Chapter 68: Rain outside the curtain Su Guanqing thought it was just an illusion, and he acted recklessly...
Su Guanqing lived a very quiet life during this period.
Although the Jiang residence was large, apart from Zhao Quesheng who would come to greet him every morning and evening, no one else came to disturb him. Even the servants that Jiang Tong had arranged to wait on him were rarely seen.
After Su Guanqing finished his meal, he fumbled with his hands and picked up the medicine soup placed aside. As soon as he got it in his hand, he frowned unconsciously, but said nothing. Just as he was about to drink the medicine, he suddenly heard Zhao Quesheng's voice outside the door.
“Master!”
Su Guanqing paused, put the medicine back on the table, and replied with a smile, "Quesheng, are you done with your work for today?"
"I'm done." Zhao Quesheng walked over to him and squatted down, his voice sounding a little weak.
"What's wrong? Were you criticized by the teacher again?" Su Guanqing reached out and touched Zhao Quesheng's head.
Seeing that he had gone in the wrong direction, Zhao Quesheng quickly moved his feet slightly and put his head under his master's palm.
"I am too stupid. I made the same mistake again this time. It is right for the teacher to be angry and punish me." Zhao Quesheng grumbled aggrievedly.
"Teacher...is she in a bad mood recently?" Su Guanqing asked tentatively.
Zhao Quesheng sniffed and nodded, "It's not very good."
They all knew that Jiang Tong would not be affected by her mood when doing things, or rather, if she was in a bad mood, she would be more strict, not only to her disciples, but also to herself.
"Master..." Zhao Quesheng tilted her head back, peeking at her master's expression. "How about we go to the study together tomorrow? I'm sure I'll feel much better with you around."
When Su Guanqing heard this, his expression darkened. He put down his hand and shook his head: "I won't go. If I go, your teacher will be even more upset."
"No," Zhao Quesheng stood up, pulling Su Guanqing's arm and shaking it left and right, "Master, just go once, just once."
However, no matter how she acted coquettishly, Su Guanqing simply refused to agree and even chased her away:
"Okay, it's getting late, go back to your room and get some rest. Go back and review what you didn't do well, so you don't get punished again tomorrow."
Zhao Quesheng had no choice but to give up. She turned her head and saw the medicine that Su Guanqing had not had time to drink yet. She hurried over to pick it up and wanted to help her master drink the medicine.
However, as soon as she picked it up, her expression changed: "Ah! The medicine is cold! How can I drink it?"
"It's okay," Su Guanqing stretched out his hand, motioning Zhao Quesheng to give him the medicine, "You can drink it even if it's cold."
"Master, those naughty slaves bullied you?" Zhao Quesheng immediately realized the problem.
"Don't talk nonsense, it's not true." Su Guanqing held the medicine bowl and gulped down the already cold medicine soup as if to destroy a corpse.
But once some thoughts arise, they cannot be stopped. Zhao Quesheng's eyes swept over Su Guanqing, and some details that she had previously ignored jumped into her sight again -
Su Guanqing's hair was a little messy, and his clothes were wrinkled and stained, obviously not washed often. The table was also greasy, and it had been so long since he had wiped it that Su Guanqing's sleeves were already stained with oil, and he himself didn't even realize it...
Zhao Quesheng felt a surge of anger build up in her heart. She waved her fists and shouted, "They clearly think that the teacher and master have fallen out, so they're deliberately treating the master badly!"
Su Guanqing sighed: "It's not their fault. I'm not their real master. Don't tell your teacher."
"How can that be! If we don't tell the teacher, they will bully the master! It's almost the end of the year and the weather is cold! They even let the master drink cold medicine!" Zhao Quesheng was almost crying with anger.
"Quesheng!" Su Guanqing's face darkened. "Think about your teacher too. She's getting married soon. If the servants get angry over my affairs, and word gets out, people will inevitably gossip about her and me... There are already people gossiping!"
Zhao Quesheng is thirteen years old this year and will be fourteen soon. She naturally understands these things and is in a dilemma for a while.
"Quesheng, do you understand what your master said?" Su Guanqing asked solemnly.
Zhao Quesheng stammered and nodded, "Disciple heard it."
"Promise me that you won't tell your teacher about this. If you dare to tell her..." Su Guanqing thought for a moment and put on his most vicious expression, "I will no longer recognize you as my disciple."
"Disciple, I understand." Zhao Quesheng's voice was small, with a hint of tears in it.
"Go ahead."
"Yes." Zhao Quesheng wiped his tears and left. He walked to the door of his house, unlocked it, and stepped in.
Su Guanqing had been listening attentively to Zhao Quesheng's movements. When he heard that she had indeed returned to the room obediently, he relaxed and stood up and walked towards the dormitory.
As soon as he entered the bedroom, Zhao Quesheng's door was quietly opened a crack, and the little girl tiptoed out, tiptoed from the other side of the corridor, and slipped towards the study.
Jiang Tong was still in the study, transcribing the latest secret letter.
…
It was late at night and the autumn rain began to fall.
Every time this happened, Su Guanqing's ten fingers would ache.
It was as if countless needles were drilling into his flesh and into the gaps between his bones, drilling and drilling non-stop.
"Is there anyone here?" He endured the pain and groped his way out of the dormitory. "Please get me a basin of hot water."
No one agreed to him.
The servants who were supposed to be on night watch outside had gone off again today. This was a common occurrence, but Su Guanqing never made a fuss about it, so the servants became even more aggressive, disappearing eight out of ten days.
He only told the servants that it was fine on normal days, but if it rained, he would need hot water to relieve the pain from his broken bones, so they had to stay on rainy days.
But obviously, no one took his words seriously, and there was still no one in his room tonight.
"Is there... anyone there?" Su Guanqing tucked his hands tightly under his armpits and walked out along the wall with his back hunched.
He couldn't hold the bamboo stick and couldn't find the way, so he could only walk like this.
He walked to the door, opened it with his toes, and subconsciously went to the side room on the right, calling out, "Fu Liu?"
After calling out several times, Su Guanqing, who was already in so much pain that he was a little fuzzy, finally remembered that Feng Fuliu was no longer in Jiang's house. Helplessly, he rubbed his shoulder against the wall and went to the ear room on the left to call Zhao Quesheng.
"Quesheng, are you there? Go and get a basin of hot water for the master." However, after several calls, Zhao Quesheng did not respond to him.
…
"These rascals!" Jiang Tong was so angry that his heart was beating fast after hearing what Zhao Quesheng said.
Zhao Quesheng looked at Jiang Tong's gloomy eyes and added cautiously, "...Master told me not to tell the teacher. Teacher, please don't let it slip later. If you do, Master will disown me."
Jiang Tong naturally knew why Su Guanqing didn't let Zhao Quesheng tell her. She felt mixed emotions. Even at this time, that fool was still only thinking about herself!
When will he learn to think a little about himself?
Jiang Tong was angry, anxious, and distressed, and she wanted to rush to Su Guanqing immediately.
However, at this moment, the scene of the argument with Su Guanqing that day flashed through her mind again - that day she let Su Guanqing make his own choice, and he chose to break up.
...Since he wants to break up with me, why should I rush to find him!
Zhao Quesheng had been observing Jiang Tong's expression nervously. She had been very angry before and was obviously worried about her master. However, suddenly, Jiang Tong's face became expressionless again.
"teacher……"
"Okay, I got it. I'll deal with this matter tomorrow." After Jiang Tong said that, he buried his head in copying the secret letter.
Even though there were thousands of emotions churning in his heart, Jiang Tong did not let them affect his work.
Jiang Tong quickly copied the secret letter in tiny calligraphy according to the procedure, and then carefully sealed it between the painting and the paper.
After all this was done, Jiang Tong breathed a sigh of relief. The next step was to stick the newly engraved painting on the wall and wait for it to dry.
Jiang Tong looked up and saw that Zhao Quesheng had not left, so she waved at her: "Come up the wall."
"Hey!" Zhao Quesheng hurried forward to take over, "Teacher, are you going to find the master?"
"It's so late, why should I go looking for him? I'm going back to my room and sleep." Jiang Tong said, then walked out of the study with a cold face.
…
Su Guanqing's current condition is not very good.
He couldn't find anyone around him. Although he knew that he could find an off-duty servant in the servants' quarters outside the Chuihua Gate, he couldn't lift his bamboo stick, which meant he couldn't go far. With nowhere else to go, he had no choice but to return to his own room.
Unfortunately, winter has not yet arrived, and the Jiang family has not started to light the kang, so the house is not warm at all.
Su Guanqing curled up in his bed, wrapping himself tightly in the quilt, but the warmth of the quilt could not offset the chill of the autumn rain.
Blindness magnified his pain. Every finger, every broken part, all clamored as if protesting against their past mistreatment.
At first, Su Guanqing was able to grit his teeth and hold on, but later, his consciousness became a little blurred, and in a trance, he seemed to have returned to the day of torture.
Every finger bone was shattered under the clamps, and he could even hear the sound of bones cracking.
"Ah - no - no -" Su Guanqing couldn't suppress the scream in his throat. He buried his head in the pillow, and his voice was also suppressed in it.
But the pain seemed to be wandering, and every bone in his body was screaming.
"Guan Qing? What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"
Jiang Tong's voice rang in Su Guanqing's ears, and his mind, which was already dazed by the pain, became even more confused.
...Is this an illusion? It must be an illusion. How could Tongtong come to my place so late?
Su Guanqing turned over and said in a hoarse voice: "Tongtong...Tongtong, don't leave me."
"Okay, I won't leave you." The voice became gentler.
...I knew it wasn't Tongtong. She was still angry, how could she possibly coax me?
Since it was just a fantasy, Su Guanqing became unbridled. He wailed at Jiang Tong, "Tongtong, it hurts so much... I'm almost dying of pain."
"Where does it hurt? Where exactly does it hurt? Tell me quickly." Jiang Tong's voice became more and more anxious.
Su Guanqing could not see anything, there was only darkness in front of his eyes, and there was only this voice in his ears, and that voice was his life-saving straw.
"My finger bones hurt so much... Tongtong... hug me... can you hug me..." He kept moaning, and his tone was already filled with tears.
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