It had been two days since that dramatic downpour.
For these two days, Lu Zhiyao had not once come to the Zheng residence. Li Ruoshui had searched for him at the inn and teahouse but found no trace.
Knowing he was avoiding her, Li Ruoshui had no choice but to set the issue aside for now, planning to address it after the Zheng family matter was fully resolved.
While Lu Zhiyao remained elusive, Lu Feiyue and the others had made progress from clues found at the Cangzhou Case Inspection Bureau.
The order halting Lu Feiyue’s investigation was a fake. Someone within the Bureau was colluding with the Zheng family, and it seemed connected to the human trafficking case in Yun City from before.
“…So you came to me because you want my help investigating together?” Li Ruoshui looked at the two in the courtyard and asked hesitantly.
She hadn’t seen this plotline in the original novel; tagging along might not be much help.
Lu Feiyue seemed somewhat embarrassed, her mouth opening several times without getting the words out.
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“…”
So that’s why she couldn’t find him—he’d been venting.
Jiang Nian nudged her with his elbow, lowering his voice. “What happened between you two?”
In his view, Li Ruoshui and Lu Zhiyao were a perfect match. Both were gentle, rarely lost their temper, and weren’t the awkward type. Logically, misunderstandings shouldn’t arise.
“If I had to say, maybe he’s a bit jealous.”
Li Ruoshui sighed. Saying this didn’t make her blush at all; instead, she felt somewhat melancholic.
While she didn’t know when he realized he liked her, his first reaction after misunderstanding that she didn’t like him last night was to… sigh in relief.
She had to admit, that sigh wasn’t a strong attack, but the damage was immense. It felt like a direct hit to the knees.
If the atmosphere hadn’t been so tense last night, Li Ruoshui would have grabbed his lapels and yelled, “Why?!”
If he felt it was a burden, why did he act jealous?
The premise of the strategy was to avoid making the target weary of her approach. If her affection became a burden to him, the strategy was likely to fail.
Was it truly that a normal person couldn’t understand a lunatic’s heart?
Seeing Li Ruoshui’s melancholy look, Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian didn’t know how to comfort her.
“Tomorrow. I’ll go find him tomorrow. If I find him, we’ll go together.”
Li Ruoshui sighed and patted their shoulders. “Leave it to me. I want this matter here to end quickly too.”
Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian left, somewhat guilt-ridden. Then Zheng Yanqing arrived, full of vigor.
The wound on his right arm had been dressed by Li Ruoshui. The bandage was crooked and messy, but he seemed very pleased.
“Li Ruoshui, Brother Lu isn’t here today, right?”
After his “heroic act” that night, Zheng Yanqing had suddenly developed a delusion of protecting her from Lu Zhiyao, often wandering around with a stick.
Li Ruoshui didn’t know who gave him such confidence. Zheng Yanqing couldn’t even beat her.
“He won’t do anything to me. But you’d better pray you don’t run into him outside.”
Whether Lu Zhiyao would do anything to her, she didn’t know. But she knew if Lu Zhiyao had a hit list, Zheng Yanqing would definitely be number one.
Eager to wrap up the Zheng family affair, Li Ruoshui didn’t banter with him much and headed to the medicine room.
After the last rumor that she could cure illnesses, she needed another rumor to spread. But this time it wouldn’t be a misleading one like before; she would state it outright.
“Young Mistress.”
The round-faced maid in the medicine room was surprised to see her. “Are you here to get medicine for Second Young Master again?”
The room was still a mix of men and women—some tending fires, some grinding herbs, some transporting medicinal ingredients. Many looked at her out of the corners of their eyes.
“No.” Li Ruoshui walked over to the medicine stove to look. “I came to inform you in advance: from now on, Zheng Yanqing will take his medicine once every seven days. Skip today’s dose.”
The round-faced maid looked troubled. “Do you have a note from the physician?”
Of course she didn’t. Last time, she had to pester the physician for a long time before he wrote one.
“I forgot to bring it from my room.” Li Ruoshui glanced around at everyone, smiling naturally.
“Previously, there was a rumor in the residence that I could cure Second Young Master’s illness. I don’t know where it started, and it only spread half the story. I can’t cure illnesses, but I do have miraculous medicine with me.”
Here, Li Ruoshui deliberately paused, waiting for the others to ask.
“What miraculous medicine?” The round-faced maid stopped her pestle, looking at her curiously.
“‘Salamandar Extract Pills.'”1[1] Salamander Extract Pill (蔸鯢丸): “蔸” (dōu) can refer to the root or base of a plant, sometimes used in herbal names. “鯢” (ní) is the Chinese giant salamander. The name suggests pills made from salamander base/root/extract. Li Ruoshui clasped her hands behind her back, sinking into a memory.
“My ancestors once caught a giant salamander. They accidentally discovered that pills made from its skin could cure a hundred poisons, so they prepared some. Fortunately, some are still left, passed down to me.”
The round-faced maid frowned, skeptical. “Can a salamander cure illnesses?”
“I thought it absurd too.” Li Ruoshui nodded in agreement, raising her voice.
“But the world is vast, and there’s too much we don’t understand. Later, I tried giving him one pill with a hopeful heart. He improved significantly—not only coughing less, but just the other day, he wrote half a volume of ‘Discourse on Statecraft’ in one breath.”
A maid sorting herbs seemed to remember something. “Lately, Second Young Master only coughs occasionally. Yesterday I saw him running around the courtyard with a stick, not out of breath at all, looking very happy.”
The servant grinding herbs in the room nodded. “The day before yesterday, Second Young Master did walk out with a torn book, one he wrote himself, muttering about how heartbroken he was.”
The round-faced maid’s suspicion lessened a bit. She found a reasonable explanation based on the fact that Zheng Yanqing had indeed improved.
“Perhaps we really don’t understand medicine that well, Second Mistress. What do these pills look like? Could you let us have a look?”
Hook, line, and sinker.
“They’re yellow, with a pungent, fishy smell. But there aren’t many left, so I won’t take them out to show everyone.”
Her objective having been achieved, Li Ruoshui walked to the doorway, then seemed to remember something.
“Oh, right. Zheng Yanqing and I have matters to attend to outside. I’m not sure when the physician’s note will arrive. If you feel it’s against protocol, you can still prepare the medicine.”
The round-faced maid relaxed her shoulders, giving her a grateful smile. “Thank you for your understanding, Young Mistress.”
“Don’t mention it.”
She should be the one thanking this girl for playing along so well.
The bait was cast. Now, to see if the fish would bite.
Li Ruoshui hurried back to the Eastern Courtyard, brought Zheng Yanqing, and hid with him crouched behind the bed, waiting for the fish to take the bait.
Zheng Yanqing moved his right arm aside, squeezing uncomfortably into the small corner. “Will he really come?”
Li Ruoshui shrank to the side, peeking out while explaining.
“Last time’s incident spread throughout the Zheng residence and nearly exposed the mastermind. This time, I’m using the same trick, saying I have medicine to cure you. Having been fooled last time, wouldn’t he want to verify it personally this time?”
Zheng Yanqing was puzzled. “This is the person who poisoned me. Surely they’re not foolish enough to come personally?”
“Who said I’m catching the mastermind for you?” Li Ruoshui gave him a strange look.
“The wolf I’m betting on was never the mastermind, but the servant who administered the poison. He’s not thorough in his planning, but he’s bold. He’ll definitely come personally to check.”
In the original novel, the poisoner was the scholar who envied Zheng Yanqing, but she felt it wasn’t that simple. There must be someone else behind it.
However, her main goal was to make the Zheng household aware of the matter. Catching the mastermind could give them a headache. If she got further involved, even Lu Zhiyao might run away.
The two hid behind the bed for a long time with no sign of anyone, so they started chatting.
Li Ruoshui nudged Zheng Yanqing with her elbow. “Do you know where to find a cat in Cangzhou? A small kitten.”
“I heard the tofu shop has one. You can pay to pet it.” Zheng Yanqing turned to look at her. “You like cats?”
“Sort of.” Li Ruoshui thought for a moment. “I wonder if I can borrow a cat for half a day.”
“…Is it also for Brother Lu?”
“Who else?”
Li Ruoshui sighed deeply. No one was more difficult to handle than him.
Originally, Li Ruoshui was lamenting, but to Zheng Yanqing’s ears, it sounded like undisguised favoritism.
He smiled bitterly, lowering his right arm further, sinking into inexplicable contemplation.
Lu Zhiyao didn’t know, and would never know, that this potential love rival who caused him such distress was single-handedly dissuaded by Li Ruoshui herself.
“He just likes petting cats.”
Hearing Li Ruoshui’s seemingly doting words, Zheng Yanqing grew even more despondent.
A slight noise came from outside the window. Both immediately fell silent, shrinking completely behind the bed.
After a moment, a shadow stretched in through the doorway. It paused for a while at the entrance before tiptoeing inside.
Faint collision sounds came from the room. He must have started searching.
Zheng Yanqing peeked from the blind spot behind the bed. After just one glance, he couldn’t help covering his mouth, eyes wide with shock.
Li Ruoshui silently patted his shoulder, urging him to stay strong.
Once the man found the fake pills, he hurried out. Without hesitation, Li Ruoshui grabbed Zheng Yanqing by the collar and followed.
They didn’t dare follow too closely within the residence, only maintaining distance once outside.
Throughout the tailing, Zheng Yanqing kept muttering in her ear: How could it be him? How could it be him?
“Can you shut up?”
Li Ruoshui had initially thought him a refined, quiet young master. Who knew he’d be so chatty once familiar?
“We grew up together! How could he be the one poisoning me!”
Li Ruoshui sighed. “If you can’t accept it now, will you collapse when the real mastermind is revealed?”
“What do you mean?” Zheng Yanqing stopped walking. “You mean the mastermind is someone even closer?”
“What else? Your parents protected you so well. Yet he managed to poison you for years. Did you really think it was someone from outside? It might very well be your own brother or sister.”
Zheng Yanqing’s thoughts were tangled, his emotions indescribable. He almost didn’t want to follow anymore, afraid of seeing which relative it might be.
Li Ruoshui didn’t give him time to mope, dragging him forward by the collar.
If they delayed any longer, Lu Zhiyao might really run away. Then how would she get home?
They followed the servant left and right, finally entering a relatively quiet alley with only a few shops, mostly selling paper and brushes.
This alley had one distinctive feature: a fairly sizable pear tree grew at the corner.
Lush and verdant, it brimmed with vitality in the tail end of April.
They stood at the corner, looking over. They saw the servant knock on the door of the house nearest to the pear tree, but the tree blocked most of the view, preventing them from seeing the scholar.
Zheng Yanqing was still downcast. Li Ruoshui hid behind the tree, leaning to peer over.
The scholar looked unremarkable. The two chatted at the doorway as if casually. Li Ruoshui saw the servant hand the fake pills to the scholar.
“Come take a look. See if you recognize him.”
She turned towards the corner and whispered, but Zheng Yanqing shook his head, visibly heartbroken.
“…Not from your Zheng family.”
Li Ruoshui’s muttering seemed to startle the two men not far away. Instinctively, she sucked in her stomach, pressed her skirt tight against her legs, hid behind the tree trunk, and let out a sound.
“Meow.”
The servant and scholar exchanged a strange look, then opened the door and went inside.
Just as Li Ruoshui sighed in relief, a soft chuckle came from above her head.
The laughter was all too familiar. She looked up and, sure enough, saw a swath of pure white robe hem.
Li Ruoshui: …
Why did their meetings always happen at the most awkward times?
[1] Salamander Extract Pill (蔸鯢丸): “蔸” (dōu) can refer to the root or base of a plant, sometimes used in herbal names. “鯢” (ní) is the Chinese giant salamander. The name suggests pills made from salamander base/root/extract.
And back to square one 😅 loving this story! Thank you for the updates!
Thanks for the translation update! I wait excitedly to see what happens next!