CMWKSD -Chapter 60 Do You Still Remember Who I Am?

Jiu Yue cast a casual glance at the few copper coins. She knew that this was about the usual fee villagers paid to see a doctor, but she really couldn’t care less about it.

Seeing that Jiu Yue seemed distracted, Ji Yiqing roughly understood what she meant and stepped forward to take the consultation fee.

Not taking it was out of the question. Otherwise, given the villagers’ habit of taking advantage wherever they could, and seeing that Jiu Yue didn’t even charge a fee, they would probably come bothering her every now and then.

To avoid trouble down the line, Ji Yiqing simply accepted it. No matter how little the amount was, as long as money was involved, people wouldn’t swarm in so eagerly.

Old Chen had already been squeezed to the back. At first, he’d thought that no matter how good Jiu Yue’s medical skills were, they couldn’t possibly surpass his own.

But after seeing her demonstrate her ability, Old Chen finally realized that he was utterly no match for her. Feeling indignant and humiliated, he left in a huff.

Meanwhile, the villagers in the courtyard began chattering away, praising Jiu Yue to the skies.

Jiu Yue stood there for a while, thinking these people really could talk endlessly. She disliked such a noisy environment, so she turned around and went straight into the dispensary.

Ji Yiqing stayed outside to deal with the villagers, while Ji Chaomian slowly made his way back to his own room.

By now, the villagers had more or less figured it out. Judging by Ji Chaomian’s and Ji Yiqing’s manner, the two brothers were probably still planning to take the imperial examinations.

They’d originally thought the Ji family brothers were finished, destined to fade into obscurity. Who would’ve thought that marrying a bride for good luck would bring in such a lucky star—not only curing Ji Yiqing’s face, but even healing Ji Chaomian’s leg?

Why didn’t they have such luck themselves?

Still, no one was willing to offend the Ji family anymore. This family—some studied, some knew medicine, and they could even make money.

Who knew? One day they might soar straight to prominence.

Recently, Jiu Yue had been busy grinding pills to strengthen the body. This was something she simply had to do.

After all, scholars in ancient times were precious—each and every one of them only studied and didn’t need to worry about anything else.

Take the Ji brothers for example. Ji Yiqing and Ji Chaomian, because they weren’t favored at home, had to do all kinds of work, so their bodies were relatively strong.

But the other three—ever since they’d started their studies, they hadn’t done any physical labor at all.

Jiu Yue had also learned that once you entered the examination compound for the imperial exams, you’d be locked in there for several days. To prevent cheating, everyone was required to dress very lightly.

The August academy exams were manageable, but the county and prefectural exams were held in early spring, when the weather was still chilly.

She’d even heard of scholars dying inside the examination compound—purely because their bodies weren’t strong enough.

Jiu Yue felt it was absolutely necessary for the Ji brothers to strengthen their bodies. They couldn’t just bury themselves in books—she’d invested in all five of them with great difficulty!

Five people!

If not a single one passed, or if any of them collapsed in the examination hall due to poor health, wouldn’t her investment go straight down the drain?

Jiu Yue would absolutely not allow that to happen.

So she forced Ji Zhouye, Ji Wanqiao, and Ji Weizhou to do physical training—whether it was waking up early before going to the academy or exercising before bed at night.

If any weakness caused problems that affected the exams, Jiu Yue would swallow the three of them alive.

That was why, when they returned during the ten-day break, Jiu Yue made them learn the Five-Animal Exercises and also taught them a full set of boxing techniques.

They even had sandbags tied to their legs at all times, making sure exercise was fully integrated into daily life.

At first, the three didn’t take it seriously. But then they remembered the poison Jiu Yue had put inside their bodies. Wanting to cry but unable to, they could only get up half an hour earlier every morning to train.

What Jiu Yue didn’t know was that because of her suggestion, the students who lived with Ji Zhouye and the others also developed the habit of exercising morning and night.

Later on, it even spread until the entire academy began strengthening physical training.

The results were remarkable. As the weather grew colder, very few people in the academy fell ill. Compared to previous years—when half the students would go down sick every seasonal change—this was nothing short of a miracle.

Since they had decided to participate in next year’s examinations, Ji Yiqing and Ji Chaomian also began their own revision.

Originally, once his face had healed, Ji Yiqing should have gone straight to visit the academy instructors.

But Ji Chaomian’s leg hadn’t fully recovered yet. Although he no longer needed a crutch, Jiu Yue insisted that rehabilitation training couldn’t stop.

To fully recover, it would take at least until after the New Year, around the Lantern Festival.

Ji Yiqing decided to wait until Ji Chaomian’s leg was completely healed before going to the academy, and then inform the instructors about their plans to take the imperial exams.

After all, taking the exams wasn’t as simple as just wanting to sit for them.

To participate, not only did you need a five-person mutual guarantee, you also needed someone with the status of a xiucai to vouch for you.

Right now, there were only two of them. They had to go to the academy to find instructors, and then find three other trustworthy people to form the guarantee group. Otherwise, if any one of the five ran into trouble—

All five would be punished together.

Su Ruo had now practically become Jiu Yue’s exclusive seamstress. In the past few months, everyone else in the family had made at most two sets of clothes each.

Jiu Yue, on the other hand, had made more than a dozen sets—every single one different.

Su Ruo truly had talent as a seamstress. Jiu Yue had only given her three design sketches; the rest were all designs Su Ruo adapted and created herself for Jiu Yue.

Rarely having nothing to do today, Jiu Yue rode her horse into the city.

In ancient times, there were no bars, no KTVs—no phones or computers to pass the time.

Jiu Yue felt like she was about to grow mushrooms out of boredom, so she decided to wander around the city to kill some time.

With the weather turning cold, the poor rarely went out. There was no helping it—many families only had one padded jacket. Whoever went out wore it, while the rest had to huddle on the heated brick bed at home.

As soon as Jiu Yue tied her horse at the city’s designated horse area, a young boy came running over, breathing into his hands.

“Madam, it’s five wen to keep a horse here. This is the token—just bring it back when you come to fetch your horse.”

Jiu Yue casually tossed five copper coins over. Only then did she realize that this boy was Shao Qing—the same one who had been chatting with others by the city gate.

Since that day, the two of them hadn’t crossed paths again. The reason Jiu Yue remembered him was because when she’d just entered the city, she’d heard Shao Qing talking to a little beggar.

His words were full of gossip about which wealthy household in the city—things no one else knew.

Jiu Yue found Shao Qing quite interesting. At such a young age, he already loved gossip. She turned and was about to leave.

After taking just one step, something occurred to her. She looked back at Shao Qing.

“Those shady secrets about the wealthy families in the city you were talking about at the gate just now—are they all real?”

A flash of panic crossed Shao Qing’s face. He hurriedly waved his hands.

“I just heard people chatting idly. My mouth’s cheap—my mouth’s cheap…”

Jiu Yue looked straight at his face. As an assassin, interrogation was a basic skill—no one could lie in front of her.

The masters who trained them in interrogation techniques and micro-expression analysis were internationally renowned experts. If Jiu Yue couldn’t even tell whether a young boy was lying, she wouldn’t deserve to be called the number-one assassin.

She stared directly at Shao Qing.

“Shao Qing,” she said slowly, “do you still remember who I am?”