Inside the inn, after enjoying the spectacle, Murong Yun gave Xiao Qian some extra silver.
“Later, secretly give it to the beggar who was beaten the worst. He took the least from Prefect Yin’s belongings, so consider it compensation.”
Before she could even go downstairs, the system suddenly spoke without warning:
【Host, in the book the Xie family is destined to perish. After you transmigrated here, you have had no contact with the Xie residence, so you cannot defy fate and change their destiny.】
Murong Yun paused mid-step, lifting her head to look at the sky. Just moments ago, the sun had been blazing, but now dark clouds covered it, casting everything in a hazy gray. The weather had changed in an instant.
Xiao Qian asked, “Young Master, why are you smiling…”
Her young lady had just glanced at the gloomy sky, then suddenly lowered her head and smiled, her eyes full of disdain.
“It’s nothing, I just thought of something.” Murong Yun asked again, “Was I very close to Miss Xie?”
“Yes, very close. You grew up together, more than ten years of friendship. You used to say you never wanted to be apart from her…” Thinking of this, Xiao Qian’s eyes reddened. In just a few months, everything had changed. Her young lady now wanted to become a man, while Miss Xie’s family had suffered a calamity.
“Let’s go. We’ll go see Zhizhi.”
Winter in Jiangnan was still heavy with dampness.
“Ah Yun…” Xie Zhizhi’s pale lips parted with difficulty as she spoke, her eyes dull and lifeless.
Murong Yun held her hand. “It’s me.”
Now, she had no real feelings for Xie Zhizhi. Xiao Qian often spoke of her, so in her mind she only retained the image of a close friend.
The Xie residence was in ruins, riddled with broken windows and doors. The family members had been tortured, their bodies weak, so they could not be moved and had to remain there for now.
“You’ve come back… that’s good,” Xie Zhizhi said.
Then she asked, “Why are you dressed like this?”
Murong Yun brushed her hair aside. “What, are you falling for me?”
Just then, Shangguan Xuan entered carrying medicine. Seeing Murong Yun flirting, his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. “Young Master Murong truly moves through a sea of flowers without letting a single leaf cling to him. Miss Xie, don’t be deceived by his handsome appearance.”
Xie Zhizhi gave a weak smile, yet her gaze toward Murong Yun grew even more ambiguous.
Watching the two exchange glances, Shangguan Xuan slowed his steps, his expression darkening.
“Don’t let me spread illness to you. You should leave,” Xie Zhizhi said.
Xiao Qian rushed back from outside, panting. “Young Master, not a single physician outside dares to treat Miss Xie. They’re all afraid of Prefect Yin’s retaliation!”
“Forget it, don’t make things difficult for them. Street vendors can flee at any time, but clinics and shops can’t act rashly. It’s understandable.” Murong Yun placed her hand on Xie Zhizhi’s pulse.
Xie Zhizhi had lost too much blood, and with her frail constitution and lack of food, she was barely clinging to life.
Even a physician might not be able to save her.
“Go fetch two basins of hot water. Use mugwort water to clean Zhizhi’s wounds.”
Murong Yun closed her eyes as the words of the Divine Medical Canon flipped through her mind one by one, her brows knitting tighter.
“Don’t… waste your effort on me…” Xie Zhizhi said before fainting.
“Zhizhi!” Murong Yun called out anxiously. “Shangguan, go catch some wild birds. Have Xiao Qian make her some porridge.”
Shangguan Xuan glanced deeply at Xie Zhizhi lying on the bed. “Alright.”
Murong Yun had no interest in his confession. Could it be that she liked women?
The thought unsettled him. With bow in hand, he stepped out into the courtyard and spotted several white pigeons perched in a tree, their feathers pristine and eyes bright, cooing incessantly.
He closed one eye to aim. As his hand moved, the birds fell.
After a while, Shangguan Xuan returned with steaming hot porridge. A man hurried behind him and accidentally bumped into him, spilling some of the hot pigeon porridge. The edge of his thumb instantly reddened from the burn.
“You—”
The man rushed into the room. “Zhizhi!”
Shangguan Xuan swallowed his words. Thinking they were all Murong Yun’s friends, he forced a smile.
It’s nothing, nothing.
“Let go of my sister!” Xie Yangsheng strode forward and grabbed the “ruffian’s” hand. “How dare you touch my sister’s hand—”
“Ah Yun?” Xie Yangsheng froze, momentarily forgetting to release her.
Murong Yun smiled. “Since Brother Xie is here, I’ll leave Zhizhi in your care. I’ll go buy some medicinal herbs.”
“Alright,” Xie Yangsheng replied, though his gaze at her remained strange.
Shangguan Xuan set down the pigeon porridge. “Give her some water first. When she wakes, let her eat some meat.”
A small head resembling a chicken’s but smaller protruded from the bowl.
Seeing his curiosity, Shangguan Xuan held it up and explained, “Pigeon porridge. It’s good for the body.”
“Where did the pigeon come from?” Xie Yangsheng stared at the pigeon head, his expression twisting.
“Caught it from the tree outside. Your residence seems to have spiritual energy. The pigeon was right there.”
“I finally managed to raise those carrier pigeons…” Xie Yangsheng laughed in exasperation. “And now they’re in the porridge.”
Sensing the tension, Murong Yun quickly interjected, “Food is the most important thing. For Zhizhi’s sake, just bear with it.”
“My pigeons can find their way. There are plenty of pigeon vendors outside,” Xie Yangsheng said.
Shangguan Xuan stepped in front of her. “It saves money, and it’s for your sister, right?”
Xie Yangsheng fell silent. Watching their subtle interactions, he noted their closeness.
He blew on the porridge to cool it and fed his sister spoonful by spoonful with great patience.
As night fell, Shangguan Xuan followed Murong Yun and finally asked, “How do we save her?”
“It’s complicated.” Murong Yun pulled out paper and quickly wrote down a list of herbs. “None of these can be missing. The medicine needs to be slowly decocted, and she must take it by tomorrow morning.”
He and Xiao Qian split up, one searching outside, the other returning to the Murong residence’s storeroom.
Murong Yun lit the stove. The boiling water bubbled vigorously. She lifted the lid, then put it back, repeating this several times. After struggling with herself, she sighed deeply, opened the lid, and added the herbs.
“Check them for me. I’m not familiar with medicine,” Shangguan Xuan said, sweating on his back. Buying herbs at night was difficult. He had rushed to several clinics before they closed to gather everything.
Murong Yun sat on a wooden stool, the fire beneath the pot flickering in the wind. Her eyes were heavy.
“I’ll hand them to you one by one to identify. I’ll watch the medicine later. You should sleep,” Shangguan Xuan said, sitting beside her. The faint fragrance from her hair made his heart skip a beat.
Murong Yun forced her eyes open. After identifying each herb, she quickly added them to the pot. Each released a slightly different smell, but all carried a bitter note.
“Why is the medicine turning red?” Shangguan Xuan asked while rinsing herbs.
“When certain herbs mix, the color changes…” Murong Yun was drenched in sweat from tending the fire. “It’s too hot with both of us here. After you finish washing, leave them in the basket and go rest.”
Shangguan Xuan hesitated. She looked more exhausted than he was.
“You don’t understand medicine. You’re just in the way. Leave,” Murong Yun said impatiently.
“Don’t be angry.” Shangguan Xuan felt a sting in his chest. “Should I get you a thin blanket? It’ll be cold at night.”
“No need.”
“The south wing is empty. Ask if you can sleep there,” Murong Yun said, turning away.
Her tone was cold, clearly trying to drive him off. Shangguan Xuan felt an indescribable discomfort.
Once his footsteps faded, Murong Yun pulled out some firewood, reducing the flames beneath the pot. Her tense body finally relaxed, and she fainted instantly.
Xie Yangsheng did not sleep that night. His sister developed a high fever at midnight, and he kept watch outside her door.
“Brother…” Xie Zhizhi weakly opened her eyes. “Where are Father and Mother?”
“They’re fine. Prefect Yin didn’t harm them. They’ve returned to the private residence to recuperate. They don’t know about your injury…”
“That’s good.” Tears slid down Xie Zhizhi’s face. “At their age, they’ve already suffered imprisonment.”
Xie Yangsheng lowered his head. “It’s my fault for failing to manage the shipping convoy, causing you all to suffer.”
The pigeon porridge was kept warm on the brazier. Xie Zhizhi ate a little and reminded him, “Ah Yun saved our entire family. She has feelings for you. If the Xie family survives this… you should accept her.”
“This is a life-saving debt. It’s different from romantic feelings,” Xie Yangsheng said. Thinking of Ah Yun today, she was nothing like the one in his memory.
He did not want to confuse gratitude with love.
“Ah Yun has liked you since childhood.” Xie Zhizhi smiled faintly, her face pale as paper. “She is an exceptionally good woman.”
“I’ll go check the medicine,” Xie Yangsheng said, tucking her in before leaving.
The kitchen was filled with the thick scent of herbs. Xie Yangsheng approached quietly and stopped at the doorway. Murong Yun’s face was smudged with charcoal, her gentle profile made even more striking in the firelight.
He recalled their reunion yesterday. She had looked at him as if he were a stranger.
“Ah Yun,” he murmured softly, using the nickname he had called her since childhood. As they grew older, he had stopped using it, especially after she fell for him, so as not to mislead her or himself.
The nickname stirred unwanted thoughts.
She had grown more beautiful with time, and he had to restrain his improper feelings.
Murong Yun leaned against the wall, her lashes trembling, her brows still furrowed as if enduring something.
He stepped forward and placed his hand on her forehead. It was cold. She had no blanket, wearing only three thin layers. Xie Yangsheng removed his outer robe and draped it over her.
“Ah Yun…” he called softly.
He gently shook her, but she did not respond.
Murong Yun slept uneasily, her body trembling. “No… you were the ones who abandoned me first…”
She was having a nightmare. Sweat beaded on her forehead. As she shifted, her left arm was exposed.
Xie Yangsheng quickly noticed something was wrong. There was a dark stain on her sleeve. When he lifted it—
It was not water, but blood.
There was a deep cut on her arm, tightly bound with a torn strip of cloth. The skin around it was bruised purple, and the blood on the cloth was strikingly vivid.
He opened the medicine pot and immediately understood. The blood had been used as a medicinal catalyst.
“Ah Yun… how can the Xie family ever repay this debt?” Xie Yangsheng stayed by her side, lighting another stove and stoking a strong fire to warm her.
Xiao Qian finally slipped back into the kitchen, quietly placing the herbs and standing guard at the door, eyes wide open.
Murong Yun woke from the heat, parched. The fires had gone out, but the embers still radiated warmth.
She checked the medicine. It was thick and ready.
As she stood, she swayed from blood loss. A hand caught her.
“Brother Xie, when did you come?” Murong Yun stepped back, hiding her injured hand. “The medicine is ready. Take it to Zhizhi.”
She initially held the pot with her left hand, then quickly switched to her right.
“You’ve worked hard,” Xie Yangsheng said, taking the medicine. His once affectionate gaze was now calm and unreadable. A trace of regret surfaced. “Actually, I…”
Before he could finish, Xiao Qian’s voice rang out from outside, “My young master is still asleep and getting dressed.”
Shangguan Xuan’s voice followed, “Xiao Qian, your lying skills are far inferior to your master’s.”
Xiao Qian fell silent.
She knew Shangguan Xuan liked her young lady, but her young lady liked Young Master Xie. Not wanting their relationship to break, she felt compelled to take a stand.
“My young master said she doesn’t want to be disturbed. Please come back later,” Xiao Qian insisted.
Shangguan Xuan stepped back. “Fine, I’ll come later.”
Xiao Qian sighed in relief, but as she relaxed, Shangguan Xuan slipped past her into the kitchen.
“You—”
The four of them froze in the same space.
Xiao Qian wanted to run, but her master was still here.
“Brother Xie, here so early to fetch medicine?” Shangguan Xuan leaned against the door, smiling faintly as his gaze moved between them.
If it were just about fetching medicine, why would Xiao Qian be guarding the door? With the Xie household in ruins and servants dismissed, who else was there to guard against? Only him.
“This morning… the medicine was just finished, and Brother Xie came by to check on me,” Murong Yun said weakly.
Xie Yangsheng blinked silently. It was technically true, but sounded ambiguous.
“Don’t delay Zhizhi’s medicine,” Murong Yun added, sitting back down.
Xie Yangsheng understood and quickly left.
Now alone in the kitchen, Shangguan Xuan dropped his smile. They faced each other.
“I’m thirsty,” Murong Yun said calmly.
“I’ll get you water.”
She drank with her right hand.
Suddenly, Shangguan Xuan asked, “Your left arm is injured. Where does it hurt?”
“It’s not—” Murong Yun withdrew her hand.
“Still trying to fool me.” Shangguan Xuan grabbed her hand. “Even you may not realize it, but you’re slightly left-handed. You instinctively use your left hand first when holding things.”