When the ox cart stopped in front of Renxin Hall, it drew quite a few curious glances.
Ordinary people seeking medicine usually went to the smaller clinics nearby. A grand medical hall like Renxin Hall, with its gilded signboard hanging above the entrance, was normally visited by people arriving in sedan chairs or horse-drawn carriages. The sudden appearance of a mud-splattered ox cart looked completely out of place.
Su Yu ignored the stares. She jumped down from the cart and hurried inside. Mountain mud still clung to her shoes, and her clothes were wrinkled and untidy. The apprentice standing at the entrance immediately stepped forward and politely blocked her path.
“Miss, Renxin Hall has its rules. Anyone seeking a consultation must first pay one tael of silver. Have you prepared the consultation fee?”
Su Yu felt somewhat nervous, but she did not show it on her face. Looking up at the apprentice, she asked, “Before that, may I ask you something? Is there a shop nearby that belongs to the Ji Family Trading Company?”
The apprentice froze for a moment and looked at her suspiciously. “The Ji Family Trading Company? Renxin Hall belongs to them.”
Renxin Hall was actually one of the Ji Family Trading Company’s businesses?
Delight immediately filled Su Yu’s heart. She hadn’t expected that, but by sheer luck, she had come to exactly the right place. She took the black jade from her robes and held it out to the apprentice, silently praying he would recognize it so they could be admitted quickly.
“My name is Su Yu. A young master surnamed Ji gave me this jade token. He said that with this token, I could seek assistance from any Ji family business. My grandmother is gravely ill. Please, sir, save her.”
The apprentice lowered his head to look at it, and his expression changed instantly.
The jet-black jade token was flawless, dark and lustrous, with no impurity. Only a single character, Ji, was carved into its surface. It resembled the token his shopkeeper used, but it was clearly of a far higher status.
“M-Miss, please wait a moment!” When he spoke again, he was stammering. The impersonal, businesslike manner he had shown earlier had vanished completely. Clutching the jade token, he dashed inside, shouting as he ran, “Shopkeeper! Shopkeeper!”
A moment later, a middle-aged man hurried out. As he walked, he turned and called loudly to the staff behind him: “Prepare the empty room in the east wing! And get two men to carry the old lady inside. Quickly!”
By the time he finished speaking, he had already reached Su Yu. Returning the jade token with both hands, he addressed her with the utmost respect. “Miss, please do not worry. Leave the old lady to us. Come in at once.”
Su Yu had not expected the jade token to be so effective. She watched as her grandmother was carried into a side room, and before long, a physician arrived to examine her.
The elderly doctor carefully studied the old woman’s complexion and took her pulse before saying, “Miss, please tell me in detail everything that happened before and after your grandmother fell ill.”
Afraid of leaving out even a single detail, Su Yu recounted everything, from the prescriptions her grandmother normally took to the events of today, when she had become overwhelmed with anger, coughed up blood, and fallen unconscious.
As he listened, the doctor placed a medicinal pill beneath the old woman’s tongue, then took out silver needles and began acupuncture and bloodletting.
“The old lady’s lung disease has been chronic for many years. Today, excessive liver fire surged upward, and stagnant blood obstructed her heart meridians, causing her to lose consciousness. Fortunately, she was brought here in time. Had she arrived even an hour later, not even the Great Immortal Da Luo himself could have saved her.”
As he spoke, he instructed the apprentices to help the old woman sit up in a reclined position. His hands never paused as he worked the silver needles. After several needles were inserted, the unconscious woman’s brows twitched. She coughed up a mouthful of dark, stagnant blood into a basin, and the ashen pallor of her face immediately regained a trace of color.
“Now that she has expelled the stagnant blood, her life is no longer in immediate danger. However, she must remain here for observation for the next two days.”
“During these two days, I will administer acupuncture daily and supplement it with medicinal decoctions. Miss, you needn’t worry any longer.”
Su Yu felt as though every bone in her body, which had been tense for half the day, suddenly went limp. Her legs gave way, and she nearly collapsed to the floor.
The shopkeeper, who had been quietly observing from the side, hurriedly spoke up. “Miss, don’t be alarmed. I’ve already sent someone to find the young master. He will be here shortly.”
Still shaken by the lingering fear of what might have happened, Su Yu nodded.
Indeed, she needed to thank Young Master Ji in person. She had only saved his life once, yet by now, he had already saved both her and her grandmother’s lives.
Ji Xuanyue arrived very quickly. Su Yu had only just heard several people outside respectfully calling, “Young Master,” when someone pushed open the door to the side room.
A tall figure dressed in moon-white robes ducked slightly as he stepped over the threshold and appeared before her. He looked much the same as before, gentle, refined, and noble. Yet when his gaze fell on the tear tracks she had failed to wipe completely from the corners of her eyes, something in his eyes darkened.
Before he could speak, Su Yu had already risen to her feet. “If not for the jade token you left me yesterday, my grandmother likely would not have survived today. Your kindness is greater than I can ever repay. I do not know how to repay such a debt, so let me at least kowtow to you first—”
As she spoke, she started to kneel. But before her knees could touch the ground, a hand caught her arm and stopped her.
“There is no need, Miss.” His gentle voice came from above her. With a slight lift of his hand, he helped her back to her feet. “I left that jade token with you precisely for emergencies such as this. Since your grandmother is safe, that is a blessing in itself.”
“Besides, if you had not sucked the poison from my wound in the mountains, I would not be standing here today. It was I who owed you a debt of gratitude first.”
Standing behind Su Yu, Zhao Ni could barely conceal her astonishment. She rarely came to the county town and was far less familiar with the Ji family’s reputation than Wang Youkang. When she heard Su Yu’s story on the ox cart, she assumed Su Yu had rescued some young gentleman. She had never imagined that this young master possessed such a powerful background, nor that he would be so extraordinarily handsome.
Zhao Ni nudged Wang Youkang with her elbow. Even though she lowered her voice, she could not hide the excitement in her tone. “Youkang, Youkang, is that… is that the Young Master of the Ji family?”
Standing beside his wife, Wang Youkang was just as excited. He had naturally heard others talk about this young master before. But standing in the same room with him at such close range was beyond anything he had ever dared dream.
Even more astonishing was that this lofty noble young master, someone utterly beyond the reach of ordinary people, was actually thanking Su Yu, an orphaned village girl.
Wang Youkang could only signal to Zhao Ni with his eyes, urging her not to say anything more. Unfortunately, her voice had been a little too loud. Young Master Ji still turned his head slightly and let his gaze fall on the husband and wife.
“And these two are…?”
Seeing his question, Su Yu hurriedly explained, “They are Brother Wang and Sister-in-law Wang from my village. They lent me their ox cart and brought my grandmother to the county today. Otherwise, my grandmother would never have made it here in time…”
“I see.” After listening, Ji Xuanyue turned to the shopkeeper behind him and quietly gave a few instructions.
The shopkeeper nodded and left. Before long, he returned carrying two heavy pouches of silver and respectfully presented them to Wang Youkang and Zhao Ni. “Thank you both for your efforts today. This is a small token of appreciation. Please accept it.”
Wang Youkang’s eyes widened. Repeating, “I don’t deserve this, I don’t deserve this,” he still accepted the silver.
Zhao Ni stared at the silver in her hands, utterly dumbfounded.
“It’s getting late. The two of you should head home before the elders in your family start worrying.”
Ji Xuanyue’s tone remained as gentle and refined as ever. “I will look after Miss Yu here, so there is no need for concern. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you may come to this place and seek out the shopkeeper.”
“Th-thank you, Young Master Ji.” The weight of the silver had already left Wang Youkang thoroughly dazed. Hearing those words, he repeatedly bowed to Ji Xuanyue before finally pulling his nearly speechless wife out of the room. The moment they left Renxin Hall and climbed onto the ox cart, neither dared say a word. Only after they had turned off the main street and entered a quiet alley did Wang Youkang rein in the old ox and, with trembling hands, untie the money pouch. Shining silver immediately filled his vision. There had to be at least ten taels.
“Quick! Let’s go home and tell Mother we’ve struck it rich!”
Only then did Su Yu come back to her senses, feeling somewhat uneasy.
Ji Xuanyue was still discussing her grandmother’s condition with the physician. After learning that the stagnant blood had cleared, her pulse was steadily stabilizing, and she would soon regain consciousness, he turned and gave the shopkeeper a few more instructions.
“Use the finest medicines.” “The physician is to check on her at all times.” “If the old lady’s condition worsens in any way, send someone to inform me immediately.”
The shopkeeper acknowledged each instruction in turn, then led the physician and the apprentice out of the room. Soon, only the two of them remained, along with her grandmother, who still lay unconscious on the couch.
“Young Master Ji, I will definitely find a way to repay all the consultation and medicine expenses. I know I can’t repay such a sum right away, but I can pay it back little by little. I only hope Young Master will give me some time.” Su Yu kept her gaze lowered to the hem of his robe. She lacked confidence, but she forced herself to say the words anyway.
He had already helped her so much. She could not keep owing him favors.
“Miss Su Yu, do you dislike me?” Ji Xuanyue suddenly asked.
“What?” The unexpected question caught Su Yu off guard, and she looked up at him, confused. She saw Ji Xuanyue lower his eyes, his gaze resting on the mud stains at the hem of her skirt.
The slight downward curve at the corners of his eyes softened his composed and noble bearing, even lending him a faint air of loneliness.
“I only learned Miss Su Yu’s name a short while ago from the shopkeeper.” He spoke softly. “That day in the mountains, I asked for your name, but you left in a hurry without answering.”
“Yesterday, on the carriage, you would not even accept my handkerchief. You seemed very afraid of me.”
“And today, after I spent a little money that means nothing to me, you immediately started talking about repaying me.”
Ji Xuanyue raised his head, his gaze settling on the tear-stained corners of Su Yu’s eyes. “When you accepted the jade token that day, I thought you had come to trust me a little. But now it seems that, in your heart, I am still nothing more than an insignificant passerby. Am I right?”
Su Yu froze. Her eyes, still moist from tears, widened slightly as she stared at him, dazed.
She had probably never expected him to say something like that. To others, the lofty, untouchable young master of the Ji family was concerned about whether she would tell him her name, accept his handkerchief, or fear him.
She was stunned already? Looking at the blank expression on the mortal girl’s face, Ji Xuanyue suddenly found it oddly amusing. If she was this shocked now, what would happen later if he asked for her hand in marriage? Would she be so frightened that she could no longer stand?
The moment he pushed open the door and entered, the bitter scent of her tears, evaporating in the air, nearly drowned him. In just a few short days, he had already smelled it countless times. Layers upon layers of grievance, fear, sorrow, and disappointment. She produced anything sweet only when she let down her guard in sleep, when all awareness faded from her.
He could not wait any longer. He did not want those insignificant mortals to continue trampling upon her.
A Spirit Medicine Body as precious as hers should produce only sweet, pleasant essence to nourish his damaged demon core day and night.
“Miss Su Yu,” he said slowly. “From the very first moment I saw you in the mountains, I fell in love with you at first sight. If you do not find me objectionable, I would like to ask for your hand in marriage and make you my wife. I will protect and cherish you for the rest of your life.”