Chapter 1048 Matchmaker

At the end of Suzaku Street, Fu Dong shook her dripping ponytail, and the bluestone slabs splashed water under her feet.

The gatekeeper looked at the soaked female commander and hesitated to speak. In the end, he did not dare to remind her that she was in an even more miserable state than the water tank of the fishmonger in the West Market.

“A-choo!”

In the steaming heat, the maid silently added another half bowl of ginger soup.

Fudong stared at the red tip of his nose reflected in the water, and suddenly remembered the expression of the man holding a lotus lantern by the moat on the Lantern Festival when he said, "The wick should be made of mugwort to ward off the cold."

She took a big gulp of ginger soup, the spiciness of which burned her throat, as if that could extinguish some inappropriate thoughts.

When she was wrapped in the brocade quilt, her damp temples were still stained with the scent of linden.

That was the calming incense that Jiang Xiaoan prepared the day before, saying it could cure her night terrors.

Fudong turned over irritably. The "Qian Jin Fang" under the pillow was painful, just like some people who said in a gentle voice "Girls should avoid cold water" but secretly put licorice candy in her sword practice.

In the East City Medical Clinic, Jiang Xiaoan was smiling bitterly at the case full of medical books.

The candle wax condensed into amber on the cover of Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases, just like the ends of her hair that fell when she was bandaging the bandit after she defeated him with a sword that day.

The Panax notoginseng in the medicine grinder suddenly became hideous - just like he suddenly realized that he remembered exactly how much brown sugar a girl should put in her ginger soup.

Amid the sound of rain hitting the banana leaves, the two people tossed and turned, each looking at Chengchen.

One was thinking about which shortcut to take when taking a pulse tomorrow, and the other was calculating whether he would "happen" to pass by the clinic during his morning exercise.

The clanging of iron horses under the eaves startled someone from his dream of the unfinished poem "Yu Lin Ling".

When the sky was just getting light, Jiang Xiaoan adjusted his clothes for the third time in front of the bronze mirror.

His wide sleeves with light cloud patterns were lifted by the morning breeze, and he practiced smiling at the air - this was the "beautiful man's charm" taught to him by his cousin.

Although Fu Dong always had a sullen face, I heard that she smiled at the lanterns on the night of the Lantern Festival.

"The Third Prince was whipped for pursuing Princess Anyang."

He touched the unhealed tooth mark behind his ear to encourage himself, and suddenly caught sight of the puddle on the blue bricks of the courtyard.

The sudden rain last night had just stopped, making his white clothes look even more refreshing.

But just as this thought came to his mind, he stumbled when he saw a familiar dark figure at the corner.

"Morning, Commander Fudong!" Before he finished speaking, the corner of his robe embroidered with silver bamboo had sunk into the mud.

When Jiang Xiaoan propped herself up, her originally flowing wide sleeves were covered in mud, and the carefully dyed storax mixed with grass juice made her look like a ferret that had fallen into a dye vat.

The black-armored female guard lowered her eyes and handed over a white handkerchief: "Wipe your hands first, I'll find someone to take you to change clothes."

His fingertips trembled slightly in his sleeves - if he had used some Qinggong just now, he could have avoided this embarrassment.

But she remembered that she had vowed yesterday to treat this man coldly, so she took a half step back.

"hiss!"

Jiang Xiaoan suddenly held his knee and cried out in pain, stealing a glance at the other person's reaction.

In the popular stories, there should be a gentle and beautiful woman supporting him at this moment, but Fu Dong has summoned two guards: "Send Master Jiang to Huimin Hall."

"Wait a minute!"

The doctor's son was quick-witted and took out the golden medicine: "I carry magical medicine with me, but..."

He suddenly took a half step closer, his eyelashes stained with mud trembling slightly: "Miss Fudong frowned just now, but are you worried about this white dress?"

Before waiting for a response, two figures emerged from the vermilion lacquered door.

Xiao Zhan supported the pregnant Jiang Xue and looked at his cousin who looked like a mud monkey. "Doctor Jiang, is this... a new treatment for summer heat?"

Fu Dong turned his face away, and a light red mark appeared behind his ears.

Jiang Xiaoan hurriedly took out the pulse pillow, then he remembered that the purpose of his visit today was to take Ping An's pulse.

When the morning mist cleared, the glazed tiles of the princess's mansion reflected the morning sun, making the mud stains on his cuffs sparkle.

"Third cousin, I'm here to look for Commander Fudong."

Jiang Xiaoan clutched the strap of the medicine box and stared at the raindrops falling from the eaves. "She came back in the rain last night. I was worried that she would catch a cold and get sick."

Before he finished speaking, the silver needle box in the medicine chest made a slight knocking sound.

Jiang Xue glanced sideways and saw that the corners of Fu Dong's eyes were still indigo, and wrinkles of his wet inner garment were faintly visible under his black collar.

She felt a little choked up. She had wanted to bring the lovers together last night, but ended up making Fu Dong stand in the rain for half the night.

The green-bladed sword tassel on Fu Dong's waist was still hanging with water droplets, just like it looked when he returned from the bloody battle at the border.

"Mr. Jiang appreciates your kindness."

Fu Dong stood holding the sword, the white tiger pattern engraved on the scabbard shining in the morning light: "The commander of the imperial army has no time to catch a cold and cough. Now he has to escort His Highness to the palace."

When she turned around, her wrist armor hit the door knocker, and the clanging sound startled the birds that were taking shelter under the eaves.

Jiang Xue suddenly smiled: "Please trouble Mr. Jiang to check my pulse first."

Her fingertips brushed across Fu Dong's drooping red silk hair tie: "Go get that set of moon-white clothes, and have Young Master Jiang change into his wet clothes before going to the study."

The jade earrings swayed slightly as she turned around, casting a wandering spot of light in Fudong's eyes.

When Fu Dong led people around the corridor, Jiang Xue looked at her straight back and sighed.

The burning expectation in Jiang Xiaoan's eyes just now and Fu Dong's deliberate avoidance of gaze were like two koi carps swimming on the ice.

Some knots in your heart can only be melted away when spring water breaks the ice.

Xiao Zhan leaned against the red painted pillar and chuckled. The golden cloud pattern on his court robe was fluttered by the morning breeze, making his eyebrows and eyes more handsome. "Madam, are you going to be a matchmaker in the mansion today?"

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the golden hairpin in her hair, it suddenly curled up and hid in her sleeve - the guard on duty at the eaves was staring at the bluestone bricks and counting ants.

"Are you ashamed, Prime Minister?"

Jiang Xue deliberately tiptoed closer, the tassels of her phoenix hairpin brushed across the silver python embroidery on his collar: "Who was it last night who held up the fire avoidance map and said he wanted to..."

"It's time for me to go to court."

Xiao Zhan's ears turned red, and he quickly stuffed the gilded food box into her hands: "Remember to drink ginseng soup at si hour, walk ten laps in the garden at shen hour, and at xu hour..."

"I know."

Jiang Xue grabbed the jade belt around his waist and took the opportunity when the guard lowered his head to peck at the corner of his lips: "If those old stubborn people in the court bring up the selection again, they will say that I had a nightmare last night and vomited blood."

She brushed her fingertips across his bitten lip and smiled like a cat stealing fish.

Xiao Zhan staggered back two steps, with a blush spreading from his neck to his eyebrows.

Outside the gilded palace gate came the sound of armored guards lining up. When he turned around, his wide sleeves brought up a scent of pine and ink, but he looked back at the threshold:

"Um... the annotations on page 28 of the Fire Avoidance Chart. I'll discuss this with you when I get back."

The guards at the gate all looked up at the sky, as if they had suddenly developed a strong interest in the clouds.

Jiang Xue couldn't help but look at Xiao Zhan with a smile - this guy who seemed to be well-behaved on the surface, she clearly remembered how he pestered people in private.

"I have to leave, you must remember..." Before Xiao Zhan finished his words, his fingertips had already touched the jade hairpin in her hair.

"I know."

Jiang Xue turned her head away: "After Jiang Xiaoan finishes checking my pulse, I will go to the palace to be the finale."

The tassels on the jade hairpin swayed slightly with her movements, leaving tiny golden traces in the morning light.

Looking at Xiao Zhan's black cloak going away, Jiang Xue turned and walked towards the study.

In just half a cup of tea, Jiang Xiaoan came walking on the pine-patterned green bricks.