Chapter 56 Making a Living

The atmosphere was already tight and oppressive. Unquestionably, the entire room instantly fell into a pin-drop silence, as if frozen in ice.

On the surface, Yan Xi appeared calm, her eyes still resolute, but deep down, she was in turmoil.

She was terrified.

She was actually quite cowardly and had always been genuinely afraid of him, especially after having pulled off such a stunt.

Yet, for the moment, she had nothing to say, nor would she ever bow her head to him. For a short while, she remained completely silent.

After a long pause, the man spoke once more.

"Fine. I will grant your wish. Shen Yanxi, heh, let's see how many days you can survive after leaving me."

With that, he stood up. His gaze was sharp, radiating a piercing chill. He squinted down at her from above for a few moments, then turned and walked away.

Yan Xi's heart surged violently. Her beautiful eyes held a complex, lingering gaze. In the span of a mere moment, her emotions had plummeted from despair to terror, only to take a sudden and unexpected turn for the better. For a moment, she felt dazed, unsure if she had heard correctly or if she had misunderstood, and exchanged glances with the two maids beside her.

None of the three showed even a fraction of outward joy, but inwardly, their emotions were churning furiously.

Just as they were in this state of dizzying confusion, the head maid of the Tinglan Pavilion entered.

"Young Mistress," she announced, "His Lordship says that in three days, the three of you may leave freely."

Only upon hearing these words did Yan Xi and the other two break into sudden smiles, their tightly strung nerves finally snapping into complete relaxation.

The mistress and her maids tightly clasped each other's hands.

Excitement was excitement, but all three knew the boundaries and kept their jubilation from being overly ostentatious.

By nightfall, with the doors firmly shut, Taohong couldn't wait to speak first: "My lady, do you think he was being sincere about letting you go? Why does it feel so unreal? I've pinched myself—it's not a dream!"

Qinglian lowered her voice, smiling as she took over: "I feel the exact same way as Taohong. In secret, I've pinched myself quite a few times too. He actually let the young lady go! Could he have some hidden scheme? Why not tomorrow, but three days from now?"

The more Qinglian spoke, the more solemn she became, clearly growing worried.

Yan Xi sat upon the edge of the bed, her dark hair already unbound, tumbling like silk down to her neck and shoulders. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with ripples of light, her long lashes blinking slowly twice as she answered Qinglian's final question first.

"I suspect it's because Uncle Xie will be leaving Yangzhou in three days."

The two maids suddenly understood.

Taohong gasped: "He's afraid the young lady will go look for Lord Xie! Then... then where is his sincerity? Since he's letting the young lady go, why should he care who she looks for?"

Yan Xi replied: "Whether there is sincerity or not, I cannot say, but he is clearly exceptionally arrogant. I have very little money in my possession right now; he assumes that without him, I cannot make a living. He expects me to encounter hardship, give up, and come back to crawl back to him..."

Only then did Qinglian and Taohong understand.

When they first heard the news, they had been so blinded by joy that they had completely forgotten what else he had said.

Reminded thus by their mistress, they recalled his exact words and finally grasped the full picture. Naturally, this led them to consider the amount of silver the three of them currently possessed.

It was indeed meager. Taking a boat to Taizhou was entirely out of the question—let alone Taizhou, even Changzhou was an extravagant luxury.

At best, they might barely afford to rent a small dwelling in Yangzhou for a month or two.

Thinking along these lines, they understood Lu Zhi's scheme all the more clearly.

He was employing a tactic of retreating in order to advance, forcing their mistress to accept her fate and submit.

*******

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Of the pearl hairpins and jewelry Lu Zhi had gifted her, Yan Xi did not take a single piece; nor did she take any of the gorgeous, fine garments he had bestowed. She took only her own belongings.

The Military Commissioner's estate was immensely wealthy, and originally, she had been his only concubine. In all honesty, Lu Zhi had never skimped on her food, attire, or silver. If she had only exercised the slightest caution, she could have amassed vast fortunes into her own hands.

As it happened, she *had* exercised that caution; otherwise, when she made her escape earlier, she wouldn't have been able to support all six people and still pull together so much silver.

But things were different now.

Lu Zhi's entire plot was designed to make her leave him and find herself utterly unable to survive.

She had her pride; she would not take his money, yet she would survive just to prove it to him.

Consequently, she left practically with nothing.

On the first day of the fourth month, as soon as the agreed-upon date arrived, they departed early in the morning.

*******

Inside the estate, at a second-story window of a distant pavilion which stood wide open, a man clad in dark robes stood gazing outward—it was Lu Zhi.

The man's eyes were fixed upon the three figures emerging from the Tinglan Pavilion, or more precisely, locked upon Yan Xi in the center.

Dongfu handed him a cup of tea and said with a ingratiating smile, "Did Your Grace really let Miss Yan Xi go just like that?"

Lu Zhi uttered not a word. For a long time, until he watched that slender, graceful figure pass through the hanging flower gate, did the corners of his mouth finally twitch upward. With absolute certainty, he spoke:

"She will come back..."

*******

Yan Xi and her maids stepped out through the gates of the Military Commissioner's estate. Raising their heads to look at the blue sky and the birds in flight, they felt the sky was bluer, the birds more joyful, and all creation simply magnificent.

She didn't waste her energy or money trying to find out whether Uncle Xie, Meng Wenhui, and Lin Yaor'er were still lingering in Yangzhou.

They would have already departed.

It was the warm, blooming spring of April, with the sunlight pouring down perfectly. The mistress and her two maids walked together to the marketplace, simultaneously soaking in the long-missed bustle of the streets and searching the major bulletin boards for suitable lodgings.

*******

Their luck was quite favorable. After searching for only a single morning and viewing three or four places, they settled on a cozy and appropriate location.

The courtyard housed a total of three tenant households.

One household consisted of a pair of brother and sister who performed street acrobatics; another was a failed imperial scholar; and the final household was Yan Xi and her maids.

Though the courtyard was small and the rooms modest, the place was exceptionally clean. As a temporary foothold, Yan Xi was quite satisfied.

In the afternoon, Qinglian and Taohong went out to buy bedding and made up the bed for their mistress.

As dusk approached, the maids locked the door and brought foot-washing water for their mistress.

The three gathered around her to chat for a while.

Yan Xi remarked, "We should call A-Tai back as soon as possible..."

Qinglian smiled and nodded, "Indeed. Having a man around gives one a bit more courage. However, the young lady needn't worry; that pair of siblings in the north room seems very honest and simple, and the scholar in the east room is quite courteous..."

Taohong chimed in, "It's just that the man is a bit foolish. When he saw the young lady wearing a veil, he was so stunned he stood there staring, acting all literary and calling her 'a celestial being'..."

Qinglian covered her mouth and chuckled, "He is a bit literary..."

A faint, lingering smile remained on Yan Xi's delicate face. She didn't continue the topic the two maids had brought up, but instead shifted to another matter.

"Starting tomorrow, the two of you should focus solely on looking around. Earning some money for ourselves must take priority. Once we've saved enough, we will leave Yangzhou."

Both maids answered in unison.

Taohong declared, "I'm not worried in the least that the young lady won't be able to make money! Our young lady is learned and talented, well-read in countless books. She can even recite several military treatises—she'd make a fine military strategist!"

Yan Xi's face flushed, and she said in a soft, bashful tone, "Stop talking nonsense, what do I know... As for practicing medicine and treating people, I might not even do it well, but I shall do my utmost. Remember, for the first five days, we will not accept any copper coins..."

Qinglian and Taohong nodded heavily, both of them agreeing.

The three of them shared a few more lighthearted, giggly chats before blowing out the candle and turning in early for the night.

The next morning, Qinglian and Taohong went out early.

Yan Xi remained at home alone, feeling quite nervous as she paced back and forth in the room.

To be honest, the knowledge she held in her mind and heart was not insignificant, but when it came to truly treating illnesses, she had only ever treated Yunshu. Now, having to rely on this as a livelihood naturally left her feeling anxious and insecure.

Because her services were free of charge, finding "customers" proved far from difficult. Within less than an hour of waiting at home, Qinglian brought back a middle-aged woman and an elderly grandmother.

The woman suffered from chronic migraines, which grew so agonizingly painful that she often wished she were dead; the elderly woman's little grandson had been suffering from incessant diarrhea, and no matter how many physicians they had consulted or what medicine they had taken over the past two days, nothing worked. The entire family was beside themselves with worry!

Yan Xi listened attentively to their symptoms, recalling the medical texts she had read in the past, combined with the brief, insightful guidance the divine physician Xia had given her upon noticing her natural talent, as well as the various symptoms and patients she had observed over three years of close exposure. She quickly devised a solution and, picking up her brush, wrote out prescriptions for them one after another.

Only these two people had called upon her on that first day.

The second day was much the same, and so was the third.

However, by the fourth day—both as Yan Xi had anticipated and yet somewhat unexpectedly—the woman and the elderly grandmother whom she had treated earlier practically marched over beating gongs and shouting praises, hailing her on every corner as a "miraculous physician reborn."

Yan Xi's modest little enterprise unexpectedly exploded in popularity.

By the sixth day, she naturally began bringing in actual coin.

*******

In the blink of an eye, half a month slipped by.

Today marked the fifteenth day since her departure.

Inside the Military Commissioner's estate, within Lu Zhi's study.

A female assassin stood bowing, making her report.

She reported every three days, and this was the fifth time.

Lu Zhi stood before a birdcage, one hand behind his back while the other was raised, teasing a small finch as he listened half-heartedly to the assassin's words.

Upon hearing that the little enterprise was growing more and more prosperous, he let out a dry, scornful scoff.

"How popular is it?"

The female assassin replied, "Every day, there must be a dozen, two dozen, or even upwards of thirty people coming to her door..."

"How much does she earn?"

"This subordinate estimates, on the low side eighty or ninety cash, and on the high side three to four hundred cash..."

Lu Zhi continued, "Are there any men?"

The female assassin paused, startled; she hadn't expected him to suddenly ask such a question about something he already knew the answer to.

Nonetheless, she answered truthfully.

"There are."

Lu Zhi's gaze turned dark and ominous, a flicker of indescribable gloom and malice flashing in the depths of his eyes—part obsessive, part morbid. A faint, hard-to-read smile hovered at the corners of his lips.

After a long, protracted moment, he flicked his fingers, signaling her to withdraw.

Four hundred cash...

Men...

*******

Gathering little by little, counting the copper coins every night was undoubtedly the happiest time for Yan Xi and her maids.

Qinglian exclaimed, "The young lady is simply amazing! This business is only going to get better and better, and our wealth will only grow!"

Yan Xi smiled faintly, a clear expression of gratification resting on her face.

Although she was somewhat busy every day, she genuinely enjoyed it.

"Once we've saved enough for our travel expenses, we'll leave Yangzhou."

The two maids nodded heavily in agreement.

Taohong huffed, "Hmph, that scoundrel Lu Zhi must never have dreamed of it! He actually thought the young lady couldn't survive without him? As if he's the only one with a few stinking coins! The young lady can earn her own... He truly underestimated the young lady!"

Busy with their days, Yan Xi hadn't thought of that man for half a month. Hearing that name suddenly brought a brief silence to the room.

Immediately afterward, Yan Xi steered the conversation elsewhere.

She instructed Qinglian, "In the next couple of days, find someone reliable to go to Hejia Village and call A-Tai back."

Qinglian nodded.

And with that, the day came to a close.

The next morning, starting from the hour of *chen* (7:00 AM to 9:00 AM), people began lining up outside the small courtyard.

The scholar in the east room, whose surname was Zhao, had spent ten consecutive days helping Yan Xi and her maids dispense medicines, displaying boundless enthusiasm every single day.

Yan Xi did not begin receiving patients until the hour of *si* (9:00 AM to 11:00 AM).

The young lady, dressed in white with a light veil veiling her face, sat before the desk in the room, wholly absorbed in examining her patients. Barely half an hour had passed, and already a line of a dozen or more people had formed outside.

A silk handkerchief lay upon her desk; she dispensed with it when treating women and children, but whenever a male patient appeared, she would drape the handkerchief over his wrist before taking his pulse.

She was right in the middle of examining her fourth patient, completely free of distractions and diligently writing a prescription, when suddenly a small, sharp sound—light yet distinct enough to draw attention—of a chair being pulled back and set down echoed right beside her ear, accompanied by murmurs of discussion from the crowd.

Yan Xi subconsciously looked up, her heart fluttering.

Who did she see?

The man had pulled a chair right up beside the female patient who was currently waiting for her prescription.

He had already leaned back unhurriedly against the chair and seated himself—it was none other than Lu Zhi!

Yan Xi paused for a split second, and their eyes locked.

One was startled; the other was dark and unfathomable.

Yet it lasted merely a flicker of an instant before Yan Xi averted her gaze, refusing to look at him again.

Scholar Zhao, who was standing nearby busily dispensing medicine according to the young lady's prescriptions, noticed the commotion and kindly reminded him:

"Esteemed sir, there are still several people behind you who have been waiting quite a while. As Master Meng said: 'Though one possess the sharp vision of Li Lou and the manual skill of Gongshuzi, without compass and square, one cannot make squares and circles.' We must ask you to please..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the man lazily lift his eyes to look at him. Without a single word, the man slowly reached into his bosom and pulled out a heavy ingot of gold, dropping it right onto the tabletop.

Scholar Zhao instantly snapped his mouth shut. He had already gathered that this man was either wealthy or noble—eighty percent likely an official.

At this sight of such extravagant generosity, his guess was confirmed.

Yan Xi had no idea what Lu Zhi was trying to accomplish, so she simply said nothing for the time being. In no time at all, she finished writing the prescription for the woman beside her and handed it to Scholar Zhao.

The female woman was remarkably sensible; one look at the extraordinary man seated next to her—not to mention his peerless good looks—was enough to make her smile obediently and scurry off to the side to wait.

Beneath her veil, Yan Xi grew tense and flustered.

The man's eyes were fixed squarely upon her, and he had already extended his arm, offering his wrist for her diagnosis.

A faint, gentle smile played upon his exceptionally handsome face, lending him an air of refined scholarly grace.

The upbringing of a high-ranking aristocratic scion was wielded by him to absolute perfection.

Anyone who saw him would unfailingly and genuinely take a liking to him.

With so many people outside, and given his present demeanor, Yan Xi had no choice but to put up a front; she had no reason to fall out with him right here. She picked up the silk handkerchief, laid it across his wrist, and deliberately turned her gaze elsewhere.

His pulse was strong, steady, and as healthy as a pulse could possibly be.

She had no idea what on earth he was playing at.

Thinking along these lines, she lowered her voice and asked precisely that:

"What is it that you want?"

The man's lips moved slightly, a heat-laced desire gleaming in his eyes. With silent lip movements, he clearly articulated two words.

Upon seeing them, Yan Xi's face instantly flushed bright red. Even beneath her veil, the intoxicating blush was faintly visible.

She felt constrained, bashful, terrified, and inwardly furious all at once.

"This gentleman's illness... I... cannot diagnose it. I must ask the gentleman to seek a more skilled physician elsewhere..."

Yan Xi immediately released his wrist and turned her head slightly away, only to hear the man actually speak aloud:

"Is that so?"