During the spring season in the south of the Yangtze River, willow trees and orioles are flying.
A little green donkey followed along the long street.
On the donkey's back is a woman in Tsing Yi.
In the warm sunshine, with catkins blowing against my face, I could see her from a distance, delicate and graceful, with a flower handkerchief covering her head, and half a silver comb peeking out from her black bun.
Cao Xiwan followed Liu Ruhai several times, but he never failed to detect him.
He disguised himself as a donkey and rode slowly in the city of Nanjing. Along the Qinhuai River, there were red patches. The tip of his nose felt slightly itchy. He reached out and picked up a fallen flower from his nose and threw it into the river.
But he could never get rid of the person following him.
He rode to an alley, walked around the front street of Nankanghou Mansion, and glanced back casually.
I saw that her features were picturesque, her temperament was gentle, and she had the beauty of catkins dancing gently in the sunlight.
She seems to be just a girl from a small household in the neighborhood.
He hurriedly entered the alley and led the donkey into the hospital.
The gate of the small courtyard was closed, and several of his confidants had packed their luggage, prepared large and small boxes and cages, and were ready to leave Jinling City.
He took a deep breath: "I can't leave."
"Manager?"
"The Jin Yiwei are chasing us."
"That's a small adjournment." The two close confidants handed over their hands and said, "General manager, please go ahead."
He shook his head, closed his eyes slightly and opened them again with a cold light: "I'm afraid, it's the Qingluo female ghost who's coming."
Jin Yiwei City Patrol Division, the number one master.
This place should have been surrounded by Jin Yiwei.
Liu Ruhai sat in the room and whispered: "Listen to me and throw the cup as a signal."
It would not be considered an insult to him to die together with the Qingluo female ghost, who was known as the number one expert in the capital.
In the alley.
Cao Xiwan avoided the street wind, covered his lips and coughed, feeling that his body was getting weaker.
She gathered up her cloak, tied the donkey, and knocked lightly on the courtyard door.
There was a servant at the door, who looked like one of Scholar Liu's followers. She said politely, "Is Shengshou Liu at home? My daughter is here to seek medical advice." After that, she quietly stuffed the door bag with half a tael of silver. After the servant fell silent,
He reluctantly took it, turned around and walked towards the main room as if he were dead.
She walked to the house and saw the scholar in white shirt, with dark hair and jade face, eyes like stars, he seemed to be too young. But with her sharp eyesight, she saw that his demeanor was as calm as an abyss and a valley, and he was not an ordinary person.
Since she came here to seek medical treatment, she naturally gave her a deep bow.
"My little girl, Ms. Cao, has seen the Holy Hand."
"……polite."
Liu Ruhai looked at her silently, hiding his shock. He recognized her at a glance. The Qingluo female ghost turned out to be her?
He lowered his eyes slightly, what conspiracy does this female owl have?
Song Chengming, the prince of the Marquis of Nankang—I heard that he is now the deputy governor of Jinyiwei.
Qingluo female ghost is Song Chengming's confidant.
I see.
I see.
...This time, he won't be fooled again.
Years ago, cemetery.
That was the first time they met.
Liu Ruhai was stunned by the kidnapper and hid in a cave in the suburbs.
In the middle of the night, he opened his eyes and saw fireflies flying like a sea in the darkness. In front of him was a long underground tomb passage.
He resisted the fear and crawled out. The cave entrance was surrounded by the sound of crows in the cold moon, and it turned out to be a deserted graveyard in the countryside.
He was tapped on the shoulder.
He turned around stiffly, and under the desolate moonlight, he saw a dirty little girl, who asked him: "Why did you come to my house?"
When he ran away frantically, she chased him and called him: "Hey, slow down a little -"
He thought she must be the little ghost in the grave.
The second time we met, I was six or seven years old.
He saw her on the long street of Yanjing City. It seemed that this little lady met a kidnapper?
He strode over and stopped her: "I do have clothes to wash. Come to my shop."
He stared at the kidnapper, but was shocked to recognize him.
In the winter of that year, Song Chengming was wearing a red flying fish suit and a black mink shawl in the snow. His face was like a crown jade and his person was like a red plum. He raised his eyebrows, smiled, and held his hands: "This young master
——”
"...It turns out to be Master Baihu."
Song Chengming, a member of the Jin Yiwei Hundred Household, was only twenty years old. In the snow, his figure looked like a luxuriant spring pine tree.
At that time, Cao Xiwan blinked in confusion, she was just a poor washerwoman who had to wash clothes to earn a living.
She chased Liu Ruhai on the street every day, asking him if he wanted to wash clothes for five cents a basin.
Liu Ruhai opened a drug store at that time and often went to see patients.
In order to avoid Cao Xiwan, he deliberately disguised himself, changed a few clothes, and quietly went to the drug store to see a doctor.
She sees through it every time.
At that time, he didn't know what it meant.
He is addicted to medical skills, but he is very angry that she saw through it.
Liu Ruhai was silent.
"Are you hungry?" Song Chengming asked her.
She nodded, and Liu Ruhai saw her hiding her hands covered with frostbite.
Liu Ruhai hid a small bag of steamed buns in his sleeve and kept silent.
Song Chengming led her step by step into Baihu House.
He could only watch.
Later, he heard someone talk about a little girl who was washing clothes in the Hundred Household House. She lived a good life, but unfortunately she died of illness.
That day, he sat alone in the room for a long time.
Later, he inquired about the girl's graveyard, which was a clean place behind the temple.
Although I don’t know why Song Chengming was so compassionate towards a strange child, there is a small bluestone tablet in front of her grave with a few inscriptions:
[The Cao family of Yanjing, the daughter of a slave in the Marquis of Nankang Mansion, divorced her parents when she was a child...]
I see.
Standing in front of her grave, he knew from then on that the word "wandering" was neither anger, nor hurt, nor sadness, nor sigh.
The path is full of residual flowers, and the autumn leaves are blown by the wind.
The father of Song Chengming was granted the title of Marquis of Nankang and accompanied him on his journey south.
He had heard about it a long time ago, but he had not expected that Song Baihu was the concubine of the Marquis of Nankang, and he and she were masters and servants.
He didn't know that there was no half-truth in this inscription.
It was just Song Chengming's way of concealing her origins after discovering her special talents and naming her Jinyiwei.
It took many years.
The two met again in the spring of Jiangnan.
Only now did Liu Ruhai realize that the inscription had deceived him for many years.
Jinling City.
In the courtyard.
She stopped in front of the door and looked at the Liu Shengshou.
She didn't often think about the old events in Yanjing City, but she knew that Liu Shengshou had been in and out of the northern vassal palace and was known as the Scholar with a Thousand Faces.
It's a delicate work, she thought.
Maybe it's easier.
But it does look familiar.
She moved into the room and saw that the black lattice windows were open on all sides, and her eyes were filled with rich green.
There is one master and one servant in the house.
She secretly thought that the young doctor knew how to avoid suspicion, and it was indeed the style of the aristocratic family. But there were too many guards. There were five people in front and behind.
The more masters and servants there are, the more expenses will be incurred. If the expenses are high, the medical fees will be high.
It was certain in her heart.
I'm afraid he doesn't want the money.
"The little girl has a hidden illness, so I have no choice but to ask for it. I am willing to pay you a lot of money and ask Liu Shengshou to cure it." She immediately took out the banknote and handed it over with both hands.
The servant came forward and was shocked when he saw a banknote of ten thousand taels.
Does she want to bribe the Controller?
Liu Ruhai looked at the huge banknote sent to several cases and quickly judged that it was not.
Ten thousand taels cannot buy him.
The room was silent and suspicious of each other.
She thought for a while, maybe people looked down upon her, so she quickly took out another banknote from her sleeve.
Fifty thousand taels.
She thought painfully that she had been working as a errand for ten years and this was all she had saved. She still had her parents at home, and she had to provide for them in their old age.
Liu Ruhai stared at the 60,000 taels of silver notes on several cases. They were genuine, maybe he was trying to... bribe him?
"Girl, you come here to seek medical treatment alone, and with such money, you are not afraid that a doctor with bad conduct will take advantage of the money?"
He spoke suddenly.
Cao Xiwan was slightly startled and couldn't help but smile lightly.
Smiling like a gentle breeze, the shadows of flowers on the four windows swayed for a while, and the spring breeze blew warmly.
Liu Ruhai was silent.
The servant in the room also understood what he said.
The spring in Jinling is deep, but the dream in Qinhuai is broken.
Why doesn't she, the Qingluo female ghost, dare not? Everyone knows that the Nine Transformations of the Netherworld secretly passed down by the Meng Yuan Imperial Master of the previous dynasty was snatched away by the Jinyi Guards, but only the Qingluo female ghost has mastered it. With this skill, no one can do it in the world.
enemy.
Why didn't she dare to go deep into the tiger's den alone, face the enemy, and talk and laugh freely?
Cao Xiwan thought, she knew this guy was a spy, but if she wanted to treat a disease, it didn't matter whose spy he was. He was just a guest in the prince's palace.
I heard that the King of Zhou Dynasty in Kaifeng City was in his palace, collecting medical books from all over the world, and inviting famous doctors to compile a book of herbs.
But if it weren't for this world-famous doctor, how could she be cured?
"Young Master and I are old acquaintances?" she asked suddenly. She seemed familiar at first sight.
Liu Ruhai looked at her for a long time and nodded slightly.
She thought about it but couldn't remember. The spy must be lying to confuse her.
He wants to pretend. Just pretend.
"Please take a seat."
"Thank you." She sat down in front of the desk. The servant took the pulse pillow and placed it on the desk. She smiled and put it on her wrist.
Liu Ruhai put two fingers on each other.
After a long while, his expression finally changed slightly.
Useless person.
She actually lost her strength.
"...This?" He finally understood what the windfall of 60,000 taels of silver notes was.
The Qingluo female ghost who is the best master of Jinyiwei.