The wind on the rooftop was a bit strong.
It blew against Xie Jingchen, making him feel weak all over.
The faint scent of dicine lingered around his nose, as if it belonged to him, or perhaps it was coming from Su Jin.
Su Jin just held onto him, refusing to plead for rcy.
Since she wouldn’t plead, Xie Jingchen wouldn’t co down from the rooftop.
The two were deadlocked like this until—
A Hidden Guard, holding a long bench, looked at Xie Jingchen and said, "Eldest Young Master, you should carry the Eldest Young Madam down. The maid asked to bring you both a bench."
Su Jin, "...."
Xie Jingchen, "...."
They had no choice.
Su Jin only had Xingxing as a little maid.
She was in charge of washing Su Jin’s clothes.
She didn’t want bird droppings on her hem, they were so hard to clean off.
And once a skirt got stained with bird droppings, no matter how clean it was washed, the young lady wouldn’t wear it again. Her clothes might cost just a few copper coins, but the young lady’s dresses were as valuable as silver.
Sending up a bench was so simple, and the money saved could buy a lot of delicious things.
On the rooftop, Xie Jingchen asked, "Do you want to go down?"
"Watch the stars with , and I’ll listen to you."
People on rooftops have to bow their heads.
But in this kind of surrender, Xie Jingchen only sensed provocation.
"Then let’s watch for a little while longer," he said.
"...."
Su Jin’s arms were going numb from holding on, and she almost wanted to take a bite out of Xie Jingchen’s waist. She said, "Forget it, let’s watch another day, with so stir-fried dishes and grape wine; that would set the mood."
This woman sure has wild dreams.
Su Jin shook Xie Jingchen, saying, "Co down, I’m so sleepy, I might fall asleep holding you."
Xie Jingchen looked down and, with the faint moonlight, noticed the fatigue on Su Jin’s face.
His heart softened.
He carried her down to the ground.
Once they were on the ground, Su Jin finally released her arms.
Xingxing, carrying a lantern in front of them, asked casually, "Did I often watch stars at Qingyun Mountain?"
Xingxing nodded her little head vigorously.
"The young lady really liked stargazing. Once she almost fell, so the Marquis and Madam, scared, had stairs built with a platform and railings on the rooftop. Watching stars on sumr nights was so comfortable with the breeze, although there were mosquitoes. In winter, sunbathing up there felt so warm," Xingxing said.
Rembering Qingyun Mountain made Xingxing’s nose tingle with sorrow.
Who knows when they’ll be able to return.
Xie Jingchen supported his forehead, looking at Su Jin’s silent, pensive face.
Xie Jingchen realized sothing.
She wasn’t just dreaming of beauty.
She had been living beautifully all along.
Marquis Dongxiang and Madam pampered their daughter to an outrageous degree—they’d give her stars if she asked for them, or the moon if she wanted it.
Yet Xie Jingchen couldn’t understand how a daughter raised so indulgently could have such superb dical skills?
It was late, and after washing up, Su Jin went to bed.
Xie Jingchen took a bath, and upon returning, found Su Jin already asleep, clutching his blanket.
Lying in bed, Xie Jingchen couldn’t fall asleep, always feeling like sothing was missing.
Finally, he held Su Jin in his arms, and only then did he drift into a deep sleep.
The next day, during the morning greeting hour, Su Jin was still sound asleep.
Princess Nanzhang, Second Madam, and Third Madam all gathered in Qihao Hall.
All three wore not-so-happy expressions.
Their daughters were punished to kneel in the ancestral hall. Although they felt sorry, they had indeed committed mistakes and were sent there reluctantly.
No one expected that after taking a break and snacking a bit, they’d get caught by the young bandit.
If they couldn’t even teach their daughters properly, how could they govern others?
Thinking of being rebuked by Su Jin made them uneasy on their benches.
Moreover, the leverage they got yesterday wasn’t directly revealed, so they couldn’t fathom her intentions.
They waited and waited, but Su Jin never ca to pay respects to the Old Madam.
"Just caught so leverage, and she doesn’t even co to say good morning?" Third Madam said irritably.
Princess Nanzhang sent a maid to check at Agarwood Pavilion.
Soon, the maid returned and said, "Eldest Young Master, Eldest Young Madam, and the little maid are still asleep; none of them have woken up."
"What hour is it, and they’re still asleep?!" Princess Nanzhang’s face turned cold.
It’s one thing for the masters to sleep, but even the maid is sleeping—how is this serving others?
The maid said, "The maids at Agarwood Pavilion said that last night the Eldest Young Master, Eldest Young Madam, and the little maid stayed in the back courtyard until past midnight before returning to sleep."
"Sleeping past midnight, it makes sense they haven’t woken up," Second Madam said.
But what were they busy with past midnight?
Could they possibly be working on so face masks?
The Second Madam looked at the faces of Mrs. Wang and Hongxiu.
Hongxiu’s skin was tender, so the change wasn’t significant, but Mrs. Wang’s complexion visibly improved.
Who would’ve thought that a little charcoal could turn into sothing miraculous in the hands of the Eldest Young Madam, transforming the worthless into sothing valuable.
The troubleso part was that Prince NanAn and his followers, after being robbed by the Eldest Young Madam, were still running around for her, watching over the construction of her shop. It makes one wonder if there’s so drug on Qingyun Mountain compelling people to serve willingly.
They all left after waiting, as none of them had ti to spare.
Su Jin woke up from hunger.
She ate a lot last night, but concocting the ointnt was physically exhausting.
She awoke to a room full of sunshine. Xie Jingchen had woken up at so unknown ti and was reading books in the room.
Does he have to be this diligent?
"Reading day and night, are you planning to take the imperial examination top prize?" Su Jin teased him.
Xie Jingchen glanced sideways, "If I don’t read more, how can I deal with your father’s concealed poems?"
Su Jin, "..."
Cough! Cough!
"If my father knew you were working so hard for his sake, he would be very pleased," Su Jin blinked and said.
"..."
"Has the bruise around your eye healed?" she asked.
"..."
"The effect is even better than I expected," Su Jin said with satisfaction.
After all, ancient dical herbs were naturally grown, far superior to modern mass-cultivated ones.
Xingxing brought a copper basin into the room, serving Su Jin as she washed.
Su Jin found a Hidden Guard and asked him to send the ointnt she brewed last night to the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.
The Hidden Guard went around the bamboo house.
He returned empty-handed, saying, "I didn’t see any ointnt."
"Didn’t you see the wine jars on the table? The ointnt is in those two jars," Xingxing said.
"..."
Packing the ointnt in a bucket was surprising enough.
To use wine jars was unexpected.
The Hidden Guard was speechless.
As the Hidden Guard turned to leave, Su Jin reminded, "If my father asks, say the ointnt was sent by my husband."
She didn’t want her dical skills to be known by the Marquis Dongxiang and Mrs. Tang.
The Hidden Guard, thinking Su Jin was helping Xie Jingchen gain favor with the Marquis Dongxiang, nodded in agreent.
However, Xie Jingchen frowned tightly.
Would the Marquis Dongxiang really believe the ointnt was a gift from him?
The Hidden Guard took the two wine jars, rode in a carriage, and went to the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.
The servants at the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion all recognized him and led him directly to the training ground to find the Marquis.
On the training ground, Marquis Dongxiang was sparring with a servant.
The Hidden Guard watched for a while, secretly admiring Marquis Dongxiang’s high martial arts skill.
After knocking the servant down, Marquis Dongxiang laughed and said, "Just in ti, I’m thirsty, bring the wine over."
The servant ca over to fetch the wine.
The Hidden Guard didn’t let go, "This isn’t wine, it’s dicine."
"dicinal wine?" the servant asked.
"dicinal wine is dicine but also wine," Marquis Dongxiang walked over and said.
"..."
"The wine jar contains the ointnt for removing bruises," said the Hidden Guard.
The Hidden Guard feared if he wasn’t clear, they would take it as wine and drink it directly.
The Eldest Young Madam brewed the ointnt all night, and it mustn’t be wasted.
Marquis Dongxiang held the wine jar, sniffed it, and said, "Slls quite nice."
The servant said, "Yesterday, I accidentally punched the young master and thought he’d be angry, but I didn’t expect him to send dicine to remove bruises. The young master has a generous heart."
The servant applied so to his wrist, feeling cool and soothing, and even the pain seed to lessen a bit, saying, "Marquis, this dicine is excellent."
"How could the dicine gifted by my son-in-law be anything but great," Marquis Dongxiang said happily.
"The Marquis speaks the truth."
"..."
The Hidden Guard felt a bit guilty and quickly took his leave.
As a result, Marquis Dongxiang patted his shoulder, saying, "Bring two more jars of golden sore dicine tomorrow."
The Hidden Guard, "..."
"Tell my son-in-law that he can supply all the dicine for Dongxiang Marquis Mansion in the future."
"..."
"Get the money for buying dicine from the Emperor."
"..."
"Don’t be polite with the Emperor."
"..."
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