After Being Mistakenly Taken for a Fellow Traveler by Emperor Long Aotian - Chapter 80

Is that you?

Zhou Xun was puzzled by this question. Seeing that Zhou Xun had no impression of him, the young man in green laughed and said, “It’s normal that you don’t remember me. My surname is Liu, given name Che. I once had a brief encounter with this brother here—may I know your name?”

This person was strange. Zhou Xun was highly cautious towards outsiders, so he calmly replied, “My surname is… Lin.”

He didn’t reveal his real surname but used his mother’s surname instead.

“Oh, it’s Lin. Nice to meet you.” Liu Che beamed with joy upon hearing this. He looked at Zhou Xun, pondering about the prominent families with the surname Lin in the capital, but found none.

Given this, he felt more at ease. He glanced around the shop and tentatively asked, “Is this shop owned by your family, Mr. Lin?”

“I’m just helping out.”

Liu Che became even more certain of his assumptions about Zhou Xun’s family background. Zhou Xun had dressed modestly for this outing, wearing no fine materials, leading Liu Che to assume he was a scholar from out of town with little money or influence—even if he had some money, he certainly wasn’t a local of the capital.

Since Zhou Xun wasn’t a local, he thought Zhou Xun’s fate was his to control.

Under the pretense of buying books, Liu Che asked Zhou Xun to fetch a few books for him. Zhou Xun glanced at him, closed the book he was reading, and leisurely got up to take the selected books off the shelf one by one.

Watching Zhou Xun’s back, Liu Che found it pleasing. Zhou Xun returned with the books, without even lifting his eyelids, and said, “Nine taels and fifteen qian.”

The young man in green was indeed straightforward, handing over the money without hesitation. Zhou Xun counted the money while listening to Liu Che’s chatter.

He was introducing an organization called the Flower Picking Society.

“If you’re interested, Mr. Lin, you can join us. We have many gatherings at the Mo Garden every month,” Liu Che eagerly said. “If you wish to come, just send someone to inform me at the Liu residence.”

Liu Che left with his books, floating away joyfully. Zhou Xun, on the other hand, slowly tidied up. The invitation card left by Liu Che was merely glanced at before it ended up in the trash bin.

The man’s gaze made him very uncomfortable.

Zhou Xun stayed at Youhuang Alley until the evening. The next day, he had arranged to meet He Zhang and the others to see Lu Bin, so he asked for leave from Lao Shen in advance. Lao Shen stroked his beard and agreed.

He took a carriage back to the palace. When he walked past the imperial study, the lights were still on inside. Zhou Xun looked inside but didn’t enter.

Early the next morning, Zhou Xun went to the Imperial Medical Institute to pick up He Zhang and another person. Then, they went to the military headquarters to find Shangguan Mingjing, who was yawning.

When Zhou Xun found her, she was reading a letter. Seeing Zhou Xun, Shangguan Mingjing stood up and said, “Let’s go.”

“You really want to take me along?” Shangguan Mingjing casually remarked in the carriage.

Zhou Xun smiled. “You are a member of the military after all.”

If he went to see the Lu family alone, there would inevitably be some personal entanglements and awkwardness. However, if Shangguan Mingjing accompanied him, the matter could be related to the military, thereby minimizing his personal involvement.

As the carriage passed by a road, they saw an official residence. Shangguan Mingjing suddenly said, “This is the Yan residence, isn’t it?”

Zhou Xun also looked outside. He saw many pine trees planted in the official residence, and even the guards at the gate stood with cautious and upright postures. He asked, “Is this the residence of Minister Yan?”

“Speaking of which, Minister Yan is also the father-in-law of Zhou Cai,” Shangguan Mingjing sneered, then added gloatingly, “Did you know? Recently, there have been rumors that the Yan family intends to postpone their marriage alliance with the Zhou family—now the entire capital is laughing at these two families.”

—The Yan family wants to postpone the marriage alliance with the Zhou family?

Zhou Xun was stunned. He suddenly recalled the young man from the Yan family he had met at Mo Garden—Yan Jia, who was also Zhou Cai’s fiancée and the younger brother of the Yan family’s young lady. That day, Yan Jia had sought him out to borrow a poetry collection to comfort his sister.

That day, Yan Jia’s words had been vague, arousing Zhou Xun’s suspicions about the marriage alliance between Zhou Cai and the Yan family, but he had no evidence and couldn’t say much.

He hadn’t expected the situation to escalate to the point where the two families might postpone the marriage alliance.

“…Previously, I heard people say that the Yan family intended to postpone the marriage alliance, citing Miss Yan’s health as the reason, claiming that the wedding would be rescheduled. This news supposedly came from Madam Yan herself, who privately hinted this to the Zhou family. However, when Minister Yan heard this rumor, he firmly denied it!”

“Firmly denied?”

“Minister Yan is known for his integrity and values his reputation highly—let me tell you, but don’t repeat this to others,” Shangguan Mingjing stuck out her tongue. “With the Zhou family constantly in trouble lately, people are saying that the claim about Miss Yan’s illness is just an excuse. The real reason is that the Yan family looks down on the Zhou family now, disdaining Zhou Cai who is no longer the emperor’s favorite scholar. So, they want to cancel the engagement. For someone like Minister Yan, who values his reputation above all, how could he tolerate such rumors!”

Zhou Xun nodded, remembering the rumors about the Yan family.

“He said in front of everyone in the Ministry of Rites that the Yan family would not cancel the engagement, nor would they change the wedding date. Miss Yan would marry on the scheduled day, without any change in the date. It’s just a case of saving face. Everyone knows that the Zhou family is a pit of fire right now, but he’s still pushing his daughter into it. But Yan Ruoqi likes Zhou Cai anyway, so she’s getting what she wants. Not long ago, Zhou Cai was still the dream man of all the young women in the capital,” Shangguan Mingjing sighed. “This situation has had many twists and turns. Just this morning, a letter came from the Eldest Princess asking me if Miss Yan’s wedding date had changed at all.”

“The Eldest Princess?”

The Emperor’s sister?

“Yes, two years ago she went to the frontier with her uncle for a break—she used to stay in the capital, but now after two years, she doesn’t stay here often, so it’s normal that you don’t know her,” Shangguan Mingjing explained. “I’ve always been in contact with her. She wrote to me earlier, asking if I knew about the wedding date of the Yan-Zhou family. If there were any updates, I must inform her so she could return to the capital in time for the wedding.”

“Is she close with Miss Yan?”

Zhou Xun felt strange after asking this question. If the Eldest Princess was close with Miss Yan, why wouldn’t she ask her directly instead of seeking information from others?

This question made the talkative Shangguan Mingjing fall silent for a while. After a long pause, she shook her head in confusion, “Their relationship? I can’t remember if they had any personal connection…”

Can’t remember means there wasn’t much interaction.

No personal connection, yet she insisted on attending the wedding in the capital. Given the Eldest Princess’s relationship with Shangguan Mingjing, it seemed her relationship with Zhou Cai wouldn’t be good either… Zhou Xun’s expression became complicated.

Could it be that the Eldest Princess was also one of Zhou Cai’s admirers?

Two years ago, Zhou Cai got engaged to Miss Yan, and the Eldest Princess missed her chance and left the capital in anger. Now that the two were about to get married, she wanted to attend the wedding in grand style to show off…

This guess was reasonable both from Zhou Cai’s popularity and logically. However, Zhou Xun felt something was slightly off.

If the Eldest Princess truly loved Zhou Cai—how could she have such a good relationship with Shangguan Mingjing?

As he pondered, the carriage had already stopped at the Yan residence. Out of the carriage came the good-natured Yan Jia.

Yan Jia, looking like he sneaked out, cautiously entered the gate. Zhou Xun then put down the curtain and said, “Let’s go.”

The Yan family, the Zhou family, the Eldest Princess… Zhou Xun felt the situation here was complicated.

When Zhou Xun arrived at the Lu family, Auntie Lu was already waiting at the door. To his surprise, Lu Bin was also there, waiting at the door. Seeing them arrive, Lu Bin said to Auntie Lu, “I told you, they wouldn’t deceive us—Miss Shangguan and Mr. Xun are not the kind of people who would lie to us.”

These words were heard by Doctor He walking in front. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he glanced back at Zhou Xun. Zhou Xun, however, seemed not to have heard, his expression unchanged.

Doctor He and his colleague went inside to treat Lu Bin while Zhou Xun waited outside, drinking tea in the pavilion. After a while, Doctor He came out to fetch something, his previous distrust towards Miss Zhang gone. Seeing him come out, Zhou Xun asked about Lu Bin’s condition.

Doctor He briefly explained, “With daily acupuncture, he should be able to walk again in at most three months. Miss Zhang is performing acupuncture inside now.”

Seeing Zhou Xun smiling at him, Doctor He touched his nose and coughed, “Miss Zhang’s medical skills are indeed excellent. I later learned that she had been practicing medicine with her grandfather since childhood and had plenty of experience. Most of the prescriptions she uses are her grandfather’s legacy. I must admit, I was biased earlier because she’s a young woman.”

“But now the prescription has already gone to the west. Although we don’t have a particularly good remedy recently, it’s manageable,” Doctor He frowned slightly. “However, there seem to be new cases in the city every now and then. It’s unclear where they come from.”

Hearing a woman’s cry from inside, Doctor He hurried back in. Zhou Xun, holding his tea, smiled, thinking that the two had indeed gotten to know each other through their clashes.

The day’s treatment ended there. Before leaving, Doctor He and his colleague left some medicines, both external and internal, with instructions for Lu Bin. Grateful, Lu Bin thanked them repeatedly.

After they left, Lu Bin said to Zhou Xun, “Mr. Xun, I am truly grateful for your help today. Without you, I wouldn’t know what to do now!”

Unlike the despair from a few days ago, even a glimmer of hope now made his eyes shine brightly. Zhou Xun, unaccustomed to such gratitude, simply smiled, “Just take your medicine properly.”

As he left, Zhou Xun, getting on the carriage, saw a familiar carriage flash by at the alley’s end.