Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Past Life
The rain had been falling all day in the Ji family's courtyard, and it hadn't stopped by evening.
Meng Yutong leaned against the low couch and looked out. In the corner of the wall, the Xiangfei bamboo that Ji Yun cherished most had several branches broken by the wind and rain, withered and fallen to the ground.
"Young Madam, it's time for your medicine." The maid Bai Zhi handed her the medicine bowl.
Meng Yutong reached out and took it. The thick, dark medicine emitted a stronger bitter and sour smell than usual, with a faint, strange, fishy sweetness.
She frowned slightly. Could it be that a cold had damaged her spleen and stomach, making her unable to even distinguish smells?
Without thinking too much, she held her breath, tilted her head back, and drank it down as usual.
The moment the medicine went down my throat, a burning sensation shot up, mixed with a strange sweet and fishy taste that rushed straight to my nasal cavity.
"Cough cough...cough..." The violent coughing tore at her lungs, and she hurriedly covered her mouth with a handkerchief, the silk handkerchief in her palm instantly becoming wet with warm liquid.
"Young Madam!" Bai Zhi was stunned by the sudden turn of events and cried out in alarm. She knelt down in front of the bed and snatched the handkerchief. The glaring crimson blood on her palm made her face turn pale. "Blood! Why are you coughing up blood?! No, this servant will immediately send Qing Shu to the palace to fetch the young master back!"
"No..." Meng Yutong instinctively tried to stop her, but her throat was choked by a metallic taste, and she could only watch helplessly as Bai Zhi turned and rushed into the rain.
Her husband loves her for being sensible, generous, virtuous, and gentle. He is seeing patients for the princess in the palace today, and she shouldn't disturb him.
She should have been more patient; after years of endurance, she thought she had long since gotten used to it.
But suddenly, excruciating pain surged through his internal organs, making even taking a breath feel like being stabbed by a thousand needles.
She finally couldn't hold back and let out a painful groan.
Her intuition told her that this didn't seem like a cold...
Overcome by her doctor's instincts, she placed her trembling fingers on her wrist to check her pulse.
poison!
The shock was like being doused with ice water, and her mind went blank for a moment.
She had a poor appetite today, so she only drank the medicine that Qing Shu brought.
Qing Shu was Ji Yun's personal attendant. For the past half month, Ji Yun had instructed Qing Shu to look after Wutong Courtyard. Did he know about the poison in the bowl today?
Her chaotic thoughts crashed down like a hammer blow, and her head throbbed with pain. Completely exhausted, she braced herself against the table, her gaze falling on the medicine bowl, on the small amount of dark liquid still remaining.
A trembling finger, stained with a bit of medicine, was brought to the tip of the nose.
That faint, strangely sweet and fishy smell, masked by the bitterness, once again entered my nasal cavity.
A deafening clap of thunder suddenly exploded outside the window, shaking her to her core.
The thunder was so loud that for a moment she felt a profound emptiness all around her. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Two years ago at a palace banquet, Princess Jingfu was accidentally poisoned. The horrifying scene of her bleeding from all seven orifices and her withered face suddenly appeared before my eyes with the sound of rolling thunder.
She remembered the smell; it was exactly the same as the smell that Princess Gyeongbok had on her back then.
It is the poison of begonia.
Although its name sounds elegant, this poison is incomparably ferocious. Once inside the stomach, it feels like a sharp blade twisting and tearing at the internal organs, causing them to break. Then, blood flows from the seven orifices, and the plant withers away within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, just like a begonia in autumn that fades in an instant. Hence, it is named Autumn Begonia.
What's worse is that there is no cure for this poison.
The Ji family... someone wants her dead.
A chill shot straight up from the soles of my feet, the stabbing pain in my abdomen intensified, and cold sweat poured down my face like a torrent.
Fear and excruciating pain mingled in her chest, while the sounds of rain, thunder, and wind relentlessly pressed on, almost suffocating her.
At that moment, hurried footsteps approached from afar.
Meng Yutong used all her strength to suppress the metallic taste in her throat, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and forced herself to sit up straight.
The next moment, Bai Zhi burst in with Qing Shu.
After the two entered the room, Qing Shu's gaze swept over the medicine bowl on the low couch and small table. He frowned slightly and immediately called a maid to take it away.
“Young Madam,” Qing Shu said, bowing her head with a detached expression, “the princess’s heart condition has flared up, and the young master is temporarily unable to attend to her.”
Another princess!
The palace was not without people, yet they were always watching the young master.
Bai Zhi trembled with rage, her hairpins shaking wildly like a bird with its feathers tattered: "The princess has a heart ailment?! The young mistress is coughing up blood! Didn't you tell the young master?!"
Qing Shu didn't even lift his eyelids: "The princess is of noble birth, and her health cannot be compromised. Young Master, please ask the young mistress... to be patient for now."
"Endure?!" Bai Zhi's tears welled up, and the grievances and anger that had been building up for three years erupted. "Since the young lady married into the Ji family, she has served the master and mistress, and taken care of the young master in every way. When the mistress was ill, she never took off her clothes, and when the master was worried, she tried her best to comfort him. During the epidemic, she even went up the mountain to find medicine for the young master and almost lost her life. She gave her whole heart to the Ji family. That man in the palace 'had an attack' every few days and tried to snatch her away every time. In the young master's heart, whose husband is he?! It's been three years, even a stone should be warmed by now!"
"Princesses are precious, but what about our girls?!"
Her cries were filled with anguish, so loud that even the cacophony of the rain couldn't drown them out.
"Bai Zhi!" Meng Yutong's voice was not loud, but it was cold, instantly silencing Bai Zhi's cries. "Get out, I have questions for Qing Shu."
Bai Zhi glared at Qing Shu resentfully, then left in tears.
She spoke slowly and deliberately, her voice trembling slightly from the pain: "Qingshu, who told you to poison me?"
Qing Shu's body stiffened, and then he fell silent and lowered his head.
He didn't answer. After a few breaths, Meng Yutong seemed to catch her breath before asking again, "Is it related to him?"
Her voice was so soft that it almost disappeared into the sound of the rain.
Outside, the wind and rain were fierce. Qing Shu looked up at the Xiangfei bamboo outside the window and remained silent for a moment before saying, "The rain is so heavy today that the Xiangfei bamboo that Princess Jin'an planted herself has been damaged. I'm afraid you will be heartbroken when you see this, young master."
The wooden supports holding the window open were blown away by the strong wind, and the window sash crashed down with a loud bang, instantly darkening the room.
The last glimmer of light in Meng Yutong's eyes seemed to vanish completely along with the falling window.
These bamboos...were originally planted by Jin'an?
The vague clues in my mind gradually became clearer.
She recalled Ji Yun's unwavering monthly medical consultations with the princess, his cold indifference towards her over the past three years of marriage, and his deep affection for this small clump of green bamboo...
It felt as if those words had pierced my heart, and the buzzing in my ears drowned out the sound of the rain.
Meng Yutong closed her eyes, a wave of overwhelming exhaustion and bone-chilling cold washing over her, which ironically suppressed some of the churning in her stomach. But the strength in her limbs gradually faded, and a numbness crept in from her fingertips…
She asked in a hoarse voice, "What kind of poison is it?"
Qing Shu replied, "It's a begonia."
really.
"Angelica dahurica." Her voice was already weak and feeble.
Bai Zhi rushed in, her eyes red, and pushed Qing Shu aside: "Get out, don't get in my way!"
She rushed to the bedside and tightly grasped Meng Yutong's icy hand: "Miss, I'll go find another doctor! There must be a way!"
Meng Yutong withdrew her hand and shook her head with difficulty. Her breathing was gradually weakening, and she could feel the life force being drawn away from her body little by little.
With difficulty, she bent down and took out a letter from a small drawer in the cabinet beside the low couch. She handed it to Bai Zhi and instructed her, "This paper contains the distribution of several precious medicinal veins, as well as information on some officials' wives I know and a good pharmaceutical merchant. Give this to your grandmother. Even if I am no longer with the Ji family, she will have fewer worries thanks to this information."
"Miss!" Bai Zhi sobbed uncontrollably, "You still think about the Meng family, you never think about yourself! The other day when I returned to the manor, I heard Aunt Qin personally advising the Old Madam that if anything were to happen to you, you should let the Second Miss remarry. The Old Madam... the Old Madam didn't object!"
Meng Yutong's fingertips trembled violently, and the letter almost slipped from her hand.
The metallic taste rose in her throat again, and she bit her lip and swallowed it down.
So that's how it is. Grandmother's favoritism was nothing more than a pawn to be used to maintain the interests of the Meng family. She and Meng Yurou were both just pawns to maintain the interests of the Meng family.
Bai Zhi is right; it seems she has never considered her own feelings.
She recalled the beginning and end of her marriage into the Ji family.
The Ji family is a distinguished family in the medical field, and Ji Yun himself is a man of exceptional talent and medical skill.
She came from a merchant family, and the only description of her was "quiet and gentle." This kind of marriage was not something she could possibly hope to achieve.
Because the Meng family had a past favor to the Ji family, her grandmother used this to facilitate the marriage. The Ji family kept their promises, and she thus became his wife by chance.
Meng Yutong naturally longed to marry Ji Yun. Even knowing that he was cold and aloof, and obsessed with medicine, she was still happy to accept it.
Furthermore, because of his words "dignified, virtuous, gentle, and generous," she had etched those eight words into her very bones from the day she stepped into the Ji family mansion.
She was meticulous in everything she did and cautious in every aspect, never daring to cause him the slightest trouble.
It's just that you have to be thorough in everything and cautious in every situation, and life is a bit tiring. But as long as you can win the favor of your husband and elders, it's all worth it.
She has always been like that.
“Heh,” she gave a faint smile and pressed the credit card into Bai Zhi’s palm. “It’s alright. Consider it repayment for my grandmother’s kindness in raising me. Help me to the study.”
There was one thing she was determined to understand, even if it cost her her life.
Her body felt heavy, and every step she took felt like walking on a knife's edge, so Bai Zhi helped her walk forward.
After passing through the wind- and rain-soaked veranda, the two arrived at Ji Yun's study.
Pushing open the door and stepping into the room, Meng Yutong's gaze fell on the sandalwood box on the highest shelf of the bookshelf.
Ji Yun never allowed anyone to touch that box.
"Angelica dahurica, smash it open."
Bai Zhi wiped her face, her hands were wet with what looked like rain or tears.
She stepped forward, took the box, and smashed the paperweight on the table against the copper lock.
"Clang!" The moment the box lid popped open and fell to the ground, a cold wind suddenly swept in from outside, and pieces of paper flew everywhere like snowflakes.
Meng Yutong caught several sheets of Xuan paper that fluttered down in front of her. They were covered with prescriptions for treating heart ailments, the ink of which was a mix of old and new, the earliest dating back three years...
It turned out that he had been working on his desk every night because of Jin'an's illness.
The whole room was filled with the scent of pine soot ink and old paper, along with the cold rain vapor, all mixed together in a cold and desolate atmosphere, like the frost that was always etched between his brows.
"Haha...hahaha..." Meng Yutong suddenly laughed, her laughter hollow and sorrowful, tugging at her internal organs, causing her to curl up in pain, while tears flowed uncontrollably.
It turns out that his heart wasn't unwarm; it was just that she had never truly entered it.
In his eyes, her cautious, meticulous, and devoted "virtuous" behavior over the past three years was probably nothing more than an eyesore and a joke.
Rain poured down from the porch, blurring her vision. She seemed to see the spring rain from three years ago.
In the late spring of the thirty-fifth year of Jinghe, a torrential downpour of spring rain fell. She and Baizhi were sheltering from the rain under the eaves of a teahouse when they overheard scholars in a private room enjoying tea and appreciating the rain.
One of the voices was loud and flippant, "Brother Huaizhi, I say, there are so many noble ladies in Lin'an City, why don't you choose them all, but instead insist on marrying that merchant's daughter because of some so-called favor? You're really making a huge mistake. If you ask me, you should just give her some money to get rid of her, why waste half your life on this?"
“Mingyuan, please be careful with your words. Miss Meng is dignified, virtuous, gentle, and generous. I am honored to be associated with her.”
The spring rain pattered, and the noise of people filled the air, but only that clear, jade-like voice broke through the thick, dim mist and fell into her ear.
She vaguely saw peach blossoms falling by the Wangxian Bridge, scattering onto the heart of the river, creating endless ripples.
An ordinary spring rain in late spring dampened her short life.
The rain was still falling, cold and desolate.
The cold wind outside the study made Meng Yutong's wide sleeves flutter, and her dark blue hair danced wildly in the wind.
Bai Zhi looked at her young mistress's porcelain-white face and swaying figure, her heart breaking with terror: "Miss..."
The figure suddenly straightened his back, grabbed a prescription, flipped it over, and slammed it heavily onto the ebony wooden table.
She picked up the pen, ink dripping, and with an almost resolute force, wrote three words on the paper: "Letter of Divorce".
“Bai Zhi,” her voice was low and broken, blood kept seeping from the corner of her mouth, and the skin on the back of her hand lost its luster at a visible speed, showing a withered grayish-white.
Her hands were weak and trembling uncontrollably. "I... I can't hold on until he comes back. Give this to him... tell him... it was the Meng family's fault that Grandmother coerced him into marrying me."
She gripped the pen tightly, writing each word before pausing to catch her breath, "Today... I relinquish my position as the principal wife... After my death, he need not remain chaste for me..."
"Girl! Please stop talking!" Bai Zhi frantically wiped the blood off her face with her sleeve, but the more she wiped, the more blood appeared.
Meng Yutong gently pushed away her trembling hand, her eyes already somewhat unfocused, yet she still insisted on instructing her: "Take the jewelry and gold and silver in my room and leave the manor... Whether you marry someone... open a shop... live well..."
"I won't leave! My life was saved by you, young lady, I'd rather die than leave!" Bai Zhi knelt down and hugged her legs.
Meng Yutong wanted to pat her head, but she didn't even have the strength to lift her hand. "Be good, the new master will probably not be able to accept you. After I die, burn me..."
Her voice was as soft as a sigh: "Don't leave the ashes at the Ji family's, and don't bring them back to the Meng family's. Just bury them by the Wangxian Bridge... under that peach tree..."
She forced a smile, a faint, unreal light flickering in her eyes, and whispered, "I...like places with flowers and water..."
My consciousness gradually faded, the intense pain strangely began to subside, and my body felt very light. It was as if the peach tree truly appeared before my eyes.
When I was eight years old, the spring water under Wangxian Bridge was emerald green, and the trees were ablaze with pink blossoms.
Her mother was leading her across the bridge when she tripped and fell, crying loudly in pain.
The fortune teller under the tree called out to them, "Young lady, you have a beautiful face, a full forehead, and a loud voice. Your future is immeasurable!"
The mother covered her mouth and smiled, "Then tell me, sir, what will our Ying do when she grows up?"
"The little girl is a kind-hearted and blessed person. Perhaps she will become a female doctor in the future, practicing medicine and healing the sick, which will be of immeasurable merit."
She finally stopped crying, and then burst into laughter: "Mother, I see that the doctors on Yujie Street all have a big clinic with two or three assistants. They look so impressive! I want to be a doctor when I grow up!"
"Okay, Mom will save up money for you to open a clinic. When A-Ying becomes a female doctor, I will be her mother. But when you become a doctor, don't cry at the slightest pain, okay?"
"Mother, don't underestimate me. Ying doesn't cry easily."
Pink petals drifted down on the wind, floating into the water beneath the bridge, carried away by the current...
Meng Yutong leaned quietly against the table, the pain in her body receding like a tide, and she even felt a sense of lightness.
She never loved herself.
Her vision blurred by the warm steam, and she murmured, "Mother, Ying will cry just this one more time..."
The sound gradually faded into the rustling of the wind through the hall.
In the midst of the sudden wind and rain, footsteps outside came to a halt.
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