Chapter 7: Yuande's Medicine Box

  Wen Ping held a bamboo flute in her hand and lifted the curtain to enter the outer house, walking to the front of Yuande who was lost in thought, softly calling out: "Miss!"

  Yan Dai was startled, and only then did she come back to her senses. She raised her eyes and saw the bamboo flute in Wen Ping's hand, and couldn't help but smile: "This branch... is it the flute brought by Du Ruo?" Wen Ping responded, and handed over the bamboo flute.

  He took the bamboo flute and gently stroked it for a moment before softly sighing and saying, "To think of it, after Father passed away, I haven't blown the flute again!" It was just a light remark, but a thousand emotions were contained within.

  Wen Ping carefully observed Yu Dai's expression and finally asked: "Miss, you suddenly wanted this flute, was it for Prince Rui?"

  She casually placed the zither on the small purple sandalwood table beside her, and Farouk nodded from a distance: "Originally! However, it's no longer needed at this moment!" She had originally planned to borrow the zither sound to secretly meet with Baili Zhao, but now it seemed unnecessary.

  Wen Jing saw Yuan Dai and didn't have any intention of asking details, so she wouldn't ask anything else, only asked: "Then what about this zither..."

  Yan Dai waved her hand and said: "Since I've borrowed it, there's no need to rush back. Just keep it for now!"

  Wen Ping nodded slightly, her eyes falling on the small table beside Yuandai, and couldn't help but smile: "Miss, why did you think of taking out the medicine box again today?" On the purple sandalwood small table beside Yuandai, in addition to the zither, there was also a small, exquisite black wooden box. Inside the box, more than ten three-inch-tall covered celadon jars were neatly arranged. One of them had been taken out and placed beside Yuandai.

  Wen Jing remembered that before leaving the house this morning, Yuan Dai had also asked her to take out the medicine box and take a look.

  Yan Dai smiled and said, "Take out the medicine box. Of course, there's a place where it will come in handy!" Seeing Wen Ping trying to hold back her questions, but with a curious gaze at the medicine box, Yan Dai couldn't help but smile again: "Wen Ping, you don't know. This medicine box has been with me for many years. In the past, whenever I got something rare and interesting, I always loved to hide it inside!"

  Yuan Dai said with a smile. She then reached into the box and took out one of the small celadon bottles: "This bottle was made five years ago when I was preparing medicine, but I accidentally got the prescription wrong!"

  Yan Dai seemed to have a lot to say about this medicine, so Wen Ping took the opportunity to ask: "I don't know what use Miss has for this medicine?"

  She raised an eyebrow and smiled, and for a moment, there was a hint of mischief in her eyes. "It's almost useless!" Yuandai said. Wenshen didn't expect her to say something like that. He was taken aback and didn't know how to continue. But Yuandai smiled again and said, "But later I found out that if you use it to bluff, it's surprisingly effective every time!"

  Wen Ping listened more and more puzzled, after a long time, he bitterly smiled and said: "The more the young lady says, the more confused I become!"

  Yan Dai explained leisurely: "If you say so, this medicine is quite strange. After taking it, three small dots will appear on the brow. If taken frequently, the color of those dots will deepen; if taken infrequently, the color will be light to the point of being almost invisible."

  Wen Ping's eyes widened in confusion: "Is that all?"

  Yan Dai saw her seeming somewhat displeased and couldn't help but laugh: "Are these still not enough?"

  Wen Ping thought for a moment: "Maybe that's enough! I just can't figure out what the point is of doing all these mysterious and pretentious things?"

  Yan Dai put the porcelain bottle back into the medicine box while calmly explaining, "Because in this world, empty words, no matter how true they are, few people will believe. But pretending to be mysterious often achieves the purpose!"

  She said, and had already closed the medicine box. As soon as the medicine box was closed, it made a "click click" sound continuously. It rang for seven or eight times before it stopped making any noise. Pointing to the medicine box, Yu Dai instructed: "Put it away as usual!"

  Miss, are you going to use this medicine?

  She raised an eyebrow, and with a hint of a smile, said, "Perhaps!" After a pause, she glanced at Wenping, who was already dripping with sweat, and added, "Actually, I really hope we won't need to use it!"

  Wen Ping smiled wryly and shook his head, and didn't ask any more questions. He carefully picked up the medicine box and stored it in a small cabinet with intricate carvings on one side.

  She had just put away the medicine box when a voice came from inside the courtyard: "Miss, Miss Xiao has arrived!"

  While speaking, Xiao Xian had already led Qiao Lan hastily into the room.

  Wei Xiao looked at Xiao Chengyan with a puzzled expression and asked: "Sister, what's wrong?"

  Wave goodbye to Qiaolan and others, Xiao Chengyou hastily said: "Sister, do you know that Qingyue has returned to the palace? Just now!"

  Her eyebrows slightly raised, Yuanyuan asked in return, "Could it be that sister wants her to stay on this Green Hill?"

  Xiao Chengyan was taken aback, then shook her head: "I naturally don't want her to stay on the mountain! But she left in such a hurry, I really can't understand. After all, it just snowed heavily, and now going down the mountain, the road is not easy to walk!"

  Yan Dai smiled and said, "You're leaving in such a hurry, it must be because the master is driving you away. As for whether the mountain road is easy to walk on, that's something for the sedan chair bearers to worry about, what does it have to do with the masters?" The last sentence couldn't help but carry a hint of mockery.

  Xiao Chengxian nodded in agreement, "It's actually good that she left! In another day or two, when the snow melts a bit, we can sneak back to Pingjing quietly. But now there's still an annoying ghost around, really getting on my nerves!"

  Yan Dai knew she was referring to Lu Weiying, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "As it happens, I just ran into him this morning!" She then recounted in detail how she had been intercepted by Lu Weiying on her way to see Ling Yuancheng at the Wind Bamboo Pavilion earlier that day.

  Xiao Chengxian listened to the end, and couldn't help but let out a cold snort. However, for the time being, she couldn't think of any good way to deal with Lu Weiyin. After sighing, she could only say: "Sister doesn't have to worry! Today in the hall, he was also there. Lin Chang's words were indeed unpleasant, but they did have a deterrent effect. Since it concerns Prince Rui, if he still knows what's good for him, he shouldn't dare to provoke sister again!"

  Yan Dai smiled and said: "Sister is wrong! What I'm worried about is actually tenth sister!"

  Xiao Chengxian thought for a moment, after all, she felt that she couldn't: "In my opinion, although the tenth sister is a bit unreasonable, it's not to the point of..." She had intended to say that it wouldn't lead to anything serious, but when she got halfway through her sentence, she swallowed her words.

  She didn't have much confidence in Ling Yuexuan.

  The two of them exchanged a glance, and Yu Daiyan smiled first: "This morning I had quite a few words with him! I think he's not only fond of showing off but also has some self-proclaimed romantic notions. If he behaves himself, it's fine, but if he still doesn't know what's good for him, then it won't hurt to let him suffer a bit!"

  "Let him suffer a bit! It's easy to say that, but it's actually quite troublesome!"

  Several families have been connected by marriage for generations, and now Lu Weiyin is staying in the Xiao family's separate courtyard. With such a relationship, even if they don't fight or scold each other, it would be hard to avoid hurting their harmony with just a slight cold shoulder. As for warning them, it concerns the reputation of the young ladies, but since Lu Weiyin hasn't done anything wrong yet, how can they casually utter those groundless words and make people feel embarrassed?

  Seeing her in a difficult situation, Yu Dai's heart suddenly felt some regret for bringing up the matter. After a moment of contemplation, she raised her hand and pointed to the small blue porcelain bottle on the table that had not been put away: "Sister, do you know what that is?"

  Xiao Chengxian had actually seen the small bottle as soon as she came in, but because the bottle's appearance was not particularly impressive, she hadn't paid much attention to it. Now that Yuan Dai asked about it, she casually picked up the bottle and took a look: "This bottle is indeed well-made, but I don't know what it contains." She said, shaking the small bottle gently before asking, "Is it sealed with waxed medicine balls?"

  Yan Dai nodded, took the medicine bottle from her hand, pulled out the wooden stopper, and poured out a wax pill the size of a fingertip: "This medicine was made by me in the past. After taking it, some ulcers will appear. If there is no antidote, you will need to rest for several months to recover."

  Xiao Chengxian suddenly heard this, but couldn't help being taken aback for a moment. She then burst out laughing: "Giving birth to a boil? I think this boil should be on my face, right?"

  Yuan Dai smiled calmly and said, "Of course, there will be some on the surface!"

  Xiao Chengxian understood the implication of her words and knew that apart from his face, his body might also be affected. After a slight hesitation, she leaned forward slightly and said in a low voice, "Speaking of which, Lu Weiyang has quite a good complexion, I wonder if this medicine will leave scars?"

  It's natural to nod slightly, and Yuandai said: "If he doesn't adjust properly, there will naturally be scars!"

  Xiao Chengyan added with a smile, "Sister, since you've made this medicine back then, I suppose it's not just for collection, right?"

  Suddenly hearing this, Yuandai couldn't help but lose her composure for a moment, and after a long while, she lightly sighed: "To be honest with sister, when I was by my adoptive father's side before, there were also several playmates around me!" It was clear that these medicines were exactly what Yuandai had taken out to play tricks on people.

  Xiao Chengyan didn't take it too seriously and just smiled and asked: "I wonder if they got any scars from that?"

  Exhaling a long breath, Yuan Dai said: "Don't worry, sister, even if I get scars, I'm not afraid!"

  As soon as Xue Cheng heard this, she immediately knew that Yuande must have a prescription for removing scars by her side. She smiled and asked instead: "Are your playmates still in our hometown? Why haven't I heard from them?"

  When she said this, Yuandai suddenly fell silent, and her expression also became very strange. She didn't speak for a long time. Xiaozhen saw that she was like this, and her heart couldn't help but feel some anxiety. Just as she was about to open her mouth to say something, Yuandai finally said with difficulty: "Everyone has grown up, so... they... some are no longer here, some have changed, and the rest all have their own thoughts..."

  Unexpectedly, just a casual remark brought up such distant words. Xiao Chengyan was taken aback for a moment and didn't know how to react. After a while, she forced a smile and said: "I was just casually asking, but I didn't expect to touch on my sister's sore spot!"

  Yan Dai gently shook her head and calmly said, "Sister, you're being too serious! Past events have already passed, the heartache has already been felt, and for me, it's actually all gone! The reason I rarely mention the past is just to avoid mentioning the respected ones!"