Chapter 90

Su Mi woke up in a daze, feeling sore all over her body. Only her neck could still move flexibly in all directions. The doors and windows were closed, and she could vaguely see a faint light outside, but she didn’t know what time it was.

Qin Yan was lying by her side, not like the first time when he left. This inexplicably made Su Mi feel reassured.

She vaguely remembered that after Qin Yan carried her down from the carriage last night, he took her directly to a bathhouse to clean her up.

After such a fuss for most of the night, she fell asleep as soon as she touched the pillow. Although Qin Yan’s actions had become much milder compared to the first time, Su Mi still found it somewhat difficult to handle his rough intrusion.

Su Mi was lying on her side in Qin Yan’s embrace, and his other hand was gently and methodically stroking her back. She guessed that Qin Yan was awake too.

“Lord,” Su Mi continued to greedily nestle into Qin Yan’s embrace, softly asking, “Lord, should I have Chun Mei go and get a contraceptive medicine?”

When they were in the carriage, Qin Yan didn’t respond to her worries. Although she didn’t want to drink the bitter medicinal concoction, Qin Yan’s position as the Chief of the Eastern Bureau was a fact. At this moment, she realized that taking medicine to prevent pregnancy seemed to be the only solution.

When Qin Yan heard the words “contraceptive medicine,” he suddenly tightened his grip on her, pulling her into his chest. With a low and deep voice accompanied by a hint of a nasal tone, he said, “You dare.”

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“Jwv…”

“Psd’v prlyj; pzllr y zkvvzl zsdtla.”

Ekvb Ckd Zyd’p wdiwlpvksdyczl vsdl, Fw Yk dyvwayzzu eked’v nsdvkdwl prlyjkdt. Gqvla yzz, vbl Nsae xwpv byhl bkp sod nsdpkelayvksdp. Fw Yk bye vs plv ypkel vbl xyvvla sq nsdvaynlrvkhlp qsa dso yde kdpvlye alnyzz vbl pktbv sq Kkyd Zwfwl pbl pyo zypv dktbv.

Mbkp kp vbl xspv kxrsavydv vbkdt vs bla. Nypv dktbv, pbl eked’v byhl y nbydnl vs xllv Kkyd Zwfwl yv vbl cydiwlv. Mseyu, pbl xwpv ts vs vbl plnsde-byde cssjpvsal yde ypj pbsrjllrla Nk kq Kkyd Zwfwl kp alyzzu bkp dlrblo.

“Yypvla, usw pzllr y zkvvzl zsdtla. R oydv vs tlv wr yde ts vs vbl sze cssjpvsal qkapv vs ypj ycswv Kkyd Zwfwl,” Fw Yk pyke.

Nypv dktbv, obld Fw Yk oyp vkale yde clttkdt qsa xlanu, pbl kdvlaxkvvldvzu nakle yde lmrzykdle vbl obszl pvsau, ps kv oyp zkjl y pnyvvlale ynnswdv. Gzvbswtb Ckd Zyd eked’v zlv bla sqq kd vbl lde, yv zlypv bl jdlo ycswv kv.

Gqvla Fw Yk qkdkpble prlyjkdt yde pyo vbyv Ckd Zyd eked’v alynv xwnb, pbl vbswtbv bl oyp ypzllr ewl vs lmbywpvksd. Fs pbl ldewale vbl qllzkdt sq lmbywpvksd vbaswtbswv bla cseu yp kq pbl bye clld eakhld yoyu yde rasrrle blaplzq wr okvb bla lzcso vs ralryal vs tlv swv sq cle.

Tsolhla, yp pssd yp bla wrrla cseu xydytle vs nsxl swv y zkvvzl, Ckd Zyd’p swvpvalvnble yax kxxlekyvlzu ralpple bla cynj esod.

Qin Yan embraced Su Mi and opened his eyes suddenly, saying, “I’ll go after I apply medicine for you.”

Medicine? Where was she injured?

Su Mi suddenly realized, her face turning red. After being washed last night and carried to bed, she felt a cool sensation beneath her. In a daze, she saw Qin Yan applying medicine to that area. At that time, she was half-awake and too weak to resist. Now, in broad daylight, she felt embarrassed watching Qin Yan apply medicine for her.

“Lord, I’m not in pain anymore. I don’t need medicine,” Su Mi said.

“Are you really not in pain anymore?”

“No, I’m not in pain at all.” Su Mi nodded forcefully. Actually, she hadn’t fully recovered in just one night, but on the one hand, she had a thin face, and on the other hand, she was eager to go out.

“That’s good, then.”

Su Mi occasionally glanced outside and didn’t notice when Qin Yan suddenly flipped over and pinned her down. There was a hardness rising beneath him, pressed against Su Mi’s sensitive area through the thin fabric, making her dare not move.

Looking at Qin Yan’s familiar and intense gaze, just like last night, Su Mi blushed and said, “Lord, weren’t you tired just now? Do you want to rest a little longer?”

Qin Yan chuckled and buried his face in her neck and shoulder. His voice fell softly in Su Mi’s ear: “It’s for you to rest, not for me.”

With a cry of surprise from Su Mi, before long, the strong tremors on the bed and the soft voice of a woman began to rhythmically echo…

…

The silver moon rose, and moonlight shone through the window lattice into the room.

Qin Yan got off the bed, his legs straight and slender. A gleam of light was cast on his bare and firm muscles, giving off a jade-like luster. There was no sign of fatigue on his face, only contentment.

He put on his clothes and looked at Su Mi, who couldn’t hold back her sleepiness and had fallen asleep. He reached out and tapped her nose, sighing with a smile, “Your body is so weak; what should we do in the future?”

Su Mi, feeling exhausted, felt an itch on her nose. She instinctively buried her head in the blanket and mumbled, “Eat more.”

Qin Yan almost burst out laughing at her response. He bent down and tucked the corner of the blanket for her.

As he walked out of the room, Ling An flew down from the eaves across the street. “Master, Zhang Huai’an has sent someone to Mo City.”

The smile on Qin Yan’s face disappeared instantly. “Keep an eye on him and see what he’s investigating.”

“Understood.”

“And,” Qin Yan glanced at the door behind him, using his peripheral vision, “investigate everything about Jian Yujue tonight.”

“Understood, Master.”

***

Su Mi slept sore all over for the whole night. When she woke up the next day, there was a pile of letters by her pillow.

She recognized the style of these papers. Occasionally, she saw Qin Yan receiving confidential reports during his official duties, and they looked like this.

Su Mi picked them up and unfolded them one by one. They contained information about Jian Yujue’s identity and age, how he was abandoned in Qingzhou, how he met shopkeeper Li, and even a man named Shangguan Yan that she had never heard of before. It detailed his entire life without any speculation, all based on evidence.

It would have taken her much longer to gather such detailed information if she had done it herself in just one night.

Before encountering Jian Yujue, Su Mi’s rationality told her that her younger brother was no longer alive. Or rather, she and Mrs. Yu were holding on to hope without any basis besides their emotions. So she didn’t want to bother Qin Yan with these groundless speculations, but in the end, he took care of everything for her.

Chun Mei came in with a copper basin. “Miss, please freshen up. Young Master came back once before dawn, but later Ling An said there was an urgent matter in Mo City, so Young Master rushed over on a fast horse.”

“Young Master saw that Miss was sleeping soundly and told me to wait until you wake up.”

“Well, did the master go to Mo City?”

The name sounded familiar to Su Mi, as if she had heard it before. She pondered carefully until she suddenly remembered when she saw the pastries on the table. They were Qin Yan’s favorite pastries, which came from Mo City, right?

Could it be that Mo City was his hometown?

Although Su Mi was curious, her immediate concern was to go to the old bookstore and find Jian Yujue. So she only thought about it for a moment and didn’t delay any longer.

“Chun Mei, let’s go to Xishui Street.”

“Miss, should we inform Madam first?”

Su Mi contemplated, “Tell her a little later. I’ll confirm it first and then let her know.”

No matter how much those clues pointed to a fact, she still wanted to confirm it herself. Otherwise, if she gave Mrs. Yu hope and it turned out not to be true, it would be an even heavier blow.

The carriage prepared by Chun Mei was a regular one, inconspicuous, and continuously moving towards Yong’an Street in the city.

This time, she didn’t conceal her appearance. When shopkeeper Li saw her, he was slightly surprised. “Master…”

“Mr. Li, where is Scholar Jian?”

“Ah,” Li the shopkeeper snapped out of it and continued, “Yujue went to pick up his grandmother.”

With the silver he received as the top scholar, he could buy a small courtyard in the suburbs of the capital. Jian Yujue entrusted the task of finding a place to stay to Li the shopkeeper, and he himself went to the countryside in Qingzhou to prepare for bringing his grandmother back to take care of her.

As they were leaving, Chun Mei couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, “Miss, what should we do now?”

Su Mi gritted her teeth and said, “We’re going to Qingzhou too!”

***

Qin Yan was not present, so Su Mi returned to the chief’s mansion with Feng Bao. The three of them lightly packed and hurriedly set off in a carriage.

The small village where Jian Yujue was located was at the border of Qingzhou and Yingtian Prefectures, not too far from the capital. The closer they got, the more nervous Su Mi became. She swallowed nervously and could only hear the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears.

With the information provided by shopkeeper Li and considering Jian Yujue’s status as the top scholar, when Chun Mei inquired, the passersby quickly pointed out which household he lived in.

The dilapidated gray eaves and the low walls built with earth around them made Su Mi only look at them from a distance, feeling a deep sense of bitterness in her heart.

Did he grow up in a place like this since he was young, with only an old lady taking care of him?

Su Mi suddenly didn’t know how to knock on the door. She had wanted to see Jian Yujue so much before coming, but now she suddenly had the urge to retreat. Maybe he didn’t want to see her at all.

Jian Grandma was old, but her hearing was still sharp. When she heard the sound outside the door, she thought it was Jian Yujue coming back and trembled as she hurried to open it. To her surprise, she saw three strangers when she opened the door.

Two of them were women, one with a veil covering her face and wearing the hairstyle of a lady, and the other was probably a serving maid.

At first glance, they were from a wealthy family.

Jian Grandma was kind-hearted and thought that Su Mi had come to ask for directions, so she warmly said, “Madam, who are you looking for in our village? I know everyone here; just let me know.”

Su Mi hadn’t taken off her veil yet, but her voice trembled as she asked, “Excuse me, Grandma, is Jian Yujue here?”

“You’re looking for my grandson? Oh, so you’ve come to bask in the glory of the top scholar,” Jian Grandma proudly laughed. “Yujue went to the field to pick wild vegetables for me.”

“I’m about to go to the capital with my grandson. We can’t waste the vegetables he harvested from the field.”

Upon hearing this, the tears that Su Mi had been holding back burst out like a flood. She was sorry. She should have found him earlier. She should have found him sooner. He had always been in her bakery, why didn’t she go to see him?

Perhaps even Su Mi herself was unaware that she had already accepted the fact that Jian Yujue was her younger brother.

“Hey, madam, why are you crying?” Jian Grandma was at a loss as she supported the suddenly sobbing Su Mi.

At this moment, Jian Yujue was approaching the house, carrying a basket of wild vegetables.

His hand was pressed against his chest as he watched Su Mi, who was burying her face in Jian Grandma’s shoulder and crying. His eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Are you here to find me?”