"Strange, how so?" Xiqiu’s face showed confusion.
Chunliu thought for a mont, recalling Xu Tianqing’s bruised appearance and the way the veins stood out on the back of his hand. "I can’t quite put it into words. He just seems odd, like soone who has been strangled and held their breath for a long ti." She realized this comparison wasn’t quite appropriate, but the young master looked unsettling, as if he were about to burst.
Xiqiu didn’t quite understand, and frowned, saying, "Let’s wait for Sister Jingliu to arrive before discussing it." Chunliu nodded in agreent and quickly lifted her skirt as she ran out.
When Ruan Jingliu entered the residence, she went directly to the outer courtyard. Upon seeing Xu Tianqing’s condition, it was the first ti Chunliu had seen her frown. Ruan Jingliu slowly took his pulse, taking an unusually long ti, as if she were carefully tracing the path of his veins. After a while, she straightened up, looked at the mute boy beside Xu Tianqing, and asked, "Where have you co from?"
The mute boy stamred incomprehensibly for a while. Ruan Jingliu couldn’t understand, and seeing the sweat on his anxious forehead, he ran to the table, using tea to write on the surface. The characters were crooked and barely legible. Ruan Jingliu squinted at it for a long ti and uncertainly asked, "Laizhou?"
The mute boy nodded vigorously to confirm.
Ruan Jingliu gave him a deep look, but instead of continuing to ask, she turned to Tianjing, who was standing at the door, saying, "Please take everyone out. I need to perform acupuncture on him."
"Yes!" Tianjing responded and imdiately waved to dismiss the others, but the mute boy shook his head repeatedly, indicating he didn’t want to leave.
Tianjing was about to pull him out when Ruan Jingliu gestured with her hand, saying, "Let him stay." She then nodded to Wan’er to open the box, and she took out the needles to heat over the lamp...
Xiqiu waited in the room for a long ti. When Chunliu returned, she asked, "Sister Jingliu ca? Did she say what ailnt Cousin has? Has he woken up yet?" Chunliu shook her head, "It looks like he needs acupuncture, I ca back first to inform you."
Xiqiu nodded without saying more, everything would have to wait until he woke up.
About an hour later, Tiancheng and Erquan returned with Min from the Marquis Mansion. Xiqiu asked Chunliu to prepare water for Min to freshen up. Xiqiu asked, "Has Mr. Song returned?" while helping him take off his newly made crimson jacket.
"He has returned," Min nodded but said sowhat dejectedly, "However, Teacher was injured. He said the provisions he brought were robbed by refugees on the road, and he injured his own leg during the struggle."
Xiqiu paused in her movent to put away the clothes, turning to ask, "Is his leg alright? Did he hurt any bones?" Min shook his head and replied, "No, Teacher said once he rests for a few days and the wound scabs over, it’ll be fine." He paused and then added, "Mother, has Aunt Ruan arrived? They said soone injured was received at the outer courtyard, were they hurt like Teacher?"
Xiqiu hadn’t seen anyone, so she gestured for Chunliu to carry Min onto the kang. She sat down beside him and replied, "It’s your cousin. Mother doesn’t know if he’s injured either; we’ll have to wait for Aunt Ruan to co and tell us."
"Cousin?" Min had never heard of this cousin and asked, "Who is Cousin? Why haven’t I seen him before? Did he just co to the Capital?"
Listening, Xiqiu sighed silently. Back then, Xu Tianqing left in a fit of anger and didn’t return for two years. She wondered if he had resolved his heart’s grievance after all this ti. Chunliu said he was dark and thin now, unlike the clean and gentle Xu Tianqing of the past. He must have suffered a lot in these two years.
She wondered whether Lord Xu knew he had arrived in the Capital. She heard Madam Jiang ntion it last year—that Lord Xu had married two more concubines, both of whom had borne children... anwhile, the concubine remained in Yingtian, though not as bedridden as the Lady, she was still under house arrest by the Zhang Mansion. Such a damaging event to the family’s reputation would not be tolerated by the influential Zhang family in Yingtian.
"Mother hasn’t seen him in a long ti either. Once he wakes up, Min, you can ask him yourself, alright?" Xiqiu affectionately ruffled Min’s little head, as she accepted the snacks Nanny Cen had brought in. "Hungry? Father’s not back yet, let’s wait a while before eating."
Min agreed, ate a few pieces of pastries, and the two of them, one sitting on the kang and one below, talked. Xiqiu inquired about the situation at the Marquis Mansion, "Is Lyuzhu feeling better? Did Sheng co?"
"Lyuzhu is better, I saw her in Grandmother’s room. Sheng did co!" He suddenly paused, looking a bit displeased, and Xiqiu, seeing this, asked puzzled, "Huh? What’s wrong?"
Min thought for a mont and hesitated before shaking his head, "It’s nothing, nothing!" The teacher had taught that a gentleman does not speak ill of others behind their back, but should he tell his mother? Seeing Xiqiu looking over, he rembered that she wasn’t just anyone, so he raised his head and explained, "She broke a hand warr Mother bought for Grandmother mid-year from another courtyard and then accused of breaking it..." As he spoke, he drooped his eyebrows and looked aggrieved.
Xiqiu was taken aback, asking, "And did you defend yourself, Min? What did Grandmother say?"
"I didn’t!" Min puffed out his chest and said, "She cried and caused a scene, insisting it was . But Teacher said that a gentleman is straightforward, and I didn’t do it, so I don’t need to explain!" He paused and added, "Grandmother didn’t scold but rebuked Lyuzhu. Later, Third Aunt ca by and said it was just a ceramic hand warr, and that next ti, she would buy a replacent at the temple fair. Then she took Lyuzhu away, and Grandmother sent all three of us to the schoolroom."
"Did you see Grandmother afterward?"
"Yes, I went to pay my respects after school, and Grandmother was napping on the kang while Aunt and Nanny Wu were keeping her company. I ate so snacks and then ca back," Min replied, tilting his head.
Xiqiu sighed, realizing that the Grand Dowager was indeed in a temper!
As they spoke, Ruan Jingliu lifted the curtain and entered. She was wearing a plain deep violet overcoat, with two simple hairpins on her head, devoid of makeup but looking fatigued. Xiqiu went to greet her and invited Ruan Jingliu to sit by the kang, asking, "Why do you look unwell? Are you ill?"
"It’s nothing, just a bit tired," Ruan Jingliu waved her hand gently. Hearing Min call out crisply, "Aunt Ruan," she smiled and nodded at him.
Chunliu brought in tea, Ruan Jingliu took a sip and set it on the kang table, and Xiqiu worriedly suggested, "You should lean back for a while here. Fourth Master might take a while to return."
"No need," Ruan Jingliu looked at Xiqiu, "Sitting for a mont will suffice." After a pause, she ntioned Xu Tianqing, "...he has contracted a strange illness. I just administered acupuncture, and he may not wake until tomorrow."
Xiqiu showed a look of doubt, asking, "A strange illness, what kind of strange illness?" Ruan Jingliu’s eyes flickered, she turned her face aside and took up her tea again, sipping without care, "I haven’t encountered it before either. I’ll need to check my dical texts when I return to find out."
Xiqiu frowned and looked at her intently.
User Comments
0 comments from readers