Chapter 393: Qi gege (2/2)

She had always circled around him and his actions, but gradually, he found himself pulled left and right by her moods too. Long Feiye remained silent for a long time before he told Chu Xifeng, “Go find Gu Qi Sha personally. Tell him if he can find those two ingredients within six months, your lordship will owe him a favor!”

This… Owed favors needed to be returned! If Gu Qi Sha had to ask His Highness Duke of Qin for a favor in the future, then he wouldn’t be able to refuse. Chu Xifeng wanted to persuade him otherwise, but after seeing the determination in Long Feiye’s eyes, he submitted to his orders.

While Long Feiye was impatient to track down those two ingredients, Mu Linger was also waiting impatiently in the far off Medicine City. Since she’d made a decision without authorization at the empress dowager’s birthday banquet while acting as a representative of Medicine City’s, she’d been condemned by all their prominent families. Even Mu Yingdong, who doted on her, couldn’t shield her from them all, and told her to keep her distance from Medicine City until things cooled down.

Instead, this girl went straight back home right after Gu Qishao left her with a word. Of course, she hadn’t dared to tell her father. After getting her notes from the Mu Estate, she secretly slipped into the Mu Clan’s medicinal fields and had hidden there ever since. She found her notes on Panoptic Red Lotus, taken when she was still very young. The Mu Clan had planted one of them on their grounds, but she’d yet to find a hint of it after three months. Other families had medicinal storehouses in place of fields, such as the Han Clan. But the three great families of Medicine City had entire fields of medicinal herbs that took up the same area of multiple mountains! The Mu Clan had the largest swath of land that took over three whole mountains and countless valleys within.

Mu Linger not only had to hunt for plants, but take precautions against the guards that did their nightly sentry duties, as well as the youths in charge of taking care of the plants. It really was hard work. She would get up to hunt for plants as soon as it was daylight, then find a tree to lean against for sleeping through the night. Over the past three months, she’d eaten nothing but field rations. There wasn’t even a bowl of hot soup to drink despite the fact that it was winter, because she was worried a campfire would only attract attention. She was thin to begin with, but now she was even skinnier than before, looking both wan and sallow.

Today as always, she headed out as soon as day broke, but the skies suddenly turned cloudy around noon.

“Dammnit!” she spat, her lips pulled up into a pout. As soon as she cursed, bean-sized drops of rain fell from the skies. A winter shower was absolutely freezing! Mu Linger looked around her until she found a place to hide from the rain–the old wizened tree where she’d slept last night. There was also a cave and thick forests nearby, but guards and the medicine youths would pass by those places, so it’d be easy to discover her.

The rain fell fiercer and faster before it was pouring in sheets from the skies to thunderous effect! Mu Linger quickly ran to the wizened tree and sheltered herself beneath its branches. By now, she was thoroughly soaked. Although she was freezing as well, she didn’t mind it much. She wasn’t some hothouse flower. She casually crossed her legs to sit down on the damp earth, two hands propping up her chin as she waiting impatiently for the storm to pass.

But how much rain could a few paltry branches block? Soon enough, she couldn’t sit still any longer. She ended up huddled up on the ground, curled into a ball as she trembled. It was freezing! From a distance, Mu Linger looked no different from a lost little animal trapped in the rain, a truly pitiful sight. But she didn’t show a trace of regret despite her plight. She kept her head bowed and allowed the rain to run down the sides of her head and face before dripping onto the ground. As she shivered, she did her best to recall exactly where she’d seen the Panoptic Red Lotus in these parts in her childhood. She wouldn’t have remembered the wrong thing, so the plant had to be somewhere within these three mountains.

Moreover, she was sure that only father had the right to pick such a rare and valuable plant. But he hadn’t needed to use it over these years. She wiped her face and said with determination, “It has to be here!”

As soon as she spoke, the rain stopped!

No, wait. It was still raining in front of her, so why was there no more rain falling on top of her head? Mu Linger looked up doubtfully, only to see a shade of seductive scarlet that looked like demon flames in the winter rain! Within that haze of red was a man with fine eyebrows and a dimpled smile. In a flash, Mu Linger’s entire world transformed into clear skies and blooming flowers.

“Qi gege!” she stood up in pleasant surprise and threw herself at Gu Qishao, who was squatting on the branch right above her. One hand rested against his forehead, while the other held a large red umbrella. He allowed Mu Linger to jump him without a single shift in his smile. But the girl who’d been as stubborn as a weed suddenly burst into tears when she was resting in his warm lap.

“Sobsob…Qi gege…sobsob…”

“What’s wrong?” Gu Qishao asked gently.

“Sobsob…I’ve…sobsob…” Mu Linger was still crying, a complete contrast to her staunch determination from before. Her wretched sobs made it impossible for her to talk and like a poor, pitiful creature.

Gu Qishao looked helplessly at the skies. “Crybaby…go ahead, cry as you like.”

When he wasn’t here, she was strong and firm. As soon as he came, she collapsed into tears. Was she pretending? No. Even the strongest girl was capable of casting away her strength when she found a shoulder to lean on. Mu Linger cried from a long time, only saying ‘Qi gege’ between her sobs. He didn’t complain a single time.

When she finally stopped, she sniffled and looked up at Gu Qishao. “Qi gege!”

“Finished crying?” Gu Qishao asked as he arched an eyebrow.

“I’ve cried my fill, so I won’t cry anymore!” Mu Linger gave him a drippy smile.