Qi Yutai gave Lu Tong a look, "You still know about the Grand Nuo Ceremony?"
Lu Tong, "On the day of the festival, this official must accompany the dical Officer Institute to the event."
With Cui Min having t with trouble, the dical Officer Institute was without leadership, and now Chief Physician Chang Jin was temporarily handling so matters. The situation of Cui Min stealing prescription recipes was certain, and naturally, the charge of Lu Tong’s three-month suspension was also lifted.
Naturally, the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion also played a part in this.
"You really didn’t have any ulterior motives?" Qi Yutai still had so doubts.
"If Young Master Qi can wait until a few days after the festival, that would be best. This official need not take such a risk."
"Why wait until after the festival?"
"Minister Qi previously instructed this official to ensure Young Master Qi’s health before the festival. Now that Young Master Qi has recovered, after the festival, once this official returns to the dical Officer Institute, it wouldn’t be appropriate to visit daily to treat Young Master Qi. It would be too unusual and might make Minister Qi suspicious."
Qi Yutai’s expression darkened.
With his illness healed, Lu Tong indeed did not need to visit daily.
But his addiction to the dicine could not stand a day without Lu Tong.
His father’s surveillance had grown excessively strict; he couldn’t go out, and the dicine powder couldn’t co in. Barely five days had passed and he was already finding it unbearable, let alone the uncertainty after the festival.
"Enough, I’ll trust you this once."
His desire for the drug ultimately overca the last of the rationale in his mind, and he moved closer to Lu Tong, threatening, "If you dare play any tricks..."
"This official wouldn’t dare."
Qi Yutai stared at her for a long mont, seeing her frank expression, and finally snorted lightly and sat down.
Lu Tong began acupuncture treatnt on him.
"Actually, there’s another way," Qi Yutai said with his eyes closed, suddenly chuckling.
"As long as I take you into my household, it would be natural for us to et daily."
He teased maliciously, "Becoming a Servant Concubine in the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion is much better than being a concubine to Jin Xianrong, isn’t it?"
Lu Tong remained silent.
Qi Yutai was sowhat bored, but the thought of possibly consuming a bit of the drug to relieve his cravings at the Grand Nuo Ceremony the next evening made him look forward to it.
He only wished that tomorrow would co quickly.
...
Daylight passed quickly, and the sky darkened at night.
The autumn nights carried a chill, and the Palace Marshal’s Mansion was brightly lit.
The various officials had gone ho early today since there was a festival in the palace early the next morning, and there would be no one in the Palace Marshal’s Mansion at noon. When Pei Yunng entered the room, Duan Xiaoyan was planning to leave. He was about to call out to him when, from the corner of his eye, he saw Xiao Zhufeng signaling to him, so he swallowed the words he was about to say and quietly exited the door.
Pei Yunng had been busy lately.
When not on duty, he often stayed at the Martial Arts Field the entire day. Others said he was wholeheartedly devoted to the ceremonial preparations, but those in the know at the Palace Marshal’s Mansion understood that he was using work to numb himself from an emotional wound.
An emotional wound, indeed!
Though he seed unaffected daily, and didn’t fall behind in his duties, since the night of his birthday, there were monts that revealed the traces of his secret pain.
For example, he no longer laughed as he used to, and sotis he even looked rather cold.
In the yard, only a speck of twilight lamp light lingered from a distant street. Zhizi had already gone to sleep. Xiao Zhufeng finished tidying up the desk and was about to leave.
Pei Yunng stopped him, "Xiao Er."
"Sothing the matter?"
"Have a drink with ," he said.
Lamp oil was added to the copper lamp, and the previously dim light brightened once again.
Zhizi was awakened by the noise in the courtyard, poked his head out to sniff the air, and then withdrew again.
It was autumn, and the wisteria flowers had been washed away by the continuous autumn rains. Under the flower trellis, a green lamp shone brightly, with two n sitting opposite each other at the stone table.
The silence between the two grown n was inevitable. Xiao Zhufeng picked up a wine cup from the table and took a sip, then frowned, "Tea?"
"What else?"
Pei Yunng poured himself a cup with a matter-of-course tone, "With the festival tomorrow, do you dare to drink alcohol?"
Xiao Zhufeng choked, then stared at the tea in his wine cup, "Why is it bitter again?"
Previously, Pei Yunng, who must have lost his mind, changed all the tea in the Palace Marshal’s Mansion into sugary drinks and decocted water, so sweet it was cloying. But now, this pot of tea was bitter.
Xiao Zhufeng hadn’t tasted bitter tea in the Palace Marshal’s Mansion for a long ti.
"Isn’t it good?" Pei Yunng raised his wine cup, "Life itself is bitter."
Xiao Zhufeng, "..."
He spoke languidly, "A man rejected by his beloved needn’t be intensely bitter. A fine fellow needn’t worry about finding a wife; there’s plenty of fine grass on the other side of the hill."
Pei Yunng glanced at him, "Well said, if only you could be less gleeful about my misfortune, it would be even better."
The wind rustled through the courtyard.
After a while, Xiao Zhufeng asked, "Didn’t you say before that you would proceed slowly? Why did you suddenly make your plea?"
"Couldn’t hold back."
Xiao Zhufeng asked again, "Why did she refuse you?"
"Don’t know."
"Is it because of Ji Xun?"
"Maybe."
Pei Yunng took a sip of the tea, looking down into his wine cup, which reflected the trellis overhead.
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