Chapter 230 A Hard Fall
Luo Yi felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her heart tightly, causing her both pain and anger. She stared intently at the intertwined gazes, her nails digging deeply into her palms.
Did he truly never have her in his eyes?
Just then, Lu Yunqi finished speaking and said goodbye to Li Beifeng, and the family headed home.
After leaving Taijue Temple, the group walked towards the carriage. Luo Yi was in low spirits and did not help Old Madam Ning as she walked out, but instead walked behind the group, closely following Lu Yunqi and Yu Qingci.
Staring intently at the man's tall, straight back, and seeing the two of them walking together onto the carriage, Luo Yi gritted her teeth, stumbled, and cried out "Ouch!" as she stumbled forward.
In a flash, Lu Yunqi slightly turned his body and moved several steps to the side with Yu Qingci beside him. The fragrant figure behind him brushed against the edge of his black robe and rushed straight towards the open space in front of the temple paved with bluestone slabs.
"Miss Luo, be careful!"
With a gasp from the crowd, Luo Yi fell heavily onto the bluestone-paved ground, but the expected scene did not unfold.
Luo Yi felt a piercing pain in her palms and elbows, followed by pain in her legs and feet. She looked up in a disheveled state and saw Lu Yunqi carrying Yu Qingci in one arm, hiding in the distance.
"General..."
Luo Yi cried out in pain, trying to sit up, but a piercing pain in her ankle made her fall back down, and tears finally streamed down her face.
"My feet... hurt so much..."
She was in so much pain!
Two old women came over to help her up. When everyone saw that Luo Yi's face was pale, and there were scratches on her hands and arms, and tears were streaming down her face, they knew that she had fallen hard and couldn't help but gasp.
Granny Pei had been secretly watching Luo Yi the whole time, just in case she tried to harm her mistress again. She had seen Luo Yi lunge forward clearly; the little hussy had lunged at the general. Luckily, the general reacted quickly and grabbed his mistress, dodging to the side.
Haha! Serves you right for falling flat on your face!
Granny Pei felt a surge of satisfaction and exclaimed, "Miss Luo, don't you watch where you're going? You managed to slip and fall on such a flat stone path? Tsk tsk tsk, what bad luck!"
Naturally, Yu Qingci wanted to show her concern after such an incident. She knelt down beside Luo Yi and gently pressed her swollen ankle through her skirt. Luo Yi trembled in pain and instinctively tried to pull her leg back, but Yu Qingci firmly held it down.
"Don't move around, you might have sprained your muscles."
Yu Qingci turned to an old woman and instructed her, "Go and fetch some cool well water to soak a handkerchief in. Apply it to relieve the pain and reduce the swelling."
He then said to Luo Yi, "Why don't we go back to the temple first and ask the monks there to check if it's alright?"
Not far from the gate of Taijue Temple, the passing pilgrims all turned to look at the scene. Luo Yi, both ashamed and angry, said, "I'm not going back to the temple. I'll go back to the manor and ask the physician for a checkup. I can manage, but... but I just can't get into the carriage, General."
After Luo Yi finished speaking, she looked up at Lu Yunqi with teary eyes. Her pitiful and aggrieved appearance was truly heartbreaking.
Lu Yunqi remained unmoved, but instead pointed to several old women and said:
"You guys carry Miss Luo upstairs."
Luo Yi: ...
The group carefully lifted Luo Yi into Madam Ning's carriage. Yun Chu was about to get into the second carriage with Yu Qingci when Lu Yunqi said to his sister, "Luo Yi has difficulty walking and needs someone to take care of her. I think you should ride in the same carriage as Mother and the others."
Yun Chu reluctantly rolled her eyes at her brother, but still obediently walked over and got into Madam Ning's car.
Lu Yunqi helped Yu Qingci into another car naturally.
Yu Qingci looked at him: "Didn't the general come on horseback?"
Lu Yunqi nodded slightly: "Yes, I don't want to ride a horse right now."
Yu Qingci: ...
Upon returning to the General's Mansion, Yu Qingci immediately ordered someone to invite the manor physician to treat Luo Yi's injuries.
After examining her carefully, the physician stood up and said, "Miss Luo has abrasions on her hands and legs. She will recover after applying ointment and resting for a few days."
"This ankle sprain is quite severe, but thankfully the bones are fine. She needs to rest in bed for a while and avoid strenuous activity. I prescribed some topical ointments to promote blood circulation, reduce swelling, and relieve pain, along with oral herbal decoctions to regulate her qi and blood. With proper care and rest over time, she should fully recover."
Luo Yi leaned against the couch, her face still pale, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead, whether from pain or anger, it was hard to tell.
Upon hearing that she would have to stay in bed for many days, the resentment in her eyes almost overflowed, but she could only lower her head and forcefully suppress it.
He could have easily caught her, but he let her fall in public without lifting a finger. Does he really have no feelings for her at all?
Hearing Yu Qingci's annoying voice, Luo Yi felt even more disgusted. The old lady and the general were not around at the moment, and this woman was acting like the mistress of the house, pointing fingers at her. It was extremely annoying.
"I'm fine now. I want to sleep for a while. Thank you for your concern, sister."
Luo Yi gave the order to leave in a soft voice.
Yu Qingci didn't mind. After the doctor prescribed the medicine, she instructed the maid to take good care of her. After finishing her own business, she left.
The gratitude and pitiful look on Luo Yi's face vanished instantly, replaced by hatred and anger in her eyes.
"Where is the general?"
Yu Qingci returned to Guanlan Pavilion early. After washing up, she noticed that Lu Yunqi had not yet returned, so she asked Granny Pei.
Granny Pei said, "The general has gone to his study."
After finishing her sentence, Granny Pei looked at Yu Qingci. This was the first time she had heard her mistress ask about the general, which was a good thing. So she offered her suggestion:
"If Madam needs to see the General, she might as well go directly to the study and bring him some chestnut cakes and peach blossom pastries that were just made in the kitchen."
The young couple hasn't consummated their marriage yet, and she, as their personal old nanny, can only worry anxiously. Naturally, she has to find ways to facilitate progress between the two.
Yu Qingci replied, "No need, I was just asking casually. Please sit here and keep me company."
Granny Pei had no choice but to sit down.
Yu Qingci: "Does Granny still remember Qiao Yuantao?"
Granny Pei felt the name was familiar. She racked her brains for a while and quickly remembered that when she was still serving at the Su residence last year, the Earl had mentioned this person to Madam Su. It seemed that the Earl had used some means to get this person expelled from some academy in the capital, saying it was to avenge Madam Su.
Granny Pei nodded: "I remember."
Yu Qingci: "That old woman Liao who was standing next to Wen today and interrupting is Qiao Yuantao's biological mother."
Granny Pei suddenly realized: "Like attracts like, the old and the young are all bad seeds."
Yu Qingci: "He was a scholar. Back when we were in the Earl's mansion, he helped Qiao Shi and Yu Qingyan frame me for having an affair with him. Because of this, my father beat him half to death, and later he used some means to get him expelled from the academy he was in."
But he was only expelled from the academy; his title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination) remained, and he probably still harbored ambitions to take the imperial examination this autumn.
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