Chu Yuning borrowed a medicine pot from Shen Yuan and started a fire to brew the medicine himself. He added a lot of water to the pot, and the resulting medicine could fill three large bowls, enough for Chu Qiuyue to drink for a day.
Chu Qiuyue was speechless, not expecting that the good method Chu Yuning had come up with after thinking for half a day was this.
Instead of listening to Chu Yuning's advice to drink the medicine in three portions, she simmered it for an extra hour, reducing the water to one bowl, and then drank the medicine.
Chu Yuning was annoyed that she was not listening to her.
"Brother, whether I drink it in three bowls or one bowl, it's all made from the same packet of medicine, there's no difference!" Chu Qiuyue blinked her eyes aggrievedly, as if she was about to cry again.
Chu Yuning immediately shut her mouth and dared not blame Chu Qiuyue anymore.
But he was secretly angry. He had spent so much money to save Chu Qiuyue, yet Chu Qiuyue still had so many complaints about him.
Just because he didn't buy her a few more packets of medicine, that's all?
The brother and sister each had their own thoughts, and they slept back to back, without saying a word all night.
The next day, at the crack of dawn.
Chu Yuning turned over in a half-dream state and suddenly felt empty beside him. He woke up with a start and saw that Chu Qiuyue was not beside him. He sat up in confusion and looked towards the door.
Shen Yuan happened to come in from outside the ancestral hall, and Chu Yuning hurriedly asked, "Did you see Qiuyue?"
Shen Yuan shook her head. Last night, a villager at the old clan chief's house suddenly had a high fever and convulsions, and she was hurriedly invited to the old clan chief's house by the villagers.
She used acupuncture to calm the nerves and prepared plasters to reduce fever. She was busy for half the night and didn't rush back to the ancestral hall until dawn. She didn't pay attention to Chu Qiuyue.
However, the ancestral hall has assigned villagers to supervise and guard the people inside.
Shen Yuan looked at the villager in charge of supervision, who said, "I saw Chu Qiuyue go out last night. I asked her what she was doing, and she said she had a stomachache and wanted to go out to relieve herself, so I didn't ask any more questions. Later, I was too sleepy and accidentally fell asleep. I... I thought she had already come back. After all, everyone has been locked up for so long and no one has run around, so I thought she wouldn't either."
"You think, you think..." Chu Yuning roared, pointing at the villager who had spoken, her anger blazing. "Do you think everything will go the way you imagine?"
At this moment, Chu Yuning was filled with anger and guilt. He felt that Chu Qiuyue must have felt wronged because he made her boil one packet of medicine into three bowls of medicine yesterday, which is why she left in a huff.
The villager in charge of guarding the area was also annoyed after being yelled at. "From the moment we arrived, Miss Shen told us to stay put, supervise each other, and restrain each other. She said that as long as we stayed here obediently, everyone's illness would get better sooner. Who knew your sister had no sense of public morality at all and actually sneaked out on her own!"
"You still have the nerve to talk?" Chu Yuning's face darkened instantly. Truly, troublemakers come from poor and remote places!
These villagers were illiterate, unruly, and even more unreasonable than he had imagined!
Seeing that Chu Yuning was about to argue with the people in her village, Shen Yuan glared at Chu Yuning irritably and told him to shut up.
Then he turned to the villager in charge of guarding the area and asked, "When did Chu Qiuyue leave?"
Faced with Shen Yuan, the villagers' attitude softened considerably. "Hmm... the moon was already setting in the west at that time, it must have been... around dawn!"
It's been almost two hours since dawn!
If she had left the village, she would probably be far away by now! Her illness hasn't healed yet; what if she infected someone outside the village…
Shen Yuan was also a little anxious. She turned around and glanced at Chu Yuning, saying, "I'll go to the village entrance first and ask the guards on duty if they've seen her!"
“I’ll go with you!” Chu Yuning lifted her leg and followed Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan had already walked out of the ancestral hall. Hearing Chu Yuning say this, she turned around and glared at him warningly.
"Your sister has no sense of public responsibility, running around like that and causing trouble for so many of us. And you, as her older brother, are just like her? No wonder you share the same mother, both equally selfish!"
After Shen Yuan finished speaking, she gave the villagers in the ancestral hall a look.
Immediately, villagers stepped forward and stopped Chu Yuning.
Shen Yuan lifted her skirt and, not daring to delay, ran down the mountain without stopping.
Chu Yuning also wanted to know where Chu Qiuyue had gone, but the villagers were guarding the gate of the ancestral hall and wouldn't let him out.
Chu Yuning glared resentfully at the villagers who were blocking her way.
"What kind of person are you! You just started school and had no money. The Zhao family borrowed from the whole village, and I even scraped together five hundred coins for you. You've already forgotten your roots so quickly. You're truly ungrateful, worse than pigs and dogs!"
"No wonder there's an old saying: 'Many unfaithful men are scholars!' Scholar Chu, all your education has gone to waste! You have no respect for your uncles!"
"Even your father doesn't dare to glare at us, but you dare! If Chu Dahe knew his son was like this, he'd probably crawl out of the ground and slap you twice!"
The villagers inside the ancestral hall were extremely dissatisfied with Chu Yuning's attitude towards this younger generation.
Chu Yuning knew she was no match for these people, so she didn't bother arguing with them anymore and sat down on her bed with a sullen face.
He casually took out the bundle hidden under the covers and hung it on his body, only to find that many of the things inside were missing when he touched it.
Chu Yuning hurriedly opened the bundle. The bundle, which was originally stuffed full, only contained a few pieces of silver and a pair of pearl hairpins. The jade bracelet, gold earrings, pearl necklace, and silver ingots that were originally inside were all gone!
Seeing this, Chu Yuning's eyes widened in fury. He knew without a doubt that Chu Qiuyue had stolen the contents of the bundle!
She stole so much of his money!
This was money he had painstakingly "earned" from the Drunken Spring Pavilion! It was money he had saved to study at the academy and take the imperial examinations!
They were all stolen by his own younger sister!
She was also his only blood-related sister in the world!
"Cough cough cough! Cough cough cough!"
Chu Yuning was about to faint from anger. It felt like a thick blood vessel was throbbing incessantly near his temple, beating faster than his heart, as if it were about to snap at any moment. There was also a lump in his throat, blocking his chest and making it hard for him to breathe.
Chu Yuning slammed his fist on the blanket, and the anger that had been choking him dissipated, turning into blood that he vomited out of his mouth.
Seeing the bloodstains on the quilt, Chu Yuning rolled her eyes and collapsed onto the bed, fainting from anger.
The villagers in the ancestral hall were unaware of the secrets hidden in the bundle or what had happened. When they saw Chu Yuning vomiting blood and fainting, they immediately put aside their previous prejudices and hurriedly approached Chu Yuning.
When Shen Yuan returned to the ancestral hall, she saw so many people surrounding Chu Yuning, and her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.
The villagers saw her as if she were their savior and cried out, "Miss Chen! Please save Scholar Chu! He's dying!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
