Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

Xiao Yan poured flour into the basin and turned his head to the side. "There's water over there, bring it over."

"Water?" Yang Zhounan looked around, picked up the ladle on the stove, and scooped water from the vat while saying, "You're cooking, but you're actually using me."

He was about to pour half a bucket of water into the basin, but Xiao Yan stepped aside and said, "This is for you."

"Ah?" Yang Zhounan was stunned for a moment, then remembered, "Oh, you know what, I was so thirsty after being busy for most of the day that I almost forgot about it when I saw you cooking. Luckily you reminded me."

Just as he brought the scoop to his lips and the water didn't enter his mouth, he heard Xiao Yan say, "This isn't for drinking. This is for washing your eyes."

"...What do you mean?" Yang Zhounan looked at him like a fool while holding the scoop.

"Your eyesight isn't good, let me wash it for you." Xiao Yan poured the flour and took the ladle to pour water into the basin. "Looks like there's no need to waste it. I'll use it to mix the dough."

Yang Zhounan looked at him speechlessly, and heard him ask, "Any news?"

"He owed a large sum of money. Lang Si was caught in a gambling house and is now in prison," said Yang Zhounan.

Xiao Yan put tofu and mushrooms into the boiling water and said, "I'll go after I finish here. Tell them to keep a close eye on it and don't let anyone die again."

Yang Zhounan looked at the skillful move and said "hmm", "Wait until you go to the trial. I heard from Lang Si that this person is still quite dissatisfied and making a lot of noise."

"It's not surprising that Guo Yuanqi's subordinates are of mixed quality. They will behave themselves after a while," said Xiao Yan.

Yang Zhounan stared at the soup in the pot bubbling and bubbling. He was about to say something, but when he saw Xiao Yan bringing out the dishes from various boilers and steamers, he forgot about it after being interrupted. Instead, he thought of the question he wanted to ask when he came here.

"Are these... all made for the young doctor? Why are they all vegetarian?"

Xiao Yan said, "He doesn't eat meat. Go and see if he has any appetite."

Yang Zhounan stared at the ten dishes, or soups, on the table with a look of shock on his face. There were several kinds of soup, as well as all kinds of soup-based staple foods.

This is more than just having an appetite, he can even be the head chef at Wangjiang Tower, the best restaurant in Beijing.

"I've known you for so many years, and I didn't know you could cook?"

"How difficult is cooking?" Xiao Yan said, "It's just adding rice, water, oil and vegetables. Anyone can do it."

Yang Zhounan: “…”

He found that this person was somewhat easy to talk without any hesitation, and his words were generous.

"I say, you're making this... like a full banquet, isn't that a bit too much?" Yang Zhounan pointed at the dishes and said, "How can the young doctor eat so much right now?"

"Not much." Xiao Yan took a look, "Just one bite of each will do, just right."

"What?" Yang Zhounan was surprised for a moment, "You spent so much time preparing these dishes, and you only ate one bite? That night..."

“From doing.”

Yang Zhounan: “…”

He was a little confused. After knowing Xiao Yan for so many years, he had never received any good treatment from this man.

How could this man be so devoted to a young doctor whom he had only known for a few months?

According to his habit of not interfering in this person's affairs and ignoring anyone or anyone, he couldn't help but suspect that this person must have some hidden secret.

Yang Zhounan stared at Xiao Yan with eyes wide open, as if he wanted to see through people, and he brought all the dishes to Lu Ziqing. After giving him repeated instructions, he went to the imperial prison with him.

The light inside the prison was dim.

"Snapped--"

"what--"

A shout broke the silence.

Xiao Yan followed the sound through the prison corridor and walked into the interrogation room. The interrogator whipped the man tied to the rack twice, causing him to scream in pain.

"Say or not?"

The man was beaten black and blue, with marks all over his face, but he was still arrogant.

"I'm just an ordinary gambler. You've got the wrong guy."

When the interrogator saw the newcomer, he put down his whip and greeted him, "Lord Lang, Lord Marquis."

"Ordinary gamblers don't get the privilege of being personally interrogated by this officer." Lang Si stared at the man and said bluntly, "You are Tan Hu, the general commander of the attacking battalion, right?"

Tan Hu looked panicked and raised his eyes to look at Lang Si, "How did you know?"

Lang Si snorted, "If I'm looking for you, I'll naturally know who you are. It's best to answer whatever you ask to avoid unnecessary pain."

"Humph, so what if you know that," Tan Hu said, "I'm just a gambler. I haven't committed any crime, much less murder. How dare you torture me? It's hard to say whether this will be brought to General Guo's attention."

"General Guo?" Lang Si picked up a small knife from the table and twirled it in his hand, smiling. "Once you enter this imperial prison, even the emperor has to follow the rules."

He stabbed Tan Hu's face with the blade of the knife and asked, "What do you think?"

Tan Hu's psychological defenses were slightly loosened, and he didn't say anything. Xiao Yan began to ask: "Since you are the general flag, why can you go to the gambling house?"

Tan Hu took a breath, paused, and said, "Buy some free time."

There is an unwritten rule in the military camp that anything can be bought. If a peddler wants to become an official or a soldier in the military camp wants to fool around, they can buy it as long as they pay money.

Tan Hu's family was a wealthy tea merchant in the capital. His father spent a lot of money to buy him an official position in the army.

However, he was addicted to gambling and could not stand the hardship in the military camp, so he often sneaked out to gamble. The military masters in the camp naturally regarded him as a money bag.

After a while, it became a habit for Tan Hu to go to the gambling house whenever he wanted. He would spend at least twenty taels each time, which was a considerable sum when calculated over the years.

So, when Lang Si heard those two words, his eyebrows raised inadvertently.

"So you're quite wealthy, huh? With how often you go to the gambling house, wouldn't you be spending hundreds of taels of silver a year just on gambling?"

He shook his head and said "tsk" twice, "I guess all the money your old man earned was used to honor those military masters."

Calculating this number, Lang Si couldn't help but feel sad. The money that Tan Hu earned from buying leisure time in a month was equivalent to his annual salary.

This guy disappeared after just one time of fooling around. It's really frustrating to compare yourself with others.

"These are just small amounts of money," Tan Hu said, "not counting the money I spend on holidays."

Xiao Yan asked, "Who are the people who are in charge?"

Tan Hu spat out a mouthful of blood foam from the corner of his mouth and said, "This is too much. I can't count it all. I'll record it all in the account book. Anyway, those people are leeches that suck human blood. I'm going to be eaten by them."

Lu Ziqing stayed in the mansion for several days and went out at dusk, but Wen Zhong stopped him.

"Mr. Lu is just getting better. It's better not to go out. Go back and rest."

Lu Ziqing said, "I've been resting for seven or eight days now, and I'm feeling bored. I want to go out for a walk."

"Then..." Wen Zhong remembered Xiao Yan's instructions and said, "Then let Xiao Liu go with you."

Lu Ziqing smiled and said, "No, I'm just going to take a walk and will be back soon."

Wen Zhong couldn't keep persuading Lu Ziqing, so he prepared a small carriage for him and asked Xiao Liu to follow him secretly.

The Xiling River is close to North Street. The lights of the restaurants on both sides of the river are gradually lit up. There are pleasure boats parked on the river, and passers-by are walking along the street.

Lu Ziqing got off the carriage at the riverside, his clothes fluttering in the river breeze. He stood by the river for a moment and watched the passengers getting on and off the pleasure boats. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Even though the river breeze is hot, standing here is more comfortable than lying in the house.

There was a street market above the stone steps along the river. Before Lu Ziqing reached the steps, he suddenly felt a heaviness on his back and staggered forward.

He suddenly turned around and saw a drunk young man staring at him, with a man supporting him.

It’s Guo Yuanqi.