Chapter 58: Even though we are old friends
Yun Yuan walked in lightly with the medicine in her hand. Looking up, she saw Feng Yanyuan sitting beside the bed, staring at the unconscious Feng Yanxuan.
The medicine bowl was placed gently on the table.
"Master Xuan hasn't woken up yet?"
Feng Yanyuan smiled bitterly, "I was a bit too harsh... When he wakes up, he'll definitely get a scolding." Turning to look at Yun Yuan, a long-lost lightness glint in his eyes, "You were right. I'm meeting my real second brother so soon."
Earlier, Song Hezi, beset by Feng Yanyuan, had examined Feng Yanxuan from head to toe. He scrutinized not only his face and hair, but even his pulse. The old man rambled on, detailing everything from Feng Yanxuan's past ailments to the new injuries he'd sustained while saving the princess. He seemed intent on making up for all the missed treatment. Finally, as the old medical sage grasped Feng Yanxuan's arm, his fingertips lingered on the age-old scar, detailing its cause and date with pinpoint accuracy.
Yun Yuan pursed her lips and smiled: "Master Xuan understands me after all. He didn't waste any words and just stretched out his neck. I'm sure he won't mind."
"Who said I don't care?" Feng Yanxuan suddenly murmured, his long eyelashes trembling but he still didn't open his eyes. His voice was hoarse with grievance, "It hurts so much that my soul is about to be scattered..."
Seeing this, Yun Yuan hurriedly picked up the medicine cup and approached. Feng Yanyuan stopped her with his arm and reached out to take the celadon bowl. However, seeing that Feng Yanxuan still refused to open his eyes, he said unhappily, "Now that you're awake, stop pretending to be dead. Get up and drink the medicine."
Feng Yanxuan opened his eyes and rolled his eyes at his younger brother. But when his gaze shifted to Yun Yuan, his expression softened. The corners of his eyes curved slightly, and a gentle smile of long-lost reunion appeared on his face. "Little bird..." His voice was soft, as if he was afraid of scaring the cat away. "Long time no see."
Yun Yuan covered her lips and chuckled softly, "This medicine was specially brewed by the Master. The temperature and timing were calculated to perfection. If it gets cold, the efficacy will be compromised."
Feng Yanyuan handed the medicine bowl to him and said coldly, "Drink it quickly!"
Feng Yanxuan frowned and raised his hand to block it, nearly spilling the medicine. He said angrily, "You almost broke my neck, and now you dare to burn me with hot medicine?" He narrowed his eyes and said fiercely, "What? Do you think I'm not dying fast enough?"
Feng Yanyuan sneered: "Second brother, do you really want me to feed you myself?"
Feng Yanxuan raised the corner of his lips, and turned his eyes to Yun Yuan with a mischievous smile in his eyes: "I want the little bird to feed me."
Feng Yanyuan's face darkened. He grabbed him by the collar, forcibly dragged him up, and forced him to sit on the bed. He shoved the medicine bowl into his hand and said, "Stop talking nonsense and drink it yourself!"
Feng Yanxuan glared, gritting his teeth and saying, "Rude!" When he took the medicine bowl, he turned around and smiled at Yun Yuan, the teardrop mole at the end of his eye coming to life: "Since you brewed the medicine yourself..."
Before he could finish his words, Feng Yanyuan suddenly reached out and pushed the bottom of the bowl, and the medicine bowl was directly against Feng Yanxuan's lips: "What are you hesitating for? Drink it!" His bony hands firmly supported the edge of the bowl, forcing him to raise his head and drink it all in one gulp.
"Cough cough...you murdered your own brother!" Feng Yanxuan's eyes turned red from choking. He wiped the medicine stains from the corner of his lips with the back of his hand, and breathed out with his tongue sticking out.
Feng Yanyuan then curled up the corners of his mouth in satisfaction and handed the empty bowl to Yun Yuan.
Feng Yanxuan smacked his lips, his brows furrowed so tightly that they could kill a mosquito: "This medicine is so bitter it's almost fatal."
Feng Yanyuan snorted softly, "Good medicine tastes bitter, only poison tastes sweet. Second brother, do you want to try something sweet?" Before he finished speaking, he saw Feng Yanxuan's eyes were glued to Yun Yuan again, and he immediately raised his hand to block them: "Where are you looking?"
"Get out of the way!" Feng Yanxuan slapped his hand away, his peach blossom eyes filled with heartache, "Yuan'er's face is so pointed, how have you been ordering people around these days?"
Feng Yanyuan was startled when he heard this, and turned to examine Yun Yuan carefully. A faint greenish hue lingered under her eyes, and the sash around her waist seemed a little loose. She had traveled so long and been running around so much these days that she probably hadn't even had a good meal.
Feng Yanxuan suddenly stood up, his eyes full of interest: "Little bird, do you know which dim sum restaurant in this city is the most famous?"
Yun Yuan shook her head.
"Look at this!" Feng Yanxuan immediately turned and glared at Feng Yanyuan, his fingers tapping in anger. "A good person follows you, but she can't even have a decent snack. She spends all day riding horses or working late at night. You're going to tear her apart!"
Feng Yanyuan's Adam's apple moved, he pursed his lips, and just listened to the scolding in silence.
After Feng Yanxuan finished scolding his brother, his expression shifted back to gentleness. He leaned closer to Yun Yuan and said mysteriously, "There's a Gantang Lane on the edge of East City. Turn three alleys—" He tapped her sleeve lightly, "The family with the faded apricot-yellow flag makes their ancestral honey-pickled preserved fruit cakes. Choose the osmanthus honey that's been in a ceramic jar for three years, wrapped in dried lychees from Lingnan." He swallowed hard as he spoke, "It's soft and sticky right out of the steamer, and when you bite it, the amber honey oozes out."
Yun Yuan couldn't help laughing: "Master Xuan, is the medicine bitter in your mouth? Do you want to eat something sweet?"
Feng Yanxuan said seriously, "I'll take you there right now..." But as soon as his feet touched the ground, his knees gave way and he staggered back to the edge of the couch, clutching his forehead and lamenting, "Third brother, oh, third brother! You've never been so cautious in your attacks since you were little. You're deliberately trying to kill my second brother!"
Feng Yanyuan was both angry and amused. He put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Just calm down for a while. You'll be fine after lying down for two days. If you really want those cakes, I'll send Feng Jiu and the others to buy them."
"No!" Feng Yanxuan slapped his hand away and said stubbornly, "How can those rough hands and feet know how to choose cakes?" He turned to look at Yun Yuan, "Besides, the honey-pickled cake is freshly baked, so let Yuan'er taste it while it's still hot..."
Yun Yuan pursed her lips and smiled faintly, "It's better for me to go. How can the guards pick out these delicate things? If I go by myself, I can not only taste something fresh and hot, but also bring some back for Master Xuan. This medicine is very bitter, and it's just right to use something sweet to reduce the bitterness."
Feng Yanxuan's eyes traced her face for a moment, then he nodded with a smile. "That's fine. You've been following the Third Brother these days, busy investigating cases or chasing criminals all day long. It's rare for you to come to Shouchun, and you haven't even had a good stroll through the streets." His voice gradually softened as he instructed, "There's a lot of food around that shop. Take your time to browse and enjoy the food. There's no need to rush back. When you get tired, go to the second-floor window seat. You can see the whole street from there."
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and took out a jade token from his waist and put it into Yun Yuan's hand. "Take this and you can go anywhere in the city. If you see anything new and interesting, feel free to buy it. Even if you want to buy a shop, it's enough."
When Yun Yuan took the jade token and met Feng Yanxuan's gaze, her heart suddenly trembled - those usually lazy and unrestrained eyes seemed to be surging with complex emotions: pity, but also a deeper undercurrent, with indescribable sadness and helplessness.
Feng Yanyuan stood aside with his arms folded. He snorted softly at the words, "You know how to order people around." But he didn't stop her. He turned around, took a moon-white cloak from the shelf, and handed it to Yun Yuan, "Be careful, don't..." He paused, glanced at his brother who was lying on the couch with an expectant look on his face, "Don't be like some people who can't walk when they see sweets."
Yun Yuan pursed her lips and smiled, carefully putting away the jade token and cloak. As she was about to leave, she heard Feng Yanxuan shout from behind her, "If you meet someone selling sugar horses, bring back a couple!"
Feng Yanyuan stared at Yun Yuan's figure disappearing around the corner of the stairs, and only slowly closed the door after the sound of the light footsteps had completely faded away.
When he turned around, his face was cold.
"Why did you send her away?"
Feng Yanxuan, who was lying on the bed, had also put away all his smiles. He leaned back against the carved bed rails and sighed, "Because I came here this time to tell you something important. She can't bear to hear it."
"I've guessed that. If they just wanted to take away Taoist Yuanyi, why would my second brother have come all the way here?" Feng Yanyuan approached the bed. "Where were you hiding before? What happened?"
Feng Yanxuan tapped his shoulder with a pale finger and said with a wry smile, "I was still seriously injured and couldn't even get off the bed. Where could I hide?" He suddenly raised his eyes, a complex light in his eyes, "It was my mother...my mother who hid me."
The sunlight outside the window was suddenly blocked by dark clouds, and the room suddenly became dim.
Feng Yanxuan's voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible: "That evening, my mother went to Wangyue Valley to get medicine and accidentally ran into..." He paused, "ran into another 'me'." Feng Yanxuan's fingertips stroked the dark patterns on the brocade quilt, "That 'me' was standing next to Feng Xiaoming, and the two of them were tempering medicine on a scimitar." A bitter arc appeared at the corner of his mouth, "I think I didn't disguise myself at the time, and my expression and words were immediately recognized by my mother who was secretly observing. Her first reaction was naturally that I would be killed, she couldn't beat them, so she rushed to find me. Before we could figure out what was going on, you..."
“That’s the man who killed me.”
Feng Yanxuan glanced at him distressedly, then sighed, "That was such a chaotic night... My mother acted decisively, knocking me unconscious with a single blow, and hid me in the secret room beneath the ancestral hall." He smiled wryly, rubbing the back of his neck. "She was worried that I would be harmed and replaced by that man, so she kept me in that dark place for a full half month, not even telling my father, until..."
"Until what?" Feng Yanyuan's voice suddenly became tense.
"Until Big Brother caught that guy."
Feng Yanyuan was stunned.
"My eldest brother has actually been following you secretly. He knows the spy's style of doing things best - if the mission is not completed, that person will definitely attack you again." He tapped the edge of the bed with his fingertips, "Father is willing to let you roam the world, and he also wants to lure the snake out of its hole." Feng Yanxuan sighed, "During this period, the matter of the Wuliang List and the portrait has also been investigated thoroughly. It's all..." He paused, as if those three words were difficult to say.
"Feng Xiaoming." Feng Yanyuan said lightly.
"He used the Feng spies to pass the message to Prince Zhao to bypass Big Brother." Feng Yanxuan glanced at Feng Yanyuan's sneer and added, "Many Feng spies are already under his control."
Feng Yanyuan frowned: "Can you find out why Feng Dian is like this?"
Feng Yanxuan sighed deeply again, "This is exactly why I had to send Yuan'er away today." He looked at Feng Yanyuan with a serious look, "When you left, father should have said that we had to eliminate the Xiafeng spies..."
"It's true..." Feng Yanyuan's voice suddenly became dry.
"All the Feng spies who had served Wu Chang have been killed," Feng Yanxuan said softly, each word carrying a heavy weight, "except her."
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