Chapter 56 - What If I'm Serious About You?

In the private room on the second floor of Qinyang Building, Chu Junyi was slowly drinking a cup of tea in his hand. Occasionally, dark rays of light flashed across his eyes.

Not long after, the door to the room opened from the outside. A woman wearing a hood and a veil walked in. She wore a plain blue embroidered jasmine robe and radiated a silent aura.

“Eldest young lady, you are here. Hurry up and take a seat.”

The woman took off her veil and revealed a beautiful and gorgeous face. She was Shen Ninghua!

“The patriarch of the Xiao family has just returned to the capital. You should be very busy now. How come you have time to wander outside?”

Chu Junyi waved his hand and ordered the servants in the room to walk out. He poured a cup of tea and handed it to Shen Ninghua. “Isn’t it your fault? I have been idle, but you brought out a prescription. Now, all the officials of Da’an Dynasty are shocked.”

Shen Ninghua curled her lips and smiled. “You know very well.” Right now, all the government officials knew that Shen Dong had offered the emperor a rare prescription. Although no one found out the true owner of the prescription, but he knew that it was from her.

Chu Junyi thought about the officials who were searching aimlessly like headless flies. He mocked, “If Prime Minister Shen himself had such a precious prescription, he would have handed it over a long time ago. Why did he wait until now? You are the only variable of the Shen family. You mysteriously disappeared for more than half a year, and even restored your beautiful appearance. Who else do you think could occur to me as the owner of the prescription?”

Shen Ninghua lowered her head slightly. The exquisite hairpin with eight-treasure patterns on her head shone brightly. Her tone was very certain. “I think there must be quite a few people in the court who connected me with the prescription, right?”

Chu Junyi’s eyes flashed with thoughtfulness. “Prime Minister Shen would naturally try his best to conceal your contribution if he wanted to keep this matter a secret. Common officials wouldn’t be able to find it out. However, the people in the royal family are different. The princes have more or less the ability to find about it.”

Shen Ninghua raised her head and looked at him calmly. She said very casually, “Just let them investigate as they wish.”

“Ninghua, if they are certain that you have such a miraculous prescription, it is inevitable that they will have other thoughts. Have you ever thought of a way out if several princes intentionally compete for you?” Chu Junyi started to address Shen Ninghua more intimately by omitting her surname.

Shen Ninghua didn’t care at all. “Just pick one to marry. What trouble is there for me?”

Chu Junyi choked. He frowned and shouted coldly, “Are you going to play around like this?” Women were supposed to be extremely cautious with their marriages. How come she didn’t care at all?

Looking at his expression, Shen Ninghua chuckled. “Why are you so anxious? It seems like you’re interested in me.”

Chu Junyi’s expression stiffened. A moment later, he teased, “If I am serious, what should you do? Marry me? That’s good. The prescription in your hand can help me a lot…”

Shen Ninghua raised her hand to look at her slender fingernails and let out a sigh of relief, “Do you want the other prescriptions from me?”

Chu Junyi’s eyesight paused. “You have other prescriptions?”

“Haha, what do you think?”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes shone with a cunning light, and her expression was even more unfathomable. Chu Junyi carefully looked at her black pupils and wanted to discover some clues. Unfortunately, her eyes were too clear, as if they could reflect everything. He could only see his own confused expression from within.

After a long while, he leaned back in his chair, took out an envelope and placed it on the table. “This is the information I collected in the past few days. Take a good look and be on guard.” He had wanted to take advantage of this incident to control Shen Ninghua’s actions, but he didn’t expect he himself was the first one to give in. The girl in front of him was too miraculous, and he had to constantly change his mind and compromise step by step.

Shen Ninghua was slightly surprised. He stopped trying her? As she was thinking about it, she took out the paper from the envelope and looked at Chu Junyi with a trace of inquiry in her eyes. “So many people are tempted, haven’t you thought of getting something from me? After all, we are also partners. Rather than giving it to someone else, I might as well give it to you.” That piece of paper was densely written with names of people who had recently investigated her. Several princes and many officials were on the list.

Chu Junyi smiled, “You don’t need to try me again. Since you can take out the prescription, how come you don’t have the means to protect yourself? I don’t want to be poisoned by you again.”

“We are allies. How can I poison you again? Although I can’t give you the prescription, I can give you some medicine.” Shen Ninghua smiled and took out two porcelain bottles. “I made the medicine according to the prescription. All the ingredients used were high-grade medicinal ingredients. The efficacy of the medicine…If you have the chance to test it, you will know. I don’t need to explain to you.”

“This…” Chu Junyi took the porcelain bottle, opened it and took a smell. His eyes suddenly rolled thoughtfully, and he suddenly understood. “Have you changed the prescription that you gave Prime Minister Shen?”

Shen Ninghua smiled, “I didn’t give him any prescription. It’s just that the original porcelain bottle containing the medicine was taken away. As for where the prescription came from, I’m not sure.” As she spoke, she stood up and walked towards the door.

“Ninghua,” Chu Junyi stood up and said, “I have another message for you. Your mother was supposed to marry the emperor, but later something happened to the Xia family, and she hurriedly married Shen Dong. You should also notice that the emperor’s attitude towards you seems to be somewhat different…”

Shen Ninghua paused. “This is the first time I’ve heard of this news. Then I won’t bill you for the two bottles of medicine I gave you. Take it as a reward. I’m leaving.”

Chu Junyi was stunned for a moment before suddenly laughing out loud. If he didn’t tell her the news, she would ask him to pay for the medicine. She was indeed a greedy black-hearted girl!

As they walked out of Qinyang Building, Hong Ling took a step forward and said, “Miss, we’ve got a message that Liu Yun has arrived at the Shen Mansion.”

“Mm, let him teach Shen Xuanlin first. We will contact him when we have time.”

“Yes.”

Just as they entered the Shen Mansion, butler Wang Fu quickly ran over and said, “Where have you been, eldest young lady? Master is looking for you. Hurry up and go to the study.”

Shen Ninghua’s heart stirred, and she immediately understood that Shen Dong couldn’t resist the temptation any more…

“I know. I’ll be right there.”

Shen Dong’s study was the safest place in the entire Shen Mansion. In the previous life, Shen Ninghua had offered him many ideas, but she didn’t even have the qualification to enter the study. In this life, however, Shen Dong was very generous.

In the study, Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes and did not look around at all. She bowed to Shen Dong who was behind the desk and said, “Greetings, father.”

“Ninghua, you’re here.” Shen Dong put down the brush and looked at her warmly. “I think you must have heard about it. I presented a prescription to the emperor. The emperor was very happy.”

Shen Ninghua wore a sincere smile on her face without the slightest trace of falsehood. “Yes, congratulations, father.”

Shen Dong lightly tapped on the table and said straightforwardly, “Ninghua, did the old doctor who saved you leave behind any other prescriptions?”

“The old doctor taught me some medical skills. However, he died so early that he didn’t have time to teach me the prescriptions. He left behind quite a few ready-made medicines, though.”

Shen Dong’s eyes lit up. His heart skipped a beat. The old doctor who detoxified the poison for Shen Ninghua must be a hermit expert. Although it was a pity that he did not leave behind those prescriptions, it was not difficult to analyze the prescriptions with the ready-made medicines. “Ninghua, your brother Xuanye learned medical skills from Master Liao Chen. If he can identify the ingredients in those ready-made medicines and come up with the prescriptions, this would definitely benefit a lot of people.”

Shen Ninghua pondered for a moment and nodded heavily. “That’s right, I’ll find those medicines and send a bit of every kind of them to you.”

Shen Dong was overjoyed. “Alright, you really are my good daughter. It’s almost autumn. You should make some more dresses. Tomorrow, I’ll ask Wang Fu to find the best tailor from the Colorful Clothes Pavilion to help you make some dresses. If you think of anything you need, just tell me. You are aware of Linghan’s condition. In the future, you will be the only first daughter of my Shen family, and you deserve the best things.”

Shen Ninghua looked surprised at first, and then her expression slowly turned into joy and uneasiness. “Father, my second sister used the medicine and her legs were already fine. She…”

Shen Dong patted her shoulder and looked like a loving father. “Ninghua, Linghan has framed you up many times. I am very heartbroken and angry. If she wasn’t my daughter, I would definitely drive her out of the family. Remember, you are my most cherished first daughter in the future.”

Shen Ninghua bit her lips, and her eyes were filled with gratitude. “Yes, I understand.”

Shen Dong nodded in satisfaction. “Well, you can go back now. I’ll let Wang Fu follow you to fetch the medicine.” He only cared about the joy in his heart but didn’t notice that Shen Ninghua’s lowered eyes were filled with explicit ridicule and coldness.

“Alright.”

After returning to Yingyue Courtyard, Shen Ninghua took out the box containing the medicines. Wang Fu stepped forward and took over the box. “Miss, I will send the medicines to the master first. If the young master doesn’t use them up, I will send the remaining ones back to you.”

Shen Ninghua didn’t care, nor did she mention leaving some medicines for her own use. She only nodded and agreed, “Yes, hurry up and send them over.”

After sending Wang Fu off, Bai Ruo closed the door of Yingyue Courtyard. She was very unhappy. “Miss, why did you give so many medicines to the eldest young master?” Shen Dong and Shen Xuanye took over a large amount of credit, yet they also had the audacity to continue asking for things from the young lady. They were truly abominable.

Shen Ninghua, on the other hand, was in a good mood. “Since he asked for the medicines, I shall give them to him.” Did they think they can easily analyze the ingredients of her medicines? She would just wait to see how they end up.

Seeing Shen Ninghua’s confidence, Bai Ruo felt slightly relieved. Just as she was about to say something, she heard a burst of crying.

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Hong Ling reported, “Miss, it’s from the second young lady’s Qinxue Courtyard. She seems to be punishing servants again.”

“Oh? Is she punishing Xiang Qiao?” The maids that Shen Ninghua sent to Qinxue Courtyard were more or less punished by Shen Linghan, but Xiang Qiao was punished exceptionally with more severity.

‘”Yes. I heard that the second young lady now loves seeing people holding hot kettles. She will put a copper kettle with boiling water in the hands of her maids. If a maid cries or throws away the copper kettle, she will have the maid pulled out and clubbed.” Hong Ling said angrily, and her tone was filled with disgust towards Shen Linghan.

Shen Ninghua sneered. “She doesn’t even bother to pretend now. But she used to be as weak as a willow branch trembling in the wind. You don’t need to care about her. Someone else will punish her in two days.” Madam Zhang must have hated Shen Linghan for a long time. Shen Ninghua only needed to wait and see how she vented her anger.

Hong Ling nodded. She bent over to approach Shen Ninghua’s ears and whispered, “Miss, I saw that Xiang Qiao had secretly come into contact with a lad servant. It seemed she bought some medicine from that servant.”

“What did she buy?” Shen Ninghua was curious.

Hong Ling secretly laughed, “Aphrodisiac!”