Chapter 21: I bought this to eat myself

On the bustling street, Song Shijie followed Lu Zhenting into a pharmacy. Song Shijie took the prescription and first called the shopkeeper to ask him to see if there were any problems with it.

The shopkeeper looked at the prescription and asked while stroking his beard, "This is a fever-reducing prescription for children, right? The dosage is small, and the combination of monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy is very clever. May I ask how old the child is?"

Song Shijie answered truthfully, "Not yet a month old."

The shopkeeper was a bit strange. "Not yet a month old? Is it for decoction?"

Lu Zhenting added from the side, "It's for bathing."

"Wonderful, wonderful! Good prescription," the shopkeeper called the medicine boy to get the medicine, his eyes never leaving the prescription, while asking, "How long has the child had a fever?"

"The child's fever has already broken," Lu Zhenting replied. He placed one hand on the counter, looking at the busy medicine boy and asking, "I saw the miracle doctor touch the child's hands, rub his back, and finally pinch the tip of his ear, and the child sweated and the fever broke. Shopkeeper, have you ever seen such medical skills?"

"Never seen it." The shopkeeper shook his head, lost in thought. "Such medical skills, I'm afraid she has studied under a master. I haven't heard of any master who has such medical skills."

Hearing this, Song Shijie couldn't help but tentatively ask, "Could it be a medical witch from the Southern Frontier alien race?"

The shopkeeper began to copy the prescription. "I have been in business for many years and have known two or three medical witches. Their medicines are mostly folk remedies, and they use fierce ingredients."

"But this prescription has carefully considered the dosage, and the usage is very gentle. It is definitely not the style of a Southern Frontier medical witch."

Soon, the medicine boy had the prescription ready. Song Shijie took out a silver ingot and handed it to the shopkeeper. "Thank you."

The shopkeeper took the silver ingot and waved his hand. "Two taels of silver is enough, no need for so much."

Lu Zhenting signaled for the shopkeeper to keep the silver. "Just accept it. This includes Master Song's tip."

"Ah, Master Song—? Could it be the blue-sky official Master Song of the Dali Temple?" Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper hurriedly walked out from behind the counter and bowed to Song Shijie to express his gratitude. "Master Song visiting my small shop is truly a glorious occasion! I cannot accept this silver; just consider it my gift to Master Song."

Song Shijie glanced at Lu Zhenting with great dissatisfaction and said with a dark face, "Busybody."

After saying that, he took the medicine and walked out of the pharmacy without looking back.

Lu Zhenting followed him and said, "Shijie, you asked so much, isn't it because you have been verifying that the woman is not a Southern Frontier spy?"

Song Shijie was annoyed that his thoughts were seen through by Lu Zhenting. "Verifying sooner that she is not a Southern Frontier spy means I can send this plague god away sooner."

At this time, the two were passing by a steamed bun shop, and they stopped at the same time, each ordering two steamers of meat buns.

Song Shijie stared at the meat buns in Lu Zhenting's hand. "Why are you buying meat buns? I heard from the cook that you alone ate half of the Dali Temple's breakfast."

Lu Zhenting didn't blush or pant. "Naturally, I bought them to bribe the miracle doctor so she would treat my mother. Unlike some people, who say one thing but do another."

Song Shijie snorted coldly. "I bought this to eat myself."

Lu Zhenting just smiled; he knew exactly what Song Shijie was thinking.

As they walked, he suddenly stopped, quickly pulled Song Shijie's sleeve, and signaled him to look at a small shop selling stationery.

Song Shijie's gaze turned with Lu Zhenting. There was a man wearing a bamboo hat and carrying a curved sword standing there, lowering his head and flipping through the stationery.

That was a pirate ronin! Song Shijie looked at Lu Zhenting again; the smile in his eyes had vanished, replaced by terrifying murderous intent!

That surging murderous intent startled several passersby, who looked at them timidly and avoided them repeatedly.

Lu Zhenting gripped the sharp sword at his waist, ready to strike at any time. He lowered his voice and said to Song Shijie, "I'll follow him to find his residence; you go back and order people to make arrests."

Song Shijie grabbed him. "Don't be impulsive! If you follow him like this, I'm afraid you'll startle the snake! Let me..."

At this moment, the pirate in front felt the unusual murderous intent and hurriedly turned his head to look. Song Shijie hurriedly pulled Lu Zhenting to hide behind the door pillar of the Zuihua Pavilion on the side.

As it happened, the procuress who was soliciting customers saw that these two people had an extraordinary bearing and thought she had encountered a big order!

The procuress ran over happily to pull the two of them. "Guests, come in and sit for a while."

But as soon as the procuress looked up, she encountered Lu Zhenting's sharp, Rakshasa-like gaze!

That gaze seemed to hide thousands of sharp blades, startling her so much that she hurriedly let go and retreated several steps.

"Oh my, I offended the noble guests. I apologize to you. It just so happens that the top beauty, Miss Liuxu, is hanging her sign today, which can be used to vent your anger."

Lu Zhenting used the procuress and the Zuihua Pavilion's door pillar to block, so the pirate ronin didn't find the source of the murderous intent. He vigilantly looked around, lowered his hat, and hurried away.

Seeing this, Song Shijie stuffed the meat buns in his hand to Lu Zhenting and chased after him!

Lu Zhenting could only listen to Song Shijie first and return to the Dali Temple.

In the Dali Temple, Lin Jiaojiao was in the room where Song Shijie usually lived, flipping through the case files on the bookshelf in boredom, while the wet nurse Guo Shi was breastfeeding and coaxing Pei Tiezhu to sleep on the side.

Suddenly, the text on a dusty file caught her attention: The Treason Case of Minister of Revenue Lin Ye.

Lin Ye? Isn't this my father's name? Lin Jiaojiao was puzzled: Could it be that my father also traveled here?

She curiously stood on tiptoe to take down the file, blew off the dust, and opened it to flip through: In the 23rd year of Kangyuan, Junior Vice Minister of Works Su Hongtu reported that Minister of Revenue Lin Ye had used sand and stone to steal grain and forage, committing treason...

Just as she was engrossed in reading, a voice suddenly came from behind her. "The miracle doctor is actually interested in the cases of the Dali Temple?"

Lin Jiaojiao was so scared that her heart almost jumped out of her chest. She stroked her chest and turned back to look, seeing that it was the general who had helped her speak in the morning.

"You scared me to death, why do you walk so quietly!" Lin Jiaojiao calmed down for a long time before she recovered.

She hurriedly put the file away, put it back on the bookshelf, and pretended to be indifferent. "I was just bored and flipped through it to see."

"I've brought you the medicine," Lu Zhenting placed the medicine bag on the table. "I've ordered people to boil water. How to use this prescription still requires the miracle doctor's personal supervision."

Lin Jiaojiao quickly looked him up and down. She saw that Lu Zhenting was over eight feet tall, and she could just reach his shoulder. He looked dashing and heroic, wearing a well-fitting silver armor that outlined sturdy lines. Moreover, he was equipped with a precious sword at his waist, and there were some potholes on the hilt, which looked like it had been tempered by the battlefield.

Lu Zhenting had a healthy wheat-colored complexion. Although he was a military general, he had sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes. Compared with those rough military generals, he looked even more handsome.

Lin Jiaojiao knew that it was precisely because he helped speak in the morning that Song Shijie was able to release her, the child, and the wet nurse from the damp and moldy women's prison.

So she bowed to Lu Zhenting in thanks. "Thank you, General, for your help. This little woman has nothing to repay you with."

Lu Zhenting stretched out his powerful hand to help Lin Jiaojiao up. She could feel the thick calluses on those hands through her dress.

"Miss Lin, no need to thank me. I helped you because I have a request," Lu Zhenting said frankly. He handed the two steamers of hot meat buns he bought back to Lin Jiaojiao. "Eat quickly, or they will get cold."

But before she could ask Lu Zhenting what he wanted, the wet nurse Guo Shi on the side asked quickly, "Could it be that you want our Mistress to marry you?" ===== CHAPTER 22 =====