Chapter 37 Appointment time
The whole city celebrates the Double Ninth Festival.

The crowd surrounded the prince and the princess as they walked towards the palace. Some people brought eggs and vegetables to them, and some young women threw flowers at the prince on the roadside.

Not only the prince was sought after, but the two young masters of the Chen family were also covered with flower petals, just like flowers paving the road and magpies building a bridge.

Chen Ji also saw a little monk about thirteen or fourteen years old among them. He was wearing a moon-white monk's robe, had red lips and white teeth, and was handsome. He should be the Buddhist disciple that Wu Yun had mentioned, from the Yunzhou Gening School.

When the Buddhist disciple rode past, he turned his head to look at Chen Ji. The other party was stunned for a moment, then smiled at him.

In the procession, a girl riding a white horse asked curiously: "Little monk, who were you looking at just now?"

She followed the little monk's gaze, but there was no one under the eaves.

The little monk smiled and said, "Princess Baili, I saw a young man who was very bitter, but he had killed two thieves, and only one word, foolish, remained in his heart."

"Ah?" Zhu Baili was puzzled: "Don't keep talking so vaguely. What are the two thieves?"

"I just said it casually."

Chen Ji followed the crowd all the way back to the clinic. Old Man Yao was standing at the door at this time. He looked at the young men in fine clothes and riding horses on the street and said slowly: "Aren't those your two brothers? Why didn't you go and say hello?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Master, you are asking even though you already know the answer. I didn't recognize me."

Liu Quxing leaned forward and asked in surprise, "Master, are you talking about Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao next to the prince? They are the sons of the Luocheng Tongzhi family. I met them at Old Master Liu's birthday party... You said they are Chen Ji's legitimate brothers?"

Old man Yao hummed indifferently.

Everyone in the clinic looked over and saw that the two noble young men of the Chen family were dressed elegantly in white. The jade on their collar pendants alone was worth a fortune. On their heads were not wooden or silver hairpins, but white jade hairpins. They were truly romantic young men, dazzling and eye-catching.

Liu Quxing looked at the two men, then at Chen Ji, only to see that Chen Ji had changed into a newly mended grey cloth gown, a coarse cloth belt, and a pair of old cloth shoes...

"Chen Ji, are you and they a family?" Liu Quxing said in shock.

Chen Ji hummed indifferently.

He originally thought that Liu Quxing, who was a moral low point, would take the opportunity to say something bad about him, but unexpectedly, the other party suddenly became angry for him: "Your stepmother is too partial. Although illegitimate sons cannot inherit the family business nowadays, they still need to be friendly to their brothers and respectful to their younger brothers, and mothers are kind and their children are filial. Isn't she afraid of being criticized for doing this?!"

Chen Ji looked at Liu Quxing with some surprise.

But Liu Quxing continued angrily: "You never mentioned your family background in these years, and I thought your family was just a tenant. Do you know that the jade pendant on their collar alone is enough for you to study for ten years."

Chen Ji smiled and patted Liu Quxing on the shoulder: "Brother, don't be angry, don't be angry. I didn't expect you to speak for me."

Liu Quxing was unhappy: "What kind of words are you talking about? After all, you and I are brothers in the same sect, and they are all outsiders."

As he spoke, Liu Quxing glanced at the backs of the group of people and said, "Pah, a group of people surrounding us, like ants moving house!"

Chen Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Brother, your mouth is 50% as powerful as Master's."

Liu Quxing turned to look at Old Man Yao and said, "Master, he harmed you as well."

Old Man Yao slapped him on the back of his head and said, "You are the only one who likes to sow discord! Don't even look at it. That's another world. It has nothing to do with you."

Everyone returned to the clinic, and Chen Ji said with a smile: "We just passed by a roast chicken shop and bought two roast chickens. Master, two brothers, come and eat together."

"Wow," Liu Quxing just noticed the lotus leaf bag in Chen Ji's hand. He took it and opened it on the counter: "Chen Ji, are you rich?"

"I picked up a piece of silver," Chen Ji explained.

"Picking up silver?" Old Man Yao casually threw six copper coins on the counter and said jokingly while interpreting the hexagram, "You didn't pick up any silver. You got two unlucky guys thrown into jail on this trip... Wow, what a big deal!"

Chen Ji looked around quickly and saw Liu Quxing and She Dengke eating chicken intently, so he felt relieved.

He whispered suspiciously, "Did you calculate this, or did the crow see it?"

"Don't worry about this," Old Man Yao said in a deep voice, "Let me ask you, was it really you who reported the letter to the Liu family?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment, and finally said, "It's me."

Old Man Yao chuckled: "How dare you tell me the truth now?"

"Because I feel that you have no ill will towards me, and I will treat the clinic as my own home from now on. You will be my only elder in the future."

"Don't try to get close to me," Old Man Yao said without replying, "Did anyone find out that you were the one who reported the incident?"

"No."

"That's fine," Old Man Yao stroked his beard, "You can do whatever you want. I can't control your legs because they are on your body. But don't let me get involved!"

"okay!"

Old Man Yao looked at him and finally added, "If you want to live longer, don't be ostentatious when doing things. You see those people outside the door, they are proud of their fine clothes and horses, but only those who make a fortune quietly can have the last laugh. In the future, you will find that as long as you live long enough, you will be able to watch your enemies die one by one."

Chen Ji said seriously: "Master, I understand what you said, and I will try to keep a low profile, but I can't wait that long for revenge..."

At this time, Liu Quxing was chewing on the chicken while admonishing with his greasy mouth: "Chen Ji, you really don't know how to live. You bought roast chicken with the small change you picked up, and you don't even know how to save it."

She Dengke cursed, "Then don't eat it. You are still complaining after eating other people's food!"

"I'm just reminding you kindly!"

Chen Ji looked at Liu Quxing. This senior brother is an interesting person. You say he is a good person, but he has low moral standards, is a bad mouth, and is petty. You say he is a bad person, but he has a line in his heart, which is much better than a bad person.

However, most people in this world are like this and cannot be directly judged as good or bad.

Chen Ji tore off a chicken leg and handed it to his chest. Wuyun came out of his arms, picked up the chicken leg with his two claws and started to bite it. Chen Ji tore off another chicken leg and handed it to Old Man Yao.

Old man Yao curled his lips and said reservedly: "I am too old to eat such greasy food."

Chen Ji stuffed the chicken leg directly into the other person's hand: "When you beat us with the bamboo stick, we were still alive and kicking. We are not old at all. Please eat it quickly."

Old man Yao blew his beard and glared: "How can I describe your master? He has no respect for elders or younger brothers!"

There was a noisy crowd outside the clinic. Inside, four masters and apprentices were sharing a roast chicken. Chen Ji sometimes thought, it would be nice if he could live in peace like this.

But he knew that what was coming would come sooner or later.

……

……

At this time, the wedding cake girl came to the door of the clinic, holding the hem of her skirt with her orchid fingers. This girl was dignified and lovely in the palace, but she let herself go outside the palace, and her hairpins swayed.

She leaned against the door and looked into the clinic, then waved to Chen Ji: "Chen Ji, Chen Ji!"

Wu Yun hid in a chair behind the counter, while Chen Ji wiped his mouth and went out to greet her: "Miss Xibing, what's wrong?"

Xibing said, "My wife's white Prajna is injured again. My wife sent me here to ask you to go over and take a look."

Chen Ji subconsciously turned his head to look at Wu Yun behind the counter, with a lot of questions in his mind: Did you do it?

Wuyun's eyes were clear and puzzled: No!
The accounts for one person and one cat don’t match!

At this moment, Chen Ji clearly realized that Yun Fei wanted to talk to him!
I had been speculating before: who is the big shot who is connected with the Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Department?

Obviously, Concubine Jing is the most likely person as she is a member of the Liu family, but all clues point to Concubine Yun.

Thinking of what the military intelligence officer had told him, Chen Ji looked at Old Man Yao and said, "Master, I will go with Miss Xibing."

Old Man Yao thought for a moment and suggested, "Should we bring a ginseng with us, just in case we need it?"

Chen Ji: “…It shouldn’t be necessary this time.”

If he gave the cat more ginseng, he was afraid that Concubine Yun would beat him to death.

Old Man Yao felt a little regretful: "Go ahead."

Chen Ji followed the wedding cake to the palace. When he passed by the plaque "Open and Aboveboard", he couldn't help but take another look at it.

Xibing showed the guard his badge and said, "My wife wants to see the doctor from the clinic."

The guards put away their halberds and let them go.

In the palace, the servants and maids were busy, probably because the prince and the princess had returned and they were preparing for the evening banquet.

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Miss Xibing, who hurt Bai Prajna?"

"I don't know," Xibing said with a smile, "I haven't seen it today. Madam asked me to come to you, so I came. Please come and diagnose the disease quickly. There will be a gathering of Luocheng literati at Feibai Pond tonight. I want to go and see it. It is said that the prince has called many literati and talents."

The two of them hurriedly passed through the archway leading to the back house and stopped at the gate of Feiyun Garden.

Xibing said loudly: "Madam, I brought Chen Ji from Taiping Medical Clinic here."

Aunt Xitang came over and glanced at Chen Ji: "Come in with me."

Chen Ji lowered his head and followed, glancing at the courtyard of Feiyun Garden from the corner of his eyes as he walked. This place was plainer than Wanxing Garden, with only a persimmon tree in the middle, hanging red persimmons.

The persimmons are ripe, but many are left hanging on the trees.

Chen Ji suddenly remembered a story. Old people often said that you should not pick all the persimmons, but leave some for the birds to eat during the winter. I don't know if this is what Concubine Yun meant by leaving these persimmons.

When we arrived at the door of the building in Feiyun Garden, we found that this building did not look like a woman's residence. There were no beautiful caissons and mother-of-pearl inlays. Instead, it looked like a man's study, a little simple and dull.

At this time, Yun Fei was listening to a girl talking with a smile on her face. The girl was talking about stories from Donglin Academy.

Seeing Chen Ji coming, he said to the girl, "Bai Li, take a rest first. Mother is feeling unwell and I have asked a doctor from the Imperial Medical Clinic to come and diagnose her. I will listen to you about the academy later."

Zhu Baili was stunned for a moment: "Mom, what's wrong with you?"

Concubine Yun smiled gently and said, "It's okay, I just sweat easily. Go change your clothes quickly, there will be a banquet in the evening."

Zhu Baili came out of the building and passed by Chen Ji. She looked back at Chen Ji, feeling a little puzzled. She always felt that this young doctor in the clinic looked familiar, and...he could diagnose diseases at such a young age?
Concubine Yun sat upright on the armchair, wearing a brown double-collared gown with a brightly colored python embroidered on the body, stepping on green waves.

It is called a python, but the python in the Ning Dynasty is more like a dragon.

Concubine Yun dismissed the wedding cakes and waited until no one was in the room before she asked in a deep voice, "Today is the agreed delivery date. Why didn't you show up at the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department?"

Chen Ji: "..."

(End of this chapter)