LianLian thought for a while, looked at Cen Shou with a pitied look and finally let him go. She walked with SiSi and Jinxia to the Pavilion.
“Da Yang, hurry up and prepare a new pot of tea for the two sisters.” Jinxia winked at him.
YangYue understood, smiled and left.
SiSi sat down and looked at Jinxia, then turned to look at Chun Yumin, who was staring at them, and asked with a smile, “What should I call you two?”
Jinxia introduced them, “This is Lu Daren’s cousin, Ms. Chun.”
Chun Yumin had never interacted with women like them before and, at the moment, she didn’t know how to respond.
“My surname is Yuan. I am Lu Daren’s subordinate, whose job is to do random and trivial matters.” Not waiting for them to speak, Jinxia turned and tugged on the sleeves of LianLian’s robe and began to praise, “Sister, your clothes are very nice, when I touched the fabric, it felt so soft and smooth… The colour is also very bright, making you look even more beautiful than the flowers in the back.”
Standing in the corner, Cen Shou’s back was leaning against the wall; seeing Jinxia talking warmly with the two ladies, he couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrows. At that time, YangYue happened to carry a tray and walked past him. He immediately grabbed him and said, “You… Just looking at them, I already know those two ladies are not from a noble family, yet you’re trying to flatter them. In the end, you’re still a Liushanmen, doing this will reflect your reputation.”
YangYue firmly held onto the slightly swaying tray. He tightened his eyebrows and said: “You shouldn’t spill this tea… If you already know they are not from a noble family, then you should know how to deal with them. This time, we come to investigate General Hu and they happen to be General Hu’s people. Jinxia is trying very hard out there, isn’t it because she wants to get something out of them?”
Cen Shou fell silent but stubbornly did not regret his words, “They’re just prostitutes, they won’t know anything, it’s pointless spending time with them rather than just send them away.”
YangYue was usually a very kind person, but because of Zhai Lanye’s incident, his heart was filled with unhappiness and sadness, making his words no longer kind. He said out loud, “You want to get rid of them? Then go do it yourself! Who was the person that kept avoiding them earlier? If you have the ability to do so, Jinxia wouldn’t be wasting so much energy over there now.”
“You…”
Cen Shou raised his chin and was ready to reply to YangYue, but then he noticed YangYue had already walked away.
“Fine, I will see how these two ladies will give us any leads or whether it is going to be a bunch of wasted time.” He coldly snorted, turned to go to the kitchen and fetched the medicine that was cooking on the stove, then walked towards A’Rui’s room.
As he walked into the room, he found A’Rui curled up again on the floor.
“Are you addicted to the floor or something?” Cen Shou shook his head, put down the medicine bowl on the table and did not rush to help him up. “It’s time to take your medicine but if you want to drink it on the floor then it’s up to you, as long as you do it quickly. Don’t waste my time.”
A’Rui struggled to hold the edge of the bed, tried to lift himself up but no matter how hard he tried, he could only lean up slightly. Finally he fell back again on the floor.
“Mirror, I want to see myself in the mirror.” He said hoarsely.
Cen Shou looked at his current condition: he was fully covered in scars, which made it hard for anyone to recognize him. Even though this was a usual thing in the Beizhen’s Department, in his heart, he still felt a little helpless. In a harsh and unemotional voice, he said, “As a grown man, why do you need to use a mirror? Stop being a lady, wait until you can properly move and then you can go fetch a mirror yourself, this master won’t be ordered by you!”
“Give me the mirror! I want a mirror!” A’Rui loudly shouted, his gaze was like daggers and it didn’t move away from Cen Shou.
“Do not order this master! Do you hear me?”
“I want to see myself in the mirror, give me the mirror…:”
Since Chun Yumin had been horrified by him to the point of falling down on the ground, A’Rui’s heart was uneasy… How did he look? If Shangguan had seen him one day, would she have also been horrified like Chun Yumin?
Because A’Rui kept saying the same things in the same tone of voice, it made Cen Shou feel uneasy, to the point of stirring up his emotions. He suddenly dragged A’Rui toward the dressing table, in order for him to face the mirror and said, “Mirror, mirror, fine, look at yourself! After doing so, don’t be sorry.”
A’Rui looked at the person in the mirror and remained silent for a very long time…
He wanted to touch the wound on his face but he didn’t have the strength to lift his hand.
Cen Shou observed his expression and, after thinking about it, he tried to persuade him, “You wanted to look in the mirror, I didn’t force you. As a man, a few wounds on the face is normal, so don’t act like a lady. Women can be worried about not being able to get married but men don’t need to worry about not having a wife!”
It seemed like A’Rui had made some decision because he used all his strength and slammed the mirror.
Cen Shou, who was half supporting him and already in need of a certain amount of strength, unexpectedly lunged forward, losing his balance and moving with A’Rui. The two men stretched out together in the mirror direction, then only a loud sound was heard…. It was the mirror being smashed into a thousand pieces, which fell tinkling on the ground.
Jinxia was chatting with the two ladies on the topic of General Hu when she heard a loud sound coming from A’Rui’s room, it was the unmistakable sound of glass breaking, so strong that it would have been impossible for her to ignore it.
Hearing the noise, Chun Yumin who didn’t understand what was going on, felt uneasy in her heart, afraid that the strange man might cause trouble.
LianLian and SiSi naturally heard it, then the latter asked, “It seems that someone accidentally dropped something?”
“Of course.” Jinxia hurried and answered, “It could be the person who stopped you earlier. He has a very careless manner, let me go see, hopefully he didn’t break anything valuable… Ah, I see that the flowers embroidered on your clothes are very detailed. Ms. Chun is also very good at embroidery, maybe she can learn something from you two.”
As she said those words, she looked at Chun Yumin and gave her an eye signal. Chun Yumin understood that she wanted her to serve them but she had never done that before, she had been sitting quietly listening to their chat for a day, and now she really didn’t know what to do.
Jinxia walked away with wide steps, leaving Chun Yumin alone to accompany LianLian and Sisi.
“I… I’m actually not very good at embroidery.” Chun Yumin tried to think and said in a soft voice, “Hangzhou is famous for its embroidery, I want to ask you sisters for some guidance. This one is my favourite piece but the stitches aren’t well done.” She took out her handkerchief, in the corner of her handkerchief was embroidered some magnolias.
LianLian and SiSi were not ordinary people. From the first time they saw Chun Yumin, they immediately knew she was from a noble family, then knowing she was Lu Yi’s younger cousin, they concluded she was definitely from a rich and influential family. At the same time, they were afraid she would look down on them but now seeing her taking the initiative to talk to them, in a respectful and polite manner, they were becoming more comfortable. They reached out to take the handkerchief and continued to chat and laugh, completely forgetting the awkwardness.
After moving away from LianLian and SiSi’s gaze, Jinxia ran in a hurry to A’Rui’s room. YangYue had already arrived and was currently lifting the two men up. Cen Shou’s hand was injured by the sharp glasses, his face darkened.
Seeing the glasses on the ground, Jinxia asked, “What happened? Why is there such a big mess?”
“You ask him!” Cen Shou said with regret, “He was making a fuss about wanting a mirror, I took him to see himself in the mirror, then he suddenly slammed and broke the mirror.”
“You…” Jinxia, who heard it, immediately became furious, “Are you heartless? His wounds still haven’t healed, yet you let him use a mirror?”
“It’s a fortune the wounds haven’t healed yet. If they were healed, I don’t know how many items in this room would be destroyed.” Cen Shou said irritated.
Cen Fu, who just came home, stepped into the room and was surprised to see the broken glasses on the floor, then asked, “There are chests filled with gifts in the yard and where did those two ladies come from? Why do they seem so comfortable with Ms. Chun?”
“Brother, you’re finally home.”
Cen Shou retold the whole incident to Cen Fu, not forgetting to add one sentence, “How could they use Ms. Chun’s status, letting her joke and chat with prostitutes? Wait until this matter is found out by the Young Master.”
Jinxia glared at him and said scornfully, “You idiot! You can’t even help anyway.”
Compared to Cen Shou, Cen Fu was much calmer and wiser: the chests and the other stuff had to wait for the Young Master to come back to make a decision but they had not to scatter them on the ground, they should put them aside first. Regarding the two ladies, they were indeed sent by General Hu, and had to be dealt with respect, to not offend the General. “Constable Yuan did great by keeping them in the yard.”
Jinxia shook her head, “This master is doing her job, of course everything is according to the rules… Da Yang, go out there and look, if Ms. Chun can’t do it, then you help her.”
YangYue did not say much and immediately left.
On the bed, A’Rui closed his eyes tight and if, at the start, he was already angry in his heart, now having seen the scars on his face, he couldn’t help but feel even more terrible. Jinxia looked at him for a moment and then said, “I know you think that you can’t stand in front of Sister Shangguan with this appearance and you’re currently terrified.”
“Ah!” A’Rui yelled, “Get out!”
Jinxia didn’t care, she continued to say, “At this time, the poison in your body hasn’t completely disappeared and Lu Daren is currently looking for a physician. Wait until the poison in your body is gone, the wounds will definitely heal, if you give up now, it will be meaningless. After all, you’re not a Pan An who is only either good looking or good at poetry. A real man must be skillful in kung fu, what’s the use of a handsome face?”
A’Rui didn’t reply, instead Cen Shou continuously stroked his chin while looking at the broken glass on the floor.
“You’ve heard what Sister Shangguan said today, she said if you were there, it would be really good. Think about it, she must’ve faced a lot of difficulty during this trip, that’s why she thought of you and you should know your Young Master Bangzhu is unreliable, as long as he doesn’t cause trouble, we thank the heavens. This is the kind of person beside Sister Shangguan, can you remain calm?”
In order to raise the feeling of protection inside A’Rui toward Shangguan Xi, Jinxia had to cruelly humilliate Xie Xiao in such a way.
Cen Fu continued her words, “The Young Master has given orders for me to find a physician, who is skillful in curing poison. I discovered that, even though the poison in your body is deadly, because you’ve taken the antidote and as long as you keep taking your medicine, in just a few days, you should recover quickly.”
A’Rui remained silent.
“You fix this place.” Cen Fu gave an order to Cen Shou.
Cen Shou said with dissatisfaction, “Why should I?”
Cen Fu ignored him, turning to look at Jinxia, “Let’s go out and let him rest first.”
Before any of them left the room, A’Rui suddenly spoke up in a weak voice, “Wait… Tell your Young Master not to accept the gifts from General Hu. It’s a trap, someone will try to harm him.”
LianLian thought for a while, looked at Cen Shou with a pitied look and finally let him go. She walked with SiSi and Jinxia to the Pavilion.
“Da Yang, hurry up and prepare a new pot of tea for the two sisters.” Jinxia winked at him.
YangYue understood, smiled and left.
SiSi sat down and looked at Jinxia, then turned to look at Chun Yumin, who was staring at them, and asked with a smile, “What should I call you two?”
Jinxia introduced them, “This is Lu Daren’s cousin, Ms. Chun.”
Chun Yumin had never interacted with women like them before and, at the moment, she didn’t know how to respond.
“My surname is Yuan. I am Lu Daren’s subordinate, whose job is to do random and trivial matters.” Not waiting for them to speak, Jinxia turned and tugged on the sleeves of LianLian’s robe and began to praise, “Sister, your clothes are very nice, when I touched the fabric, it felt so soft and smooth… The colour is also very bright, making you look even more beautiful than the flowers in the back.”
Standing in the corner, Cen Shou’s back was leaning against the wall; seeing Jinxia talking warmly with the two ladies, he couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrows. At that time, YangYue happened to carry a tray and walked past him. He immediately grabbed him and said, “You… Just looking at them, I already know those two ladies are not from a noble family, yet you’re trying to flatter them. In the end, you’re still a Liushanmen, doing this will reflect your reputation.”
YangYue firmly held onto the slightly swaying tray. He tightened his eyebrows and said: “You shouldn’t spill this tea… If you already know they are not from a noble family, then you should know how to deal with them. This time, we come to investigate General Hu and they happen to be General Hu’s people. Jinxia is trying very hard out there, isn’t it because she wants to get something out of them?”
Cen Shou fell silent but stubbornly did not regret his words, “They’re just prostitutes, they won’t know anything, it’s pointless spending time with them rather than just send them away.”
YangYue was usually a very kind person, but because of Zhai Lanye’s incident, his heart was filled with unhappiness and sadness, making his words no longer kind. He said out loud, “You want to get rid of them? Then go do it yourself! Who was the person that kept avoiding them earlier? If you have the ability to do so, Jinxia wouldn’t be wasting so much energy over there now.”
“You…”
Cen Shou raised his chin and was ready to reply to YangYue, but then he noticed YangYue had already walked away.
“Fine, I will see how these two ladies will give us any leads or whether it is going to be a bunch of wasted time.” He coldly snorted, turned to go to the kitchen and fetched the medicine that was cooking on the stove, then walked towards A’Rui’s room.
As he walked into the room, he found A’Rui curled up again on the floor.
“Are you addicted to the floor or something?” Cen Shou shook his head, put down the medicine bowl on the table and did not rush to help him up. “It’s time to take your medicine but if you want to drink it on the floor then it’s up to you, as long as you do it quickly. Don’t waste my time.”
A’Rui struggled to hold the edge of the bed, tried to lift himself up but no matter how hard he tried, he could only lean up slightly. Finally he fell back again on the floor.
“Mirror, I want to see myself in the mirror.” He said hoarsely.
Cen Shou looked at his current condition: he was fully covered in scars, which made it hard for anyone to recognize him. Even though this was a usual thing in the Beizhen’s Department, in his heart, he still felt a little helpless. In a harsh and unemotional voice, he said, “As a grown man, why do you need to use a mirror? Stop being a lady, wait until you can properly move and then you can go fetch a mirror yourself, this master won’t be ordered by you!”
“Give me the mirror! I want a mirror!” A’Rui loudly shouted, his gaze was like daggers and it didn’t move away from Cen Shou.
“Do not order this master! Do you hear me?”
“I want to see myself in the mirror, give me the mirror…:”
Since Chun Yumin had been horrified by him to the point of falling down on the ground, A’Rui’s heart was uneasy… How did he look? If Shangguan had seen him one day, would she have also been horrified like Chun Yumin?
Because A’Rui kept saying the same things in the same tone of voice, it made Cen Shou feel uneasy, to the point of stirring up his emotions. He suddenly dragged A’Rui toward the dressing table, in order for him to face the mirror and said, “Mirror, mirror, fine, look at yourself! After doing so, don’t be sorry.”
A’Rui looked at the person in the mirror and remained silent for a very long time…
He wanted to touch the wound on his face but he didn’t have the strength to lift his hand.
Cen Shou observed his expression and, after thinking about it, he tried to persuade him, “You wanted to look in the mirror, I didn’t force you. As a man, a few wounds on the face is normal, so don’t act like a lady. Women can be worried about not being able to get married but men don’t need to worry about not having a wife!”
It seemed like A’Rui had made some decision because he used all his strength and slammed the mirror.
Cen Shou, who was half supporting him and already in need of a certain amount of strength, unexpectedly lunged forward, losing his balance and moving with A’Rui. The two men stretched out together in the mirror direction, then only a loud sound was heard…. It was the mirror being smashed into a thousand pieces, which fell tinkling on the ground.
Jinxia was chatting with the two ladies on the topic of General Hu when she heard a loud sound coming from A’Rui’s room, it was the unmistakable sound of glass breaking, so strong that it would have been impossible for her to ignore it.
Hearing the noise, Chun Yumin who didn’t understand what was going on, felt uneasy in her heart, afraid that the strange man might cause trouble.
LianLian and SiSi naturally heard it, then the latter asked, “It seems that someone accidentally dropped something?”
“Of course.” Jinxia hurried and answered, “It could be the person who stopped you earlier. He has a very careless manner, let me go see, hopefully he didn’t break anything valuable… Ah, I see that the flowers embroidered on your clothes are very detailed. Ms. Chun is also very good at embroidery, maybe she can learn something from you two.”
As she said those words, she looked at Chun Yumin and gave her an eye signal. Chun Yumin understood that she wanted her to serve them but she had never done that before, she had been sitting quietly listening to their chat for a day, and now she really didn’t know what to do.
Jinxia walked away with wide steps, leaving Chun Yumin alone to accompany LianLian and Sisi.
“I… I’m actually not very good at embroidery.” Chun Yumin tried to think and said in a soft voice, “Hangzhou is famous for its embroidery, I want to ask you sisters for some guidance. This one is my favourite piece but the stitches aren’t well done.” She took out her handkerchief, in the corner of her handkerchief was embroidered some magnolias.
LianLian and SiSi were not ordinary people. From the first time they saw Chun Yumin, they immediately knew she was from a noble family, then knowing she was Lu Yi’s younger cousin, they concluded she was definitely from a rich and influential family. At the same time, they were afraid she would look down on them but now seeing her taking the initiative to talk to them, in a respectful and polite manner, they were becoming more comfortable. They reached out to take the handkerchief and continued to chat and laugh, completely forgetting the awkwardness.
After moving away from LianLian and SiSi’s gaze, Jinxia ran in a hurry to A’Rui’s room. YangYue had already arrived and was currently lifting the two men up. Cen Shou’s hand was injured by the sharp glasses, his face darkened.
Seeing the glasses on the ground, Jinxia asked, “What happened? Why is there such a big mess?”
“You ask him!” Cen Shou said with regret, “He was making a fuss about wanting a mirror, I took him to see himself in the mirror, then he suddenly slammed and broke the mirror.”
“You…” Jinxia, who heard it, immediately became furious, “Are you heartless? His wounds still haven’t healed, yet you let him use a mirror?”
“It’s a fortune the wounds haven’t healed yet. If they were healed, I don’t know how many items in this room would be destroyed.” Cen Shou said irritated.
Cen Fu, who just came home, stepped into the room and was surprised to see the broken glasses on the floor, then asked, “There are chests filled with gifts in the yard and where did those two ladies come from? Why do they seem so comfortable with Ms. Chun?”
“Brother, you’re finally home.”
Cen Shou retold the whole incident to Cen Fu, not forgetting to add one sentence, “How could they use Ms. Chun’s status, letting her joke and chat with prostitutes? Wait until this matter is found out by the Young Master.”
Jinxia glared at him and said scornfully, “You idiot! You can’t even help anyway.”
Compared to Cen Shou, Cen Fu was much calmer and wiser: the chests and the other stuff had to wait for the Young Master to come back to make a decision but they had not to scatter them on the ground, they should put them aside first. Regarding the two ladies, they were indeed sent by General Hu, and had to be dealt with respect, to not offend the General. “Constable Yuan did great by keeping them in the yard.”
Jinxia shook her head, “This master is doing her job, of course everything is according to the rules… Da Yang, go out there and look, if Ms. Chun can’t do it, then you help her.”
YangYue did not say much and immediately left.
On the bed, A’Rui closed his eyes tight and if, at the start, he was already angry in his heart, now having seen the scars on his face, he couldn’t help but feel even more terrible. Jinxia looked at him for a moment and then said, “I know you think that you can’t stand in front of Sister Shangguan with this appearance and you’re currently terrified.”
“Ah!” A’Rui yelled, “Get out!”
Jinxia didn’t care, she continued to say, “At this time, the poison in your body hasn’t completely disappeared and Lu Daren is currently looking for a physician. Wait until the poison in your body is gone, the wounds will definitely heal, if you give up now, it will be meaningless. After all, you’re not a Pan An who is only either good looking or good at poetry. A real man must be skillful in kung fu, what’s the use of a handsome face?”
A’Rui didn’t reply, instead Cen Shou continuously stroked his chin while looking at the broken glass on the floor.
“You’ve heard what Sister Shangguan said today, she said if you were there, it would be really good. Think about it, she must’ve faced a lot of difficulty during this trip, that’s why she thought of you and you should know your Young Master Bangzhu is unreliable, as long as he doesn’t cause trouble, we thank the heavens. This is the kind of person beside Sister Shangguan, can you remain calm?”
In order to raise the feeling of protection inside A’Rui toward Shangguan Xi, Jinxia had to cruelly humilliate Xie Xiao in such a way.
Cen Fu continued her words, “The Young Master has given orders for me to find a physician, who is skillful in curing poison. I discovered that, even though the poison in your body is deadly, because you’ve taken the antidote and as long as you keep taking your medicine, in just a few days, you should recover quickly.”
A’Rui remained silent.
“You fix this place.” Cen Fu gave an order to Cen Shou.
Cen Shou said with dissatisfaction, “Why should I?”
Cen Fu ignored him, turning to look at Jinxia, “Let’s go out and let him rest first.”
Before any of them left the room, A’Rui suddenly spoke up in a weak voice, “Wait… Tell your Young Master not to accept the gifts from General Hu. It’s a trap, someone will try to harm him.”
