Chapter 131: How to Face an Open and Honest Conscience

Had she overthought it because I drew too close to her?

In truth, I meant nothing by it; our paths simply crossed, and being from the same hometown, it was unavoidable that I showed her extra attention.

I hope she doesn't overthink it.

Indeed, overthinking certain matters can lead to distress.

Ning Yunzhao smoothed out his brows and hastened his steps toward the study.

Yet after a few steps, he stopped again.

But did he really have no other intentions?

Was it merely coincidence that they met and shared a hometown, or was there a constant desire to look after her more?

Ning Yunzhao placed a hand over his heart.

If his heart were as pure as a saint's, why did he dare not contemplate further?

In the early morning woods, the young man stood tall and unmoving for a long time, experiencing for the first time the onslaught of emotions he had never felt before.

Meanwhile, Miss Jun was still lying in bed, not yet arisen.

She wasn't drunk and had slept well, waking with the dawn, but she simply didn't want to get up.

The current residence had a storefront with a small courtyard and outbuildings for storing odds and ends, preparing medicinal herbs, housing vehicles and horses, and a small kitchen for cooking. Beyond the courtyard lay the backyard, where stood a small three-story building.

An ancient locust tree grew in the courtyard, its broad leaves providing shade and serenity.

The windows and doors here were replaced with the Fang Family's customary stained glass, adding splashes of vivid colors amidst the thick greenery, livening and animating the environment.

The third floor remained unchanged, as per Miss Jun's instruction it was covered with translucent screens. Looking up, the treetops appeared like clouds tinged with the hues of dawn, seemingly a fairyland.

Miss Jun chose to reside here not for its fairyland semblance, but because it was the highest point.

Leaning against her pillow, she could see the distant streets and the distant imperial palace through the gauzy window.

At the foot of the imperial palace lay a street where her dearest and most longed-to-see kin resided.

Her sister had been inexorably and unavoidably married off.

Her brother remained firmly confined in that cage.

And all she could do was watch.

This was her current preoccupation; as for the greater one...

Miss Jun sat up and gazed at the capital in her sight.

To take back that kingdom.

Miss Jun fell back on her pillow, draping her pale yellow undergarment sleeve over her face.

It was something she didn't even want to consider.

Worries come and go; their absence in the past doesn't mean they're absent now, and their presence now doesn't mean they'll persist. If there are worries, one must resolve them.

If resolution isn't possible, then wait.

Wait?

Miss Jun had never waited in her life; she was someone who acted.

They said her father wouldn't live long, and although they gave her such an auspicious name, it was to no avail.

Her father was ill, so the solution was to seek treatment. If one doctor failed, find another; if today brought no cure, carry on the treatment tomorrow.

Her name was of no use; she herself was useful.

She sought medical advice, learned medicine, traveled far and wide; she wouldn't just sit and wait.

Even though her father still died.

Upon learning her father hadn't died from illness but was murdered, she immediately grabbed a knife and charged into the imperial palace.

Remembering this, Miss Jun moved the sleeve away and turned over in bed.

Then, she died.

And that was the end of it.

"Miss."

Liu'er poked her head in from outside the door.

"Are you going to eat?"

"No," Miss Jun mumbled from beneath the pillow.

Liu'er uttered an "Oh" without asking further, pulled the door closed, and retreated. Humming a tune, she clattered downstairs to the front yard to serve herself some food. Two young apprentice boys had already started work and peeked out from inside.

"Miss Liu'er, are we opening for business today?" they asked.

"Of course, we're opening," Liu'er responded. "Why wouldn't we?"

But Miss Jun hasn't come to preside over the hall yet.

The two apprentice boys looked toward the back.

"Miss doesn't have to be here for us to open the doors," Liu'er said, twirling her chopsticks. "We can dispense the medicine."

Dispense medicine?

In other medical clinics, there are usually reputable doctors to attract people to dispense the medicine, but here our doctor is not present—who will dispense the medicine? Not to mention, this is a newly opened clinic.

Just as I thought, how can a girl be a doctor, how can she sit in the clinic? It turns out it's impossible.

This is just foolishness.

What can be done about it? If they have money and want to play around, then let them.

The two shop assistants shook their heads and walked in.

When the shopkeeper from De Sheng Chang in the capital came in, he saw, aside from the two shop assistants dozing behind the medicine cabinet, the room was completely empty without a single person.

No customers, no doctor.

"What's going on?" the shopkeeper tapped on the tabletop and frowned. "What are you doing?"

The two shop assistants woke with a start and quickly stood up.

"We don't have to do anything," they had to admit honestly.

Indeed, they didn't have to do anything—the shopkeeper glanced at the customerless interior and the door exterior where no one lingered.

"Where is Miss Jun? Did she go out again?" he asked.

The two shop assistants shook their heads and gestured inside with their hands.

"She hasn't gotten up yet," they said in a low voice.

She hasn't gotten up yet? This is outrageous.

The shopkeeper's eyebrows knitted together.

To close on the first day of opening, and now on the second day, when the sun is high, the doctor still hasn't woken up—it's really absurd.

"Master Liu, should we inform the young master?" the shopkeeper's attendant asked in a low voice. "Ask him how we should arrange things? We can't just keep watching without doing anything."

That was the only thing to do.

The shopkeeper nodded, took another look at the empty room, gazed at the drooping door curtain that concealed the backyard, and then shook his head and left.

Letters between money businesses were already frequent, but ever since Miss Jun left Yangcheng, they have become even more so.

A servant boy dismounted his horse and ran directly into the Fang Family's gate without any obstruction from the doorman, as he always did, passing through the front yard and into the backyard.

However, unlike before, he didn't go to Old Lady Fang or Lady Fang. Instead, he headed to Fang Chengyu's courtyard.

Fang Chengyu's courtyard was not solely occupied by him.

Fang Yunxiao and Fang Yuxiu were also there, sitting on the porch with a table set up and a mud stove alight, happily boiling tea.

In addition, two servant girls were helping to enjoy the leisure by playing the zither, adding a few tranquil, leisurely notes to the summer day.

"A letter from the capital," the servant boy said as he entered and bowed.

The young man sitting on the porch with his eyes closed opened them and sat up.

Fang Yunxiao and Fang Yuxiu both turned to look at him.

"Is it a letter from Jiuling?" they asked.

"Jiuling Hall has indeed opened in the capital," Fang Chengyu said as he received the letter and glanced over it, revealing a smile on his face.

He knew she would do it, which is why he had sent the plaque in advance.

Fang Yunxiao reached out to read the letter, while Fang Yuxiu continued to boil the tea.

"So it opened yesterday," Fang Yunxiao observed the date mentioned in the letter. "Our cousin is truly capable, having made our ancestral business renowned in the capital."

"The capital is not like Runan," Fang Yuxiu said, pausing her actions to look at Fang Chengyu. "It's not easy to settle in, and if she did it the Runan way, I'm afraid it might not work."

Fang Chengyu smiled and nodded.

"Jiuling knows," he said. "Otherwise, the people in the letter wouldn't be saying overtly and covertly that Miss Jun hadn't prepared anything like she was opening the clinic, asking for advice on what to do."

To make a name for oneself, one must do something—for instance, in Runan, offering consultations in the ruins of a borrowed house, providing medicine free of charge, becoming well-known overnight.

"What will she do then?" Fang Yunxiao inquired.

"I don't know what Jiuling will do, but I know what I would do," Fang Chengyu stood up and looked at the servant boy. "Tell the capital to listen to Miss Jun's arrangements for everything, to do whatever she tells them to, and to do nothing if she says nothing."

The servant boy agreed, and a servant girl immediately brought over paper and ink. The boy began writing on the spot, then handed the letter to Fang Chengyu.

Fang Chengyu reviewed it and pulled out a token from his pouch. If Manager Gao were present, he would recognize it as the one that had been seen at White Crane Ridge with Old Lady Fang.

The token also served as a seal; he dipped it in red seal paste and pressed it onto the letter.

The servant boy sealed the letter with wax and quickly took his leave.

Just after the servant boy departed, another servant girl hurried in and whispered a few words to Fang Yuxiu, who then smiled.

"Today is a double celebration," she said to Fang Chengyu and Fang Yunxiao. "Another sister has opened her business."

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Thank you to Ice from the South for the reward of the He's Bi.

Today is Thursday again, isn't it? A week flies by so quickly. Time flies.