Chapter 11: Home-style Tofu (Part 11)
On their way back riding horses, Leng Yue wanted to go to Qingxiang Restaurant to eat buns.
Whether to eat buns or not didn't really matter - Leng Yue just wanted to know where this Qingxiang Restaurant was located.
There were no less than eight hundred restaurants of all sizes in the capital, most with similar names and plenty sharing identical names. Only someone like Jing Yi, who was extremely particular about food and drink, could have all these restaurants' names, specialties, and locations memorized by heart.
And Jing Yi did indeed know about Qingxiang Restaurant.
Qingxiang Restaurant was a tiny tavern no bigger than a palm, with an old signboard and a shabby storefront. Located in the capital's most chaotic area where people of all walks mingled, most of its patrons weren't exactly respectable characters. Therefore, Jing Yi genuinely didn't want to go, and even more so didn't want her to go.
Her martial arts skills were one thing, but his worry was another matter entirely.
Yet he couldn't lie and say he didn't know where Qingxiang Restaurant was, because even he wouldn't believe such a statement.
So Jing Yi said quite frankly, "I don't want to go, and I don't want you to go either."
Jing Yi had always been extremely accommodating to her, so when Leng Yue suddenly heard this, she turned her head to look at him in surprise. Distracted, she inadvertently tightened her grip on the reins, causing the horse to stumble.
Fortunately, they were still on a forest path in the outskirts of the capital with no one around, so reining in the horse abruptly didn't matter.
Leng Yue simply patted the horse's head, brought it to a stop, and asked with a frown, "Why?"
Jing Yi reined in his horse right beside Leng Yue, somewhat helplessly taking hold of her hand that still held the reins and pressing her fair hand against his forehead.
The moment Jing Yi grabbed her hand, Leng Yue sensed something was wrong. When the back of her hand touched Jing Yi's forehead, her hand trembled, and the reins slipped from her grasp.
The man was burning up as if he'd just been taken out of a steamer.
"How did you get so feverish?"
Jing Yi looked at her with some grievance. "From soaking in the fish pond."
Leng Yue felt like strangling the madman who had dragged him into the fish pond, and also felt like throwing the seemingly competent family physician over the courtyard wall.
Worried that his delicate constitution couldn't handle soaking in cold water like that, she had specifically prepared cold-expelling medicine for him and watched him drink it, yet it had no effect at all.
Frowning, Leng Yue grabbed Jing Yi's wrist, pushed up his wide official robe sleeve, and felt for his pulse. Her fingers resting on his skin couldn't help trembling slightly.
But Jing Yi acted as if nothing was wrong, sitting properly on his horse while looking down with interest at Leng Yue's slender fingers pressed against his pulse point. "You understand medicine too?"
Leng Yue ignored him.
"My wife is as beautiful as she is talented, truly a model among women. If someone were to compile a new Biographies of Exemplary Women today, my wife would certainly deserve her own chapter."
Jing Yi's smile was utterly punchable, but feeling his body temperature like this, Leng Yue couldn't properly get angry. She could only glare at him irritably. "If one jump into a fish pond makes you this feverish, you could have your own chapter in the Military Classics too - it would be called 'The Effects of Martial Arts Training on Physical Fitness Vary by Individual.'"
"Hmm..." Jing Yi frowned, putting on a visibly aggrieved expression. "My wife, please understand - I only know qinggong, I've never practiced martial arts. And I jumped in twice."
Leng Yue was taken aback. "Twice?"
Jing Yi nodded frankly. "After you left, I jumped in again."Leng Yue nearly leaped from her horse, her voice rising an octave. "That lunatic is never going to stop!"
The birds in the forest were startled by her shout, flapping away in a flurry.
"It's not Laba. I already had someone send him to my second brother..." Jing Yi said weakly. "I jumped in myself."
Leng Yue choked, her expression turning frightening. "Are you addicted to jumping into fish ponds?"
"No..."
"Then why did you jump in yourself?"
Jing Yi pursed his lips slightly, lowered his gaze to glance at himself, then looked back at Leng Yue with a meaningful expression. "What do you think... If I hadn't soaked in cold water for a while, could I have come out so quickly?"
"..."
Leng Yue didn't know if his head hurt, but hers certainly did - throbbing with pain.
She had indeed deliberately provoked him in a fit of anger, but she never expected he would use the stupidest method...
If she had known earlier...
Leng Yue sighed silently. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had official business today."
Jing Yi blinked blankly. "I didn't know either... What official business do I have?"
"..."
Leng Yue felt so choked she wanted to bite someone. "If you don't have official business, why were you in such a hurry to come out?"
Jing Yi smiled like a perfect gentleman, making it impossible for anyone to actually bite him. "To accompany you to meet my cousin, so he won't bully you."
It was obvious who between her and Xiao Yunde was more capable of bullying whom. Even so, Leng Yue felt her nose tingling at Jing Yi's words.
There had always been many people who bullied her, especially during these years working at the Ministry of Justice. At first, she would hide and cry in private places, but as time passed, even she became numb to it. Only this person still took those actually insignificant instances of bullying to heart.
Leng Yue lowered her gaze to look at Jing Yi's red official robe.
Jing Yi was handsome - so handsome that when she was young, she always thought he had stepped out of a painting. So much so that any clothes looked good on him. Even that morning when he mistakenly wore her clothes, Leng Yue found it had its own unique charm. But since childhood, Jing Yi had always preferred wearing white - all kinds of white. Apart from official robes, Leng Yue had only seen him wear red clothes on their wedding day.
She had never looked closely before, but Jing Yi, like other men in the Jing family, regardless of official rank, had a natural dignity when wearing official robes - unrelated to how foolish his smile might be.
"You dressed like this... to intimidate Xiao Yunde?"
"Not exactly. I wore the official robe to go to Prince Yu's residence. I'm not familiar with Xiao Yunde, so I need to first investigate his troublesome matters before meeting him." Jing Yi smiled as if seeking praise. "For example, after getting married, he buried himself in the porcelain kiln and never returned home, not even knowing his wife is already six months pregnant."
Leng Yue admitted that Jing Yi's latter points made sense, but...
"Why do you need to wear an official robe to go to Prince Yu's residence?"
"This color makes me look more spirited."
"..."
Leng Yue didn't speak to him again until they reached home. So Jing Yi went from discussing the relationship between clothing color and complexion to comparing the merits of various tailor shops in the capital, then moved on to evaluating the quality of different silk shops in the city, talking nonstop the entire way. Leng Yue had originally been very concerned about him, but after listening to him talk all the way, she began to suspect that his feverish body temperature, fresh out of the pot as it were, was achieved through some dubious method."Both are high fevers, but the difference between people can't be this big, right?"
Leng Yue didn't know how long Jing Yi originally intended to keep talking about this topic. He was still enthusiastically discussing it when they dismounted at the entrance, but the moment he stepped through the courtyard gate and saw Uncle Qi pacing anxiously before the screen wall while rubbing his hands, Jing Yi abruptly fell silent.
Because Jing Yi could tell at a glance that Uncle Qi was deeply troubled. But given the experiences Uncle Qi had witnessed in the Jing family mansion, ordinary troubles wouldn't have driven him to such a state.
When Leng Yue saw Uncle Qi in this condition, before she could even feel relieved about getting some peace and quiet, she sighed inwardly.
This was the second time today Uncle Qi had been pacing before the screen wall. The first time was because Jing Yi had submerged himself in the fish pond, and this time probably wouldn't be any more cheerful either.
"Young master, madam..." Uncle Qi quickly came forward to greet them, hesitated for a moment, then looked at Jing Yi and stammered, "The... the koi in the mansion... have died... died."
The heart Leng Yue had tightened suddenly dropped back into place with a thud.
From her observations, there were nearly two hundred koi in that fish pond. No matter how much Jing Yi treasured them, losing a few should be quite normal, right?
Uncle Qi really did treat Jing Yi like his own grandson...
Jing Yi frowned slightly. Although there were many koi in that pond, he would feel heartache over the death of any one of them. However, seeing how deeply self-reproachful Uncle Qi looked, Jing Yi couldn't bear to make him feel worse. He just responded calmly, "It's alright, you go attend to your duties. I'll go take a look first."
"Ah... ah, yes... that, that Laba has already been sent to Second Master. Second Master said it's nothing serious, just needs to recuperate at his place for a few days."
"Alright, I understand."
As soon as Uncle Qi left, Jing Yi headed toward the fish pond. Leng Yue followed him, and she was glad she did.
When they rounded the last bend along the path and caught sight of the pond surface, Jing Yi staggered and nearly fell face-first to the ground.
Leng Yue quickly steadied him, watching as Jing Yi's face turned deathly pale. All the comforting words she had prepared earlier stuck in her throat, and she couldn't utter a single one.
Those comforting words had been prepared with the expectation of three to five dead fish, but now the pond surface was covered with dead fish floating belly-up. At first glance, the entire pond appeared stark white.
This was no longer just a matter of heartache. Leng Yue herself felt chills running down her spine, her hair standing on end, let alone Jing Yi who treated them as treasures.
Jing Yi stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the pond surface. Leng Yue tightly held his arm and could feel his feverish body stiff as wood.
Suddenly, Leng Yue remembered that cat from half a year ago that had been skinned and thrown bloodied at his doorstep, and her heart clenched painfully.
"Jing Yi..."
Leng Yue called his name softly, but Jing Yi seemed to hear nothing. He just stood there rigidly, quietly watching the pond densely covered with floating corpses. Only when his complexion gradually improved did he turn to look at Leng Yue.
"You understand medicine, right?"
Jing Yi's voice was as gentle as usual, but his eyes held a glimmer of expectation that made Leng Yue pause.
What was he expecting?If he expected her to revive these dead fish with medicine, she would certainly have no solution at all. But in this situation, if Jing Yi truly begged her, she couldn't guarantee whether she might impulsively agree in a moment of heated determination.
Hesitating for a moment, Leng Yue neither nodded nor shook her head, only asking softly, "What do you want me to do?"
Jing Yi frowned slightly. "I don't know much about investigation... but I think the easiest way to make a whole pond of fish die suddenly would be poisoning."
Leng Yue was momentarily taken aback, then nodded.
Poisoning wasn't the only method, but as Jing Yi said, it was the simplest approach—and the first possibility that had come to her mind at first glance.
"Can you determine what kind of poison this is?"
Leng Yue was surprised again. Was this why he hoped she understood medicines?
"You mean... you want to know exactly how these fish died?"
If this was his thinking, she could understand it—just like relatives of any deceased person, even after accepting that their loved one is gone, they still want to know what exactly happened before the death.
Jing Yi nodded, casting a deep glance at the horrifying water surface. His voice was as gentle and calm as his completely relaxed expression. "The fish are already dead... but I'm concerned the poison in the water might be harmful to humans too. Better to figure it out clearly and deal with it promptly to prevent any accidents among the household. Don't you think?"
Leng Yue remained stunned for a long while, and Jing Yi waited silently without uttering a word.
Finally, Leng Yue had to admit that Jing Yi made sense—this was indeed the most urgent matter at hand. And whether in appearance or tone, Jing Yi seemed as gentle and calm as usual, so composed that even her own tightly wound heart began to relax considerably.
"Well... I'll try."
Jing Yi's face broke into a smile, his lips curving beautifully. "You're working hard and achieving much. I'll have the kitchen stew an old hen to nourish you."
Leng Yue couldn't bring herself to smile. She reached up to feel Jing Yi's forehead, which remained frighteningly hot. "What nourishment? First, you need to go back to your room and lie down... I'll tell you once I figure it out."
"Alright."
Watching Jing Yi walk away without looking back, Leng Yue turned to gaze at the ghastly white water surface, with only one thought in her heart.
Even if it meant quitting her job at the Ministry of Justice, she would personally hunt down and kill the bastard who dared cause trouble right under her nose.
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