…

Although Jiang Rao had decided in her mind to go to the west of the city more often so that the boy could change his impression of her as soon as possible, her dreams one after another made her more and more afraid of him.

Whenever she saw him now, she would think of how cruel and ruthless he would be in the future, and all the ways he would take revenge on her.

I knelt for a long time in my dream, and my knees became sore when I woke up. As soon as she saw him, all she could think about was running away, let alone doing anything to change his impression of her.

The instinct to stay away from danger made Jiang Rao choose to be a coward for a few days. She ordered a servant to guard outside the small house in the west of the city for her to prevent the boy from being bullied by those naughty kids again.

That night Jiang Rao dreamed of the grown-up boy again, and the dream was clearer than any previous dream.

Because she was an accomplice of the Fourth Prince, she and her family were imprisoned after the new emperor ascended the throne.

She was originally a slave, and he bought her back with the intention of killing her. However, after some time, he did not take her life, but made her a servant to serve him.

From then on, he took pleasure in torturing her every day.

The delicate little girl who had always been pampered by her family suddenly became someone else's slave, serving a moody master. It was like falling from the clouds to the mud, and she was miserable.

But she owed him something, and she dared not speak out her anger, and could only endure it day by day...

Jiang Rao had a miserable dream the whole night and when she woke up, her face looked extremely bitter.

Her life is so hard.

With a sad face, she had her breakfast and went out to mail a letter to her grandfather.

Although Jiang Rao couldn't make it back for her grandfather's 60th birthday, she carefully selected birthday gifts and sent them to her grandfather who was far away in the imperial capital Jinling, showing her care as a younger generation.

It snowed for several days, the sky was still gray, with occasional snowflakes falling.

The road out of the city was blocked by heavy snow, so the county magistrate sent people to post a notice - if you value your life, do not leave the city.

Just eight short words, but quite binding. Everyone in the city cherished their lives like gold and stayed well-behaved, and no one left the city.

After Jiang Rao sent the letter, she came out of the posthouse with her head lowered, a look of indescribable distress.

The dream she had last night made her feel that there were still many hidden dangers on the boy's side.

So even though she was afraid, she had to bear it and coax him first.

Otherwise, once her family leaves Yecheng, she will have no chance.

In the teahouse near the post station, there were people who were unable to leave the city.

The people who do everything.

Jiang Rao saw the people gathered there, and with an idea in mind, she walked over and asked the locals about anything related to the young man.

The people here told her that the boy came to Yecheng a year ago.

He was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family in Jinling. He came to this small town to recuperate. His family found a local man named Wang Zhou to be his servant, who would send him monthly wages.

Jiang Rao carefully asked his name. Since he was from Jinling, he might have had dealings with her family before.

But regarding this point, the people here all shook their heads and no one knew.

Half an hour later, Jiang Rao went to the clinic.

She heard from others that she had seen the young man coming here to get medicine when he first arrived in Yecheng a year ago.

But now it's been a year and his leg has not healed.

Jiang Rao couldn't help but be curious and wanted to ask the old doctor what exactly happened to the boy's leg injury.

…

Curiosity eventually turned into slight heartache and pity.

At first she only knew that he had an injury on his leg. After talking with the old doctor, she realized how serious the injury was.

When he first arrived at the clinic, the wound on his calf was festering and deep enough to expose the bone. The bone was broken, but he just kept enduring it. The old doctor said that in order to save some money, he did not use anesthesia when reconnecting the broken bone. From beginning to end, he did not make a sound.

When Jiang Rao listened to the old doctor's words, she thought of how he was trying to endure the pain and was sweating all over. After all, he was just a thirteen-year-old boy at that time.

Normally, if her brother fell down and got a little cut, she would feel distressed for a long time, but he had endured all the most serious injuries to the skin, flesh, and bones.

To say that he is terrible is true, but to say that he is pitiful is also true.

When she stepped into the small house in the west of the city again, she was holding a heavy square bag in her hand.

The hemp rope used to bind the body left several fine marks on the oil paper, which was filled with Chinese medicine prescribed by the old doctor.

The old doctor said that in the past year, the boy had only visited him once, and after leaving, he never went to him to get medicine again.

The old doctor had clearly instructed the servant beside the young man to come every month to get medicine for his master. However, from winter to summer, and then back to winter, more than eleven months passed in a flash, but the old doctor had never seen the servant come once.

Jiang Rao found it hard to imagine how he managed to survive with such a serious leg injury and no medicine.

The courtyard is still the same as it was yesterday, deserted and lonely, as quiet as a cemetery. The yard was filled with heavy snow, and every step you took on it left deep footprints.

After a night of wind, the door, which already looked fragile, became even more shaky. I just raised my hand and knocked twice, and the door creaked and opened by itself.

The house was in a mess.

Jiang Rao didn't expect to see such a scene - the young man was crawling on the ground.

He knelt with weak legs, a quilt so thin that it was almost negligible was pressed under his knees.

With long hair draped behind him and his back slightly arched, he looked like a trapped beast with its sharp teeth cut off and its bones pulled out.

It looked like he was trying to use his elbows to support the ground so that he could exert force and stand up.

But even though he tightened his arm muscles and seemed to have used up all his strength, his legs felt like they were weighed down by heavy stones and he couldn't move at all.

The red eyes were filled with defeat and dejection.

She walked over silently and tried to support him.

But she was frightened by his sudden cold gaze and stopped moving.

Rong Ting heard her come in.

He looked at her sideways and couldn't help coughing twice, "What are you doing here?"

Jiang Rao raised the medicine bag in her hand to show him, "I went to the clinic and got some medicine for you."

Rong Ting remained silent.

His character had long been worn out and twisted by the cannibalistic world of the palace, and every person he had met since he was born, whether they laughed or scolded, not one was truly kind to him.

He had seen many hypocritical smiles that concealed a dagger. To him, overly enthusiastic gestures of kindness were not much different from bullying and neglect.

Even if she wanted to make amends to him out of guilt, doing this much was enough.

No one would really be so nice to him.

He looked at the concern on her face coldly, as if he was looking at poison wrapped in honey.

But before he could even say goodbye, he fainted from the severe pain of the burning sensation.

…

When he woke up, a pair of warm hands were gently applying a wet handkerchief to his forehead.

The thin, cold and hard quilt on my body seemed to have been replaced with a new, warm and thick one.

He blinked, and a surprised and gentle question came from the side, "Are you awake?"

Jiang Rao squatted beside his couch with a wet towel in her hand, her head level with the edge, looking at him in surprise.

After he fainted, his forehead was sweating and his brows were furrowed. I don’t know if it was because of the pain or if he had dreamed about something bad.

She spoke softly, fearing to scare him. "You suddenly fainted just now, which scared me. I asked the old doctor in the clinic to come and see you. He said that the wound on your leg had worsened, and you had caught a cold recently, so he prescribed a few more medicines for you. When you fell asleep, the old doctor personally boiled the medicine for you and asked me to feed it to you."

Rong Ting pursed his lips, a sweet and bitter taste of herbs lingering in his mouth.

There is even a faint sweet and bitter smell on his body.

Only then did he notice a medicine stain on the front of his shirt.

Jiang Rao also noticed it. Her eyes swept across the front of his shirt, then quickly swept away, her long eyelashes drooping, "But I only fed you half a bowl."

A faint blush rose on her cheeks, and she explained weakly, "I could only feed half a bowl of it, and the rest spilled...on you."

Rong Ting raised his eyes, looked directly at her, and asked in a hoarse voice: "Did you feed me the medicine?"

"Um."

Jiang Rao wanted to ask the maid to feed him, but he didn't know why. When the maid came close to him, he fainted and choked her neck consciously...

Even changing the old doctor won't help.

He was so aloof even after fainting. Jiang Rao made a correction to his character in her heart. He was not suspicious, but extremely suspicious, deep in his bones, and really violent.

But when she approached him, he was unusually motionless, so Jiang Rao fed him herself.

When he closed his eyes, the gloomy and violent look in his eyes was gone. He looked sickly and pitiful. She was not afraid, and even felt a little distressed. When he fell asleep, she couldn't help but stroke his handsome eyebrows with her hands.

Rong Ting lowered his eyes.

His cloth clothes were dark in color, so even though the brown medicine spilled on it, it wasn't noticeable.

On the contrary, her lily-of-the-valley cuffs were stained with a dark brown color, which was quite abrupt.

Seeing him looking at her, Jiang Rao subconsciously gathered her sleeves.

Girls from wealthy families mostly pay attention to their appearance, and pay special attention to their looks and clothes.

Jiang Rao knows how to look the most decent and beautiful - beauty is not just about the face, but also about the manners and demeanor.

It was rare for her clothes to be smeared with dust, let alone like now, with her sleeves sticky and wet with the smell of medicine.

It was her first time serving someone, and she was unskilled and clumsy.

Jiang Rao lowered her head, almost subconsciously wanting to hide her sleeves, not knowing that Rong Ting had already seen all of this.

She could obviously use this to take credit and emphasize how tired she was.

But she didn't.

His gaze stayed on her for a little longer, dark and silent like a pool of water deep in a forest.

Jiang Rao felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, and quickly changed the subject, "Now that you're awake, do you feel better?"

Rong Ting looked away, sat up, and wanted to speak, but he coughed heavily.

It was as violent as if he was coughing out all his internal organs.

Jiang Rao immediately felt worried for him and handed him a cup of warm water to drink. "Why are you coughing so badly?"

Although Rong Ting took the glass of water she handed over, he hesitated before putting it to his lips.

Finally, I drank it.

Seeing that he was willing to drink the water she gave him, Jiang Rao smiled secretly, but when he glanced at her, her smile immediately disappeared. She stood up and brought one small medicine bag after another and placed them in front of him.

She squatted aside, pointed at them one by one and said, "This is medicine for treating colds, this is for treating your leg disease, this bag needs to be boiled in hot water before taking, and this bag is for external use, it needs to be crushed and applied to the wound."

She told him everything one by one, and talked about everything in detail for a long time, but she didn't have the heart to tell him that after the old doctor was invited here, he looked at his leg injury and shook his head, saying that there was no cure and there was little hope of recovery...

The old doctor told her that he had a foundation in martial arts, and judging from his physique, he should be a man of great talent. Unfortunately, his leg was broken, and it was basically impossible for him to pick up his previous martial arts foundation. The only thing you can count on is fate. It was surprising that his leg lasted for half a year without being completely damaged. Who knows, it might even be cured in the end.

It's just that the hope is slim, so slim that it seems impossible to happen.

Rong Ting asked hoarsely, "How much silver would it cost to exchange these medicines for the quilt I'm wearing?"

Jiang Rao was slightly stunned.

She didn't want his money, so if he could owe her something, that would be a good thing for her. Jiang Rao tilted her head, trying to brush it off by saying, "These aren't expensive."

"On the third day of next month, someone will bring me my monthly allowance. Then I will exchange all the money for medicine for you."

Rong Ting acted as if he didn't hear her words. He just wanted to get the answer he wanted, so he asked again: "How much silver is the total cost of these medicines?"

The tone of his questioning was overbearing and stubborn, making it clear that he would not give up until he heard the answer.

Because of his aura, Jiang Rao almost immediately returned to the dream where he was the master and she was the servant. She almost uttered the words in her heart, "Ten... is one tael of silver."

…

Leaving the small house in the west of the city, on the way back to the mansion, Ming Shao counted on her fingers, "Miss, you spent six taels of silver this afternoon buying medicine, hiring a doctor, and helping him repair the doors and windows. The brocade quilt from the warehouse, made of top-quality Hunan material, cost more than ten taels. How can all these be added up to not even one tael? Miss, did you calculate wrongly?"

Although Jiang Rao is young, she is the only legitimate daughter in the family after all. She has never fallen behind in the lessons of accounting since she was a child, so she will not fail to figure out this account.

She shook her head, sighed, and said to Ming Shao, "He looks pitiful now. I don't want his money for medicine and medical treatment."

She turned around and glanced at the low, desolate house, her eyes suddenly turning cold, "After we go back, ask Jiang Ping to find a few guards to watch over here."

The master was almost dying of illness, but the follower named Wang Zhou was nowhere to be seen.

There is a problem, there must be a problem.

…

The heavy snow that lasted for two days finally stopped in the evening of the second day, and it seemed as if the sky had cleared after the snow.

In the afterglow of sunset, the light and shadow of the sky are mixed with a layer of light golden fragments, and the whole world is embraced in a peaceful tranquility, giving people an illusion of warmth.

After Jiang Rao left, Rong Ting noticed that something had changed in the room.

I changed the rickety door last night, and when I woke up, it became fine.

The strong wind and falling snow were kept outside.

Firewood was added to the charcoal stove in the house, which had been abandoned for a long time.

The dim firelight reflected in his pupils, and Rong Ting exhaled heavily. He didn't know if it was the effect of the medicine, but his heart actually felt a little warm.

…

On the third day of February, Wang Zhou went to the post house to collect the monthly salary sent by his master. He exchanged a few perfunctory words with the person who brought the money and lied that Rong Ting's leg injury had healed well and he would soon return to the west of the city.

Although Rong Ting was the ninth prince, he had not yet reached adulthood and held no official position. His monthly salary was much less than that of his older brothers, with only sixteen taels of salary a month, which was not enough compared to the rich, but compared to those poor families, it could support their food and clothing expenses for two to three years.

However, after the money passed through Wang Zhou's hands and then into Rong Ting's hands, there was not much left.

——Wang Zhou finally handed Rong Ting 800 copper coins.

He threw a sack on the table instead. After seeing Rong Ting take the money, he looked at him strangely. He suspected that he had noticed something, so he said viciously, "I bought the medicine for you, and after deducting my wages, there won't be much money left."

"Where's the medicine?"

Wang Zhou impatiently opened a sack, revealing the medicinal herbs inside.

He looked strong and muscular. He threw the bag heavily in front of Wang Zhou and said, "Here are the medicines."

Rong Ting glanced at the medicine.

It's better to say it's firewood than medicine.

There are a lot of branches and wood chips, but only a few herbs.

Rong Ting raised his eyes coldly and glanced at Wang Zhou.

Wang Zhou did not take this master seriously. He treated the bastard abandoned by his family as a bastard and was neither happy nor sad.

But he was often afraid of his eyes. His narrow and long pupils, like those of a little wolf, always concealed a fierce fighting spirit.

Just like when he squinted at people just now, his eyeballs were dark and terrifying, as if he could see through everything.

He was worried that Rong Ting had discovered what he had done, and he was a little panicked. He muttered, "You are a cripple, why are you asking this? Can you stand up and make medicine by yourself?"

This sentence comforted him.

He is just a weak cripple, thousands of miles away from home, with no one to rely on. Even if he is found hiding his monthly allowance, this is his territory. His mistress has hired a servant to take care of him. He has the final say in this family. What can this cripple do to him?

He relaxed immediately and glanced at Rong Ting's legs mockingly. "Your legs are sick, but don't let your brain be sick too. It will cost a lot to treat your legs. Eight hundred coins are all saved by me for you after careful calculation!"

After saying that, he slammed the door and left.

As soon as he went out, Wang Zhou took out the monthly allowance that he had just received and it was not even warm yet from his pocket, tossed the full money bag into the air, and walked excitedly towards the casino.

However, he didn't know that his every move was seen by the people who stayed here with Jiang Rao.

When Ming Shao told Jiang Rao what they said, Jiang Rao was in the study, flipping through the letter sent back by his grandfather.

The old uncle loved his granddaughter so much that he wrote four pages of letters to her. He even talked about the cricket he raised escaping from the agate box in the letter.

Jiang Rao looked at the letter and thought of the dilapidated scene of the Ning'an Marquis' Mansion in her dream. She felt sad that the family business her grandfather had guarded for his entire life would eventually be destroyed.

Ming Shao came in, "Miss, the people who stayed in the west of the city came back and said that the servant named Wang Zhou was happily carrying a bag of silver and was heading to the casino."

Jiang Rao put the letter down, frowning, "His master can't even afford medicine, where did he get so much money?"