Chapter 97: I am going to pull this Eunuch Pei

Lin Jiaojiao thought she had seen wrong. She rubbed her eyes, then rubbed her ears, but the person sitting right in front of her was clearly that cheap ex-husband, Pei Aosong!

Pei Aosong's face looked haggard, and the layer of stubble showed it hadn't been shaved for a long time. His eyes were filled with thick, longing sorrow, and only when that gaze met Lin Jiaojiao's did a glimmer of light appear.

He grabbed Lin Jiaojiao's hand and even took a deep breath, greedily sniffing the faint, unique medicinal scent on her body.

Lin Jiaojiao yanked her hand back violently. Seeing she was about to call for the guards, Pei Aosong had to take the initiative!

He hurriedly whispered, "Jiaojiao, if you call for people, then the evidence of the unjust case I searched for on your behalf will be even harder to tell you."

Lin Jiaojiao was stunned. She took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to roar at Pei Aosong, then reached out to take his pulse through a handkerchief and said loudly, "Eunuch Pei, why do you have a toothache?"

At the same time, she bit her lip and whispered hatefully, "What evidence did you collect? Tell me quickly! Otherwise, I'm calling the guards!"

Pei Aosong closed his eyes slightly, as if enjoying this brief moment of reunion. He spoke in a voice only Lin Jiaojiao could hear, his tone filled with regret, helplessness, and heartache, "Do you know how I've spent this time?"

"I thought you had truly been buried in the sea of fire, and every day, only when I was drunk could I vaguely see your face..."

"Learning that you are still alive and safe, how happy I was!"

"It's just that your appearance has still been damaged..." Pei Aosong looked affectionately at the burn scar on her left cheek, then added as if comforting himself, "It doesn't matter. I don't mind that you have a scar... As long as you are alive, as long as you are alive, there is a chance to return to my side..."

"Who wants to return to your side?! Have you said enough?" Lin Jiaojiao's body and mind turned cold; not only that, but her heart also felt extremely frigid.

Even though it was noon and the sun was blazing, she felt cold all over, shivering uncontrollably!

The moment she saw Pei Aosong, what came to mind were still the many injustices she had suffered in the Pei Mansion!

Moreover, her patience was limited; she now even suspected that Pei Aosong didn't have any evidence related to the unjust case at all!

"Could it be that the Emperor really has taken a fancy to you and wants to take you into the palace?" Pei Aosong asked back, "I heard that you have already dissolved your engagement with that Song Shijie. Since the engagement is dissolved, you are still a free person, and he won't help you investigate the case anymore..."

Lin Jiaojiao rolled her eyes and said loudly, "This Eunuch Pei, do you really have a toothache?"

The people waiting in line behind them couldn't help but stir, "If you aren't sick, leave quickly! Don't delay our time for seeing the doctor!"

Pei Aosong grew anxious. He grabbed her other free hand and lowered his voice, "Wait for me to finish speaking. Once I finish, I will tell you the evidence I found."

"I only just learned about your affairs in the Imperial Palace, but I never found an opportunity to see you. Wanqiu even said sourly that the Emperor wants to take you into the palace. I don't believe it, I don't believe it at all! You won't marry him, right, right?!"

"Today, after I finished the morning court session, I heard you were providing free consultations and prescribing medicine, so I finally got the chance to swap clothes with a eunuch..."

"Are you done yet!" Suddenly, a palace maid waiting in line asked, "Why is this eunuch still holding the female physician's hand?!"

As soon as the palace maid spoke, the gazes of everyone waiting for a consultation shot over!

"You are pulling and tugging at the female physician like this—what kind of decorum is that!"

Hearing everyone start to point at him, Pei Aosong had no choice but to release the hand he was holding and cover his face, pretending to have a toothache.

"Since your tooth is ruined, it should be pulled," Lin Jiaojiao said, then shouted into the room, "Qingdai, go quickly and bring me the fire tongs. I am going to pull this Eunuch Pei's tooth!"

"Coming!" Hearing Lin Jiaojiao's call, Qingdai walked out, then turned and entered the side room, bringing out a pair of black fire tongs that were fully two feet long!

The moment Pei Aosong saw those black fire tongs, he felt a bit of dread in his heart, "Jiaojiao, do you really have the heart? You want to pull my tooth?"

"How can I not pull it?" Lin Jiaojiao took the fire tongs and blew off the black carbon ash on them, "If you don't pull it out, the tooth will rot inside, and your whole mouth will stink. When that happens, you won't be able to say a single good word. Let's see how you serve in the palace then!"

"Ah? If this tooth is ruined, does it really have to be pulled?" Among the crowd waiting in line, there was a young eunuch who truly had a toothache. Hearing this, he clutched his aching tooth and trembled, "Is this really feasible?"

Seeing the fire tongs about to reach his mouth, Pei Aosong realized Lin Jiaojiao was truly going to take action. He hurriedly pushed the tongs away, "Jiaojiao, listen to me, the whereabouts of the stolen money—the Prince of Jin was one of the people in the know back then—"

Qingdai, standing to the side, had sharp ears and sensed something was wrong, "Who is your Jiaojiao!? You little eunuch, which palace do you serve in? How dare you harass our Lin Guniang in broad daylight!?"

Lin Jiaojiao, however, cut her off and pressed, "Is there more?"

"I only investigated up to this point..." Pei Aosong shook his head. Seeing the expectation in Lin Jiaojiao's eyes fade, he hurriedly added, "If you are willing to come back to me, I am willing to sneak into the Su Mansion for you to find more evidence!"

"You actually have such delusional thoughts?" Lin Jiaojiao sneered, "Aren't you afraid that old scoundrel will discover you and implicate your wife and children?!"

This man could actually abandon his own wife and children; all that talk of deep affection for his concubines was just an excuse to satisfy his own desires!

If he could betray his legal wife like this, then going back to be his concubine would only lead to a more miserable end!

Thinking of this, Lin Jiaojiao shoved the fire tongs directly into Qingdai's hand, "Qingdai, your chance to practice has arrived. You pull this Eunuch Pei's tooth!"

"Alright!" Qingdai understood her intent and took the fire tongs, moving to thrust them toward Pei Aosong's face, startling him so much he bounced up from the stool and made a move to flee!

Qingdai hurriedly chased after him, "This Eunuch Pei, where are you going? Don't you have a toothache? Come here quickly and let me pull your tooth. Once it's pulled, it won't hurt anymore!"

Seeing Pei Aosong being chased out of Qingju Pavilion by Qingdai, Lin Jiaojiao felt a wave of satisfaction.

She poured out some burning alcohol to disinfect her hands thoroughly before taking the pulse of the palace maid waiting behind Pei Aosong, her tone even carrying a hint of a smile, "May I ask where you are feeling unwell?"

By the time she finally finished seeing all the people in line, it was already past noon, and people were still arriving one after another, asking her for medical treatment!

"Only twenty people per day." Lin Jiaojiao hurriedly waved her hands. From early morning until now, she hadn't even had a cup of tea. Even a donkey on a production team would need a rest!

Furthermore, these were all free consultations!

Thinking of this, her mind turned: it was time to start charging! This money might be used as startup capital for opening a medical clinic in the future!

Besides, once she started charging, this group of people definitely wouldn't come to her for every little ache and pain. Otherwise, if she had to treat every trivial, self-healing illness all day long, wouldn't she be exhausted to death?!

"The free consultation is only for today. From now on, anyone who comes to me for diagnosis and prescriptions will have to pay a consultation fee," Lin Jiaojiao said to the palace maids and eunuchs crowding the door of Qingju Pavilion, "Anyone who wants me to take their pulse and see them will need to pay two taels of silver as a diagnosis fee!"

Once these words were out, the palace maids and eunuchs began whispering to each other, but there was nothing they could do; they could only blame their own bad luck: why hadn't they caught the good timing of the free consultation today!

"Go back, go back quickly," two guards began to drive people away, "Didn't you hear what Lin Guniang said?!"

"Exactly, Lin Guniang showing kindness to treat your illnesses is your good fortune. Paying a little consultation fee is only reasonable," Qingdai helped speak up, joining the guards in driving the people gathered in front of Qingju Pavilion away.

Yet, among the group waiting to see the doctor, Pei Aosong could still be seen craning his neck to look at Lin Jiaojiao!

At this moment, Eunuch Gao's voice came from the palace path, "The Emperor has arrived—!" ===== CHAPTER 98 =====