Chapter 20 The Shocking Lychee Garden (Part 20): Anyone Dares to Propose Marriage! ...

The next day, it was still drizzling. Jiuli was changing her clothes in the east wing when she heard that a group of doctors had gathered in front of Yuqi's door. She hurriedly tidied her hair, put on her hairpins, and went out, as she was going to follow them on their rounds.

When Xu Qing saw her, he couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark, "The Yu family is truly full of talented people. Even your niece can take a pulse. That makes sense, since Doctor Yu himself doesn't have a son to carry on his mantle, he has no choice but to teach it to his niece as an apprentice."

Jiuli couldn't help but say, "You do have a son, but I've heard that your young master is always busy eating, drinking, and gambling, and doesn't have time to learn your skills."

Xu Qing was so angry that he was about to yell at her when an old doctor known as "Old Wei" stepped in to mediate. "Hey, Dr. Xu is an elder. Don't take a joke too seriously. That would be unbecoming of an elder."

This old man Wei was not only a doctor, but also an official pharmacist in Nanjing with a government permit. He was very close to the government, and the medicinal herb business in the city relied on him to mediate and negotiate. He was highly respected in the industry, and Xu Qing had to give him face.

He restrained Xu Qing, turned and grabbed Yu Qi's wrist, leaned into his umbrella and said to him, "Doctor Yu, I think your girl is smart and clever, good-looking, and not shy at all, unlike those girls from other families who, no matter how good their family background, are silent and timid when they see strangers. I don't think much of them."

So, you've taken a liking to Jiu Li? Yu Qi glanced at him, then casually turned his wrist away, saying, "Elder Wei, you flatter me."

"Yes, I speak from the heart. But I wonder if your young lady, who is in her teens, is engaged yet?"

I heard that this old man Wei has two grandsons. It was back then. Judging from his tone, he had his eye on Jiu Li. Yu Qi was disgusted. He felt like he was being roasted on a stove, unable to get up or down. He could only give a perfunctory reply, "I have my eye on a family. I'm considering it right now."

Old Wei could only nod with an awkward smile, "Alright, alright, I wish Doctor Yu a happy marriage and that all his good deeds will come to fruition."

Du Zhong overheard this and buried his head in thought. They'd found a family that Jiu Li had chosen? Whose family? Why had Yu Qi never mentioned them? After much deliberation, they realized they'd only been in Nanjing for less than a month and hadn't met many people. The only person they considered to have a good family background and talented people was Qi Xubai. Could it be him?

That's good. Judging from the time Jiuli and Xubai have been interacting, they seem to have developed a good relationship. This probably suits Jiuli's wishes. He was secretly happy for her, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

Seeing him sneaking around and chuckling ahead, Jiuli stepped forward and held the umbrella over his head. "What were Uncle and that old Wei Gong talking about up ahead?"

Du Zhong first smiled and shook his head, then couldn't help but whisper in her ear, "It sounds like you're talking about your marriage."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiu Li's expression suddenly changed. She glared at him, not out of embarrassment, but out of genuine anger. She didn't scold him, but shoved the umbrella into his hand and walked away to the side, refusing to listen to him anymore.

In silence, she regretted asking that question. If she hadn't heard Yu Qi discussing her marriage, she would have just pretended it wasn't true. But now that she had heard it, she felt like a thousand troops were chasing her, forcing her to grow up quickly and leave home.

Yu Qi hadn't heard the two of them bickering for a long time. He turned around and saw her lagging behind the crowd, idly plucking a leaf or breaking off a flower. Her face was sullen and displeased. The rain was falling on her, making the scene look even more bleak.

He held up his umbrella and called out to her, "Fish, come here."

Jiuli stopped, turned her face toward a tall cluster of flowers, plucked off small, broken leaves, crushed them, and threw them away.

He had no choice but to leave the crowd and walk back, covering her with his umbrella. "Why aren't you using the umbrella? Who are you angry with?"

She glanced ahead and said, "That old Wei Gong, I don't like him at all! He's such a busybody."

Yu Qi assumed she was resentful that Old Wei had mediated between her and Xu Qing, rendering her more sarcastic remarks useless. However, since they shared the same dislike, he lowered his eyelids and smiled gently, "Perfect, I'm annoyed by him too."

"real?"

Yu Qi nodded.

She then smiled again, grabbed his arm with both hands, and looked up at him, saying, "Sister Rouge and Xiao Ajin's room, shall I go and see you? I know them well, so you won't have to make an extra trip."

He remembered when she was very young, so short, a tiny bundle of soft flesh. He would sit on the chair, and she would climb into his arms, clinging to his arm.

But before him was her grown-up face, mostly devoid of her youthful plumpness, her features now possessing a more mature womanly charm, and her once clear and innocent eyes now held a captivating, ethereal allure. He was caught off guard and shivered, his gaze turning cold in a daze. He twisted the arm she was clinging to behind her back, handed her the umbrella, and turned to walk away. "Go ahead," he said. "Go back to your room after you're done looking. It's raining, don't wander around."

Jiuli glared for a while, her anger gradually softening into a strange resentment. Fortunately, she also disliked that old man Wei, so she figured he wouldn't listen to anything he said. Perhaps her marriage was just something that old geezer had asked, and he was just giving her a perfunctory answer. She put her mind at ease for the time being and went to Rouge and the others' room alone.

Just then, Rouge and Xiao Ajin were on their way to the main house to wait for their appointment. They had just opened their umbrellas under the eaves when they saw her coming with her umbrella. Rouge closed her umbrella and smiled at her, "Oh, why did you come here by yourself?"

Jiuli, holding her skirt, went up the steps, closed her umbrella, and said with a smile, "It's raining, and I was afraid you'd catch a cold from running around, so my uncle sent me to treat you two. I wonder if you trust me?"

Rouge, abandoning her usual arrogance, flattered him, "What's there to worry about? You grew up with Doctor Yu, so your medical skills are probably far superior to those half-baked old doctors! Besides, I'm almost fully recovered, and Xiao Ajin has become much more energetic after taking the pills you gave her, which shows that you are truly skilled."

As she was being welcomed into the house, Xiao Ajin first took her pulse and said she was much better. She then thanked Jiuli repeatedly.

Rouge laughed from the side, "Anyone can say thank you a hundred times, right? Miss Yu came all this way, and you won't even give her a bowl of hot tea? Go to the kitchen and get a pot of hot water."

Jiuli could tell that she had clearly intended to get rid of Xiao Ajin, and that Rouge probably thought the same thing as her: she had something to say to her, and it was just a matter of whether what she said was what she expected.

To everyone's surprise, Rouge looked around and, after a long while, still talked about her health. Her illness had long since healed, so what was there to say? Jiuli was getting impatient; it turned out she was just throwing out a pretext to elicit a response.

She said, "Hey, I'm not the only one who's recovered but can't go out. It's all because of that damned Lin Mo! I heard that yesterday, the Lu family's daughter-in-law in the main house was also clamoring to go out, but they wouldn't let her out either."

Jiuli nodded and said, "I know about this. I heard that she encountered a ghost the night before last and was afraid that the ghost would haunt her, so she was in a hurry to go out and was talking nonsense. I don't know if it's true or not."

Rouge stood up, flicked her handkerchief, and smiled. "Whether it's true or not, if you ask me, let her go home if she wants to! I heard she has a child at home who is learning to talk. If we keep her in this garden, won't that interfere with her family's affairs? I think those constables respect your uncle quite a bit. You have a kind heart, why don't you go and talk to your uncle and ask him to tell that Constable Zhang to let her go home?"

Jiuli sat on the edge of the bed and smiled. "My uncle hates meddling in other people's business. I told him yesterday, but he ignored it, and there was nothing I could do. I'll give that Sister Lu some advice. She's just afraid that Miss Li's spirit will haunt her. I don't think there's any grudge between them. Why would she haunt her? Just go to that stone today, burn some incense and paper money to appease her, and that will be enough."

Rouge turned her back and didn't reply. Just looking at her graceful back, she seemed lost in thought.

After having tea and returning to their room, they finished lunch. The rain intensified, finally stopping around dinnertime. Jiuli leaned against the door, looking at the sky with a smile instead of worry. She thought to herself that it was all thanks to the heavens that things were delayed until dark. At that time, she could pretend to be Lu's wife and go to the bamboo grove to burn paper money. It was just in time for the "ghost" to appear, as it was difficult for it to come out during the day. This was truly a perfect storm of favorable timing, location, and people.

Yu Qi came out of the gauze-covered cabinet after writing the prescription and saw her leaning against the door frame with a sly smile. He walked over to a chair, sat down, and poured himself some tea. "What kind of wicked idea are you thinking of now?"

Jiuli chuckled and tumbled inside to find a lamp and light it. "I'm just thinking of some spooky ideas, ideas for catching ghosts!"

"Oh? You mean catching the ghost in that little bamboo grove?"

"Are there any other ghosts besides that one?"

Yu Qi took a sip of tea and said calmly, "What idea did you come up with? Tell me."

Jiuli walked to his side and whispered something in his ear. Her warm breath went straight into his ear, like a light feather tickling it. He had to swallow a couple of times to stop the itch and turned his head away a little. "I can't believe you thought of her."

"Otherwise, we've been going back and forth in that little bamboo grove several times, how come we didn't encounter any ghosts, but it was Sister Lu who did?"

“That makes sense.” Yu Qi nodded. “It’s good that you caught this ghost, so that rumors won’t spread and help the person who deliberately set up the ghost formation.”

"So, you're saying I can go?"

Yu Qi laughed helplessly, "You won't go just because I forbid you to? I'm afraid you've already planned it all out, just waiting for it to get dark and the rain to stop so you can sneak out with Zhong'er."

Just then, Du Zhong returned with dinner. Upon hearing this, he looked at Jiu Li and then grinned at Yu Qi, saying, "It was all Yu'er's idea. I was afraid she would really encounter a ghost if she went alone in the dark."

With Yu Qi's approval, Jiu Li acted openly and legitimately. As soon as the rain stopped, she changed into the clothes of Lu's wife and went with Du Zhong to the small bamboo grove in the east of the garden.

She felt uncomfortable wearing other people's clothes, tugging and pulling at them the whole way, trying to figure out for herself, "Just looking at her figure, does she look like Sister Lu?"

Du Zhong nodded, "It's similar. You and she are about the same height. When the lanterns go out and it's pitch black, all you'll see is a silhouette. Who will be able to tell you apart?"

"What did you say to Sister Lu?"

“I offered to lend her my clothes to ward off evil spirits, and she was more than happy to oblige.”

Jiuli nodded, and as they spoke, they approached the small bamboo grove. She told Du Zhong to wait there, and only when she called him would he run into the grove to retrieve the ghost. She went in alone, without a lantern, taking advantage of the moonlight so that those pretending to be ghosts wouldn't be able to tell.

She slowly walked to the foot of the Taihu rock and, sure enough, heard some rustling sounds. She deliberately stopped and peered at the rock. Just as the Lu family's daughter-in-law had said, she saw a small foot tuck behind the rock! The hem of her skirt tucked in as well.

It was so dark, yet there was this noise in this place where someone had died. If she hadn't had a premonition, she probably would have been terrified by the scene.

In the blink of an eye, she lifted her skirt and ran up the slope, jumped behind a Taihu rock, grabbed someone, and called out "Du Zhong".

In an instant, Du Zhong came running over with a lantern, shone it on the ground, and chuckled twice, "It really is you!"

Rouge never expected that this "Lu family daughter-in-law" was a fake. Caught off guard, Jiuli shoved her to the ground. Seeing it was the two of them by the lantern light, she was both angry and ashamed. She twisted her arm angrily, "Let go!"

After letting go of her hand, Jiuli feigned surprise, "Sister Rouge, what are you doing here?"

Rouge recalled her words from that morning and suddenly realized she had fallen for her trap. She became even angrier, stood up, and slammed her dress down. "You still ask? Didn't you deliberately set me up like this?!"

A note from the author:

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Thank you for reading.