Inside the room, Su Rong was fiddling with herbal medicine.
Fen Ling, who had been missing for a few days, had returned as per Su Rong’s orders carrying two large bags of herbs. He lay on the floor panting from exhaustion and watched Su Rong handling the herbs. He grumbled, "My lady, how could you break your promise? Second Young Master Ye is such a good man, yet you dare not appreciate it. You went so far as to cancel your engagement with him. Have you become addicted to calling off engagements?"
Su Rong didn’t respond.
Fen Ling continued incessantly, "Second Young Master Ye has good family background, looks, and intelligence. He is renowned throughout the world, and countless girls are queuing up to marry him. He willingly came to us, and treated you well. Why are you so obstinate?"
Su Rong ignored him.
Fen Ling was utterly devasted, "Though Lord Thursday is also very good, we have to be practical. Lord Thursday is rooted in the Capital City. Even if the Duke Residence has influence everywhere, it can’t reach Nanchu. For his sake, you gave up the ladder that is Second Young Master Ye. Are you out of your mind? Why can’t we just peacefully head to Nanchu? Love can’t be eaten as food."
Su Rong remained silent.
Fen Ling was at his wits’ end, "The two of you tied the blessing strings on the tree at the Buddha Temple. You haven’t forgotten about that, have you? It is like those words carved on the Three Life Stone, it has already tied the fate string. Even if you want to back out now, the gods are watching. You can’t just change your mind."
Hearing Fen Ling’s senseless talk, Su Rong snapped, "It’s my broken engagement, why are you so disappointed?"
Fen Ling sat up from the floor and glared at Su Rong, "Because of your decision to cancel the engagement, I’m exhausted. Am I not allowed to be upset?"
In frustration, he reminded her, "I am your first guard. If we lost the support of Ye Xiang Residence as we head to Nanchu from Daliang, we’ll have to fight our way there. What if my sword becomes dull? There is clearly an easier way."
Su Rong fell silent. She looked away emotionless and numb, murmuring, "Anyway, it’s already off, even if your sword blunts, there’s nothing I can do."
Fen Ling lied back on the floor weakly, sighing, "Ah, my life is tough, my efforts to establish good relations with Yin Yue are all in vain."
Su Rong ignored him and coolly proceeded with her herbal preparations.
Fen Ling muttered for a while, then got up and inquired Su Rong, "Sis, what are you gonna do with so many herbs? Especially these ones; they’re so hard to find. I’ve searched half a thousand miles around the city and even up in the mountains just to find them for you. I’m exhausted."
When he was unhappy, he addressed her as his lady, now that he was curious, he was pandering to her and addressing her as sister again. He was the only one who could switch between these two titles so seamlessly.
Su Rong glanced at him, noticing he was genuinely exhausted. She said, "These are for Zhou Gu’s medical preparation."
Fen Ling: "..."
So, she had been preparing medicine for Lord Thursday so early on? With such intent, how could he dare to feel unhappy?
Fen Ling eventually fell silent, defeated, "Then you can take your time preparing them!"
Because there is no way he could help now.
Su Rong gestured him away, "You can go and rest."
Fen Ling nodded, got up from the floor, yawned, rubbed his eyes, and went to the room next door.
Just as he was about to close the door, a shadow jumped over the wall outside, he quickly drew his sword and shouted, "Who’s there?"
Zhou Gu paused momentarily. Seeing Fen Ling’s sword about to thrust at his face, he swiftly pulled out his own sword to fend it off. He sidestepped Fen Ling a little and said, "It’s me."
Now that Fen Ling had a good look at him, he sheathed his weapon, "Lord Thursday?"
Just talking about him to his lady and he already arrived. His timing was quite coincidental wasn’t it? If he had come any sooner, wouldn’t he have heard all his complaints?
He felt a moment of relief. Complimenting Second Young Master Ye and insulting him in front of his lady is one thing, but letting him hear it himself isn’t good. After all, in the future, as her first guard, and him being the one she cared about, he still needed to build a good relationship with him.
He looked at Zhou Gu, and asked amiably, "Lord Thursday, what brings you here at this hour? Are you looking for my sister?"
Especially since he climbed over the wall to get here.
Zhou Gu nodded, "I am leaving tomorrow and wanted to come and say goodbye."
Fen Ling understood, pointing towards Su Rong’s room, "You can go in, sir!"
Zhou Gu dipped his head, said, "Thank you," sheathed his weapon, and headed towards Su Rong’s room.
Fen Ling yawned, returned to her own room, curious about what the two were discussing, but she was really too tired. The moment she hit the bed, she couldn’t resist the lure of sleep and drifted off.
Zhou Gu arrived at the door and gently knocked.
Su Rong had already heard the noise outside and called out, "Come in."
Zhou Gu pushed open the door and immediately spotted the heap of herbal medicines covering half the room’s floor. He was startled. Seeing Su Rong selecting herbs without raising her head, he closed the door, came in, and squatted beside her, asking, "All these herbs... what are you doing?"
Su Rong replied, "Making pills for you to carry around."
Zhou Gu froze, "Are they... all for me?"
"More or less!"
For a moment, Zhou Gu didn’t know what to say. After a while, he asked softly, "How long would it take to make all these into pills?"
"About two days."
Zhou Gu wanted to say that he planned to leave tomorrow, but thought if it was just a day more, it wouldn’t be a problem. Yet the thought of her being in this room alone, staying busy for two days, distressed him. He said quietly, "My grandmother and mother have prepared medicines for injuries. They’ve prepared a lot."
Su Rong finally raised her head to look at him, "These are not for injuries."
"Then what are they?"
"There are poisons, tonics, various kinds!" Su Rong reached out but Zhou Gu was blocking her. She pointed and ordered, "Give me that centipede next to you."
Zhou Gu turned his head and noticed a long centipede crawling through a pile of herbal medicine. His hand twitched as he stuttered, "How-How do I grab this?"
Without hesitation, Su Rong stood up, took two steps towards him, bent over, and pinched the centipede’s back with two fingers. Then, swiftly, she threw it into a jar.
Zhou Gu silently looked at the jar. Then he noticed a dozen more jars next to the stove. Some were on the stove, some beside it, and each had bugs crawling inside.
So many of them, all types of bugs crawling around.
He almost broke into a cold sweat, "Th-These bugs... turned into pills? For... for me to swallow?"
Su Rong glanced at him, "Poisons aren’t for you to ingest; you can use them on others. As for the tonics, you can consume them yourself or give them to others."
Somewhat worried, Zhou Gu pointed to the jar into which he had just thrown the centipede and asked, "Is th-this one poison or tonic?"
"It can be a poison or a tonic," responded Su Rong.
Zhou Gu’s face turned pale.
Noticing his clear rejection, Su Rong deliberately teased, "What’s wrong? I’m working hard to make these medicines for you, and you don’t seem happy?"
Zhou Gu quickly adjusted his expression, "No."
After uttering the words, he cautiously observed Su Rong’s expression. Seeing her nonchalant face, continuously throwing bugs into the jars, he was astonished. He wondered where she had gathered so many bugs in the dead of winter.
He cleared his throat, candidly remarking, "I’d be glad to have it."
Upon seeing the distress gone from Zhou Gu’s face, Su Rong could not help but laugh. She told him, "The centipede is indeed poisonous, but once it’s made into a medicinal form, it’s no longer toxic. Moreover, it can even have detoxifying properties."
Zhou Gu didn’t understand medicine but he nodded.
"Rest assured, once it is made into medicine, it will be grounded into a powder and blended within. You won’t perceive it visually or taste it." Su Rong never anticipated his fear, "You won’t be eating a live centipede."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Gu felt completely relieved. Then he felt ashamed. She had gone to such lengths to make medicine for him, and he had been so scared and picky. Somewhat embarrassed, he softly said, "Su Rong, thank you."
Su Rong patted his head, "No need for thanks."
Upon her touch, warmth flooded Zhou Gu’s heart. He was about to speak when he suddenly realized that Su Rong had used this same hand to capture the bugs. The many bugs.
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