Ji Youran regarded the trembling boy before him, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.
The carriage trotted towards the Ji Mansion.
Inside, the boy was huddled in a corner of the carriage, on the verge of tears.
"Second Young Master, please don’t joke with me anymore. You have such a beautiful wife; how can you not cherish her?
I’m just a lowly beggar; I’m really not worthy..."
"Master, we’ve arrived at the Ji Mansion."
Zhao Fei had only stammered out half his sentence when the coachman’s voice reported from outside.
Ji Youran found Zhao Fei’s words nonsensical and was growing rather vexed. Just then, hearing the coachman announce their arrival at the mansion, he decided to ignore the boy for the moment and alighted from the carriage.
"Let’s go! If you have something to say, wait until we’re in my courtyard!"
Zhao Fei slumped back down, so frightened he nearly wet his pants. The coachman stood outside, urging him.
"Little Brother, please get out quickly! This carriage is still needed to take Nanny Zhang and the others to the Palace!"
Zhao Fei steeled himself and shakily climbed out. He then watched helplessly as the carriage drove off, leaving him standing frozen, too scared to move a muscle.
Ji Youran walked ahead a few steps. Noticing Zhao Fei hadn’t followed, he stopped and glanced back. Seeing the boy trembling in fear, he couldn’t help but shake his head.
What an unworldly little beggar. The mere sight of the Ji Mansion’s Main Gate is enough to scare him into nearly wetting his pants.
"Keep up. Don’t fall behind. If you get lost in the mansion, be careful Steward Liu doesn’t mistake you for a thief and have you seized."
Hearing that the Steward might seize him as a thief, Zhao Fei was terrified and hurriedly scrambled to catch up.
During his time as a beggar, he had often been falsely accused of theft, then beaten and driven away.
As they entered Ji Youran’s courtyard, two young maids quickly came forward to greet them.
"Second Young Master!"
Ji Youran waved his hand. "All of you, leave. Don’t come in without my orders."
The two maids quickly withdrew.
Zhao Fei timidly followed Ji Youran into the courtyard, consistently maintaining a certain distance from him.
Ji Youran was a Divine Physician with a slight aversion to filth. Since Zhao Fei had been kicked and punched by the Li Pharmacy’s servants, he was quite dirty.
Ji Youran observed him. He seems to have some self-awareness. Knowing he’s dirty, he’s keeping his distance from me. Hmm! Teachable! Ji Youran mused.
He had no idea that Zhao Fei had, in fact, categorized him as someone with... peculiar proclivities.
At this moment, Zhao Fei was still wondering: If the Second Young Master tries to... do something to me later, how can I possibly escape? Submitting to him is absolutely out of the question! But should I injure him and flee? Or what? I need to think this through carefully!
While Zhao Fei stood alone in the courtyard, lost in thought, Ji Youran had already gone to the medicine rack and selected several herbs.
"Do you recognize this?"
Zhao Fei paused, looked closely, sniffed, and said, "This is He Shou Wu!"
Ji Youran nodded and pointed to another herb that hadn’t been dried yet. "And this one?"
"Qingli Cao!"
Ji Youran was surprised. "You actually recognize it!"
Zhao Fei looked a little smug. "It’s illustrated in the Grand Princess’s Herb Manual. I’ve seen it."
Ever since obtaining that Herb Manual, Zhao Fei often took it out to peruse. He had meticulously studied every medicinal herb illustrated in it, again and again.
He did this because he was afraid that if he encountered his benefactor one day and had to return the Herb Manual, he would no longer have this booklet to guide his herb gathering.
"Oh? So you’re saying you can recognize all the medicinal herbs in that booklet?"
Without a second thought, Zhao Fei nodded.
Seeing him nod, Ji Youran asked bluntly, "Is that true?"
Although the manual was titled ’Hundred Herbs Chart,’ he had actually illustrated well over a hundred types of herbs in it.