A cold wind rises, chilling to the bone.
While everyone in Fengjing was bundled up in thick padded coats, the much-anticipated Young Master Xu Mo of the Green Bamboo suddenly fell into a cold pond at the Imperial Academy. When he was pulled out, his lips were white.
Fortunately, with the help of the second young master of the Jiang family, he was rushed to the Wen family's medical clinic, where they did everything they could to save his life.
Unfortunately, it was only a matter of saving their lives.
I heard that when cold air enters the lungs, one coughs incessantly every day, and has coughed up blood several times.
Many people felt sorry for him, thinking that this outstanding scholar, who could have competed with the aristocratic families and strived to retake the imperial examination, had died young.
Some people were skeptical, feeling that it was too coincidental—how could he suddenly fall into the icy pool, and why wasn't he drowned but rescued?
Regardless of what they thought, Xu Mo lay on the bed, motionless.
Jiang Sheng held Wang Xiaozhu's face powder and carefully applied it around her, afraid of missing any spot.
"Alright, Jiang Sheng," Wen Zhiyun whispered from the side, "If you keep applying it, Big Brother won't just be sick, he'll be completely chilled."
Chang Yan was drinking water when he almost choked on those words.
“But you still have to spread it evenly.” Jiang Sheng pressed it a couple more times. “Luckily, Sister Xiaozhu doesn’t like fragrances, so it doesn’t smell like cosmetics, otherwise we would have to use flour.”
Chang Yan coughed even more violently, and even Xu Mo, who was lying down, couldn't help but slightly curl the corners of his mouth.
"Alright, alright." Zhang Xianglian came in unnoticed. "Xiao Mo is sick, you need to show some respect, not just laugh it off."
After saying this, he took out a teacup, touched the corner of his eye, and left, choking back tears.
Jiang Sheng put away her makeup and gave a thumbs up, saying that when it comes to acting skills, Aunt Zhang is still the best.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
The children looked solemn as they peered through the crack in the door. It turned out to be Jiang Chengfeng and his sister.
They rushed into the room and saw Xu Mo, who was pale. Their eyes reddened. "What happened? He just fell into the water. How did he hurt his lungs? How can he possibly survive like this?"
Jiang Sheng pursed her lips.
To avoid gossip, only the people in the second courtyard knew about Xu Mo's feigned illness; everyone else was kept in the dark. Yesterday, the head chef even came over and cried a couple of times.
Today it's probably the Jiang siblings' turn.
"Brother Xu." Jiang Chengfeng was stunned for a long time before punching the wall with his fist. "It must be a conspiracy by the Fang family. It must be because I didn't protect you well. I'm sorry."
"Brother, don't do this." Jiang Chengyu was heartbroken and rushed over to stop him.
Xu Mo, who was lying on the bed, slowly opened his eyes, his voice faint and weak, "I'm fine, don't worry."
"Even after all this, you still say it's nothing?" Jiang Chengfeng roared. "I'm going to beat Fang Yuan to death. It's all the Fang family's fault, it's all their fault."
As he spoke, he was actually about to turn around.
Xu Mo quickly reached out to stop him, but then remembered his frail health and lay back down.
I almost got caught.
"Brother Jiang," he said, catching his breath and trying to slow his speech, "listen to me, don't act rashly. Read all the books I gave you, and once you've fully understood them, I'll be cured."
"Really?" Jiang Chengfeng asked, still somewhat skeptical.
Those books are all as thick as four fingers held together; it would take at least until next spring to finish reading them.
"Really." Xu Mo said firmly.
The imperial examinations will be held next spring; how could he not be fully recovered?
Jiang Chengfeng finally breathed a sigh of relief, sat for a while longer, left behind a lot of medicinal herbs, and told them that they could come to the Jiang family for help at any time before leaving with his sister.
Next up is the Dou family.
Minister Dou came alone. Looking at the pale-faced students, he sighed and felt extremely sorry for them. He also cursed the Fang family, hating them for their inhuman behavior and annoyed that Xu Mo was not careful enough to be on guard.
"Don't worry, sir, I'm fine." Xu Mo felt increasingly guilty and didn't want to lie to his respected teacher. "I will be healthy and safe and will make sure I don't miss next year's imperial examination."
Dou Weiming took it as a consolation to himself, nodded heavily, and left behind two ginseng roots.
A few days later, Qi Huai and Zhao Yuan also arrived, accompanied by a girl in black, whose eyes were red and swollen.
He offered a whole host of words of concern, but also launched into a tirade against the Fang family. If badmouthing someone behind their back really does cause sneezing, it seems the Fang family will be spending the next few weeks immersed in a constant stream of sneezes.
Finally, Qi Huai took Xu Mo's hand and said in a deep voice, "Brother Xu, I'm waiting for you to take the imperial examination together. You must win; the Fang family cannot succeed."
Zhao Yuan cried and snot streamed down his face. "Brother Xu, you have to get better. You must get better. We are all waiting for you."
"I will." Xu Mo raised a pale smile.
Even though he was physically healthy, he vaguely felt the helplessness of being sick, not in his body, but in the pitying gazes of countless people, the sympathy that could not be spoken, the hopeless future, and the helplessness.
Qi Huai and the girl in black left, and Zhao Yuan lingered for a while before finally leaving as well.
Surprisingly, people from the Zhu family came.
Besides Zhu Sihuan, there was also a young master from the main branch of the Zhu family who warmly inquired about Xu Mo's well-being, observed him discreetly, and even touched Xu Mo's wrist several times.
When he sensed the extremely weak pulse, he revealed a hint of smugness. "It seems that Young Master Xu is truly unfortunate to have fallen into such a cold pool. I only hope that he recovers soon. Even if he can't participate in next year's imperial examination, he can still try again in four years."
Zhu Sihuan's expression changed slightly, his eyes filled with unconcealed worry. "You need to get better."
Xu Mo waved his hand with a bitter smile, his face growing paler and his lips turning dark.
"Brother Xu..." Before leaving, Zhu Sihuan secretly left two hundred taels of silver, "Take good care of your illness, and don't let the evildoers get what they want."
Xu Mo clutched the object to his chest, overwhelmed with mixed emotions.
Following the Zhu family, the Yao family came to deliver some medicine, and the He family even sent someone to visit, though it's unclear what their true feelings were.
But none of that mattered to the siblings who lived in the second courtyard.
They quietly watched over Xu Mo, taking turns to tell him about the new things happening outside each day, or to keep him company while he read silently and watched him write with great concentration.
The days passed by at a leisurely pace, and the end of the year was fast approaching.
The whole of Fengjing was filled with joy, but they remained quiet as usual, and did not even buy new clothes.
"Why hasn't Second Brother come back yet? Does it take that long to settle the sheep?" Jiang Sheng stared blankly at the big red lanterns outside. "He doesn't know about our plan yet. Will he be scared when he comes back?"
It's true what they say, speak of the devil and he appears.
The next day, Zheng Ruqian, looking travel-worn, knocked on the door.
Before he could even unload the sheep or boast about his great achievements in Shangjun, he rushed straight into Xu Mo's room.
Clearly, he had heard the commotion outside and knew that Xu Mo was seriously ill.
Knowing this was one thing, but seeing his elder brother lying on the bed, pale-faced, Zheng Ruqian couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears, "Big brother, big brother, what's wrong with you? What happened to us? Last time we came back, our big little sister was gone. This time, big brother is sick, and he's going to die."
"Big brother, please wake up! Please don't let anything happen to you! We can't live without you!"
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