Chapter 22. Ji escorted the girl on her way.
Cui Dacheng frowned. Miss Meng's reaction was as if she had encountered an enemy...
He glanced nervously at the two of them, then finally turned to Meng Yutong and asked cautiously, "Miss Meng, do you know that young master?"
Meng Yutong nodded slightly, the night breeze ruffling the stray hairs at her temples. "Brother Cui, please wait. My maid and nanny are waiting up ahead."
Upon hearing this, Cui Dacheng didn't ask any more questions. He simply clasped his hands in a simple and honest bow, then strode off in a hurry toward Bazhenfang. His sturdy figure quickly blended into the bustling crowd.
Just as she was about to turn around, a clear, cold voice sounded from her side, and someone called out to her in a low voice: "Miss Meng."
Meng Yutong felt a slight chill in her heart, but her expression remained impassive.
These past two days, she had Bai Zhi secretly keep an eye on her grandmother's movements, and learned that her grandmother was preoccupied with other matters and had not yet had time to deal with the marriage to the Ji family.
The man before her was still her nominal "fiancé".
She turned around, a faint smile playing on her lips, and gracefully curtsied, "Greetings, Young Master Ji. What brings you here?"
Ji Yun stood upright under the gradually thinning lights. His purple robe accentuated his handsome features in the light and shadow, yet also carried a hint of aloofness and coldness.
He didn't respond to her question, but calmly stated: "The Ji family is located in the middle section of Yujie Street, turn right at Tonghefang, at the deepest part of Ninghai Lane."
His gaze was calm, simply stating a perfectly ordinary fact.
Meng Yutong's eyelashes twitched almost imperceptibly, feeling that these words came out of nowhere. "Young master is joking. Yutong naturally understands."
Ji Yun's voice remained flat: "This is the only way to get back to the Ji family from the Imperial Medical Academy."
Meng Yutong's heart skipped a beat.
What did he mean by that? Was he implying that she was asking a question she already knew the answer to? Or was he just making conversation?
In short, it sounds very uncomfortable.
"Miss Meng, what brings you here so late at night?" Ji Yun's gaze passed over the flickering lights cast by the glass lanterns along the roadside and landed directly on her face, as if trying to see right through her. "The direction of the Meng residence seems to contradict this."
Meng Yutong's heart tightened, secretly annoyed that this person was meddling too much, but she still maintained a polite smile on her face and said in a light tone, "I was just strolling around with my maids and we got separated. I was just about to go back to find them."
Ji Yun didn't speak again. After a moment of silence, he suddenly took two steps closer and stood beside her. A crisp, clear scent, like snow-covered pine forests in winter, silently wafted over.
“The night is deep and the dew is heavy, and the crowds are noisy,” he said in a low voice, “I, Ji, will see you off.”
Meng Yutong instinctively wanted to politely decline: "I wouldn't dare trouble you, young master. Zhenwei Restaurant is right here, just a few steps away..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ji Yun had already stepped forward with steady steps, and simply replied with two words: "On the way."
The two walked on in silence. Ji Yun walked with a leisurely pace, yet he was half a body length ahead of her.
Meng Yutong simply slowed down and deliberately lagged behind.
At first, they were only half a step apart, but gradually the distance widened to one step, two steps... In the end, there was a distance of more than ten feet between them, and they didn't seem like people traveling together.
The tall figure in front of them suddenly stopped.
Ji Yun turned to look back, the cool moonlight and warm lamplight intertwining on his sharply defined profile, casting a deep shadow.
He gazed silently at Meng Yutong, who was lagging behind. A rare hint of confusion flickered across his usually expressionless, cold, and jade-like face: "Miss Meng, why are you so far away?"
He paused, his voice devoid of emotion, "Is there something wrong with me that makes you want to avoid me?"
Meng Yutong paused slightly, not expecting him to ask so bluntly. She had no choice but to quicken her pace to catch up, her expression somewhat stiff, and replied perfunctorily, "It's late at night, and a man and a woman walking alone in the bustling city might tarnish your reputation and cause gossip."
It was the busiest time of the night market, with people shoulder to shoulder and flowing like a river.
Pedestrians came in a constant stream, and in the pushing and shoving, Meng Yutong, who was walking on the outer side of the street, was bumped several times.
Ji Yun took a step out, separating Meng Yutong to the inside.
He didn't look at her, his gaze fixed on the dimly lit area ahead. "Miss Meng was chatting and laughing with the staff of Bazhenfang just now, and they didn't seem to have any concerns about the separation of men and women. In that case, I should thank you for considering my feelings."
This unexpected remark left Meng Yutong speechless, causing her to pause in her tracks.
She simply pursed her lips and stopped talking, only turning her head slightly to casually look at the various trinkets on the roadside stalls.
The shouts of vendors rose and fell along both sides of the street.
One sachet vendor, carrying a bamboo basket, was particularly enthusiastic. He held up a long bamboo pole covered with colorful sachets with fine stitches.
Ji Yun glanced at the dazzling array of sachets and casually asked, "The sachet that Miss Meng left behind last time had a soothing and calming scent, elegant and refined. It should contain spikenard, styrax, and benzoin..."
He turned his head slightly, his gaze falling on her profile, softly outlined by the lamplight. "...However, there is another fragrance, sweet with a hint of bitterness, and a touch of sourness in the aftertaste, quite unique. I wonder what it is?"
Why would he suddenly become interested in that sachet?
Meng Yutong was filled with doubts. Ji Yun was a very indifferent person; apart from matters related to medicine, he didn't seem to care about anything else.
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye; being so close, she could clearly see the faint dark circles under his eyes.
She suddenly remembered Ji Yun's insomnia.
Perhaps the sachet had improved his symptoms. That's why he asked her about the ingredients in it.
Suppressing her various guesses, Meng Yutong slowly said, "Take the outer shell of the dried lychee from Lingnan, grind it into powder, and add a little aged Pu'er tea powder during baking. This is to take advantage of its bittersweet aftertaste, which has the effect of calming the mind, stabilizing the will, and relieving anxiety."
Ji Yun's brow twitched slightly, and a faint hint of interest flashed in his eyes. "Miss Meng is very clever. This is the first time I've heard of such a method of making incense."
Meng Yutong smiled, and when she talked about things that interested her, she became more talkative than usual. "When I was young, my father returned from a business trip to Lingnan and brought back a box of rare lychees. At that time, I was young, greedy and stingy, and I could only afford to eat one a day. The rest of the box just dried up."
"It would be a pity to throw it away, so I haphazardly stuffed it into a sachet. Unexpectedly, the scent was surprisingly pleasant and calming. So I kept the recipe."
Just five more steps ahead and you'll reach Zhenweilou.
Meng Yutong stopped and looked at Ji Yun. "Young Master Ji just asked me many questions. In return, may I ask you one as well?"
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
