Chapter 8 It smells so good. Ning Lu turned her back and wiped away her drool. ...
"Doctor, how is it? Please say something!"
The doctor stroked his beard, swayed his head leisurely, and slowly opened his eyes at Ning Lu's urging.
"Although the young master has regained consciousness, his heart and lungs are damaged, a result of overwork. He needs to rest and recuperate properly."
Ning Lu lay on the edge of the bed and glanced up at Ji Ming.
Even without the doctor saying anything, she knew what he looked like. Her biggest fears now were her life and her innocence.
She raised her little hands high above her head and waved them up and down in front of the doctor to attract his attention.
"It's my turn." Ning Lu rolled up her sleeves to reveal her thin, slender wrists, which she placed directly on the pulse table.
"this……"
"Why do you need to look at him? Just take my pulse. I'll pay for the consultation."
Seeing that the doctor looked at Ji Ming first, he complained and waved his five fingers in front of the doctor.
As the doctor hesitated, she felt a chill on her wrist resting on the pulse table, and a thin white handkerchief covered her exposed skin.
Ning Lu turned around to look, but Ji Ming pretended to look elsewhere.
Very attentive, and—
People in ancient times could be really troublesome sometimes.
"How are you? Doctor, am I poisoned? Or is it just the dry autumn air causing me to feel hot and bothered? It shouldn't be poisoning, right?"
It's hard to be a good person; I never thought that even my savior would need to prove his innocence.
Ning Lu urged him a few times, and then she saw the old doctor smile.
"It's alright, young lady. Don't panic. It's just that your constitution is a bit too hot, and you've been taking too much warming tonic, which is why you had a nosebleed."
"Too much warming and nourishing?"
She's starving every day, how could she possibly take too much nourishing food?
“My lord is in too much debt, so I used some strong medicine. It is beneficial to my lord, but it is still too much for an ordinary person.”
How could she tell that she had been secretly drinking medicine just by taking her pulse?
Ning Lu, feeling incredibly embarrassed, saw the doctor out. Back in her room, she was met with Ji Ming's teasing gaze. Embarrassed, she unconsciously raised her voice: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
“Every time you go through all that trouble, you only drink a sip. Medicine is so expensive, of course we can’t waste it.”
"Now you believe me that I didn't poison him, right?"
"You saved me, of course I trust you."
He picked up the bowl of medicine, which had long since gone cold, and drank it all. He then used a handkerchief to suppress the cough that kept escaping from the corner of his mouth.
Once he had caught his breath, the playfulness in his eyes turned to innocence, and he said slowly, word by word, "Since you're worried about wasting it, please taste all the medicine you brew before sending it to me."
“No need for that. Haven’t you heard the doctor say…” Ning Lu’s tongue came out abruptly, and she gasped, “You want me to test the medicine on you?”
"Are you out of your mind? I'm the one who saved you. Don't you think it's a bit presumptuous of you to ask for this?"
Ji Ming leaned against the bed, his back straight, his fingertips lightly tapping the edge of the bed.
Seeing that she was anxious, he slowly said, "It is precisely because you saved me that I dare to entrust you with this important matter."
"A dose of medicine will do you no harm, but it will put my mind at ease. The doctor also said that you need to rest to recover, so that I can find a way out soon and stop being a burden to you."
This was still a rather long sentence, and Ji Ming's face gradually turned pale, pausing for a long time between each word.
Just as Ning Lu was still pondering his intentions, Ji Ming turned his head, his brows furrowed with confusion and innocence: "Or is there really a secret in this medicine that I can't know?"
"How...how could this be! Don't make false accusations!"
Ning Lu jumped three feet high, her voice rising even higher: "Let me tell you, there are gods watching over us. I can say I have a clear conscience towards someone like you, who knows nothing about my background or origins. Stop with your sarcastic remarks."
Before she could finish speaking, someone knocked on the door. When she saw that it was Yu Niang leading the village chief, she remembered that she had promised to help the village chief deliver a letter the day before yesterday. She quickly shut up and made a throat-slitting gesture at him.
“I estimate he won’t be back until dark. If he’s still not back by nightfall…” Ning Lu looked him over, her disdain undisguised: “Then just consider it a breakup. You can go find someone else to test the drug on.”
Before he could respond, the wooden door creaked shut, cutting off the sunlight from the courtyard.
He vaguely heard Ning Lu exchanging pleasantries with the people in the courtyard, laughing and joking while asking Yu Niang to look after him.
"The doctor said he shouldn't get out of bed easily after lying down for so long. Sister, could you please keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't fall?"
Ji Ming's slightly closed eyelids twitched slightly, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.
He had indeed been ill for so long and so severely that he was unable to discern the truth in the woman's words.
Having just recovered from a serious illness, and having struggled for so long, I was already barely holding on, so I just sat up and drifted off to sleep.
When I regained consciousness, dusk was approaching, and a dark shadow lingered by the door.
Ji Ming held his breath, focused, and asked in a deep voice, "Who?"
"Young master, are you awake?"
Hearing the noise, the person outside breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the door open to come in.
He had never met the man, but he remembered his voice.
"You are... Zhu Dacheng."
He raised his hand to press down on his collar, draped one side of his outer robe over his body, and struggled to sit up.
Seeing that he was moving slowly, Da Cheng quickly took two steps forward to help him up.
Before he could even touch the hem of the clothes, he met the cold indifference in the other person's eyes. Zhu Dacheng was pressed to the spot by the inexplicable pressure, his legs went weak, and he took half a step back with an awkward smile.
These days, Ji Ming was in a coma, and Ning Lu was the one who dealt with them. The young girl was very approachable and spoke and interacted with everyone in a very casual manner, showing no signs of the composure expected of a maid from a wealthy family. Coupled with their financial difficulties, Zhu Dacheng became increasingly suspicious of their identities.
To be able to see this young master in person...
Da Cheng felt a chill run down his spine, but put on a humble and obsequious smile: "Before leaving, Sister Ning entrusted you to my family, so I came to see if there's anything I can help you with."
"What time is it?"
"It's just past Shenshi (3-5 PM). It'll be dark soon." Dacheng saw him looking out the door and assumed he was thinking about Ninglu. He then exchanged pleasantries: "The next village is about six or seven li away from us. The girl leaves early and is fast on her feet. I reckon she'll be back by Xushi (7-9 PM)."
"Fast footwork?"
Upon hearing this, Ji Ming finally turned his gaze to Zhu Dacheng's face and asked seemingly casually, "How fast can a girl's legs be?"
The man sat leaning against the edge of the bed, his deep-set eyes appearing and disappearing in the light and shadow, his low, husky voice softening his sharp features.
When Zhu Dacheng heard this, it all turned into protectiveness and pity for Ning Lu, and he thought the two of them were inseparable.
"Others might not be able to do it. This Miss Ning is truly amazing. She's like a fairy, lightly leaping several meters high from the stone steps. She can travel several miles in one breath. She really has the air of a martial arts master from a novel."
"Besides, she's completely devoted to you, young master. A few days ago, when you weren't feeling well, she stayed by your side day and night. As you got better, you slowly dared to work in the courtyard. Only now has she started going outside again. And she's a hard worker; she always says she'd do anything to earn money."
At this point, Zhu Dacheng slapped his thigh, as if he had remembered something, and said with a fawning expression, "Well, today I heard from Yu Niang that she is going to pawn her treasured jade pendant to change your medicine."
Since the other person entered, Ji Ming, who had been keeping his eyes downcast, suddenly froze, his lips pressed tightly together. Only the words "martial arts master" echoed in his mind; he couldn't hear anything else afterward.
He had witnessed the woman's stamina.
Chased by wolves, she managed to grab a sliver of hope even while dragging him along. Such a remarkable skill could only be achieved through years of rigorous training.
Of all the women in the world, apart from Liu Yunying on the assassin's list, he had never heard of anyone else with such abilities.
But if she really is Liu Yunying, she should have been ordered by Prince Jing to assassinate him long ago. The fact that she saved him instead of killing him today is truly abnormal.
In addition, who exactly was the original owner that she repeatedly mentioned while she was unconscious?
Unless there are other things he hasn't found out besides that list of traitors.
As the fog cleared, a silent, mocking laugh escaped him. Things were getting increasingly interesting.
Squeak—
The autumn wind blew wide through the cracks in the door, and the chill made people cough incessantly.
Ji Ming snapped out of his daze and looked up.
It was completely dark outside. Zhu Dacheng had long since left, and the square table inside was now occupied by someone else.
Where did the oil lamp come from?
"Zhu Dacheng has been here."
"Hmm? Why is he being so generous? Did Yu Niang pawn something to pay for it?"
"No, if it were converted into money, Yu Niang would tell me."
Ning Lu lay sprawled on the table like a rag doll, not bothering to explore the deeper meaning behind it, and tapped the wood with her hand.
Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?
The scent of earth and rice porridge mingled on her body, spreading to the tip of her nose and stirring ripples in her deep, calm eyes.
Ji Ming then noticed the pitifully small amount of food on the table: "We traveled so far, and this is all we got in return."
"Come on, do I look like a sucker? I'm just born to do losing business."
Ning Lu turned her head, looking resentful: "It's all because the doctor said you need to eat easily digestible food. That's why I had to beg for my meager salary."
"This young master, who seems to live a life of luxury, probably doesn't know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, and salt."
This little bit of rice porridge is equivalent to several pancakes.
Dragging his heavy steps, he moved to the bedside and stuffed the rice porridge into Ji Ming's hands: "Drink it while it's hot, I still have to take the bowl back to the village chief."
Only then did Ji Ming get a clear look at the rice porridge. Calling it porridge was a stretch; it was just a few grains of white rice cooked in broth.
Even so, it is already quite remarkable in a small village on the southwestern border.
"Hurry up and catch it, it'll get cold soon." Ning Lu tilted her head and asked, "Don't you have any strength left in your hands? Do you need me to feed you?"
"I can."
Upon hearing this, Ji Ming gasped and secretly exerted his strength to support himself.
Seeing that he had accepted the call, Ning Lu slid down to sit on the low stool by the bed and focused on eating the pancake in her hand.
"I'm going to sleep right after I finish eating. I promised the old lady next door I'd deliver it for her again tomorrow." Ning Lu wolfed down her food, still thinking about how to make money: "If things go smoothly tomorrow, I can earn a few more coins. Maybe in a couple of days, I'll save enough money to buy you a chicken to nourish your body."
"A live chicken costs several tens of coins."
Ning Lu choked for a moment.
"Never mind then, let's just eat eggs."
"However, if I can get a good price for that jade, I can still afford to eat chicken. And I won't have to travel so far every day anymore; it's exhausting."
"What jade?" Ji Ming asked in confusion, vaguely remembering that Zhu Dacheng had mentioned it before.
"Your jade pendant is something I wear close to my body. It's very important. Oh, by the way, I pawned your flint and steel too. I used all the money to buy you medicine; I didn't take anything for myself."
She didn't even look up, focusing on eating her dry biscuit and calculating her potential income.
Upon hearing this, Ji Ming's gaze fell lightly on her, noticing the faint joy in her eyes, followed by a brief moment of bewilderment and then a gradual softening.
After a long while, his tense body relaxed, and he looked down at the rice soup in the bowl.
"It's something you worked so hard to get, so don't be shy, just drink it."
Ning Lu urged him again, and Ji Ming hesitated before picking up the bowl, taking small sips and swallowing slowly and with difficulty.
In the short time that followed, Ning Lu finished the dry biscuit in her hand, got up, patted the dirt off her body and walked outside, but was inadvertently captivated by the way he was eating, and leaned against the bedside staring at him blankly.
This was the first time I'd ever seen someone drink rice porridge so slowly and deliberately, with an air of refined abstinence. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought his bowl contained some kind of delicacy.
It smells so good…
Ning Lu turned her back and wiped away her drool.
...
What are you thinking about?
Of course, it's the aroma of the food.
Noticing the direct gaze, Ji Ming raised his eyes slightly, then smiled and swallowed.
The bowl landed on the bedside table with a 'clatter,' and there was still a little bit of rice water left inside.
Ning Lu was utterly astonished to see him pull out a handkerchief and start wiping his hands.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"I can't eat anymore."
"What a waste."
She walked a long way just for that bowl of soup.
Ning Lu pouted for only a moment. Then, her eyes darted around, and she perked up again, picking up her bowl with a serious expression and walking towards the door.
“Since you’re not eating it, I’ll take the bowl back to the village chief.”
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