Married Thrice to Salted Fish

18.

In the Qingdai Pavilion, Chang Yang examined Lu Qiaosong’s pulse, and his diagnosis was exactly the same as Lin Qingyu’s. However, he wouldn’t be so blunt as Lin Qingyu, only saying, “Third Young Master Lu is overworked. In addition, he has drank a lot of alcohol during this period and this caused gastrointestinal discomfort. Fortunately, Third Young Master Lu is young and healthy. For the next few days, take your medicine on time, eat a light diet, abstain from self-indulgence and you should recover completely in a few days.”

Lu Niantao smiled and said, “Doctor Chang has worked hard.”

“Then I’ll write a prescription.”

Lu Niantao nodded, and asked casually, “I heard Doctor Chang call my sister-in-law ‘Xiongdi’?”

Chang Yang hesitated for a moment, and said, “What the Second Young Lady said is true. The Shaojun of your honorable house and I studied under the same master. But we have not been in contact for a long time.”

Lu Niantao smiled and said, “What a coincidence. It’s no wonder that Doctor Chang was so overjoyed when he saw Sister-in-law.”

Chang Yang: “……”

Chang Yang wrote out the prescription and made to leave. Lu Niantao said, “Doctor Chang is Sister-in-law’s fellow disciple. Why not go to the Blue Wind Pavilion to see Sister-in-law before leaving?”

Chang Yang remembered the “Let’s talk later” that Lin Qingyu had said to him just now and decided not to refuse, “Thank you for your kindness, Second Young Lady.”

Lu Niantao ordered someone to take Chang Yang to the Blue Wind Pavilion. She then had someone call another doctor to come and prepared the medicine according that doctor’s prescription. After that, she personally stewed a bowl of bird’s nest soup and sent it to Nan’anhou, who was still poring over official documents even while he was relaxing in the bath. While Nan’an Hou was feeling relaxed, she talked about Lu Qiaosong being laid up ill in bed. She told him of how her mother had lost all appetite from extreme worry; she had already lost a lot of weight. And how her poor third brother, in feverish unconsciousness, kept calling out to his mother.

Nan’an Hou heard this and couldn’t help being moved to compassion. Two months had passed since the incident with Chen Guifei’s birthday gift. Liang Shi has been confined behind closed doors, reflecting on her mistakes, made to know her place. But in the end, she was still the official wife of the Hou Mansion, the nominal mother of his three children; he had to leave her a bit of face.

“Your mother has been recuperating for so long, she must surely be better by now.” Nan’an Hou said lightly, “But she is still weak so she need not worry about managing the mansion’s affairs.”

After Liang Shi was set free from her confinement, she immediately rushed to Qingdai Pavilion. Upon learning the true cause of Lu Qiaosong’s illness, she was immediately filled with anger. “Have you forgotten how you were admonished by Master Hou after you failed the imperial exams? You still have the nerve to go looking for a good time at the Jiao Fang Si! What do you think you’re doing letting those shady hussies take you in!”

Being pointed at and severely reprimanded by his birth mother like this, the scholar in Lu Qiaosong was shamed into anger. “I never had any serious problem in the first place. It was that Lin Qingyu who added oil and said in front of the servants that I…A scholar would rather accept death than humiliation. I swear that this hatred will be avenged or I shall be too shamed to face life!”

“Don’t talk about it anymore.” Lu Niantao said calmly, “Mother has been released from her confinement. This is a good thing.”

“Of what use is being released?” Liang sighed, “Now, your father doesn’t trust me. Your maternal grandparent’s family is of no use. After last time, your father has never been in my room again. He probably spends all his time at Sleeping Moon Pavilion.”

Lu Niantao said helplessly, “Mother, how many times have I told you? A childless concubine poses no threat to you. It’s Sister-in-law… Now the Mansion’s little matters are handled by Pan Shi, but the major matters are in the hands of Sister-in-law. Mother. If you want to regain the right of stewardship, your focus should be on Sister-in-law.”

Lu Qiaosong said, full of resentment, “I don’t understand, Lin Qingyu is a Chongxi male wife. His father is just nothing but a fifth rank Pan Guan of the Imperial Hospital. How could he have played you all like this?”

Lu Niantao glanced at Liang Shi and said, “I want to ask that too. Mother, why didn’t you tell me in advance what you were doing with Liu Momo?”

Liang Shi knew that her daughter was extremely intelligent, and in front of her, she couldn’t help being completely subservient. “I-I, of course, I was afraid to worry you.”

“If you’d told me in advance, I definitely would have stopped it. I asked Doctor Zhang and he said that Eldest Brother will not make it through to next year. Then, we simply have to wait. Why are you in such a hurry? And now, you can’t even exercise any control over the household. You’ve also lost Father’s trust. Even once Eldest Brother is gone, Pan Shi and his Sister-in-law will still be here, how can shut out the sky with one hand?”

Looking back on it, Liang Shi too thought that Liu Momo had egged her into having her heart covered with lard. Lu Qiaosong said, “What’s done is done. What’s the use of you telling off Mother now? Better put all that effort into thinking about how to get back the power of stewardship. I only got three hundred taels this month. How could that possibly be enough?”

Lu Niantao thought for a while, and said, “I may have a way. Maybe I can give it a try.”

Liang Shi hurriedly said, “What way?”

Lu Niantao said slowly, “Continue to let that Doctor Chang look after Third Brother’s illness.”

In the bedroom of Blue Wind Pavilion, Lin Qingyu held a pen in his hand, writing out a prescription. Lu Wancheng, who was almost asleep, opened his eyes, wanting to see more of the beauty before going to sleep.

“What are you writing?”

“Prescription.”

Lu Wancheng stared blankly. “Eh? Are you going to give me a new medicine again? What kind of medicine is it this time?”

Lin Qingyu narrowed his eyes. “A medicine to liven things up.”

Lu Wancheng:?

Lin Qingyu sneered, “Your Third Brother said that because you can’t satisfy me, I slandered him by saying he has kidney weakness.”

Lu Wancheng:? ? ?

At this time, Hua Lu came in to deliver a message, interrupting Lu Wancheng’s ‘question mark’. She said that a Doctor Chang was asking to see Shaojun and was waiting in the courtyard.

“It’s my Shidi,” Lin Qingyu said, “I’ll go see him. You can take a nap.”

Lu Wancheng said softly and slowly, “Oh, all right.”

He closed his eyes again but somehow, he was no longer the slightest bit sleepy. Hua Lu walked softly and quietly to the bedside, thinking of tucking in the quilt for him. Suddenly, she heard his call out, “Hua Lu.”

Hua Lu jumped from fright. “Young Master? You’re not asleep yet.” Usually at this hour, in Shaojun’s words, Young Master should be dead asleep.

Lu Wancheng sat up, hugged the pillow and asked, “When did you change the pillows to green? It makes me look like I’ve got something green on top of my head.”

“What color would the Young Master like? I’ll change it for you.”

Lu Wancheng looked out the window, seeming thoughtful. “I’ll think about it.”

Lin Qingyu received Chang Yang in the main hall. Among their master’s apprentices, Lin Qingyu and Chang Yang were accepted in the same year, and their relationship was a bit closer than with the other apprentices. Seeing each other after two years, Lin Qingyu inevitably felt a little rueful looking at this young man before him who was now obviously taller and darker-skinned, thinking about how different his own situation was today.

“Shidi has grown taller…” Lin Qingyu paused. He remembered someone’s way of calling him “Gao Shidi”. Suddenly, he couldn’t speak anymore; he even wanted to laugh a little.

Lu Wancheng hardly ever did anything proper, but his brainwashing skills were topnotch.

Chang Yang wasn’t aware that Lin Qingyu’s attention on him was already dragged away by something else. He looked at Lin Qingyu deeply, his chest was full of agitated emotions.

He was still the Shixiong in his memory, steadfast and imposing, his voice is slightly cold; he was obviously a man, but his face can be described as ” beautiful but cold“. It was a pity that though the person hasn’t changed, the circumstances have. In just two short years, his cherished Shixiong has become the wife of the invalid Young Master Hou. How could one possibly accept it?

If he had known that his Shixiong would someday marry a man and be someone’s wife, he would have done it a long time ago. For what reason had he been enduring all these years?

Compared to him, Lin Qingyu seemed to be much calmer, “When did Shidi arrive at the capital?”

All sorts of feelings were welling up in Chang Yang’s heart. He said, “At the end of last year, I bid farewell to Master and returned to Lin’an to accompany my parents to rush to the capital after the New Year. I first went to the Lin Residence to look for you, but your father told me that you’ve already… ”

Lin Qingyu asked, “The Master, how is he?”

“Master is still strong and vigorous despite his age. It’s just, Shixiong, you…” Chang Yang lowered his voice, his eyes couldn’t hide his emotions. “Shixiong, I know you were forced into this. An imperial decree left you with no choice but to surrender to a marriage.”

Having been reunited after such a long time, Lin Qingyu didn’t want to talk about this with his junior. “Stop talking.”

Chang Yang turned a deaf ear to him and said, “No one knows Shixiong better than I do. I know Shixiong’s ambitions well. Seeing Shixiong having fallen to this point, I haven’t closed my eyes for days and nights.”

Lin Qingyu frowned. “Shidi.”

“I have already figured out a way. I want to take you out of the Hou Mansion. We can be the same as we were in the past, traveling together to all corners of the world…”

Lin Qingyu was about to interrupt, when a male voice cut in, “What are you talking about? Could you let me in on this as well? I want to hear too.”

The two turned towards the sound. They saw Lu Wancheng, immaculately dressed, with the elegance and refinement befitting a noble. “Qingyu, won’t you introduce me?”

Lin Qingyu found it a little strange. What was Lu Wancheng doing up at this hour? “Shidi, this is Young Master Hou; Young Master Hou, this is my junior brother.”

A simple and clear introduction, not a single word more than necessary.

Chang Yang cupped his hands in obeisance and said, “Greetings to Young Master Hou.”

Lu Wancheng was immediately friendly and he said with a smile, “Hello, Shidi.”

A different expression flashed in Chang Yang’s eyes. He smiled, “I pray that Young Master Hou not misunderstand.” He looked at Lin Qingyu’s side profile. “Shixiong and I grew up together. We share a brotherly love for each other; our relationship is deeper than ordinary people’s. It has been a long time since we’ve seen each other and we lost track of time talking. I hope we didn’t disturb Young Master Hou?”

Brotherly love? Heh, you think Laozi hasn’t read enough novels to know that being a Shixiong is a high-risk occupation?

We’re all thousand year old foxes here, no need to act all mysterious.

Lu Wancheng kept the smile on his face. “Misunderstand? What is there for me to misunderstand? I pray the Shidi not misunderstand that I might misunderstand.”

Now that Lu Wancheng was here, Chang Yang naturally could not continue their conversation just now. He said, “By the way, Shixiong, while visiting the South China Sea, Master discovered a medicine that has a miraculous effect on tuberculosis.”

Lin Qingyu’s face was relaxed. “Tell me about it.”

Now that they were talking about medicine, Lu Wancheng had no chance to interrupt. He didn’t care. In any case, he remained seated as hosts with Lin Qingyu, holding his cup of tea and savoring its taste. It was in situations such as these that one must appear ever tolerant.

After the two had finished talking, Lu Wancheng warmly invited Chang Yang to stay for dinner. Chang Yang saw that his presence hadn’t affected Lu Wancheng in the slightest and instead, it was he himself who became overcautious and annoyed. No matter how reluctant he was to part with his Shixiong, he still declined Lu Wancheng’s repeated invitations to stay. It was a pity that he had yet to explain his plan to his Shixiong. However, he mustn’t rush this matter. He will continue to look for other opportunities.

Before leaving, Chang Yang mentioned that Lu Qiaosong’s condition was indeed due to kidney weakness and that he had prescribed the appropriate medicine.

Lin Qingyu said lightly, “Lu Niantao already knows about our relationship as fellow disciples. I’m afraid Shidi wrote that prescription for nothing.”

After Chang Yang left, the ‘noble son’ aura on Lu Wancheng’s body disappeared without a trace. He yawned and said, “I’m so sleepy. I’m going to catch up on sleep.”

Lin Qingyu asked, “What were you up to coming here and spouting a bunch of nonsense instead of taking an afternoon nap?”

Lu Wancheng smiled and said, “Wasn’t it to provide warm hospitality to your shidi?”

Lin Qingyu couldn’t understand the reason for it. “Why?”

Lu Wancheng smiled like a scoundrel. “Ah, but this is the magnanimity of the empress, Qingyu. Wouldn’t you say that this completely different from the wildflowers outside?”

Lin Qingyu said, “…Not really.”