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Chapter 417 The Medicine Bottle

Granny Shi had walked for so long without even panting, her physical strength was completely different from her appearance.

"If you two ladies don't mind, why don't you stay here for a few days to recuperate and improve your health before making any further plans?" she said to Zhu Yu and Yan Daoxin.

Or rather, these words were specifically directed at Yan Daoxin.

Ever since she saw him, Granny Shi's eyes were like those of a robber seeing treasure, a demon seeing food, a rogue seeing a beautiful woman, or a dog seeing excrement...

In short, he couldn't look away even a little bit, wishing he could stay glued to Yan Daoxin's face forever, his eyes filled with an undisguised longing.

Zhu Yu was somewhat worried about her reaction, after all, her and Yan Daoxin's situation was now the opposite of what it had been when they were out walking.

Back then, Yan Daoxin was a genuine man, while I was a fake.

Now she is a proper woman, while Yan Daoxin is a fake.

If Granny Shi were to stare intently at her, the "genuine" one, Zhu Yu wouldn't be flustered at all. But with Yan Daoxin by her side, she was like a star next to a bright moon, and Granny Shi's eyes couldn't possibly have any room for her!
I wonder if Granny Shi's eyesight is sharp enough to see through this.

Fortunately, Granny Shi seemed to be completely captivated by Yan Daoxin's handsome face and had no time to pay attention to anything else. After listening absentmindedly to Zhu Yu and her grateful and polite greetings, she watched the two of them go up the wooden stairs and into the room above. She then waved to them before turning around and leaving with her people.

After Zhu Yu and Yan Daoxin entered the room, they pressed their ear to the door and listened carefully for a while to make sure they didn't hear anyone approaching. Only then did they quietly open the door a crack and peek out.

There were no people guarding them outside the door. Unlike when they came, when they were followed closely by others, once they entered the small building, no one was watching them anymore.

It seems that Granny Shi isn't afraid of them sneaking out of the room on their own!

Zhu Yu was somewhat surprised. He closed the door again and turned around to see what the room looked like. As soon as he turned his head, he saw Yan Daoxin lying on a chaise lounge, looking completely unrefined and half-dead.

This startled Zhu Yu, whose first reaction was to ask, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the tea and food we just had?"

"If there's a problem, wouldn't you be able to tell?" Yan Daoxin weakly raised his head slightly and looked at Zhu Yu. "Besides, who am I? If there's really a problem, wouldn't I be able to tell by the taste?"

"Then what is this...?" Zhu Yu felt that Yan Daoxin's words made sense, but looking at his current appearance, it was hard not to feel puzzled.

"I'm so tired..." Yan Daoxin lay sprawled miserably on the chaise longue, completely devoid of the ethereal and aloof demeanor she usually exuded. She acted as if Zhu Yu were no stranger to her. "How can you be so resistant to hunger?! We've both gone without food or water, and you can still put on an act in front of that old hag, while I'm practically dead just from pretending to be dead! If the tea and dry rations that old hag brought hadn't been problematic, I might have just passed out without even having to pretend!"

"Men are not as good at enduring hunger as women. Besides, I'm used to it..." Zhu Yu found his miserable appearance amusing and casually added.

"You're used to it?" Yan Daoxin looked at Zhu Yu with some surprise. "Before, at the Shuo Prince's mansion, I saw that although your father didn't treat you very well, and it seemed like you two weren't very familiar with each other, he wouldn't have gone so far as to not even let you eat your fill."

So how did you get used to it?
Could it be that... when Lu Qing first married you, he didn't want to marry according to the emperor's wishes, so he deliberately ordered the servants not to feed you. Later, seeing that you were capable, he thought more highly of you, which is why he started to treat you well?
"I'm telling you, if that's the case, you'd better tell me. I'll write to my master and ask him to take his sword, which can cut through iron like mud, and chop this brat down for you!"

Zhu Yu couldn't possibly say that the reason he was used to going hungry was because of his past work, where he often went hungry one day and full the next.

She reached into her bosom and pulled out a small paper packet, which she gently unfolded in front of Yan Daoxin, revealing a few candied fruits inside: "Do you think someone who would slip this into my arms before leaving would do something like that?"

Yan Daoxin grinned: "I was just kidding. I know what kind of person my junior brother is."

To put it simply, he's not the kind of person who would lock someone up and slowly torture them. If he truly hated you, I would believe him if he chopped you in half with a knife. But he definitely wouldn't do something like starving you.

But why did you get used to going hungry?

"Is there even a question? It's perfectly normal for women to go hungry in order to maintain a slender figure." Zhu Yu had already found a reason that applies to both ancient and modern times.

Upon hearing this, Yan Daoxin had no doubts. Instead, she shook her head at Zhu Yu with some disappointment: "I thought that a woman with your skills and courage would naturally be detached from worldly affairs and disdainful of such nonsense!"

"Speaking of which, do you think there's anything strange about this little mountain building?" Zhu Yu didn't want to continue discussing that topic, lest she say too much and make things even more difficult to explain, so she simply changed the subject. "On the way here, there was a strong smell of pickled medicinal herbs everywhere..."

“I did smell it carefully just now,” Zhu Yu said. As expected, Yan Daoxin perked up and sat up abruptly. “The smell wasn’t anything special at first glance. It was mostly the smell of common medicinal herbs and some tonics.”

However, if you look closely, there are some that I'm not very familiar with, not strong, mixed in with the aroma of other herbs. If you ask me now, I can't really tell what they are.

Putting aside the smells I couldn't recognize, the strong medicinal smell alone was already rather strange.

This huge wooden building, with so many winding passages, somehow reeks of medicinal herbs no matter where you go. Surely everyone in this building is sickly and needs to take medicine all the time!