Mo Sigui was surprised, “Marry? Are you joking? I’ve been away from Bianjing for some years, and even Hua Rongjian wants to marry now. How times have changed!”
Yao Ye, seeing An Jiu’s displeased expression, didn’t dare mention that her young mistress had agreed. It was more than just changing times; it was shocking!
“A dog can’t change its habit of eating excrement. There must be some plot,” An Jiu thought. He was considering arranging a stable environment for Mei Jiu after he disappeared, but on second thought, this Hua Rongjian seemed quite unreliable.
With many onlookers outside, Mo Sigui felt it unwise to linger too long and called for An Jiu to leave.
As they exited the private room, they found the innkeeper waiting at the door with an accountant.
“Young Master Mei, about these damages…” The innkeeper smiled, trying to hand the account book to Mo Sigui.
Before it reached Mo Sigui, he blocked it with his fan. “Everyone in the tavern saw that Young Master Hua was bullying others, barging into our room, and breaking things. Innkeeper, you’re not afraid of offending the powerful and are only trying to fleece us commoners, are you? Aren’t his father and brother known for being reasonable? If Young Master Hua is unreasonable, it’s due to their lack of discipline. They should be responsible.”
The innkeeper immediately broke into a cold sweat. He knew that if he took the bill to Chief Minister Hua or Hua Rongtian, he could get compensation immediately, but those two would surely punish Hua Rongjian. If Hua Rongjian was disciplined at home, wouldn’t he come back to take it out on the innkeeper?
Roughly calculating, the items in the room were worth about ten thousand taels of silver. Unwilling to let it go, the innkeeper said, “Young Master Mei, that’s not fair. You rented this room, so naturally, we have to ask you for compensation. We can’t interfere in your affairs with Young Master Hua. After all, we didn’t see who broke things, did we?”
“Oh, alright then!” Mo Sigui made a move to take the bill. “Then let’s not trouble the innkeeper. I’ll take this bill, pay the money, and we’ll use it to petition the Emperor to settle this with the Hua family.”
The Mei family were imperial merchants, and if they wanted to speak to the Emperor, it wasn’t entirely impossible.
The innkeeper’s hand trembled, and he quickly withdrew the bill. “This… this small matter shouldn’t trouble the Emperor. I’ll go ask Young Master Hua myself.”
Inwardly, he was bleeding. This money was likely lost; Young Master Hua was notoriously stingy. Unless you were a beauty, you couldn’t get a single coin out of him.
With the matter resolved, Mo Sigui didn’t skimp on kind words. “The innkeeper truly understands the greater good.”
“No, no,” the innkeeper wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, his face regaining composure. He smiled and asked, “Young master, you’re quite talented. May I know your name?”
Mo Sigui smiled faintly, “I go by my true name. Mo Ran, courtesy name Sigui.”
Mo Sigui nodded slightly as a gesture of courtesy and led An Jiu and the others away.
The onlookers whispered among themselves as they watched them leave:
“Surname Mo? Not from the Mei family? Mei children often die young; I thought a young man his age would be dead by now!”
“Perhaps another daughter is marrying out?”
“Tsk, how ignorant. Years ago, a Mei daughter married out to a Mo family. This must be her son.”
“Could it be the Grand Medical Officer Mo Dengxian from the Imperial Medical Academy?”
“Oh, it’s Young Doctor Mo! The Mei family took him in, saying they were caring for an orphan, but wasn’t Young Doctor Mo doing fine on his own? If you ask me, he’d be better off outside. Going to Meihua Village might subject him to the curse.”
“Exactly.”
The crowd sighed collectively.
An Jiu, with his good hearing, commented, “You’re quite popular in Bianjing.”
This remark made Mo Sigui reminisce.
When he was very young, Mo Sigui was the only survivor of his family, with only an old servant by his side. Initially, they could only sleep in abandoned temples, competing with beggars for space. The old servant, who had worked for Mo Dengxian, knew some medical skills and initially went out to earn money to support Mo Sigui. He even managed to buy a dilapidated hut in a remote area. But he was getting old and weak.
One harsh winter, both he and Mo Sigui caught colds. They couldn’t find herbs in the mountains, and their stored medicine was low. The servant gave all the medicine to Mo Sigui who couldn’t afford to buy any for himself. In the end, he died from the illness.
At that time, Mo Sigui was not yet ten years old. Born into a medical family, he had been immersed in medical knowledge from a young age. Being a natural prodigy in medicine, he already knew the properties of thousands of herbs and understood some medical theories and techniques at a young age. He studied his father’s medical books day and night, started gathering herbs in the mountains, and began treating poor people for food rather than money.
At first, no one believed he could cure diseases. Fortunately, the old servant had some regular patients, and those poor people couldn’t afford other doctors anyway, so they let him treat them as a last resort.
In a short time, he saved many lives.
Those people were grateful to him, and combined with his status as a young prodigy, word spread quickly, exaggerating his medical skills to near-mythical levels, as if he were a reincarnated immortal.
Gradually, many people learned of his reputation and those with strange illnesses or terminal conditions that other doctors couldn’t cure sought him out.
In his youthful arrogance, he accepted all cases. Under his treatment, many people recovered, and even those who weren’t completely cured lived for an extra year or two, further enhancing his reputation.
Coming back to the present, Mo Sigui shook off the memories and said proudly, “If you count the talented men of Bianjing, who doesn’t know Mo Sigui?”
Yao Ye, who had been preoccupied, was amused by this. “You were only about ten years old back then, how could you be a famous scholar?”
“Age is irrelevant,” Mo Sigui laughed heartily. “My parents were amazing to have produced such a genius.”
How exactly did they ‘produce’ him? Yao Ye covered her mouth, laughing, and even An Jiu’s lips twitched in amusement.
“Doctor Mo,” As if to verify his words, a clear female voice called from behind.
An Jiu immediately recognized the voice’s owner — Lou Xiaowu.
The group stopped and turned to see a carriage parked in front of the tavern. A young woman in a yellow-brown dress with a snow-white fox fur coat stood there. Even with her face veiled, one could tell she was quite young.
“You are…?” Mo Sigui looked at her, not recognizing her.
“It’s been many years; the divine doctor might not remember me,” Lou Xiaowu stepped forward, her autumn-clear eyes gazing at Mo Sigui. “My surname is Lou, given name Xiaowu. You saved my life on this very street years ago.”
Bianjing is such a small world! An Jiu sighed inwardly. He knew so few people, yet on his first outing, he had already encountered two familiar faces.
It wasn’t quite as An Jiu imagined. Bianjing had countless streets and shops, but at night, the government didn’t allow the entire city to stay open. Today, only a few nearby streets were open, with the rest selling goods. This particular street was the only one for eating, drinking, and entertainment.
The Lou family, like the Mei family, didn’t allow their children to go out freely. They could only come out for shopping and entertainment during the New Year period.
As for Hua Rongjian, wherever there was entertainment, he would be there.
“Oh, it’s you!” Mo Sigui exclaimed, “How you’ve grown! Back then, you were just a wilting sprout, and now you’ve blossomed into a flower!”
“Doctor Mo is still so good at teasing!” Lou Xiaowu was excited and hadn’t noticed An Jiu. “Where are you staying now, Doctor Mo?”
Mo Sigui whispered, “Are you planning to offer yourself in marriage? There’s no rush for that!”
“Tch, of course not,” Lou Xiaowu stomped her foot. “I have a favor to ask of you. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”
Mo Sigui finally became serious, composing himself. “Miss Lou, did you come here specifically to find me?”
Lou Xiaowu nodded, “Sort of. I received news that you had arrived in Bianjing, so I thought I’d try my luck here. I didn’t expect to run into you.”
“Ha, I’m flattered that you still recognized me after all these years!” Mo Sigui said.
Lou Xiaowu smiled slyly, pointing at the carriage, “I saw the Mei family crest on the carriage. I guessed you might be Doctor Mo, so I called out to try.”
Mo Sigui thought that building a connection with the Lou family couldn’t hurt. Moreover, the Mei and Lou families were already related by marriage, so some interaction wouldn’t raise suspicions. “If Miss Lou doesn’t mind, why don’t we talk in the carriage?”
“Alright!” Lou Xiaowu agreed promptly.
Once everyone was in the carriage, Lou Xiaowu finally noticed An Jiu’s presence. Their eyes met, and hers widened, “You’re… Mei Fourteen.”
“What’s strange about her being Mei Fourteen?” Mo Sigui asked.
Lou Xiaowu remembered that she couldn’t speak freely about the trial, especially since Mo Sigui wasn’t involved. “Nothing.”
After a moment of distraction, Lou Xiaowu suddenly remembered her purpose. She hurriedly took out a paper package from her bag and handed it to Mo Sigui. “Can you tell if there’s any poison in this?”
Mo Sigui opened the package to find a severed finger inside!
“Mother of heaven!” Mo Sigui’s hand trembled. “Seeing this suddenly gave me quite a shock!”