The Favored Heiress
Chapter 670: He Has Research Value

Chapter 670: Chapter 670: He Has Research Value

Around eight o’clock at night, Fan Minli and her daughter left the old mansion.

Shang Yu walked out of Yuezhai Hall and immediately saw Li Qiao standing in front of a plant in the ecological garden, lost in thought.

He strolled over with a lazy gait, naturally draping an arm around her shoulders, and followed her gaze to the greenery, "What are you looking at?"

Li Qiao lifted her eyelids, her eyes clear, "Have they left?"

"Yeah." The man carefully examined her cheeks and pursed his lips, "Something on your mind?"

Li Qiao smiled and leaned back against his shoulder, "No, I was just wondering, can’t even Father Shang cure Shang Lu’s illness?"

She had met Shang Lu in the Medicine Garden not long ago and was certain that his aversion to women was not an act.

It was a fear and wariness that seeped out from his very bones.

Shang Yu playfully lifted her chin and looked down at her, "You’ve been thinking about him all this time?"

Li Qiao did not ignore the hint of danger that flashed in his eyes but nodded frankly, "Yeah, I think... he has research value."

A common trait among medical researchers, faced with puzzling diseases, was the desire to get to the root of the issue.

The man’s lips curled into a smile as his palm caressed the back of her head, "Wait until you start researching diseases related to the immune system, then it won’t be too late to study him."

...

That evening, following Li Qiao’s suggestion to stay the night, the two headed back to the private residence in the backyard.

At the same time, Housekeeper Xiao, having seen off Fan Minli and her daughter, hurriedly made his way to the teahouse and knocked on the door.

Shang Zonghai sat in front of the huangmu root-carved tea table, using tea tongs to reply to the knock.

Housekeeper Xiao closed the door behind him and said with a serious expression, "Master, Luoyu went to the Decoction Room this evening."

Shang Zonghai, unruffled, added tea leaves to the pot and released the tongs with a chuckle, "The girl must have asked her to go, right?"

Housekeeper Xiao pressed his lips together, his expression not relaxing, "Not only that, just now she went to the second young master’s courtyard. No one knows what they talked about inside, but the second young master has already called the medicine hall, looking for a prescription."

Shang Zonghai glanced at the housekeeper and continued rinsing the gaiwan, "Let them cooperate; maybe the girl will bring us a surprise we never expected."

"But, the prescriptions for contraception..." Housekeeper Xiao looked troubled, hesitating to continue.

Seeing this, Shang Zonghai remained as steady as Mount Tai, shaking off the drops from the gaiwan, a touch of melancholy in his eyes, "Old Xiao, how many years have you been with me?"

Housekeeper Xiao, not understanding his meaning, still answered truthfully, "Master, I entered the mansion at eighteen, nearly forty years now."

Shang Zonghai sighed with a smile, "After all this time, think about it, apart from Yi Lan, has there been a child as clever as the girl in these years?"

"There... there shouldn’t be."

Housekeeper Xiao also genuinely felt Li Qiao was extraordinarily intelligent, a rare find among her peers.

Shang Zonghai, seeing his hesitation, said with underlying significance, "Indeed, there hasn’t been. How do you think she came up with that contraception prescription that Ah Lan and Shaoyan have so much faith in?"

Housekeeper Xiao waited silently for what he would say next.

Shang Zonghai lifted the teapot to brew, the scalding boiling water instantly generating billowing steam, "The new wave pushes the old. With such a descendant in the Mu Family, the revival of the family business is just around the corner."

Housekeeper Xiao’s eyes brightened, "Master, are you... intentionally testing her?"

Shang Zonghai glanced at him, his eyes conveying a warning, "I would not use the girl’s life for testing. The contraception medicine was truly an accident; I just didn’t expect that after so many years, Shaoyan would take up medicine again because of her."

...

The next day, early in the morning, the mist was thin.

Li Qiao walked around the private residence with her phone, not straying far, always within Shang Yu’s line of sight.

On the phone was Gu Chenn.

"I’ve arrived. What’s the name of the lawyer you asked me to contact?"

Li Qiao’s eyes and eyebrows carried a touch of indifference, "Xi Ze."

Gu Chenn uttered an ’oh,’ "Are you sure he’s one of us?"

"M’s younger brother," Li Qiao replied succinctly, "get the details from M."

After hanging up the phone, she continued her stroll by the creek, steady footsteps accompanying her. Li Qiao, with her head slightly bowed, asked softly, "Did you find anything?"

Luoyu walked alongside her, hands in his pockets, and answered in a lowered voice, "Hmm, I’ve got not only the prescription but also the leftover medicine dregs."

"Where did you put them?" This was an unexpected gain.

"In my room," Luoyu stated in a measured tone. "I just heard from the housekeeper that at 10 a.m., the heads of the seven families from the collateral branch will come over, and the eldest is likely to be called to the Council Hall as well."

Li Qiao paused in her footsteps and casually tilted her head to look at Luoyu.

After a few seconds, her lips curved into a teasing smile, "Does this count as you betraying your boss?"

Secretly tracking his movements and retrieving his medicine prescriptions and dregs.

This seemed to go against the principle of the four assistants to prioritize Shang Yu above all else.

At that moment, Luoyu’s mouth twitched slightly, as he met Li Qiao’s smiling eyes, "If you want me dead... you can just say so."

Li Qiao laughed lightly, "How could I bear to see that."

Luoyu now was much more endearing than before.

...

Shang Yu was summoned away by Housekeeper Xiao before 10 a.m., which was no surprise.

Before leaving, he told Luoyu to keep a close watch on Li Qiao and mentioned that they would start the journey back to the manor once he returned.

Li Qiao readily agreed to this.

Not long after Shang Yu left, Li Qiao and Luoyu made their way to Shang Lu’s yard.

In the living room, Shang Lu was busy sorting a pile of A4 papers into categories. He glanced up at their figures and then continued shuffling the papers.

Without delay, he nudged his chin towards the coffee table, "Take a look, all the prescriptions are here. The ones on the left are from the old house’s contraceptives, and the ones on the right are from Yuezhai Hall."

Li Qiao cast a backward glance at Luoyu, who then stepped forward to place a medicine bag on the table.

Shang Lu bent down to pick it up, weighing it in his hand, "What’s this?"

Li Qiao observed the non-woven medicine bag and raised her eyebrows slightly, "It’s the leftover dregs from a decoction. Can you deduce the prescription from it?"

Shang Lu opened the bag, took out a piece of herbal medicine to inspect for a couple of seconds, and then sniffed it, "This is cnidium."

"This is persimmon..."

Shang Lu identified each herb as he picked them out, saying the names to himself.

Finally, at Li Qiao’s request, he listed all the herbs from the dregs.

During this time, Li Qiao was perusing the prescriptions. Once Shang Lu was finished, she timely asked, "Why keep the old house’s and Yuezhai Hall’s prescriptions separate?"

Shang Lu gave her a ’are you dumb?’ look and curled his lip, "Do you think anyone can just take out the old house’s prescriptions? If you weren’t my sister-in-law, you would never have a chance to see these in your lifetime."

Li Qiao faced him expressionlessly, and Luoyu chimed in from her side, "Except for the head of the family and legitimate members, even those from the collateral branch can’t access the old house’s prescriptions."

Shang Lu gave her a sidelong glance, muttering to himself, "You think the title of King of Traditional Chinese Medicine is for nothing? Besides, who would divulge their ancestral secret recipes?"