor ailments, how could they possibly treat this?”