Perfect Match – CH 091

Chapter 91

Yuyun Hall’s Lingqiao Detoxifying Pill rivaled the efficacy of Yanchun Hall’s precious medicine.

Overnight, rumors spread like wildfire through the streets and alleys of Xi’an Prefecture, then raced across the entire Shaanxi Province to every prefecture, county, and town.

Long queues formed outside every pharmacy selling Yuyun Hall’s Lingqiao Detoxifying Pill. Meanwhile, the large pharmacies that had previously stocked their shelves with Yanchun Hall’s precious medicines all went out of business overnight. The exorbitant prices of these precious medicines were already prohibitive, and now there were no customers at all.

This turn of events surprised even Deng Ruyun herself.

However, her new medicine was already in production; the prescription was fixed and could not be changed arbitrarily. The price was also set according to the ingredients, at a price that ordinary people could afford, and could not be raised again just because it was approaching the demand of “precious medicines.”

But Yuyun Hall’s Lingqiao Detoxifying Pill had indeed completely squeezed out the business of large pharmacies like Yanchun Hall.

Shopkeeper Qin discussed the matter with Deng Ruyun, his heart pounding with fear.

“Boss, Yanchun Hall, Old Wanhe, and those people are keeping a close eye on us, are they not? They are not just watching us make mistakes; they are capable of deliberately sabotaging us.”

Cutting off someone’s livelihood was like killing their parents. Yanchun Hall, Old Wanhe, and these large pharmacies had a history of oppressive power over the small pharmacies in the streets and alleys.

The best medicinal herbs, the most powerful pharmacies, and the most skilled pharmacists in Xi’an Prefecture were all firmly under their control.

Small pharmacies might be able to make a living by obediently following their orders, but if they wanted to sell some cheap, high-quality medicine and break their monopoly, they either had to buy it directly or, if they failed to buy it, they could only wait to be ruined and forced to leave Xi’an.

Yuyun Hall was originally just a small pharmacy that Bai Chunfu only slightly looked after, but precisely because it produced cheap, high-quality medicine that broke their control, it was sought after by other small pharmacies and gained some reputation in Xi’an.

She couldn’t submit now, but Deng Ruyun feared she did not have the strength to confront these people directly.

Just as she was about to decide what to do, Teng Yue walked in from outside.

He seemed to have heard Shopkeeper Qin’s worried appearance from outside, and now, looking down at the worry on Deng Ruyun’s face, he stood beside her.

“Just focus on making and selling the Lingqiao Detoxifying Pills well. I will handle everything else; you do not need to worry.”

Deng Ruyun looked up, and he nodded firmly at her.

*

In just half a month, Yuyun Hall had experienced a series of incidents, including unnamed threats, a fire in the medicine storeroom, counterfeit medicine, and patients claiming poisoning and suing the authorities.

Shopkeeper Qin dared not sleep before dawn every day, constantly inspecting the medicine workshop and shops. Despite experiencing so many incidents, none of them damaged Yuyun Hall’s reputation.

General Teng had now directly dispatched troops to guard the pharmacies and medicine shops, claiming that there were many cases of illness within the army, awaiting Yuyun Hall’s production of Lingqiao Detoxifying Pill to supply the military.

Everyone knew that Yuyun Hall already had Master Bai backing it up, and now General Teng was also in charge.

Even when Old Wanhe tried to sabotage it by having someone falsely accuse Yuyun Hall at the yamen, the yamen refused to accept the case.

Old Wanhe and Yanchun Hall were backed by the Prince of Qin’s Mansion, but General Teng, who had just made a great contribution, was not someone they could afford to offend.

Therefore, all cases related to Yuyun Hall were simply being suppressed and temporarily suspended.

However, Yanchun Hall’s prized medicines, apart from a few extremely trusted high-ranking old customers, had no other sales channels, and the so-called affordable new medicines were completely ignored.

The head shopkeeper and second shopkeeper of Yanchun Hall had not had a good look on their faces for the past ten days.

The second shopkeeper consulted the head shopkeeper. “Why do we not go back to Master Jin’s? Since he said he has inexpensive prescriptions, he must have them. We can always lower the price further. As long as the medicine is effective enough, with Yanchun Hall’s reputation, we are sure to crush this little Yuyun Hall.”

Currently in Xi’an Prefecture, the only pharmacist who could rival Yuyun Hall was probably Master Jin from the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion.

But that man had a very strange temper. He clearly could not even leave his own courtyard, yet he still wanted to worry about those lowly people who could not afford medicine.

The head shopkeeper’s face twitched. He said, “If we go to him, he will only tell us to set an extremely low price.”

As he spoke, his gaze drifted towards a cluster of magnificent mansions in the distance.

“Yanchun Hall does not sell cheap medicine. Instead of begging him, we should go directly to his master. I’d like to see if that little pharmacist from Jinzhou can disobey the Regional General. After all, that person is waiting for Yanchun Hall’s share of the profits.”

Having said this, the head shopkeeper, along with the second shopkeeper, delivered another invitation to the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion.

The two stayed at the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion for only a quarter of an hour before leaving. As soon as they left, General Zhu Tingguang immediately led his men, whipping their horses, and galloped out of the city. They turned left and right outside the city, finally stopping in a mountain villa.

The apprentices were pounding medicine in the courtyard. The master was not too strict with them, only saying that they could eat after finishing today’s medicine.

The two apprentices chatted idly while pounding the medicine. Since their master could not leave the courtyard, they were in the same boat, and even their conversation was rather uninteresting.

But just then, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the usually closed courtyard gate. Upon hearing this, the two young apprentices dropped their pestles in fright and rushed into the room to report to their master.

The man was sitting by the window, head bowed, seemingly lost in thought. Seeing the two frightened children run in and urgently call for their master, he was startled.

“Master, someone…someone’s here!”

In this prison-like courtyard, only one person would make such a commotion.

The man told the two children to leave first. At the gate, Zhu Tingguang, the Regional General of Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion, strode into the courtyard.

The man went out to greet him. As soon as he bowed in the courtyard, Zhu Tingguang spoke.

“Since you have a better prescription, why do you not offer it to Yanchun Hall? Do you insist I come here to beg for it? Do you think you are so important?”

Zhu Tingguang’s words left not one in the courtyard, inside or outside, daring to respond. Only the lingering medicinal aroma remained in the air.

But Master Jin was not frightened by this; instead, he lowered his head and chuckled softly.

“Last time, the two shopkeepers of Yanchun Hall came and asked me to draft a cheaper prescription for them. But is it so easy to draft a prescription?”

He said he did not have any effective and inexpensive prescriptions and instead asked Zhu Tingguang.

“Could it be that those two shopkeepers, hearing that I could not draft one right away, came to you, General, to pressure me? To actually force you to work for Yanchun Hall?”

He completely contradicted what he had said to the head and second shopkeepers, instead pinning the blame on the two shopkeepers.

Zhu Tingguang paused, momentarily unsure who was telling the truth.

But Zhu Tingguang snorted.

“I advise you not to try anything funny in front of me.”

He narrowed his eyes, staring at the thin man before him, and lowered his voice.

“If it were not for your skill in medicine-making, given what you should not have seen back then, you should have died in the sands beyond the Great Wall long ago. Would I have let you live this long?”

These words from Zhu Tingguang would have terrified an ordinary person, but the man before him remained unchanged, completely unmoved.

His lack of reaction instantly ignited the fire of rage within Zhu Tingguang.

He suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the man’s collar.

A surge of murderous rage rose within him. Zhu Tingguang gritted his teeth, staring at the man he had imprisoned. He suddenly called his name in a low voice.

“Deng Ruheng, I know you are not afraid of death, but you should also think carefully about your family back in Jinzhou. For me, Zhu Tingguang, crushing them is as easy as crushing ants.”

The fire of rage burned in Zhu Tingguang’s eyes, causing bloodshot veins to appear around his pupils. Deng Ruheng looked over, paused for a moment, and softly asked a question.

“I will stay here to continue making medicine and earning money for the General. Can the General guarantee the safety of my parents, wife, children, and sister in Jinzhou?”

As he asked, Zhu Tingguang loosened his grip, pushed him aside, and stood still with his hands behind his back.

“Of course,” he said casually, adding, “I am short of money right now. Just give Yanchun Hall a good formula to sell, and I can certainly guarantee their safety.”

Having said this, seeing that Deng Ruheng did not say anything more, he assumed that Deng Ruheng had heard about his family and would not hesitate to agree, and then turned and left.

The gate, which had been opened by chance, closed tightly again, blocking any news from the outside world from entering through the layers of courtyard walls.

But the man stood silently in the courtyard, not even noticing the young apprentice who came to see him.

He only silently looked at the sky, towards the direction of Xi’an. Yuyun Hall.

Yuyun Hall, a newly opened pharmacy in Xi’an, had been in business for less than a year. The owner, registered with the government as surnamed Liang, was from Jinzhou and had started his business in pharmaceuticals.

Deng Ruheng closed his eyes.

It was Yunniang; his Yunniang had come to Xi’an.

Years ago, he had taken more than half of his family’s assets, borrowed money from several other pharmacies, and, along with several fellow merchants and Dafu, traveled west beyond the Great Wall to purchase rare and precious medicinal herbs.

The journey was indeed fraught with difficulties, and the vast yellow sands beyond the Great Wall made finding herbs even more arduous.

But they persevered through all the hardships, stockpiling many high-quality medicinal herbs that were almost impossible to find on the market, waiting to return to Jinzhou and make a fortune.

Unexpectedly, on their return journey, they encountered a group of Han Chinese from within the Great Wall, also dressed as merchants. This group had encountered a pack of wolves beyond the Great Wall, and many were seriously injured.

Deng Ruheng and his group, being pharmacists, naturally had no reason to stand by and watch these people die.

However, after treating these individuals and traveling with them for only two days, they discovered something amiss.

This group was not a merchant caravan from within the Great Wall at all; they were all skilled fighters, clearly military households with military backgrounds!

And their so-called head merchant, Zhu Tingguang, was indeed not a traveling merchant but the youngest son of the Prince of Yanshan, the Regional General!

The Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion, relying on its connections at the pass, defied the imperial orders, secretly trading, buying, and selling with the Tartars outside the Great Wall. If it were just horses and tea, that would be one thing, but they were even secretly trafficking in weapons and armor!

Collusion between a prince and the Tartars outside the Great Wall was already a serious crime, but trafficking in weapons and armor was a capital offense punishable by stripping him of his title and beheading.

Deng Ruheng and his group discovered this, but it was too late for them to escape.

They had endured countless hardships traveling from Jinzhou to the borderlands, solely to procure rare medicinal herbs and expand their business. But on the very night they discovered something amiss, they were all slaughtered. Deng Ruheng desperately escaped but was ultimately captured and taken back.

However, he did not want to die. He had parents, a wife, a child, and a younger sister at home. Seeing that Zhu Tingguang had also been mauled by wolves, he immediately offered to create a medicine that could quickly heal everyone’s wounds.

Zhu Tingguang did not kill him immediately, and he did indeed create a usable medicine.

At that time, he repeatedly assured Zhu Tingguang that he would never reveal the matter of the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion, only begging to be spared to return home.

Zhu Tingguang did not kill him either, but after witnessing his medicinal skills, he took him directly back to Xi’an.

His father, the Prince of Yanshan, was obsessed with elixirs and recruited pharmacists everywhere. Zhu Tingguang offered him up to curry favor with his father.

From that day on, he was imprisoned in this small courtyard for four years, never able to step out again…

He had tried to escape several times, nearly having his legs broken by Zhu Tingguang; he had people inquire and send messages for him, but they all disappeared after being discovered; and Zhu Tingguang threatened his family in Jinzhou. He dared not act recklessly again, fearing to anger this man and bring disaster upon his family.

But now, why was Yunniang, his younger sister, Little Yunniang, running a pharmacy under her own name in Xi’an?

After they were all silenced by Zhu Tingguang, the medicinal herbs and remaining money were also taken by Zhu Tingguang.

He took so much money from home back then, and after so many years of absence, his family must have declined. How could she have risen to prominence and opened a pharmacy in Xi’an in just four or five years?

If his family had managed to rebuild their fortunes in Xi’an, they should have used their developed business to establish themselves first. But what he heard now was the name “Yuyun Hall,” which his sister had half-jokingly mentioned to him earlier.

Deng Ruheng’s heart sank.

Zhu Tingguang had not cared for his family in Jinzhou at all. He probably had not even asked where his family was. And here he was, imprisoned by this man, all his medicine and money stored in the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion’s treasury. What was happening to his own family?!

Why was it Yunniang who came to Xi’an? Where were his parents and wife?

How old was Yunniang? She must be only eighteen this year, right?

If…if his parents and wife were all gone, then without him, the eldest brother, to support the family, would everything fall on Yunniang’s shoulders?

But when he left home, Yunniang was still a cheerful, young girl, not yet of marriageable age…

Just thinking about this tore Deng Ruheng’s heart apart, making it hard to breathe.

But what was happening outside, what was happening at home—those imprisoned here could never know.

However, he could not make the medicine that Yanchun Hall wanted to use to compete with Yuyun Hall; he absolutely could not make it.

If it really was Yunniang, he hoped that Yunniang’s Yuyun Hall could use this to rise to fame and become renowned throughout the land!

As for him, he longed to get out, but where was the way out?

*

Old Wan and others tried every means possible for Yanchun Hall, but they could not shake Yuyun Hall in the slightest.

The medicine sold well, and Deng Ruyun returned home early this morning.

She was merely “Liang Yun” at the pharmacy, and General Teng Yue could not always be seen there. However, now that she was on the main street, she realized someone was following her.

The pharmacy was not far from her temporary mansion. Deng Ruyun walked home, intending to buy Linglang a hot snack along the way.

But instead of hot snacks, she saw some chilled rice cakes.

In this weather, chilled rice cakes were not selling well, and Deng Ruyun asked the person beside her.

“Would you like to buy two?”

The man could not help but smile when he heard her ask.

She wanted to buy him snacks, treating him the same way she would her niece and grandmother.

But after she had the vendor pack two chilled rice cakes, she turned to look at him.

Teng Yue paused slightly, then she retorted, “What are you standing there for? Are you not going to pay them?”

Teng Yue was completely stunned, then could not help but chuckle, looking at her playfully raised, willow-leaf eyebrows.

“I thought it was Master Deng being generous.”

Upon hearing this, she blinked rapidly a few times, then suddenly looked at him.

“But General, you’ve rendered such a great service; should the court not bestow a generous reward? Such a large reward—why would you let someone else pay for your pastries?”

She continued, asking.

“You are going to be granted a title, are you not?”

Prince Enhua was to be executed in the autumn, and Teng Yue’s merit in suppressing the rebellion should have been announced soon. The delay likely indicated an extraordinary reward.

It was very likely, as she said, that he was going to be granted a title.

But her question, spoken softly in his ear, sent a heavy chill down his spine.

She already felt there was a significant gap between them and that their marriage was unsuitable.

And if he were to bestow another title, he feared she would think the same way even more.

Teng Yue dared not discuss this matter in detail with her and could only fall into her trap, paying for two pieces of chilled rice cake with his own money.

After he paid, she smiled. “It seems the General is indeed about to receive a great reward.”

“Deng Yunniang…”

Teng Yue could not help but stare intently at this person.

But she quickly walked away, bought two more bags of pastries on the street, and was about to turn into her home in the alley when she spotted Little Linglang.

Linglang had run out of the house with Dafu, not just running around playing but leading the large dog, seemingly letting Dafu sniff around.

The girl and dog squatted on the stone slab by the street, and whenever someone passed by, Linglang would have Dafu quietly go up and sniff them.

Deng Ruyun looked at the little child and walked up behind her.

Before she could call out, another person approached. This man, in his early twenties, wore a long robe and carried a book; a medicinal scent wafted from his sleeves.

Linglang looked up. She did not recognize him but quickly called Dafu back and led him briskly behind the man.

“Dafu, Dafu, is he my father?”

But Dafu sniffed and stopped.

Dafu’s ears drooped, and Linglang’s large eyes dimmed, but she quickly spoke to Dafu again.

“Then let’s sniff others!”

Dafu responded, “Woof!”

She had never seen her father, not even if they passed each other on the street. But Dafu recognized its former master.

She leaned on Dafu, searching for her father in this vast sea of ​​people.

Deng Ruyun’s eyes reddened.

Teng Yue stepped forward and embraced her; she lowered her head. “Is my brother still alive? Why have we not heard from him all these years?”

Teng Yue was not sure either, but he asked anyway.

“We are even letting the child search, so we cannot give up. Let’s just assume he’s still alive. Dafu was bought from Xi’an. If we assume he’s in Xi’an, what do you think he might be doing right now?”

He suggested this line of thought, prompting Deng Ruyun to consider it carefully.

“…Besides making and selling medicine, my brother does not seem to have any other means of livelihood. But his medicine-making skills have been gradually revealed since Linglang was little. His talent for medicine-making is unmatched by me, and even ordinary pharmacists cannot compare. If he’s still alive, he will naturally still rely on medicine-making for a living, right?”

Deng Ruyun had previously asked Shopkeeper Qin to inquire, but none of the pharmacists surnamed Deng whom they found was her brother, and none possessed his exquisite skills.

Deng Ruyun had no further thoughts, but Teng Yue continued.

“According to what you’ve said, since my brother-in-law’s medicine-making skills are extraordinary, he should be easier to find. Perhaps no one knows his surname or where he’s from right now, but his medicine-making abilities must be known, right?”

Upon hearing this, Deng Ruyun’s heart stirred.

She thought of the precious medicine from Yanchun Hall. Someone who could produce such a precious medicine at the very beginning of the epidemic was no ordinary person!

“I’ve inquired about all the renowned pharmacists in Xi’an Prefecture, but the pharmacist from Yanchun Hall is very mysterious. He seems to be from the Prince Qin’s Mansion and various princely mansions under his jurisdiction—someone I cannot find out about.”

As she said this, she seemed to remember something and looked up at Teng Yue. At that moment, Teng Yue looked down, and their eyes met.

“Perhaps we should find someone and ask her carefully.”

He spoke, and Deng Ruyun already knew who he was referring to.

Yang Youyun, the eldest young lady of the Yang family, who had married into the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion.

*

At the Shen Mansion.

Yang Youyun’s health had improved considerably, her face regaining a slight rosy hue. However, she still could not move around freely, and due to the severe spread of the epidemic, she stayed home and rarely received guests.

But Deng Ruyun was coming. Having heard the news early that morning, she had Shen Yanxing prepare the finest tea and snacks for her guest, and she herself had changed into a bright and clean outfit, waiting early for Deng Ruyun’s arrival.

Deng Ruyun was happy to see that Yang Youyun’s health had indeed improved significantly.

However, she had come to inquire about the pharmacists in the various mansions of the Prince of Qin, and without beating around the bush, she asked Yang Youyun directly.

Teng Yue and Shen Yanxing were both in the room, but even so, Yang Youyun suddenly recalled the Prince of Qin’s Mansion and felt an uncontrollable sense of panic, as if she had returned to that suffocating situation.

Shen Yanxing grasped her hand, Deng Ruyun poured her a cup of tea and handed it to her, and Teng Yue also told her not to worry anymore, which calmed her down slightly.

“In fact, each of the Prince Qin’s mansions in Shaanxi has its own physicians and pharmacists, but if we are talking about which mansion employs the most pharmacists, it’s undoubtedly the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion; there’s no other like it.”

Her former father-in-law, the Prince of Yanshan, had been obsessed with elixirs for many years and did not concern himself much with outside affairs, so he kept many pharmacists in his mansion. These pharmacists not only helped him make those addictive elixirs but also supplied medicine to Yanchun Hall, making money for the Prince’s Mansion.

“Among these pharmacists, are there any male pharmacists in their twenties surnamed Deng?”

Deng Ruyun could not help but ask, but Yang Youyun thought for a moment but could not remember.

But she said that she had not been married into the family for long, and because she was a second wife, and her marriage to Zhu Tingguang was not harmonious, Zhu Tingguang did not tell her much about his affairs.

But she added, “However, among the pharmacists employed by the Prince’s Mansion, there is one whose skills are truly exceptional.”

Yang Youyun had never met this person, but she had used medicine specially made by him for the Prince’s Mansion.

As she spoke, she seemed to remember something and asked Shen Yanxing to bring over several medicine boxes.

Deng Ruyun recognized the medicine boxes immediately. “This… is this not the medicine you gave General Shen to treat his injuries back then?”

Yang Youyun was a little embarrassed when she mentioned this.

Back then, Shen Yanxing had been severely injured protecting General Wu’s family. Upon hearing this, she wanted to visit him but dared not go. At that time, she was still deeply entangled in the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion and was Zhu Tingguang’s second wife. Having no other choice, she secretly delivered the specially made medicine from the Prince’s Mansion’s pharmacist, along with some medicine she had bought from Yanchun Hall, to Shen Yanxing’s doorstep.

Deng Ruyun looked into the medicine box. She had happened to see these medicines at Shen Yanxing’s house and thought they were indeed very well made. Some bottles bore the Yanchun Hall logo, while others were unmarked white porcelain bottles.

At this moment, Yang Youyun specifically picked out the few white porcelain bottles.

“These are special medicines supplied to the Prince’s Mansion by that Master Jin.”

Deng Ruyun’s heart pounded as she looked at the exquisitely made pills, especially when Yang Youyun mentioned his name, “Master Jin.”

“Why Master Jin? Is his surname Jin?”

Yang Youyun shook her head, saying no, and looked at Deng Ruyun.

“His surname is not Jin. Everyone says he’s from Jinzhou. And this Master Jin is someone Zhu Tingguang brought back from the western border pass four years ago.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Deng Ruyun’s hand holding the white porcelain bottle trembled.

A person from Jinzhou, four years ago!

Teng Yue stepped forward and grasped her hand. “Is it my brother-in-law?”

Deng Ruyun’s nose stung, and her eyes welled up with tears.

“I am afraid… I am afraid it is indeed my brother!”