(Narrator's pov)
Seeing this, BaiLing called the children over and told them to pick one. Once done, she paid the old man. When he saw the money, he looked up at her and said.
"Young lady, this is much more than what those candies cost."
She smiled and said.
"Please keep the change."
And so the old man kept the money. The amount that BaiLing gave him was more than enough for him to feed his family for a month. BaiLing never held back when it came to helping people. She didn't mind spending extra money if it meant that she could be of some assistance to the people.
While waiting for the girl's grandpa, she noticed that the old man still had some steamed buns, so she asked him to pack them all up for her. Once done, she gave him money for the buns, only for him to say.
"The money you gave earlier was more than enough to cover the buns."
BaiLing: "That money was for the candy. This is for the buns. So, please keep it."
Without anything else to say, the old man kept the money and started the pack up for the day.
BaiLing turned back to the little girl, gave her the box of buns, and said.
"This is for you and your family. And remember, next time you go picking mushrooms, be careful. Ask your family if it is safe to eat or not, okay?"
The little one nodded and said.
"I got it. Thank you, jiejie. You’re so pretty."
When she finished her sentence, her grandpa came out and saw so many things in her hand. He came over to her and said.
"What is all this? Did you ask her to buy this for you?"
BaiLing: "No, she didn't. I bought this for her. I hope you don't mind."
Old man: "No, but how can we take so much stuff from you?"
BaiLing: "It's alright. She's so cute. I can't help but want to give her gifts."
Old man: "Thank you. Thank you very much."
BaiLing shook her head and smiled. After the little girl thanked her, the two walked home, hand in hand.
She then headed inside. However, not long after, two men came into the shop. One was dressed in fine clothing, the other in servant's clothing. After sitting the young man down, his servant turned to BaiLing and said.
"Please help my master. He says his stomach has been in pain for a while now, and we don't know what to do."
BaiLing nodded and pulled out the cushion to take the young man's pulse when he said.
"Who are you? Go and get the doctor out here. How can a girl like you treat me?! Don't you know who I am?"
At this moment, Zhi Chen wanted to storm over and give this guy a beating. How dare he speak to his sister that way? Before he could, BaiLing looked over and shook her head. She turned to the young man and said.
"I'm sorry. The physician is currently busy. If you don't mind, how about I treat you?"
Young man: "Did you hear me?! Go and bring the physician here! Who do you think you are?! Don't you know who my father is?!"
BaiLing: "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are."
BaiLing then stood up and went over to her grandpa's office. Truth be told, she nor her brother knew who he was. Judging from his clothes, she could guess that his father was a sixth-rank official. Typically, BaiLing and her family didn't deal with the ministers quite often, so she didn't know many. However, her family does know the officials and their families who are fourth rank and above. They are usually the ones who can give them headaches.
When she got to the office door, she knocked and said.
"Grandpa, a patient is waiting for you."
From inside her, grandpa thought.
"Huh? Can't she take care of it?"
Li Qiang: "Alright, I'll be right out."
When he walked to the front with BaiLing, he could hear the young man complain and scream. From there, he could figure out what had happened. Once he got to the desk, he sat down and asked.
"I heard you were looking for me?"
Young man: "That's right. I've been in pain for many hours."
Her grandpa said to BaiLing.
"BaiLing, go and bring me my tool kit."
BaiLing: "Yes, grandpa."
Hearing this put the two men in shock. Who would have thought the girl they had been so rude to be the divine doctor's granddaughter. Also, her father and brother were generals in the imperial army, and her fiancé was the ninth prince.
When BaiLing came back with the tools, the young man asked.
"You're lady Ming of the Ming clan?"
From behind the counter, Zhi Chen spoke up and said.
"That's right. I wonder what illness you contracted to have the nerve to speak to a first-rank official's daughter that way."
The guy turned to see her brother and his face went paler than before.
Young man: "I'm... I'm sorry... I... I was in so much pain and didn't notice. Please.. please forgive me."
BaiLing: "Grandpa, he must be in a lot of pain. I'm okay. Why don't you treat him first."
Li Qiang nodded and went to treat him. As he checked his pulse, he saw that the young man had food poisoning. So, he gave him an acupuncture treatment. However, it was the painful version. Afterward, he wrote up a prescription for the servant to go get. As his servant went to get the medicine, Li Qiang got up and returned to his office. However, on the way back, he held out five fingers for uncle Su to see. Seeing this, BaiLing couldn't help but laugh. Her grandpa has always been very protective of her, and he won't stand for anyone who bullies her.
When the servant heard of the price, he stopped in his tracks, and his master wanted to argue. But before any of them could say anything, Zhi Chen said.
"You don't have to buy the medicine if you don't want to. But I doubt you'll make it home before your stomach explodes."
Fearing for the worst, the young master told his servant to pay for the medicine and quickly left.
After the two had left, Zhi Chen closed the door and started to laugh uncontrollably. Who would have thought he would be able to see such a fantastic show today?
Zhi Chen: "Ling'er, I really should come more often. There are so many shows to watch."
BaiLing shook her head and went to clean stuff up.
BaiLing: "Gege, we're a medicine shop, not a theater."
As Zhi Chen was about to say something, their grandpa emerged from his office and asked.
"It's almost lunchtime. What do you guys want to eat."
Zhi Chen and BaiLing: "Whatever you cook is fine."
With that, Li Qiang headed out to the kitchen. However, not long after, they heard their grandpa call out to Zhi Chen to come and help him chop up some firewood. Zhi Chen quickly left to go help, and BaiLing continued to clean.
After a few minutes, Zhi Chen came back, and his face was full of grim.
(BaiLing's pov)
I laughed when I saw my brother's face. I couldn't help it. He looked like a little kid who had snuck into the kitchen for a snack and got dirty.
Zhi Chen: "What? Is there something on my face?"
I went up to him and pulled out a handkerchief.
Me: "Ge, bend down a little."
Although I wasn't short, my brother was quite tall. Most people in our family have always been on the taller side.
My brother then bent down, and I wiped his face clean.
Zhi Chen: "Thank you."
Me: "Hmm..."
I was just about to say something else when a knock on the door interrupted us. However, the knock wasn't a simple asking if anyone was inside. This knock was more of an emergency one.
Voice outside: "Is anyone there? Please open the door. Help, help me."
Hearing this, I quickly went to the door and opened it. Outside was a young boy who was no more than five. I quickly let him in and closed the door. As I swatted to talk to him, my brother came closer to us.
Me: "What's wrong little boy? Are you alright?"
Little boy: "Please... please help my brother."
The little boy was out of breath but tried to tell us as much as possible.
Me: "What happened? Is he hurt? Ge, can you go get him some water?"
Zhi Chen: "Got it."
Judging from his clothing, I could see that he was a high-ranking official's kid. So what was happening that made him so scared?
Little boy: "My... my brother, he's being attacked. We went out today and got attacked. He... he told me to come here and ask for help."
Just then, my brother came back with a cup of water. I gave it to the little boy and let him regain energy before asking.
"Little one, what's your name?"
Little boy: "Lian Tian."
Although I didn't recognize the name, it seemed my brother did.
Zhi Chen: "Are you Chu Lian Tian? Chu Xiu Ming's younger brother?"
The little boy nodded his head.
Me: "Ge, what's wrong?"
Zhi Chen: "Their father is general Chu. His brother is also a general."
As my brother said that, I remembered about the Chu clan. Another military family.
Me: "Lian Tian, do you know where your brother is right now?"
Lian Tian: "(nodding)... We were attacked in an alleyway between a jewelry shop and a huge building with many red lanterns and jiejie standing outside."
I looked over at uncle Su and asked him to take the boy to the back and inform my grandpa of what happened.
Me: "Lian Tian, follow this grandpa, okay? We'll go save your brother."
Once the boy was out of sight, I took off my outer coat and pulled out a face veil and my arm bindings. I had just finished putting on my arm bindings when we heard multiple footsteps running outside. My brother opened the door to see what was going on. Outside we could see a bunch of men in black running along the street, looking for someone. Just as we were about to close the door, some on the front steps caught my eye.
Me: "Ge, hang on."
I opened the door a little more and picked up the item. It was a waist tag. On one side, it had the family name Chu carved on it, and on the other was Lian Tian's name. As I was about to bring it inside, one of the men in black came back and asked us.
"Have you seen a small boy in fancy clothing come by?"
I quickly ducked behind my brother and let him to the answering while I put the waist tag away and put my face veil on.
Zhi Chen: "No, we haven't. Is something wrong?"
Man: "Then what was that thing you just picked up?"
Zhi Chen: "It was nothing. My sister dropped something, that's all."
Man: "Then show it to me."
Zhi Chen: "It really is nothing. You don't have to worry about it."
The man was still unsatisfied with the answer, so he called his buddies and walked up to the door. My brother looked back at me, and I nodded my head. Seeing as I was ready, my brother opened the door and got ready to fight. Although we didn't carry our weapons, we had a backup in our dimension.
Though to not draw any suspicion, we first fought them barehanded and took their weapons away. After a while, we switched them out with ours.
(BaiLing has a fan made from a special type of jade-like material. The fan is induced with magic and can be transformed into different kinds of weapons, such as a sword, dagger, whip, and bow. It also has needles embedded in the fan that can be shot out.)
After a while, my brother told me to find general Chu while he dealt with the rest of these men.
The place that Lian Tian had mentioned was between a jewelry shop and a brothel. Although there were many brothels around the city, only one had a lot of red lanterns hanging out during the day, and that was Dream Paradise. Dream Paradise is the most famous brothel in the city and the most expensive one. One night there can cost half a year's salary for a fifth-rank official.
I ran there as fast as I could, taking some shortcuts along the way.
(Five minutes later)
I finally got to the alleyway and saw a group of men cornering someone. I jumped from the roof and blocked the injured person from the rest of the men.
Men: "Who are you?!"
Me: "You don't need to know who I am."
I looked back at general Chu and saw that he was heavily injured. Wounds were all over his body. When I looked back, the men started to attack me. This time I turned my fan into a whip. This way, I could keep them at a distance and general Chu safe.
(Narrator's pov)
At this point, general Chu was barely holding onto his conciseness. He could only see a small figure in front of him fighting off the men and a girl's voice.
BaiLing finished off all the men when her brother came with reinforcement.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
BaiLing: "I'm alright, but he isn't."
BaiLing nodded her head towards general Chu. Zhi Chen looked past his sister and saw that his friend was passed out.
BaiLing: "Let's bring him back first."
Zhi Chen nodded and picked up his friend. Together they brought him back to the medicine shop. Upon arriving, BaiLing had uncle Su prepare a treatment room for her. Afterward, he went to notify her grandpa. Once he heard the news, he came to see how the general was doing.
Li Qiang: "How is he?"
BaiLing: "There's poison on the swords. He's poisoned."
Zhi Chen: "Is it bad?"
BaiLing: "Not too bad. But I can't guarantee he'll live for more than six hours if he had met someone else."
Li Qiang: "Then I'll leave it in your hands."
BaiLing nodded, and her grandpa returned to his office to continue his work and watch over Lian Tian.
Zhi Chen: "What can I do to help."
BaiLing: "Ge, help me go notify his family. Uncle Su, please help me prepare hot water, a sterilized dagger, and herbs to combat queen's poison. Also, please help me get some ice blocks and place them around the room."
Zhi Chen: "Alright. I'll be back."
Uncle Su: "Yes, my lady."
After the two of them left, BaiLing pulled out her acupuncture needles and started to block off his meridians, especially the ones leading to his heart.
Soon her brother came back as well as uncle Su. Slowly her brother helped uncle Su place the ice blocks around the room. Once everything she needed was there, uncle Su left the room.
(Queen’s poison reacts to the heat and will spread quickly. Using ice blocks to cool the room will help slow down the spreading process.)
Zhi Chen: "I already sent someone to notify their father. Anything you need help with?"
BaiLing looked up and said.
"Can you help me take off his clothes? I need to clean out his wounds."
Zhi Chen nodded and helped his sister take off his friend's clothes. Once done, he placed them to a side and left the room.
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