Mu Bai handed Bai Ruan to Fang Ru and instructed him to wait in the courtyard.
He stepped into the house himself, his purple mist skirt swaying, and followed closely behind.
When he saw Su Ruanruan, covered in blood and unconscious, his blood stopped flowing, and his feet felt as if they were filled with lead, too heavy to bear.
It felt as if a huge hole had been pierced through his chest; the intense pain was unbearable.
Memories flooded back like a tidal wave; my mother had looked just like that back then, emaciated and lying silently on her bed.
He has already lost his mother; he cannot lose Ruanruan as well.
He couldn't imagine what he would become without Ruan Ruan.
"Ruan Ruan, what's wrong with you? Please open your eyes and look at me."
"Ruanruan, you haven't seen me pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi yet, so you can't sleep."
"Ruanruan, I haven't married you yet, how can you sleep like this? Please don't sleep, okay?"
Mu Bai gently stroked Su Ruanruan's eyebrows and eyes with his fingertips, their fingers intertwined tightly. Her eyes were red and moist as she lay on the bed, her shoulders trembling.
"Tsk, why are you crying? It's not like she's beyond help."
The female healer then examined Mu Bai and Zi Wu. "I've protected her heart meridian, but without those two things, she won't survive the night. I have important business at my pharmacy, so I must leave now. Come find me again when you've thought it through..."
She walked very fast, and Mu Bai called her several times but couldn't stop her.
His anxious yet hopeful gaze fell upon Ziwu.
"May I ask, shopkeeper, what were those two things she mentioned earlier? Could they possibly save Ruanruan's life?"
Zi Wu said, "Two hundred-year-old ginseng and ancestral secret medicine, one hundred taels of silver, are beyond our reach!"
“One hundred taels…” Mu Bai murmured.
Where would he get so much money?
Zi Wu observed him secretly, taking in his expression.
Zi Wu stood up from her chair, looking rather troubled. "One hundred taels is no small sum. As far as I know, Young Master Mu is also penniless. Let alone one hundred taels, I'm afraid he can't even come up with twenty taels!"
"Besides, I already spent a lot of money treating her today, and she'll never be able to pay it back with her meager wages."
“If she hadn’t died, I would have had a chance to slowly deduct the money from her wages. But you heard what the doctor said just now. Without ginseng and the secret medicine, she has no way out but death.”
"Alright, alright, considering how pitiful she is, I'll let go of my little bit of silver. Consider it a good deed to accumulate good karma for myself. But let me make this clear: if you want me to lend you another hundred taels of silver, forget it."
Mu Bai's gentle gaze fell on Su Ruanruan.
"I will find a way to get the money. I will make sure nothing happens to Ruan Ruan."
"If she... is gone, what's the point of my life?"
"Please take good care of Ruan Ruan for me, shopkeeper. I'll be right back."
He bowed to Ziwu, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, shopkeeper."
Seeing that he was in a hurry to leave, Ziwu blocked the door.
“Your future is bright, why waste the rest of your life on a woman like this? You know, her reputation has already been ruined by her recent misfortunes.”
"If you insist on being with her, rumors will spread, and you'll be drowned in their spittle."
"Besides, if you pass the imperial examinations in the future, she will not be a help to you, but will instead bring you endless ridicule."
"Do you think everything you've done today was worth it? If you ask me, you've done more than enough for her. Why don't you just give up on this relationship? Or do you really want to go into debt because of her?"
"Look at her clothes, you can probably guess what she's been through, right? You really don't care? You don't mind?"
Mu Bailu was blocked and had to listen to her long-winded speech, so his expression darkened slightly.
"I'm letting it go because you took Ruanruan in. But I don't want to hear you belittle Ruanruan anymore. Ruanruan is the person in the world who cares about me the most, besides my mother."
"Having given my heart to one person, I am willing to give my whole life to her. I love her, I have, I love her now, and I will never change."
"No matter what she has been through, I will never abandon her."
Mu Bai left without lingering. Fang Ru, seeing him come out, quickly went to greet him with Bai Ruan in his arms.
"How is she?"
Mu Bai strode forward, "Ruan Ruan, she..."
Thinking of Su Ruanruan, Mu Bai's voice choked even more.
"Ruanruan urgently needs a two-hundred-year-old ginseng and a secret medicine to save her life, otherwise her life... is in danger."
Is his life in danger?
Fang Ru hadn't expected Su Ruanruan to be so badly injured.
However, he dared not even think about how much silver a two-hundred-year-old ginseng would cost.
"I still have some loose silver. I'll go back to the academy to get it for you, and I'll also borrow some from my classmates while I'm at it."
Mu Bai grabbed Fang Ru, who was about to leave, and said, "I appreciate your kindness, but it's just a drop in the ocean, and I don't want to trouble everyone."
"Then what do you want?" Fang Ru suddenly realized, his eyes widening. "You don't mean to sell your courtyard, do you?"
Mu Bai pursed his lips, remaining noncommittal.
"You're insane! Do you know what you're doing? You sold the courtyard, and the money went to buying medicine. In the end, you'll be all alone, with nothing left."
"Don't say anymore, my mind is made up. A house is just a house, it's not a home. Without Ruan Ruan, I will... have no home at all."
Fang Ru rubbed his forehead; he was truly furious with Mu Bai.
Meanwhile, after Mu Bai left, Zi Wu had already secretly sent people to follow him.
She was somewhat curious about the extent to which Mu Bai would go for his master.
If there's no word from him, she'll have to quickly use the money in her account to buy those two items.
Mu Bai hurried back, but he immediately spotted the tall Huo Yan in the approaching crowd.
He rushed over immediately and asked anxiously, "Has that bad guy been caught yet?"
Although he was a frail scholar, I could still give him a good beating if I put all my strength into it.
His precious, gentle girl has been ruined by bad people; he deserves to die.
Huo Yan frowned deeply and gestured behind him with his chin, "Look, it's over there!"
Mu Bai followed his gaze and saw that two constables carrying a frame were following behind them.
The person on the shelf was covered with a white cloth, with only a pair of black boots showing.
Mu Bai glanced at Huo Yan with suspicion.
"Is he that person?"
Mu Bai stepped forward, extended his slender fingers, and unwrapped the white cloth covering his body.
The man's eyes were open, with a cut in one eye, blood and flesh flowing freely, and a knife stuck in his chest.
Even in death, his robust physique was evident.
No wonder those two constables were panting heavily.
Mu Bai stared coldly at the corpse.
He couldn't imagine how someone as strong as him could bully someone as weak and helpless as a chicken.
I can only imagine how desperate and painful Ruanruan must have felt at that time.
He hated him, and he also hated himself for not protecting Ruan Ruan.
Fortunately, someone killed him.
"Good riddance!"
Mu Bai sneered, pulled Fang Ru away, as he had more important things to do.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
