“And then?”
Ji Yunshu continued observing for a while before continuing, “Those driving the carriage have muscular physique and are all wearing shirts made of hemp. Their muscles indicate that they perform a lot of manual labor.. However, those young men and ladies are all dressed cleanly and neatly. Even though their clothing is not exquisite, it’s still decent. They have some semblance of the aura of a noble family, but they are all very respectful to the elder man. Look at the whip in the elder’s hand, it is neither old nor new. The way he holds it in his hand without using it indicates that the whip acts more like an accessory to the old man. Take a closer look at the handle of the whip, there’re some red and green stains. Similar stains can be seen on the carriages and the boxes as well.”
Jing Rong looked at where she pointed. Indeed, there were colourful stains on the carriages and the boxes.
“Then?” He sounded like a kid who was eager to learn.
Ji Yunshu smiled and sniffed briefly, “Can’t the Prince recognise the smell?”
Huh? Smell? He imitated Ji Yunshu as he sniffed, “Yes, there’s a smell. But, I… Can’t tell what is it.”
“That’s oil paint!”
“Oil paint?”
Ji Yunshu nodded, “Prince probably does not know about that oil paint is a type of viscous liquid that contains oil and colouring. It’s normally used for body painting or professional make-up. People rarely use for drawing.”
It had now become clear to Jing Rong as Ji Yunshu explained. He came to a realisation, “They’re the people who sing in the opera!” No wonder! No wonder!
Ji Yunshu smiled with her pursed lips, “Yes, they are the opera actors. I reckon that they’re on their way to Anfu County for a show,” she said with certainty.
At this moment, two people in the group opened up three of the boxes. They took out a few opera headdresses and wiped off the dust covering them with a dry cloth.
All the doubt in Jing Rong’s mind was cleared. At this point, he had been completely convinced by Ji Yunshu. They’re really opera actors! He stared at Ji Yunshu with his eyebrows furrowed and asked curiously, “Woman, what on earth do you keep inside your head?”
“The thing inside my head is definitely my brain.” The words slipped out of her mouth.
Pfft… Jing Rong could not help by chuckled. “Undeniably, you’re smarter than those people who only know how to read. This is how my Princess Consort should be.” He sounded proud!
It was no surprise that Ji Yunshu rolled her eyes at him.
Meanwhile…
The sound of someone retching reached their ears. Aunty Xie appeared to be in pain and was retching with her hands covering her chest. Her face turned pale in a split second.
Ji Yunshu stood up and walked over quickly, “Aunty Xie, how are you?” She patted Aunty Xie’s back gently. Aunty Xie, who was trying to catch her breath, shook her head, then waved her hand and said weakly, “I’m fine.”
Mo Ruo noticed what happened and reckoned it was the right time for him to act. He stood up from the ground lazily, without forgetting to tell Wei Yi, “Warm the wine properly. I want to drink it later.”
He then casually walked to the riverside to wash his hands before walking towards Aunty Xie to check her pulse. “What you have are some chronic illnesses. It’ll get better after you get some rest. However, since you are feeling warm at your chest and your veins are swollen, it suggests that your veins are congested. You need to take good care of yourself. I’ve prepared some medicine in the carriage, but… I don’t have Fu Ginseng. I can only look for it when we get to Anfu County.” Mo Ruo said.
Ji Yunshu said worriedly, “There’s still quite a distance before we can arrive at Anfu. Is there any other way to cure Aunty Xie’s illness?”
“No. It’s necessary to use Fu Ginseng for complete healing.”
“We’re in the middle of our way. If we are to return to Yuzhou City now, it’ll take up another half of the day. That journey…”
As he spoke… “I have Fu Ginseng.” The voice came from the young lady who was addressed as Zhan Mo earlier.
She muttered a few words to the young maid beside her before the latter went to retrieve some Fu Ginseng from the carriage. However, they were halted by the old leader. “Zhan Mo, you spent a few taels on this Fu Ginseng. How can you give it to someone you don’t know so easily?”
“It’s fine. You can deduct it from my salary.”
Zhan Mo took the Fu Ginseng from the young maid as she spoke, placing it carefully by Aunty Xie’s side. “I often boil medicine with this, hence, I always have it by my side. Since you need it urgently, you should have this.” Her voice was nice but weak.
Ji Yunshu thanked her, “Thank you, young lady. Let me buy this from you,” as she was about to pay her with some silvers.
“There’s no need to pay me. It isn’t worth much. At the moment, it’s more important to save a person,” she said as she turned around and went back. A pleasant, faint fragrance lingered in the air. It was nothing like the strong and pungent scent on most other ladies and seemed to be from her hand-brazier.
Mo Ruo took the ginseng and glanced at Zhan Mo before he ordered someone to bring him the other materials from the carriage. In the blink of an eye, a bowl of medicine was prepared.
Aunty Xie felt better after she took the medication. After she regained her composure, she thanked them one by one. Seeing that it was late and Aunty Xie was not feeling well, Jing Rong ordered everyone to resume their journey.
When they were ready to leave, Mo Ruo could not stop turning around to look at Zhan Mo, and worse, he did it blatantly. Consequently, Jing Rong had to drag Mo Ruo up to the carriage and share his carriage with the latter.
The stench of wine lingered in the whole carriage; a number of wine bottles littering the floor. “Did you drink everything from the cellar?”
Mo Ruo did not reply. He drew the curtain open and stuck his head out of the carriage to continue checking Zhan Mo out. Jing Rong dragged him back into the carriage and said, “Are you finished looking at her? She’s a lady.”
“Jing Rong.” He shouted in a serious tone out of nowhere.
“What?”
“Do you realise that there’s something different about the lady?”
“Different?” Jing Rong thought about it and said, “She has a nose and two eyes. There’s nothing special about her. I wonder if she is your dream lover?”
“Get lost.” he said, “As I see, her eyes and eyebrows are drooping, pupils are slightly widened, and the corner of her lips is pale. The weirder thing is that her neck has a darker skin tone than other part of her skin. When she spoke, I took a look at her tongue on purpose, and I realised the tip of her tongue was slightly yellowish but the dorsum is white. Her fingers are long and delicate but weak. Moreover, she has Fu Ginseng with her all the time. No one will bring this medicine with them all the time if they don’t have any long-standing illness.”
He froze in surprise. You’re such a pervert!
Jing Rong frowned, “You looked at a lady’s tongue? Mo Ruo, your interests… This Prince can never understand it.” He said seriously.
Mo Ruo was speechless. Brother, can you focus on the important parts?
“What is in your mind? I’m saying that she has heart-related illness. It’s said that one can use Fu Ginseng as medication if one has weak body. But if one has weak heart, taking too much of the cool-natured Fu Ginseng will exacerbate the illness. It is advised to better not touch Fu Ginseng at all.”
As Mo Ruo spoke, Jing Rong squinted and his expression turned serious.
