Meet

After leaving Qingyue Palace, Sun Yulin immediately took Xu Ruoyan's hand and thanked her.

Xu Ruoyan patted his hand and smiled, "You've helped me a lot too, so if anyone should thank someone, it's me thanking you."

Sun Yulin hurriedly shook his head: "You have no idea how much you've done me a favor. This time, I can finally hold my head high in front of my brother!"

Xu Ruoyan chuckled: "Alright then, I wish you all the best in defeating your brother in the future."

Sun Yulin was very pleased with the blessing, and the smile lines at the corners of his eyes deepened.

"Hey, I heard you're going on a long trip?"

"Ah, yes, to do business with my husband."

"What about your clinic?" Sun Yulin asked with some concern. "If you're going to do business, you'll have to travel a long way."

"Yes, so I'll have to trouble Brother Yulin to keep an eye on things for me."

Upon hearing this, Sun Yulin frowned deeply and gave Xu Ruoyan a somewhat embarrassed smile: "I'm out and about every day, so I can't stay in the clinic all the time."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ruoyan hurriedly waved her hand: "It's alright, it's alright. Just go and check occasionally. The doctors I hired will stay at the clinic to see patients. Even if I'm not there, there will be people to treat everyone. Just Brother Yulin, go and check occasionally to see if anything is wrong."

Sun Yulin chuckled: "That's definitely no problem. I'll go check on it every few days. After all, half of it is part of my business, so it's only right that I take care of it."

Xu Ruoyan also chuckled twice in response.

She hesitated about how to begin. She had brought Sun Yulin along to give him a great benefit; she certainly wasn't just after a few words of thanks.

"Are you...worried?"

Xu Ruoyan suddenly looked up and saw Sun Yulin looking at her with concern.

She decided to play her cards openly.

"Brother Yulin, it's like this," she bit her lower lip, as if she had encountered some difficulty, "I have a favor to ask of you."

“Oh, it’s no big deal,” Sun Yulin waved his hand generously. “Just tell me, Ayan. I’ll definitely help you if I can.”

He laughed heartily and patted Xu Ruoyan's shoulder hard: "I thought it was something serious because you were so worried."

Hearing him say that, Xu Ruoyan felt much more at ease. She pinched her fingers and gave Sun Yulin a sheepish smile: "I'm thinking of opening a few more pharmacies in the capital, all under the same name, as a chain business."

Sun Yulin didn't understand the term "chain industry," but he roughly understood what Xu Ruoyan meant.

"Oh, that's easy. What do you need? Do you want me to provide money or manpower? Just tell me, and I can get it done for you."

Xu Ruoyan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "It's not that I'm short of money. I have quite a bit of money available right now. It's just that my husband's business requires a lot of money, and I want to earn more as soon as possible to support him. So I'm in a bit of a hurry. I might need Brother Yulin to help me find a good shop and some helpers in the next few days."

"Don't worry," Sun Yulin patted his chest, looking confident. "Leave it to me. Also, I'll take care of all the medicinal herbs for the new shop. You just need to pay the rent and labor costs."

Xu Ruoyan gratefully grabbed Sun Yulin's hand and shook it: "Thank you so much, Brother Yulin. We'll still split the profits 50/50."

“You’re being too formal. We’re friends now,” Sun Yulin nudged his shoulder and whispered, “But seriously, Ayan and your husband have such a good relationship.”

Xu Ruoyan never expected him to switch thoughts so quickly; one second they were talking about business, and the next they were chatting about everyday things. She chuckled twice and nodded in response, "Brother Yulin, your observation is too meticulous."

Sun Yulin's face clearly showed amusement, and he chuckled happily: "A harmonious family brings prosperity, and it's naturally wonderful that the young couple has a good relationship."

Xu Ruoyan lowered her head and smiled shyly. Then she heard Sun Yulin say, "I have something to do, so I'll leave first. Write to me anytime if you need anything."

Xu Ruoyan maintained a stiff smile until she saw him off, then turned and walked into the palace.

She still has a big problem to solve.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

She knelt down on the cold ground for the umpteenth time.

On the throne, the emperor was enjoying grapes offered to him by maids while embracing two women on either side, not even sparing Xu Ruoyan a glance.

Xu Ruoyan had grown accustomed to his indifference and Qi Feng's veiled malice, and calmly stepped forward to take Pei Huai's pulse as usual.

Only after completing a set of procedures does the real competition begin.

Xu Ruoyan stood obediently below, secretly glancing at Qi Feng out of the corner of her eye.

I was too far away to see his expression.

Xu Ruoyan lowered her eyes silently again and swallowed hard.

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask for leave."

Pei Huai reluctantly shifted his gaze from the beautiful woman beside him, glancing at her lazily, still showing no interest.

However, Xu Ruoyan understood that her biggest obstacle was not the person mentioned above, but rather...

She slightly turned her gaze and met Qi Feng's eyes.

"What is Physician Xu going to do this time?" Pei Huai asked.

Xu Ruoyan forced herself to ignore the discomfort caused by Qi Feng's gaze and replied in a steady voice, "My senior brother Chuanxin 3 told me that he is ill and needs me to go back to take care of him. Therefore, I would like to leave for about a month. I hope Your Majesty can grant me permission in consideration of my hard work."

Pei Huai gave Qi Feng a look, then turned back to continue eating his grapes, seemingly unconcerned.

Qi Feng coughed twice, pretending to be serious, and then took over the conversation by pinching his throat: "Doctor Xu, this... how come this old servant didn't know you had a senior brother?"

It's time to put our acting skills to the test.

Xu Ruoyan frowned and began to squeeze out tears. Before the tears even fell, she raised her arm to wipe her eyes: "Your Majesty is unaware. My senior brother has been studying medicine with me under our master since childhood. After our master passed away, my senior brother did not go out to make a living with me. His medical skills are not as good as mine, and he has no reputation. It is normal that Your Majesty has not heard of him."

Qi Feng narrowed his eyes again and gave a cold snort.

Taking advantage of the fact that she had her head down and they couldn't see her, Xu Ruoyan gave a bitter smile.

They're going to start finding fault again.

“But this old servant has not been able to find anyone named Doctor Xu,” Qi Feng said, then added as if he felt offended, “Doctor Xu, please don’t misunderstand. After all, you are working for His Majesty, so you always have to be careful.”

"I understand, I understand," Xu Ruoyan chuckled insincerely, while inwardly rolling her eyes at him. "My master likes peace and quiet and rarely goes out to meet people, so almost no one has ever seen him."

As she spoke, she met Qi Feng's gaze again, her provocation evident in her eyes.

I've already said that, so I don't believe you can cause any more trouble. Do you really want to follow me around digging up graves?

The two stared at each other without saying a word, but the tension between them was palpable.

Finally, Qi Feng spoke calmly: "This matter should still be left to His Majesty to decide."

They couldn't even hold it in place.

Xu Ruoyan scoffed and then raised her chin provocatively at Pei Huai.

However, Pei Huai did not accept her challenge. He hadn't listened carefully to what the two of them had been rambling on about; he only knew that according to Qi Feng's instructions, he just needed to nod.

As a result, Xu Ruoyan successfully obtained a month-long vacation.

She hummed a little tune as she left the palace, but after thinking about it carefully, she realized she didn't have anything else to do, so she turned around and went to the clinic.

Those two little devils, Honeysuckle and Half Summer, have been spoiled since they came to her place. If she were to quietly disappear for a month, they would definitely cause a scene.

...

While Xu Ruoyan went to attend to her own business, Pei Jue wasn't idle either. He had told Pei An about his plan beforehand and asked him to help arrange a meeting with Li Wen. Coincidentally, Pei An owned a restaurant in the capital, which was convenient for discussing business, so he quickly arranged it for Pei Jue.

"Brother, Scholar Li is already inside."

Pei Jue nodded and was about to walk inside.

However, the next second, Pei An grabbed his arm.

"Brother, are you sure?" Pei An's eyes were full of worry. "What if..."

Pei Jue sighed and patted the hand that was holding his hand reassuringly: "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

Pei An pursed his lips, his hand slowly sliding down. He stood outside the door, watching uneasily as his older brother smiled slightly at him before going inside.

Pei An specially chose this room for them. It was on the top floor and quite spacious. Pei An stood guard outside, so they weren't worried at all that anyone would disturb their conversation.

After entering, Pei Jue first scanned the surroundings, then stopped when he saw the screen in front of him.

He still hesitated to meet his teacher again after so many years. After all, it had been two or three years since they last saw each other, and so much had happened in between. His identity was also quite special, and all these factors indicated that now was not a good time to meet. However, he needed this meeting to pave the way for him.

Since you've chosen to invest, you can't be afraid of the risks that may arise.

He took a deep breath, walked around the screen, stood in front of the old man, and respectfully bowed.

"Master."

Pei An didn't tell Li Wen who was coming to see him. While this protected Pei Jue's identity, it also made things more complicated. He pestered Li Wen for a long time before finally getting him to agree to the meeting.

Therefore, when Li Wen opened his cloudy eyes and looked at Pei Jue in a daze, he found that his rough throat was choked up and he could not utter a single syllable.

Pei Jue tentatively stepped forward and bent down: "Master, it is I, Pei Ziyan."

"Ziyan" is his courtesy name. In the past, only his father and teachers would call him that. He had not heard these two words for a long time, and now when he said his own name, it felt unfamiliar.

Li Wen slowly blinked his blurry eyes, his thin arms bracing against the low table in front of him, his hunched body tense as he tried to straighten himself up.

Upon seeing this, Pei Jue hurriedly stepped forward to help him up.

Having not seen him for more than two years, he was surprised to find that the kind yet strict teacher from back then had aged so much.

Unconsciously, his eyes also welled up with tears of sorrow.

"Ziyan? Is that you?"

A hoarse yet powerful voice awakened a shared memory between the two. Pei Jue grasped the thin, bony hand and nodded solemnly: "It's me, Master, I'm back."

When he heard Pei Jue's response again, Li Wen seemed to realize that this was neither an illusion nor a dream. He slowly raised his droopy eyelids and looked at his former star pupil.

After hesitating for a long time, he said tremblingly, "It's good that you're back."

Pei Jue smiled with relief, turning his head away to hide his reddened eyes.

It's good that you're back. Your return means there's still hope, and we can start over.