"Master, I learned a couple of lines from Dongsheng. I'll sing them for you once you've recovered." Xiao Liuchen said, pouring a glass of water and carefully feeding it to Lu Qingyan. "Master, is that alright?"
Lu Qingyan reached out and slapped Xiao Liuchen's hand aside: "Alright, you've learned a few phrases, so don't show off in front of me. Young Master Xiao, if the Princess knew what you've done, she would be furious. You'd better shut up for a while."
Xiao Liuchen smiled and said, "I knew Master cared about me."
"Here, Master, drink your medicine first." A bowl of dark, murky medicine was handed to Lu Qingyan's lips, and Lu Qingyan frowned in disgust.
Xiao Liuchen scooped up half a spoonful of the medicine and dabbed it on his lips: "Master, the medicine is just right, not too hot. You are a doctor yourself, are you afraid the medicine will be too bitter?"
"Who's afraid of bitterness!" Lu Qingyan snatched the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. The taste was truly indescribable. She really didn't know which quack doctor had prescribed this medicine; the combination of these herbs made it unusually slow to take effect.
It was clear from Xiao Liuchen's expression that he knew the effects of these medicines. She wanted to see what Xiao Liuchen was up to, and why he had gone to such lengths to keep it from her.
The scent of sandalwood rose gently from the low table in the corner. Lu Qingyan's furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and the corners of her mouth turned up, as if she were having a sweet dream.
"Master, get some sleep. We'll continue our journey once you've woken up," Xiao Liuchen said, gently kissing Lu Qingyan's forehead.
The window frame twitched slightly, and a shadowy figure shrouded in darkness rolled to Xiao Liuchen's side and knelt in greeting: "Sixteen greets Master."
A cold, indifferent voice sounded through a gauze curtain, tinged with a sigh: "Sixteen, have you gotten your hands on the ledgers?"
The shadowy figure's exposed eyes flickered: "Yes."
Xiao Liuchen tapped the table with satisfaction: "You did a good job this time. What kind of reward do you want?"
"Sixteen was able to do it all because of Master's help and dared not take credit. Sixteen doesn't want anything. If Master is willing, could you tell Sixteen why he took Miss He as a shield?" Xiao Sixteen asked, his voice completely flat, as if he wasn't the one who had just been gossiping.
Xiao Liuchen understood: "Seventeen asked you to ask, right?"
Xiao Liuchen knew he was right when Xiao Shiliu didn't speak.
"Sixteen, don't spoil him too much." The words were casual and didn't reveal anything, but Xiao Sixteen lowered his head slightly: "Sixteen has overstepped his bounds, please punish me, Master."
“It’s no big deal to tell you. I was just planning to keep you by her side.” Xiao Liuchen chuckled. “My mother said that I should choose a woman to marry, but do you think I don’t know what she meant? Now that she has Yiyi, what favor could compare to the life-saving grace she owed to her own son?”
Xiao Shiliu immediately understood Xiao Liuchen's good intentions.
“Yiyi doesn’t have to get hurt, but Grandpa needs to tell Mother. But what you hear from others is nothing compared to seeing it with your own eyes.”
Xiao Shiliu shuddered upon hearing this. His master was indeed farsighted; it was just a pity that Miss He was kept in the dark and had to suffer such a great injustice.
Xiao Liuchen raised his hand: "Alright, you can go now!"
Xiao Shiliu hurriedly ran out.
Because they needed to get going, everyone got up exceptionally early the next day, and the Chunxi Troupe decided not to set up a stage there. Tian Shenhua looked at the town with great regret: "When we move here in the future, I'm going to sing all the operas I know."
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