37. Agreed time

The whole city celebrates the Double Ninth Festival.

The crowd surrounded the prince and the princess as they walked towards the palace. Some people brought eggs and vegetables to them, and some young women threw flowers at the prince on the roadside.

Not only the prince was sought after, but the two young masters of the Chen family were also covered with flower petals, just like flowers paving the road and magpies building a bridge.

Chen Ji also saw a little monk of about thirteen or fourteen years old among them. He was wearing a moon-white monk's robe, with red lips and white teeth, and a handsome appearance. He should be the Buddhist disciple that Wu Yun had mentioned, from the Yunzhou Gening School.

When this Buddhist disciple rode past, he turned around and looked at Chen Ji. The other party was stunned for a moment, then smiled at him.

In the procession, a girl riding a white horse asked curiously, "Little monk, who were you looking at just now?"

She followed the little monk's gaze, but there was no one under the eaves.

The young monk laughed and said, "Princess Baili, I saw a young man. He was very bitter, but he had killed two thieves. Only foolishness remained in his heart."

"Huh?" Zhu Baili was puzzled. "Don't keep talking so vaguely. What are the two thieves?"

"I just said it casually."

Chen Ji followed the crowd all the way back to the clinic. Old Man Yao was standing at the doorway at this time. He looked at the young men in fine clothes and riding horses on the street and said slowly, "Aren't those your two brothers? Why didn't you go and say hello?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Master, you are asking even though you already know the answer. No one recognized me."

Liu Quxing leaned forward and asked in surprise, "Master, are you talking about Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao standing next to the Crown Prince? They're the sons of the Luocheng Tongzhi family. I met them at Old Master Liu's birthday party... Are you saying they're Chen Ji's legitimate brothers?"

Old man Yao hummed indifferently.

Everyone in the clinic looked over and saw the two noble young men of the Chen family dressed elegantly in white. The jade on their collar pendants alone was worth a fortune. They wore white jade hairpins in their heads instead of wooden or silver hairpins. They were truly elegant and dazzling young men.

Liu Quxing looked at the two men, then at Chen Ji, only to see that Chen Ji had changed into a newly mended gray cloth gown, a coarse cloth belt, and a pair of old cloth shoes...

"Chen Ji, are you and they are a family?" Liu Quxing said in shock.

Chen Ji hummed indifferently.

He had originally thought that Liu Quxing, a person with a low moral standard, would take the opportunity to criticize him, but unexpectedly, he suddenly became indignant on his behalf: "Your legitimate mother is too partial. Although illegitimate sons cannot inherit the family business nowadays, they still value brotherly love and respect for younger brothers, and mothers being loving and sons being filial. Isn't she afraid of being criticized for doing this?!"

Chen Ji looked at Liu Quxing with some surprise.

But Liu Quxing continued angrily, "You never mentioned your family background in all these years, and I thought your family was just a tenant. Do you know that the jade pendant on their collar alone is enough for you to learn silver for ten years?"

Chen Ji smiled and patted Liu Quxing on the shoulder: "Brother, don't be angry, don't be angry. I didn't expect you to speak for me."

Liu Quxing was unhappy: "What kind of talk is that? After all, you and I are brothers, and they are all outsiders."

As he spoke, Liu Quxing glanced at the backs of the group and said, "Pah, a bunch of people surrounding us like ants moving house!"

Chen Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Brother, your mouth is only 50% as powerful as Master's."

Liu Quxing turned to look at Old Man Yao: "Master, he hurt you too."

Old Man Yao slapped him on the back of the head and said, "You're the only one who likes to sow discord! Forget about it. That's another world. It has nothing to do with you."

Everyone returned to the clinic, and Chen Ji said with a smile, "We just passed by a roast chicken shop and bought two roast chickens. Master, two brothers, come and eat together."

"Wow," Liu Quxing only then noticed the lotus leaf bag in Chen Ji's hand. He took it and opened it on the counter: "Chen Ji, are you rich?"

"I picked up a piece of silver," Chen Ji explained.

"Picking up silver?" Old Man Yao casually tossed six copper coins onto the counter and jokingly said as he interpreted the divination: "You didn't pick up any silver. Your trip got two unlucky guys thrown in jail... Tsk tsk, what a generous move!"

Chen Ji hurriedly looked around and saw Liu Quxing and She Dengke eating chicken intently, so he felt relieved.

He murmured suspiciously, "Did you calculate this, or did the crow see it?"

"Don't worry about that," Old Man Yao said in a deep voice, "I want to ask you, was it really you who reported the letter to the Liu family?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment, and finally said, "It's me."

Old Man Yao chuckled: "How dare you tell me the truth now?"

"Because I feel you have no ill will towards me, and I will treat the clinic as my own home from now on. You will be my only elder in the future."

"Don't try to get close to me," Old Man Yao said, ignoring the question, "Did anyone find out it was you who reported it?"

"No."

"That's fine," Old Man Yao stroked his beard. "You can do whatever you want. I can't control your legs, but don't get me into trouble!"

"Okay!"

Old Man Yao looked at him and finally added, "If you want to live longer, don't be too ostentatious. Look at those people outside the door, they are proud of their fine clothes and horses, but only those who make a fortune quietly will have the last laugh. In the future, you will find that as long as you live long enough, you can watch your enemies die one by one."

Chen Ji said seriously: "Master, I understand what you mean, and I will try my best to keep a low profile, but I can't wait that long for revenge..."

At this time, Liu Quxing was chewing on the chicken while admonishing with his greasy mouth: "Chen Ji, you really don't know how to live. You picked up some small change and bought a roast chicken without saving it."

She Dengke cursed, "Then don't eat it. You're still so talkative when you eat other people's food!"

"I'm just reminding you kindly!"

Chen Ji looked at Liu Quxing. This senior brother was an interesting person. You would say he was a good person, but he had low moral standards, was a gossip, and was petty.

You say he is a bad guy, but he still has a sense of justice in his heart and is much better than a bad guy.

However, most people in this world are like this and cannot be directly judged as good or bad.

Chen Ji tore off a chicken leg and handed it to his chest. Wu Yun came out of his arms, picked up the chicken leg with his two claws and started to bite it. Chen Ji tore off another chicken leg and handed it to Old Man Yao.

Old Man Yao curled his lips and said reservedly, "I'm too old to eat such greasy food."

Chen Ji stuffed the chicken leg directly into the other person's hand and said: "You were jumping around when you beat us with the bamboo stick. You don't look old at all. Just eat it quickly."

Old Man Yao blew his beard and glared: "How can I describe your master? He has no respect for his elders!"

There was a noisy crowd outside the clinic, and inside the clinic, four masters and apprentices were sharing a roast chicken. Chen Ji sometimes thought, it would be nice if he could live in peace like this.

But he knew that what was coming would come sooner or later.

…

…

At this time, the wedding cake girl came to the door of the clinic, holding the hem of her skirt with her orchid fingers. The girl was dignified and lovely in the palace, but she let herself go outside the palace, and her hairpin was swaying.

She leaned against the doorway to peek into the clinic and waved to Chen Ji: "Chen Ji, Chen Ji!"

Wu Yun hid in a chair behind the counter, while Chen Ji wiped his mouth and went out to greet her: "Miss Xibing, what's wrong?"

Wedding Cake said: "My wife's

Bai Prajna is injured again, and Madam sent me here to ask you to come and take a look."

Chen Ji subconsciously turned his head to look at Wu Yun behind the counter, his mind full of questions: Did you do it?

Wuyun's eyes were clear and puzzled: No!

The accounts of one person and one cat don’t match!

At this moment, Chen Ji clearly realized that Yun Fei wanted to talk to him!

I had been speculating before: who is the big shot who is connected with the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department?

It is obvious that Concubine Jing is the most likely member of the Liu family, but all clues point to Concubine Yun.

Thinking of what the Military Intelligence Department's Cao had told him, Chen Ji looked at Old Man Yao and said, "Master, I'll go with Miss Xibing."

Old Man Yao thought for a moment and suggested, "Should we bring a ginseng root with us, just in case we need it?"

Chen Ji: "...It shouldn't be necessary this time."

If he gave the cat more ginseng, he was afraid that Concubine Yun would beat him to death.

Old Man Yao felt a little regretful: "Go ahead."

Chen Ji followed the wedding cakes to the palace. When he passed by the plaque with the words "Open and Upright", he couldn't help but take another look.

Xibing showed the guard his badge and said, "My wife wants to see the doctor from the clinic."

The guards put away their spears and let them go.

In the palace, the servants and maids were busy, probably because the prince and the princess had returned and they were preparing for the evening banquet.

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Miss Xibing, who hurt Bai Prajna?"

"I don't know," Xibing said with a smile, "I haven't seen it today. Madam asked me to come find you, so I came. Please hurry up and diagnose the patient later. There's going to be an elegant gathering of Luocheng scholars at Feibai Pond tonight, and I want to go and see it. I heard that the prince has invited many talented scholars."

The two of them hurried through the archway leading to the back house and stopped at the gate of Feiyun Garden.

Xibing said loudly: "Madam, I brought Chen Ji from Taiping Medical Clinic here."

Aunt Xitang came over and glanced at Chen Ji: "Come in with me."

Chen Ji lowered his head and followed, glancing at the courtyard of Feiyun Garden out of the corner of his eye as he walked. It was actually simpler than Wanxing Garden, with only a persimmon tree in the middle, hanging red persimmons.

The persimmons are ripe, but many are left hanging on the tree.

Chen Ji suddenly remembered a story: old people often said not to pick all the persimmons, but to leave some for the birds that come over the winter. He wondered if this was the reason why Concubine Yun had saved these persimmons.

When we arrived at the door of the building in Feiyun Garden, it didn't look like a woman's residence. There were no beautiful caisson ceilings and mother-of-pearl inlays. Instead, it looked like a man's study, a bit simple and dull.

At this time, Yun Fei was listening to a girl talking with a smile on her face. The girls were all talking about stories from Donglin Academy.

Seeing Chen Ji coming, he actually said to the girl, "Bai Li, take a rest first. Mother is feeling unwell and has asked a doctor from the Imperial Medical Clinic to come and see her. I'll listen to you talk about the academy later."

Zhu Baili was stunned for a moment: "Mom, what's wrong with you?"

Concubine Yun smiled gently and said, "It's okay, I just sweat a lot. Go change your clothes quickly, there's a banquet tonight."

Zhu Baili came out of the building and passed by Chen Ji. She looked back at Chen Ji, feeling a little puzzled. She always felt that this young doctor in the clinic looked familiar, and... he could diagnose diseases at such a young age?

Concubine Yun sat upright on the armchair, wearing a brown double-collared robe with a brightly colored python embroidered on it, stepping on green waves.

It is said to be a python, but the python in the Ning Dynasty is more like a dragon.

Concubine Yun dismissed the wedding cakes and waited until the room was empty before she asked in a deep voice, "Today is the agreed delivery date. Why didn't your Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department show up?"

Chen Ji: “…”