pjbooks Chapter 219
Chapter 219
Chonglou and Lingyu separately placed Kongqing and Dongzhi into the carriage.Li An entered the carriage, took out a packet of powder from his medical box, and sprinkled it over the three of them.
Soon, the scent of blood inside the carriage vanished.
The carriage stopped at the back door of the fabric shop.
Li An stepped down from the carriage and told Chonglou to carry Kongqing to his room, while Dongzhi was to be taken to Chonglou and Lingyu's room to be watched over.
From the medicinal herbs he had brought, Li An sorted out the ones Kongqing needed, brewed the medicine, and forced Kongqing to drink it down.
As for Dongzhi, to avoid drawing attention, Li An took some sleeping powder and had Chonglou administer it to him.
After a night of care, Kongqing woke up in the early morning.
"Second Master," Kongqing tried to get up, but Li An stopped him.
"You are heavily injured, rest well."
"I'm fine." Kongqing struggled to rise.
"If you acknowledge me as your Second Master, then lie back down." Li An put on a stern face.
"Yes." Kongqing lay down and stopped moving.
Only then was Li An satisfied. He went to find the manager of the fabric shop, Zhang Ronggui, to ask if he knew anything about Yingmeng.
Upon hearing "Yingmeng," Zhang Ronggui's expression changed.
"Second Master, about Yingmeng. You must not get involved; the waters are very deep," Zhang Ronggui tried to dissuade Li An.
"Who is selling Yingmeng?"
"Second Master, please don't ask anymore. After watching the Flower King selection, leave early." Finishing his words, Zhang Ronggui got up and busied himself.
Zhang Ronggui's evasive attitude only made Li An more determined to find out what was going on.
Giving up easily was not Li An's style.
Since Zhang Ronggui wouldn't speak, Li An thought of asking others.
Chonglou hurried into the room, "Second Master, the stall has been smashed."
"By whom?"
"A street thug, Snake Eight. He said we didn't pay protection money for setting up the stall."
"We've been set up for three days and no one asked for it. Yesterday we opened, and today they come to make trouble." Li An chuckled coldly, "Take me to see Snake Eight."
"Subordinate has already brought Snake Eight here."
Chonglou walked out and, like picking up a chick, carried Snake Eight into the room and threw him to the floor.
Snake Eight bounced a bit upon hitting the ground, then scrambled backward to avoid Chonglou.
"What do you want? Murder is a capital offense," Snake Eight's voice trembled, his whole body shaking.
"Visitors are guests. Please sit," Li An spoke.
"Whatever you want to ask, I don't know. I'm just a small-time thug." Snake Eight was quite self-aware.
"You don't know? You don't know you smashed my stall."
Snake Eight thought for a moment. Yesterday he took money to smash a small stall.
"I remember now."
"I didn't know it was Young Master's stall. I was wrong. Young Master is magnanimous, spare me this once." Snake Eight knew when to yield and when to stand tall.
"I have been a narrow-minded person since childhood. My own father provoked me, and I poisoned him mute."
Hearing this, Snake Eight knew it wouldn't end well. "What does Young Master want?"
"Who ordered you to smash my stall?" Li An wanted to know the mastermind.
"No one else." Snake Eight refused to admit being instructed.
"I don't believe it."
Snake Eight clenched his fists. "Snake Eight has been on the streets for over ten years, everyone knows I speak with my fists."
With that, Snake Eight swung a fierce punch at Li An.
Crack.
"Ah—"
Snake Eight fell to the ground screaming, his left hand clutching his unnaturally bent right hand.
Snake Eight's cries didn't soften Chonglou's heart; he stomped hard on his foot.
"Ah—let go, let go, my foot, let go," Snake Eight slapped Chonglou's foot with his left hand.
Chonglou didn't budge an inch.
Li An sat watching, not speaking to call a halt.
"I'll talk, I'll talk." Unable to bear it, Snake Eight begged for mercy.
"Chonglou."
Li An spoke, and Chonglou released Snake Eight.
Snake Eight slumped on the floor, looking at Li An with eyes full of fear.
Li An showed no sympathy, instead watching him get beaten with keen interest.
"I don't know who that person is."
"Chonglou."
"I really don't know who he is, a note wrapped in silver was just thrown into my arms. Telling me to take the money and smash the stall." Snake Eight eagerly spilled what he knew.
"That's all I know. I didn't lie to you. The silver and the note are in my money pouch."
Snake Eight used his good left hand to pull hard at the money pouch on his waist.
The more anxious he got, the harder it was to untie.
Chonglou reached out, untied the pouch, and took out the note.
Li An took it; there was only one sentence written on it.
Smash the new stall on the street corner, the silver is the reward.
"You don't know who it is, but you dared to smash it just because you were told to."
"The silver is real." For Snake Eight, knowing that was enough. Other grudges and enmities didn't matter.
Li An agreed with these words.
"Send him to the authorities." Li An took the note and returned to his room.
Inside the room, Kongqing was trying to get out of bed.
Li An narrowed his eyes.
Kongqing quickly lay back down, "Second Master, I was just a little thirsty."
"Thirsty?"
"Yes, I want a drink of water," Kongqing replied.
Li An regained his composure and poured water for Kongqing.
"Here, drink."
"Thank you, Second Master." Kongqing took it with both hands and drank it all in one gulp.
Li An took the cup back, poured another, and handed it to Kongqing.
After drinking four cups in a row, Kongqing couldn't take it anymore.
"Second Master, I was wrong."
"Where did you go wrong?"
"I shouldn't have deceived Second Master, shouldn't have ignored Second Master's instructions, shouldn't have tried to get out of bed, I should lie in bed and recover properly."
Kongqing knew what he should and shouldn't do.
"Second Master, I was worried,"
"Worried about what?"
"The people who ambushed us might come again, I'm worried about Second Master." Kongqing showed his loyalty.
"If you're really worried, then lie properly in bed and recover. Only when you're healed can you protect me. As you are now, are you protecting me, or am I protecting you?" Li An's words made Kongqing lower his head.
"I was wrong." This time Kongqing truly knew he was wrong.
Li An didn't say more to Kongqing, handing him the note.
Kongqing took the note and looked at it, "This,"
"Don't look at the content, smell the scent."
Kongqing brought the note to his nose, sniffing carefully.
It was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't recall it at the moment.
"Wild Stir-fry."
Li An reminded him, and Kongqing remembered.
Yesterday, they manned the stall until noon without a single patient.
Li An grew tired of sitting, "Kongqing, let's go eat something delicious."
Li An packed up his medical books and took Kongqing to the Wild Stir-fry restaurant diagonally across the street for lunch.
They ordered a few signature dishes, and Li An observed the surrounding customers while drinking water, looking for patients.
Kongqing scalded the bowls and chopsticks with hot water.
A mother and son approached Li An.
"Excuse us, Young Master." The mother bowed, asking if they could share the table. The main hall was full, and only Li An and Kongqing were a party of two.
"You may." Li An readily agreed.
The mother and son sat down and ordered.
The dishes they ordered were served.
Li An picked up his chopsticks and called out to Kongqing, "Take your chopsticks and eat."
"Yes, Second Master." Kongqing picked up his chopsticks and, after Li An took some food, picked up some of the stir-fried wild mushrooms in front of him.
"Mother, I don't want to eat at the same table as him."
A harsh young voice interrupted Li An and Kongqing's pleasant meal.
The youth looked at Kongqing with disgust, as if Kongqing were something dirty.
"You can go to another table." Li An's voice carried a hint of displeasure.
"Do you know who I am? How dare you speak to me like that?" The youth was displeased.
"Zhi'er, don't be unreasonable." The woman scolded her son and apologized to Li An, "Apologies for disturbing Young Master's meal."
Just then, a nearby table finished their meal and left.
The mother and son moved to the empty table. Before leaving, the youth even glared at Li An.
"The scent on the note is very similar to the scent on that woman." Kongqing wasn't entirely certain.
"It's her." Thanks to Gu Cundong's training, Li An was absolutely certain of this.