One night of torrential rain caused the streams and rivers to surge rapidly.

The hedge flowers throughout the city were blown down by the storm. The next day, after the rain cleared and the sky brightened, the early morning was refreshingly cool.

On Qinghe Street in the southern part of the city, which had been bustling all night long, the daylight brought a somewhat desolate atmosphere. With the early hour, the streets and alleys remained quiet and tranquil. In a teahouse located eastward from the earthen market, a soft “creak” sounded as a deliberately crafted wooden door was pushed open, and a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth emerged from within.

The young man wore a scallion-green round-collared brocade robe with floral patterns, his steps light and graceful, his expression carefree and natural, like a vibrant young willow tree full of life. He held a purple wooden box in his hands as he walked toward the red horse tethered in front of the door.

Duan Xiaoyan had come to retrieve the white jade.

On Yellow Grass Ridge, when Lu Tong was chased and bitten by Qi Yutai’s vicious dog, she had accidentally dropped her medical kit, which Gardenia had found.

This should have been considered a meritorious deed, but the foolish dog had been too excited, couldn’t keep its mouth shut properly, and the medical kit had slipped and fallen, causing a piece of white jade inside to tumble out.

The white jade was of excellent quality with exquisite carved patterns – clearly valuable at first glance, and since Lu Tong had kept it in her medical kit, it was obviously a precious item.

Thus, a fresh crack appeared on the flawless beautiful jade, immediately catching the eye.

So the question arose – had this jade pendant been broken by Gardenia’s fall, or by the vicious dog from the Qi family?

The Palace Guard members had pondered this for a long time without reaching any conclusion.

Moreover, one of the culprits – the vicious dog – was already dead, with no testimony possible and nothing left to say.

This blame could only be shouldered by the Palace Guard themselves.

Pei Yunying had instructed Duan Xiaoyan to take this piece of jade to Master Lu at the Tiangong Workshop on Qinghe Street for repair.

Master Lu’s craftsmanship was exceptional – he could repair broken porcelain and glassware to look as good as new, with no visible cracks whatsoever. However, his work took a long time, was expensive, and required waiting in line.

Sometimes during busy seasons, waiting for half a year was common.

However, Pei Yunying had past connections with Master Lu, so no queue was necessary, though not a penny less was paid. Duan Xiaoyan felt that the silver Pei Yunying had paid would have been enough to buy a new piece of jade for Lu Tong – why not just give her a new one? After all, even if broken jade was repaired without visible traces, it had still been broken!

“Just go when I tell you to go,” his lord had replied in this manner.

Even with a hint of impatience.

Duan Xiaoyan had no choice but to give up.

He secured the wooden box properly, mounted his horse with a leap, and galloped all the way to the entrance of the Imperial Medical Academy. After dismounting, he spoke briefly with the young attendant at the gate before walking directly into the academy.

During the day, the imperial physicians were all busy – some on duty, others checking prescription records. With his pleasing appearance and sweet tongue, plus being from the Palace Guard, he walked along calling out “older brother” and “older sister” randomly, and the imperial physicians all greeted him warmly with great friendliness.

This was his first visit to the Imperial Medical Academy, so he wasn’t very familiar with the routes. After asking an elderly imperial physician, he learned that Lu Tong had gone to the pharmaceutical preparation room early in the morning, so he headed in the direction of the small grove that the old physician had indicated.

It was early morning, with sunlight filtering through the gaps in the forest branches like flickering floating gold. As Duan Xiaoyan squinted at the light, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly took out the purple wooden box from his coat.

When he had gone to Qinghe Street that morning, it had still been too early, and the Tiangong Workshop was dim, so he had only glanced at it briefly, unsure whether Old Man Lu had truly repaired it seamlessly without any visible flaws. Now with the bright weather, this was the perfect opportunity to examine it carefully under the sunlight – if he could spot any defects…

He could demand a refund!

Duan Xiaoyan opened the wooden box. The box was lined with deep red velvet, and a round piece of white jade shimmered with flowing radiance.

He stopped walking, took out the jade and held it above his head, aligning the jade pendant directly with the sun filtering through the branch gaps, and carefully examined it against the sunlight with his head tilted back.

The jade pendant glowed warmly in the light, with the carved image of a scholar playing the qin on its surface appearing lifelike. Looking closely, the entire piece of jade appeared complete and exquisite, without a single visible flaw.

Duan Xiaoyan rubbed his eyes and looked several times over, still unable to find where the original crack had been, and couldn’t help murmuring: “Is it really seamlessly perfect?”

He was so absorbed in his examination that he didn’t notice someone approaching from behind. The person drew near, glanced over at the white jade he held high, and suddenly froze.

“You…”

Only then did Duan Xiaoyan realize someone was passing by. He turned around to see a young man in imperial physician robes standing before him – handsome and refined, with somewhat familiar features.

“Physician… Physician Ji.”

After a long moment, he finally remembered who this person was.

The young master from the household of Scholar Ji from the Hanlin Academy, a genius whose medical skills were praised by everyone despite his young age.

Duan Xiaoyan had no personal relationship with this Young Master Ji. After greeting him, he stepped aside to indicate that the other should go first.

However, Ji Xun didn’t leave.

He stared intently at the white jade in Duan Xiaoyan’s hand, his expression somewhat strange: “Young Master, might I take a look at the jade pendant in your hand?”

Duan Xiaoyan was taken aback for a moment, then scratched his head and spoke somewhat embarrassedly: “My apologies, Physician Ji, this jade isn’t mine – it belongs to Physician Lu from the Imperial Medical Academy. Since it’s someone else’s personal property and I’m not the owner, I can’t casually show it to others.” He thought for a moment, “Anyway, you both work at the Imperial Medical Academy together, so if you want to see it, just ask Physician Lu directly.”

After speaking, he cupped his hands toward Ji Xun, put the white jade back in the box, and walked ahead first.

As he walked, he muttered to himself – although this white jade did look like it was of good quality, Ji Xun was at least a young master from a prominent family, so why did he act like he’d never seen anything valuable before?

How strange.

When he reached the pharmaceutical preparation room, a row of buildings stood empty except for the last one, which had some sounds coming from it. Duan Xiaoyan followed the sound and saw through the window that Lu Tong was busy in front of a medicine furnace, so he reached out and knocked on the window.

Lu Tong looked up, saw it was him, and was slightly startled. She then put down the fan in her hand, walked to the door, and asked: “Why has Young Master Duan come?”

Duan Xiaoyan took out the purple wooden box from his coat and handed it to her with a cheerful smile: “Last time Gardenia broke Physician Lu’s jade pendant, our lord found a craftsman to help repair it. Yesterday they said it was finished. I’ve looked at it – you can’t see even a trace of a crack. It just took a long time, but it was worth it, don’t you think?”

Lu Tong looked down at the purple wooden box in her hands.

It had been a long time since the hunt at Yellow Grass Ridge. These days, she’d been busy with the “great fire” at Fengle Tower and had almost forgotten about this item.

She hadn’t expected it to be returned at this time.

Seeing that she had accepted the box, Duan Xiaoyan felt relieved and said: “Now that I’ve delivered the item, I’ll take my leave.” After walking a couple of steps, he ran back and whispered instructions to Lu Tong.

“Our lord has been entangled with official duties recently and is sometimes not at the Palace Commander’s Mansion. If Physician Lu encounters any trouble, or if anyone at the Imperial Medical Academy bullies you, just come to the Palace Commander’s Mansion to find me.”

“I can still help a bit.”

Lu Tong nodded: “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me,” Duan Xiaoyan waved his hand. “You’re our lord’s friend, which makes you a friend of the Palace Commander’s Mansion too. Helping is only natural. Alright then, go back inside quickly – the sun is strong outside, be careful of the heat.”

After speaking, he left cheerfully.

Only when Duan Xiaoyan’s figure could no longer be seen outside did Lu Tong return to the room.

She placed the wooden box on the table, thought for a moment, then reached out and opened the box.

The white jade lay inside the box, cold to the touch, round and smooth, showing no trace whatsoever of having been broken. Lu Tong was somewhat surprised.

It seemed that the craftsman Pei Yunying had found was indeed skilled, able to restore this item to look exactly as it had before, though she wondered how much silver it had cost.

She lowered her gaze to look at it for a while, just about to put the jade pendant away again, when suddenly there came a knocking sound from outside.

The door to the pharmaceutical preparation room couldn’t be properly locked and could only be left ajar. Usually at this time, except for Lin Danqing, no one would come.

Lu Tong put down the box, turned around intending to ask who it was, but the door was pushed open from outside.

A man stood in the doorway, elegant as orchid and jade tree, tall and graceful in stature.

“Physician Ji?”

Lu Tong saw who it was and couldn’t help but be startled.

Ji Xun wasn’t at the Imperial Medical Academy very often – encountering him even once was a coincidence.

The young man stepped into the room: “Are you preparing new medicine?”

“No. Just trying to modify an old prescription.”

During their conversation, Lu Tong discretely moved her hand behind her back, trying to quietly close the wooden box that was still open on the table.

However, a hand reached over from the side, quick and sharp, taking the round jade from the box before she could.

Lu Tong’s body stiffened.

Ji Xun had taken the jade.

In the room, the medicine pot on the fire stove was “gurgling” and bubbling with white foam, the rising steam making the already hot summer air even more stifling and oppressive.

By the window, a large cluster of emerald green foliage appeared quiet and cool, the glossy tender leaves reminiscent of the swaying new willows on the spring embankments of southern Jiangsu, equally full of vitality.

Ji Xun studied the round jade in his hand intently, his slender fingertips slowly tracing over the intricate carved patterns on the jade. When he reached the strings that the scholar was gently plucking, his expression paused slightly, then revealed a hint of being deeply moved.

He had once owned a flawless piece of beautiful jade.

The jade had been a birthday gift from his mother. While the jade material was decent but not particularly precious, what was precious was that the carved image of the scholar playing the qin on it had been created by the great painting master, Master Nangong.

He had loved this piece of jade very much, always wearing it at his waist. Later, when his sisters were playing with it, one accidentally fell and scraped it against broken stones, leaving a flaw on the scholar’s “qin.”

His mother had felt great regret, so Ji Xun had taken a carving knife and extended the scratched mark. Originally, the scholar had been playing a seven-stringed qin, but it thus became “eight-stringed.”

This extra string was a flaw, but also a mark. There was only one like it in all the world.

And now, on this round jade pendant, among the strings that the mountain scholar was smiling gently while plucking, there was an additional carved line that wasn’t refined or smooth enough, appearing somewhat crude compared to the other lines. Yet he recognized it at a glance.

This string had been carved by his own hand.

This was his jade pendant.

Ji Xun gripped the white jade tightly in his hand.

Years ago, he had been passing through southern Jiangsu when his carriage accidentally collided with a young girl on the road. At first, they thought it was just a scrape, but later discovered that she had been poisoned with a strange toxin.

To help the girl detoxify, he had stayed in southern Jiangsu for an extended period, using up all the silver he had with him, and finally had to use this jade pendant as collateral at an inn.

Later, when the girl’s poison was cured and her health was about to fully recover, those who had come to escort him urged him too urgently, so he left southern Jiangsu overnight without even having time to redeem the jade. He had originally planned to send someone back to redeem it, but at the last moment, he called the person back.

The poisoned girl wore shabby clothes and appeared quite poor. Despite being poisoned with such a strange toxin, she had been unwilling to see a doctor, likely due to her difficult family circumstances and lack of money for medical treatment. It would be better to leave the jade as continued collateral at the inn, allowing her to stay longer to fully recover before leaving.

Jade was a dead object, but people were living beings. Doctors could treat illness but not poverty.

This was all he could do for her.

Years had passed, and he had actually almost forgotten about this incident. If he hadn’t seen the white jade in that young man’s hand in the small grove today, he would have nearly forgotten that he had once owned such a jade ornament.

Lost and found again.

Ji Xun looked at the person before him.

Lu Tong stood in front of him.

The imperial physician’s robe was slightly too large for her. For the convenience of preparing medicine, she had rolled up her sleeves to her elbows. On her somewhat pale arm, red marks wound around – scars left from being bitten by the Qi family’s vicious dog at Yellow Grass Ridge, fierce and glaring.

Compared to that young girl in the southern Jiangsu inn years ago, she seemed to have grown a bit taller. Ji Xun studied her eyes carefully, trying to find traces of the past in her.

Compared to the clear and shy look of years past, these eyes were more indifferent, more calm, with not a single ripple of emotion.

However, knowing the previous connection, with just one glance, he could recognize that the person before him and the poisoned young girl in that southern Jiangsu inn years ago were the same person.

The bubbling white foam in the medicine pot flowed over the rim, dripping into the flames with a “hissing” sound.

Ji Xun slowly began to speak.

“Four years ago, I passed through southern Jiangsu and encountered a sick person on the road. I helped her detoxify at an inn for several days.”

“When I left, I left the white jade as collateral at the inn.”

His fingertip wound around the red cord, and the white jade dangled in the air, swaying gently.

“This jade was a gift from my mother. The carved pattern has one extra qin string that I drew myself. This is my jade.”

“Physician Lu…”

He looked at Lu Tong: “I wonder where you obtained it?”

Lu Tong remained silent.

Outside the window, the leaves were quiet, large patches of deep, rich green like a vivid beautiful scene.

Ji Xun held the white jade, his eyes calm with a hint of confusion, looking at her with understanding and insight, and a trace of bewilderment at suddenly seeing an old acquaintance.

He had recognized her.

After a long while, Lu Tong raised her head, her expression having returned to calm.

“After parting in southern Jiangsu that year, you left this jade behind. Now, it should return to its rightful owner.”

She looked at Ji Xun.

“Physician Ji, this is your jade.”

…

At the Palace Commander’s Mansion.

Duan Xiaoyan walked through the courtyard and went straight into the main hall. As soon as he entered the hall, he immediately unfastened two buttons at his collar.

It was bearable staying indoors, but in this weather, once past early morning, walking under the sun was truly trying.

Xiao Zhufeng sat at the table reading military records. When Duan Xiaoyan entered the room, he casually grabbed the teapot from the table and poured himself a cup of bamboo leaf infused water.

The bamboo leaf infused water was refreshingly cool with the green fragrance of bamboo leaves, and had a little honey added to it. Duan Xiaoyan drank half the pot in succession before stopping.

Perhaps due to the heat, recently the Palace Guard had switched all their tea to various flower dew infused waters and drinks – cool and sweet, much more to Duan Xiaoyan’s taste than bland tea water. Even his work enthusiasm had increased somewhat.

The young man wiped his lips and, holding the clay pot, complained to Xiao Zhufeng: “I delivered the jade to the Imperial Medical Academy. Our lord is really something – spending so much silver and going to such great effort just to repair an ordinary piece of jade. Wouldn’t it have been better to buy a new one? The quality would have been better than the old one too.”

Xiao Zhufeng: “He’s happy to do it, mind your own business.”

Duan Xiaoyan continued talking to himself: “But when I gave it to Physician Lu, she seemed quite happy. Perhaps this jade has special significance for her – maybe it’s a gift from a family member… Oh wait!”

He suddenly exclaimed loudly, causing Xiao Zhufeng to frown.

“Didn’t we hear before that Physician Lu has a mysterious fiancé in the capital? I’m thinking, is there a possibility that this is a betrothal token her fiancé gave her?”

The more he spoke, the more convinced he became: “Physician Lu kept this jade hidden in her medical kit, carrying it with her every day. It’s probably a betrothal token!”

“Ah, I should have looked more carefully to see if there were any names or surnames carved on it!”

He was full of regret, while Xiao Zhufeng glanced at him: “Fiancé?” He pondered: “Spending a lot of money to repair a fiancé’s betrothal token…”

Xiao Zhufeng lowered his head, his tone carrying a hint of schadenfreude.

“If that’s truly the case, he should be not far from dying of anger.”