Meng Qing wiped away sweat, thinking how could he do his mission if his mother came? He quickly said he was traveling with friends, each with servants or book boys.
Yu Yi helped him, saying, “Mother, if Fourth Brother is accompanied by his mother while others have servants, won’t he become a laughingstock?”
After some discussion, Xue Sifang prepared his travel clothes.
Meng Qing whispered to Yi: “I’m afraid I’ll have to reorganize everything myself.”
Sure enough, Xue Siniang’s luggage consisted of three large bundles. Before Meng Qing could say anything, Fang Bao’s face turned pale. All these items would be carried by him, and although they would be traveling by cart, there would inevitably be places where transportation was unavailable.
With these three incredibly heavy bundles, how could he possibly walk?
Xue Siniang pulled Meng Qing aside and spent half a day instructing him about what to be careful of when going out, what kind of people to be wary of, to have Fang Bao keep watch at night to prevent people from using incense, and to use a silver needle to test food and water during the day…
Meng Qing was both amused and exasperated: “Mother, Wen Da is going to study, not wandering the rivers and lakes.”
Xue Siniang replied: “Wen Da, you don’t understand. Scholars like you are the easiest targets for thieves. Think about it, although you travel in a group, you’re all weak and fragile, carrying a lot of money without any guards… No, I must go with you.”
Yu Yi sat to the side, secretly laughing at Meng Qing’s increasingly dark expression. Meng Qing glared at her and tried to reassure Xue Siniang that he was just going to a neighboring county, traveling on a busy official road, staying at large inns, and would return in three or four days without encountering any bandits.
Xue Siniang remained unconvinced and insisted on accompanying him.
Finally, Meng Qing pretended to be angry: “If Mother insists on coming, Wen Da won’t go studying! It’s safest to stay at home where nothing unexpected can happen.”
Xue Siniang also became angry and sat sulking to the side.
Yu Yi, sensing the awkward atmosphere, persuaded: “Mother, a man’s ambitions are far-reaching.”
Fourth Brother can’t always stay at home. Next year he’ll need to leave for the county examinations, and if he passes, he’ll have to travel to the capital for the imperial examinations. If you can’t let him go to a neighboring county for three or four days, would you accompany him to the capital later? And looking further ahead, if he passes the higher-level exams and becomes an official, he’ll have to serve in another place, not in his hometown.
Xue Siniang finally agreed not to follow him on his study trip but not before giving Meng Qing numerous additional instructions before leaving.
He took the jade pendant from his waist, pressed his thumb on a decorative pattern, gently rotated it a few times, then pushed it open. Near the small hole that served as a microphone, he lightly tapped three times with his fingertip, indicating he understood, and then instructed the coachman: “First, go to the Xue Martial Arts Academy.”
Meng Qing smiled and said, “I want to leave something at the martial arts academy.”
Xue Sinian let the carriage follow the carriage where Wen Da was sitting. She found the route extremely familiar, the exact path to the Xue Martial Arts Academy.
She didn’t think much of it, assuming they had agreed to meet in this direction. When she saw Wen Da’s carriage drive into the academy, she suddenly felt something was strange.
After waiting for quite a while and not seeing Wen Da’s carriage leave, Xue Sinian sensed something was wrong. Her expression changed, and she exclaimed, “Oh no!” Simultaneously, she leaped down from the carriage and rushed directly into the martial arts academy.
The Xue Martial Arts Academy often had visitors, so they had a side entrance for carriages, allowing them to smoothly enter the rear courtyard, which also had an exit for carriages. Wen Da had likely detected or guessed that she was following him, so he used the Xue Martial Arts Academy to perform a “golden cicada shedding its shell” trick.
As soon as Xue Sinian entered the Xue Martial Arts Academy, she saw Xue Jingsong standing with his hands behind his back in the middle of the carriage path. Surprised, she called out, “Father? What are you doing here?” Her steps involuntarily slowed, and she then asked, “Have you seen Wen Da’s carriage? He just came in.”
Xue Jingsong nodded: “Father saw Wen Da.”
Xue Sinian anxiously asked, “Where is he now?”
“Gone,” he replied.
Xue Sinian frowned and urgently said, “Father, I’ll talk to you later. I need to chase Wen Da first.” She tried to pass by Xue Jingsong.
Xue Jingsong took a step, blocking her path: “Fourth Daughter, don’t chase him.”
Xue Sinian stomped her foot: “Father doesn’t understand. Wen Da is about to travel far, and I…”
Xue Jingsong said, “Father knows. Wen Da already told Father. Fourth Daughter, have you heard the saying ‘A doting mother ruins her son’?”
Xue Sinian looked at Xue Jingsong in confusion: “Father?”
The shopkeeper called over a waiter, and Meng Qing inquired about the details. When the constable came, the waiter had already told everything he remembered, but the constable was perfunctory in handling the case, only asking about matters related to the case. Meng Qing, however, was more patient and meticulous. The waiter was not as nervous as when facing the constable, and after talking for a while, he recalled a detail: when the man first checked into the inn, he had asked about whether there was a doctor in the city skilled in acupuncture.
Meng Qing asked with interest, “Oh? Did he say whether he was looking for treatment for himself or inquiring for someone else?”
The waiter said, “He didn’t say.”
“Then how did you answer him?
“I told him that our city hasn’t heard of any doctor particularly skilled in acupuncture, but I have a relative in Dongling Town not far from here, and there’s a famous doctor in the town who is known for acupuncture.”
“Dongling Town… thank you, brother,” Meng Qing said, taking out thirty coins and giving them to the waiter. “Brother, are there any other unusual or distinctive things about this person?”
The waiter happily accepted the tip and thought for a moment, “Unusual… he was much more troublesome than ordinary guests. He didn’t sleep much at night, sometimes asking for water, sometimes for food, with the lamp going on and off, disturbing the guests in the adjacent room. Eventually, those guests got angry and changed rooms.”
“Was he doing something in the room?”
“Not really. I brought him food at night, and he said he couldn’t sleep.”
Meng Qing nodded thoughtfully.
Coming out of the inn, Fang Bao was still asleep, so Meng Qing didn’t wake him and instructed the coachman to head to Dongling Town.
In the evening, the carriage arrived at Dongling Town. Meng Qing asked about the location of the famous doctor and arrived at the clinic’s entrance.
Fang Bao had now awakened and got off the carriage, noticing only their vehicle, curiously asked, “Young Master, where are the others?”
“Ah,” Fang Bao’s eyes widened, “Didn’t you say we were traveling for study?”
Meng Qing said, “Studying was just an excuse. I want to find the scammer who deceived my second brother and bring him to justice.”
Fang Bao scratched his head, “Young Master, isn’t this… too dangerous?”
Meng Qing replied: “I’m just investigating. There won’t be any danger.” As he spoke, he had already entered the clinic.
The clinic was filled with a strong smell of burning mugwort. Meng Qing didn’t see anyone at the reception, but saw smoke rising from the inner room, guessing that Doctor Huang was probably performing moxibustion on a patient, so he sat down patiently in the outer room.
