Chapter 107: Zhang Xia

Chen Ji looked out the door of the medical hall. The front of the steamed bun shop was already empty, as if no one had ever stood there gazing at them.

He opened his mouth and said, "First, we must clarify whether this person is tracking the World Son or the County Princess. World Son, have you ever been tracked by this person alone?"

The World Son shook his head. "No."

"County Princess, when you've gone out alone, have you encountered this person?"

Bai Li replied, "I have. I remember during the Shangyuan Festival temple fair last year, my brother and his Jianghu friends were drinking. I took my maidservant to guess lantern riddles, and that person was also hiding in the crowd secretly watching me."

"County Princess, have you mentioned this matter to Concubine Yun?"

"Yes, Mother told me not to overthink it, that perhaps it was just a coincidence."

Chen Ji was slightly surprised.

If it were a normal person's logic, their first reaction to their daughter being tracked by a strange man would be to send people to protect her, not to tell their daughter not to overthink.

Concubine Yun likely knows who that person is.

However, just at this moment, a wave of horse hooves interrupted Chen Ji and the others' thoughts. They saw a date-red steed stop urgently in front of the Taiping Medical Hall door.

Everyone in the medical hall stopped talking, and their gazes were all drawn to it. That date-red steed and the person on it seemed born to be the protagonists on a stage. No matter whether they sang in Qingyi or Huadan roles, they were always the most dazzling ones.

The date-red steed was drenched in sweat, steaming faintly in the early winter sunlight.

The wood-inlaid silver saddle was embedded with gold thread and jewels. On the saddle, a girl in a set of red clothes flipped off the horse. She casually threw the horsewhip in her hand, and the steed, as if spiritual, bit the whip in its mouth.

There was no need to tie the reins anywhere; the date-red steed just stopped at the medical hall entrance and didn't go anywhere else.

The girl, wearing a neat polo outfit, walked directly into the Taiping Medical Hall and loudly asked, "Who is Chen Ji?"

Everyone subconsciously looked at Chen Ji. Chen Ji, standing calmly behind the counter, said, "I am."

The girl, as if no one else was there, came to the front of the counter and carefully sized up the wooden hairpin on Chen Ji's head and his gray cloth clothes, which had been washed so much they had lost their starch and turned white.

The girl looked at Chen Ji across the red wood counter and directly asked, "Have you studied before?"

"Yes, I have."

The girl asked again, "Of *Da Xue*, *Lun Yu*, *Meng Zi*, and *Zhong Yong*, which are you most skilled at?"

Chen Ji was startled. "I'm not skilled at any of them."

The girl frowned slightly and asked again, "Of the Six Arts: Five Rites, Five Archery, Six Music, Six Driving, Six Writings, and Nine Numbers, which are you proficient in?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and answered, "Nine Numbers should still be okay."

The girl's eyebrows furrowed even tighter. "Can you write poetry? If you've written before, take it out for me to see."

Chen Ji shook his head. "I cannot."

Liu Qu Xing, She Deng Ke, Bai Li, the World Son, and others exchanged glances, still not understanding the situation.

This girl seemed to have dropped from the sky, suddenly and fiercely appearing.

They saw the girl standing at the counter examining Chen Ji, silent for a while, seeming tangled and struggling.

Finally, she simply and neatly rolled up her sleeve and placed her slender wrist on the counter. "Diagnose my illness."

Chen Ji said lightly, "This girl, I am just a small apprentice at this Taiping Medical Hall. My skills are not yet complete, and I don't know how to diagnose people yet. The old man over there is my master; you need to find him to be diagnosed."

*Clang* went a sound.

The girl took out an ingot of silver from her waist pouch and slapped it on the counter, saying bluntly, "I just want you to diagnose it."

Chen Ji was about to say something, but he saw Old Head Yao had already collected the ingot of silver.

Old Head Yao, while putting the ingot of silver into his sleeve, slowly said, "Patients have this requirement. As doctors, we should comply with their wishes. After all, heart disease is also a disease."

The girl looked at Chen Ji. "Your master has already spoken. Don't dilly-dally."

Bai Li saw her arrogant attitude and immediately stepped forward to argue, but was pulled back to her original spot by the World Son pulling her arm.

Chen Ji sized up the girl. On her head, she wore a deep red jade hairpin, transparent like the evening sunset clouds, and a pair of phoenix eyes were sharp and full.

But how could he possibly know how to diagnose an illness?

When he first crossed over, Chen Ji still thought about quickly supplementing some medical skills. Later, he discovered that what Old Head Yao personally taught his disciples was not medical skills at all, but the ways of the Mountain Lord. Then he completely gave up.

Now, how could he diagnose people?

Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then said, "Girl, you are well. I now need to ask you some questions. After you answer, I will make a score based on my judgment, according to these five levels: 'none,' 'very light,' 'medium,' 'severe,' and 'very severe,' okay?"

This was something he was familiar with.

The girl opposite the counter was startled at first, then her face became solemn. "Are you making fun of me?"

Chen Ji calmly said, "It was you who came to make fun of me first."

The fiery-looking girl frowned. "When did I make fun of you?"

Chen Ji said, "You didn't come to diagnose an illness. You entered the door and immediately started asking some messy things. I don't even know who you are or what your name is. It's already very polite that I can answer those questions."

The girl pursed her lips. "I just wanted to see what you've learned by staying in the medical hall for two years."

Chen Ji calmly said, "What I've learned and what I haven't learned has nothing to do with you. I think you are also a straightforward person. If you have something to say, you can say it directly. There's no need to beat around the bush to probe."

The girl didn't get angry. Instead, she slowly calmed down. "You are indeed just like the rumors in the market."

"How do the market rumors describe me?"

The girl thought for a while and said, "The market rumors say that you have a dull and eccentric temperament, and your joy and anger are unpredictable. You often gamble and linger in pleasure places like the red clothes alley, and you came to Taiping Medical Hall as an apprentice because you were driven out by your family."

Chen Ji nodded. "Their rumors are all true. It is indeed so."

The girl was a bit startled. "You're not defending yourself?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Since it's a fact, there's no need to defend myself... or rather, no need to defend myself to you."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "My name is Zhang Xia."

"Zhang Xia?" Chen Ji's eyes looked slightly puzzled to one side. Liu Qu Xing was anxiously gesturing, but no one could understand what he was gesturing.

Zhang Xia was doubtful. "You haven't heard of me?"

Chen Ji said sincerely, "I haven't heard of you."

Zhang Xia stood outside the counter, as if no one else was there, and talked to herself. "You don't need to pretend you haven't heard of me. I came to the medical hall today to tell you a few things: Whatever I want to go or do in the future are my affairs. Don't meddle in them. If you insist on nitpicking, you'll only make things unpleasant for yourself."

"As long as you can be honest, I will send you silver to spend every month. But you can no longer go to gambling houses, and you can no longer go to red clothes alley. If I find out you've embarrassed me outside, I'll cut off your silver."

"Right, have less contact with the Chen family as well. On festivals, I will arrange for gifts to be sent over myself, but it's best if you go back less often."

Taiping Medical Hall fell silent.

She Deng Ke's hand holding the copper scale to weigh medicine was suspended in mid-air. Liu Qu Xing's mouth was open wide enough to stuff a whole steamed bun in. The World Son's grip on Bai Li's arm became tighter and tighter.

Old Head Yao slowly stroked his pure white beard, his expression complex.

Chen Ji sighed lightly. "Girl Zhang Xia, have you misunderstood something? I don't understand any of what you've said."

Zhang Xia propped her hands on the counter and said in a low voice, "My father is in your Chen mansion right now. You say you don't understand? I came here just to give you a reminder and teach you how to get along from now on."

Chen Ji saw that the other side was being straightforward, so he threw all the chess pieces in his hand into the chess basket and shuffled the cards. "Second Miss Zhang, I haven't even returned to the Chen mansion. They also can't decide my matters. I can see that you look down on me. Since that's the case, why don't you directly go and persuade your father to dismiss this absurd idea?"

Zhang Xia shook her head. "This is our parents' order. It's fine for them to decide. Besides, to me, it's the same whoever I live with. Just obey, and it's fine. You also don't need to feel wronged. As a legitimate daughter, marrying you, this son of a concubine, is considered giving you face. From now on, you'll have no worries about food and clothing, and you can live some good days."

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia opposite the counter. "Please go back and tell Master Zhang that I will sign the contract with Prince Jing today. Please ask him not to have any ideas about the cement formula. Second Miss Zhang, no matter what you think, I temporarily have no plans to start a family and a career. Please return."

Zhang Xia was surprised. "You don't fancy me? What are you relying on? You and your legitimate brother Chen Wen Zong are not even a little bit alike. I don't know what Father sees in you."

Bai Li on the side finally couldn't help but say, "What you just said, what's the difference from marrying into their family? Even if Chen Ji is a son of a concubine, he absolutely doesn't lack the backbone to marry into your Zhang family!"

Zhang Xia glanced at Bai Li. "Who are you? What does my business with him have to do with you?"

Bai Li was angry, her neck veins bulging. "We are all his close friends and cannot tolerate you looking down on him like this! Also, you say he is not as good as Chen Wen Zong. We precisely feel that he is a hundred times stronger than Chen Wen Zong and Chen Wen Xiao!"

Zhang Xia was doubtful. "Are you out of your mind? Chen Wen Zong just won first place in the imperial examination today. He has thoroughly read the Four Books and classics and is proficient in the gentleman's Six Arts. You say Chen Ji is a hundred times stronger than Chen Wen Zong? Where is he stronger?"

Bai Li was so angry that the veins in her neck were throbbing. "He's just stronger than Chen Wen Zong!"

Zhang Xia didn't continue arguing with Bai Li either. She turned her head and looked at Chen Ji. "If you don't fancy me, that's fine too. Go and tell your father yourself and let him dispel my father's thoughts. If you dare not say it, then do as I just said."

Having said that, Zhang Xia turned and left the medical hall.

They saw her step out of the medical hall threshold, take the horsewhip from the steed's mouth, and flip onto the horse. "枣儿, home!"