Near the dock in Fucheng, Jinzhen Escort Agency had rented a shop to attract new business. Recently, Zhao Jinge  felt that just one shop was too small to house all the people and goods, so he bought a house in the city with the earnings Zheng Yi had just given to him from Qingfeng House and put up the plaque, “Jinzhen Escort Agency.”

When he left the escort agency, he took his servant boy Ruo’er with him to see a doctor.

After staying in the city for a long time, Zhao Jinge was already very familiar with the city, so it wasn’t long before he came to a nearby pharmacy and found a doctor inside.

“What’s wrong?” the old doctor looked at Zhao Jinge and asked.

“No, Doctor, I just want you to check if I am pregnant.” Zhao Jinge held out his hand.

The doctor had seen a lot of things, so he wasn’t surprised that Zhao Jinge was a ger, so he just smiled and took Zhao Jinge’s pulse.

Zhao Jinge looked at the doctor expectantly, but after the doctor let go of his hand, he shook his head.

“Madam, you are not pregnant,” the doctor said.

“Oh . . .” Zhao Jinge felt a little lost.

“Madam you have been  a little too tired lately, so it will not be easy to have a baby. If you want to get pregnant, you should rest, and I can also give you some prescription,” the doctor added.

Zhao Jinge was indeed a bit tired these days, and after thinking about it, he nodded his head and agreed, “Doctor, then you can prescribe some medicine for me. I am having some trouble with sleeping lately. What should I take?” Growing up, he hadn’t taken much medication, but these days, he was distracted, making him exhausted, so he wanted to take some medication to improve his condition.

The doctor took a look at Zhao Jinge’s tired face and his old clothes, which were made of good material. The doctor quickly prescribed him medicine, writing down red dates, gelatin, and other ingredients whose prices were not too expensive but could nourish the body.

The doctors on this side of the city were a little different from the doctors in Hecheng Country, but at the very least, they earned much more money than the doctors in Hecheng Country.

In fact, it would be fine if Zhao Jinge just had a good rest, but a little medicine to eat would not be bad, right?

“You go over there and grab the medicine.” The doctor finished preparing the prescription and then said to Zhao Jinge.

The prescription was not very expensive, only 70 copper coins for a package and could be added to his meals. Zhao Jinge took out 2 pieces of silver  and bought 10 packages.

The medicine had to be weighed and measured, which took a lot of time, so Zhao Jinge waited on the side, a little lost in his own thoughts.

He didn’t know what Jiang Zhen was doing at the moment.

Although days turned a little warmer now, it was still a little cold. He didn’t know how Jiang Zhen spent his days outside or how he lived; when it rained, did he have a place to stay . . .

If he got sick, he would be unable to get medicine from outside . . .

Zhao Jinge became more and more uncomfortable when he suddenly felt that someone was falling his way.

Although he was a little distracted, he was still alert, so when he noticed, he subconsciously got out of the way, making the person who staggered knock onto the counter of the pharmacy.

The person was fine but not so lucky; she tore the medicine bag that was wrapped inside paper in her hands, making a lot of herb spill out.

Only then Zhao Jinge noticed that the woman who almost fell was in her  thirties. She was pale and looked very uncomfortable.

Zhao Jinge felt a little guilty at this result; if he hadn’t been distracted just then, he would have been able to catch her.

“Are you okay?” Zhao Jinge asked, wanting to help the woman. “Sorry.”

But he didn’t expect that by offering help, he would get in trouble.

“My medicine! You spilled my medicine!” The woman grabbed Zhao Jinge hand to help herself up and immediately said, “You pay for it!”

Zhao Jinge was a bit overwhelmed by the reaction; it was true that he dodge but this medicine spilling has nothing to do with him.

Moreover, although the medicine was spilled it could still be picked up and washed. Even frying it wouldn’t have much of an impact.

“Pay me money!” The woman’s face was still not very good and her fierce expression did not match her weak appearance at all.

Zhao Jinge frowned when he saw her appearance; he was quite good-tempered, but he was not happy to be so falsely accused. “You fell and hit the cabinet yourself, ripping the medicine bag. What does it have to do with me?”

“It’s obvious that you pushed me!” the woman said, with a twinkle in her eye. She also added, “You also touched me and took advantage of me!”

In fact, everyone did not see clearly how that woman fell just then, but Zhao Jinge helping her was seen by many people.

At that moment, many people frowned as they looked at Zhao Jinge and were dissatisfied with him, a big man bullying a woman! 

Took advantage of her? “I took advantage of you?” Zhao Jinge could not help laughing. 

“You’re talking nonsense. How could my madam take advantage of you!” Ruo’er, who followed Zhao Jinge, also added.

Madam? When everyone took a closer look at Zhao Jinge, immediately, they became afraid that they might have wronged Zhao Jinge.

However, that woman refused to give in. “What’s wrong with you being ger? It’s not like there are no ger who like women! You spilled my medicine. You have to pay for it! You spilled my life-saving medicine and you still want to deny it?”

Although she spoke  aggressively, she didn’t look too good. Her shaken looks made many people feel sympathetic to her. A middle-aged man dressed as a scholar saw this and also said to Zhao Jinge, “You are also at fault for this. You should pay her some money.”

“Yes. You should compensate her a little,” another person said.

From the way Zhao Jinge was dressed, although he didn’t look very rich, it was clear that he didn’t worry about clothes or food. He also brought a servant boy with him . . . Everyone thought that he should spend some money to settle this matter.

But Zhao Jinge only frowned and his tone became worse. “Why should I pay for it?”

Zhao Jinge did not look very easy to mess with, so that woman shrank, becoming a little scared. But the middle-aged man who spoke first, asked Zhao Jing to pay for it and became more and more dissatisfied. “You are a ger. How come you have such a bad temper? You can’t win the man’s love at home, so you come here to show off your authority? How dare you bully a weak woman.”

The middle-aged man looked at Zhao Jinge in disgust, and his words were vicious, making Zhao Jinge, who was already in a bad mood recently, even angrier, making him want to hit someone.

“Some people really like to lie with their eyes open.” Just then, someone snorted coldly.

When the crowd looked over, they saw a 27- or 28-year-old woman sitting at the table used by the pharmacy to  entertain some distinguished guests, looking over with a cold smile.

The table used by distinguished guests was separated from the pharmacy by bamboo curtains, but the curtain was lifted by a maid, allowing those outside to see the woman’s appearance inside.

She was wearing gold and silver but didn’t look tacky at all. On the contrary, she looked like a noble, and just with glance, they knew that her origin was extraordinary.

But even though she looked like a noblewoman, when she spoke, she was extremely impolite.

“It’s obvious that this woman herself broke the medicine bag in her hand but still wants to frame others. But there is a group of people who still want to help her,” the woman said before looking at Zhao Jinge: “Boss Zhao, if you encounter such people in the future, you should not talk to them properly. Just directly slap them!”

Zhao Jinge has never seen this woman before, so he was a little surprised to see that the other party recognized him, but soon, he thought it was normal.

He had recently taken on a lot of business from various women from big families, so he had made a name for himself in the circle of ladies in the capital. It was, therefore, not surprising that someone recognized him. He looked quite recognizable after all.

Zhao Jinge was grateful to the woman who helped him speak, yet he was also worried that he might have dragged her down with him, but he soon found out that his worries were unnecessary.

“Liao, Madam Liao.” The middle-aged man who criticized Zhao Jinge trembled while looking at the woman in fear, then he said, “I shouldn’t have spoken nonsense without seeing everything clearly. I really don’t have eyes, Madam Liao. Please forgive me.”

“Don’t you want to go away?” Madam Liao gave another cold snort.

Hearing what Madam Liao said, the middle-aged man hurriedly ran out and left quickly while the others whispered, “This is . . . the one of the Liao family?”

“It must be, or which Madam Liao could it be?”

“The tigress . . .”

 

. . . 

 

Even those who were far away from Madam Liao didn’t dare to say anything, and after a moment, they also ran away as fast as they could.

When the woman who wanted to cheat Zhao Jinge heard the words, “Madam Liao,” she trembled before falling down and fainting.

This time, Zhao Jinge dodged with peace of mind; not only that, he also did not help her get up.

It was estimated that this woman was not in very good health, so he indeed felt a little sympathetic but didn’t dare to help such a person; he better let the pharmacy take care of it.

“Thank you, Madam Liao, for the help,” Zhao Jinge said to the woman.

“I didn’t help you.” Madam Liao just glanced at Zhao Jinge and let her servant pull the curtain down again and bring her tea to drink.

Madam Liao obviously did not want to talk to him, so naturally, Zhao Jinge would not pester her to speak with him. He just planned to leave.

At that moment, Zheng Yi came in from outside. “Zhao Jinge, why did you come to the pharmacy? Are you not feeling well?”

Zheng Yi had gone to Jinzhen Escort Agency to look for Zhao Jinge, but he couldn’t find him, so he came here after some inquiry.

“I’m fine,” Zhao Jinge said.

“Madam, your medicine is ready.” The person who was in charge of preparing the medicine, finished preparing ten packages of it at that time.

Zhao Jinge was a little embarrassed and could only say, “I had someone prescribe some medicine to nourish my body.”

Zheng Yi smiled and stopped asking about the things that Zhao Jinge didn’t want to speak about, only saying, “I came to find you because Jiang Zhen sent me something to give you.”

Zhao Jinge’s eyes lit up almost immediately, the exhaustion from his eyes almost dissipating. “What is it?”

“Let’s find a place to sit down,” Zheng Yi said with a smile.

Zheng Yi was not Zhao Jinge, so when he went out, he would bring a sedan chair. From the pharmacy, he would also take a sedan chair and then let people carry him to a restaurant not far away.

It was not meal time, but there were still many people in the restaurant. Zheng Yi gave Jiang Zhen’s letter to Zhao Jinge and asked, “Before, in the pharmacy, something happened?” The faces of some people at the pharmacy looked a little strange.

Zhao Jinge was anxious to read the letter, but Zheng Yi asked a question, and he could not ignore him, so he explained briefly and concisely.

 

Edited by: Faro

Proofreader: Xiao Hua

 

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