Chapter 105 You've got a rash?
The carriage left the imperial city and continued forward.
Inside the carriage, as the two were talking, Meng Yutong's gaze inadvertently swept across his neck, and suddenly froze. There seemed to be a few very faint red marks on it.
A thought flickered in her mind, and she leaned forward to examine him closely: "You have a rash? You clearly didn't drink hawthorn wine at Zhaoyu Hall on Mid-Autumn Festival night, so why is this happening?"
Her question startled Ji Yun slightly.
He hadn't actually drunk any alcohol, but he had tasted the hawthorn wine...
A slight warmth crept up his earlobe, and he awkwardly turned his head away, avoiding her probing gaze. His voice remained steady, but carried a hint of ambiguity: "That night... I accidentally drank a sip."
Meng Yutong was skeptical.
If this rash was caused by accidentally drinking hawthorn wine, what about her past life? In her past life, she drank all the hawthorn wine, and there were no other hawthorn-related items in the mansion. So where did her rash come from?
She pondered for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. Since she couldn't ask him, she simply put it aside for the time being.
"And what about Qing Shu?" she asked, turning to him. "I just saw him serving Princess Jin'an in the palace."
Ji Yun's expression remained unchanged, and his tone was calm and even: "He is by my side, but his heart is not here. Since we are not on the same path, there is no point in forcing him to stay. It is better to let him go wherever he wants to go, so that we can both have some peace and quiet."
Hearing him say that, Meng Yutong felt somewhat relieved.
In her past life, she ultimately died at the hands of Qing Shu. If she were to marry into the Ji family this time, with him still by her side, she would inevitably have to be on guard day and night. Now that this hidden danger has been eliminated, she can finally relax a little.
However, although marrying Ji Yun could temporarily relieve the Empress Dowager's predicament, Jin'an would not give up so easily.
Although Qing Shu is gone, will there be a second or third "Qing Shu" in the Ji family? Is agreeing to this marriage like escaping from a tiger's den only to fall into a wolf's lair?
"Don't worry," Ji Yun's voice sounded calmly from the side, as if he could see through her concerns. "The mansion has been cleaned up and there are no outsiders left. Once you are married into the family, all expenses and manpower can be arranged according to your wishes. Bai Zhi and Granny Gui can also serve you personally. Only when you are at ease can I be at ease."
Meng Yutong suddenly looked up and met his unfathomable gaze.
How strange. Ji Yun always seemed to be able to read her mind.
She hadn't even inquired about Qing Shu's whereabouts, yet he immediately deduced her hidden anxieties about the safety of the household. This insight was truly frightening.
As they talked, the carriage quietly stopped at the entrance of Peach Blossom Street.
Ji Yun escorted Meng Yutong off the carriage all the way to the entrance of Zhaoyutang.
Meng Yutong paused as soon as she stepped into the clinic.
As soon as she returned, the people in the hall surrounded her without saying a word. Only after she stood still did she see who it was.
Liu Sijun was dressed in a short, tight-fitting outfit splattered with mud, his hair was slightly disheveled, and there were traces of sweat on his forehead. He had obviously just rushed back from somewhere and hadn't had time to tidy himself up.
He Haochuan's clothes were splattered with mud, and the soles of his shoes were covered with a thick layer of yellow mud, as if he had just trekked through the rain in the mountains.
Li Jing's usually impeccably dressed brocade robe was now wrinkled and clung to his body, with some dust even smudged on the hem. His hair ornament was also slightly askew, and his expression was unusually anxious and disheveled.
The three people surrounded her like three walls of people. Bai Zhi struggled to squeeze through the gaps in the crowd, grabbed Meng Yutong's hand, and asked anxiously, "Miss, how is the situation in the palace? Has the Dowager Consort made things difficult for you?"
The other three also stared intently at her, holding their breath and waiting for an answer.
Before Meng Yutong could speak, Ji Yun calmly stepped forward, took out the marriage certificate from his bosom, slowly unfolded it, and showed it to everyone. His voice was clear and steady: "On the ninth day of the tenth month, Ji and Yutong will be married. I hope that you will all grace us with your presence and come to drink a cup of wedding wine."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Jing rushed forward and reached out to snatch the marriage certificate to examine it closely.
Ji Yun seemed to have anticipated this, and with a flick of his wrist, he neatly slipped the marriage certificate into his sleeve.
"How could this be?!" Li Jing stared wide-eyed in disbelief, his voice filled with astonishment. "How... how could we suddenly be getting married?!"
When he returned home today, he overheard his mother mentioning the banquet in the palace. In her words, she seemed to mention Meng Yutong's name and vaguely touched on the matter of the Dowager Consort bestowing a marriage upon him.
He was greatly alarmed. Before he could even hear the whole conversation, he found an excuse to sneak out of the mansion and headed straight for Zhaoyu Hall to find out what was going on.
He had imagined countless possibilities along the way, but he never expected that what awaited him was the news that Meng Yutong was about to marry his cousin.
Liu Sijun frowned, his thick, dark eyebrows furrowed, and looked at Ji Yun with piercing eyes: "Physician Ji, this marriage certificate is just a temporary measure to get Tongtong out of her current predicament, right? How long do you plan to keep up this charade? When will that damned Dowager Consort finally let Tongtong go?"
He was filled with regret. If the farmer's roof hadn't been so badly damaged, with cracks appearing in several main beams, and he and his men had spent the whole day repairing it before it was barely stable, then it wouldn't have been delayed to this extent!
If he had arrived a few hours earlier, he would have been the one to present the marriage certificate and rightfully protect her today!
He Haochuan stood to the side, his lips moved, but in the end he couldn't say anything.
He simply lowered his head silently, his gaze falling on his mud-stained, disheveled clothes and shoes, a sense of powerlessness gripping him deeply. In the end… it was still too late.
Meng Yutong's gaze slowly swept over the faces of the group, which were filled with concern and complex emotions. Although she did not know how Bai Zhi had conveyed the message to them before, she felt only gratitude upon seeing them here.
However, since she had already agreed with Ji Yun that although the marriage was fake, they should act like a normal couple in front of outsiders to avoid any mistakes that might cause complications.
She composed herself, her voice clear and calm: "Previously, Bai Zhi was in a hurry and may not have explained the reasons to everyone, which led to some misunderstandings. My engagement with Ji Yun is not a child's play, nor is it merely to solve a temporary problem. On the ninth day of the tenth month, the two of us will get married as scheduled."
Ji Yun stepped forward at the opportune moment, and very naturally reached out to gently put his arm around Meng Yutong's shoulder, his posture intimate and protective.
This action, seen by the other three present, was like a silent declaration, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in their eyes.
Liu Sijun sighed heavily, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "In that case... congratulations to both of you."
Having said that, he said no more, turned around and strode away, his back view carrying a sense of desolation and loneliness.
He Haochuan also raised his head, trying hard to force a smile, but ultimately failed. He could only whisper, "...Wishing Sister Yutong and Physician Ji a long and happy marriage."
He then silently turned around and disappeared into the night outside the door.
Only Li Jing remained standing there, stubbornly staring at Meng Yutong, as if he still wanted to ask her the truth.
Seeing this, Ji Yun released Meng Yutong, stepped forward, grabbed Li Jing by the collar, and dragged him to the corner outside the clinic without saying a word.
"From now on, for her own good, please stay away from her." Ji Yun's voice was cold and unyielding.
Li Jing retorted instinctively, "Why? Why is it bad for her if I get close to her?"
Ji Yun's eyes were deep and unfathomable as he said in a deep voice, "I am jealous. I am not happy if I see you hanging around her every day."
Li Jing was speechless at his blunt words, his expression as if he had swallowed a fly, both shocked and frustrated. "Cousin! You...you've had other intentions towards her all along, haven't you? You've probably been waiting for this situation for a long time, haven't you?!"
Although he rarely concern himself with household affairs or court intrigues, he is not a dull-witted person.
After listening to what the others had just said, and recalling his grandmother's recent strange behavior, he vaguely understood that his grandmother must be trying to use Meng Yutong's marriage to make a fuss, or perhaps... to warn him and extinguish his inappropriate thoughts.
It turned out that he had become the fuse that led her into this predicament.
Liu Sijun, He Haochuan, and even their cousin in front of them, all appear generous, kind, and aloof on the surface, but they all harbor the same selfish motives: they all want to use the guise of "helping out" to actually "possess" their loved ones.
However, my cousin was more skilled and shrewd. He had calculated everything in advance and played this game flawlessly.
For the first time in his life, Li Jing felt deep remorse for his past foolish behavior of only knowing how to eat, drink, and have fun.
If he could read more books, understand more things, and see through the undercurrents earlier, wouldn't he... be able to calmly shelter her from the wind and rain and become her support, just like his cousin?
He was dejected and extremely depressed.
Looking at his expression, Ji Yun said quietly, "Now that you've figured it out, go back as soon as possible. In the future, unless it's something important, don't come to Zhaoyu Hall again, lest you cause unnecessary trouble."
Li Jing raised his sleeve, somewhat humiliated, and wiped his slightly reddened eyes. He said in a muffled voice, "You...you have to treat her well from now on! If you dare to treat her any badly, even if you are my cousin, I will never let you off the hook!"
After saying these words, he stomped his foot heavily, his face finally hardening, and turned to disappear into the night.
After everyone left, the clinic finally returned to quiet. Bai Zhi and Wu Ming flanked Meng Yutong, staring intently at her, determined to get to the bottom of what had happened that night.
Helpless, Meng Yutong first looked at Bai Zhi and said, "Tell me about what happened when you went to find your grandmother earlier."
Bai Zhi hurriedly said, "I had just arrived at the manor and was about to tell the old lady what you had instructed me to do when Physician Ji arrived right after me. The old lady saw that I was in a hurry and did not ask Physician Ji to leave. So I told him in front of him about the matter of preparing your marriage certificate with Young Master Liu."
She thought for a moment and added, "After I finished speaking, the old lady glanced at Physician Ji, and both of them remained silent. I noticed that Physician Ji's expression at that time was very unpleasant. After a while, the old lady told me to come back first, saying that she would handle the rest of the matter, so I left first."
Meng Yutong nodded slightly after hearing this. The sequence of events largely matched what Ji Yun had said.
It seems he happened to witness it, or perhaps he had anticipated that the Dowager Consort would use the marriage as a pretext to cause trouble, so he went along with it and, together with his grandmother, prepared this marriage certificate between him and himself, and went to the palace to help her out of the predicament.
As he said, the marriage certificate itself was not the key issue. If things had gone according to her initial plan, the marriage certificate would have been between her and Liu Sijun. In the Empress Dowager's territory, the other party would have had countless ways to invalidate the marriage. If the Empress Dowager forced her to marry Dou Zhijie, she would indeed be powerless to resist.
Thinking about it carefully, I realize that I was able to get through this dangerous situation thanks to Ji Yun.
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