Chapter 5
As dusk approached, Liu Langzhong led two strong men into the village.
As you approach the Jia family's gate, you first hear a "crackling" sound. After taking a few more steps, you see a young man chopping wood with a sword in the courtyard.
His movements were swift and agile; the blade touched the wood as easily as cutting through water with a sword.
"What superb kung fu!" a burly man blurted out.
The boy looked over, his dark eyes devoid of any hint of a smile, his face expressionless. He didn't hesitate, continuing the "crackling" sound with his hands.
It looks like peeling a melon, but it also looks like...
To chop off someone's head.
The three were startled by the sudden association and hurriedly retreated. Liu Langzhong, who was in the middle, had nowhere to avoid being stepped on by both of them, and let out a long "howl" in pain.
What the hell is that noise?
Luo Yan stretched and got up from the wicker chair. Seeing that it was an old acquaintance, she waved with a smile and said, "Uncle Liu."
"Miss," Doctor Liu said, suppressing his grimaces, as he walked past Zhu Yun into the courtyard, "are you still able to tolerate the new prescription?"
"I can get used to drinking it."
Seeing that the doctor was limping and looked slightly embarrassed, she considerately didn't ask why, but simply invited him to sit down, saying, "Uncle Liu, this is A-Yun, please take a look at him."
"……yes."
Fortunately, Zhu Yun cooperated quite well. Doctor Liu calmed himself down and checked his pulse, then exclaimed in surprise, "Young master seems to be almost fully recovered."
"Really?" Luo Yan squeezed down next to Zhu Yun and reached out to feel his pulse. She felt a steady and strong heartbeat, but nothing special.
A smile flashed in Doctor Liu's eyes: "I have never been involved in the making and detoxification of poisons. It is only because I observed that the young master's blood and energy are abundant and his sluggish pulse has returned to normal that I deduced that he is about to recover."
Zhu Yun had expected this, so he withdrew his hand. Luo Yan nudged him with her elbow, and he said lazily, "Now that I've recovered, I won't go to the clinic."
"What?" Upon hearing this, Doctor Liu nearly jumped up from his stool. He pretended to wipe his sweat with his sleeve, blocking the boy's gloomy gaze, and looked at Jia Yufang, "Let's talk in private."
“Grandma and Uncle Liu can talk here,” Luo Yan said, pointing to the chicken coop. “Let’s go feed the chickens.”
After everyone had gone, Doctor Liu let out a long sigh of relief: "What are you planning, elder sister? I think that young master is quite skilled, probably a member of the martial arts world. He's not a good match for our young lady."
You are unaware of something.
Jia Yufang recounted in detail the changes in Luo Yan over the past two months, saying with a mixture of relief and helplessness, "Her food, clothing, and shelter are all worse than before, and she doesn't even have a maid to keep her company. Fortunately, A-Yun has come, so Miss finally has a playmate."
The Luo family of Cangxi no longer exists. What can compare to Miss's health and well-being now?
Doctor Liu understood, but found it hard to accept at first. Then he heard Jia Yufang ask, "Miss, you look quite well lately, and you haven't coughed in a while. Are you feeling much better?"
Unexpectedly, he shook his head and spoke after a long while: "Miss's symptoms are a bit strange, it's like... even with careful care, she can't get any better, but she can't get any worse either. An incurable disease, an incurable disease, it's difficult."
The conversation reached Zhu Yun's ears word for word.
He looked at the carefree girl in front of him and frowned: "It's getting windy, let's go inside."
"?"
The sun must have risen in the west; to hear such concerned words coming from Zhu Yun's mouth was astonishing. Luo Yan tiptoed and touched his forehead, muttering, "He doesn't have a fever."
"......"
He really didn't need to mention that.
Seeing Zhu Yun's changing expression, she laughed heartily and coaxed her honestly, "I was just joking, why are you so easily angered? Come inside, come inside, let's play checkers."
It was getting late, and Jia Yufang got up to see the guests off.
Doctor Liu slowly packed his medicine chest, glancing at the two people who were behaving intimately out of the corner of his eye. After leaving the courtyard, he quietly suggested, "If the young lady is unwilling to go to the capital, the marriage may encounter some difficulties. The young master is of decent appearance and has martial arts skills, so he is a barely suitable match."
"you mean......"
"Why not just take him in and make him our young lady's childhood sweetheart?"
Luo Yan was still young and had experienced a life-or-death ordeal, so Jia Yufang had never seriously considered her marriage.
But Doctor Liu is right. Without a prominent maternal family, even the most beautiful woman can only become a concubine of a rich man or a wife of a poor man. Either way, it would be an insult to the young lady, so it would be better to find a husband to marry into the family.
The criteria for marrying into a family are appearance and character.
Jia Yufang had never seen a more handsome young man than Zhu Yun, so she had passed this test. As for his character, although he usually appeared cold, he was quite kind to Luo Yan.
If he were willing to abandon his past and stay quietly in Qingyuan Village with the young lady, that would be the best choice.
“Miss still has relatives alive, it’s not up to me, an old servant, to make decisions.” Jia Yufang was satisfied, but it was inconvenient to tell outsiders, so she just said politely, “Thank you for your help, Doctor, today.”
inside the house.
Zhu Yun propped his face up as if deep in thought, but was actually eavesdropping. He didn't know what a "child groom" was, but he noticed the phrase "still has relatives alive."
According to the laws of Dali, an unmarried woman whose parents have both died should be taken in and raised by a collateral relative. Since she still has relatives, how did she end up in Qingyuan Village...?
As I was pondering this, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my abdomen, and cold sweat immediately streamed down my forehead.
The residual poison has taken effect.
As the doctor had said, the residual warmth of the mandarin duck in his body was negligible, and he would be completely healed in another two days. But at this moment, his face was pale, and the veins on the back of his hands were bulging, which startled Luo Yan so much that she dropped the chess piece: "What happened?"
Zhu Yun waved his hand to indicate that it was alright, and moved to the couch to meditate and cultivate his inner energy.
Luo Yan mistakenly thought he was in too much pain to speak, so she soaked a handkerchief and wiped his sweat while shedding tears: "If I had known, I would have let you go down the mountain with Uncle Liu. There are so many clinics in town, we can always find a doctor who can detoxify you."
A moment later, he suppressed the poison and slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the girl's face flushed pink from crying, he couldn't help but tease her, "Everyone has to die eventually..."
"Don't die," Luo Yan sobbed twice, her voice dry and strained.
Zhu Yun's lips unconsciously curled up: "Why?"
To her surprise, a brief look of confusion crossed her eyes, and then she racked her brains to make up an excuse: "You haven't taught me martial arts yet, and you haven't taught me how to catch fish either."
"..." His smile froze, and his voice involuntarily rose, "So you want me to teach you before you die?"
Luo Yan was stumped by the question and blankly replied, "Is that okay?"
"Can't."
Hearing the strong voice in his voice, Luo Yan was taken aback at first, but her expression quickly relaxed when she saw the color return to his lips: "Are you alright?"
"Hmm," Zhu Yun replied coolly, "I'm sorry to disappoint you."
Her shoulders relaxed, and she said with a sigh, "Your illness and poison are really unreasonable. I can't use any of the common sense I know. Oh well, I'll go down the mountain tomorrow and ask the doctor to prescribe some more medicine to nourish my body."
When asked about going down the mountain, Zhu Yun did have something to do. He said, "I won't go to the clinic. I need to find an armory to repair my sword."
Luo Yan narrowed her eyes: "Judging from your tone, you're not planning to take me with you."
"You walk slowly and always complain of being tired, what's the point of taking you along?" He said casually, but it was his true thought.
She didn't argue with him. She went back to her room and brought out two heavy boxes. She opened the one on the left first: "I want to go to town to pawn some things. Can you give me some advice?"
Zhu Yun was very familiar with this official leather trunk; its contents were all his spoils of war. His face instantly turned ashen, and he coldly asked, "Do you know what's in this trunk?"
"I don't know," she answered readily, "but it looks valuable."
“Every item inside is engraved with the owner’s name. If you pawn it today, you will die a violent death in your home tomorrow.”
Luo Yan clicked her tongue in surprise: "So valuable? Then why is it in my house? And such a big box at that? Is someone trying to frame me?"
Zhu Yun's lips twitched: "You have quite the nerve."
If any martial arts practitioners were here, they would easily recognize the origin of each item, and they all have one thing in common—the owners of these items died at the hands of Jia Qi of Lan Yue Lou.
But Luo Yan's face fell, and tears that had not yet dried dripped down with a "plop". He cleared his throat and said, "The gold and silver can be melted down, the jewelry can be dismantled and sold, but the secret manuals and pills can be kept."
Upon hearing this, she immediately opened her eyes wide, her pupils shining brightly.
Zhu Yun, as if possessed, averted his gaze and poured cold water on her: "Do you know how to melt it?"
"......"
have no idea.
Luo Yan was not discouraged. She opened another box, which contained her old belongings: "Shall we pawn these first?"
He picked up a pair of pure gold bracelets, noticing their intricate patterns, clearly indicating their high value. He then touched the stamp on the inner wall, and upon closer inspection, found it to be a small character "洛" (Luo).
Therefore, Jia is the surname of a servant woman.
"What did you see?" Luo Yan tilted her head and asked curiously.
Zhu Yun used his dagger to gouge out the mark, then threw the item back: "It's not hard to sell, but what do you need the money for?"
She pouted and said, "You don't know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, and salt until you're in charge of the household."
Even so, Luo Yan herself was not clear about the prices.
In her past life, she came from a wealthy family, but she spent every day in the hospital, wearing hospital gowns and eating nutritious meals; money was just a series of virtual numbers to her.
In Qingyuan Village, water is drawn from wells, vegetables are grown by the villagers, and clothes are handmade by their grandmothers. As for the income from embroidery, the price of meat, and other expenses, no one knows.
But she knew that even wealthy modern people find raising children expensive, let alone an ancient woman over fifty.
There must be not enough money to support both of them, right?
Zhu Yun didn't refute after hearing this, and nodded: "Then let's go to town."
"Huh—"
Luo Yan casually picked up a picture book with illustrations of little people fighting and caught the key information. "You just called this a secret manual? And, the bottle actually contains pills? I knew I saw you stealing some."
The thief cries "Stop thief!"
Zhu Yun squeezed out a "川" (river) shape between his brows, thinking to himself that he should have killed her long ago.
The thought had barely formed when Luo Yan leaned closer, her black hair falling naturally, revealing a slender neck. Zhu Yun caught a faint floral scent, sniffed it, and realized it must be hair-combing water.
His heart skipped a beat, and he raised his hand to push the person away.
Little did she know that Luo Yan only wanted to pick up the fallen hairband. Seeing this, she scolded angrily, "What are you doing!"
"Stay away from me."
"?"
Luo Yan got up from the low stool, sat directly on the couch, shoulder to shoulder with him, and opened her eyes wide in defiance: I insist on being next to him, I insist on being next to him.
Zhu Yun's expression stiffened slightly, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, then relaxed after a moment of hesitation.
After repeating this several times, he changed the subject, saying, "It's not close to the town. We need to take the main road down the mountain first, and then walk several miles."
“I have a plan.” Luo Yan gestured for him to come closer, “You’ll just tell Grandma this in a bit…”
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