Sun Mansion
The following morning, Xu Ruoyan's small pharmacy was packed with people. She was busy like a spinning top when Pei An pushed open the door and came in.
Xu Ruoyan was so busy that she didn't have time to pay attention to him, so Pei An sat down on the small stool near the door.
After sitting for a while, Xu Ruoyan hurriedly passed by carrying a basin of hot water, and kicked him on the way.
“My room isn’t very big to begin with, and you’re taking up even more space here.”
Pei An, looking aggrieved, moved his small stool outside the door, only to be kicked by Xu Ruoyan who had come back.
"Bring me a stool; a patient needs to sit."
Pei An dared not speak out in anger, and quickly offered the stool to Old Lady Wang, who was standing next to him: "Auntie, please sit down."
Finally, it was lunch break time. Xu Ruoyan saw off the last patient and then slumped into a chair as if her soul had been taken away.
Pei An ran over to pour water for Xu Ruoyan, but Banxia beat him to it.
...Can't even be as attentive as others?!
She finally felt full after drinking three cups of water. She slammed the cups down on the table and smacked her lips, saying, "Why do you keep coming here every few days? Doesn't the Ministry of Revenue care about you?"
Pei An found a seat and shrugged indifferently: "The people in the Ministry of Revenue all respect my status and won't let me do anything. Moreover, they think I'm incompetent and that I'll only make things worse for them. They wish I were always out and about."
Xu Ruoyan nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly slammed her hand on the table:
"Didn't Guo Yuan send me three large boxes of jewelry a few days ago as payment for my medical consultation? Take two boxes and find a reliable place to pawn them for me."
"No problem, leave it to me."
Xu Ruoyan wiped the water stains from her lips, and suddenly thought of something else.
"Brother Sun hasn't been here for a long time, I need to go see him."
"Brother Sun?" Pei An asked, "Which Brother Sun?"
"Oh, that's Sun Yulin from the Sun family. He even has a daughter who's a concubine in the palace."
Pei An remembered what Xu Ruoyan said.
"It must be Consort Shu. Your Majesty does like her quite a bit, but her family doesn't offer much help to him, so it's unlikely she'll be able to climb any higher."
"Yes, it's him. We're friends. He should come to me regularly for acupuncture and medicine, but he hasn't come for a while, so I thought I'd give him a visit."
Pei An was somewhat puzzled: "If he wasn't coming, sister-in-law could have just sent him a letter. Why bother making the trip?"
“You don’t know,” Xu Ruoyan grabbed a handful of melon seeds and started cracking them, “His aunt has some health problems that even the Imperial Hospital can’t cure. I originally asked him to help introduce me to someone. If he could cure Consort Shu, then my reputation would spread throughout the palace, wouldn’t it?”
However, Pei An still didn't understand after hearing this explanation, and was even more puzzled: "But after what happened at the Guo residence, your reputation has already spread. Not only the ministers, but even the Emperor knows about it. Why bother with this?"
“That’s the problem,” Xu Ruoyan tossed him a handful of melon seeds. “Logically speaking, there’s no need for Consort Shu to come here anymore, but Sun Yulin has covered all the expenses for my medicinal herbs, and his family’s relationships are quite complicated. If I help him with this favor, it could elevate his status in the family, wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?”
"Wow, that's brilliant, sister-in-law!" Pei An couldn't help but clap his hands and look at Xu Ruoyan with admiration. "She truly deserves to be my sister-in-law."
"Keep it low-key, keep it low-key." Xu Ruoyan waved her hand at him with great satisfaction, saying "keep it low-key" but her face couldn't hide her pride.
She stood up, clapped her hands, and swept away the sunflower seed shells and crumbs on her hands.
"There's no time to lose, I'll go right now!"
After saying that, she turned to Pei An and asked, "Do you want to come with me?"
Pei An hurriedly waved his hand: "No, if Qi Feng's spies find out that we're getting so close, they'll definitely become suspicious."
Xu Ruoyan pouted: "Then why do you come here every day?"
Pei An chuckled dryly, scratching his head somewhat embarrassedly: "I was very careful when I came, so I definitely won't be discovered."
"Alright then, you can do whatever you want. I'm not going to bother with you anymore." Xu Ruoyan decided to go all the way and left after tidying up a bit.
Pei An also stood up and watched her leave.
With a snap, a sunflower seed shell burst open in his mouth.
Something seems off.
"No, sister-in-law!" Pei An stamped her foot and ran out. "You haven't had lunch yet!"
But Xu Ruoyan's figure had already disappeared into the vast sea of people.
Pei An stood on the threshold, leaning against the door frame, holding a pile of sunflower seeds in one hand and picking the shells off his teeth with the other, staring blankly at the passersby.
His sister-in-law is the real strong one...
...
Following the address Sun Yulin had given her last time, Xu Ruoyan wandered around for half an hour before finally finding her way to the gate of the Sun residence. She grasped the door knocker and knocked three times, and soon a servant opened the door a crack for her.
“I am Xu Ruoyan, a friend of your second young master Sun Yulin. I’m here to see him. Please inform him.”
The servant's head disappeared behind the door in an instant. Soon after, the door reopened.
"Please." He gestured for Xu Ruoyan to enter.
Xu Ruoyan followed the servant through the vast Sun mansion, looking around as she went.
As expected of a merchant family, the magnificent decor and the pavilions and towers of varying heights are truly dazzling.
Xu Ruoyan was looking up, intently observing the exquisitely crafted eaves, when the servant in front of her suddenly stopped. By the time Xu Ruoyan noticed, it was too late, and she bumped hard into the man's back.
"Oh my god!" Xu Ruoyan hurriedly took two steps back, rubbing her nose with a grimace.
To her surprise, the servant didn't apologize to her; instead, he bowed to the front.
Xu Ruoyan was about to lash out in anger, but after just one glance, she swallowed the words that were on her lips.
Before them stood a dignified man, dressed in a dark blue silk robe with a folding fan in his hand, looking down at them.
"Young Master." Xu Ruoyan heard the servant call him that.
Young Master, isn't that Sun Yulin's elder brother?
The thought of how he bullied Sun Yulin immediately made Xu Ruoyan's expression turn disgusted, and her gaze towards him was completely devoid of respect.
She glanced at the person in front of her again, from head to toe.
Why bother using a fan in the dead of winter? It's just pretentious.
The eldest son of the Sun family, sitting opposite, naturally noticed this uninvited guest and her unfriendly gaze, so he turned to ask the servant, "And who is this...?"
The servant hurriedly replied, "Young master, this young lady claims to be a friend of the second young master and has come to visit."
"Oh? How come I've never met this friend Yulin before?"
Xu Ruoyan gave another disdainful snort.
They're all talk and no action.
"Young lady, I don't think I've ever had any grudge against you before, so why are you looking at me like that?"
Xu Ruoyan's expression changed instantly, and she immediately put on a fawning smile, as if she hadn't rolled her eyes just now.
"No, young master, you've mistaken it, you've mistaken it, haha."
He stared at Xu Ruoyan meaningfully for a long time, and finally said nothing more. He even stepped aside to make way for them.
Xu Ruoyan showed no appreciation whatsoever, gave him a perfunctory bow, and continued on her way.
After they continued walking, Sun Yutao remained standing still. He silently stared at Xu Ruoyan's departing figure, and after a long while, a smile appeared on his lips.
Soon, the servant led Xu Ruoyan to a door.
"Miss, our second young master lives here. Please come in."
Xu Ruoyan nodded, lifted her skirt, and stepped into the door.
"Oh, Yan, I've missed you so much these past few days!"
Before Sun Yulin could even be seen, his loud voice rang out.
Xu Ruoyan tripped and then frowned in disgust.
What a lousy way to address someone, it's so cheesy.
"Ah Yan, I've been too busy these past few days to have time to treat anyone. Please forgive me."
Now she finally saw Sun Yulin. Even in his own home, he was still dressed in glittering jewelry, the large gold ornaments on his head and body swaying with his movements, almost blinding Xu Ruoyan.
"...Have you been paying attention to your diet these past few days?"
Sun Yulin immediately smiled obsequiously and said, "Of course, how could I dare disobey Ayan?"
"That's more like it." Xu Ruoyan's expression softened slightly. Her mood, which had been unpleasant because of seeing Sun Yutao, brightened up after meeting her friend.
"Come, come, sit down," Sun Yulin pulled her to sit at the table and poured her a cup of tea. "I was very happy when the servant told me you were coming, and I am overjoyed to see you now!"
Hearing this, Xu Ruoyan sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation.
It's started again.
"How's business lately?"
Xu Ruoyan nodded perfunctorily: "That's fine."
She didn't plan to tell Sun Yulin about her changes yet, but she figured he would find out soon enough.
"I have come here to discuss with you the matter of your aunt, Consort Shu."
"Oh right, I completely forgot about that," Sun Yulin slapped his forehead and couldn't help but complain to her again, "You have no idea how busy I've been these past few days. My dad keeps saying I'm not doing anything productive and wants me to learn from my brother how to run a business. So I'm never home and haven't had a good night's sleep in days!"
Xu Ruoyan chuckled twice, trying to express her sympathy for him.
If we don't steer the conversation back on track, they'll talk about it until sunset.
"What exactly is wrong with your aunt? You haven't told me yet."
“Oh, it’s not really a big problem,” Sun Yulin said, sounding somewhat embarrassed. He leaned close to Xu Ruoyan’s ear and whispered, “It’s her, isn’t it? She suffers from severe lower abdominal pain every month during her period. The Imperial Hospital has given her many herbal medicines, but they haven’t been able to cure her. You have no idea how distressed the Emperor is.”
As he spoke, he clicked his tongue twice to fully express his amazement.
"I really can't cure this kind of problem completely, I can only alleviate it."
Xu Ruoyan sighed. After all, the hormones used for treatment in modern times couldn't be developed now; all she could do was try to alleviate the symptoms.
“That works too,” Sun Yulin said hastily. “As long as it eases her pain, the Emperor will surely remember your contribution.”
That's one way to do it. Xu Ruoyan pondered to herself.
“Then please make the arrangements for me. I need to go there first to find out what is causing her to be in so much pain,” Xu Ruoyan said solemnly, looking into Sun Yulin’s eyes. “Thank you for your help, Brother Yulin.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
