Guanshan Muyu

chapter 51

The doctor finished writing the prescription, the maid took it, Xia Yin stood up, thanked the doctor, turned around and went out.

Xia Xun could not avoid her and met her head-on.

Xia Yin’s eyes swept over his face casually while Xia Xun was frozen on the spot, not knowing how to react.

Should he call her “sister”? How should he explain that he and Xia Wen were not dead? Will she report him to the authorities and get him arrested?

His mind wandered, countless thoughts flashing in his head. Within a few moments, he had envisioned many scenarios, except for the one that really occurred.

—Xia Yin did not recognize him.

Her eyes did not linger on his face, and with the awkwardness of accidentally meeting a stranger, she gently nodded to him and then brushed past him together with her little maid, without a moment’s pause in her walk.

Xia Xun could not help but take two steps after her.

“You—?”

The maid heard his footsteps, looked back at him, didn’t take him seriously and followed her lady downstairs.

Xia Xun was stunned, frozen in place.

The doctor called him from the room.

“Young master, you are here to see a doctor?”

Xia Xun snapped back to his senses, turned around and went inside. He sat in front of the doctor and handed over his wrist. His heart was heavy.

The doctor did not immediately take his pulse, but examined his expression.

“…Young master has such a worried look. Even if one is not sick, holding so much sadness and anxiety will cause a disease.”

Xia Xun was distracted and did not hear what the doctor was saying. Finally he made up his mind and asked directly:

“That lady just now… are you familiar with her?”

The doctor looked at him.

“What? Is she your sweetheart? No way, you look at least seven or eight years younger than her, when she got married, you were just a little doll, right?”

Xia Xun said: “No, she is my… she looks like my distant cousin. I have not seen her for many years, so I can’t tell if it is her, that’s why I asked you about her.”

The doctor pondered and said:

“Well… it’s not impossible. There was a big upheaval in the family of that lady a few years ago. Later she was convicted and together with her husband was expelled from the capital. After suffering two consecutive blows, she was not in good health for a while. She saw many doctors but nothing helped. A few years ago through the introduction of some people she came to Ruiji Guan. This old doctor saw that she was calm and generous, so I promised to keep her secret and not to let others know that she was coming to the capital to see the doctor. She cannot enter the capital, so you naturally might have lost contact with her.”

Xia Xun continued asking:

“Do you know what crime she committed to be banned from entering the capital?”

The doctor took a sip of water and said he did not know.

“Since she didn’t mention it, I didn’t dare to ask. But you are her relative, haven’t you heard about it?”

Xia Xun shook his head.

The doctor said: “No matter whether she is a relative of the young master or not, it is time for this old man to check the young master’s pulse.”