Chapter 5 The Real Sickly Woman Last night, she and Ji Ming were on the muddy slope...
Ning Lu stopped in her tracks, holding her breath silently.
A morning breeze blew from behind, completely enveloping a flat face in stray hairs.
She didn't raise her hand to tidy up; she simply bowed slightly and looked down at the ground.
The guard strolled forward, carefully examined her, then stopped beside her, bent down to sniff, and his brows furrowed with vigilance.
"What kind of perfume do you usually use, young lady?"
"Um?"
His pupils dilated, and his lips twitched.
Just as she was thinking of how to deal with it, the pair of official boots moved a little closer from directly in front of her as the shadows loomed over her.
The hand rested on the long sword at his waist, intentionally or unintentionally fiddling with the hilt, making a tapping sound.
In this situation, even Zhu Dacheng, who had been the most talkative person on the journey, dared not utter a sound. He pushed his cart aside and seemed to regret taking on this big trouble because of his greed.
Ning Lu inwardly groaned. She had finally found a place to stay temporarily, and she didn't want to get into any more trouble with the authorities, so she quickly explained.
"I...I've never used any fragrance..."
Last night, she and Ji Ming rolled around in the muddy slopes, so there was no fragrance left, not to mention she had just changed her clothes.
"Sir, I've been traveling for several days, and I'm mostly covered in sweat."
Officials can't possibly have any special quirks, right?
Ning Lu lowered her head and smelled the cuffs; sure enough, it was just the smell of the most ordinary fabric. Then she reached back and grabbed her hair, taking a deep breath. A faint, warm fragrance spread across her nose, and her smile froze on her face.
It was the pill that was burned in the cave last night.
Musk?
The fragrance is no longer as pungent as when it was first lit; with the passage of time, it has become as gentle as warm jade or an old book.
Seeing the change in her expression, the official stepped forward again, pressing the hilt of his knife against her chin and lifting her face slightly.
"You mean this?"
With Ji Ming's X-ray scan clearing the way, Ning Lu was surprisingly able to handle the scrutiny of the approaching person with ease. She forced a smile, carefully gripped the hilt of the knife, pushed it aside slightly, and pointed it at her hair.
“I went up the mountain last night and got lost in the fog. I stumbled into a cave by chance. This fragrance comes from the cave itself.”
Is anyone in that cave?
"It wasn't there when we went in."
The leader and the guards behind him exchanged glances, wanting to ask more questions, when they heard a tall, handsome young man hurriedly calling out from afar.
"Wei Zhan!" They sped off and braked abruptly, dust billowing as the young man stopped beside them. He quickly glanced at Ning Lu and whispered in her ear, "Our men saw Prince Jing's men on the mountain."
The cold-faced guard named Wei Zhan frowned and turned to Ning Lu to confirm, "Are you sure it was the scent you picked up in the cave?"
"Heaven is my witness!"
Ning Lu immediately raised her hand as if to swear an oath.
Seeing that she had explained clearly, Zhu Dacheng leaned closer and smiled, trying to smooth things over: "I know the cave you mentioned, sister. That's where we came from. I'll take you there, sir."
Wei Zhan and the boy who came later exchanged glances and nodded, discussed something, and then went up the mountain together.
Ning Lu followed Zhu Dacheng into the depths of the village and into a thatched courtyard.
"Yu Niang!"
The woman inside the house heard the noise in the courtyard and came out to greet them; her voice preceded her arrival.
"Where have you been? The village chief just came to call you, saying that some officials are coming into the mountains."
She was dressed in uncolored coarse linen, a short jacket and wide trousers, holding a child in her left arm and a spatula in her right.
As she stepped out of the house, Yu Niang immediately noticed Ning Lu's clothes and became wary. She turned back, placed the child in the cradle on the inside, and grabbed Da Cheng by the ear, scolding him in displeasure, "What are you doing?"
"Keep your voice down."
Da Cheng, using Yu Niang's strength, took two steps forward. The two hid by the doorway, whispering something. The courtyard wasn't large, and snippets of conversation could be heard—things like money, influential people, elopement, respectable families, and benefits…
Yu Niang remained skeptical. Although there was some wavering in her eyes when she looked at Ning Lu, her guard did not lessen at all.
Ning Lu forced a harmless smile again and nodded in goodwill. The other person only glanced at her and didn't give her a friendly look.
From the moment she opened her eyes last night until now, she has been awkwardly forcing a smile in order to survive, struggling to stay alive.
This was a painful experience unlike anything I had ever had in the new China, no less painful than a job interview.
Exhausted, Ning Lu had no energy left to think about what would happen if they couldn't take her and Ji Ming in. The smile on her face was also hard to maintain.
She turned her back and lay down by the railing next to the cart, her face drooping into the hay.
Turning his head, he met Ji Ming's eyes, which were red from the high fever and filled with a misty haze, making him look completely different from the stern face he had shown in the firelight the night before.
Ning Lu brushed the dry grass off his face and looked at his chest, which was heaving with difficulty as he breathed heavily.
"Why...aren't you leaving yet..."
Where can I go?
"cough…"
A low cough aggravated his wound. Ji Ming closed his eyes and trembled, turning his head to swallow the pain with a muffled groan.
Neither of them spoke anymore; the only sound could be heard a few steps away as the couple tried to persuade each other.
"You're only thinking about the benefits. Have you considered what would happen if he died here, or..."
Before the even harsher and more offensive words spread, Ji Ming vaguely felt a pair of hands covering his ears, separating him from the sharp curses and suspicions.
His already chaotic consciousness struggled to regain its clarity, and he forced himself to look up at Ning Lu.
It was still that unremarkable face, eyes downcast, brows furrowed, expressionless as he exerted himself silently, as if he had only done something very, very small.
Ji Ming's lips curled up silently, a strange bittersweet feeling welling up inside him.
He was only twenty-five years old, yet he had already heard the most biting insults and abuse in the world, and everyone was afraid that he wouldn't be able to hear them. This was the first time someone was afraid that he could hear them.
Surprisingly, he developed compassion.
"You can go now... don't worry about me..."
He managed to speak, his voice weak and his words unclear, relying entirely on instinct.
Ning Lu heard everything clearly and suddenly felt that this person was not as repulsive and selfish as he had been the night before, which made her feel much more at ease.
She was magnanimous and smoothed out his sleeve, saying, "Don't say anything. I'll do my best to save you. Just don't turn your back on me when the time comes."
It wasn't entirely for his own good.
In this situation, she hasn't figured out the original owner's identity or memories; the only clue is the original owner's face.
Unable to distinguish friend from foe, with nowhere to go, and if she were to run into the original owner's enemy and be killed on the spot, she might as well stay with him.
A known opponent always feels more reassuring than an unknown enemy. Moreover, this known opponent is severely wounded and poses no threat.
Not hearing his response, Ning Lu assumed he had fallen asleep again. She picked up some dry grass and piled it around him, rubbing her almost frozen face as she approached Da Cheng and his wife.
Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you.
Originally intending to reenact the crying scene that took place in the cave, Yu Niang stopped him halfway through.
“If you’re going to say you’re also unfortunate people, then we can stay here.” Yu Niang picked up her apron and wiped her hands, then glared at Da Cheng, who was looking at her with a fawning expression. “We need to make it clear beforehand that we’re just an ordinary family, struggling to make ends meet. We don’t have the ability to feed two more mouths for no reason.”
"You don't need to try to fool me with your young master's family background. He's so sick, his lips are even turning purple. It's not certain whether the doctor can do anything about him."
Even so, Da Cheng was in a hurry to leave, so Yu Niang helped Ning Lu settle Ji Ming and found a doctor from the village.
The simple thatched hut had a faint musty smell. The space was cramped and contained only a bed and a table, with some old and worn-out farm tools on both sides.
Ning Lu lay by the bedside, watching curiously as the doctor lightly tapped his pulse. As time passed, her gaze gradually turned to confusion.
"Doctor, he has an external injury and a fever. Could it be an infection? Will some fever-reducing and anti-inflammatory medicine help him get better?"
The old doctor twirled his beard with his fingers, then withdrew his hand, sighed deeply, and gently shook his head.
“Young lady, this young man of yours has no ordinary typhoid fever.” He leaned closer to examine Ji Ming’s face again, and after confirming something, he said in a deep voice, “His pulse is deep and thready, indicating a deficiency of both qi and blood, and a severe case of consumptive disease. I’m afraid this external injury is just the trigger.”
"Deficiency of both qi and blood? Severe consumptive disease?"
Ning Lu struggled to process these eight characters, trying to translate them into a language system she could understand: "Does it mean, overworked to the point of exhaustion?"
The doctor nodded and added, "The weakness in your heart and lungs is likely due to long-term deficiency. The fact that you're still alive today shows that you took good care of yourself in your early years. It's just that this new injury has aggravated the old ailment, causing it to flare up all at once."
Cardiopulmonary insufficiency?
Ning Lu was taken aback and pointed to the person on the bed.
he?
The person who climbed the rock face faster than her last night, and who ran several miles with her when they were escaping for their lives?
Before doubt crept onto her face, Ning Lu immediately recalled that after rushing down the steep slope last night, this person was unable to move and looked exhausted.
She initially thought she had aggravated her wound when she fell.
Having figured this out, Ning Lu took a step back, subconsciously licked her lips, and swallowed with difficulty.
Originally, I thought that because of his distinguished status, I could cooperate with him and find a way out.
Now look what's happened; he's a sickly person beyond medical help.
"So what do we do now?"
Ning Lu began to mutter softly, her voice low, making it unclear whether she was asking herself or the doctor.
Upon hearing this, Yu Niang, who had been pacing by the door with her child in her arms, breathed a sigh of relief.
Before this, she had been intentionally or unintentionally observing Ning Lu and Ji Ming. She always felt that their relationship wasn't as deep as they claimed.
Seeing Ning Lu's face fall pale at the doctor's words, his doubts began to clear, and he stepped towards the door.
"I am ashamed to say that my medical skills are not proficient. I am afraid that I can only use acupuncture to treat the acupoints and then use ginseng medicine to stabilize the condition and try to win a glimmer of hope. If we want to take a long-term view, we should find the doctor who treated the young master before."
"Then... then let's do it your way?" Ning Lu suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, "How much silver will this cost?"
Upon hearing this question, the old doctor stopped taking out his needle pouch and stroked his graying beard.
"Five qian for consultation and acupuncture, three liang for the first three days of herbal medicine, and five to eight liang for subsequent recuperation..."
The string of numbers made Ning Lu dizzy and confused. She looked at the unconscious Ji Ming and then looked towards the door.
Yu Niang has already made herself clear enough, and her family isn't wealthy either, so she probably can't offer any help.
Isolated and helpless.
"Doctor, we're new here, and we lost all our money on the way." Seeing the doctor's complicated expression, Ning Lu thought he had misunderstood, so she quickly waved her hand and explained, "I didn't mean I wouldn't pay. I just wanted to ask if we could use some items as collateral first."
She strode to the table and held up the flint and steel she had taken from Ji Ming between the two of them.
These were some of the few valuable items they had taken out of their bodies.
The air seemed to freeze. Sensing the doctor's predicament, Ning Lu had no choice but to propose a new solution: "Or is there any other way?"
"For example, let him get a little better first, let him wake up. Let him figure out a way himself?"
This sounds even more outrageous.
Just as she was mentally prepared for the old doctor to scold her for being absurd and to storm off, the old man shook his head with a wry smile and relented.
"Since you're related to Yu Niang, I won't accept the consultation fee. Please prepare three days' worth of medicine money first."
Before Ning Lu could even feel happy, the old doctor poured cold water on her joy: "This young man's health... to put it bluntly, is like trading money for life. You should still be prepared."
"As for this flint and steel..."
Yu Niang stood outside for a while, and when she saw that the two people inside both looked troubled, she came back with a heavy money bag in her hand.
"Second Uncle, take the money for the medicine first, let's save the person first. We'll think of something else later."
The old doctor, having received the idea, nodded, turned around, and lowered the bedside curtain, preparing to administer acupuncture.
Ning Lu was stunned by the sudden turn of events; her throat tightened, and she felt a lump in her throat and her nose sting with tears.
"elder sister."
“I’m not helping you for nothing.” Yu Niang snatched the flint from her hand and examined it repeatedly. “My second uncle is all alone and a doctor. He has no use for your flint. Consider it an exchange.”
Although this flint is small, it is clearly made of high-quality flint, and the silver wire inlaid on the edges makes it a superior product.
"How much silver is this worth?"
Yu Niang held the flint and steel to the window and held it up to the light to see the engravings on it. She felt that they looked strangely familiar.
"Why do I feel like I've seen this somewhere before?"
A note from the author:
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