Chapter 84 if·Yuan Shuyun (7)
Qin Yan's uncle was none other than the Poison King, Duke Qin.
Qin Gong, Sun Lao, and Doctor Mo were actually fellow disciples. Although they operated independently, they shared the same fundamental nature as physicians: an interest in difficult and complex diseases.
Contraceptives are not uncommon, but finding ones with low toxicity that are suitable for men is quite challenging.
The idea came from the Bai family.
At that time, Madam Bai complained to Madam Qin that too many illegitimate children were emerging from the shadows, and that she would rather address the root cause than force-feed the concubines medicine.
The head of the family was naturally suspicious, and he was only willing to try medicines made by the three divine physicians from Fangcao Mountain.
So the Bai family provided medicinal herbs and gold and silver. Qin Gong and Sun Lao both cooperated and competed, making more than ten kinds of medicines in total. Among them, the one that Qin Yan stole was the most valuable.
Having no worries about food and clothing at Lan Yue Tower, Qin Yan abandoned the idea of selling his belongings and casually put them away at the bottom of his trunk, which now turned out to have saved his life.
"Young Master, that's all."
Zhu Yun gave a faint "hmm," flicked the cork with his fingers, and ordered a few pills to be given to the divine physician.
These three old rascals are extremely competitive. He could already foresee that after Uncle Mo received it, he would work day and night on the research until he surpassed his two senior brothers.
After giving his instructions, he took a gold-embossed booklet and hid by the cliff edge. It contained small illustrations and accompanying text annotations.
Zhu Yun glanced through it briefly, and the confusion in his eyes gradually gave way to clarity. He looked into the inner room, his ears burning red, and thought to himself that once Luo Yan couldn't control herself again, he would be able to satisfy her.
The wind was strong at the edge of the cliff, and Zhu Yun's cheeks were still burning hot even after being exposed to the wind for a long time. He felt as if his blood was boiling.
But Luo Yan had been asleep for almost half an hour, so it was time to go in and wake her up, lest she pester him for stories during the night.
She listened intently, her captivating almond-shaped eyes fixed on him. He was aroused but wouldn't let her kiss him, saying it would delay her from knowing what was to come.
Where is he?
Lilan was somewhat frustrated: "When the gatekeeper saw that it was the young lady's fiancé, he led him in, and he is now waiting in the west pavilion."
This morning, after returning home, she sent a letter to decline Cheng Feng's invitation. Unexpectedly, he came to her door in person, like a persistent leech. Now, the young lady had no choice but to go.
Luo Yan went into the clean room to wash off her makeup, and then asked Li Lan to take out the dark orange dress that her stepmother had made for her, which was hidden at the bottom of the trunk.
After changing her clothes, Luo Yan said, "Let's go."
Lilan hurriedly grabbed Luo Yan, "Miss, are you really going to see him?"
“Since he insists on seeing me, and I’ve been avoiding him, which only makes him more relentless, I might as well meet him. By the way, Lilan, go and make a pot of tea.”
Lilan understood and hurried off to prepare.
By the time they approached the waterside pavilion, an incense stick had burned out. The old man sitting there waiting had gray hair mixed with white hair, a withered face covered with wrinkles, and an impatient expression. He urged in a hoarse, weak voice, "Still not here? Since your cousin is so negligent, then you shall keep this supervisor company for a chat?"
The maid standing before the white-haired old man turned pale upon hearing this, looking flustered and embarrassed: "Supervisor, I am of lowly status, how dare I speak to you..."
"I haven't said anything, so why are you being so coy?"
As he spoke, he reached out to grab the person—
"See the Chief Supervisor of the Process."
Cheng Feng's hand froze in mid-air, his face full of embarrassment and annoyance at being interrupted. He withdrew his hand unhappily and looked at the person who had come.
When the maid in the waterside pavilion saw Luo Yan arrive, she felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She hurriedly bowed and ran away.
The displeasure and impatience on Cheng Feng's face vanished the moment he saw Luo Yan. His eyes lit up, and his expression was one of amazement, as if he had seen a goddess descend to earth.
Luo Yan suppressed the malice in her eyes and said with a faint smile, "I accidentally injured my foot yesterday, so I am late. I am sure that the Supervisor is magnanimous and will not hold this against me."
Only a few members of the Zhu family knew about yesterday's encounter with bandits; it was kept secret from the outside world.
How could you be so careless?
Cheng Feng smiled, his eyes narrowed into slits, and took a few steps closer. The smell of cheap cosmetics mixed with stale and greasy odor wafted over him. "Miss Luo is indeed as Madam Luo said, with a beauty that could topple cities. In my opinion, the painter who painted you is far too incompetent. He couldn't even capture three-tenths of your beauty."
Luo Yan turned her head and stepped back without showing any emotion: "You flatter me, Supervisor."
Cheng Feng leaned closer and sniffed, his eyes narrowed with lust, his expression pleased: "What fragrance is Miss Luo using? It smells wonderful."
Luo Yan stepped aside, "I'm afraid the Supervisor will feel unwell if he stands for too long. Why don't you sit down and talk?"
If it weren't for the innocent smile on Luo Yan's face, which seemed flawless, Cheng Feng would almost have thought she was mocking his old age and frailty.
But she didn't respond to his comment. After he calmed down a bit, he took a closer look and saw that although the woman in front of him was exceptionally beautiful, she didn't wear any makeup and had a bare face. Although the fabric of her clothes was decent, the style was outdated.
What ordinary woman wouldn't dress up beautifully, be gentle and sweet, and speak softly when meeting her future husband? But Luo Yan not only made many excuses when they met, but also made him wait for half a day today. She wasn't enthusiastic when they met, and didn't even bother to dress up. Did she not even respect him?
The displeasure that had been suppressed upon seeing the beauty resurfaced, and Cheng Feng felt it necessary to deflate her arrogance and let her know who her master would be in the future.
Cheng Feng sat down, lifting his robe, bringing with him an indescribable smell. Luo Yan covered her nose.
“Miss Luo, I know your father is only a seventh-rank military officer in Ningzhou,” he sneered disdainfully. “Your family background is indeed quite humble, but once you marry me, you will be the wife of the supervisor. The Cheng family is naturally wealthier than your Luo family, so you should dress more elegantly and luxuriously, and change your petty manners. I wouldn’t even choose the color of your clothes.”
Lilan rolled her eyes as she looked at the brightly colored robe he was wearing, which seemed to be covered in gold thread embroidery. She remembered that he had been wearing the same robe the last time she saw him.
Luo Yan lowered her eyes: "What the Supervisor said is true. I had never met the Supervisor before and guessed the Supervisor's preferences incorrectly. It was my fault."
Cheng Feng paused as he was about to put the tea in his mouth. He had been an official for decades, and although his rank was not high, he had been in the game for many years and could naturally understand the ins and outs of other people's words. She thought he was old-fashioned, so she dressed in an old-fashioned way to match him!
He chuckled, pointed to the maid behind Luo Yan, signaling her to come and pour him some tea, intending to soothe his throat and teach this ungrateful girl a lesson.
"As the saying goes, the old are still vigorous. Although I am a few years older than you, my energy is still better than before. Tsk, but I don't expect your Luo family to be able to find any precious tonics. It is normal that your father is old and frail. You have been raised in that remote place, so it is normal that you have little experience and do not understand."
Cheng Feng chuckled, then reached out to touch Luo Yan's hand, his tone meaningful: "After we get married in two months, you'll naturally see for yourself... Ah!"
A harsh scream, accompanied by the screeching sound of tables and chairs being moved, echoed throughout the waterside pavilion.
Lilan hurriedly placed the teapot on the table, lowered her head and said meekly, "Please forgive me, Supervisor, I didn't mean it."
Cheng Feng's aged hands were red, and his dark yellow skin showed that he had been burned badly. He shook off the tea leaves from his hands with trembling hands and tried to move his hands down with a pained expression.
His crotch area was also soaked, with the liquid running down his trouser legs.
But the place was open on all sides with no shelter, so for the sake of his pride, he had to endure the burning pain, which made his whole body tremble and his face contort, making the wrinkles on his face, which resembled the lines of an old tree, even deeper.
"You...you..." Cheng Feng was both angry and in pain. His finger trembled as he pointed at Li Lan, and he was too painful to speak for a while.
Luo Yan stepped forward, her face showing some worry: "I'm so sorry, my maid is timid and it's inevitable that she's nervous when she first meets the Supervisor. I will teach her later. Supervisor, please change out of your wet clothes quickly, it wouldn't be good if you got sick."
Cheng Feng, his face flushed, sneered and said through gritted teeth, "It's normal for a small family to not be able to properly educate its servants. If such a lowly maid enters the Cheng household and acts clumsily, she will only bring shame upon me. In that case, I, the Supervisor, am always magnanimous and don't mind helping you educate her. I'll take her back with me."
Luo Yan had already learned about Cheng Feng's methods of torturing people.
Her eyes turned cold as she stepped in front of Lilan, then put on a polite smile: "Supervisor, you are busy with many affairs of state. Why should you trouble yourself with such a trivial matter? Besides, it is inevitable that people will misunderstand if word gets out that you left the Zhu Linggong residence with a maid. Please don't take offense, Supervisor. Luo Yan is only thinking of her cousin and your reputation."
Cheng Feng was so angry he could hardly save face. So what if Zhu Yun really gave her to him? This Luo Yan was only temporarily staying at the Zhu residence, did she think she could change the fact that she came from a lowly background? How dare she use Zhu Yun and the Zhu family to pressure him? Zhu Yun was just a newborn calf, did she really think he was a tiger?
In a fit of anger, he disregarded the fact that they were still at the Zhu family's residence, saying, "Although Zhu Yun is the Grand Secretary, he is still young. If we consider seniority..."
Luo Yan raised her eyebrows slightly.
Suddenly, a maidservant outside the waterside pavilion called out, "Young Master An."
Cheng Feng's expression suddenly changed, his face contorted in a mixture of blue and purple, and he instinctively looked outside.
"This humble servant...this humble servant greets Your Excellency."
Cheng Feng hurriedly bowed to the tall figure rushing past outside the waterside pavilion.
Zhu Yun wore a purple round-necked official robe with a jade belt around his waist, which accentuated his fair complexion and sharp features. He usually dressed simply in private, and this was the first time Luo Yan had seen him in official robes. His cool demeanor added to his noble air, like a cool yet intensely colored purple jade, making him seem even more aloof and unapproachable.
When Cheng Feng called out to Zhu Yun, his eyes remained calm and his expression was indifferent, making it difficult to guess whether he had heard the conversation just now.
He responded with a soft "hmm," then turned and walked away, seemingly not intending to exchange pleasantries with Cheng Feng.
In the past, Cheng Feng wouldn't have thought much of it, and Zhu Yun was always aloof, but when he thought about what he had just said, he immediately felt uneasy.
At this moment, Cheng Feng no longer cared about the impolite Luo Yan and her servant, and chased after them, carrying his robe stained with tea.
"Lord Ling, Lord Ling..."
Luo Yan stood in the waterside pavilion, not expecting Zhu Yun to suddenly return. She even happened to bump into her meeting Cheng Feng. She watched Cheng Feng speaking to Zhu Yun with a fawning expression and couldn't help but frown in disgust.
Zhu Yun turned to look at her at that moment, and Luo Yan immediately put on a pure and gentle smile.
Cheng Feng was speaking with bows and scrapes when Zhu Yun suddenly spoke up. Cheng Feng's withered face froze for a moment, then he put on a fawning smile.
Zhu Yun was usually a man of few words, and even though Cheng Feng was good at flattery, he couldn't get anything to work on Zhu Yun, so he returned to the waterside pavilion soon after.
Cheng Feng's interest had already waned, and with Zhu Yun's unexpected incident, he was even less willing to stay at the Zhu residence.
"I won't hold your stupid maid against you today, but remember this: two months from now, after you marry me, I will still discipline you and your maid properly. I will send you a message to meet in a few days. You won't make me wait for you like this time, will you?"
Luo Yan's smile remained unchanged: "Of course I wouldn't dare, but I'm currently staying at the Zhu family's residence, so I must abide by their rules. Besides, I've injured my foot, so I hope the Supervisor will forgive me if I can't keep the appointment. However," Luo Yan's smile widened, "there's plenty of time in the future, Supervisor, wouldn't you agree?"
Cheng Feng was immediately captivated by her smile. With such beauty before him, and the beauty telling him there would be a future, he thought, "That's true. I'll have plenty of time after we get married, so I'm not worried about not being able to properly discipline her."
He immediately forgot all the unpleasantness from before, so why would he refuse?
As soon as Cheng Feng left, Luo Yan's face darkened.
She looked at Lilan, "Lilan, is something the matter?"
Lilan shook her head and held Luo Yan's hand with heartache: "I know I'll be fine with you here, Miss. It's just that this Supervisor Cheng is even more annoying than I imagined, and it's been tough on you, Miss."
Luo Yan smiled gently: "That's not necessarily true."
I had intended to ignore this person, but now it seems that the things I brought in the trunk weren't for nothing; they've come in handy today.
Burns? He'd learned how dangerous that tea was in the last few days.
With skin ulcerated and blistered, and the wound damaged, it must have been excruciating for the elderly and lustful Cheng Feng. But no matter how the doctor examined it, it was just a common burn. It is common for the elderly to be prone to illness and slow to heal.
Lilan understood perfectly. Heaven knows how relieved she felt when she poured the tea, but unfortunately she couldn't laugh out loud and had to pretend it was unintentional.
Luo Yan straightened her expression and said, "Let's go back."
Now that Zhu Yun has returned to the manor, she naturally has no reason not to miss it.
Cheng Feng is such a fool. No wonder he's only a junior official in the Imperial Academy despite his family's influence all these years. He offended people without her having to lift a finger. She's happy to see him bring about his own destruction and not even think about implicating her.
Zhu Yun tossed aside the broken umbrella, and Youyu, who had been secretly following him, promptly handed him a new one. However, the previous umbrella had been stained with cooking oil for a long time, and there were still stains on his fingertips.
Luo Yan wiped his face with a handkerchief, and said with a sigh, "Chang Sheng has gotten so thin, he looks like a head hanging from a bamboo pole."
Both versions of Changsheng are either too fat or too thin, making it difficult to say which fate is more tragic.
Her voice was low: "When we were in Yufang City, you said you didn't know me, but I was secretly pleased. Without the two years of separation, you wouldn't have been sleepless, and you don't need to be sad for me."
But the trajectory of his childhood friend took a different turn—
"Stop thinking about nonsense." Zhu Yun tapped her forehead with his finger. "It's still early before Liu Changsheng finishes work. Let's go back and take care of serious business first."
He didn't like staying in inns, so he bought a house in Long County. A mute servant had already cleaned it, and a lantern he had taken from the Jia family in Qingyuan Village hung under the eaves.
Luo Yan intertwined her fingers with his and asked in confusion, "What important matter is it? I don't know anything about it."
Zhu Yun said without changing his expression, "Let's try out the bed."
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