Ying Xiaoman ran urgently, clutching her skirt, causing passersby to turn and stare repeatedly.
Fortunately, it was already dark, and she ran so fast that before the onlookers could get a clear view, she had darted past them in the blink of an eye.
When she finally reached the entrance of Seven Scholars Lane, the tranquil alley with lush greenery and bluestone paving appeared before her, and she finally slowed her pace.
After sprinting for five or six li, her lungs, which had nearly burst from exertion, finally returned to normal.
"Liar with not a single word of truth! Liar who protects his own family! Luring me to the teahouse, talking in circles, and in the end, still deceiving me! What nonsense about having to choose only one of two options? I won't give up avenging my father for this liar!"
Ying Xiaoman cursed all the way as she entered her home.
Zhi had already gone to bed, and half a window was open in the main room.
"Child, you're back? Oh my," her Adoptive Mother was puzzled, "Didn't you have plans to discuss matters with Seventh Young Master today? Why are you back so angry?"
Ying Xiaoman quickly composed herself, pretending nothing was wrong, and leaned half her body through the window to feel her Adoptive Mother's forehead.
"Mother looks in good spirits today. The cough seems to have improved too."
Her Adoptive Mother smiled and said, "Indeed, it's hot today, and I felt better than usual during the day. Usually at this hour I'd be exhausted and want to lie on the kang bed, but tonight I'm still fine. The little one didn't disturb me either, went to sleep early, so I thought I'd do some needlework while waiting for you to return."
Ying Xiaoman hurriedly went into the room, "It's late, take advantage of feeling better and get some rest quickly, why do needlework?"
Her Adoptive Mother tugged at the thread, unwilling to let go: "It's for the little one's new clothes! The little girl is small, so the clothes are quick to make. Once I finish this set, I'll make a nice one for you next. I specially picked out a bolt of fabric in a fresh, tender color to make you a peony pleated skirt. When my girl wears it out, I guarantee people won't be able to take their eyes off her."
Ying Xiaoman had already moved the sewing box away and brought over a basin of water and a cloth for washing up. "I just bought several new skirts, there's no rush to make a pleated skirt. Let's talk about it tomorrow. It's almost the second watch of the night, Mother should go to sleep soon."
As her Adoptive Mother lay down, she was still muttering, "At sixteen or seventeen, always buying dark blue and dark black clothes, gray skirts. At your age, you should be wearing light pink and light green..."
Ying Xiaoman bent down to blow out the lamp, also muttering in her heart, of course she had to buy dark-colored clothes and skirts. If she went out wearing eye-catching light pink or light green clothes, she wouldn't even be able to sneak into Fengsong Courtyard of the Yan family, she'd be caught by the guards from afar...
After the fuss with her mother at home, the anger and sadness that had nearly burst her lungs on the way home had diminished by seven-tenths. But due to the emotional ups and downs, and the hot weather, she didn't sleep well that night, tossing and turning for a long time before falling asleep.
Once asleep, she had many dreams.
In her dream, the face of her enemy appeared hazily, still with the same slightly dark wheat-colored skin, thick black eyebrows, narrow eyes, and gloomy expression, exactly as she remembered.
Overjoyed, she immediately grabbed the enemy's collar and without hesitation pulled out the iron-clad door bolt she had brought from her hometown, striking him with it.
Just as she succeeded, the enemy she was grabbing suddenly changed into Seventh Young Master's face.
The enemy, now with Seventh Young Master's face, spoke with Seventh Young Master's voice, clearly saying to her: "I am actually Yan Rongshi. Xiaoman, you came to the capital to seek revenge on me, congratulations on fulfilling your wish, your great revenge is accomplished."
While she was stunned in the dream, the scene before her suddenly changed. Seventh Young Master disappeared, transforming into a protruding grave mound. It vaguely resembled her adoptive father's grave back in her hometown.
But the tombstone on the grave clearly read:
"Yan Seventh Young Master's Grave. Erected by Xiaoman."
Her reaction in the dream was much more honest than in the teahouse. Her heart twisted in pain, and she cried torrents of tears on the spot, hugging Seventh Young Master's grave and crying out loudly:
"You're not my enemy, you're Seventh Young Master. Stop deceiving me, quickly come out of the grave and hug me..."
She cried so hard in the dream that the next morning when someone called loudly at the door, her head was dizzy and muddled, unable to distinguish east from west for a long while.
Zhi, who always got up earliest in the Ying household, stood by the door looking up at the visitor, blinked her bright black eyes in confusion, and turned to call into the courtyard: "Aunt, Sister, a doctor has come, carrying a very big medicine box."
Her Adoptive Mother also got up early and immediately came out to welcome the guest, politely inviting the doctor in.
Ying Xiaoman, still groggy, finished washing up and walked out of the small courtyard. She exchanged greetings with the doctor, took the prescription he had written, and carefully examined it in the morning light—
This time, the prescription was densely filled with writing covering the entire page, with many unfamiliar medicine names, very different from the ordinary qi-tonifying prescriptions given by previous doctors!
She immediately perked up, holding the prescription and asking about each medicine name and its function in detail. The doctor was extremely patient, stroking his short beard and answering each question thoroughly.
The more Ying Xiaoman listened, the more awake she became, and the brighter her eyes grew. This doctor was extraordinary, he seemed to have great skill!
Taking the opportunity while seeing the doctor out, she stood by the door and asked quietly: "Doctor, please give me an honest answer, what exactly is my mother's illness, and can it be cured this summer?"
The doctor looked a bit troubled and said to her: "If we're talking about the illness, it's actually not considered an acute disease. Years of cold qi have entered the body, damaging the lungs and internal organs. Has your mother lived by the water for many years, or often gone to the waterside to wash vegetables and clothes and do other such labor?"
Ying Xiaoman nodded repeatedly, "Our old home was by the Han River, and my mother went to the waterside every day with the aunties from the village to wash clothes."
"That's it then. Cold qi accumulated bit by bit over decades, not noticeable when young, but unbearable as one ages. Cold qi entering the body causes dizziness, cold qi entering the lungs causes coughing and wheezing."
The doctor also specially advised: "The recent non-stop coughing and wheezing indicate severe symptoms of cold qi entering the lungs. Summer is still alright, but be careful this autumn and winter."
Ying Xiaoman's heart immediately clenched and rose to her throat, her voice beginning to tremble: "Be careful in autumn and winter... what do you mean? Doctor, please explain clearly!"
The doctor was also startled by her reaction and hurriedly pointed to the prescription, "Miss Ying, don't panic. I mean that the prescription for nourishing yin and the lungs should be taken starting in summer, don't delay until autumn and winter, which could trigger more severe coughing and wheezing... If you take the medicine according to the prescription, the coughing and wheezing will ease. Please don't cry, Miss."
Ying Xiaoman quickly wiped her eyes, embarrassed.
"Doctor, you don't know, one night before, my mother was coughing and suddenly vomited blood, which really scared me..."
"Vomiting blood?" The doctor immediately frowned, "That's not right. Your mother's chronic cold condition accumulated over many years, even if cold qi has invaded the lung lobes, it shouldn't be so severe as to cause vomiting blood in summer... Oh!"
He realized suddenly, "Could it be that she coughed too severely and injured her throat? If the throat is damaged from violent coughing, it could cause bleeding. When you go back, ask your mother if she's had any symptoms of throat pain when speaking or swallowing recently."
Ying Xiaoman let out a long breath.
The sight of blood coughed up a few days ago had been weighing heavily on her heart, but it turned out to be a false alarm?
Her slightly furrowed brow and eyes finally relaxed completely. She couldn't help but smile, cheerfully seeing the doctor out.
As the doctor was about to leave, he suddenly seemed to remember something and took out another prescription from his bosom.
"The previous prescription was for nourishing yin and the lungs. This prescription for medicinal food is for warming and nourishing. It can be taken with porridge or soup morning and evening. Keep it safe, Miss."
Ying Xiaoman instinctively took the medicinal food prescription, standing by the door watching the doctor leave.
After bolting the door and walking back a few steps towards the small courtyard with Zhi, she paused and asked her Adoptive Mother, who was busy by the stove:
"Mother, this doctor looks unfamiliar, it's his first time coming to our home. Did you go out yesterday to invite him?"
Her Adoptive Mother stopped picking vegetables and turned back, puzzled, "Yesterday I only went out to the fabric shop, bought a few chi of fabric, then came back. Wasn't it you who invited the doctor?"
Ying Xiaoman: "...No."
She knew who had invited the doctor.
Yesterday, before things went sour with Seventh Young Master, she had mentioned her mother's illness to his face, and also mentioned the medicinal food prescription...
She took out the medicinal food prescription again like lightning and examined it carefully.
It listed twenty or thirty medicines in flowing script. The more she looked at the medicine names, the more familiar they seemed, appearing exactly like the medicinal food prescription that her mother had hidden away somewhere not long ago!
Ying Xiaoman's emotions were complex as she stood under the tree for a long time, holding the medicinal food prescription, not moving.
Her Adoptive Mother hadn't noticed anything unusual on her side and was still muttering while lighting the fire on the stove:
"If you didn't invite him, and I didn't invite him, where did this doctor come from? It couldn't be that the Doctor Li from the south of the city by the river still remembers us and specially sent a colleague from the north of the city to come treat us?"
Ying Xiaoman: "..."
A deep sigh echoed from beneath the lush osmanthus tree. The voice was clear, with a long trailing end, revealing obvious frustration.
"What should I do?" Ying Xiaoman muttered worriedly.
Her adoptive mother asked, "What do you mean, 'what should I do'?"
Ying Xiaoman remained silent.
Walking a few steps westward, near the open door of the west wing room, a floral-patterned bundle lay quietly on the square table.
Last night, when she had rushed home in anger, her thoughts were a jumbled mess. At least fifteen or sixteen times during the journey, she had remembered the floral bundle left in the side room, thinking she would throw out all the odds and ends Seventh Young Master had left behind as soon as she got home.
But then her mother had distracted her, and she had forgotten about it.
In her dreams, she vaguely recalled it five or six more times, resolving to throw out all of Seventh Young Master's belongings first thing in the morning.
When she did wake up in the morning, the doctor Seventh Young Master had sent arrived at her door.
That liar, whose mouth was full of nothing but falsehoods, yet wasn't entirely a liar.
A liar who genuinely cared for her...?
Ying Xiaoman stood by the side room door, pondering in frustration for half a day. What kind of creature was this?
After a while, unable to make heads or tails of it, she decided to cast aside these draining thoughts. She dragged out half a lamb from under the stove and began preparing the fresh meat for today's market stall.
That morning, Yan Erlang came looking for the meat shop.
They hadn't seen each other for two days, and who knows what he had been doing - his eyes were bloodshot, startling Ying Xiaoman when she first saw him.
Yan Erlang, with his bloodshot eyes, circled the meat shop twice with an inscrutable expression.
He queued up to buy meat.
"Five jin of minced meat. No rush, cut it finely."
All the buyers were customers - she had done business with both Third Son Mo and Yan Seventh Young Master, so why couldn't she do business with Yan Erlang?
Ying Xiaoman chopped off a large piece of lamb with skin and soft bone, then raised her knife to mince the meat.
Amidst the continuous sound of chopping, Yan Erlang suddenly opened his ivory fan, fanned himself, and let out a laugh.
His mood at this moment was not particularly pleasant.
"Three hundred paces west of Seven Scholars Lane, along the street. I've been waiting for you sleeplessly for two days at the Xu family pawnshop where we agreed to meet, Miss Xiaoman."
Ying Xiaoman's knife paused, and she suddenly realized.
She finally remembered what she had forgotten.
"I'm sorry," Ying Xiaoman said honestly. "I forgot about passing on the message. How about this - today's five jin of minced meat is on me, my treat."
Yan Erlang's eyes gleamed like a wolf's.
He had stayed awake for two days straight, like a hungry wolf that had gone hunting but come up empty-handed, unable to catch the little white rabbit to bring back to its den.
"Five jin of minced meat isn't worth even one string of cash. Can a mere five jin of minced meat buy my two sleepless days of torment?"
"Oh," Ying Xiaoman continued chopping, "If five jin isn't enough, how about adding another jin?"
Yan Erlang laughed. He was laughing from anger.
"Add another five jin of minced meat, cut it finely. Your brother doesn't lack this bit of money. I'll pay you in full, and use the sound of chopping meat to talk with you a bit longer."
Yan Erlang opened and closed the folding fan in his hand, pressing further, "Last time you went in and came out, the Yan household was quiet, with no movement. Couldn't get your hands on what you wanted?"
Ying Xiaoman replied while chopping, "Couldn't get it."
"You couldn't get what you wanted, so you left behind a mess and just walked away, not even letting me know. I had to clean up the mess for you. The sweeping maid 'Qingping' with the large birthmark on her face has been going into the Yan household in your place these past two days."
He smiled meaningfully: "You're quite capable, going straight into Fengsong Courtyard. Fengsong Courtyard is where that Yan fellow lives - what, did he have some good stuff he was hiding and wouldn't give you, so you tried to figure out how to get it yourself?"
Nonsense, Ying Xiaoman thought as she continued chopping meat. I want Yan Rongshi's life, of course I have to figure out how to take it myself.
Unable to hold back her thoughts, she gave him a clear look that said "You're talking nonsense, I can't be bothered with you," and after that, she didn't respond no matter how Yan Erlang tried to engage her in conversation.
The rapid chopping sound suddenly stopped.
"Five jin of minced meat, you said you'd pay in full," Ying Xiaoman said crisply without looking up, holding out her hand. "Pay up. Next customer."
Yan Erlang frowned deeply, "We agreed on ten jin, this is only five jin of minced meat. Keep cutting finely, let's talk a bit more."
"The shop only prepares twenty jin of fresh meat each day. If I sell ten jin to you, what about the other customers?"
Ying Xiaoman wiped away some sweat and unceremoniously pushed him back, "I'm only selling you five jin. Money in one hand, meat in the other. Next!"
Yan Erlang: "..."
Taking advantage of the time he was slowly paying, he hurriedly asked one last question.
"What are your plans next? Still thinking of sneaking into the Yan household a second time? I have plenty of ways to keep helping you."
Ying Xiaoman's heart stirred, and she remembered Seventh Young Master's words.
"Some things are misunderstandings from start to finish."
"Eleventh Young Master is not your enemy."
"If there's a second assassination attempt, Xiaoman, you'll be the one in danger."
If he was a complete liar through and through, she would have long forgotten a liar's mouthful of lies.
But he had remembered the troubles she had confided in him. After their unpleasant parting at the teahouse, he still sent a doctor to her home early in the morning and delivered a medicinal diet prescription to her.
Were Seventh Young Master's words at the teahouse true or false? How much was true, and how much was false?
If it was all lies, she would never pay attention to him again.
But if it was all true...
The raised grave from last night's dream suddenly appeared before her eyes again, along with the heart-wrenching feeling of crying miserably in the dream.
Ying Xiaoman felt a tightness in her chest and couldn't think any further.
Let's assume it's half and half, five parts truth mixed with five parts lies, fitting Yan Seventh Young Master's usual nature as a liar. That made her feel a bit better.
Thinking of Yan Seventh Young Master made her restless, so she decided to cast aside these draining thoughts and directed her irritation at the person in front of her:
"I haven't figured it out yet, I'm troubled."
"At least Seventh Young Master doesn't come to bother me, but you're buzzing around like a fly. Rushing to help me, what's really on your mind?"
Yan Erlang, hit with this sudden rebuke, faced with the fresh and vivid young woman who looked even more charming when angry, couldn't express his pent-up frustration. He ground his teeth and forced out a few words:
"What could be on my mind? My heart is full of sincerity, all to — please you, Miss Xiaoman."
Ying Xiaoman looked up at him.
His bloodshot eyes clearly showed he hadn't slept all night. One of the most notorious playboys in the capital, full of flowery words and clever speech, who knows what debauchery he had been up to at the brothels last night.
Compared to this Yan Erlang before her, even knowing Yan Seventh Young Master was a liar, when they sat across from each other in the brightly lit teahouse last night, and Seventh Young Master said "I too am fond of you"...
The sudden, intense palpitations in her chest were still vivid, still stirring when she thought of it now.
If it were Seventh Young Master saying the same thing to her face: "My heart is to please you, Xiaoman..."
Looking into those affectionate, smiling eyes of Yan Seventh Young Master...
Perhaps, she would still believe it.
Suddenly, Yan Erlang's magnified face appeared clearly before her.
Up close, he was indeed quite handsome, with striking features, broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Due to his family's martial arts background since childhood, he had developed a muscular physique, and his sword-like eyebrows gave him an inherently heroic air.
...If only this fellow would keep his mouth shut.
"You smiled, how rare," Yan Erlang observed the young woman's expression closely. "Do you like hearing sweet words? Alright, your brother will say sweet things to you every day from now on."
The slight smile that had unconsciously appeared on Ying Xiaoman's lips while she was lost in thought suddenly vanished.
She gave a sharp look at the bloodshot eyes in front of her, and said expressionlessly while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear:
"You haven't slept all night, your eyes are all bloodshot. Who knows where you've been carousing, and now you're trying to pin it on me. Do you all think I'm so easily fooled?"
"That's heartless of you to say!" Yan Erlang clicked his tongue and swore to the heavens:
"I really did stay up for two whole nights, waiting for your news at the Xu family pawnshop."
"As if I'd believe that," Ying Xiaoman wrapped up the five jin of minced meat, collected the six hundred copper coins, handed over the oiled paper package, and then pushed Yan Erlang aside. Without looking at him, she called the next customer and continued chopping meat with a steady rhythm.
"Move aside. I wasn't smiling at you just now, don't flatter yourself. I was thinking of someone else."
Yan Erlang, holding the five jin of minced meat he had paid for in full, couldn't help but laugh from anger. He opened and closed the folding fan in his hand, fanning himself.
Hah, the sourness of it all!