Chapter 24. May you have good fortune, young master.

Chapter 24

The two knelt side by side in the sun, and somehow a sense of shared hardship arose between them.

At least that's what Jiang Yuchu, who was watching from the sidelines, thought. The lady disregarded past grievances and was willing to endure the punishment with the Marquis under the scorching sun. How could that not be considered a sign of deep affection between husband and wife?

However, He Hansheng did not believe that Shen Suining would be such a magnanimous person. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and said indifferently, "What are you planning now?"

"Don't worry, I won't harm you," Shen Suining said with a relaxed tone. "I just feel that with your superb martial arts skills and your ever-present fighting style, I'm afraid I won't live long. To avoid having you say everything after my untimely death, I might as well earn a reputation for being virtuous and kind before I die."

He Hansheng: "..." He shouldn't have asked.

Seeing He Hansheng speechless, Shen Suining was delighted. She glanced at Jiang Yuchu, who was standing behind her like she was being punished, and asked, "Hey Jiang Yuchu, you and Feng Yu have fought so many times, who is stronger between you two?"

"This..." Jiang Yuchu hesitated for a moment, "In terms of skill, I can fight Miss Fengyu to a draw. But in terms of lightness skill, I am probably not as good as her."

“It’s alright, losing to Feng Yu isn’t shameful,” Shen Sui Ningming reassured, though with a hint of sarcasm. “Although Feng Yu is a girl, she is still the head of our Bifeng Hall. The fact that you were able to fight her to a draw is already something many people can only dream of.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuchu felt even more ashamed. She clenched her fists and said, "I will definitely practice harder and strive to beat her as soon as possible!"

“So, Feng Yu is the head of Bifeng Hall,” He Hansheng concluded, though he was still slightly puzzled. “Why does she also have the surname Chen?”

"Didn't Feng Yu tell you that yesterday?"

"What?"

Shen Suining sighed, "From the day I was chosen as the young master of Shuyu Manor, I was destined to have someone by my side who could take my place and deceive the enemy when I was in danger. If I were to meet with misfortune, they would immediately step forward and sacrifice themselves for me. This person could be Feng Yu, or it could be someone else. This is one of the reasons why I never dare to reveal my true face in public. Because if my identity is exposed and I am targeted, they will be the ones who are sacrificed."

"Therefore, most people in Shuyu Manor are given the surname Shen, because they exist to protect you."

"No, you're mistaken. Most of the people in Shuyu Manor are nameless and don't exist solely to protect me. They were all abandoned infants, thrown under the baby-abandoning tower at birth, and adopted by my mother, who treated them as family. Every time I accidentally cause Fengyu or anyone else to get hurt, my mother scolds me severely because, to her, losing everyone is the same as losing me."

“So Jiang Yuchu,” Shen Suining turned to look at Jiang Yuchu, “losing to Feng Yu is really not shameful at all. Bifeng Hall is the branch with the highest martial arts strength in Shuyu Manor. Feng Yu is the leader, and her martial arts were personally taught by my parents. You should feel honored that you were able to fight her to a draw.”

Jiang Yuchu: "..."

“But Madam,” Jiang Yuchu hesitated, “I’ve heard that Bifeng Hall is famous for its medicine, poison, incense, and seductive arts, but its martial arts skills are only so-so.”

"..." Shen Suining was somewhat speechless. "Where did you hear all this from? Medicine, poison, and incense are one thing, but let's just say that I use weapons and medicines made by Linrong Pavilion whenever I personally go on a mission to avoid major direct confrontations. As for... seduction techniques?"

Shen Suining sneered, "Not to mention that Shuyu Manor explicitly forbids such unorthodox practices, although my Bifeng Hall has a large number of women, none of them are cowards. Who would want to use seductive arts? Or it's just that some people are lustful and deliberately trying to smear me."

"It seems that the rumors really shouldn't be believed at all." Jiang Yuchu chuckled twice.

"Of course."

He Hansheng was somewhat surprised to hear Shen Suining speak so frankly about the Shuyu Manor, but upon reflection, he felt it made perfect sense.

Not to mention that their parents were best friends, he and Shen Suining were already husband and wife. Regardless of their past grievances, now that they were married and had gone through the wedding ceremony, they would naturally share life and death and fortune and misfortune.

However, for them right now, living in harmony seems a little distant.

“Hey, He Hansheng,” Shen Suining’s voice was clearly off when she spoke again, “I’ve been kneeling with you for so long. If I faint from exhaustion now, you can’t take advantage of me.”

Before she could finish speaking, Shen Suining collapsed into He Hansheng's arms and fainted.

"Madam!" Jiang Yuchu exclaimed in surprise. When she came to her senses, He Hansheng had already swept her up in his arms and was heading towards the Plum Garden.

"Yu Chu, go and call the imperial physician," He Hansheng said after taking a few steps, then suddenly remembered something. "Feng Yu went to pick up Miss Miao today. Go and ask her to come and see Madam first."

...

Shen Suining suffered from heatstroke.

She was already sensitive to heat, and coupled with the fact that she hadn't eaten much or slept well the day before her wedding, she fainted after kneeling under the blazing sun for almost half an hour.

When she woke up, the room was full of people.

Shen Suining had never seen anything like this before and was a little embarrassed. The princess sitting next to her heard her wake up and quickly asked, "Ningning, are you feeling better? Is there anything else that hurts?"

"No... I'm much better now, it's nothing serious," Shen Suining said, noticing the princess's furrowed brow. "Don't worry, I just had heatstroke, I'll be fine after a little while."

The princess's brow relaxed slightly, and she sighed, "You child, even if you want to plead for Ah Sheng, you can't kneel there yourself."

Shen Suining quickly explained, "Mother-in-law, please don't misunderstand. I didn't mean to make things difficult for you, nor did I intend to protect the Marquis. I just thought that even if the Marquis was wrong, it was still a matter between him and me. If you interfered too much, it would not only damage the relationship between you and your son, but also create more discord between the Marquis and me. If others heard about it, they would laugh at you and the Marquis."

“Ningning is very sensible. It’s a blessing for Asheng to marry a wife like you.” The princess listened and her affection and admiration for Shen Suining increased even more. “Alright, alright, since Ningning has said so, I will no longer interfere in this matter. You and Asheng can resolve it yourselves.”

After saying this, the princess left.

Shen Suining breathed a sigh of relief, then slumped against the bedside, groaning in discomfort.

"Young Master, you're acting recklessly again." Shen Fengyu was quite dissatisfied and was about to say something when Shen Suining quickly interrupted her, "Don't be so quick to criticize me. I have my reasons for doing this."

"Yes, yes, you're always right," Shen Fengyu rolled her eyes at her. "You have no idea how long you were unconscious while the Princess was scolding the young marquis outside. He was scolded like a grandson, and he's probably holding back a lot of anger. You'd better pray for yourself later."

Shen Suining: "..." That's it, I've made a mess of things.

Just as they were talking about He Hansheng, he came in from outside. He did look unwell, but not as bad as Shen Fengyu had described.

Shen Suining felt inexplicably guilty and silently pulled Shen Fengyu to stand in front of her. "He Hansheng, we agreed beforehand that we wouldn't take advantage of someone in distress. Even if I meant well but did something wrong and you're upset, we'll talk about it after I've recovered."

He Hansheng walked straight to the bedside, took a deep breath, and said, "Get out."

"..." Shen Suining held onto Shen Fengyu tightly, preventing her from leaving.

Shen Fengyu was somewhat speechless. "Young Master, didn't you just make a good point? Why are you pulling me along now?"

As she spoke, Shen Fengyu snatched the clothes from Shen Suining's hands. "Take care of yourself, young master."

Seeing everyone in the room leave in an instant, even Shen Fengyu abandoned her, Shen Suining felt both angry and heartbroken. The sudden surge of anger finally led her to confront He Hansheng, who seemed to have come to interrogate her.

He Hansheng sat down on the edge of the bed and stretched out his hand without saying a word.

Shen Suining was startled and instinctively dodged.

"Why are you hiding?" He Hansheng chuckled, his eyes showing no anger. He reached out and covered Shen Suining's cheek, testing the temperature of her face. "It's still a little hot."

As he spoke, He Hansheng took a handkerchief from the basin next to him and placed it on Shen Suining's forehead.

"..." Shen Suining looked as if she had seen a ghost, her face full of vigilance.

He Hansheng pretended not to see it, brought over the mung bean and lily soup that Miao Wei had prepared, sat down by the bed, picked up a spoon, and seemed to be planning to feed Shen Suining.

Shen Suining was even more frightened, her eyes fixed on the mung bean soup in his bowl. "Tell me the truth, did you put something in the mung bean soup?"

Without saying a word, He Hansheng took a sip in front of Shen Suining.

"Is it ready?" He Hansheng asked.

Before Shen Suining could even be shocked, He Hansheng had already brought a spoon to her lips. She subconsciously opened her mouth, but before she could swallow, He Hansheng fed her another spoonful.

"Cough cough cough..." Shen Suining choked, coughing so hard that the wet handkerchief on her head fell onto her lap with a "plop", and her cheeks turned red.

She pointed at He Han, her voice choked with breath, "You...you did it on purpose..."

Before he could finish speaking, He Hansheng pressed the wet cloth back onto her forehead, keeping it pressed down with his hand, as if afraid it would fall off again.

"..." Shen Suining remained silent for a moment before finally speaking up to remind He Hansheng, "This is very stupid."

"Don't move around," He Hansheng reminded him, but he didn't budge. "You have heatstroke. This will cool you down faster."

That's what they say, but this position is really too stupid. Shen Suining couldn't stand it anymore and stepped back. As expected, the back of her head hit the headboard with a "thud," making her head buzz and leaving her completely stunned.

“I warned you,” He Hansheng picked up the fallen handkerchief again, held it in his hand, and slowly said, “I told you not to move, but you wouldn’t listen.”

"..."