21 Chapter Twenty-One
"Will Xie Lang be able to return to the capital alive?"
Chapter Twenty-One
The boy had fair skin and delicate hands, but his face and body were filthy and his clothes were tattered. He was probably an abandoned child from a wealthy family, which was why he had ended up on the streets. The blood flowing from the corner of his mouth was shocking. Liu Qingqing had never seen such a scene up close before. She quickly told the coachman and the manager to carefully place the boy in the carriage and drive towards the clinic.
The carriage creaked and swayed, and the unconscious boy groaned in pain. His fingers clawed wildly, as if he wanted to dig them into the wooden planks.
"Hurry up, whichever house we get to first will do," Liu Qingqing urged through the carriage curtain.
The nearest clinic happened to be the one owned by Liu Qingqing.
Upon arrival, the coachman lifted the carriage curtain and, together with the steward who had caught up, carried the person inside, while simultaneously urging everyone to come and take a look. The staff at the clinic, however, were not lazy at all. They sprang up from their chairs and rushed over, leading them to a side room. The doctor also quickly put down his medical instruments, stood up while holding onto the corner of the table, and shakily ran towards the side room.
Then they were driven out of the inner room.
While the senior doctor was examining patients, Liu Qingqing looked around.
The clinic has a simple layout, mainly divided into two parts: one side has a rather impressive floor-to-ceiling medicine cabinet, and the other side is where the doctor examines patients. In addition to the inner room for treating injuries, there seem to be a few beds for patients to rest, visible through the curtain.
No wonder the scholar said that despite its high price, it was able to stay in business.
If the prescription is truly excellent, it can be considered one of the best in the capital.
A moment later, the old doctor came out, took the damp cloth to wipe his hands, and explained to them, "He hasn't eaten for a long time and is suffering from severe abdominal pain. He may have damaged his stomach and intestines. He should go back and eat porridge or noodles for a few days. I will prescribe a medicine for him to take home and recuperate."
He then pointed to the shopkeeper's side and said, "One tael of silver."
Seeing the coachman's wide eyes, the old doctor stroked his white beard, shook his head helplessly, and said, "If you don't have money, you can use your labor here to pay off your debts. But... look at your appearance..."
Before he could finish speaking, he shook his head slightly, almost as if to say, "How can the rich be so heartless as to refuse to help someone in distress?"
How could Liu Qingqing stand by and watch someone die, but...
“Sister, if you lend me one tael of silver, I will definitely repay you.”
The boy woke up at some point, struggled to his feet, lifted the curtain, and staggered to their side. "My name is Mu Ziying. Sister, believe me, I will definitely repay you."
As if afraid Liu Qingqing wouldn't believe him, he hurriedly opened his clothes, pulled out a piece of white jade, and stuffed it into Liu Qingqing's hand. "This is a jade pendant my mother gave me. You can give it back to me after I repay you the money."
Despite having only met once, he seemed to trust Liu Qingqing implicitly, and was also afraid that she might not trust him.
The clinic waiter handed over a bowl of rice porridge, which the boy took and drank in one gulp before wiping his mouth.
After saying that, he tried to walk out without paying attention, but after taking only two steps, his legs went weak and he fainted.
The old doctor shook his head, saying, "This young man is really stubborn. He hasn't eaten for several days but still thinks he's a little calf. Let him do whatever he wants; everyone has their own fate."
Despite saying that, she gestured for someone to move the boy to the empty bed.
Liu Qingqing frowned as she examined the jade pendant in her hand, which still held the warmth of the boy's body. After looking at one side, she turned it over to look at the other side, rubbing the marks on it with her fingertips.
He walked back to the long table and sat down to read the medical book. Just as he picked it up, he suddenly looked up at the front of the table as if by some strange impulse. When the old doctor saw this, the book fell to the table with a thud. He hurriedly got up, and with a thud, he even knocked over the heavy wooden chair.
Hearing the sound, Liu Qingqing looked over and saw the old doctor trembling as he reached out his hand to her, his cloudy eyes suddenly filled with tears. She looked back in confusion, thinking it was an old friend of the doctor, but there was no one behind her.
"But...Miss?" the old doctor asked in a trembling voice.
"What?"
The old doctor walked over with difficulty, and as soon as he stood still, he was about to kneel down before Liu Qingqing, who quickly helped him up.
The old doctor hurriedly wiped away his tears with his sleeve, laughing and crying at the same time. "I've been waiting for you for more than ten years. I've finally waited for you. The way you bowed your head when you were young lady was exactly the same as Madam Ying. I recognized you at a glance! Madam Ying was kind to me. At that time, she was not well and only asked me to help you guard this clinic. My name is Lu Yuan. You can just call me Old Lu."
"Although I have been barely surviving all these years, this shop is still here, so I can say that I have not failed in my mission."
The old doctor's eyes were still red, but he smiled broadly, looked Liu Qingqing up and down, and then beckoned her to sit down at the table, "Miss, come here, let me take your pulse."
Just as the jubilation was building, a man carrying a wine jar and braised meat walked in. He was plump and dressed in brocade, looking quite wealthy. He was the manager that Xiao Ying had arranged for the clinic. As soon as he entered, he arrogantly tossed the wine and meat onto the counter, completely disregarding the spilled broth everywhere. Seeing that Old Man Lu was busy with his diagnosis, he didn't go over, but muttered, "There are quite a lot of people here."
After waiting for a while, Old Man Lu still hadn't finished. The shopkeeper noticed something was wrong and swaggered over, about to spout some nonsense, when he saw the patient's profile and was immediately shocked. "So it's you, Miss!"
He quickly turned around and winked at the waiter, signaling him to wipe the counter clean.
"Shut up." Old Man Lu glared at the shopkeeper, his face displeased.
The shopkeeper's face turned bright red instantly, but with so many people around, he didn't say anything.
Just then, the steward bowed to the shopkeeper and led him to the door.
"The shopkeeper knows that this shop is part of our young lady's dowry. Recently, after her wedding, she finally had some time to take a look. Since you're here today, please bring out the account books for us to take back. I'll also teach the young lady how to read the account books."
While those words sound nice, they are certainly not polite.
The shopkeeper's eyes widened, and he asked cautiously, suppressing his anger, "You are...?"
The steward smiled and said, "I am the steward of the Marquis's residence. My job here is to manage the shops and other miscellaneous matters."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper's expression immediately changed drastically, and his face, which had just shown signs of displeasure, turned deathly pale.
The shopkeeper was respectful, his fat face full of wrinkles when he smiled.
But when asked about the ledgers, he bowed repeatedly, "Miss, Steward, it's really unfortunate, the accountant is ill today, and the ledgers cannot be produced at the moment."
Liu Qingqing turned around upon hearing the voice, but before she could ask any questions, the shopkeeper hurriedly explained, "Our shop always locks up the account books every day, mainly because the accountant's room contains money, so we keep a close eye on it. We usually have two keys, one for me and one for myself, and both of us need to be there to open the door."
At the same time, she summoned the waiter and asked, "Tell Miss Liu, has Accountant Liu suddenly fallen ill these past two days?"
The waiter was stunned, and soon a layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.
The shopkeeper quickly kicked him, then smiled apologetically at Liu Qingqing, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Miss. We roughnecks act like this when we see someone important. We've never seen anything like this before!"
Thus, Liu Qingqing knew that there was definitely something wrong with the account book. The real account book was in her arms, and she wouldn't urge them to change it.
After Liu Qingqing left, the shopkeeper glared fiercely at the waiter, his eyes like those of a tiger or wolf, as if he wanted to devour him. He then glanced at Old Man Lu and spat, "That old bastard's been waiting!"
Back in the carriage, Liu Qingqing's first thought wasn't about the account books, but rather the sudden change in Doctor Lu's expression when he took her pulse. Even though he tried to conceal it, she was used to observing the expressions of those around her since childhood; how could she not sense something amiss?
But just as she asked, the shopkeeper returned. Doctor Lu simply shook his head at her and then whispered to her to bring her husband next time.
Why bring Xie Lang along?
Liu Qingqing felt uneasy and clenched her fists. The clenching caused the jade pendant in her palm to dig painfully into her hand, jolting her back to reality. She had intended to buy some street food to take home, but now she had no appetite for it and urged the coachman to hurry back.
After returning to the courtyard, Liu Qingqing dismissed everyone and only invited Granny Li into the room.
Today, I've seen and heard a lot. Granny Li is getting old and her head is buzzing. She feels like she's been going out one thing after another without ever having a moment of peace.
So when the young lady called her in, she was still quite lost in thought.
It wasn't until Liu Qingqing took her hand and helped her sit down that she saw him open his palm.
Granny Li immediately snapped out of her daze, her shrewd eyes slowly widening, "This..."
Just now at the clinic, Granny Li was right beside Liu Qingqing, so of course she knew that the young man had given it to her. But at the time, it was stained with blood, so she only clearly saw that it was a piece of jade. Now that it's been wiped clean, how… how…
"Miss's jade..." is lost?
Upon hearing this, Liu Qingqing took out a jade pendant from her clothes that looked exactly like the white jade.
Liu Qingqing's jade pendant was slightly larger and not pure white jade, but rather had some translucency. The boy's jade pendant was slightly smaller, but of excellent quality, entirely white, without a single impurity.
The jade pendant threads are one red and one black, and even the knots are identical double knots.
Although it's called a jade pendant, it's actually a "peace and safety" plaque that Dayingshi carved for Liu Qingqing when she was born, to ensure her daughter's life was free from disasters and troubles. The plaque has patterns personally carved by Dayingshi.
Afraid of crying out, Granny Li quickly covered her mouth, suppressing the boiling blood in her body. Her voice trembled as she asked, "What... what's going on?"
Liu Qingqing asked in a hoarse voice, "Does Granny think there could be such a similar jade pendant in this world?"
Granny Li said it was hard to say. If it were a pendant sold in an outside shop, it would definitely be similar. But the young lady's jade pendant was carved by her mother herself. It couldn't possibly be that the lines on it were so similar, could it?
My mind was filled with a jumble of thoughts, like a tangled ball of yarn that a cat had been scratching, and I couldn't untangle a single one of them.
Liu Qingqing was the first to calm down. "When Mother was alive, did she carve any jade pendants for my uncle's family?"
Granny Li suddenly realized: "Yes, there are some."
Liu Qingqing had a plan in mind, but then she thought of something else: how did this young man happen to be in front of her, allowing her to help him and even give her the jade pendant?
This whole series of events looks like it was done on purpose.
"Quickly, send the coachman to the clinic to see if the boy is still there. If he is, tell him to meet at the clinic tomorrow."
Granny Li quickly went to make the arrangements.
Liu Qingqing sat there waiting, her mind in turmoil, and she had no appetite for dinner, so she just ate a few bites and left.
He picked up the ledger and looked at it again and again, but couldn't concentrate on it.
If we don't get any news, I probably won't be able to sleep tonight.
Fortunately, the coachman was fast and returned quickly, but the news he brought back was not good.
The boy was not in the clinic; his whereabouts were unknown.
Liu Qingqing's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly felt breathless. She hurriedly walked to the door, held onto the door frame, and looked up at the moon.
Meanwhile, under the same ray of moonlight.
The disheveled boy, with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, stood lazily on the roof, looking at the tall, burly man beside him. "Did I do a good job?"
Man: "You still need to make her feel close to you."
Get closer to him?
The boy scratched the back of his head: "Let her get close to me? Why?"
The man didn't answer: "Just do it."
The boy muttered to himself, but the man glared at him, and the boy immediately shut up.
The man then spoke calmly, "Do you have enough money on you?"
The boy said, "It's enough, but I want to go home. I haven't seen my mother for several days."
The man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this: "What kind of man is it to cling to his mother all day long? Once this matter is settled, I will let you go home."
The boy asked, "But what if my mother misses me?"
The man said unhappily, "You're overthinking it."
After saying that, he leaped off the roof and disappeared into the darkness like a ghost.
The boy sighed and lay down on the roof.
Unable to confide her grievances to her mother, she could only tell her troubles to the moon.
"Moon Goddess, do you think Xie Lang will be able to return to the capital alive this time?"
Just then, a thousand miles away, thick clouds gathered and thunder roared.
The heavy sound of rain enveloped the mountain, the rain poured down into waterfalls, and the water rushed down the cliffs, looking like it would become a flash flood in a few hours.
Inside the cave on the cliff, a man lay unconscious, his body covered in wounds, his clothes slashed open by swords, revealing fresh, red flesh. He lay on his side in a puddle of water, the filthy cave water reaching up to his face, and even the thunder could not wake him in the slightest.
It was Xie Lang.
[Author's Note]
Next chapter preview: "You guys better be prepared..."
Happy holidays~ Happy holidays~~~
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