An Jiu couldn’t understand why she was so happy about something that didn’t even require thinking.

Suddenly, An Jiu remembered something. Mo Sigui was in the Crane Control Army, so Zhu Pianpian probably couldn’t enter and leave that place freely. It was even less likely that Chu Diangjiang would ask him for such a trivial matter. “Has Mo Sigui come out as well?” she asked.

“Yes! He’s returned to Plum Blossom Village. Didn’t you know?” Zhu Pianpian replied.

An Jiu shook her head.

“Ten days ago, he suddenly requested to resign from the court, saying he wanted to return to Plum Blossom Village to focus on studying medicine. I don’t know why. I visited him once, and he was buried in a pile of medicinal herbs, not even lifting his eyelids,” Zhu Pianpian sighed. She was surrounded by such people, even Sheng Changying was like this.

Thinking of Sheng Changying, Zhu Pianpian felt a bit heartbroken. “Others immerse themselves in work because they’re obsessed, but Changying forces himself. If he doesn’t do many things in a day, he can’t even sleep soundly, afraid that falling behind means facing hard times.”

“You’ve already developed a sleeping relationship?” An Jiu completely missed her point. After asking, she felt proud of herself for becoming more sophisticated, even developing a high-end life attitude like gossiping. She silently applauded herself.

“No!” Zhu Pianpian, after all, was a native of the Great Song Dynasty. Even if she was open-minded, she wasn’t to this extent. An Jiu’s blunt question made her face turn red like a steamed bun. To make matters worse, An Jiu was staring at her unblinkingly, waiting for an answer with a devout and serious expression. Zhu Pianpian was so embarrassed she wished she could bury An Jiu with silver.

Knowing that Sheng Changying couldn’t sleep well, Zhu Pianpian said they hadn’t slept together, but An Jiu didn’t believe her at all. She pondered for a moment, then said very thoughtfully, “Don’t worry, I’m very tight-lipped. Usually, even psychological hypnosis can’t pry a word out of me.”

This infuriated Zhu Pianpian to no end. Pointing at the door with a trembling finger, she gathered her breath for a while before finally squeezing out words, “Ancestor, you’d better go see Doctor Mo. He’s been very unhappy lately.”

Hearing this, An Jiu’s self-confidence suddenly skyrocketed. She felt she would become more and more adapted to normal life. She nodded at Zhu Pianpian and left with light, joyful steps.

Zhu Pianpian covered her chest, panting heavily. When she finally calmed down, she hurriedly instructed her maid, “Next time you see this person, just say I’ve gone out to discuss business.”

An Jiu ran out of the city, not even needing a horse. She jogged to Plum Blossom Village on foot, holding an umbrella.

Plum Blossom Village had been cleaned up, and the entrance no longer looked as desolate as it did after the fire years ago.

An Jiu figured that since Mo Sigui was the Crane Control Army’s precious asset, they wouldn’t let him come out alone. So she concealed her aura and used her spiritual power to hide, smoothly entering the village.

Plum Blossom Village was large. An Jiu instinctively felt he would be in his original thatched cottage. She searched and indeed saw a window open, with a faint light shining through.

An Jiu stood in the rain, gazing at the cottage while holding her umbrella. The secret guards arranged by the Crane Control Army quickly discovered her, but since Mo Sigui didn’t know about their existence, they dared not rashly go out to stop her. They could only remain vigilant in the shadows, ready to rush out if An Jiu attempted to harm Mo Sigui.

As An Jiu was still considering how to enter, a small tiger darted out from the door crack and ran to her feet in the rain.

Following this, the door creaked open, and Mo Sigui stood in the doorway with his hands at his sides. “Since you’re here, come in. Why stand in the rain like a tree stump?”

An Jiu picked up Dajiu with one hand and strode to the porch, closing her umbrella. In the dim light, she looked at Mo Sigui. He still had that casual, unrestrained expression, as if the incident with Lou Mingyue had never happened. However, he had become very thin.

An Jiu had just unlocked the skill of small talk from Zhu Pianpian, so she put it to use. “I just saw Zhu Pianpian. She’s gained a lot of weight. If she could share some with you, you wouldn’t look so thin.”

Mo Sigui took a deep breath and turned to enter the room.

An Jiu followed him in. Mo Sigui tilted his chin slightly, his mood not very clear, and said, “There’s tea on the table. Pour yourself some if you’re not afraid of being poisoned.”

She put down Dajiu and poured herself a cup of water, thinking that perhaps Mo Sigui, like her, didn’t consider small talk important.

Mo Sigui leaned against the couch, holding a long pipe and exhaling smoke. “If you’ve come to comfort me, there’s no need. I’m very happy.”

An Jiu wasn’t sure if there were such things as cigarettes at this time. Could he be smoking opium? Had he fallen so low?

Mo Sigui didn’t speak. His face was blurred by the smoke. Due to his thin face, his peach-blossom eyes became even more prominent. Looking closely, there was a deep, profound charm mixed with his romantic air. Although his face wasn’t as handsome and dashing as before, it was more attractive now. However, An Jiu couldn’t see any sign of happiness in him at all.

As the smoke drifted over, An Jiu smelled a strong medicinal scent. She realized that what he was smoking wasn’t tobacco or any kind of drug.

Mo Sigui observed her expression and said, “I’m not so crushed that I need to numb myself with opium.”

The pipe and opium had existed for a long time. It was said to have been introduced during the Tang Dynasty when ten thousand countries paid tribute. A small number of people had always been using it, though it wasn’t clear if it still existed now. Mo Sigui had noticed this thing when he was looking through records, discovering that it seemed to have medicinal uses. He had even collected some poppy seeds, planning to plant them next year.

As for the pipe, it was because he had been having trouble sleeping lately. After staying up for seven or eight days, he didn’t want to appear weak, so he had been taking medicinal supplements. Although he hadn’t fainted, which would have been embarrassing, the direct consequence of this was severe insomnia. Even when his body was extremely tired, his thoughts wouldn’t calm down when he lay in bed and closed his eyes.

However, a kind of inexplicable pride prevented him from brewing and drinking a sleeping potion. So he thought of inhaling smoke to treat his insomnia. At first, he burned it in an incense burner, but everyone in the courtyard ended up sleeping deeply except him, who lay in bed tossing and turning with bloodshot eyes. It wasn’t until he was fiddling with poppies that he had a flash of inspiration and thought of using a pipe to inhale the smoke, finally solving his insomnia problem.

An Jiu asked curiously, “Can heartbreak be treated with medicine?”

Mo Sigui narrowed his eyes. As he spoke, wisps of smoke escaped from his mouth. “Would it kill you not to poke at someone’s pain?”

“Sorry,” An Jiu said.

As the herbs finished burning, Mo Sigui tapped the pipe on the table to clear out the residue. “It’s nothing. Perhaps if you keep poking, I’ll become numb and stop feeling it.”

He was the one saying this, and he was also the one saying that. An Jiu simply kept quiet.

“Why have you come to find me in the middle of the night?” Mo Sigui yawned, looking at An Jiu with slightly hazy eyes.

Why does everyone think there must be a reason to meet? An Jiu patiently said, “I just suddenly wanted to come.”

Mo Sigui yawned again and reached out his hand to her.

An Jiu instinctively offered her wrist. Mo Sigui’s cool fingers touched it for a moment before letting go. But he didn’t lower his hand, so An Jiu very consciously offered her other wrist as well.

After feeling her pulse for a while, he murmured, “Not bad. How’s your plum blossom fist practice going lately?”

Is this small talk? An Jiu thought that everyone’s steps might be different, so she answered very seriously, “I’ve been on missions constantly, so I haven’t had much time to practice. There hasn’t been much progress.”

“Not striving for improvement, if you don’t hurry up, all my medicine will go to waste! I hate nothing more than bastards who don’t follow doctor’s orders,” Mo Sigui leaned back in his chair, closing his heavy eyelids. He slowly said, “The medicine you’re taking now contains Gu Jingdong’s heart blood. He’s given so much, you shouldn’t let him down like this…”

An Jiu felt a lump in her throat, feeling that she was indeed too negligent. But she also felt that Mo Sigui’s last sentence was very unlike his usual style.

Perhaps he had also given his all, but Lou Mingyue hadn’t stayed for him, had she?

Thud.

The pipe slipped from Mo Sigui’s hand. An Jiu was stunned for a moment. She bent down to pick it up, and when she looked at Mo Sigui again, his breathing was even, seemingly asleep.

The medicine was indeed very effective. Even An Jiu felt somewhat drowsy.

She got up and walked to the door, hesitated, then turned back to pick up Mo Sigui and throw him onto the bed, haphazardly covering him with the quilt.

Seeing that An Jiu was about to leave, Dajiu bit her trouser leg and clung to the ground. With each step she took, it slid along the floor. After An Jiu gave it a thorough rub, it slowly fell asleep under the effect of the inhaled medicine. By the bed, Xiaoyue was already sprawled on its belly, sleeping deeply.

An Jiu placed Dajiu next to Xiaoyue. As she was about to leave, she heard Mo Sigui mumble, “Ajiu, I’m very happy you came.”