Chapter 107 The Boundary Between Qi and Liang (19) Knowing Your Limits!

The two walked slowly. After a night of rain, the garden was chilly with autumn. The path was shaded by lush green trees, and water dripped from the branches and leaves. Yu Qi pulled Jiu Li from under the trees to his other side. Jiu Li was caught off guard and stumbled a couple of steps, giving him a reproachful glare.

He said sternly, "Your shoulders are all wet, can't you move away a bit?"

She muttered under her breath, "I wasn't paying attention while I was talking."

Seeing his helpless expression, she was actually pleased. She draped her arms over his and smiled at him, saying, "Don't worry, I'm not that delicate, I won't get sick."

Yu Qi glanced down and sneered, "If I'm really sick and uncomfortable, it's not me who's uncomfortable. Whoever is uncomfortable should suffer."

She released her grip and said casually, "If I get sick, only those who are worried will know."

He snorted and, holding the iron chain, inquired about Si Rou's condition. Jiu Li said, "She's much better, but she remembers some things and some things she doesn't. You can't mention dead people; if you do, she'll start saying there are ghosts." He then chuckled, "She's more timid than a mouse."

"What about that second concubine? How is she?"

Jiuli slowly shook her head. "I listened to you and kept an eye on her, but she didn't seem to be acting strangely. She's been staying by Madam Qi's side, serving her tea and water very diligently. Is it true that all concubines are like half a maid, perhaps even more devoted than maids?"

As she spoke, she sighed and pursed her lips, “Although families like theirs are very particular about rules, it is rare to see someone as afraid of their mistress as she is, especially since her husband has passed away and there are no elders watching over her. Her own son has also passed the imperial examination and become an official. There is really no need for her to be so apprehensive. I think her fear of her mistress is somewhat unreasonable, as if she has done something wrong.”

Her words struck a chord with Yu Qi. He glanced at her sideways before turning his gaze back to the sunlit path ahead. No wonder he always felt something was off about Enoki. Yes, her excessive reverence for Sirou made no sense. She had borne children for the Qi family and helped manage the household affairs. With such hard work and merit, she had secured a firm foothold in the Qi household, unlike those concubines who were mediocre and incompetent except for their looks. Why should she be so pathetic?

After a while, he chuckled to himself, "When did you learn about these things?"

Jiuli pouted, "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I don't understand. The old lady and Mama Feng used to say a lot of things like that. She wanted me to be tolerant of others when I got married, so that people wouldn't say that the girls raised by the Yu family are petty and jealous."

Yu Qi nodded with a smile, "It's all for nothing that I taught you."

These words meant two things: either he wouldn't send her off to marry, or he wouldn't have any ulterior motives. Jiu Li pondered for a moment, then smiled at him with great interest.

Meanwhile, at the Four Seasons Pavilion, Manbao and Fanyi returned one after another. Zhang Da nudged Du Zhong and winked at him.

Unfortunately, Xu Bai caught his eye and secretly scrutinized Manbao and Fanyi. He hadn't noticed their absence at first, but they arrived a moment apart halfway through the ritual. Fanyi took the copper bell, shook it while chanting, and casually tossed talismans into the air. He then took a sip of wine, spat it out at the peach wood sword, and a large flame erupted. Everyone clapped and stomped their feet at the sight, but Manbao didn't look at him, as if she were trying to hide something.

Xu Bai remained silent for a while, then saw Yu Qi Jiu Li arrive late. Jiu Li stood next to Man Bao, who softly asked, "Where have you been?"

Jiuli chuckled, "The outhouse."

Xu Bai could tell from her smile that she was just being perfunctory, but he pretended not to know. After the ritual was over and everyone had dispersed, Xu Bai invited Yu Qi Jiuli to the inner gate to examine Si Rou.

Following Yu Qi's instructions, Du Zhong and Zhang Da did not go inside. Instead, they pretended to stroll around and followed several Taoist priests to the southeast corner. They waited outside the two guest rooms for a while and sure enough, they saw the Taoist priest Fan Yi change into a gray robe and go straight out of the southeast corner door.

The two followed closely behind, and after a short distance to Sanhe Street, they saw him disappear into a money exchange, so they waited at the street corner. Zhang Da crossed his arms and laughed, "Mr. Yu guessed correctly, he really is here to exchange silver. How much do you think Zhang Manbao gave him?"

Du Zhong shook his head from the side, "I don't know, but no matter how much, you can still make money by having an affair, it's a really good deal."

“You’re envious, kid? You’re thinking of seducing a rich lady?” Zhang Da sized him up. “Judging by your looks and age, you’d be perfect for that, as long as you’re not afraid of getting beaten to death by Mr. Yu.”

Du Zhong's smile vanished, and she glared at him fiercely. "You underestimate me. I don't make money off women!"

As they were talking, Fan Yi came out of the money shop, carrying a bag of silver in his hand, which looked quite heavy. After he left, the two men hurriedly went into the money shop to ask, only to find out that he had exchanged two hundred taels of silver. The two men then came out again and followed in the direction Fan Yi had gone. After following him for half a day, they saw Fan Yi turn into an alley, knock on the door, and go into a house.

The two didn't know when he would come out, so they sat and waited in the teahouse in front of the street. After a while, a carriage suddenly stopped in front of them. Du Zhong recognized it as the Guan family's carriage. He stared at it and saw Guan Youjun gracefully getting off the carriage. He told his maid to dress up and take the carriage to the other side of the street to wait.

Zhang Da stood up to greet her, "Miss Guan, what a coincidence! If you don't mind the coarse tea at this stall, please sit down and rest your feet."

Youjun covered her mouth and smiled, "What a coincidence! I saw you on the street ahead and remembered what Mr. Yu had told me. I just found out what he had told me, so I turned around and came back to tell you."

It turned out they were talking about Taoist Fan. She brushed aside the object and sat down, glancing at the two of them with a smile. "It seems I've gone to unnecessary trouble. Now that you're here, you must have already found out about Taoist Fan's family background."

As Du Zhong poured tea, he asked in surprise, "He still has a family?"

Youjun found it amusing, "Everyone has parents, right? If you have parents, how can you not have a home?"

"I thought monks were mostly lonely people."

“There are lonely people, and there are people with families. Becoming a monk is not just about making a living.” Youjun turned her head to look at the alley that Fan Yi had just turned into. “That’s Fan Yi’s secular home. I heard he has elderly parents and young children, a family of seven or eight people. But there’s one thing you’re wrong about. Although he has a wife, he’s never been a lecher. He never fools around with other women, and I don’t think he has any affair with the eldest mistress of the Qi family.”

Zhang Da guessed wrong and, feeling embarrassed, chuckled awkwardly, "It wasn't you, Miss Guan, who first said that."

Youjun laughed and said, "I only said that I saw them pulling and tugging at each other, I didn't say that the two of them had an affair."

Du Zhong snorted and said, "Whether they have a secret relationship or not, there must be some shady business going on. Otherwise, why would Zhang Manbao secretly give him money? And such a huge sum of two hundred taels of silver!"

After speaking, Youjun got up to take her leave. She sat there with her tea empty, without eating a single bite. She only instructed Du Zhong to convey her words to Yu Qi, saying, "It is rare for Mr. Yu to have something to tell me, so that he will not blame me for not being attentive." With that, she went across the street to board her carriage and left.

Zhang Da pondered her last two sentences and found them amusing, and he and Du Zhong began discussing her again.

It was past noon, the sky was clear and the sun was shining. Xu Bai and Enoki accompanied Yu Qi and Jiu Li to Si Rou's room for a consultation. Yu Qi asked Si Rou a few questions about everyday matters, which Si Rou answered clearly. After she finished speaking, she stared at Yu Qi with narrowed eyes for a long time.

Enoki stepped forward and said with a smile, "This is Mr. Yu, who has come to treat your illness."

Si Rou glanced at Yu Qi a couple more times, then turned to Wang Mama and muttered, "What illness do I have that I need him to come see me? I'm perfectly fine here. Asking him to leave is not cheap; having a stranger walking around the house is not a good thing."

Wang's mother didn't respond, only gave an awkward smile.

At this moment, Yu Qi stood up from the stool, the shackles clanging. Si Rou's eyes fell on the shackles again, a look of panic on her face. She whispered to Wang Mama, whom she had pulled aside, "What kind of doctor is wearing iron shackles? What if he's a bandit pretending to be a doctor and has come to our house? We'd better kick him out!"

Unfortunately, everyone overheard a word or two, and Xu Bai said awkwardly, "Sir, let's go sit outside."

Yu Qi moved, his toes tumbling over something. Looking down, he saw it was a box under the bed. A box hidden in this place must contain something important.

As expected, Si Rou glanced at her warily. Wang Mama looked at her from both sides and quickly smiled, reassuring her, "Don't worry, Madam, Mr. Yu isn't a thief, he's really a doctor." Then she whispered to Yu Qi with a smile, "This is our Madam's money box."

Si Rou quickly scolded her, "You tell everyone everything!"

Everyone felt a little embarrassed, so Xu Bai had no choice but to invite Yu Qijiu to sit in the outer room. Enoki instructed the maid to bring tea and said apologetically from the upper couch, "Mr. Yu, please don't take it to heart."

Yu Qi waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it."

As they were talking, Xu Yun and his wife Man Bao came in. Xu Yun said that he had just returned home from the yamen and had changed his clothes before coming here to pay his respects to Si Rou. The two went into the bedroom and came out after a while. Xu Yun sat down and asked Si Rou in detail about her day.

Enoki smiled on the couch and said, "I'm feeling a bit better today. I recognize everyone in the family, but I don't recognize Mr. Yu and Miss Jiuli yet. I also got the dates wrong for some things, but I think I can remember the little things."

Xu Yun nodded slightly to her, then turned her gaze to the other side and bowed to Yu Qi, saying, "Thank you for your trouble in treating me, sir."

Yu Qi returned the gesture with a cupped hand, "No need to thank me. My medicine is not very effective. I think it was the ritual that worked. After a few more days, my wife should be able to recover as usual."

Manbao looked a little hesitant. "How many more days do we have to do this?"

Xu Yun turned to look at her, smiling faintly, "There are plenty of empty rooms at home, what's wrong with keeping them for a few more days? It's just a matter of a few more bowls of rice and a few taels of silver. Although our family is not what it used to be, we can still afford this amount of money."

Women are naturally perceptive when it comes to matters between men and women. As soon as Jiuli heard this, she felt that Xuyun's tone was different from usual, as if he was a little annoyed. But when she looked over, he still had his usual gentle and elegant smile on his face.

Just as she was wondering what was going on, Enoki chimed in and asked, "Did Xuyun have lunch outside before coming back?"

Xu Yun nodded slightly, then looked around at everyone, "Mr. Yu, have you eaten yet?"

Upon hearing this question, Xu Bai realized that even he and Yu Qi hadn't had time to eat yet. He quickly called someone in and instructed them to set out their lunch in the outer study.

Xu Yun immediately scolded him lightly, "How come you can't even remember to properly arrange the meal?"

Xu Bai couldn't argue, and just lowered his head. Seeing this, Xu Yun stopped talking, stood up and bowed to Yu Qi, "Mr. Yu, please go outside to eat first. Xu Bai, please keep him company."

After saying that, Xu Bai led Yu Qi Jiu Li out. After they had gone a little further, Jiu Li quietly pulled Xu Bai behind her and sneered, "I didn't realize you were so afraid of your older brother. You don't even dare to argue back when he says something?"

Xu Bai stared at Yu Qi's back, deliberately making sure he could hear her, "It was my fault for being rude. Whether it was for business or personal reasons, you and Mr. Yu were helping me, but I even forgot to prepare lunch."

Yu Qi suddenly stopped and turned around to glare at Jiu Li, only then noticing the two of them talking behind him. "What are you talking about?"

Jiuli hurriedly caught up and walked obediently beside him, saying, "It's nothing. I just said Xu Bai is afraid of his older brother."

"They show respect, but who is like you who has no sense of awe?"

The implication seemed to be a reprimand for her whispering to Xu Bai, which was disrespectful to him. Jiu Li pursed her lips and leaned against his shoulder, "It's not like we were whispering anything."

"If it wasn't a secret, why did you have to tell me behind my back?"

"See, it's just because I'm afraid you'll hear and scold me again."

"You know you'll get scolded, yet you still say that?" Yu Qi said sternly. "If you continue to act so recklessly, you're not allowed to see him again. I'll allow you to make friends as you've asked, but you need to know your limits."

Jiuli curled her lower lip and obediently nodded, "I understand."

Xu Bai saw Jiu Li leaning towards him, her head occasionally tilting back, while he walked steadily, unaware of what they were talking about. He wanted to interrupt, so he took two steps to catch up, but the two of them stopped talking, which only made him feel more bored.

After a moment of silence, he walked to the second gate and heard two old women talking outside. One of them said, "Did you hear that? This morning, Second Master and Mr. Yu summoned Tan Chu Shi for questioning, and he said to his face that he killed Chen Zifang."

One person scoffed, "He killed him? He wouldn't dare!"

"That's right, who would believe him? What man is as cowardly as him? He even dared to kill someone—humph, I'm not laughing at him, but other people's wives are having affairs with other men. If they find out, they'll at least beat the man up and make him pay some money. Tan Chu Shi is much less troublesome; he doesn't even have to pay him any money. He just runs errands for him."

"Chen Zifang herself is a lazy person, why would she run errands for him?"

“A while ago, whenever someone from inside sent something to the old man, Tan Chu Shi was too lazy to go, so Chen Zi Fang would go for him. If he didn’t have a guilty conscience, would he have done the job for Tan Chu Shi?”

Yu Qi stood on the stone steps inside the gate and listened to the two women's discussion for a while before turning out. He was about to walk straight over when a sudden thought struck him. He turned around and stopped in front of an old woman. "You just said that Chen Zifang used to run errands for Tan Chushi, delivering messages and things?"

The old woman nodded blankly, then shook her head, "It's not that I run errands for him every single thing, it's just that I sometimes run errands for him."

"For example, what kind of jobs are they?"

The old woman scratched her head, thinking slowly, "For example, the other day Madam asked me to send a robe to Master, and the eldest mistress sent a message to Master, and there were guests at the house inviting Master home—"

Yu Qi frowned as he listened, but remained silent. He walked away after she finished speaking.

Jiuli and Xubai looked at each other in confusion, wondering which words had touched his mind. They dared not disturb him and could only follow quietly.

Jiuli guessed that his mind was already far away and he probably wouldn't notice anything else, so she started chatting with Xubai in the back again. But before she could say more than a few words, she heard him cough, and she quickly stopped talking and ran to his side.

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Author's note: Thank you for reading.