After bidding farewell to Doctor Zhong, Song Yihuan retraced her steps back to Prince Ning's Mansion, constantly pondering over the "Carefree Divine Doctor" that Doctor Zhong had mentioned.
It was said that this person's whereabouts were hard to trace. As a young lady confined to the inner courtyard all year round, she really had no way to find out about him.
The only person she could think of to help was Uncle Qi. Uncle Qi had a noodle stall by the painting boat dock and knew many boat captains there. Those boat captains traveled far and wide and must know someone who could find out the whereabouts of the "Carefree Divine Doctor"!
Song Yihuan was so excited that her whole heart was trembling. She clenched the sleeves of her robe to force herself to calm down.
No matter what, she had to find this person first. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, she would never give up. Coincidentally, there were also some things she wanted Uncle Qi to investigate for her. It seemed that she had to find a time to visit Uncle Qi with gifts.
Song Yihuan suddenly stopped, squatted down to pat her calf, and took the opportunity to look behind her.
She wondered if it was just her imagination, but she always felt as if someone was following her.
She had been in a hurry to chase Doctor Zhong and had taken narrow and deserted alleys. Night had fallen, and the streets and alleys of the capital were now plunged into darkness. Looking back, there was only a dense expanse of darkness, and not a single figure could be seen.
Suddenly, Song Yihuan remembered the wanted notice she had seen on the bulletin board in the Western Market a few days ago.
She composed herself and continued walking forward as if nothing had happened, but in fact, her palms were full of cold sweat and her heart was pounding.
She subconsciously quickened her pace, paying close attention to the sounds behind her as she walked. She was determined to shout for help at the slightest sign of trouble.
Fortunately, there was no sign of anything unusual behind her until she reached the back gate of Prince Ning's Mansion. She slipped into the mansion and closed the door tightly behind her, then let out a sigh of relief.
Hiding her figure in the shadow of the trees, Song Yihuan carefully avoided the patrolling guards and servants and successfully returned to Tinglan Courtyard.
Back in her room, Song Yihuan sat down at the table. She carefully took out the prescription she had gotten from Doctor Zhong from her bosom, placed it under the lamp, and gently unfolded it.
Under the light, the prescription read:
Anemarrhena asphodeloides, Cortex Phellodendri, Angelica sinensis, Leonurus japonicus, Cinnamon twig, Dandelion...
Song Yihuan's gaze passed over the names of the herbs one by one. Finally, she put the prescription into the candle flame and burned it to ashes. Then she found another piece of paper, picked up a pen, and copied the prescription in a completely different handwriting.
After finishing all this, when the ink had dried, she carefully folded the new prescription and stored it in a place only she knew.
Her gaze fell on the stack of "Miscellaneous Records of Yangshan" on the table. She had intended to continue copying it, but somehow the words Doctor Zhong had said earlier came back to her mind.
"Coincidentally, the young master asked me the same question just now."
Although Ji Lingchuan was always cold and never said a kind word to her, he seemed quite concerned about Xuan'er. It was a pity that Doctor Zhong couldn't cure Xuan'er's heart disease.
Should she thank him?
"Meow?" Taixue had quietly slipped into her room at some point. It meowed and then jumped onto her table, nuzzling her palm with its nose.
An idea flashed through Song Yihuan's mind. She picked up the embroidered money bag, picked up Taixue, and quietly left Tinglan Courtyard. She followed the path towards the garden of Prince Ning's Mansion.
She didn't dare to sit openly in the pavilion and wait. Instead, she found a thick bush to hide her figure and played with the cat beside her. From time to time, she looked up at the pavilion, but no one ever came.
She didn't know why she had come or why she was waiting. As time passed and the pavilion remained empty, she couldn't help but let out a sigh and scold herself for being meddlesome in her heart.
She really thought too highly of herself. How could Ji Lingchuan come to this pavilion to enjoy the cool every day? Did she really think he was waiting for her specifically?
Picking up Taixue, Song Yihuan calmly patted the grass clippings off her body and left quietly.
Song Yihuan carried the prescription in her hand and always felt a little uneasy. But she was patient. She specifically waited in Prince Ning's Mansion for three days, sitting in her room and copying a lot of "Miscellaneous Records of Yangshan".
Perhaps because her elder sister was "sick", Shulan Courtyard had been peaceful these days and hadn't caused her any trouble.
Song Yihuan learned from Fuling that the capital city had been in a state of panic these days. It was said that the murderer who had killed several girls hadn't been caught yet, and he had committed another crime these days. Two more women had died at the hands of the villain. Ji Lingchuan had been busy with the government yamen trying to catch the murderer these days and was often out of the mansion from early morning till late at night.
Since Ji Lingchuan was not around, presumably her elder sister wouldn't keep a close eye on Tinglan Courtyard. Song Yihuan thought the time was right. On the fourth day, she changed into a coarse cloth dress of an ordinary commoner, put on a veil hat, avoided the patrolling guards and servants in Prince Ning's Mansion, and quietly left the mansion with the "Miscellaneous Records of Yangshan" she had copied these days in her arms.
Song Yihuan didn't just go out today to deliver the "Miscellaneous Records of Yangshan" she had copied to the bookstore. She had something more important to do.
At Youyang Bookstore, Boss Sheng's face lit up with surprise when he saw her come with a thick stack of books. "To have copied so many in such a short time, you really live up to your reputation, Miss Rou!"
Boss Sheng flipped through each of the books she had copied in front of Song Yihuan and nodded constantly. "The quality of the books Miss Rou has copied is as good as ever. Maybe even if the 'Ingenious Gentleman' himself came, he wouldn't be able to tell that these weren't his original copies."
Considering that Song Yihuan was short of silver now, Boss Sheng immediately settled a sum of silver with her.
When Song Yihuan received the heavy silver from Boss Sheng, she looked surprised. "Boss Sheng, did you make a mistake? You've given me too much."
Boss Sheng smiled. "No, I've raised your reward. It used to be twenty wen per book, but since you copy so well, with no typos and the pages are very neat, I've raised it to sixty wen per book. When the books start selling, you'll also get a commission of five wen for each book sold."
Song Yihuan didn't expect such a pleasant surprise when she went out today. She was in urgent need of money and wasn't going to complain about getting more silver.
She put away the silver, thanked Boss Sheng repeatedly, and then left the bookstore.
She touched the prescription hidden in her sleeve with her finger, took a deep breath, and walked towards the nearest medical clinic.
Finding out what disease the prescription Doctor Zhong had given her elder sister was for was the real purpose of her going out today.
In Shande Medical Clinic, there weren't many patients. When Song Yihuan stepped into the clinic, she deliberately lowered the veil hat on her head to cover her face even more. She waited in the clinic for a while. When a female doctor was free, she walked forward.
"Does this young lady have any discomfort?" The female doctor looked up at Song Yihuan and asked.