Chapter 86 Reunion
Doctor Jiang, the court physician, came to treat Shangluo. He thought that since Shangluo had been tied up for so many days, it was normal for him to have some inconvenience in his hands and feet for a while, and he would be fine after recuperation.
After seeing Dr. Jiang off, everyone felt relieved.
Aunt Xuanji warned: "Young Master Shang, you must be obedient so that you can recover faster."
"Yeah, definitely!" Shangluo lay in bed with a look of anticipation on his face. "I really want to go out for a run right now, and I want to go fishing and catching birds. I even miss reading and writing! I've been feeling so uncomfortable lately!"
"It's rare, Shangluo, you actually miss studying? It seems you've suffered a lot." Meng Lanxi's voice came from outside. He walked in with a smile, holding a small food box in his hand, revealing his gentle dimples. "I stewed lily and shredded chicken porridge. It was originally for Cui Shaoqing, but now I'm taking care of you first."
Shangluo smelled the aroma and forgot about the discomfort in his body. He smiled and winked at him: "Thank you, Brother Lanxi!"
"You're welcome. You have to get better soon so we can continue studying at the academy."
Aunt Xuanji helped Shangluo raise his pillow, and Meng Lanxi brought him porridge and fed him.
Shangluo quickly finished the small bowl: "It's delicious, I want another bowl!"
"Little greedy cat, you can't eat too much just after waking up. I'll ask the kitchen to make you some egg porridge later." Meng Lanxi put away the bowl and turned back to smile at Qiandeng. "The county lady, please have someone supervise him, to prevent him from being unable to digest his food due to his weak constitution."
Qiandeng nodded. After hearing him talk about the little greedy cat, he remembered something and asked Zhenzhu to get the civet cat's fish sachet and gave it to Shangluo: "This is for you."
"Wow, so cute!" Shangluo's eyes were as bright as a civet cat's, but unfortunately he didn't have the strength to lift his hands. Qiandeng placed them next to his pillow and said, "It's filled with spices to calm the mind."
Shangluo sniffed it obediently and smiled at her: "Hmm, it smells good."
There were hurried footsteps outside, and then a man appeared at the door. He walked quickly into the inner room and looked at Shangluo lying on the bed.
His face was full of anxiety. He looked at Shangluo with a fixed gaze and red eyes. It was Shang Nanliu.
Shangluo opened his mouth and murmured, "Dad..."
The father and son had not seen each other for more than a year. After going through so many twists and turns, they finally met again. It felt like a lifetime ago, and they didn't know how to describe it.
"Your father has been looking for you all these days, anxiously worried about you, and has been running around until now." Qian Deng said, standing up and giving the head of the bed to Shang Nanliu.
The inner room was small, so Meng Lanxi and others said goodbye first, leaving the space alone for the father and son.
"By the way, County Lady, tomorrow is Cold Food Festival, and it also coincides with the Shangsi Festival. A group of us have decided to perform a purification ceremony in the backyard. Would you like to join us?" Meng Lanxi asked Qiandeng before leaving. She smiled at Shangluo, who lay on the bed, a pair of charming dimples on her cheeks. "Shangluo, come along too. It's a great way to exorcise evil spirits and get rid of the bad luck we've had lately."
"Go!" Shangluo answered happily, looking at his father eagerly, "Dad... is it okay?"
"Sure." Shang Nanliu walked to the bedside and raised his hand to rub his son's hair.
Seeing him pale and exhausted, and still a little dazed, even though Shang Nanliu had experienced many ups and downs in his official career and had gone through many hardships in leaving and returning to Beijing, his eyes could not help but shed tears for the child: "Go, this is also a good thing. You can return safely, Dad is really happy..."
His throat choked with sobs for a long time. He took a deep breath and turned to look at Qian Deng beside him. "It was thanks to the county lady's meticulous pursuit that Shangluo was found. Xiaoluo, you must always remember this kindness in your heart, understand?"
Shangluo nodded obediently: "I know, Dad and the county lady have been looking for me. I'm sorry to have made you worried."
Seeing that the father and son were getting along well, Qian Deng felt relieved: "I didn't do anything. This is the credit of Cui Shaoqing of the Dali Temple and Ling Sijie of the Northern Court Forbidden Army."
Shang Nanliu hurriedly said, "Yes, I will definitely prepare a gift to express my gratitude in the future."
Seeing that Shangluo was in good spirits, Qiandeng's gaze fell on the words carved on the edge of his bed and asked, "By the way, how were you kidnapped that day? What happened to you afterwards?"
Shangluo himself was also a little confused, his eyes dazed. "Let me think about it... After seeing Princess Gao's corpse that day, I was so scared that I couldn't sleep, so I went to ask Brother Penglai for an amulet. But I still had a nightmare in the middle of the night. As I tossed and turned in bed, I suddenly realized that the light reflected by the amulet under the lamp was exactly the same as the light reflected from the cracks in the stone!"
This guess was exactly the same as Qiandeng's previous inference. Sure enough, the reason he was kidnapped was because he discovered the truth about Princess Gao's death.
"Although I don't know what connection it has to the case, I was there when cousin Jin was decorating the water pavilion. A few days ago, there was a peach blossom flood, and mud and branches were hanging on the stone foundation below the water pavilion. It was really unsightly. So I followed the Jin family workers on a boat, carrying buckets to wash down the stone foundation below. If there was such an obvious amulet between the stones at that time, even if it hadn't been washed away, I would have found it long ago! So it was very strange that an amulet appeared between the stones that night. I wrote it down on the edge of my bed so that I wouldn't forget it, and planned to tell the county lady after dawn. But as soon as I left the osmanthus hall, someone covered my mouth and nose, and I fainted... Fortunately, the county lady's sister rescued me!"
Qian Deng felt pity for her, and Shang Nanliu even shed tears: "The Princess's Mansion is really arrogant and unreasonable."
"Ah? So I was taken to the princess's mansion? That damn place is so scary, I don't know how I survived." Shang Luo was filled with anger and resentment, and complained angrily.
It turned out that after he woke up, he had been in darkness, with a pitch-black mask on his face, rags stuffed in his mouth, and his whole body curled up and tied up, stuffed in a very narrow place, unable to move.
In this place where he didn't know whether it was day or night, he struggled to move his body, his hands and feet bumping against the things around him. He heard the sound of wood and his body shaking, and vaguely guessed that he might be trapped in a wooden box.
He was frightened for a moment, wondering if he was buried alive in the coffin, but the surroundings were not stuffy, and there was a faint sound of flowing water and occasional rain. The sound of raindrops hitting the water was very close to him, but although the box did not leak, it was damp.
He thought again, could it be that he is already dead and is at the edge of the legendary Yellow Springs?
This thought frightened him so much that he cried for a long time again. He struggled desperately in the box, but unfortunately he was too weak and his body was tied too tightly, so he could not make much sound. It was just that his elbows and knees hit the walls of the box, which seemed to cause some pain.
The pain made him feel alive again, but the thought of waiting to die like this seemed more terrifying than death, so he became even more desperate. If his mouth had not been blocked, he would have burst into tears.
Qian Deng listened to his confession, subconsciously raised his eyebrows, and uttered a low "ah".
Darkness, the sound of water, the narrow wooden box... She had a guess in her heart and understood where Shangluo had been during the time he was missing.
Not in the princess's mansion, not in the secret room.
It turns out that the attachment that came with returning on a rainy night and the deep affection that came through the water all had ulterior motives.
Shang Nanliu hugged his son, feeling distressed, and asked, "How have you been eating and drinking these days?"
Shangluo said angrily, "I'm starving! Occasionally, someone would give me some food, but they would only lift my mask halfway, exposing my mouth to feed me food and water. It was pitch black outside, so it must have been at night. Then they would take me to the bathroom - I didn't eat much, and basically didn't need to. He told me that he was also kidnapped, and he secretly gave me some food. If I shouted, he would be implicated and the robbers would kill him. But after I ate the food he fed me, I fell into a daze and fell asleep. I was never awake. Oh, I'm so miserable..."
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