Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved

Chapter 26: Chapter 26 Winning People’s Hearts, The Shopkeeper and The Scholar

It was raining, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the road.

The carriage from the Prince Mansion swayed gently, slowly heading towards the refugee shelter in Queer Alley.

Murong Jiu, having not rested well the previous night, felt drowsy upon entering the carriage.

Chun Tao moved closer “Miss, rest your head on my shoulder and sleep for a while, we still have some distance before reaching the refugee shelter.”

“Alright.”

She slept soundly this time, without the turmoil of chaotic dreams.

...

When Chun Tao gently woke her, the carriage had already been stopped at the entrance of the refugee shelter for quite some time.

As she opened her eyes, Chun Tao quickly wetted a handkerchief with water for her to press against her eyes to freshen up.

“Why are you cutting in line? It’s our turn now! The steamed buns are ours!”

A middle-aged man’s indignant voice rang out nearby as Murong Jiu removed the handkerchief and lifted the curtain of the carriage.

The rain had lessened outside, where a scuffle was occurring in front of the porridge barrels.

A few thug-like men had rushed to the front to jump the queue and took the last few steamed buns. The middle-aged man tried to take them back, only to be pushed to the ground; the young man standing behind him, leaning on a wooden stick, was also knocked down with a kick, his broken bowl shattering on the ground with a crisp sound.

“I did cut the line. So what? You two newcomers don’t know who’s boss around here, daring to yell at me, watch me beat you to death!”

The leader of the thugs kicked and punched the two men, deliberately stomping hard on the injured leg of the young man.

Under the eaves of the refugee shelter, the emaciated people watched, none daring to step forward to speak a word of justice.

Another middle-aged man with a full beard leaned against the wall, constantly drinking, utterly drunk and indifferent to the events around him. @@novelbin@@

“Have them stop.”

Murong Jiu said coldly to a guard.

Two guards immediately stepped forward and simply by brandishing their swords, those thugs immediately halted, yelling for mercy and calling them grandfather.

They were just cowards who bullied the weak and feared the strong.

Seeing that the guards made no further move, the ruffians rolled and crawled away, fleeing the scene.

Murong Jiu got out of the carriage and walked toward the two men on the ground.

The ground was muddy from the rainwater, and the clothes of the middle-aged man and the young man were filthy as they lay painfully in the muddy water, even their hair matted with mud.

They saw a pair of clean pure white embroidered shoes stepping into the puddled mud, slowly entering this world that seemed utterly discordant.

Lou Zixi, with his broken leg curled, looked up at the woman approaching them.

She was dressed in a plain, unadorned gown, holding a black oil-paper umbrella. Under the umbrella, her delicate and fair chin and rosy lips could be seen.

She slightly lifted the umbrella, revealing a large black birthmark on her face.

But Lou Zixi did not find her unattractive because he saw the deep, tranquil gaze of a woman, like the soothing depth of autumn waters, seemingly with the power to comfort others.

It made one unconsciously overlook the birthmark on her face.

She stopped in front of him, reached down with her hands as white as jade to pick up his fallen wooden stick and handed it to him, “Can you stand up?”

Seeing the mud stain her hand as she picked up the stick, Lou Zixi’s face flushed with shame, and he quickly took it, “Yes, I can.”

He managed to stand up with the support of the stick, yet feared the woman might stare at his broken leg and kept his head down throughout, not daring to make eye contact.

The woman did not look at him but went over to help the beat-up manager on his feet, staining her plain clothes with large patches of dirt, seemingly oblivious to them.

“Thank you, miss, for dirtying your clothes, I deeply regret it,” said Manager Chai, struggling to keep his balance and having grabbed Murong Jiu’s wrist to steady himself. When he realized who she was, his face changed color.

This clothing, made of the finest brocade, was so expensive that even selling himself and Lou Zixi couldn’t cover the cost.

“It’s merely material possessions, but you, you’ve caught a cold. If you don’t change into clean clothes, your condition will only worsen,” she said.

Manager Chai, astonished, asked, “How do you know?”

He was lining up for the Imperial Court’s bread and porridge when he had felt the heat on his forehead, but what could he do? He and Lou Zixi were now penniless. When the Chen Family had driven them out, even the last possessions they could have sold were taken by the servants; they couldn’t even eat, let alone treat the illness.

“I am a Court Physician, I just felt your pulse,” she explained.

Manager Chai was startled—female physicians were rare these days, and the woman before him, who was accompanied by a guard, was evidently a Noble Lady, either rich or noble, yet she was willing to learn Medicine. It was incredible.

Just a brief touch of his pulse was enough for her to see the problem, which meant her medical skills were also formidable.

“I also noticed that this young man’s leg was improperly set. If it’s not corrected soon, he’ll limp for the rest of his life even after it heals,” she remarked.

“How can that be! The kind-hearted physician clearly said it was set right…”

Manager Chai suddenly realized, the woman before him had no reason to deceive him. If there was an issue with Lou Zixi’s leg, then the so-called kind-hearted physician must have been deliberately brought by the Chen Family’s young master to sabotage his leg!

He and Lou Zixi were originally from Yuanshui. At the start of the year, their town was flooded, the entire city submerged, and his wife and child, as well as Lou Zixi’s old mother, had died in the flood.

Originally, he had run a spice shop—not exactly wealthy, but still considered prosperous. Lou Zixi was a scholar, from a poor family but hardworking, talented, and the accountant of his shop. Last year, he had passed the local exams and was saving money to try for the Imperial Examination in the Capital City.

Their families had been content, but the flood destroyed everything.

With no other options and completely desperate, Manager Chai brought Lou Zixi to Capital City to seek help from their distant relatives, the Chen Family, hoping to succeed in the next year’s Imperial Examination.

But to their dismay, just because Lou Zixi had instinctively helped the Miss Cousin who nearly fell, the Chen Family’s son broke his leg and drove them out.

At that time, he had supported Lou Zixi as they searched for a medical clinic. Once the physicians heard they had no money, they were immediately turned away. It was during this time that the kind-hearted middle-aged physician appeared, setting Lou Zixi’s leg for free.

If not for this lady pointing out the issue with Lou Zixi’s leg, by the time of the Imperial Examination tomorrow, his leg might allow him to walk, but he would have limped, possibly getting disqualified before even entering the examination hall.

Officers of the Imperial Court must have no visible defects; they cannot afford to be physically impaired.

Lou Zixi himself had realized this, his face turning deathly pale.

After years of toiling over his studies, if he were to fail because of his leg, he really couldn’t accept it.

“What…what can we do? Miss, do you think his leg can still be saved?”

Manager Chai asked anxiously.

Both of them looked at her as if she were a life-saving straw, because at that moment, Murong Jiu appeared as a ray of light in the darkness, making them overlook her age and status.

Under their watchful eyes, Murong Jiu nodded and said, “It’s possible.”

Lou Zixi sighed in relief as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Manager Chai’s heart also settled down.

However, Murong Jiu’s next statement made Manager Chai jerk his head up, his pupils constricting.

“Manager Chai, why don’t we go to the teahouse to discuss Young Master Lou’s leg injury in detail?”

She knew them!

“This isn’t a good place to chat. Just outside the alley, there’s a teahouse,” she suggested.

Hearing this, Manager Chai exchanged looks with Lou Zixi, and they both smiled bitterly in their hearts. What other choice did they have now but to follow the young lady’s suggestion?

They had come to this refuge, unable to even afford a loaf of bread.

After nodding in agreement with Lou Zixi, Murong Jiu did not immediately take them to the teahouse.

“Please wait a moment,” she said.

She stepped through the mud, heading towards a middle-aged man drinking by the wall under the eaves.