Chapter 69, "Yu Tong"

Meng Yurou was quite frightened by Meng Yutong and Ji Yun's coordinated "treatment." Feeling panicked, she didn't care about anything else. She hurriedly clutched her veil, grabbed the medicine, and left with her head down.

After leaving Zhaoyutang and crossing Wangxian Bridge, Aunt Qin had been waiting for a long time in a secluded corner. She was now as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

After waiting for a long time, as soon as she saw her daughter, she rushed forward, grabbed her hand, and asked repeatedly, "How are you? Did Meng Yutong examine you? What did she say? Is your illness serious?"

Her series of questions made Meng Yurou feel even more upset.

Meng Yurou abruptly ripped off her veil and threw it into Aunt Qin's arms, revealing her red and swollen eyes from crying. She angrily scolded, "It's all your fault! You insisted on finding some dubious ancient beauty remedy! Now look what happened, my appearance hasn't improved at all, and I've even gotten sick! Even Physician Ji said that if I don't rest and recuperate properly, my face might be ruined!"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Qin panicked, her face turning deathly pale. She stammered helplessly, "No, no! That prescription was something I painstakingly obtained through connections, and the water used to brew the medicine was the cleanest well water. How could... how could it be so serious? Is there a mistake?"

"Physician Ji?" Aunt Qin realized, "Weren't you there to see Meng Yutong? Who is this Physician Ji...?"

She paused, her eyes widening as she stared in the direction of Zhaoyu Hall, exclaiming in surprise, "Is that Young Master Ji? What's he doing in Zhaoyu Hall? Didn't he and Meng Yutong break off their engagement a long time ago?"

Meng Yurou was already annoyed and couldn't stand Aunt Qin's incessant chatter in her ear. She was too lazy to argue with her anymore, so she gave a cold rebuke, shook off Aunt Qin's hand, turned around and stormed off.

Aunt Qin hurriedly lifted her skirt and chased after her, repeatedly urging, "Rou'er! Rou'er! Slow down! The carriage is stopped just ahead. Be careful not to twist your ankle! We'll take your medicine when we get back, and you'll be fine!"

After seeing off Meng Yurou, this formidable figure, in Zhaoyu Hall, Bai Zhi felt that the clinic was much brighter.

She pouted, leaned close to Meng Yutong's ear, lowered her voice, and said indignantly, "Miss, why do you have to treat her? She should just suffer on her own! If she hadn't acted so recklessly the other day, you wouldn't have been forced to move into this clinic and couldn't even sleep peacefully."

Meng Yutong smiled, reached out and gently rubbed the top of her head, and imitated her, pretending to be mysterious as she leaned closer and whispered in her ear: "Silly girl, don't worry, how could I sincerely treat her? After scaring her like this today, she will definitely stay obediently in the mansion for the next few days and dare not cause any more trouble."

Bai Zhi then turned her anger into joy, lowered her voice a little, and said with a hint of smugness, "Actually, when I was getting her medicine just now, I deliberately added a few extra coins of Coptis chinensis, just to make her gossip and complain nonsense suffer!"

Upon hearing this, Meng Yutong frowned slightly.

Bai Zhi thought Meng Yutong was displeased and was about to apologize when she heard Meng Yutong sigh softly, her tone full of regret: "That Coptis chinensis costs money, it's such a waste to waste it on her."

"What the young lady says is true! She really got off easy!" Bai Zhi suddenly realized and nodded repeatedly. Just then, another patient behind her urged her to get her medicine, so she didn't say anything more, turned around and jogged back to the counter to continue her work.

With many patients today, Meng Yutong did not exchange pleasantries with Ji Yun as she had yesterday. The two of them worked together seamlessly, each leading a team and treating patients simultaneously, which greatly improved their efficiency.

Ji Yun sat upright beside Meng Yutong, calmly examining the patient before him with an air of aloofness and self-possession.

Because of the limited space inside the hall, in order to accommodate more people waiting for their appointments, the two people's seats had to be arranged very close together, with only two fingers' width between their shoulders and arms.

Therefore, the person next to him probably heard every word of Meng Yutong and Bai Zhi's private conversation.

Meng Yutong's eyelashes trembled slightly as she thought to herself: So what if he heard it? Could he possibly reprimand me again in front of everyone?

She composed herself and continued to focus on the pulse under her fingers.

Just as she was concentrating, she suddenly felt a very light touch on her right shoulder. The touch was almost imperceptible, carrying a hint of warmth. She turned her head slightly bewildered, looking at Ji Yun sitting upright beside her, as if nothing had happened.

His eyes held a questioning look.

Ji Yun, however, remained calm and naturally handed over the purple brush in his hand, saying indifferently, "Yutong, please help me dip it in ink."

The hall was noisy and bustling with people. But the two words he clearly uttered seemed to carry some kind of power, clearly reaching her ears.

Meng Yutong's forehead twitched slightly as the memory of last night, which had been rather abrupt and perplexing, suddenly resurfaced in her mind.

In the darkness, under the newly planted pomegranate tree, Ji Yun called out to her, "Yu Tong".

She was bewildered and confused then, just as she is now, or rather, even more so now.

She frowned, staring at Ji Yun's seemingly calm face, one hand still firmly resting on the patient's wrist, while the other reached for the inkstone on the table.

She picked up the inkstone and placed it between the two of them, but her movement seemed to have lost its aim. With a soft 'snap', the inkstone slipped from her hand and landed between them, splashing a few drops of black ink.

One or two drops landed precisely on Ji Yun's outstretched finger.

Meng Yutong finally uttered the words she had held back all night, her tone somewhat enigmatic: "Physician Ji, it seems we are not yet familiar enough for you to address me by my given name. Please show some respect."

Ji Yun lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the unusual ink stain on the back of her hand, before looking up at her again, his eyes deep and unfathomable, as if a dark current was surging within them.

He wasn't angry; instead, he chuckled very softly, a laugh so low it was almost drowned out by the surrounding noise.

"It was Ji who was abrupt."

His voice softened, yet carried an undeniable air of authority. "However, I have always believed that Doctor Meng is a man of his word." He casually brushed away the ink stain with his fingertips, his gaze as calm as a deep pool, looking directly into her eyes as if trying to discern every subtle emotional fluctuation in her. "Yesterday in the courtyard, when planting the tree under the moon, it seems... that Doctor Meng had already given his approval?"

Meng Yutong choked up, and the scene from last night suddenly came to mind.

The moonlight was like water, and the shadows of the trees swayed gently. He stood beside the newly planted pomegranate tree, his tone natural: "Since we are now friends, we may address each other by our first names. Doctor Meng calls me 'Ji Yun.' I, Ji, will also address Doctor Meng by his first name."

She did nod.

However, the "name" she understood was "Meng Yutong," not the "Yutong" that he blurted out at that moment, which carried a hint of intimacy.

She was speechless for a moment, looked up at him and glared, only to see that he looked calm and composed, as if she was the one who had gone back on her word and was being unreasonable.

The sounds of coughing and whispering from the surrounding patients made it clear that this was not the time to argue.

She took a deep breath, finally giving in, and with a hint of resignation, whispered dismissively, "...Whatever."

"Left and right" is just a form of address; her fussing over it makes it seem like she cares a lot about Ji Yun.

Since he has a mouth anyway, let him call whatever he wants.

Having settled this matter, she recalled how Ji Yun had helped her prank Meng Yurou earlier, so she didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Ji Yun, do you know the woman in pink who came to see me earlier wearing a hat with a wide-brimmed hat?"

Upon hearing her question, Ji Yun noticed that she had changed her form of address, and a very slight smile appeared on the corner of his lips.

She really wasn't willing to suffer even the slightest loss.

He replied frankly, "I overheard you talking to Bai Zhi just now. That person seems to be your half-sister, Miss Meng the Second."

A hint of inquiry flashed in Meng Yutong's eyes: "So you don't know her? If that's the case, why didn't you expose me earlier, and instead played along with my act?"

“I do not know that young lady,” Ji Yun’s phoenix eyes turned slightly, his gaze calm and focused on her face, his eyes clear and sincere, with a penetrating power that was hard to ignore.

His words seemed to come from the bottom of his heart, without a trace of falsehood or perfunctoriness. "However, based on our time together, I firmly believe that you are not such a willful and reckless person who treats medicine and patients as a game. Since you have acted this way, you must have your reasons. I trust your judgment, and therefore I am willing to assist you."

Just because he trusted her, Ji Yun, who was usually conservative and rigid, was able to make an exception for her and accompany her in this play that he considered "nonsense".

A complex emotion, difficult to describe, quietly crept into my heart, mostly one of surprise and bewilderment.

She suddenly felt that the person in front of her seemed somewhat unfamiliar, no longer the cold, aloof, and flawless iceberg-like person she remembered.

Ji Yun became increasingly strange.

She suppressed her inner turmoil, considered her words carefully, and then said, "Thank you for your trust, Physician Ji. However, I believe that trust is one thing, but our paths diverge, and it is ultimately difficult to work together. Our styles of doing things and our ways of dealing with the world are completely different. We have only met by chance and are temporarily intersecting due to various matters. In reality, we are not on the same path, and forcing us to get along may cause discord, which would be undesirable."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yun's fingers, hanging at his sides, tightened almost imperceptibly. He remained silent for a moment, then looked up at her again, his voice still steady, yet tinged with a strange stubbornness: "I cannot agree with this statement."

"We've worked together to research prescriptions for serious illnesses and treated patients here, cooperating seamlessly. How can you say we're 'different on the same path'? I admire your medical skills and compassion, and you've even said that we're friends. If we're friends and share the same goals, why do you insist we're not suitable to be together? What's the basis for your arguments?"

His gaze was intense, tinged with a mixture of confusion and insistence. "I don't know what causes your prejudice and misunderstanding towards me, but please don't judge things based on the past, and don't use that to push me away. I just hope you can look more at what I've done. Perhaps I'm not what you think I am."

After speaking, without waiting for her response, he suddenly turned to a patient who had just arrived at his clinic, his tone returning to its usual calm and professional: "Sir, what's wrong?" The old man in front of him hurriedly explained his symptoms to him.

Everything seemed normal. But upon closer inspection, Ji Yun's slightly turned figure appeared a little more tense than usual.

Meng Yutong watched him silently. She watched him listen intently to the old man's description of his illness, his profile sharp and focused; she watched him take the pulse with his fingertips, his expression calm and steady, every movement meticulous and serious.

He was always meticulous in his treatment of patients and his medical skills. He acted much the same way in his daily life, like cold snow on a high mountain, unmoving and unyielding, like a block of ice that could never be warmed, or like a piece of wood that knew nothing of romance.

But sometimes she felt that deep within his overly calm eyes lay many untold, heavy memories.

In the few times she spent with him in her past life, she always felt that there was an invisible, heavy barrier between them, cold and insurmountable.

But now, it seems that a corner of the solid ice has quietly melted, and the barrier seems to have thinned a little...

She was startled by the sudden, chaotic thoughts that had been swirling in her mind, and she snapped back to reality.

No matter how Ji Yun has changed, what does it have to do with her?

Once this epidemic subsides and everything settles down, their relationship will return to its original course. He will be the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, and she will be a physician at Zhaoyu Hall; their roles will be clearly defined, with no further involvement between them.

That's where they belong.

She composed herself, turned around, and focused her attention back on the patient in front of her, burying the turmoil that had just occurred within her.