Chapter 34
At the beginning of winter, the water begins to freeze, the ground begins to freeze, the grass and trees wither, and the insects hibernate. The fragrance of the osmanthus tree in the Lanfeng Pavilion is gone, only layers of dead branches remain.
At the other end of the marquis's mansion is Liang's courtyard. The weather is getting colder, but the main room is full of spring and vitality. Ever since Lu Niantao married into the Eastern Palace as a concubine, Liang's favor has gradually returned. Marquis Nan'an even intends to give her some power over the household. Even the ailing Lu Qiaosong has regained his spirits and is looking for famous doctors everywhere to cure his incurable disease.
After hearing this, Lu Wancheng asked Lin Qingyu: "Lu Qiaosong's illness should be incurable, right?"
Lin Qingyu affirmed: "This is natural."
"Then I'm relieved." Lu Wancheng coughed twice and said with a smile, "Qingyu, we seem to be vicious villains who gather together to gloat over other people's misfortunes and curse others at random."
Lin Qingyu also smiled: "It's good to be a vicious villain."
As the two were talking, Hualu walked into the house and changed the hot tea for them. Seeing that her eyes were red and her expression looked like she had been crying, Lu Wancheng asked, "What's wrong, Hualu? Who bullied you?"
Hualu curled her lips and muttered, "No one."
Lin Qingyu asked: "Is it Huantong?"
Hualu is the head maid of Lanfeng Pavilion, and the only one who dares to make her angry is Huantong.
Hua Lu didn't think it was a big deal at first, but when her two masters showed concern for her, she felt aggrieved and told them what had happened with sobs. It turns out that recently there has been a fashion trend in the capital for women to stick flower ornaments on their foreheads. Hualu looked fresh. She didn't have any stickers, so she drew one for herself this morning. She was efficient at work but clumsy at putting makeup on herself. She painted a plum blossom into something weird and was accidentally seen by Huantong, who laughed at her and said she was imitating someone ugly.
"Huan Tong, does he know how to respect girls?" Lu Wancheng comforted Hua Lu, "It's okay, I'll scold him for you later. Your young master is really good at scolding people, he will definitely scold him so badly that his mother won't recognize him."
Hualu then burst into laughter.
Lin Qingyu said: "I can draw Huadian. I will help you draw it to make amends for him."
Lu Wancheng was surprised: "Aren't only girls able to draw flower ornaments? How can you do it?"
"That's not difficult." Lin Qingyu said calmly, "Hua Lu, bring your dressing box."
Hualu seldom puts on makeup, so there aren't many things in her dressing table, but there is still some rouge that women often use. Lin Qingyu took a clean brush, dipped it in rouge, held the brush in one hand, rolled up her sleeve with the other, and began to carefully paint between Hualuo's eyebrows.
The flower dew was shrouded in an elegant book fragrance. She raised her eyes and saw Shaojun's cold and beautiful chin, and her whole body tensed up. Even though she only had awe for the young master, her heart beat faster and her face felt hot. She couldn't help but think, if Shaojun hadn't married into the Marquis's Mansion and become a male wife, he would have captured the hearts of many girls.
After a while, Lin Qingyu put down his pen and said, "Okay."
Lin Qingyu painted a small burning flame with just a few strokes, which was vivid and playful. Hua Lu looked at herself in the mirror and exclaimed, "Young Master is so amazing!"
Lu Wancheng smiled and said, "It's so beautiful, it will definitely blind Huantong's dog eyes."
Hualu's cheeks flushed with embarrassment: "Who wants to show it to him?"
Lu Wancheng said again: "Qingyu, since you are so good at drawing, why don't you draw one for yourself?"
Lin Qingyu said, "Since you are so interested, I will draw one for you?"
Lu Wancheng said cheerfully: "Okay."
Lu Wancheng's flower ornaments were never finished. The servant came to report that Doctor Hu had arrived.
For Lin Qingyu, Hu Ji was the main source of news in the palace. He immediately asked someone to invite Doctor Hu in and serve some hot tea.
When Hu Ji saw that Lu Wancheng was not sitting in a wheelchair in broad daylight but lying on a couch, he knew that his condition was not optimistic. He tactfully did not ask about Lu Wancheng's health, but only reported to Lin Qingyu on the latest developments in the palace, especially the situation in the East Palace.
The prince took in two concubines at once, and the Eastern Palace became much more lively. One of the two concubines was from a family of civil officials, and the other was a descendant of a military general. Their personalities were also different, one was gentle and the other was lively. According to the young eunuchs in the East Palace, at first the prince treated the two concubines equally on the surface, but privately he preferred Lu more and once stayed at Lu's place for three consecutive days. But later, perhaps because the novelty had worn off, the prince became much colder towards the two concubines, and visiting them occasionally became just a routine matter.
"What did I say?" Lu Wancheng said slowly, "For the prince, what he can't get is the best."
Lin Qingyu frowned slightly. He thought that Lu Niantao would be favored for at least half a year, and he overestimated Lu Niantao. If Xiao Cheng didn't stay with her often, the poison would take effect later.
With Lu Wancheng’s current physical condition, there’s no way he can wait for that day.
Lin Qingyu said irritably: "Useless idiot, you can't even compete for favor."
"Don't be angry, don't be angry," Lu Wancheng coaxed, "Lu Niantao...well, she is a smart person and very competitive. She will find a way to gain favor."
Lin Qingyu closed his eyes, calmed himself down, and asked about other things. He heard that an epidemic broke out in the south as soon as winter came, and he wondered what the situation was like now.
"The situation is very bad. Several villages in Hongzhou are deserted. Now is a time of trouble. There is an epidemic in the south and war in the west," Hu Ji became more and more sad as he spoke. "The emperor's health has not improved yet..."
Speaking of the west, Lin Qingyu thought of his father who was far away in Yongliang, and asked: "Doctor Hu, do you have any news about my father?"
Hu Ji said, "Since arriving in Yongliang, the judge has been helping General Gu detoxify. I don't know where that Xiliang villain got that strange poison from. The judge has tried all kinds of herbs, but there is still no effect. General Gu is getting weaker day by day. I heard that he may not make it to the New Year."
Lu Wancheng said nonchalantly: "Then I will have to meet this General Gu in the underworld."
General Gu was born in a poor family. He joined the army at the age of fourteen. He was a master in command of troops, made countless achievements, and protected the western border by himself. At the age of thirty, he had no father, no mother, no wife, and no children. A spear was his only family.
Lin Qingyu sneered: "God is so unfair."
Those who deserve to die don't die immediately, but those who don't deserve to die don't have a good end.
After Hu Ji left, the relaxed atmosphere of painting flowers in front of the mirror not long ago disappeared completely. Lu Wancheng looked out the window and said self-deprecatingly, "Am I really going to die earlier than Xiao Cheng? Oh, I'm so unwilling to accept this."
Lin Qingyu was silent for a moment, and said, "There will be other ways - there must be."
Lu Wancheng smiled: "Yes, I will."
Having said that, it would not be easy for the two of them to bring about Xiao Cheng's sudden death. They couldn't even enter the palace.
If he had known this earlier, he would have given up medicine and turned to martial arts. When Xiao Cheng called him "Xiao Qingyu", he could just strangle Xiao Cheng's neck and watch the light in his eyes disappear with his own eyes.
Lin Qingyu gradually became anxious and restless. He lay on the upper bunk of Lu Wancheng, unable to sleep the whole night, and had to take a sleeping pill for himself.
How on earth could he make Lu Wancheng live longer...longer.
That day, Lu Wancheng woke up from his nap and saw that Lin Qingyu was not there, so he called out, "Hua Lu, help me up."
Hua Lu put down the work in her hands, helped Lu Wancheng up, and put a soft pillow behind him: "What do you want, Master?"
Lu Wancheng paused for a long time and said, "There is a prescription in the second cabinet on the left. Take it to the pharmacy and ask them to boil medicine for me according to this prescription in the future."
Hua Lu was a little worried: "Who wrote this prescription? Let's show it to Shao Jun first."
Lu Wancheng smiled and said, "It's okay. This is my father-in-law's recipe."
"So it's the judge, that must be a good prescription." Hua Lu said happily, "I'll go right away."
Lu Wancheng stopped her and said, "You don't need to tell Shaojun about this. Um...but he is so smart, he will definitely be able to see it."
It was unknown when Lin Qingyu began to personally serve Lu Wancheng medicine. When it was time to take the medicine, Lin Qingyu returned to his room. Hua Lu brought the medicine. He took the bowl and knew as soon as he smelled it that this was not the prescription he had written for Lu Wancheng.
Lin Qingyu suddenly raised his eyes.
Lu Wancheng smiled at him: "What's wrong?"
Lin Qingyu's fingertips almost pierced into his palm. He shook his head and said as calmly as possible: "It's okay."
If this is Lu Wancheng's choice, he will respect it.
"When did you ask my father for it?" Lin Qingyu asked.
Lu Wancheng did not hide it: "I got up very early on the day my father-in-law left Beijing."
Lin Qingyu smiled faintly: "It's fate. Are you not afraid of pain?"
"How painful can it be?" Lu Wancheng didn't care. "Women can endure the pain of childbirth. No matter how painful it is, it shouldn't be as painful as giving birth to a child, right?"
Lin Qingyu's chest seemed to be blocked by something, and he said in a hoarse voice: "Didn't you say that your fate is determined by heaven, not by you?"
Lu Wancheng said, "Ah," "Then I want to look at the snow one more time, one more time... before I leave."
Lin Qingyu said nothing else. He patiently fed Lu Wancheng all the medicine and stayed with him until the medicine took effect.
Lu Wancheng's expression didn't change much, but veins bulged on his forehead and soon he was covered in cold sweat. Meeting Lin Qingyu's gaze, he covered his eyes with his hands and laughed tremblingly: "Don't look at me, my facial features must be distorted and ugly now."
Lin Qingyu took his hand away, held it in his palm, and said softly: "What should I do to make you feel better."
Lu Wancheng thought about it absentmindedly, and said, not knowing whether it was true or not: "Well... let me take advantage of you?"
Lin Qingyu hesitated for a moment and asked, "How do you want to occupy it?"
"Don't worry, I won't go too far. I just want to hear you scream..."
Lin Qingyu guessed: "Brother Wancheng?"
Lu Wancheng indeed thought so. However, seeing Lin Qingyu's expression of concern, he suddenly changed his mind and wanted to go a little further.
Anyway... anyway, Lin Qingyu will never know what he wants to express in this life.
Lu Wancheng shook his head: "Don't call me 'brother', call me - 'husband'."
Lin Qingyu was stunned for a moment, and asked helplessly: "Do you know what the word 'husband' means in Dayu?"
"I know, that's what the eunuch meant." Lu Wancheng wanted to talk to Lin Qingyu in his usual teasing tone, but he was in so much pain that he could only barely show a fragmented smile. "But to be honest, my lifelong dream is to enter the palace and become a eunuch."
Lin Qingyu: “…” It is certain that Lu Wancheng is in so much pain that he is losing consciousness, which is why he is talking nonsense.
Lu Wancheng said with difficulty: "Can you let me take advantage of this?"
Why not?
Lin Qingyu gently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with her sleeves and whispered, "Husband."
Lu Wancheng smiled weakly, suppressing the groan that was about to burst out of his mouth because of the pain, and smiled with curved eyebrows: "It sounds so beautiful, thank you, my wife."
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