236, Differential Treatment
236, Differential Treatment
"Master, Master Lu and Master Ye are here."
"Please invite them in."
On this day, Zhang Lingxuan, who was recuperating at home, heard from his servant that two good friends had come, and hurriedly asked the servant to invite them in.
The servant replied "Yes" and hurried out to pick someone up.
After a while, the servant brought in two guests.
"Ling Xuan." Seeing the person waiting for them at the door, Lu Mingfei strode over.
Ye Zhuoran followed behind.
"Ming Fei, Zhuoran, why are you two here together?" Zhang Lingxuan looked at them and asked with a smile.
"I went back to the Imperial College today and met Zhuoran. I learned that you were ill, so I came with him to see you." Lu Mingfei looked at Zhang Lingxuan's pale lips, which looked like he was ill. He raised his hand and patted Zhang Lingxuan's arm, saying, "It's windy outside. Let's go inside and talk."
"Yes, go inside quickly and don't get sick again." Ye Zhuoran came forward to support Zhang Lingxuan's arm.
Zhang Lingxuan glanced at the person who came to help him, and motioned Lu Mingfei to come in and sit in the house with him.
The three of them sat down in the room. The waiter brought them tea and snacks and then went outside.
"Are you feeling better? Why didn't you send me a message when you were sick? If I hadn't met Zhuoran, I wouldn't have known you were sick." Lu Mingfei couldn't help but say this about Zhang Lingxuan. They had known each other for so many years, so he knew that Zhang Lingxuan was a person who was extremely afraid of bothering others.
"I'm fine. It's just that my family is worried and won't let me go out." Zhang Lingxuan coughed twice while speaking.
"How can it be nothing serious! You had a high fever the night you came back, and you haven't recovered yet." Ye Zhuoran knew this matter very clearly, because he came to see Zhang Lingxuan early the next morning and learned that Zhang Lingxuan had a high fever at night. When he came to see Zhang Lingxuan, Zhang Lingxuan's fever had not subsided yet.
At that time, the Zhang family asked Zhang Lingxuan to go back on the grounds that he was ill and not suitable to meet guests.
Later, Zhang Lingxuan's servant came out to invite him in and led him into Zhang Lingxuan's courtyard. Otherwise, the elders of the Zhang family would not want him to come in to visit Zhang Lingxuan.
Ye Zhuoran hadn't been unaware of the change in the Zhang family's attitude towards him. Ever since he failed the provincial examination, the Zhang family seemed less eager for him to visit Zhang Lingxuan, and their treatment of him wasn't as warm as before, which made him feel very uncomfortable. If it weren't for Zhang Lingxuan's sake, anyone who wanted to come to the Zhang Mansion could come; he wouldn't have wanted to come at all!
Before Zhang Lingxuan could say anything, Lu Mingfei continued Ye Zhuoran's words, saying, "Yes, Lingxuan, being sick is no small matter. Symptoms of discomfort are telling us that there's something wrong with our bodies. You must obey the doctor's instructions, take your medicine on time, and take good care of your body."
"If everything goes well in our provincial examination, the palace examination will be held in two months. Being in good physical and mental condition will also help us in answering the exam papers." Zhang Lingxuan also ranked very high in the provincial examination. Lu Mingfei felt that as long as Zhang Lingxuan performed normally, there was still a great possibility that he would be admitted to the provincial examination.
The Palace Examination and the Imperial Examination were very close in time, so they had to prepare for it now. It would be a shame if their physical condition affected their performance in the Palace Examination.
"Yes, I will listen to you." Zhang Lingxuan nodded with a smile, and then coughed twice.
Lu Mingfei could tell that Zhang Lingxuan was a thoughtful person, and he probably didn't forget to study even when he was sick. But at this time, taking care of your health was more important than studying, so he advised Zhang Lingxuan: "Take good care of your health, that's the most important thing."
"Those of us who have made it this far must have mastered a lot of knowledge. Now we are competing with our bodies and minds. Having a good body and a good mindset means we are already halfway to success.
"Yes. Listening to Lu Jieyuan's speech is better than reading for ten years." Zhang Lingxuan said with a smile.
Knowing that Zhang Lingxuan was still ill, Lu Mingfei did not stay in Zhang's house for long. After talking with Zhang Lingxuan for a while, he got up and said goodbye. When he left, he took Ye Zhuoran, who was reluctant to leave, with him.
When they walked out of Zhang Lingxuan's courtyard, they also met the elders of the Zhang family.
Zhang's mother was accompanied by a young girl who didn't look like Zhang Lingxuan's sister.
When the little girl saw them, her eyes almost glued to him. Lu Mingfei was all too familiar with this kind of gaze, but this overly direct and eager look still made him a little disgusted.
When Zhang's mother saw them, she simply asked him, "Why did Lu Jieyuan leave after such a short while? Didn't he stay with us for a while longer?"
"Let's not disturb Ling Xuan from recuperating. We'll come to visit him another day." Lu Mingfei said, lowering his head slightly.
"Oh, okay. Then you can come to our house to play again when you are free some other day." Mother Zhang nodded with a smile and asked the maid beside her to personally send Lu Jieyuan out.
Lu Mingfei and Ye Zhuoran bowed to Zhang's mother and left together.
After leaving the Zhang residence and getting on their carriage, Lu Mingfei asked Ye Zhuoran, who was traveling with him, "Who was that girl who was with Aunt Zhang just now?"
"That's Ling Xuan's cousin, the daughter of Aunt Zhang's younger brother. I met her a few years ago. She has always liked Ling Xuan, and Aunt Zhang also wants Ling Xuan to marry his niece from his mother's side, but Uncle Zhang doesn't seem to agree. Ling Xuan doesn't like her either." When Ye Zhuoran mentioned that the elders of the Zhang family wanted to marry their niece to Zhang Lingxuan, he felt very uncomfortable in his heart.
"However, the way she looked at you just now seemed more like she wanted to marry you. A woman like this who is so fickle is not worthy of Ling Xuan!"
"...I think Ling Xuan wouldn't like a girl like that." When Lu Mingfei said this, his eyes were looking at Ye Zhuoran in front of him.
They had known each other since childhood, so he could tell who Zhang Lingxuan was looking at.
In the past, he didn’t quite understand the difference between the way Zhang Lingxuan looked at Ye Zhuoran and the way he looked at them, his ordinary friends. But now that he was with Zhao Lang, he began to understand what this look meant.
"That's right, Ling Xuan wouldn't like her!" Ye Zhuoran nodded affirmatively, "Don't be fooled by her, she's not worthy of you!"
"I won't. She can't confuse me." Lu Mingfei smiled and said.
He looked at Ye Zhuoran, the clueless little fool, and didn't point out Zhang Lingxuan's thoughts. This was a matter between Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran, and as a friend, it was not appropriate for him to interfere in other people's emotional affairs, so he decided to let the parties handle it themselves.
However, he still felt the difference in Zhang's mother's attitude towards him and Ye Zhuoran today.
"I remember that your family has always had a good relationship with Zhang Lingxuan's family. Why has their attitude towards you changed so much now?" Lu Mingfei asked in a rather tactful way.
"Hey, stop talking." Speaking of this, Ye Zhuoran couldn't help but sigh, and said with a sad face: "Ever since I failed the provincial examination, they are afraid that I will come to see Ling Xuan and lead him astray. They don't like me to come to see Ling Xuan anymore."
"If I hadn't come with you today, I'm afraid the people in the Zhang Mansion wouldn't let me into their house."
"..." Lu Mingfei really didn't know what to say in his heart. These people in the Zhang family were too snobbish! "In this case, if we have any business in the future, let's send someone to the Zhang Mansion to find Ling Xuan and talk outside."
"When Ling Xuan recovers from his illness, he will go to the Imperial College to study and will not stay at home. It will be convenient for us to see him then." From now on, he did not want to come to the Zhang Mansion unless necessary. Although the elders of the Zhang family were warm to him, he always felt like a weasel paying New Year's greetings to a chicken.
Although Zhang Lingxuan was his friend, he still disliked the Zhang family's snobbish and discriminatory practices.
"Yeah." Ye Zhuoran nodded.
Looking at Ye Zhuoran's silly look, Lu Mingfei remembered the attitude of the Zhang family elders towards Ye Zhuoran just now, and Zhang Lingxuan's feelings for Ye Zhuoran. It was really hard to say what would happen to these two people in the future.
If we talk about feelings, among their group of friends, he and Ye Zhuoran are naturally closer.
"If anyone dares to bully you in the future, just tell me and I will help you get revenge." He touched the head of the little fool. This little brother was under his protection. If anyone bullied his little brother, what was the difference between that and bullying him?
"Mingfei, you're so kind." Ye Zhuoran was so touched that he rushed to his friend's side and rubbed his head against his shoulder. He also said to his friend, "I'll follow you from now on. When you become a high-ranking official, I'll be your advisor and help you with your plans."
"..." Lu Mingfei always felt like a big dog was rubbing against him. What was going on?
He didn't dare to accept Ye Zhuoran's suggestion, "I don't want you."
"Why? Am I not good enough?" Ye Zhuoran looked at Lu Mingfei with his big eyes blinking, looking pitiful as if he had been abandoned.
"..." Lu Mingfei, it's not that you are a bad person, I'm just afraid that someone will come after me with a knife.
After leaving Zhang's house, the two of them returned to the private school where they studied when they were young.
They originally wanted to come and see their teacher, but their teacher was still giving a lecture to students, so they came to the backyard to visit the teacher's wife first.
It was not until they met their master's wife that Lu Mingfei and Ye Zhuoran realized that their senior brother was also ill.
After drinking a cup of tea with Master's wife, Lu Mingfei said, "Master's wife, let's go see our senior brother."
"I'll take you two there." Master's wife, Mrs. Wu, stood up.
"No, no, we know where our senior brother lives. We'll go find him ourselves." However, Lu Mingfei didn't dare to let his master's wife lead the way for them. He hurriedly asked his master's wife to stay while he and Ye Zhuoran went to find their senior brother.
Wu, who was standing at the back, looked at the backs of the two children leaving, and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
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