#26: Something’s Not Right

After breakfast, Di Jiang and Wu Ruian took Wenyao to Kangping District to do follow-ups with some patients they had seen recently.

In Kangping District, every family had its own troubles, and their lives were only getting more miserable, not less. It had only been two days since Old Man Xu’s family’s tragic event, and it had already been overshadowed by even more heartbreaking stories, not to mention that half a month had passed and no one was talking about the misfortunes of Old Man Xu’s family anymore.

Old Man Xu’s life was very routine: he slept when the sun rose and worked when it set. He seemed to have moved on from his grief and returned to being the night-soil collector who slept during the day, collected night soil at night, and scrubbed out the honey buckets in a corner in the early morning.

Di Jiang and Wu Ruian had woken up early today, and Old Man Xu hadn’t gone to sleep yet. When they passed by his house, he was in the yard hanging laundry. A coarse hemp rope tied between the eaves and the wall served as a clothesline. Old Man Xu’s legs were already unsteady, and after Xu Ya’s incident, he had aged considerably and started to stoop a little. He had to jump repeatedly to hang the clothes on the rope. He looked particularly strained from behind.

“Let me help you.” Wu Ruian ran up in a few steps and took the clothes from Old Man Xu’s hand. Old Man Xu’s body was thin and frail, and he was out of breath, clearly lacking the strength to even wring out the water. Wu Ruian took the clothes and found that they were soaking wet and still dripping.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Old Man Xu’s eyes were red. He wiped away a tear and thanked him repeatedly. Wu Ruian told him to go and sit, and he didn’t refuse, sitting by the door to smoke his pipe.

Di Jiang walked over, wrung out the clothes in the bucket, and handed them to Wu Ruian one by one. Wu Ruian carefully shook out the clothes and meticulously laid them flat on the rope.

Wu Ruian’s serious profile was flawless, and in the sunlight, he seemed to glow, dazzling like a deity.

Di Jiang smiled and stared at his face, unconsciously mesmerized.

“Are there more?” Wu Ruian asked Di Jiang twice. It wasn’t until Wenyao nudged Di Jiang that she came back to her senses and picked up the last piece of clothing to hand to him.

“This is the last one.”

“Okay.”

Old Man Xu sat on the threshold, watching the three of them, and tears streamed down his face. He tapped his pipe and said, “When Ya’er was still here, she would hang the laundry and scrub the wooden buckets every day. There was no need for her to go to a wealthy family to be humiliated. She was just disobedient, which is why she ended up like that...”

Wu Ruian borrowed a handkerchief from Di Jiang and handed it to Old Man Xu, saying, “Old Man Xu, don’t worry. I won’t let this go. I will make people like Gongsun Qi pay the price and get what they deserve.”

“No! You must not provoke him! You can’t beat him!” Old Man Xu clutched the handkerchief, his eyes wide with fear and apprehension.

“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing,” Wu Ruian said calmly.

“You don’t know!” Old Man Xu shouted anxiously. “Ya’er used to tell me the same thing, that she knew what she was doing and what she wanted. But what happened in the end? She didn’t know anything at all. A person’s life is only about seeking peace. Living a stable life is the best ending. I have now accepted Ya’er’s departure, and I don’t want anyone else to take risks for her. Besides... I heard that the other day, Prince Wu... that is, the Empress’s sixth son, the former Great General Shenyou, Wu Ruian, do you know him?”

Wu Ruian and Di Jiang looked at each other and nodded.

“I heard that he had a conflict with Gongsun Qi and beat him up. Because of this, the Empress stripped him of his title as Prince and removed his official position.” Old Man Xu sighed, lamenting, “Even Prince Wu couldn’t beat the Gongsun family. Why would you risk it? The dead are gone. You just have to swallow your teeth with blood!”

Old Man Xu’s hand, holding the pipe, was trembling. It was clear that he was frail and did not have many days left to live. Wu Ruian and Di Jiang did not want him to worry too much, so they vaguely nodded and agreed. The three of them sat in his courtyard and chatted with him for a while before leaving.

In the afternoon, Wenyao accompanied Di Jiang on her rounds in Kangping District, while Wu Ruian went to the palace to see Empress Chen.

Although Empress Chen had removed all of Wu Ruian’s official positions, she had rescinded the edict that forbade him from entering the palace. Wu Ruian walked unimpeded to the Hanguang Palace, where he found Empress Chen painting.

“An’er, you’ve come at just the right time. Come and see how I’ve painted,” Empress Chen beckoned to Wu Ruian. Wu Ruian walked onto the throne area and stood beside her.

A clean white sheet of rice paper was spread on the table. On the paper was a man in white, and beside him was a bright red peony.

Wu Ruian could tell that the person Empress Chen was trying to paint was Jiang Qionglin, but the person in the painting, aside from being otherworldly, had completely different facial features from Jiang Qionglin.

“Mother Empress, the painting is very lifelike,” Wu Ruian smiled, comforting her against his better judgment.

Empress Chen saw Wu Ruian’s expression, frowned, crumpled up the painting, and threw it away.

There were already many such crumpled balls of paper beside her, so this was not the first time she had discarded a painting.

Since the Ghost Festival, Empress Chen had been different. She no longer avoided the name ‘Jiang Qionglin’ in front of others. Instead, whenever she had free time, she would talk to the people around her about the past, so much so that even the new Shi Wenchang knew all about Jiang Qionglin.

Shi Wenchang, standing by her side, comforted her. “Your Majesty, as long as公子 Jiang lives in your heart, it doesn’t matter whether you have this painting or not. Why do you keep thinking about this painting?”

“Is that so?” Empress Chen let out a long sigh. “But if he is in my heart, why can’t I even paint a single picture of him? It’s been three years. I’ve almost forgotten what he looks like... Oh well, it’s in the past. It’s in the past... I should focus on other things.”

Empress Chen then turned to Wu Ruian. “An’er, what was the name of that woman you like?”

Wu Ruian was stunned, not expecting Empress Chen to ask such a question. He looked at Empress Chen and was at a loss for words for a moment.

“You don’t have to be nervous. I just want to meet her,” Empress Chen explained. “Bring her to the palace someday. Maybe I’ll like her too when I meet her?”

Wu Ruian was overjoyed. He was stunned for a long time, and although he opened his mouth several times, he didn’t know how to express his gratitude.

Empress Chen covered her mouth and laughed. “Why are you so nervous? I’m not going to eat her.”

“Di Jiang! Her name is Di Jiang! She’s the owner of the Jiansu Clinic. She’s beautiful and kind-hearted, and she’s a very, very good person!” Wu Ruian was so excited that he was gesturing wildly and speaking incoherently.

Empress Chen and Shi Wenchang looked at each other, both shaking their heads and laughing helplessly.

Wu Ruian was so happy that he wanted to tell Di Jiang the good news immediately, so he quickly bid farewell to Empress Chen and left the palace.

Wu Ruian ran out of the Hanguang Palace, and as he turned a corner, someone grabbed his wrist tightly.

Wu Ruian turned around and saw An Suyun standing behind him, her expression complicated.

An Suyun had been punished by Empress Chen to sweep Jiang Qionglin’s tomb for seven days because she had failed to report his dying words three years ago. She had only returned two days ago.

Since her return, her mental state had not been right. She was often seen staring into space, and sometimes she had to be called several times before she would respond.

Shi Wenchang had noticed her odd behavior, but due to his position, he wasn’t able to ask much about it. Empress Chen had also noticed it, but she just assumed An Suyun was emotional and didn’t think much of it.

It wasn’t until An Suyun met Wu Ruian that she finally found an opportunity to vent her pent-up worries from the past few days.

An Suyun pulled Wu Ruian to a corner and said in a low voice, “Your Highness, there is something I don’t know if I should say...”

“What is it?” Wu Ruian looked at An Suyun in surprise, scanning her from head to toe. Before she could answer, he added, “Aunt Suyun, you... you’ve lost a lot of weight. You and Mother Empress should take better care of yourselves and not overwork yourselves.”

An Suyun shook her head and said, “My body is fine, but...” She hesitated, as if searching for a suitable word, but after thinking it over, she couldn’t find a way to express herself. In the end, she just said, “I feel that Jiang Qionglin’s tomb is not quite right, Your Highness. If you have time, please go and take a look.”

Wu Ruian’s mouth was half-open, and he nodded blankly. “Okay, I’ll go and take a look when I have time.”

Wu Ruian didn’t think much of it and immediately forgot about the matter.

In his heart, there was only one thing on his mind now—to dress Di Jiang up beautifully and present her to Empress Chen. Once his mother met Di Jiang, she would surely like her and then grant them a marriage... followed by the traditional three matches and six courtesies, a grand wedding... and then their wedding night... What a harmonious scene, what a wonderful future...

Wu Ruian smiled as he walked. The people who saw him all thought, “Is the Prince crazy?”