Chapter 548 Hunter and Prey
"Young Master Pei!"
The voice abruptly interrupted him, coldly saying, "We agreed from the beginning that you shouldn't ask and I won't answer. If you insist on pursuing this matter, then I'd rather not do this business."
"..."
"After all, a thousand taels of silver is not as important as my life."
Upon hearing this, Pei Xingyuan immediately said, "Alright, I won't ask."
The other party then softened their tone: "So, you agree to one thousand taels of silver?"
"..."
Pei Xingyuan frowned slightly at this moment.
Although they had made preparations long ago and knew what their purpose was, both Yuwen Ye and Shen Wuzheng had four words for this plan: no matter the cost. If they did not find the person hiding behind the scenes who never showed his true colors but held their life in his hands, not only would Yuwen Ye's life be in danger, but the future situation of those who were clearly already connected with Yuwen Ye would be even more difficult.
After all, everyone knows that the treatment of this epidemic is related to the future foundation of the country.
This would affect the lives and fortunes of everyone in the imperial court.
However, one thousand taels of silver...
This is indeed no small sum, and even for these scions of prominent families, it's not something they can easily come up with. Moreover, the deadline is today, and if he agrees now, he'll only have half a day to go back and make up the numbers.
but--
If their previous encounters in the city had left them somewhat wary of each other, this time, the other party's exorbitant demands confirmed that he was determined to make a quick buck.
This is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they've been waiting for!
Thinking of this, Pei Xingyuan took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I promise you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire second floor of the restaurant fell silent again, but the atmosphere was no longer oppressive; instead, there was a sense of relief, as if a long-cherished wish had been fulfilled. However, Pei Xingyuan immediately felt an invisible boulder pressing down on his heart. The next moment, he heard the person in the private room behind him say, "Then, come to the North Gate of the East Market alone at midnight tonight."
After he finished speaking, Pei Xingyuan heard the sound of a chair moving behind him, the sound of the person getting up to leave.
He immediately said, "Wait, I have one more condition."
The other party stopped: "What are your conditions?"
Pei Xingyuan said, "I want to go with you to the storeroom where you store your medicine."
"..."
The other party immediately fell silent, and after a long pause, asked in a strange tone, "You're going to Yu—our warehouse? What do you want to do?"
Pei Xingyuan said, "You're sending me alone? Are you worried I'll try to rob you?"
"..."
"I just wanted to make sure that I got the real medicinal herbs."
"..."
"If you just pile up some dry grass and leaves somewhere for me, and I take them back but they're useless to me, wouldn't I end up like today, torn to pieces by those rioters?"
"..."
"I want to go to your warehouse and pick whatever I want, as long as the quantity matches. That way you won't lose out, and I'll feel at ease. What do you say?"
The other party remained silent for a while.
Pei Xingyuan's request was reasonable, but also somewhat excessive. However, there was no sense of entanglement or anxiety in the air. Instead, one could faintly hear the other party letting out a long sigh of relief.
Pei Xingyuan was puzzled when he heard the other party say, "Okay, I agree."
"..."
"Tonight, I'll take you to—our warehouse."
Pei Xingyuan was overjoyed: "It's a deal!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of the beaded curtain rustling came from the private room behind him. Pei Xingyuan paused for a moment, then went out to look again. He only had time to see Jin Daji's thin, monkey-like figure disappear hurriedly at the top of the stairs. Immediately, the waiter's voice rang out from below: "Please take care, esteemed guest!"
The footsteps had faded into the distance.
Pei Xingyuan's eyes darkened slightly as he saw the waiter trot up to the second floor, carrying a plate of food. He smiled and presented it to him, saying, "Young master, have you been waiting long? The kitchen has already started preparing the dishes, and the rest will be served shortly."
As he spoke, he placed the dishes on the table.
But Pei Xingyuan didn't sit down to eat. Instead, he put down a silver ingot and said, "I won't eat the food—the money is here, you can do what you want with it."
After saying that, he turned to leave.
"Why?"
The waiter was taken aback and hurriedly stepped forward: "Young master, what's wrong? Has our shop failed to provide adequate service?"
As Pei Xingyuan walked towards the stairwell, he said, "I have something urgent to attend to."
After saying that, he stopped and looked at the expectant waiter. He habitually took out another silver ingot from his sleeve as a tip, but just as he was about to give it to him, he suddenly stopped again. After thinking for a moment, he reluctantly put the silver ingot back and took out a few coins to give to the waiter: "Here's your tip."
After saying that, he hurriedly went downstairs.
Watching his retreating figure, and glancing down at the tip in his hand and the money for the food and wine on the table, the waiter was somewhat puzzled, but he chuckled nonetheless. He hadn't made any money in the past few days, so even a few coins today would be good. He just found this man strange; he had clearly ordered food and wine and was urging the kitchen to hurry up, but when the food and wine were served, he hadn't touched a single bite.
This is probably just one of the quirks of these rich people.
What's even stranger is the guest in the private room next to that young master. He looks like an ordinary person dressed casually, who usually only eats cheap food and drinks in the lobby downstairs. But today he came upstairs, booked a private room, and had a smile on his face the whole time.
That smile was like—
Just like—
Like a hunter watching his clueless prey walk right into his trap.
The waiter shivered inexplicably.
He immediately shook his head and muttered to himself, "It has nothing to do with me, why bother? I should hurry up and tell the kitchen to remove the dishes, that way we can save on firewood and oil."
After saying that, he collected the silver from the table and went downstairs.
|
"What exactly do you want to do?"
The medicine pot on the stove had begun to boil, and the billowing steam filled the two people's vision.
Su Qinglan repeated the question, though her tone wasn't harsh. In fact, the milky steam made her eyes appear even gentler, but there was a hint of urgency in that gentleness.
"..."
Shang Ruyi looked at her, remaining silent.
Su Qinglan glanced down at the bundle she had brought and said, "Although I have taken out all the family's savings, I know very well that the medicine will not last more than a few days to supply the patients here."
"..."
"But today, it's been eight days, and I still have medicine in my bag."
"..."
"I also suspected that someone else might be secretly sending me medicine. For example, Yanzuofang. I heard that they provide medicine without charging a penny, so they must have enough medicinal materials."
"..."
"However, their people cannot enter Chang Le Fang; and in the past few days, I have not left here, only when I take a short nap at night, that they have an opportunity to take advantage of me."
"..."
"Therefore, the person who put the medicine in my bag must be from Chang Le Fang."
"..."
"And in Chang Le Fang, there's only one person who has medicine—"
At this point, Su Qinglan's eyes became even more urgent, and she said softly, "Young Madam, you're not doing this for money, are you?"
"..."
"You, you, Young Master Pei, and possibly the General, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Shang Ruyi remained silent, simply watching her quietly.
Just then, Tushe'er's somewhat panicked voice suddenly rang out from outside: "Hey, you, what's wrong with you?"
The two were startled. Su Qinglan didn't have time to ask any more questions and hurriedly got up and ran outside. Shang Ruyi followed her and saw Tu She'er squatting by a stable, supporting someone and patting their back while anxiously calling out, "Are you alright? Are you feeling any better?"
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Jiang Yu.
His face was pale, his eyes were bloodshot, and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but his throat seemed to be blocked by something, and he could only make a roaring sound. His chest was as stiff as iron, and he could not even stretch it out.
Seeing him like this, Shang Ruyi was also startled: "What's wrong?"
Tushe'er said anxiously, "I just gave him the medicine, but he only drank half of it when he suddenly became like this. I don't know why."
Su Qinglan immediately stepped forward, squatted down, and said, "It's phlegm blocking the heart orifice."
"ah?"
Tushe'er was stunned and before he could react, Su Qinglan had already squatted down, one hand stroking his back from the waist up, the other hand reaching to his chest, pressing and kneading several acupoints, and then suddenly slapping his back.
With a loud "whoosh," Jiang Yu immediately spat out a mouthful of phlegm and began coughing violently.
Tushe'er hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Old sir, are you feeling better now?"
Jiang Yu coughed for a long time, his face turning red, but he seemed to have calmed down a bit. He waved his hand and weakly said, "I, I'm fine now..."
Then he laughed and said, "I'm old and useless now."
Shang Ruyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She then turned to look at Su Qinglan, who said with a solemn expression, "The more seriously ill patients here are all elderly people who already have many old ailments. When they contract the plague, their heart, lungs, and spleen will be damaged, and their chronic illnesses will resurface. Even if they are cured of the plague, they will be dragged down by these ailments."
As she spoke, she looked at Jiang Yu and said, "Old man, you usually like to eat meat and drink alcohol, so your condition is the most serious."
Jiang Yu had just narrowly escaped death, but upon hearing this, he blushed and said with a smile, "I... I can't bear to part with wine and meat."
Hearing this, Shang Ruyi couldn't help but smile.
Su Qinglan said, "No matter what, we should eat less."
"..."
"In short, your condition is quite serious right now. I need to prescribe some other medications for you to take together in order to alleviate your current symptoms."
Jiang Yu immediately replied, "I... I actually have medicine at home."
Then, somewhat dejectedly, she said, "It's a pity my son went out on business and didn't come back, otherwise, I could have had him deliver it."
No sooner had they finished speaking than a commotion arose behind them.
Someone shouted loudly, "Who goes there? No one is allowed to trespass into Chang Le Fang!"
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