Chapter 318 After Dying, I Woke Up In Ancient Times With My Pharmacy 17
The General's brows were slightly furrowed and a smile tugged at the corners of the man's lips. He'd been expecting the General to be much older but he looked so young. For some reason, he'd also expected the General to look perpetually angry and fierce.
But the young man had bright eyes and a smile that made him look very sweet. His features were also eye-catching. This was the first person Lu Jingye was ever seeing clearly so he had no idea how to judge his appearance but staring at the General made him feel pleasant.
Seeing the familiar sight of 888 with his signature silver rimmed glasses on, He Yuan's heart itched. It only worsened as 888 stared at him like that. He averted his eyes with a slight blush and then remembered the reason he wanted 888 to wear the glasses in the first place and looked back at his System with bright eyes.
888 didn't have any special reaction. He Yuan stiffened. 888's memories.... weren't triggered from seeing him? He felt a little hurt. Was he that basic? Although... his System was still looking at him with those wide, curious eyes and that caused his disappointment to vanish into thin air.
His face felt hot as he said awkwardly, "See, I didn't lie to you..."
Lu Jingye blinked and straightened with a smile. "En." And then he looked to the entrance of the hall. He wanted to see what outside looked like so he began walking towards the entrance only to pause and turn back to glare at He Yuan. "You better not move." And then he continued on his way.
He Yuan watched his System go with a helpless smile. He wanted to point out that it was really cold but 888 was a System in the end and, like him, the man's body was stronger than most.
Lu Jingye stepped out of the Ancestral hall and looked around with shining eyes. To people who had had their sights all their lives, there was no peculiar about the sight outside but to Lu Jingye, everything looked specatcular.
The colours that he could identity and the ones he couldn't, the way the bare trees swayed in the wind, how majestic the moon looked and the large expanse of open space that spanned throughout the East of the Lu mansion.
Far ahead, he could also see the roof of a few buildings. He'd never been to the East ancestral hall before so the road was quite unfamiliar to him. This meant that he couldn't tell which one of the buildings was located in XiGuang.
Lu Jingye looked down at his hands. The wound he'd gotten from the porcelain had stopped bleeding ages ago but a red mark could be seen across his palm. He looked lower and caught sight of his hair swaying in the wind. It looked so shiny and shimmery. Just like the moon.
After standing outside for so long, Lu Jingye clenched his fists and walked back into the hall to stand before He Yuan. He pointed at his face. "What's this thing called?"
Still in the kneeling postition, He Yuan sat back on his thighs and smiled languidly. "Spectacles."
Lu Jingye toyed with the word in his mouth a few times before locking eyes with He Yuan and saying, "Name your price. I'll buy it from you." He didn't have much but he'd always kept the pocket money his mother gave him every month throughout the years.
He Yuan raised a brow. He initially wanted to trick the system into seeing his face in order to trigger the man's memories but since that didn't work out and he felt a very much aggrieved, he decided to mess with the silver haired man. He wriggled his brows at 888 and gave him a wolfish grin, "1,000,000 gold taels."
Lu Jingye nearly had a convulsion from shock and his legs trembled. He'd offered to pay for the spectacles in a highhanded manner because he felt he could scrape together his belongings and pay off but...
He didn't know it would be so expensive!
He was the son of a concubine! 1,000,000 gold taels = 16,000,000 silver taels = 1,600,000,000 copper coins. His entire savings and everything single thing he owned were not more than 500 copper coins. How was he supposed to afford 1,000,000 gold teals?!
Him aside, the right Prime minister would not be able to afford 1,000,000 gold teals! The entire Lu household would not be able to afford 1,000,000 gold taels even if they sold off all their belongings, the mansion and everyone in it!
Lu Jingye eyed He Yuan from head to toe. It was rumoured that General He was rich but he never knew he was that rich! The man could probably buy himself a small country and rule supreme at this point.
He Yuan took in 888's conflicted look with a triumphant smile. He felt a little bad for deceiving the System- No way! He did not feel bad at all! How could 888's memories not be triggered by seeing him?!
Seeing the distressed expression on 888's face, his heart could no longer take it and he decided to lower his stance. "You know... I can give it to you for free."
Lu Jingye's heart rate picked up and his eyes brightened but then he eyed He Yuan warily. "...Really?"
"Sure..." He Yuan said with a drawl. His storage panel might be scummy but he was different and ultimately wouldn't want his System to be stumbling about so he brought up a simple exchange, "Remember the deal I talked about? You just need to untie me and the specs would be all yours..."
Lu Jingye stiffened. That easy? He'd untie the General and the spectacles was his? Just like that?
After contemplating for a while, Lu Jingye pursed his lips, gracefully marched up to He Yuan, took off the glasses and resolutely stuffed it into the man's robes. "I don't want it!"
There was no such thing as free lunch. He still wasn't sure of General He's purpose in the Lu mansion. Besides, if he accepted the spectacles then that would automatically mean he owed General He a favour.
He might have been confined all his life but his mother had at least told him about the intrigues of court. He didn't want to become General He's tool to use against the Prime minister or anyone for that matter.
He refused to place himself in a position to be used. It was either he bought the spectacles himself or nothing!
On the other hand, the benevolent smile on He Yuan's face froze in an unnatural state. Was 888 an idiot? How could he refuse such a good deal?!
He was about to open his mouth to speak when the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the Ancestral hall.
SNAP!
Lu Jingye hadn't even had the time to process the sound when General He easily snapped the bindings around his hands with a small stretch. The man had been fooling him all along! His eyes blazed. "You-"
He Yuan quickly placed a hand against 888's mouth, pulled the System against him and retreated to a shaded corner.
Shi Meifen entered the ancestral hall and looked around. She couldn't rest when she thought of her son suffering alone so she grabbed a cloak, some steamed buns and planned to sneak in but she hadn't seen any guards outside when she arrived.
She panicked and rushed in and now she also couldn't find her son's figure. She looked at the lantern randomly placed on the ground and fear enveloped her entire being. Her body shook as she shakily called out, "Ji- Jingye?"
Seeing it was just Shi Meifen, He Yuan's shoulders relaxed and he released his System. It would be hard to explain if she found him here, so he wrapped his shawl around his face and used qingqong to dash up to a shaded spot in the ceiling.
Lu Jingye looked up with narrowed eyes but he'd already returned the spectacles so he couldn't see a thing. He was confused. General He could've escaped a long time ago but he still pretended to be captured. For what reason?
"Ji- Jingye a-are you here?"
Shi Meifen's voice cut him out of his thoughts and he quickly knelt down and put on a sombre expression. "I'm here."
Shi Meifen's eyes widened and she followed the sound of his voice until she found him kneeling behind one of the pillars. She choked back tears and rushed foward to hug him.
Lu Jingye's body leaned back from the force of her hug and he helplessly raised a hand to pat her shoulders as she cried.
After a while, Shi Meifen collected herself, covered him with the cloak and placed both of her hands on his cheeks. Seeing that he looked fine, she sniffed and then flicked his forehead with her index finger and thumb. "Jingye are you an idiot? No one is here to see you so what are you still kneeling for?"
She stood up and dragged him with her. "Quickly get up! No need to waste your integrity here!"
Up in the ceiling, He Yuan raised a brow and his lips twitched as he watched Lu Jingye rise to his feet with an embarrassed expression.
Shi Meifen held her son's arm and led him over to a smooth surface to sit on. After, she took out the steamed buns she'd prepared. "Here, you must be hungry. Eat them whilst they're still hot."
Lu Jingye was embarrassed. Knowing fully well that General He could see his mother treat him this way made his face turn a deep shade of pink. He stiffly held out a hand to push the buns that were offered. "No need. Not hungry."
Shi Meifen frowned but then relaxed. The boy had eaten a lot before Mama Cao arrived so it wasn't suprising that he wasn't hungry. In fact, it wasn't advisable to eat anything this late but she was distressed for him.
With nothing else, she carefully repackaged the buns and sat next to him. "How do you feel?"
Lu Jingye cleared his throat. "Good."
Shi Meifen nodded and looked around. "This place looks so eery. You must've felt so lonely before I came."
Lu Jingye's embarrasment deepened even more. He'd fought General He so fiercely a while ago, now he didn't dare to think what image he had in the General's eyes. He cleared his throat again. "You're overthinking."
Shi Meifen placed a hand on her face when she finally registered how silly she sounded. Lu Jingye's eyesight was bad. It was impossible for him to have noticed how run down the place was.
A comfortable silence settled between the both of them as they accompanied each other.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺