Chapitre 263: Chapter 99: Runan as Proof
No matter what was said, the atmosphere soured whenever Miss Jun was mentioned. Third Madam Ning stood up with a laugh to smooth things over.
"Alright, let's go. I'll accompany you to write a letter to your brother." She said, smiling as she took Ning Yunyan by the shoulders and led her downstairs.
Fourth Madam Ning also stood up to take her leave, and as she exited the room, the maidservants hurriedly followed.
In Yangcheng, the storytellers at tea houses and taverns talked endlessly every day, and the discussions spread to the streets and alleys. Naturally, the maidservants of the Ning Family in Beiliu Town also knew what was being talked about.
"They call her a divine doctor." Fourth Madam Ning scoffed at the maidservants, "I wonder if she still holds sessions? Let everyone witness her divine skills."
The maidservants all laughed.
"How would she dare?" They said, "It's easier to stay hidden at home and be considered a remarkable woman."
Fourth Madam Ning laughed heartily and took her leave with her people.
Meanwhile, Yangcheng was bustling with excitement.
The freshness of Fang Decang saving the first emperor had faded, and now the story of Young Madam of Fang, Miss Jun, had stirred up another wave of excitement.
"So are you saying Miss Jun didn't come to our Yangcheng destitute and seeking relatives?"
"Yes, apparently she was originally going back to Runan, where she has a home, a business, and a reputation. She only came to treat Young Master of Fang."
"So does that mean all the entanglements with the Ning Family and the marriage proposal are false?"
"Not necessarily the marriage proposal."
"What? So Miss Jun gave up even the marriage proposal to treat her cousin and to help the Fang Family seek revenge?"
"Yes, that's why they call her a miraculous woman."
"I think this is all nonsense."
Under the shaded area of the teahouse at the city gate, where people rested from the heat, the latest story was hotly debated.
"One should have limits when making up stories. Nowadays, the Fang Family is different from before. Wanting a dignified Young Madam is understandable, but they could have simply said she came here to endure hardships to help Young Master of Fang recover, rather than calling her a divine doctor. Do they even understand what 'divine doctor' means?" said one person, shaking his head.
This opinion had been around since the day the Linglong Plan was first discussed.
The story was thrilling and full of twists, but the term 'divine doctor' was not overlooked by the public.
So Young Master wasn't cured by luck, but by Miss Jun?
Actually, the Fang Family had mentioned this when Prefect Ma confronted them on the street with the imperial decree. However, everyone believed it was just the Fang Family's way of evading the feudal authorities.
Fang Decang, who was deemed incurable by numerous renowned doctors over ten years and wouldn't live past fifteen, was cured by Miss Jun?
Were these renowned doctors performing a charade for all these years, or were they just unskilled?
This isn't a joke.
"Joke or not, why not go see Miss Jun for treatment and find out?" someone laughingly suggested.
This comment drew some eyes rolling.
"You're joking, go try it out."
"That's the Fang Family with the imperial decree at hand. Even if she doesn't cure it, they'll say she did. What can you do?"
As the teahouse buzzed with laughter, a carriage approached from afar and stopped in front of the teahouse.
The carriage was driven by a young man, who, under the hot sun, was sweating profusely, his face flushed red.
"Shopkeeper, three bowls of tea," he called out loudly.
The shopkeeper responded and began pouring the tea while inviting the young man inside.
"Come in and sit," he said.
The young man didn't come in but carefully lifted the curtain of the carriage.
"Mom, how is dad?" he asked.
The shopkeeper was bringing over the tea when he curiously glanced inside the carriage, got startled, and shouted, causing the bustling teahouse to quiet down as everyone looked over.
With an even redder face, the young man awkwardly lowered the curtain.
"Sorry, my dad is ill," he said, watching the retreating shopkeeper and hesitantly not reaching for the tea.
The shopkeeper had regained his composure and quickly handed the tea over, apologizing.
"It was just me overreacting," he hurriedly explained.
Thirsty, the young man no longer refused but handed two bowls of tea into the carriage for his parents and guzzled his own bowl eagerly.
"Young man, judging from your accent, are you from Henan?" the shopkeeper couldn't help asking out of curiosity.
The young man smiled honestly.
"Yes, I am from Runan in Cai Prefecture," he said.
Runan?
As these words spread, a murmur rose in the previously quiet teahouse.
"How did someone from Runan end up in our Yangcheng?" the shopkeeper asked first, glancing at the carriage, "And with an elderly person who is ill?"
He asked this question, but the young man revealed a strange expression as if his question was the real puzzle.
"Here for medical treatment," he said, "Miss Jun has come to her maternal family's house in Yangcheng."
There was a moment of silence in the tea shed.
The young man didn't mind and put down his tea bowl to pay.
"May I ask where Miss Jun is staying?" he inquired.
No one answered him.
The young man looked at these people with some confusion.
"Could it be that you don't know?" he said, "Miss Jun is quite famous."
Miss Jun was indeed well-known, but everyone seemed to interpret 'famous' differently.
The shopkeeper was the first to recover and gave him directions; the young man was all thanks and hurried his carriage into the city.
After he left, someone grabbed the shopkeeper to ask what the person in the carriage was like that had startled him.
"A sore on his face," the shopkeeper gestured with his hand, a hint of residual fear, "This big."
Immediately there was an uproar in the tea shed.
"Really?"
"From Runan."
"Just like a storytelling master, he must be a shill hired by the Fang Family."
"Just mentioned the divine doctor, and here comes someone seeking medical help, how coincidental if he's not a shill?"
"Who knows how many the Fang Family has hired? Hiring just this one seems pointless."
The sarcastic remarks proved true soon after, as many from Runan came to Yangcheng, all asking the same question.
Where is Miss Jun staying?
This only added to the excitement that had just begun in Yangcheng.
"Lying? We're full and bloated to come here to deceive you!" Facing the public's questioning, the weary and hot travelers at the city gate from Runan were quite irritable, "What is there to fake about Miss Jun being a divine doctor?"
Having said that, he looked at them with anger, sarcasm, and pity.
"We were originally envious of you, having Miss Jun right here with you, you're really reaping a huge benefit, only to find, to our surprise, that you're blind and don't even realize it."
Then he regarded them with a look reserved for locals viewing outsiders, city dwellers looking at country folks.
"Really ignorant."
What do they mean by ignorant? They've never experienced better!
How could a young lady, who's known merely for causing a commotion over marrying the most famous gentleman in Yangcheng, be a divine doctor?
Even the most insightful person couldn't reconcile these two things.
The people of Yangcheng felt wronged and indignant.
"Then let us see for ourselves."
With a sense of dissatisfaction, the people of Yangcheng also followed those from Runan seeking medical help to the Fang Family.
But regrettably, they could see no one, as Miss Jun was not at home.
The people from Runan who had come seeking medical help were well accommodated by the Fang Family; Young Master of Fang personally received them and promised to describe their conditions in a letter to Miss Jun, offering them to stay and wait for her return if they wished, with accommodation provided by the Fang Family.
This promise caused another uproar among the people of Yangcheng.
"If this isn't a shill, what is!"
"Who has ever seen seekers of medical treatment treated like revered ancestors!"
"Food and lodging provided, are they also offering free treatment and medicine?"
But the uproar of the Yangcheng people faced disdain again before the Runan seekers of medical treatment; regarding the promise of the Fang Family, the people from Runan were calm and did not faint in excitement.
"Is this exaggerated?" they asked, looking down at the agitated Yangcheng people with disdain, "You really are ignorant."
How are they ignorant again?
Maybe they've also experienced such things?
The people of Runan laughed when they heard this questioning.
"Of course we have," they said, "Miss Jun and Young Master of Fang did just this when they were in Runan."
Back when they were in Runan.
The people of Yangcheng remembered what the storytellers had told of the extraordinary woman who, with the sick and feeble, made her way back to Runan.
Did Runan also have tales of the past?
"Of course, they do," the people from Runan replied with full memories, "the old tales of Runan are legendary."
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Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone