Chapter 20 – An eccentric divine doctor isn"t reliable
"Daddy, what did you say?" Chu Qing-Yan handed over the Tanghulu she just purchased from a seller, soon after, she recalled the words Daddy seemed to have said. She couldn"t help but to ask, with her head slanted towards Daddy.
A pity that now, in Daddy"s eyes, there was only this Tanghulu. Where would he have the mind to pay attention to what she was asking. No, in Daddy"s eyes, there was still Mother, as a matter of fact, Daddy was already joyously running to find Mother.
Chu Qing-Yan shook her head and burst out laughing somewhat helplessly. Just now, she suddenly thought of those several people they had encountered on the street, so she couldn"t help but to turn around and look. Unfortunately, the crowd was bustling with activity, so she didn"t see that man who was extraordinary from head to toe again.
Just when Chu Qing-Yan turned around to continue walking forward, that person dressed in luxurious black clothing stood under a huge tree, his clear and cold gaze looking in her direction. The breeze lightly brushed past, lifting up the corner of his black clothing. On the side of his face, a silver l.u.s.ter shined faintly under the sunlight.
"Your Highness, that little young lady is Chu family"s little Miss." A subordinate looked in the direction his family master"s gaze was watching, and immediately reported.
"Uh-huh." Xiao Xu faintly responded, even without the reminder from his subordinate, he had already recognized her. That girl who had rescued him once in Mao Village now, through a freak combination of factors, had become his partner in this bestowed marriage. She wasn"t really tall and didn"t even reach his chest, still possessing the innocence of childhood. When she smiled, two little canine teeth would be exposed, with two shallow dimples.
Don"t blame Xiao Xu for looking at her every detail. Whether it was being rescued in Mao Village or maybe that chance encounter in Chu family, he had never seen this girl in the daylight. He was still somewhat curious with regards to this courageous, insightful, witty and prudent little girl.
However, it was only curiosity, his heart wasn"t set on Chu Qing-Yan. Based on his thinking, Chu Qing-Yan would very quickly leave his line of sight. Because, when all"s said and done, she would run away from Chu family and escape this marriage.
"Master, it seems that Chu family"s surveillance towards this Miss has become tighter and tighter." The subordinate couldn"t help but to say in surprise.
Xiao Xu, heaving heard what was said, raised his eyes to look around. Just as he said, he finally saw several furtive servants in Chu family attire concealed in the crowd. This lousy tracking skill could deceive Chu Qing-Yan"s group of people, but could not escape his eyes.
"Where is Fire Spirit?" Xiao Xu frowned, according to reason, Elder Chu would very quickly be celebrating his birthday, and Chu Qing-Yan should be secretly preparing for the matter of running away. How could she still be in the mood to take a stroll on the street? Moreover, with so many people following behind, it was either that Chu family had started to doubt her or that her plan was exposed. What kind of situation, only Fire Spirit would be the most clear about.
Once he finished speaking, Fire Spirit had already been summoned over.
Fire Spirit smiled unnaturally at his family"s Highness. Originally, he thought that His Highness hadn"t detected the wrongness from just now, so he could avoid this calamity. How could he have known that he hadn’t walked a far distance before being called back.
"Your Highness——"
"Reason."
Before Fire Spirit had the time to finish speaking, he had already been coldly cut off by a word from Xiao Xu.
Fire Spirit rubbed his nose and didn"t dare to conceal the truth. So, he systematically narrated out this matter in full detail.
After Xiao Xu finished listening to this matter, his gaze landed on Fire Spirit"s body. It was like a stone that weighed five hundred kilograms was pressing down on Fire Spirit"s body. He became so stiff that he was unable to move a single step.
"Fire Spirit, you went against this king"s order?" Although it was a question, it contained certainty.
Fire Spirit immediately kneeled down, "Your Highness, subordinate didn"t move to prevent this was also for you."
Xiao Xu looked at the stubborn Fire Spirit kneeling on the ground, slightly closed his eyes, and finally, he slowly opened his mouth to say, "Just this once."
Fire Spirit answered and got up, soon after, he raised his head to ask very cautiously, "Your Highness, then now——"
"I"m afraid it"s not a question of whether she wants to run away or not, rather, she no longer has a chance." Fire Spirit had just finished briefing the matter of her and everyone in Chu family"s confrontation and debate, from that, he had already guessed Chu Qing-Yan had used the stratagem of cutting off her means of retreat to place herself in a field of death, so she could fight to live (1). Really couldn"t see a ten-year-old girl doll thinking of using this stratagem. Really made him a little bit astonished.
However, whether this girl could smoothly, safely and soundly live till the big day of the marriage, was still hard to fathom.
A feeling of pity towards her emerged in Xiao Xu"s heart. Chu family unjustly trapped her, forcing her to enter a maelstorm. And because of him, from now on, maybe she"ll get caught up in eternal d.a.m.nation with no hope of reprieve.
"Just now, you said she wanted to look for a doctor for her father?" Xiao Xu asked.
"That"s right, Your Highness, I heard it"s to cure her father"s symptoms of being a simpleton. However, more than ten years have pa.s.sed, from this subordinate"s point of view, this matter is unresolvable." Fire Spirit hardly refrained from disapproving of Chu Qing-Yan"s decision on this.
"If there is an opportunity, recommend the Divine Doctor Luo to her. But do it subtly, don"t let her detect it."
Now, he could only make up a bit for her and consider it a bit returned.
Having heard what was said, Fire Spirit"s eyes opened wide and looked at his family"s Highness in disbelief. He hadn"t misheard it, right? This was the first time he saw His Highness"s heart show consideration to a girl. And still, such a young girl doll at that! Could it be that His Highness suffered some stimulation outside of the city? Now, he had some interest in pedophilia?
Although before, he didn"t want Chu Qing-Yan to escape this arranged marriage, it was entirely from not wanting His Highness to be humiliated from having a new wife that ran away. Now, seeing how Master protected Chu Qing-Yan, Fire Spirit was once again somewhat upset. What qualities on this little girl doll was worthy of his highly esteemed Master!
Compared to Fire Spirit"s chaos from this news, Xiao Xu had already left indifferently. Completely unaware of the ten thousand waves in his subordinate"s heart.
And on this side, Chu Qing-Yan, under the guidance of pa.s.ser-bys, found the address for a Divine Doctor. Immediately, she brought her parents to trace after this doctor.
Until they stopped in front of a worn-out vendor"s stall.
"Excuse me, may I ask, are you the Divine Doctor Zhu with the magical hand to bring the dying back to life?" Although her heart had some misgivings, Chu Qing-Yan still respectfully asked.
"Divine Doctor, are you calling me?" That man sitting with his back to them, immersed in doing G.o.d knows what. Having heard what was said, the male dressed in a gray gown immediately lifted his head up, revealing a shifty-eyed face.
Chu Qing-Yan recoiled back from being scared by this action of his. Then, her calm expression was immediately restored and she asked, smiling, "That"s right, the Divine Doctor this younger generation called to is really you."
Seeing Chu Qing-Yan like this, the male very happily stroked his 八 character-like beard. Squinting in a wily way while asking, "That"s right, I am Divine Doctor Zhu, don"t know if this little Miss is here for divination using trigrams or fortune-telling?"
"Trigrams? Fortune-telling?" Chu Qing-Yan stared blankly, in the wake of such fast change in topic, she couldn"t react immediately. Why did seeking medical treatment and drugs turn into divination using trigrams and fortune-telling?
"That"s right, divination using trigrams is just drawing divination sticks. If it"s fortune-telling, then directly extend your palm out. But, no matter what type you choose, this divine doctor guarantees a complete reading. Little Miss, do you want to have it read by yourself, or bring your parents into it to be read together? If your family of three wants to be read together, I"ll give you a discount and charge you the price for reading two people"s fortune. How about it? This divine doctor really likes to do a good turn. I am THE Divine Doctor within a range of 100 li (2). You guys ought to know that revealing the inscrutable twists in fate requires one"s lifespan to be shortened. This divine doctor is braving danger of losing a life to divine you guys" trigrams and tell your fortunes." Finished speaking, this man put on the impa.s.sioned appearance of giving one"s life to get justice. It made Daddy Chu split out a little bit of his attention from the Tanghulu to look at him.
"Aren"t you a doctor that treats people"s illnesses? Why did you start a fortune-telling business?" The corner of Chu Qing-Yan"s mouth pumped. Could it be that the doctors in this age still had side jobs to balance like fortune-telling?
"My last name is Zhu, first name Divine Doctor, that"s not wrong! Little Miss. I didn"t say I"m called Divine Doctor and is a real divine doctor ah!"
Chu Qing-Yan placed her hand over her forehead, so. it turned out she had met an unreliable swindler ah.
"Pig, your nose has two holes. Pig, your ears are that big. Flipping back and forth, still can"t hear me curse you for being stupid——"
At this moment, Daddy Chu"s joyous off-key song blew over along with the wind, and Chu Qing-Yan silently turned her eyes away.
1) The stratagem of cutting off her means of retreat to place herself in a field of death, so she could fight to live: One of the strategy from The Art of War a book by Sun Tzu from 5th century BC in China. This strategy refer to cutting off all possible routes of escape so the soldiers would fight harder.
2) Li: one Li is equal to 500 meters. I"m too lazy to do the conversions as I did for DKC so sticking to ancient Chinese metrics.