Chapter 97 The Medicine Is Wrong
A woman of about twenty years old, dressed as a peasant woman, walked out from the crowd. Beside her was a little boy who was about the same age as Xiaolingdang.
The woman slowly stepped forward, her voice filled with disbelief, "Feng Lang, are you really going to marry her? Don't you want me, and you don't want Yuan'er either?"
These words immediately caused an uproar among the crowd.
"What's going on?"
"Judging from this, this woman has a connection with Scholar Feng, and also with this child..."
"Feng Lang, you said I was the love of your life," the woman continued.
All eyes turned to Feng Yan, who panicked instantly. "What nonsense are you spouting, woman? I've never said anything like that. I don't even know you."
"That's right, where did this crazy woman come from, running around causing trouble here?" Madam Feng chimed in. "Guards, throw this mother and son out of here!"
The servants waiting outside stepped forward and escorted the woman away. Chen Baixun subconsciously looked at Fu Yunxiu, assuming it was his doing, but Fu Yunxiu shook his head.
He didn't want Aman to marry someone else, but he wouldn't embarrass her like that.
Seeing the servants covering their mouths and leading the two children about to leave, Chen Baixun suddenly spoke up, "Wait."
He looked up at Feng Yan, who appeared slightly flustered, and said, "Young Master Feng, shouldn't you explain the situation?"
"I... what can I explain? I've never even seen them." Feng Yan felt guilty and didn't dare to look the mother and child in the eye. "Someone must be trying to cause trouble."
"That's right, that's right, we don't know him, we don't know him, throw him out quickly," Madam Feng chimed in.
The woman also cried, her face streaked with tears. "Feng Lang, how could you say that? If you don't want me, don't you want A Yuan either?"
Feng Yuan, who was being dragged along by the servants, had never seen such a scene before. He cried with tears and snot streaming down his face. When he heard his mother mention him, he cried and called out to Feng Yan, "Father!"
Seeing his son crying so sadly, Feng Yan felt very sorry for him, but with so many people watching, he could not afford to make the slightest mistake.
He hardened his heart and said coldly, "Young lady, you say this child is my son, but do you have any proof?"
"This..." The woman was stunned. She had heard from that man that Feng Lang was getting married today, so she had rushed over with her son. Evidence...
She suddenly remembered something, took out the small gold lock that Feng Yuan was wearing around his neck, with his name on it, "This, this gold lock, we made it for the child together, and his name, Feng Yuan, is on it."
Those who were nearby went over to take a look, and it really was true.
"Hey, so it really is surnamed Feng."
"This child's face looks somewhat similar to that of Scholar Feng."
Everyone was talking about it, and even Aman couldn't help but lift her veil.
Sure enough, the child did look like Feng Yan.
"Zizhong, what's going on? That child is really your flesh and blood," Aman asked.
“What are you saying at the beginning of the month? How could that be?” Feng Yan quickly explained, “My heart for you is as clear as day. I guess it’s just that jealous person who can’t stand me marrying such a beautiful woman like you, so they’re deliberately causing trouble.”
After saying that, he looked at the mother and child at the door and said in an unfriendly tone, "It's just a surname, but it's like you're trying to pin a turd on my head. Does that mean that every child in the world with the surname Feng is my flesh and blood?"
Feng Yan gave his mother a wink, and Madam Feng understood, adding, "That's right. Where did you all come from, daring to cause trouble at my son's wedding? I'll let you off this time because you're a widow and her son, but if you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll have the servants beat you out with sticks."
Madam Feng waved her hand, and several servants obeyed, continuing to drag the mother and son out of the house.
The child watched his mother being dragged away, and followed behind, crying loudly in fear. Madam Feng watched this, her heart aching as if it were bleeding, but she could only endure it, daring not to show it at all.
In any case, the marriage is off today. We'll make it up to Fifth Aunt and her precious grandson later!
Seeing that the two people who usually doted on Ah Yuan like their own children were so heartless today, Wu Niang was immediately filled with anger and turned to bite the left hand that was holding her.
The servant on the left felt a sharp pain in his hand and instinctively let go. Fifth Sister flung the man on the right aside, took two quick steps, and rushed into the hall, shouting, "You wretch, it's all because of you!"
Things happened so fast that no one had time to react. Fu Yunxiu only saw a flash of silver light before his eyes, and before he could even think, he instinctively stepped in front of Aman.
"Thud." The scissors pierced the abdomen, and blood splattered everywhere.
"Ahhh!" Someone screamed, waking everyone up. The crowd immediately erupted into chaos. Some scattered and fled for their lives, while others shouted for help, and still others rushed forward to restrain Wu Niang to prevent her from hurting anyone again.
"Yunxiu!" Aman watched helplessly as Fu Yunxiu collapsed in front of her, but Mantou caught him quickly.
"Young master, how are you?"
"It's alright," Fu Yunxiu smiled, then looked up at Aman and found her trembling as she looked at him, clearly quite frightened.
Fu Yunxiu followed her gaze and saw a patch of bright red. Blood had spread from the wound, and in just a short while, it had turned a large area red.
"If I had known, I would have worn black." Fu Yunxiu chuckled and looked up to reassure Aman, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"At a time like this, stop trying to be a hero," Chen Baixun yelled at him, then ordered his men, "A-Song, go and fetch a doctor quickly."
Wu Niang was being held captive by the crowd. Looking at the scene before her, she was completely terrified and lost her composure. "It was him, he ran into me on his own. It has nothing to do with me, it has nothing to do with me!"
Seeing the wedding hall he had carefully arranged in a complete mess, Feng Yan wished he could kill this idiot. He was so close, so very close, to marrying Lin Yuechu.
That's Lin's cosmetics shop, the best cosmetics shop in Bingzhou. With it, the timber mill will be saved, and he'll have the money to bribe those officials.
He had kept it all a secret, so who was it that wanted to oppose him and make things difficult for him?
Feng Yan looked around but couldn't see anything amiss.
That's enough. Right now, the most important thing is to stabilize the situation.
"It's alright at the beginning of the month, it's alright, don't be afraid." Feng Yan put his arm around Aman and comforted her gently, while secretly giving Madam Feng a wink.
Madam Feng understood his meaning, and soon, a servant took advantage of the chaos to secretly take the child away.
Fifth Sister's scissors were not sharp, and in early spring, people were generally dressed in thick clothes, so Fu Yunxiu's injury was not fatal. He had just lost a lot of blood and needed to be well-nourished and recuperated.
A perfectly good wedding turned into this mess; some people got bored and have already quietly left.
After Fu Yunxiu finished bandaging his wound, Mantou and Chen Baixun helped him up. Aman subconsciously tried to follow, but Feng Yan grabbed her sleeve.
Where did you go at the beginning of the month?
"Zizhong, I think you should deal with the immediate problem first. We can talk about our marriage later," Aman said, trying to shake off his hand.
“No, no,” Feng Yan panicked, clinging tightly to Aman, “At the beginning of the month, you have to believe me, I really have nothing to do with her, you have to believe me.”
Aman laughed. Even now, he was still trying to argue.
"Then dare you say that child has absolutely no relation to you?" Children are the most innocent. You can tell how a child treats you just by looking at them. When that child looked at Feng Yan, he clearly showed dependence and admiration for his father, just like Xiao Lingdang looked at him.
"Yes, that child is mine," Feng Yan admitted when he could no longer hide it. "But it was a mistake I made when I was young and ignorant. At the beginning of the month, I was sincere to you. At worst, after we get married, I'll register the child under your name so that it can keep Xiao Lingdang company."
Upon hearing this, both Aman and Wu Niang were stunned.
Fifth Sister's eyes were bloodshot as she struggled forward, wishing she could tear Feng Yan's mouth apart. "You dare, you surnamed Feng?"
"Shut up. If it weren't for you, things wouldn't have turned out like this today." Feng Yan cursed, then looked at Aman again. "Yuechu, if you really don't want to, I can let them stay in the countryside and never bother you again."
Feng Yan offered his suggestion again, but Aman was completely disappointed in him. She never expected that this man, who was usually so gentle and refined in front of her and praised by others as benevolent and filial, was actually so heartless, untrustworthy, selfish, and hypocritical.
Aman sneered and said calmly, "Feng Yan, I told you long before we got married that I, Lin Yuechu, would never share a husband with another woman in this life. So, let's annul the engagement!"
"Break off the engagement? Impossible! I spent so much money to marry you, and you can't just end it with a few words." Seeing that Aman wouldn't listen to reason, Feng Yan decided to use force. He grabbed Aman's arm and pulled her into the house. "Anyway, we're already husband and wife after the wedding ceremony. Come on, let's go to the bridal chamber."
Although Feng Yan was a scholar, he was still a man after all. With him dragging and pulling him around like that, Aman really couldn't get away for a while.
Chen Baixun originally intended to let Aman handle the matter herself, but he didn't expect that this guy surnamed Feng would be so shameless, and he immediately couldn't stand it anymore.
"You've really given me too much credit." Chen Baixun kicked Feng Yan with all his might, sending him crashing into the table, knocking over the candles, and scattering the offerings all over the floor.
He clutched his stomach, watching helplessly as Chen Baixun left with Aman, and hysterically shouted, "Lin Yuechu, once you leave this door today, don't even think about coming back. A widow with a child in tow, who else but me would want you?"
Granny Na Xi was completely stunned to see the two of them go their separate ways, from their perfect match to their current separation.
She had never encountered anything like this in her entire life.
I shouldn't have been greedy for that little bit of money and come to this lousy place in the first place. Now look what's happened, I've left a stain on my record.
Looking at the two adulterous lovers in front of her, who were having an affair without any matchmaker, Granny Xi spat out, "Pah, what bad luck."
*
Although Fu Yunxiu's injuries weren't serious, his constitution was weak, and he had lost so much blood that he fainted before even reaching the halfway point. When he woke up again, it was already the next day.
The spring sunshine outside was warm and gentle. Fu Yunxiu wanted to stretch, but he accidentally strained his wound. The intense pain made him gasp and become more alert.
A rustling sound came from the side. Fu Yunxiu turned his head and saw Xiao Lingdang on the ground, with someone playing happily with a clay figurine.
“Little Bell,” Fu Yunxiu called out, reaching out his hand to him.
When Xiaolingdang saw that he was awake, her face lit up with joy. She instinctively stood up and was about to rush over, but then she remembered something and ran towards the door, calling out as she ran, "Mom, Uncle, Uncle Fu is awake."
Soon, Aman, carrying the medicine, entered the room one after the other with Chen Baixun.
"Oh, you're actually awake," Chen Baixun walked up to him and asked, "Great hero, how are you feeling?"
Fu Yunxiu looked at Aman and explained, "I didn't do what happened at yesterday's wedding banquet."
“I know,” Aman nodded. “Take your medicine first.”
Seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, Fu Yunxiu didn't say anything more, took the medicine bowl from Aman's hand, and drank it all in one gulp.
"You two chat. I'll go to the kitchen to check on the porridge."
After Aman left, Chen Baixun sat down at the table, poured himself some tea, took a sip, and pointed at Fu Yunxiu, saying, "I have to say, you're pushing yourself too hard."
Fu Yunxiu looked down at the still-bleeding wound and smiled, "I was in a hurry and didn't think too much about it."
"So what do you plan to do now? To repay your kindness and have Yuechu break off the engagement and marry you?" Chen Baixun asked.
"I never thought about it," Fu Yunxiu said. He was the one who made the mistake back then, and even if he wanted to ask Aman for forgiveness, he wouldn't use such despicable means.
"By the way, where's the steamed bun?" Fu Yunxiu looked around and couldn't find the steamed bun anywhere. Instead, they were the ones taking care of him.
“I don’t know who reported it to the authorities yesterday, but today the officials came to inquire and took him away,” Chen Baixun said.
“I was wondering,” Fu Yunxiu said, looking at him again, “What about the Feng family…?”
"What else can we do but break off the engagement?" Chen Baixun got angry just thinking about that family. He had said before that Feng Yan seemed hypocritical and pretentious and didn't seem like a good person, and his mother insisted that he was just being petty. Now look at him.
"A mere scholar dares to nitpick at my sworn sister, thinking he's something special. This engagement must be called off. The thought of almost becoming in-laws with someone like him makes me sick. No, I'll go now, lest something unforeseen happens." With that, he got up and walked outside.
Fu Yunxiu was amused by his straightforward nature, but still called out to him, "Wait a minute."
"What?" Chen Baixun turned to look at him.
Fu Yunxiu took a token from beside his pillow and tossed it to him, saying, "Take this; it will come in handy."
Chen Baixun took it and saw that it was a token from the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence.
"Thanks." He picked up the token and waved it.
Fu Yunxiu didn't reply, but chuckled softly.
In fact, he should be the one thanking him.
*
The Feng family married Aman with the intention of using Aman's cosmetics shop to supplement their lumber mill, so it was really not easy for Chen Baixun to annul the engagement.
As soon as they arrived, Madam Feng burst into tears, saying how difficult it was for her, a widow, to support the family. She explained that they had almost emptied their savings to marry Aman, just so that Aman could enter the family in a grand and glorious manner.
Feng Yan went even further. He recounted all the effort he had put into Aman over the years, claiming that he and that other woman were young and naive, that the woman had seduced him first, and that Aman was his true love. Seeing that Chen Baixun remained unmoved, his expression changed, and he spoke of how much money and effort he had spent on Aman and Xiaolingdang over the years, even neglecting his studies for it. These things could not be compensated for with money.
In short, they just wouldn't call off the engagement.
However, it's easy to imagine that the farce at yesterday's wedding banquet was something Feng Yan had done to offend the most famous matchmaker in Bingzhou. Matchmakers and matchmakers are on the same side, so it's likely that no matchmaker will be willing to introduce girls to him in the future, and no good family will be willing to marry their daughter to him.
As for other things, as a scholar, he disregarded propriety and shame by secretly keeping a mistress and fathering an illegitimate child, which ruined his reputation. He could forget about being recommended for the civil service examination.
Therefore, Aman was her only straw, and she had to hold on to her tightly.
Seeing that his family wouldn't listen to reason, Chen Baixun had no choice but to resort to some tricks. He threatened them with the waist token given to him by Fu Yunxiu, and after two days of using both soft and hard tactics, he finally managed to get the engagement annulled.
After retrieving the marriage certificate from the yamen, Chen Baixun went straight to Aman's house, but unfortunately, neither Aman nor Xiaolingdang were there.
"Miss insisted on dragging Madam to see Young Master Fu, crying and making a fuss, and couldn't be calmed down no matter what," said Aunt He.
Chen Baixun then went to Fu Yunxiu's place, and sure enough, both mother and daughter were there.
Little Bell was sitting on the bed, fussing over Fu Yunxiu, while Aman sat at a table in the distance, watching quietly.
"Uncle Fu, does it still hurt?" Little Bell asked.
"It doesn't hurt anymore. Little Bell came to see me, so Uncle doesn't feel any pain at all," Fu Yunxiu said.
"Then you need to eat more. Mother says that eating more will help your wound heal faster." The little girl's voice was sweet and gentle. If his wound weren't in his abdomen, Fu Yunxiu would have loved to hold her in his arms and play with her.
The two, one big and one small, were so affectionate that Chen Baixun felt incredibly envious. He deliberately raised his voice, "Little Bell, now that you have an uncle, you don't need an aunt anymore."
Hearing his voice, Little Bell's eyes lit up, and she turned around and called out in a clear voice, "Uncle."
Chen Baixun: "..."
She didn't rush into his arms as usual, nor did she hug his face and kiss him. She just called out once and that was it.
I've been taking care of him since he was little, but he's not even as good as an uncle I've only known for two months and have met less than ten times.
Could this be the legendary father-daughter innate bond?
Chen Baixun was heartbroken, but there was nothing he could do.
Entering the house, he glared at Xiaolingdang angrily, then turned to Aman and handed her the marriage certificate, saying, "I got it from the government office, keep it safe."
"Thank you," Aman said.
"Why are you being so polite with me?" Chen Baixun raised his chin. Mantou came in at the right moment, carrying hot water. "Young master, it's time to change the dressing."
"Little Bell, go play with your uncle for a while. Uncle needs to apply medicine." Afraid that the wound would frighten her, Fu Yunxiu could only send her away first.
Little Bell got off the bed and ran into Chen Baixun's arms with a "thump thump thump". She smiled brightly at him and sweetly called out, "Uncle".
Chen Baixun originally intended to ignore her out of spite, but seeing the little girl's adorable appearance, he immediately surrendered.
He hugged the little bells tightly to his chest, "Oh, my little darling, I've missed you so much!"
Mantou applied medicine to Fu Yunxiu, removed the gauze, and saw that the wound was still the same as before, so she couldn't help but sigh.
Chen Baixun was drawn to him and subconsciously glanced over, only to see that Fu Yunxiu's wound was still covered in blood.
Something's not right.
He handed the little bell to Aman and stepped forward to ask, "Your wound has been there for three days now, why is it still bleeding?"
Fu Yunxiu shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe the medicine isn't very effective, or maybe I hurt myself by moving around."
Chen Baixun glanced at the medicine bottle beside him; it was a common wound medicine. "That shouldn't be the case. Doctor Xue's wound medicines are always quite effective. As for bringing this up..."
Given the location of Fu Yunxiu's wound, unless he got up and performed a set of boxing techniques, there's no way it could have been torn like that.
Chen Baixun found it strange and picked up a medicine bottle from the side and opened it. As the medicinal aroma dissipated, he instantly realized something was wrong.
"No, this medicine is wrong."
"What's wrong?" Fu Yunxiu asked.
"The smell is off. I've been getting beaten by my dad since I was a kid. I use this medicine all the time, even though I don't understand pharmacology. But I know exactly what it smells like."
"..." Fu Yunxiu glanced at him.
You're quite proud of yourself.
"Mantou, go to Shengyun Hall and ask Doctor Zhu to come and take a look," Chen Baixun instructed.
Shengyun Hall wasn't far from here, and Mantou returned quickly. Doctor Zhu took the medicine, smelled it, rubbed it on his hand to examine its texture, and immediately had his answer: "Indeed, this medicine has been tampered with."
"Ordinary wound medicines are used to stop bleeding and reduce inflammation, but this bottle of wound medicine is different. It contains two herbs, Chuanxiong and Wenshu, both of which are blood-activating and stasis-removing medicines. If applied for a long time, it may cause the wound to ooze pus, become infected and cause coma, or even endanger life!"
"What? It's that serious? Who could be so heartless as to want your life?" Chen Baixun said angrily.
“I know who it is,” Fu Yunxiu said. He had no grudge against that doctor, so the doctor certainly wouldn’t harm him. And this bottle of medicine had always been in his room, untouched by anyone except for the steamed buns.
The only person who could sneak into his room and change his medicine so silently is probably that person.
Upon hearing Fu Yunxiu's words, Mantou immediately realized, "Young Master, could it be that his men have also come to Bingzhou?"
"I guess so," Fu Yunxiu said.
"What are you two talking about?" Chen Baixun was getting impatient seeing the master and servant talking in riddles. "Who did it? Who came to Bingzhou?"
Fu Yunxiu remained silent for a long while before saying gently, "An old friend."
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