Chapter 24
One-track mind
Ling'er went out for a while and then returned with a message saying that the young master had been discussing matters with the master until late last night, and fearing to disturb her, he had gone to sleep in the next room. Lu Qin didn't think much of it after hearing this and lay down to continue sleeping.
When it was time for breakfast, Ling'er woke up Lu Qin again to help her with her washing and grooming.
Because Hao Jingshi instructed her to rest and not move around, Ling'er brought over breakfast, placed it on the table, and fed her the food.
Lu Qin ate a few bites and looked towards the door, but instead of Hao Jingshi, Hao Jinglan appeared. Jinglan said she was worried Lu Qin would be bored, so she had asked her mother for permission to come and dine with her.
After the meal, Hao Jinglan didn't leave. She stayed to talk with her and told her many stories about studying with her private tutor.
“Sister-in-law, do you know how much I envy my eldest brother? I also want to treat patients and save lives in the clinic, but my mother says that there has never been a precedent of a woman inheriting the family business, so she won’t agree. She even sent me to a private school to teach me virtues and needlework.”
“The private school was full of female students, and we had to learn a lot of rules, which I didn’t like, and neither did anyone else. So we begged our teacher to teach us calligraphy and painting, and he would agree if he was in a good mood.”
"My master had a really long beard. Once, when he went out to sketch, he passed through a forest, and the wind blew his beard onto a tree branch. It curled and curled, and it actually got into a knot! Hahahaha..."
Hao Jinglan spoke vividly, and when she got excited, she would even gesture.
Lu Qin listened with a smile, quickly forgetting about Hao Jingshi. She burst into laughter from time to time, but the laughter turned into laughter and she aggravated her wound.
She laughed and then exclaimed "Ouch!" Her features furrowed slightly. Hao Jinglan was startled and immediately stopped smiling.
"Is your sister-in-law feeling unwell?"
Ling'er was clearing away the dishes when she heard Lu Qin's cry of pain. She got nervous, put down what she was doing, and ran away.
"What's wrong, young mistress?"
Seeing the two people surrounding her, Lu Qin waved her hand and tightened her grin, saying, "It's alright, it's alright..."
Seeing that her clothes were soaked with blood on her back, Ling'er said worriedly, "I'd better go and fetch a doctor." With that, she ran out in three steps.
Hao Jinglan rested her chin on her hand, looking a little annoyed, and said, "Sister-in-law, it's all Jinglan's fault. I made you aggravate your wound."
Lu Qin shook her head and said it was nothing to blame her, but then she suddenly thought of something else.
Wait a minute, why call a doctor? Isn't Hao Jingshi at home?
She turned to Hao Jinglan and asked, "Jinglan, where's your older brother? I haven't seen him."
"Sister-in-law, do you miss Big Brother?" Hao Jinglan's expression became awkward for some reason, and she chuckled as if to cover it up, "Big Brother isn't here, so Jinglan will keep you company."
Lu Qin felt even more uneasy upon hearing this, after all, Hao Jingshi had promised her yesterday that he would go back to the manor to sleep, but he hadn't returned all night: "Where did he go?"
"Nowhere else could we have gone? We just went to the clinic. Where else could we have gone?"
Hao Jinglan's eyes slanted, and she nervously gripped her clothes, clearly indicating that she was not good at lying.
Lu Qin noticed something amiss and was about to press for answers when Hao Jinglan, as if she had seen through her, quickly said in a coquettish tone, "Sister-in-law, do you not like Jinglan being with you?"
Lu Qin was certain something was wrong and felt strange, but she didn't press her further: "How could that be? Jinglan is my favorite girl."
Hao Jinglan breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and immediately changed the subject to talk about other things, afraid that she would mention looking for her older brother again.
After a while, Ling'er returned with the doctor, and Hao Jinglan took the opportunity to leave under another pretext.
Lu Qin remained calm and waited until the doctor finished examining her pulse and left before calling out to Ling'er, "Ling'er."
Ling'er paused for a moment: "Sigh."
"Where is my husband? I haven't seen him either. Go and call him over. I want to see him."
When she heard that she wanted to see Hao Jing, Ling'er was clearly in a dilemma and said, "Young Master is still asleep. If Young Madam doesn't have anything urgent, please go another day."
Hao Jingshi was not usually a heavy sleeper, but Lu Qin realized that Ling'er was lying to her, so she said, "I have something important to do, go and call her."
Ling'er then stammered, "Young Master, you caught a cold. I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would worry."
He suddenly got sick?
Lu Qin frowned: "Why didn't anyone tell me? I'll go check on him."
She gestured for Ling'er to help her out of bed, but Ling'er dissuaded her, saying, "Young Madam, you shouldn't go. You're not fully recovered yet. What if you catch a cold again?"
Lu Qin looked up at Ling'er and became even more suspicious. So she put on her shoes, got out of bed, and ran towards the west wing.
Ling'er couldn't stop her, so she sighed, grabbed a cotton cloak, and chased after her.
A gentle morning breeze caresses the air, the rosy dawn paints the sky, and a faint chill permeates the corridor, spreading in all directions.
Lu Qin ran to the door of the side room and found two servants standing there, so she was turned away.
No matter how much she pleaded, the servants wouldn't let her go, saying that the young master had given the order and it was for her health.
Lu Qin guessed that Hao Jingshi hadn't returned to the manor at all, and there was no one in the side room, so she simply barged in with a cold face.
However, she was wrong. As soon as she entered the room, she saw Hao Jingshi lying on the bed and Xuan Lan, who looked sleepy, standing by his side.
As Ling'er said, Hao Jingshi was still asleep. He was covered with a thin blanket, a white handkerchief on his forehead, and his messy hair hung down on his cheeks.
Xuan Lan was startled by the noise of her bursting in. She jolted and immediately grabbed the hilt of the knife at her waist. In her haste, she bumped into the gilded bronze basin beside her, making a clanging sound.
He paused for a moment.
Upon seeing that it was Lu Qin, Xuan Lan released her grip, widened her eyes, and seemed much more alert.
The young mistress's demeanor... Didn't the young master repeatedly tell her to keep this a secret? Could it be that Ling'er confessed to her master?
He nervously shifted his position and knelt down: "Young Madam, your servants can guard this place, please go back and rest!"
Seeing Xuan Lan's reaction, Lu Qin felt that something was amiss. Why was he so frightened as if he had seen a plague god the moment she arrived?
What exactly are the people in the manor deliberately hiding from her?
Lu Qin approached the bedside with a puzzled look and found that Hao Jingshi's eyes were closed and his lips were deathly pale, as if he had jumped into an icy lake wearing only a thin shirt.
She reached out and touched his cheek; it was indeed burning hot: "Have you taken your medicine?"
Xuan Lan replied, "I've taken it, so please don't worry, young mistress."
Lu Qin nodded and pondered for a moment while looking at Hao Jingshi's face.
Since everyone's story is consistent, it must be that Hao Jingshi coerced her. She won't get anything out of him by asking, so she might as well try to trick him.
So she pretended to know, put on a stern face and scolded, "Xuan Lan, don't you know the young master's temperament? How can you let him run wild like this?"
Xuan Lan, seeing this, indeed thought she knew the truth, and quickly kowtowed to admit her mistake: "This servant, this servant deserves to die... But young mistress, you know the young master's temperament. He insists on kneeling to the end, how could this servant persuade him to stop!"
"This servant wanted to ask you to persuade the young master, but the young master said that no one is allowed to tell you. This servant really has no other choice!"
Kneel down completely?
Could it be that he caught a cold because he knelt outside all night?
Lu Qin then asked, "Why are you kneeling?"
Xuan Lan opened her mouth to explain, but then paused for a moment after realizing what she had said.
What? The young mistress doesn't know the reason?
He looked up blankly, just as Ling'er came over. She overheard a few words of conversation and shook her head at him from behind Lu Qin, indicating that she hadn't said anything.
Xuan Lan then realized he had been tricked, and after a long pause, he finally said, "Young Madam, please, please spare this servant... Young Master will kill this servant..."
Seeing his expression of having suffered a great loss, Lu Qin changed her serious expression and couldn't help but laugh.
She swung her legs, which were hanging over the edge of the bed, and said, "Anyway, I already know half of it. If you tell me clearly, I'll pretend I don't know anything. If you keep it a secret... I'll tell my husband that you told me, and he'll still kill you."
Xuan Lan gave a bitter smile after hearing this.
What's going on here? Why doesn't the young mistress try to trick Ling'er or the second young lady, but instead tries to trick him? Is it because she thinks he's tough and won't get beaten to death by the young master?
However, he eventually gave in and confessed. After all, he knew who was in charge since the young mistress could keep the young master in check.
“Master and Madam summoned Young Master yesterday to speak with him about…your matter,” Xuan Lan said in detail. “Madam said that the matter at the clothing shop has caused too much of a stir and damaged the Hao family’s reputation. She wants Young Master to…write a letter of divorce to divorce his wife. Young Master refused no matter what, so Madam said that they should compromise. If he wants you to stay in the mansion, he must take a concubine and produce an heir for the Hao family as soon as possible…”
"The young master was furious upon hearing this and argued with the two elders, saying that he would never remarry in this life, even if he had no children... These words enraged the master and the old lady, who said that if he didn't agree, he should kneel down until they agreed, so the young master went and knelt down..."
"You know the young master's temperament; he's very stubborn. He wouldn't plead for mercy and knelt outside for a whole day and night without eating or drinking a single bite of food or water, leaving the master and madam at a loss... When the wind picked up at night, I brought him a cloak, but he refused to wear it..."
"Young Master also said that you are recovering from your injuries. If anyone dares to tell you about this and upsets you, don't blame him for being ruthless. Young Madam, don't blame the servants for keeping it from you. Everyone knows Young Master's temper. Once he gives the order, who dares to disobey?"
After saying this, Xuan Lan sighed and buried her head in the ground again.
It's always been others who fear the young master; even the elders in the family are often rendered speechless by his antics. The only one who can drive the young master half to death without suffering the consequences is probably the young mistress.
After understanding the whole story, Lu Qin was stunned. She belatedly realized that this was why Hao Jingshi hadn't returned last night.
To persuade his parents-in-law to plead for her, he knelt outside for twelve hours, until he fainted.
That guy's really stubborn, so single-minded...
Lu Qin parted her lips, but had nothing to say. Looking at Hao Jingshi, who was still fast asleep with his head down, she felt a pang of sadness.
He was bragging to her yesterday that he was healthier than her, but today he's lying in bed fast asleep.
Saying there's always a way to deal with one's mother—what kind of good method is that?
She removed the warm towel from Hao Jingshi's forehead, soaked it again in the basin of water, and then used it to wipe his cheeks and neck to cool him down.
"You may leave now. I will stay with my husband. Don't worry, I will pretend I don't know anything about this."
Seeing the look of heartache on her face, Xuan Lan readily agreed, climbed out of the window, and quickly climbed up the tree.
Seeing this, Ling'er, who had been standing at the door, came inside and advised, "Young Madam, let me do it. You should go back and rest."
Lu Qin waved her hand: "It's alright, you can go down too."
As she spoke, she unbuttoned Hao Jingshi's clothes with one hand and pushed the soaked towel inside with the other. Seeing this, Ling'er dared not linger and quickly curtsied and retreated.
The door to the side room was immediately closed tightly. Seeing this, Lu Qin began to wash a handkerchief back and forth, wiping Hao Jingshi's body little by little.
After this happened several times, Hao Jingshi seemed to be less feverish. Lu Qin relaxed a bit, washed the handkerchief again, and put it back on his forehead.
She hadn't noticed until now, but after she finished, she realized that the person on the bed had been stripped half naked, and her beautiful abs and lines were clearly visible.
With no one around and her handsome husband fast asleep right in front of her... who could resist that?
Lu Qin was reluctant to button up his shirt, but she was afraid he would catch a cold, so she slowly bent down, put her arms around his waist, and covered him with herself as a blanket.
Then, she raised her head, stared at his face, and thought, "He stole a kiss from me that night, so it's not too much for me to steal a kiss back today, is it?"
Thinking about it, Lu Qin couldn't help but hold her breath, lean close to his lips, and close her eyes.
When they were only a stone's throw away.
Hao Jingshi, who had been in a deep sleep, suddenly moved. He slowly raised one hand to hug her back, and pressed her head down with the other.
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