The sky had already darkened, but when Wen Su hurriedly entered, Lu Huating was dressed in full formal attire, sitting by the candlelight at his desk polishing a dagger, looking as though he was just preparing to go out.
Wen Su nearly burst into tears: “This subordinate has failed in her duty… Young Lady Qing has escaped!”
Lu Huating glanced at her, immediately stood up and strode quickly into the chamber. He saw the window wide open, wrinkles still on the bed, warm water remaining in the bucket, but the room was completely empty—that figure was gone, with only the hand shackles left on the vanity table.
Wen Su explained: “Young Lady Qing wanted to bathe and said the shackles were inconvenient. This subordinate softened for a moment and helped her remove them.”
“She said she was bathing and you believed her?” Lu Huating said.
“She really was bathing—this subordinate unlocked them for her in the water!” Wen Su said.
Lu Huating had just picked up the shackles when water trickled onto his hand. Hearing this, he paused and clanged them back down.
The water droplets winding along his fingers strangely felt as if they were burning.
“Looks like she’s recovered.”
He wiped his fingers clean. Thinking of the emptiness he had just witnessed, an indescribable irritation rose in his heart. Without a word, he used his fan handle to flip open the bundle Qun Qing had left on the bed. Seeing that the yellow cloth pouch containing money hadn’t been taken—though it was somewhat deflated—the intense darkness in his eyes finally dissipated and his expression relaxed.
Juan Su said: “Does the Administrator still need to go report to that informant?”
“Go.” Lu Huating lowered his head to fasten his dagger properly, his face already back to normal. “Young Lady Qing probably has some urgent matter and is wandering about. She hasn’t gone far. This place isn’t safe—you two find her and bring her back to rest.”
Wen Su and Juan Su accepted their orders and left. Lu Huating added: “Take Yang Li with you—he knows the roads.”
Meanwhile, Qun Qing chased after the intermittent sound of rattling bells, rushing through streets and alleys. She caught sight of the traveling physician ahead—a thin old man holding a bell in his left hand.
Before long, Qun Qing noticed Wen Su and the others following behind her. She paid them no mind—if she encountered danger, having more people would actually be safer.
Fang Xie had said that Physician Li had encountered danger in Jiangnan Circuit. Since she had already come to this place and heard the bell sound, she still couldn’t help but personally chase after it. Even if she mistook the person, at least her heart could be at ease.
A child being held by someone on the roadside started crying loudly. The traveling physician walked over with concern, only to be rudely driven away by the child’s Father: “Go, go, go—traveling charlatan.”
He stood bewildered for a moment, secured his medicine box on his back, and continued walking through the night while shaking his bell.
It was a crude wooden medicine box. Qun Qing remembered that Physician Li’s treasured medicine box was made of rosewood. He practiced in Chang’an and saved countless people—how could he possibly have such a timid and destitute appearance?
Qun Qing quickly circled around to face him, her expression frozen in shock.
The old man looked up at her in panic, and it truly was the face she had imagined. However, he was much more haggard than in her memories from her previous life. She almost couldn’t recognize this as the vigorous and kindly-faced Physician Li she had opened her eyes to see when she first awakened.
Qun Qing’s gaze fell on his worn sleeves, crooked collar, and bewildered, cowering face: “Master, Physician Li?”
But Physician Li had no reaction. With some fear, he gently brushed her aside and walked forward.
“Master, I’m Liu Niang,” Qun Qing said, thinking it was too dark.
This aged figure paused, seeming hesitant. He tried to recognize Qun Qing, but his expression remained confused and fearful: “Liu Niang—didn’t she already enter the palace? Young lady, I don’t remember who you are. I need to go see a patient.”
Qun Qing discovered that Physician Li seemed somewhat confused.
In the past, Physician Li had valued healing and saving people above all else. When he saw that Qun Qing wanted to stay at the medical clinic, he truly treated her as a beloved disciple. Later, when he learned Qun Qing was going to enter the palace to kill someone, he was heartbroken and disappointed, yet he still helped her with bone-setting before they never met again.
In her previous life, her debt of gratitude for saving her life had gone unrepaid, becoming a knot in Qun Qing’s heart.
So Qun Qing didn’t mind that Physician Li didn’t recognize her. She walked beside him with tears in her eyes: “Master, do you remember when you came to Jiangnan Circuit?”
At this mention, Physician Li suddenly became agitated, his hands trembling: “I came by boat, didn’t I? The boat capsized—I lost my medicine box, my money, my medicinal ingredients, and medical texts all gone.”
Qun Qing then roughly understood the bitter hardships Physician Li had suffered wandering alone to Jiangnan Circuit. This wooden box and bell must have been things he gradually collected through practicing medicine everywhere.
“Then why not borrow some money to return to Chang’an?” Qun Qing said. “Master, after you left and never returned, many common people at the clinic are waiting for you.”
Physician Li became even more confused: “I still have a clinic in Chang’an?”
“Master, you weren’t originally a traveling physician,” Qun Qing said.
At the mention of treating illness, Physician Li became very concerned. He asked Qun Qing: “Then why is it that in Xuzhou, I can’t even cure common ailments?”
“How could you not cure them? What kind of common ailments?” Qun Qing asked. Physician Li’s medical skills were superb—otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to save her life.
“Jade Boiling Elixir…”
“What is Jade Boiling Elixir?” Qun Qing had never heard of such a thing.
“I also want to obtain this substance, but no matter who I ask, they refuse to say!” Physician Li gestured anxiously. “After taking it, people become lazy and taciturn, their behavior loses propriety, acupuncture is useless, medicine is useless—they look at me as if I’m a traveling charlatan.”
Qun Qing’s eyes narrowed in thought. Physician Li suddenly pushed her away, his expression becoming serious, not letting her follow anymore: “I’m going to see a patient. You should go quickly. Don’t follow me—it’s improper.”
With that, he carried his medicine box and stepped into a courtyard.
Qun Qing didn’t leave. She looked up to examine this residence—the door knocker, door plaque, silk lanterns hanging under the eaves—this should be a wealthy household. However, when the door had opened earlier, the courtyard was pitch black with no servants at the gate, which worried her somewhat.
“How has this place become so desolate!” Qun Qing heard Yang Li’s voice.
Wen Su and the others ran to catch up, seeing Qun Qing standing upright. She asked Yang Li: “What place is this?”
“It’s the ancestral mansion of a wealthy merchant within Xuzhou City. This alley has a nickname—’Gold Street.’ Bold children in Xuzhou City come here to pick and scratch in the brick crevices, and might be able to find gold beans.” After Yang Li finished speaking, he suddenly ran to Qun Qing’s side and glanced at her. “I was originally following you, Young Lady, not following them.”
An ancestral mansion of a wealthy merchant? Qun Qing thought this was strange—the entire way here had been very desolate.
Suddenly, a child’s crying and a woman’s scolding came from inside the house: “I’ve already prepared several doses of this medicine—why did I spend money yet he still coughs and wheezes at night? I trusted you because of your age, but traveling physicians really are all charlatans…”
Qun Qing directly pushed the door open, her skirt sweeping through the pitch-black courtyard as she pushed open the room door.
Inside was a woman with a maid beside her holding a bowl. Seeing a graceful young lady suddenly burst in, the woman stopped her scolding in surprise and suspicion.
Qun Qing clasped her hands in a bow: “This is my master. May I be allowed to examine the medicinal decoction and the patient?”
Qun Qing’s appearance was indescribably calm and composed, actually commanding respect. The woman only muttered quietly: “This traveling physician even has a disciple? The master already can’t treat it—who knows how much worse the disciple’s skills must be.”
Physician Li stood to the side, anxious and angry, his face flushed red, looking helplessly at Qun Qing’s actions. Qun Qing picked up the medicine bowl from the maid’s tray, smelled it, then tasted it.
She had only studied medicine for one year, but this child’s coughing and wheezing was just a common ailment that even she could diagnose. For Physician Li to examine it would be like using a butcher’s knife to kill a mosquito—how could there be an error?
The medicinal decoction indeed had no problems.
Qun Qing walked to the bedside and bent down to look at the child.
The child wore a round-collared robe with a jade pendant at his waist. Even the quilt draped over his abdomen had a green silk cover dyed in a rhombus flower pattern—a mass of brocade splendor that clearly showed he was raised in wealth and privilege. Unfortunately, his face was flushed red, his nose and mouth were blocked, his eyes were listlessly shut tight, and he was breathing with difficulty.
Qun Qing reached out toward him, but didn’t touch his body. She only rubbed the silk surface of the quilt for a moment before saying: “The medicine my master prescribed has no problems. Your household’s quilt is poisonous.”
Physician Li started. The woman was also shocked: “What… what is poisonous?”
Qun Qing had already pulled down the quilt and grabbed the cotton quilt at the foot of the bed to cover the child.
She walked before the woman and spread open the quilt. That green silk cover appeared even more vivid under the lamplight: “Did you, madam, purchase this quilt recently?”
The woman truly didn’t understand what connection there could be with the quilt: “Yes, a few days ago for Second Son’s birthday, my mother-in-law selected it from a shop. You impolite young lady—how can you say it’s poisonous?”
“This quilt cover’s silk is dyed with jadeite stone green, which is brighter than ordinary pine green and has lower costs. However, this dye gradually disperses into the air. When adults inhale it, it’s still manageable, but children are sensitive and will cough, wheeze, and develop high fever. When I say it’s ‘poisonous,’ I’m not exaggerating.”
Qun Qing continued: “If you don’t believe me, madam, spread this quilt open. After some time, you’ll see the color gradually darken—all of it has been inhaled into Second Son’s body.”
The woman was greatly alarmed hearing this. Qun Qing took out an official token from her sleeve to show her: “To be honest with you, madam, I once served in the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau in the palace. This jadeite stone green was once introduced to the palace for weaving and dyeing, but was quickly banned after it affected the imperial heir and princesses.”
The Imperial Wardrobe Bureau in the palace—where the highest quality textiles in the world were all displayed—how could there be any mistake?
Moreover, after Qun Qing removed the quilt for a while, the child’s breathing indeed became more gentle and smooth. The woman’s gaze toward Qun Qing changed to one of trust and reliance.
Qun Qing rolled up the small quilt and placed it on the table: “Madam, my master is a renowned sage physician in Chang’an City. He’s merely traveling here. Did you expect to scold him like this? The prescription he wrote has absolutely no problems—it’s just that it was mutually counteracting with this jadeite stone green, so the medicinal effects couldn’t manifest.”
As she spoke, she took the medicine from the maid’s hand and slowly, gently fed it to the child. His blocked nose and mouth condition was quickly suppressed. After finishing the medicine, he peacefully fell asleep, and her heart was also at ease.
The woman’s face flushed with embarrassment. She quickly stood and bowed: “I misunderstood this physician. Please forgive me.”
Physician Li’s lips trembled. He looked at the woman, then gazed toward Qun Qing’s figure holding the medicine bowl. This shadow overlapped with the young lady from years ago who had stubbornly stood before him with a medicine box when they encountered street thugs.
In the end, those people couldn’t defeat her—their heads were all smashed by the medicine box, and he had to intervene to stop the fight. A young lady of just over ten years old actually had that much strength, like a fish that couldn’t be held no matter how one tried.
It was Liu Niang, it was Qun Qing! How could he not remember?
“Liu Niang…” he finally said. “You’re Liu Niang. How did you get here? Is your position in the palace all right?”
Qun Qing’s hand paused. She said: “It’s all right. I came to find you.”
She stood up and grasped Physician Li’s hand. Then she said to the woman: “Madam, I have one thing I don’t understand.”
The woman said: “It should be me thanking you—please ask whatever you wish, madam.”
Qun Qing said: “Your ancestral mansion has several dye vats, and there still seem to be silk pieces hanging on the drying lines. Your family are silk merchants themselves—why would you still need to buy quilt covers from a shop?”
The woman’s expression immediately darkened: “We stopped being silk merchants long ago. My father-in-law was once a prominent great silk merchant, but my husband squandered everything—can’t count on him. To be honest with you, madam, in the past how would my family ever seek out traveling physicians? We would go to clinics. I don’t even know about today’s consultation fee…”
So it was a fallen family—no wonder such a large household didn’t even have servants.
Qun Qing said: “We won’t take a consultation fee. We want to ask you about something. I wonder if you know what this ‘Jade Boiling Elixir’ circulating in Xuzhou City is?”
The woman’s previously warm gaze immediately turned cold. As if pricked by a needle, her eyes revealed disgust: “What exactly do you do? Why do you want this thing that harms people?”
“Why do you say it harms people?” Qun Qing pressed. “My master has treated several people who took Jade Boiling Elixir and was helpless, so he wants to research it.”
Seeing that they truly didn’t understand, the woman said no more. Yet as if her painful memories had been touched, she gave a cold laugh. She entered the side room, and after a while, brought out a dusty wooden box and shoved it into Qun Qing’s hands: “You still want to save people? There’s no saving them.”
“That day my husband followed others drinking Jade Boiling Wine, saying it was refined elegance that would facilitate business discussions. Who knew he would later drain the family fortune for this substance? The family quarreled until it fell apart. This thing that harms people—if you want it, take it. Keeping it at home, I find it inauspicious. I never want to see it again in this lifetime.”
Right up until Qun Qing left with Physician Li, the woman sat sideways on the bed, no longer giving them a proper look.
As Qun Qing withdrew through the door, she only saw her coaxing the child to sleep in the empty room. The originally expensive gauze dress on her body had become old and dull, and only a plain hairpin remained on her head.
Walking outside, Qun Qing opened the wooden box. Inside, four medicine pills arranged like jade beads were emitting a faint, delicate fragrance.
Like fine tea, yet also like fragrant flowers. She took one and carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief, handing it to Physician Li: “Master, this is Jade Boiling Elixir. You can research it.”
She finally couldn’t help but ask: “Master, on this journey, have you had any news of my mother?”
Physician Li said: “On the way I did see a woman who looked somewhat similar. I even followed her onto a boat, but unfortunately the boat capsized shortly after. Now I don’t know where she’s wandered to.”
Based on such vague and unclear information, Qun Qing couldn’t believe Fang Xie’s words. She only rubbed the ram’s head sachet, wishing that in this vast sea of humanity, that similar woman was her mother, still alive somewhere in this world.
That her mother had been deceived wasn’t her fault, but rather the fault of the treacherous and deceitful people in this chaotic world.
If she wanted to win, she had to stay alive.
She would discover the truth herself and not be used by anyone.
Qun Qing lowered her eyes without speaking. Physician Li initially looked at her face with concern, then his expression became solemn: “Was it I who set your bones at that time? It doesn’t look very good. If we don’t perform bone-setting again, it will grow back. But even if we set it now, I’m afraid we can’t make it match the portrait…”
Qun Qing quickly stopped him: “Master.”
Physician Li was startled—three people were actually waiting at the entrance. Yang Li and Juan Su squatted on the ground, and a female shadow guard sat on the steps. They were all staring at them, shocked by the content of their conversation.
Qun Qing entrusted Physician Li to Juan Su: “This is my master, Physician Li. Please look after him. He’ll return to Chang’an with us.”
She then said to Wen Su: “Where is the Administrator?”
Da Chen prohibited gambling, yet among the common people, gambling dens still emerged endlessly. This Southern Eagle House in Xuzhou City was a teahouse during the day. It closed its doors in the evening, then reopened at night, but with a changed appearance.
Lu Huating sat in a small hall on the second floor. From this position, he could look over the railing to see the tables on the felt carpet below, and the gentlemen crowded around them, bare-chested and throwing dice.
Amid the din of voices, he suddenly heard delicate sounds. He turned his head—a lady wearing a veiled hat walked past him.
He suddenly reached out to grasp her sleeve, blocking her path. What he gripped was indeed the hard shackles beneath the sleeve. Qun Qing didn’t struggle.
“Been caught and brought back?” Lu Huating said.
Qun Qing said: “I put them on myself. Doesn’t the Administrator like speaking with me this way?”