Chapter 565: Chapter 198: Truth and Lies_3
"I did write ten new prescriptions under each examination paper to bait the greedy, but I also deliberately left flaws," she said, her expression calm but her tone sowhat mocking.
Cui Min is a petty man with no real talent or learning, even if he obtains the prescriptions, they may benefit him, but he may not be able to fix the flaws. At that ti, he will have no choice but to seek help from the person who wrote the prescriptions. In this way, I will always be indispensable to Cui Min, always leaving him a glimr of hope."
Lu Tong set down her teacup.
"I am not as formidable as the Marshal thinks, to be able to foresee what will happen in the future. That Cui Min would use the prescription to treat Qi Yutai was also beyond my expectation. It was fate that brought the opportunity to . I simply seized it."
"Always have a backup plan before you act. After all, it’s not easy to co by a prescription."
The room was quiet.
Pei Yunng stared at her for a long mont before suddenly lowering his head, unable to suppress a laugh.
"To make sure soone fails, one must first appear to support them; to take from soone, one must first seem to give. Now that I think about it, when I offended you in the past, you must have been lenient with , right?"
With Lu Tong’s ans, if she set her mind on dealing with soone, it would indeed be very difficult to escape.
"The Marshal is too kind."
"Will the prescription cause him to go mad?"
"Perhaps."
Pei Yunng nodded.
"So this was your plan," he said, leaning back slightly as if speaking casually, "I was thinking if there was a chance for
to lend a hand. Now it seems that there’s no room for
to make a move."
He sighed, "Doctor Lu is truly formidable."
He did know how to sweet-talk, perhaps because he had been drinking.
"Lord Pei has already helped
a lot, it’s inappropriate to always trouble the Marshal," she said politely.
"You are my creditor," he said.
Lu Tong took a deep breath.
She had never seen anyone so eager to repay a debt.
She said, "Usually it’s the giver who tires of giving, not the receiver who wearies of receiving. How co it’s the other way around with the Marshal?"
"Does Doctor Lu not appreciate it?"
"I just don’t want to tire the Marshal out."
"You care about
that much."
He nodded, leaning forward slightly, bracing his chin with his hand as he looked at Lu Tong, bright eyes full of mirth.
"Since that’s the case," he said slowly, "back when I was in front of the Palace Marshal’s Mansion, why didn’t you mind exhausting
when you used
to provoke Dong Family’s young master?"
At those words, Lu Tong was abruptly stunned.
She had indeed staged a scene using Pei Yun at the entrance to the Palace Marshal’s Mansion to make Dong Lin give up.
But Pei Yun had seed very calm at the ti, and he never ntioned it afterward, so she assud he hadn’t seen it and thought she had rely stumbled.
Who would have thought he saw everything?
Lu Tong looked at him incredulously. "You knew?"
And yet he had acted as if it were nothing!
Pei Yunng raised his eyebrows, his gaze profound: "I was nearly kissed, so how could I not know about such impropriety towards ?"
"My pure reputation, all tarnished by you."
Lu Tong bristled with anger.
At that mont, she sowhat understood why Ji Xun was so antagonistic toward Pei Yun.
This man enjoyed seeing others embarrassed.
Suppressing her anger, she spoke, "You speak as if you’re so chaste and pure, but why didn’t you push
away then?"
He could have easily pushed her away.
He remained propped up, seemingly enjoying her anger, and said at a leisurely pace, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
Lu Tong frowned. "What’s the lie?"
"A lie would be that the Minister of Imperial Treasury had spread rumors earlier, and I also dislike the Dong Family. Their young master’s heartbreak makes
happy."
Pointless.
Lu Tong asked, "And what’s the truth?"
"The truth is..."
His eyes smiled, fixed on Lu Tong, his deep gaze like a clear, tranquil lake stirred by a breeze, ripples slowly spreading across its surface.
Lu Tong’s heart stirred.
A faint scent of alcohol mingled with his own fragrance of orchid musk, enveloping him in a montary daze.
Pei Yunng still gazed quietly at her, the late sumr afternoon so very still, with the cicada calls making the greenery outside the window seem almost parched.
Heat began to creep up his chest and flush his face.
"Guess," he said.
"..."
...
In the afternoon of a sumr’s day, the cicadas buzzed loudly.
Within the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion, in Qi Yutai’s room atop the couch, the figure tossed and turned, sitting up from the bed in apparent irritation.
Qi Yutai’s brows were knotted with impatience.
It had been nearly half a month since he had recovered from his illness and returned to the Board of Rites Office.
During this half month, he had been going to the office every morning and returning ho at dusk. To outsiders, everything seed to have gone back to normal.
But Qi Yutai knew the tornt hidden beneath.
Although his father had always been strict, he used to find a mont to breathe when he went to the Board of Rites Office. Now, it was different.
Ever since he recovered and started going out, his father had Qi Qing send a servant and a guard to watch over him. Officially, they said it was to make herbal concoctions and nourish his health, but Qi Yutai knew very well, his father was actually keeping surveillance on him.
He feared another outbreak of his condition, feared that he would have another episode in public, losing face for the Qi Family. That’s why he had soone follow him at every step. In case of any incident, they would imdiately take him back ho to preserve the Qi Family’s reputation.
Reputation.
Qi Yutai gave a self-deprecating sneer.
He had not been deaf to the rumors outside; his father had always cherished his reputation. Now that he had beco the laughing stock in Rouge Lane, played like a monkey for all to see, his father’s anger and disappointnt were palpable.
Whenever he thought of this, Qi Yutai felt a throbbing pain in his head, as if sothing inside was about to explode. The more he felt this way, the more he missed the Fengle Building that was consud by the great fire.
He wanted to take the scatter powder again.
But now, under his father’s stricter watch, he couldn’t even think about that powder, let alone have the chance to go out alone. He could only give up.
It’s over, he thought. Maybe in a few days, he could find a way to ask Hua Ying to help him get out and relieve so boredom.
Thinking of Qi Huaying, he inevitably thought of that female dical officer, the root cause of his sister’s troubles.
Just as a servant brought in so freshly brewed dicine, Qi Yutai asked, "How has Lu Tong been recently?"
If it weren’t for the fire at Fengle Building, he would have already started dealing with that lowly female doctor. A wretched creature from the gutter, who dared to sadden the precious pearl of the Qi Family. Even with Pei Yunng’s protection, he would find a way to make her suffer.
But an unforeseen event had delayed him, allowing the woman to hop around for a few more days.
The servant by his side replied, "Young master, Lu Tong has already left the dical Officer Institute."
Qi Yutai’s hand, which was holding the dicine bowl, paused, and he looked up.
"What?"
The servant bowed his head and recounted the recent events that took place at the dical Officer Institute.
After hearing this, Qi Yutai muttered, "She’s already left."
He hadn’t even begun to take action, and Lu Tong was gone?
Perhaps it was Cui Min’s doing, but with Pei Yunng backing Lu Tong, he really didn’t intervene?
No, that couldn’t be right; he must have tried. Otherwise, since Lu Tong dared to splash Cui Min with mud, she should have been thoroughly kicked out of the dical Officer Institute by now, or subjected to a beating, not just a three-month suspension.
Cui Min still had reservations.
Qi Yutai’s expression was scornful, but soon, he felt a surge of joy.
This was better.
When Lu Tong was in the dical Officer Institute, with Pei Yunng and Ji Xun watching over her from within the Imperial City, so things were challenging to accomplish.
Now that she had drifted to West Street, a place swarming with commoners, a chaotic mixture of dragons and fishes, dealing with her would be easy, much easier than in the dical Officer Institute.
With this thought, Qi Yutai felt at ease, and even the dicinal soup he usually found unbearably bitter seed more agreeable.
"Good," he said, lifting his pale, sickly face. In that mont, his sowhat dark eyes sparkled with an ominous light, looking sowhat eerie.
"This is good news indeed."
As he spoke, he reached for the dicine bowl on the tray.
The dark brown dicinal broth was thick, sitting inside the white porcelain bowl, making it look even more like a layer of rotten sludge. As soon as he brought it close, the bitter sll filled his nostrils.
dicine is bitter to the taste, yet this one’s bitterness surpassed even that of poison.
Qi Yutai cursed Cui Min under his breath, then tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and drank all the soup from the bowl.
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