Unfortunately, telling a physician you’re dying has no persuasive power whatsoever. Fan Yilin hadn’t even had a chance to properly savor the warm, fragrant softness before he was knocked flat to the ground.

Fan Yilin naturally wouldn’t mind being stripped naked by Qi Yue for examination, but in public like this, he really couldn’t bring himself to lose face that way.

Mustering his last breath, he suggested Qi Yue find a private room or something before having her way with him…

“You choked on an egg, didn’t you?” Qi Yue asked, looking at the egg yolk still stuck to the corner of his mouth.

Fan Yilin stretched his neck, only then remembering what had happened to him earlier.

He had been casually holding an egg, eating it while walking, when some bastard had spilled water on the stairs. This caused his foot to slip and he tumbled down, the egg in his throat choking him, and he couldn’t catch his breath…

“Why were you eating while going downstairs?” Qi Yue was both amused and annoyed. “You can get kicked unconscious just riding a horse, and you still don’t walk more carefully downstairs.”

“No, I choke this easily—maybe check if there’s another reason?” Fan Yilin said, clutching her sleeve and not letting go.

“Fine.” Qi Yue nodded. “Hu San, examine him to see if he has any other external injuries.”

Hu San responded and stepped forward. Fan Yilin gasped and instinctively covered his clothes.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he said hurriedly. To prove he was truly fine, he leaped up from the long couch, moving nimbly without a hint of discomfort.

“Lady Qi, how did you come to the capital?” he asked.

Qi Yue had already sat down at the table. She had ordered a whole table of dishes that hadn’t been touched yet. Because Fan Yilin was present, A’Ru, A’Hao, and the others didn’t dare sit down.

“For fun,” Qi Yue said, picking up a chopstick of food to taste while inviting him, “Want to eat more?”

Of course! Fan Yilin immediately sat down.

“I haven’t eaten yet anyway,” he said.

Qi Yue smiled without saying anything, eating slowly and leisurely.

“Coming to the capital is perfect,” Fan Yilin said, holding up his chopsticks with a smile. “I’ll be your host and show you around properly, help you relax…”

Fan Yilin was Wang Tongye’s son-in-law, so he naturally knew about her divorce from Chang Yuncheng. Qi Yue smiled.

“That won’t be necessary,” she said.

That made sense—men and women should maintain proper distance, it wouldn’t be convenient. Fan Yilin quickly patted his head.

“Naturally my wife would accompany you…” he said hurriedly, then asked where Qi Yue was staying. “Coming to the capital is like coming to your own home. Come on, don’t be polite, stay at my house…”

“No need,” Qi Yue smiled and politely declined. “I’m already settled. I won’t be staying many days anyway, so I won’t go elsewhere—it’s quite troublesome.”

“Not troublesome at all,” Fan Yilin waved his hands repeatedly.

Qi Yue smiled without responding, continuing to eat.

Whether it was his imagination or they’d grown distant from not seeing each other for so long, Fan Yilin felt that compared to their last meeting, seeing this woman again, the sense of pressure was even greater.

Beneath her dazzling beauty, her seemingly casual every gesture and word somehow made people feel nervous and apprehensive.

In other words, this feeling was somewhat like when he saw his own father…

Fan Yilin mentally spat twice.

Or maybe this woman had matured? Because of grief and suffering?

Fan Yilin’s eyes suddenly lit up. Of course! Which woman could bear the matter of divorce? She must feel like she’d died once.

“Lady Qi, I’m absolutely on your side in this matter,” he immediately said with righteous indignation.

Qi Yue was confused by his words and looked up at him.

“When I first befriended that Chang Yuncheng, it was all because of you,” Fan Yilin said solemnly.

All the servants standing in the room couldn’t help but cover their faces.

Their young master’s foolish behavior around beautiful women was acting up again…

If it were any other woman, flirting would just be flirting—at most he’d get wine splashed in his face. But this woman carried a token from the Chen family of Duke Deqing…

The servants hadn’t had a chance to tell Fan Yilin this, and couldn’t help but look anxious.

“Thank you for the honor,” Qi Yue looked at him and smiled. “The face your family has given me is truly beyond words.”

What did that mean? The servants didn’t understand, but Fan Yilin did.

“Lady Qi, I won’t say anything else, but when my wife told me about this matter, I immediately wrote a letter to Chang Yuncheng giving him a thorough scolding. Just a few days ago, when I thought about it and still felt unsettled, I wrote another letter scolding him…” He slapped the table and said loudly, his manner leaving no doubt that if Chang Yuncheng were right in front of him, he would unhesitatingly throw a punch, though as for the result of who would beat whom, that was unimaginable.

“You wrote to him?” Qi Yue put down her chopsticks and interrupted to ask.

Fan Yilin nodded.

“Yes, two letters. Lady Qi, if you still don’t feel satisfied, I’ll write more… Really! I wasted my time teaching him hand-by-hand how to treat you well, yet he treated you like this! If word got out, wouldn’t it tarnish my reputation! I told him to cherish and protect women, not to cruelly destroy flowers!” He was angry, truly getting angrier the more he thought about it. When he first learned the news, he was furious.

Such a beautiful woman, actually divorced!

Had his brain been kicked by a donkey?

“You taught him how to treat me well?” Qi Yue asked with some curiosity.

“Yes, at that time he came running to ask me how to… cough cough cough…” Fan Yilin said loudly, but at this point began coughing violently, looking like he was about to faint, frightening the servants who hurried to pat his back and rub his chest.

“How can you choke just from talking?” Qi Yue stood up frowning and asked. “No good, A’Ru, go back and get the medicine box. I need to examine him properly.”

Fan Yilin hurriedly waved his hands.

“No need, no need,” he said hoarsely.

Good heavens, asking Chang Yuncheng if he was impotent had nearly gotten him beaten to death. Now to say in front of the man’s wife why you two couldn’t have marital relations…

That would truly be no way to live…

“He asked how to make you happy,” Fan Yilin reacted quickly to get past this topic without raising suspicion, continuing smoothly. “I taught him quite a few tricks… like being agreeable, saying nice things, showing concern, buying little trinkets…”

Qi Yue indeed dropped the subject, sat down, and listened to his words with some melancholy.

She thought of that time, Chang Yuncheng’s strange behavior…

His awkward submissiveness…

The gourd he spent a whole day running to someone else’s house to get…

She couldn’t help but smile, though with some bitterness.

Clumsily trying to be good to her…

Yet in the end…

Qi Yue sighed and drained her wine cup in one gulp.

“…I thought you two were harmonious and happy together, but I never expected…” Fan Yilin slapped the table again, glaring angrily. “…I’m furious! I’ll write him a letter right away to scold him… and sever our friendship…”

Qi Yue smiled slightly.

“Thank you,” she said.

For what else but this single word of gratitude from a beauty? Fan Yilin drained his wine cup, feeling completely satisfied.

“You write to him? You know how to send him letters?” Qi Yue asked again.

Fan Yilin nodded.

“My third brother handles weapons and armor in the Ministry of War and frequently corresponds with the northern frontier. I have him deliver the letters,” he said.

“That’s perfect! Can you help me send a letter too? The letters we sent through the postal stations have had no response—I don’t know if they can be received,” Qi Yue said eagerly.

“No problem. You shouldn’t use the postal stations—those people would be doing well to deliver it by next year,” Fan Yilin nodded. “Actually, you don’t need to, my lady. I’ll scold him, so you don’t need to waste your words or ink.”

“He deserves scolding,” Qi Yue said, pausing with her chopsticks.

Coward! Where did that fierce demeanor from before go? Running away without saying a word…

Rather than choosing an auspicious day, Fan Yilin suggested Qi Yue write leisurely and he would take it when he and his wife came to visit, but Qi Yue wrote right there, asking the restaurant for brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. It was only a few sentences, roughly telling him she would come to see him and to prepare for her arrival. Telling him not to run away again.

After thanking Fan Yilin, Qi Yue took her leave. Fan Yilin was very reluctant to part but had no reason to detain her further. He repeatedly asked where Qi Yue was staying and invited her to visit his home. Qi Yue smiled and declined, then leisurely walked away with A’Ru and the others.

Watching that tall figure who stood out in the crowd disappear into the distance, Fan Yilin sighed with lingering satisfaction.

“Such a beauty, unfamiliar with the capital, who knows where she’s staying. Those inns, no matter how beautifully decorated, are ultimately not clean…” he said, shaking his head pitifully.

A servant finally had a chance to speak.

“Young master, that lady is staying at Duke Deqing’s mansion,” he said hurriedly.

That certainly wasn’t some unclean place—he mustn’t speak carelessly, or if people from Duke Deqing’s mansion found out, it might cause trouble.

Fan Yilin was startled.

“You little rascal, how do you know?” he asked.

“That lady was carrying a token from Duke Deqing’s family, when you fainted,” the servant said.

Fan Yilin slapped him.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” he scolded.

“Young master kept talking, and we servants never had a chance to speak,” the servant said, holding his head aggrievedly.

Fan Yilin spat, got in his carriage, and hurried home to be the first to tell his wife the news.

“How foolish. The second wife of Marquis Dingxi’s mansion is from Duke Deqing’s Chen family. Why do you think she’s staying there?” Miss Wang poked his head and said.

Who cares who the second wife of Marquis Dingxi’s mansion is, Fan Yilin thought to himself, but outwardly he had to praise his wife’s cleverness and his own stupidity.

“Such a pity. Father said he intended to have Lady Qi marry Yixiu. How did Lady Qi come to the capital?” Miss Wang said, frowning as she fanned herself.

Fan Yilin was shocked—wouldn’t that make him call this little beauty “aunt”? How horrifying.

“I wonder what Lady Qi said in her letter to Chang Yuncheng…” he hurriedly changed the subject, taking out the letter Qi Yue had written with curiosity.

Miss Wang glanced at it.

“Should we… open it and look?” Fan Yilin whispered.

Miss Wang hit his head with her fan.

“A gentleman doesn’t pry into others’ private affairs! Are you itching for a beating again? I’ll go tell father,” she said sternly.

Fan Yilin hurriedly begged for mercy, then urged a servant to ask the third master. Learning that documents and armor were being sent to the northern frontier the next day, Fan Yilin happily wrote his own letter, then after much hesitation, enclosed Qi Yue’s letter within his own.

“I’ll give that guy a surprise. This way the scolding is double—that’s substantial,” he said smugly.