Chapter 356: Chapter 137: Hibiscus_1
In the lonely spring courtyard, the cold moon turns to frost.
The wind lifted the corners of the young man’s crimson robe, as he stood amidst the sparse tree shadows, his brows and eyes illuminated by a sliver of moonlight piercing through the branches.
Lu Tong’s brow furrowed slightly. What was Pei Yunmeng doing here?
Pei Yunmeng walked up to Lu Tong and said, "Doctor Lu."
Then he paused, stared at her with a smile, and said, "No, that’s not right. I should call you Medical Officer now."
The term "Medical Officer," falling on the ears of a disheveled Lu Tong in the Southern Pharmacy, sounded like a thoughtless mockery.
Lu Tong glanced around, saw no one else, and suddenly grabbed Pei Yunmeng’s sleeve, swiftly walking towards the other end.
Pei Yunmeng was slightly taken aback, his gaze falling on her grip on his sleeve. He didn’t speak, letting her lead him into an old medicine shop not far away.
The pharmacy was small, piled with some old and uncommon medicines. As soon as the door was pushed open, it stirred up a fine dust. Lu Tong pushed Pei Yunmeng into the room, shut the door with the back of her hand, and when she turned around, she saw him leaning against the window, looking around the room. Upon seeing her close the door, he feigned surprise, "What is Doctor Lu intending to do?"
Lu Tong turned towards him and asked, "Why would Lord Pei come to the Southern Pharmacy?"
"Just passing by."
"Passing by?"
He looked down at Lu Tong, his tone a bit strange, "Medical Officer Lu wouldn’t think I specifically came to see you, would she?"
Lu Tong choked on her words and said, "I’m not so presumptuous."
Of course, she would not assume that Pei Yunmeng had come to see her, yet his presence at the Southern Pharmacy late at night inevitably led to speculation. He was secretive in his actions, and she had not forgotten about Shen Fengying leading people in a late-night search for an assassin in the palace. Being new to her position, she naturally did not want to attract any unnecessary trouble.
Pei Yunmeng laughed lightly, leaned against the window looking at her, "So, why did you pull me in here?"
Lu Tong collected her thoughts and looked up, "I thought Lord Pei would not want others to know of your acquaintance with me, so I deliberately avoided them to prevent causing you any trouble."
Her words dripped with irony, but this made Pei Yunmeng pause slightly, and after pondering for a moment, he uncertainly said, "Your words sound as if you’re blaming me for not greeting you that day."
The day Lu Tong joined the Medical Officer Institute, she encountered the Imperial Guards of the Palace Front Office on her way to register her name and brushed past Pei Yunmeng. At that time, he was aloof, too stingy to spare a glance for anyone else, indifferently walking past her.
"How could that be?" Lu Tong revealed a feigned smile, "There are many rules in the palace, and there’s a difference between Lord Pei’s status and mine. I still possess that self-awareness."
Lu Qian once said that she had a knack for sarcasm, and now it seemed that this talent had not been buried.
Pei Yunmeng stared at her for a while as if trying to discern her emotions behind those words, and Lu Tong met his gaze openly.
After a while, he sighed but did not continue to dwell on this topic. He simply said, "So you pulled me into this dark room?"
"Indeed."
Pei Yunmeng clicked his tongue, nodded and said, "Makes sense." Then he changed the subject, "But in the darkness, with just a young man and a maiden together, those who don’t know any better might think we’re having an illicit affair here."
The dimple at the corner of his mouth was faintly discernible under the weak light, a malicious tease in his leisurely tone, half-seriously advising, "If someone were to see us, it’d be a scandal even if there’s nothing going on."
Lu Tong was speechless.
He was the proud and aloof silver-bladed Marshal, yet at times like these, his frivolous demeanor would make one wonder if the person who had once been cold and rebellious in the blood-splattered Prince’s Mansion was somebody else entirely.
A habitual actor.
Thinking this, Lu Tong’s gaze fell upon a bamboo-woven food basket beside him.
The basket was familiar; Lu Tong remembered that when she visited Pei Yunshu’s residence for consultations, Pei Yunshu would often send some pastries to Pei Yunmeng in a basket of this style, with a pair of red magpies with their tails lifted on the bamboo handle, lively and joyful.
Now, Lu Tong believed that Pei Yunmeng was indeed just passing by the Southern Pharmacy; after all, no one on their way to carry out important tasks would carry a food basket with them.
Noticing Lu Tong’s gaze, Pei Yunmeng followed it and casually asked, "Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
He smiled, "Want to try some?" gesturing for Lu Tong to take from the food basket next to him.
Lu Tong wanted to refuse, but her stomach growled faintly. Earlier, she had returned empty-handed from the kitchen, having only had a medicinal cake Ah Xiu had given her during the day, and it seemed she was destined to go hungry tonight.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t endure hunger.