Read Novel Full CHAPTER 28 PART2
CHAPTER 28 PART2
For the past couple of days, Xiao Yanfei had been sorting through the items that Cui Yiniang had given to the original owner. Along with the Four Treasures of the Study, everything had been piled up on the writing desk: The Book of Women’s Etiquette, The Book of Female Virtue, a silk flower handkerchief, a silver bracelet, a string of Mokele beads, and so on. The desk was in complete disarray, with not even a space left for a teacup.
Holding the tray in one hand, Xiao Yanfei casually pushed aside a few silk flowers on the desk. A string of red agate beads, hidden beneath the flowers, accidentally rolled off the desk.
With a sharp “clink,” the red string snapped, and the dozen or so finger-sized red agate beads scattered across the floor, rolling and bouncing in every direction. The sudden noise startled the birds perched on the window’s branch, and they flew away with a flurry of “chirping” sounds. A few feathers drifted through the air, and the entire scene was chaotic.
Xiao Yanfei was momentarily stunned, her eyes wide as she watched a feather float into the room.
Quickly regaining her composure, she smiled brightly. “Tea.”
She set the tea, snacks, and preserved fruit down beside Gu Feichi without bothering to address the still-rolling agate beads on the floor.
As long as she wasn’t embarrassed, it was the others who would feel awkward.
Gu Feichi couldn’t help but curl the corners of his lips. He pulled out a few sheets of silk paper from his chest and placed them on top of the Book of Women’s Etiquette. “I tested the medicine on five patients. These are their pulse records.”
Xiao Yanfei’s eyes lit up, and she eagerly grabbed the stack of pulse records.
However, upon taking a look, she froze.
She could barely make out the names and ages of the individuals, but beyond that… everything was a blur, and she couldn’t make sense of it.
The person who wrote the pulse records had a wild, flowing script that looked more like scribbles than anything else. She stared at it, her eyes wide, feeling like her eyeballs were about to pop out. She could recognize only a few scattered characters, and it left her feeling completely defeated.
Xiao Yanfei continued to stare at the pulse records for a long while before, unwilling to give up, she turned to the second page. But again, she was met with that familiar, chaotic handwriting.
With a resigned sigh, she set the stack of records down.
Gu Feichi, who had just taken a sip of tea, raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Xiao Yanfei slouched slightly, mumbling, “This handwriting is just too impossible to read.”
Gu Feichi paused for a moment, then understood.
Indeed, Physician Xu’s handwriting was a bit too messy.
With a faint smile, Gu Feichi reached out his hand. “Give it to me.”
Xiao Yanfei handed him the stack of pulse records, intending to ask about the general situation. But before she could, Gu Feichi had already begun reading aloud the records: “Sun Dakang, male, 21 years old, right shoulder injury…”
He lazily leaned back in his chair, his pale fingers delicately holding the silk paper. His long, slender fingers, even whiter than the paper, absentmindedly traced the edges of the sheets.
He had a fine voice, with a slow, measured tone and a distinctive timbre—like snow on the mountaintop, pure and crisp. Though his speech was flat and devoid of emotion, it carried a natural rhythm that made it unforgettable after just one hearing.
Xiao Yanfei focused, listening intently. She wasn’t too impressed with the military Physician’s handwriting, but his choice of words and descriptions was far more straightforward and easier to understand than the flowery language used by the imperial physicians in their pulse records.
For example, for the second patient, who had three fingers severed and was suffering from an infected wound, fever, and excessive heat burning the body’s fluids, the pulse was described as “surging”…
Gu Feichi read the pulse records with a calm, unhurried pace. Xiao Yanfei poured him more tea, silently noting the key points in her mind. She thought, that this ‘Gu Rakshasa’ may be deadly when enraged, but when he’s considerate, he really knows how to make one feel at ease.
As Gu Feichi continued reading, Xiao Yanfei’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, sparkling like two shining black gems.
There were five pulse records in total, two of which were from patients who had only started medication last night and hadn’t fully recovered from their fever. The other three had started their treatment three days ago, and their fevers had subsided, with their wounds healing well.
Gu Feichi glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
The girl’s large eyes were cat-like, bright and full of life.
She was pleased, not surprised.
She had long been confident that her medicine was effective, just as she had once been sure that it could treat Xie Wuduan’s injuries.
That medicine had already brought three soldiers, whose high fevers had left them on the brink of death, back from the edge of the grave. Even Physician Xu had called it miraculous, hailing it as the work of a modern-day “Medicine King,” a reincarnation of Bian Que. He had grabbed Gu Feichi’s hand, exclaiming: “Young Master, who is the Physician who developed this wonder drug? Could it be that renowned physician from Jiangnan, or perhaps the healer from Miaojiang?”
“This is truly a remarkable person!”
“If I ever get the chance, I must spar… no, seek guidance from this senior!”
If Physician Xu knew that the esteemed “senior” he held in such high regard was actually this young girl who had just reached her coming-of-age, he would surely be speechless at the revelation.
Gu Feichi finished reading the last pulse record and smiled faintly. In that instant, it was as if the ice and snow had melted, and even the blazing sun outside the window seemed to dim in comparison. Xiao Yanfei couldn’t help but catch her breath.
After setting the pile of records down, Gu Feichi placed his right hand on the desk. His knuckles bent slightly as he idly tapped twice, then once again asked her the same question he had asked last time:
“Second Miss Xiao, what is it that you wish to exchange?”
What did she want to trade for those medicines?
Their eyes locked, and Xiao Yanfei’s heart skipped a beat.
Gu Feichi’s gaze was intense, sharp, and unwavering, as though she were the only one in his world.
His eyes were beautifully shaped, with deep double eyelids and a narrow, slightly upward slant at the outer corners, giving him an alluring, almost captivating look that made her heart race.
The two were barely two feet apart, and Xiao Yanfei suddenly noticed a small cinnabar mole between his right eyebrow, bright and vivid, as if stained with a drop of blood.
She couldn’t help but feel an urge to wipe it away…
Wait.
Why was her hand itching? What did that have to do with her?
Xiao Yanfei steadied herself and smiled casually, hiding her momentary distraction.
The last time Gu Feichi asked her, she had planned to request gold and silver for her own security.
But today, things were different. She had discovered the hidden secret of Concubine Cui.
She had changed her mind.
Xiao Yanfei said, “Young Master Gu, I would like to ask you to investigate my mother, Cui Yingru.”
“Investigate everything related to her.”
“Everything.”
When Xiao Yanfei mentioned “Cui Yingru,” her tone was incredibly calm.
Perhaps too calm, even indifferent, devoid of any emotion. It didn’t sound like someone speaking about their own biological mother, nor did it resemble the tone of the Xiao Yanfei he had previously discovered—someone who was completely obedient to her mother.
What exactly was she trying to investigate? What was she suspecting?
Gu Feichi narrowed his slender eyes, and his gaze on Xiao Yanfei grew unusually deep.
He didn’t say anything, and neither did she.
She simply picked up another tea cup, raising it toward Gu Feichi in a gesture as if offering a toast.
Gu Feichi chuckled softly making the Adam’s apple on his neck moved up and down twice.
His voice was cold, but his laugh was gentle, like a feather lightly brushing against Xiao Yanfei’s heart, or perhaps it was more like a hook, gently tugging at her heartstrings.
Gu Feichi also picked up his tea cup and, with a nod, toasted Xiao Yanfei, drinking it all in one go.
“Deal.”
Young Master Gu was indeed a man of swift action! Xiao Yanfei, in turn, drank the tea in her cup with similar boldness, flashing a brilliant smile.
No matter how much Gu Feichi could find out, it was certainly better than her stumbling through this on her own like a blind person crossing a river.
Xiao Yanfei briefly felt a heavy burden lift from her chest. She opened the drawer, took out a small porcelain bottle, and handed it to Gu Feichi, containing the amoxicillin she had stockpiled over the past few days.
“Here are sixty pills. In three to five days, I can provide a similar amount.”
Gu Feichi gave a slight nod.
“Right!” Xiao Yanfei suddenly remembered something and leaned a bit closer to Gu Feichi. “Young Master Gu, could you please ask that Physician Tu to write the pulse records… a bit more neatly?”
As Xiao Yanfei leaned in, Gu Feichi suddenly caught a faint scent. At first, it smelled like the refreshing aroma of Longjing tea, but upon a second sniff, it also had the fragrance of orchids, mixed with the sweet scent unique to young girls—so different from the harsh, military air.
It was softer… and more…
For the first time, he realized that girls were different from him.
Gu Feichi’s dark lashes fluttered slightly and then lowered, casting a faint shadow over his pale cheek.
He looked at the “Xu” character at the bottom of the pulse record with a strange expression.
Physician Tu?
Gu Feichi’s thin lips curled slightly, a faint, almost imperceptible smile softening his features.
“It’s getting late, I’ll take my leave.”
He accepted the pills, then stood up, resting his right hand on the windowsill before gracefully leaping out of the window.
Such a simple action was done with utmost elegance, a sight that was pleasing to the eye.
The spring afternoon was peaceful and silent, both inside and outside the room. The gentle rustling of the wind through the branches filled the air, creating an atmosphere of tranquility.
Gu Feichi left the Marquis of Wuan’ residence, moving swiftly and silently, never disturbing anyone. Only Xiao Yanfei knew he had been there.
Afterward, he rode straight back to the Duke of Wei’s residence, entrusting the task of investigating Cui Yingru to the hidden guards of the Duke’s household.
That night, a light rain began to fall in the capital, continuing for several days without stopping.
Gu Feichi continued his routine of leaving early and returning late, remaining unseen all day. This prompted the Duchess of Wei to voice her complaints to the Duke yet again.
The spring rain fell persistently for three days, never ceasing. On this particular evening, the shadowy guards, damp from the humidity, returned to report.
The room remained dark, with no lights lit, enveloped in shadows.
“Young Master.” The shadow guard, Ying Qi, moved silently behind Gu Feichi, his presence undisturbed by the darkness.
“What did you find?” Gu Feichi, wearing a black mask, asked in a calm voice. He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing out of an open window at the pear tree swaying in the wind and rain, his posture upright.
The air was filled with a faint fragrance of pear blossoms, mingling with the moisture in the air.
Ying Qi stepped forward, placed a piece of silk paper on the desk, and then retreated.
He respectfully lowered his head and cupped his fists, reporting, “Replying to the Young Master, the concubine from the Wu’an Marquis’s household, Cui Yingru, is the daughter of the late Madam Ren, the younger sister of the Old Madam. Madam Ren passed away in childbirth when she gave birth to Cui Yingru. Her father remarried less than half a year later, and Cui Yingru suffered under the harsh treatment of her stepmother from a young age. At the age of eight, she came to the Marquis’s household to seek refuge with the Old Madam and grew up there, having a close childhood friendship with Marquis Wu’an, Xiao Yan.”
“Sixteen years ago, after the old Marquis’s defeat in the northwest, His Majesty became furious. To atone, the old Marquis sold much of the family’s property and raised a million taels of silver to present to the emperor. From then on, the Marquis’s household began to decline. Shortly after, the old Marquis married the only daughter of a wealthy merchant family from Jiangnan, Yin Wan, as his legitimate wife.”
“Cui Yingru, unwilling to marry outside, became Xiao Yan’s concubine. Fifteen years ago, she gave birth to the Marquis’s second daughter, Xiao Yanfei, and five years ago, she gave birth to the legitimate son, Xiao Shuo.”
“Cui Yingru dotes on her son immensely, but has little care for her daughter. Recently, she has even planned to marry her daughter off to Old Master Gao,” Ying Qi continued.
As he spoke, a few drops of water slowly dripped from the sleeve of his robe, falling onto the bluestone floor beneath him. The faint sound of the droplets was drowned out by the howling wind and rain outside.
Even an observer like Ying Qi could easily tell from the information he had gathered that Cui Yingru had no genuine affection for her daughter, Xiao Yanfei.
After a long silence, Gu Feichi suddenly asked, “Does the Marquis’s household have an eldest daughter?”
“Yes,” Ying Qi immediately replied. “The eldest daughter, Xiao Luanfei, is the daughter of Madam Yin, the Marquis’s wife.”
Gu Feichi raised an eyebrow behind his mask and asked, “How many years apart are the sisters?”
“Born on the same day, in the same month, in the same year,” Ying Qi answered.
***