The Jade Gentleman - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The plums were still green, and pomegranate blossoms burned bright red.

The midsummer breeze carried a touch of heat as it drifted into Heli Hall.

Beneath the thin gauze curtains, I was trapped in a nightmare, my brows tightly furrowed, when I suddenly startled awake.

Yingshi, beside me, jumped in fright.

“Seventh Miss!”

She moved a little closer and looked at me with worry. “…What happened?”

I sat on the bed without expression.

Listless and dispirited.

Noticing that I had woken, Sushang, who had been going over the account books in the outer room, also came over.

Seeing how drained I looked, she sat down beside me and asked gently, “Did Seventh Miss have a nightmare?”

I nodded lightly.

When I thought back to the scene in my dream, where Yin Congjian had broken off our engagement, my heart filled with displeasure.

Clutching my chest, I leaned into the arms of the person beside my bed and called softly, “Sushang… I feel awful.”

Pity rose in Sushang’s eyes.

She gently stroked the top of my head, then picked up the bowl of medicine that had been kept warm nearby. “…Be good, Seventh Miss. Let’s drink your medicine. Once you’ve had it, you won’t feel so awful anymore.”

With my face scrunched up, I drank down the sour, bitter medicine.

Yingshi looked pained, as if she could hardly bear to watch.

After hesitating for a moment, she suddenly said, “Sister Sushang… when the General returns to the capital, why don’t we ask her to find Seventh Miss a different physician?”

Sushang looked over. “Why do you say that?”

Yingshi looked at her seriously and said, “Sister, you may not know this, but three months ago, a medical clinic opened in the capital.”

“The owner of the clinic is a master of medicine. Lingering illnesses and strange diseases alike-she cures almost every one she treats. Her skill with silver needles is even said to be miraculous, and she has quite a reputation among the common people.”

At this point, she suddenly paused.

“Only…”

Sushang could not help pressing, “Only what?”

Yingshi sighed, then continued, “Only, the owner of this clinic has an eccentric temperament. When she treats the sick and saves lives, she doesn’t care about family background. It all depends on her own likes and dislikes. Even if you are a high-ranking noble, she is extremely difficult to invite.”

Sushang’s brows knitted slightly, and her face showed displeasure. “What sort of physician is that? How arrogant!”

Yingshi said helplessly, “She is a woman from the Chu region.”

The moment the words left her mouth, there was a loud clang. The bowl in my hands had fallen to the floor.

I stared blankly at Yingshi and murmured in a daze:

“…A woman from the Chu region?”

Chapter 2

The engagement between the Xiao and Yin families had been settled many years ago.

Yin Congjian’s betrothed was originally my elder sister Baojun, who was the same age as him, not me, who was four years younger.

But he was simply too handsome.

So when I was seven, I ran to find my elder sister and asked if she could give me her fiancé.

My elder sister doted on me, so she agreed at once.

When our eldest uncle learned of it, he repeatedly said it was improper. “…This was a marriage arranged by your parents before they passed. How can there be any sense in changing the bride halfway?”

My elder sister laughed.

Holding me steadily in her arms, she said in a clear voice, “Eldest Uncle, I have only this one younger sister… Forget a mere marriage contract. Even if she wanted the stars in the sky, there would only be things Bao’er did not want-nothing I could not give her!”

From that moment on, Yin Congjian belonged to me, Xiao Bao’er.

But in that dream, after he fell into the water and lost his memory, his personality changed completely. He actually hid it from the family elders and came in person to break off the engagement between the Xiao and Yin families.

He even declared that, in this life, he would marry no one but that female physician from the Chu region.

If I had not known, then fine.

But now that I already knew Yin Congjian would break off the engagement with me in the future, how could someone as petty and overbearing as me possibly endure it?

I immediately grew furious with him.

For several days in a row, I remained gloomy and unhappy, until Sushang truly could not bear to watch any longer.

She held me and sighed. “Seventh Miss… my dear Seventh Miss! What on earth is wrong? You’re so unhappy you’ve even grown thinner.”

“Sushang…”

I called to her, lifted my face, and looked fixedly at her. “Someone bullied me.”

Sushang was startled for a moment.

“Who?”

“Second Brother.”

My family’s Second Elder Brother was currently serving as an official away from the capital. As for who the Second Brother I meant was, it did not require much thought.

The person before me immediately let out a breath of relief. “…The young lord of the Yin family?”

I nodded firmly.

Holding back a laugh, Sushang asked, “Then where did he bully Seventh Miss?”

I blinked.

“In a dream.”

“So that’s what happened.” Sushang smiled at me and teased, “What will it take for Seventh Miss to stop being angry?”

A surge of irritation rose in my heart, and I said sulkily, “I want to bully him back!”

“In a dream?”

“No. At Yuanyin Temple.”

I looked at her, my expression very serious. “Sushang, go find Eldest Aunt and tell her I miss Second Brother. Say I want him to accompany me to Yuanyin Temple to pray for blessings and copy scriptures, and also to escape the summer heat while we’re at it.”

Sushang smiled and shook her head, but in the end, she still went to the main courtyard.

Three days later, early in the morning.

Beside the carriage bound for Yuanyin Temple, there was an additional fine horse.

Yin Congjian, whom I had not seen for many days, stood tall and straight outside the gateway, his handsome face cool and solemn.

When he saw me, his expression softened at once.

“Bao’er.”

He called my name gently, the corners of his mouth curving slightly as he said in a soft voice:

“Have you finished the osmanthus candy I bought you last time?”