Zhu Zan coldly watched her.
"Amusing, isn't it?" he remarked. "A doctor casually using illness to deceive people."
Miss Jun stopped laughing.
"You had already been on the mountain for several days," she said. "You lacked sufficient food and water, which made your throat dry and sore. By talking so much, your throat would only get drier and more painful. I asked you to bite on a twig, which made you talk less and helped generate more saliva to moisten your throat. That also treated the illness."
Before Zhu Zan could reply, she laughed out loud again.
Zhu Zan coldly watched her.
Miss Jun laughed, tilting her head back and covering her mouth with her hand to suppress her laughter.
"Your friend's shoulder pain isn't due to physical trauma," she stated solemnly. "It was caused by a wind-cold cough affecting the lung meridian. You could ask him if he had been caught in the rain recently. That's when the illness took root."
Zhu Zan continued to look at her silently.
"He is young and strong now," she continued. "Taking some blood-activating and stasis-resolving medicine and applying some plaster will relieve the pain. But when he grows old, the accumulated pain in this arm will claim it."
Zhu Zan huffed and sized her up.
"How much?" he asked.
Miss Jun slightly pursed her lips in a smile.
"Originally, I was going to say it's free," she said.
"You want the Immortal Ziying Plant in exchange, don't you?" Zhu Zan interjected.
Miss Jun laughed again.
This guy's thinking was indeed sharp.
"Now that the Immortal Ziying Plant is gone, then..." she began.
Zhu Zan cut her off.
"Let's leave it as a debt," he said, folding his arms as he watched her. "It's just one Immortal Ziying Plant. I'll find another one for you."
Miss Jun nodded.
"Okay," she said and then paused to think. "Then you and Princess Jiuli—"
Zhu Zan raised his hand again to stop her.
"Miss Jun," he said, "I am not interested in why you came to the capital. Our past transaction was just that, a transaction. Once settled, we are strangers. I am here now to seek medical advice. As for other matters, there is no need for discussion."
He wasn't joking—beneath the faint azure light, his demeanor was solemn, his usual jest and feigned foolishness nowhere to be seen, only an unequivocal rebuff.
Miss Jun smiled lightly.
"Alright," she said. "I am not home during the day. You can have your friend come see me this evening—I will give him acupuncture," she told him. "I'll go get some medicine for him to start taking."
Zhu Zan watched her without moving.
"I will change my clothes first. Do you want to wait here or downstairs?" Miss Jun asked as she headed toward the Castration Room.
Zhu Zan then realized that this girl was still in her undergarment.
He snorted and stepped out the window, turning back just in time to see her entering the Castration Room.
This was truly shameless, changing clothes in front of a man and asking him to wait inside the room, tsk tsk tsk.
Definitely not a proper lady.
He leaped out, grabbed onto the eaves and branches, and swung down to the ground.
He looked up at the building. Just a moment ago he had thought the large tree in the yard was inviting trouble with people climbing in through the windows, but it seemed that people were not so foolish.
As dawn lightened the sky, which was usually his time to wake up.
Zhu Zan unconsciously stretched his body and noticed a post still standing in the courtyard, obviously used for martial training.
Herb gatherer.
Zhu Zan snorted again.
A herb gatherer, someone who always carried hidden weapons and set traps even while sleeping. Who were they fooling?
He stepped forward and started hitting the wooden post.
Miss Jun had gotten up quite early today.
Liu'er, sleeping upstairs, turned over and mumbled a few words, then went back to sleep as usual.
After her exercise, Miss Jun would take a bath and then dress up; by then, Liu'er would get up and prepare breakfast.
Zhu Zan performed eighteen movements, and by that time, Miss Jun had also come downstairs.
"How did my post turn out?" Miss Jun asked with a smile.
"Mediocre," Zhu Zan replied, slapping the post as he followed her to the front of the yard.
People began to move around in the street, and as vendors from the night market headed home, two assistants also arrived at Jiuling Hall.
They didn't live here, although Manager Liu originally arranged for them to stay here to keep company and watch the door, but Miss Jun said it wasn't necessary, so they came every morning to open up and clean.
The work was easy, but the two assistants weren't happy.
"What good does ease do if we're just keeping someone company?" one said. "If it eventually closes down and we have to leave, our efforts will have been for nothing."
"Exactly, didn't you see that Su Ba who came with us was reassigned to work directly under Manager Huang a few days ago?"
"Manager Huang, eh? Then he might be starting to run errands on the street soon."
"Yeah, eventually he might even manage the counter."
As they talked, their faces filled with envy as they reached to take out the keys to unlock the door.
This door could be opened from both inside and outside, usually by them since there was another door to the inner courtyard.
But just as they touched the door, they heard the lock inside click open.
The two hadn't recovered when they saw a man walk in.
"Then come back in the evening."
Miss Jun's voice also carried from inside.
Two shop assistants stood dumbfounded outside the door, watching a handsome young man walk out.
What's the situation?
Zhu Zan glanced at the two shop assistants and strode away.
"You've arrived," Miss Jun also saw them, thought for a moment, "to get medicine."
She gestured toward Zhu Zan, who had walked away.
The two shop assistants nodded dumbly, squeezing out a slight smile.
Miss Jun turned and went inside.
The two shop assistants remained standing dumbfounded at the doorway, exchanging glances, each seeing the shock in the other's eyes.
It wasn't even dawn yet and a man had walked out from inside.
Getting medicine?
That could be reasonable—after all, illness waits for no one, and it's common for someone to knock on the door in the middle of the night to request a doctor.
But to get medicine, there's no need to lock the door, is there?
And moreover, coming again at night, what does that mean?
Coming again for medicine?
Why not come during the day?
"Shopkeeper, shopkeeper."
The servant boy outside called out as he ran inside.
Manager Liu, who was about to eat breakfast, frowned and chewed his food without paying attention.
The servant boy stood in front of him.
"There's a situation at Miss Jun's," he said in a low voice.
Manager Liu paused with his food and looked at him.
Had someone come to make trouble?
Although he said not to interfere, he had still instructed them to keep an eye on Jiuling Hall, to see if that woman, who was said to bring bad omens yesterday, would come and make trouble.
"A man came out of Miss Jun's place before dawn," the servant boy continued in a hushed tone.
Manager Liu choked on his food with a 'pfft' sound, coughing repeatedly as the servant boy busily wiped him down.
"What man? Talking nonsense!" Manager Liu pushed him away irritably.
"It's true," the servant boy said, "people over there saw it, it was still dark, and he came out from inside."
Saying this, he gave a meaningful wink.
"Young, good-looking," he added.
Young, good-looking—how does that sound somewhat improper?
Manager Liu spat a few times.
"I asked you to watch Jiuling Hall to see if anyone came to make trouble, not to peep at whatever you like," he scolded irritably.
The servant boy said "oh."
"So, we shouldn't watch if any men come?" he asked in a low voice.
That remark sounded somewhat improper too.
Manager Liu slapped him.
"This is a clinic; Miss Jun runs a clinic, and the clinic is for people coming to get medicine or treatment, irrespective of gender or age. All who come are clients," he scolded, "Your eyes and hearts are both crooked; what exactly are you thinking?"
The servant boy held his head, continuously admitting his fault.
"Get out, get out, get out!" Manager Liu scolded.
The servant boy quickly ran out, holding his head.
Manager Liu sat back down in his chair, gasping for air, fanning himself with his sleeve.
What a perfectly good girl running a clinic—this is just the inconvenience of being a woman.
Men, young, good-looking, before dawn.
Manager Liu shook his head to drive away those improper thoughts, but his brows were still tightly furrowed.
This girl, doing as she pleases in the capital without any family to supervise her—can this really be okay?
Just look, she's been here only for a few days and it's almost publicly known already.
Truly worrying.
And I forgot to ask about the proper matter.
Manager Liu called the servant boy again.
"Did anyone come to make trouble at the clinic?" he asked.
The servant boy shook his head.
No trouble.
"Then did anyone come to ask for the interpretation of an ominous sign?" Manager Liu tentatively asked again.
Ominous sign?
The servant boy was caught off guard by the question.
"Why would someone come to the clinic to interpret an ominous sign?" he couldn't help but ask.
Ask me—I don't even know. Manager Liu leaned back in his chair, waved his hand and dismissed the servant boy.
Meanwhile, in a courtyard in the alley from yesterday, a woman was also having breakfast, but the bowl and chopsticks in front of her remained untouched as she looked out the window, seemingly restless.
A maidservant hurriedly came in.
"Madam, I've inquired clearly," she said, "this person is indeed a bell healer, and there is a Jiuling Hall on the street."
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Thanks to Southern Ice, Princess Jun, and He's Bi for the rewards (づ￣3￣)づ╭?～