Chapter 37 Scalding Night "The one who has lost her innocence is clearly me."...
Inside the Pillow Flower Studio, all was silent.
Madam Deng frowned as she returned from Meng Yin's room and whispered to Madam Yuan, "Fourth Miss said that if Master and Madam still do not agree to him going to Yuezhou, she will continue to starve herself like this."
Aunt Shen and Meng Yu sat at the dining table, not daring to make a sound.
Because of the incident involving Lu Xiuyi's drowning, Meng Yin has been on a hunger strike for two days. If this continues, her body will eventually give out.
Madam Yuan sighed, but finally relented: "Let her come over for dinner. I'll talk to her when her father gets back from his shift."
Upon hearing this, Madam Deng was overjoyed for Meng Yin and quickly relayed the news to her. Meng Yin was lying on the couch when she heard Madam Deng's words. She hurriedly asked Zhi Xia to help her get up and wash. Because she had not eaten for two days, her face was pale and her body was weak. After washing up, she rushed to the main hall.
Madam Yuan glanced at her and instructed the maid beside her, "Fourth Miss hasn't eaten for two days. Bring her a bowl of porridge and some white fungus soup."
The maidservant responded and left.
Meng Yin sat down, lifted her eyelids to glance at Madam Yuan, and was about to speak when Madam Yuan knew what she wanted to say. She lowered her head and said in a deep voice, "Eat first, and you can continue your journey after you have recovered."
Meng Yin replied hesitantly, "Yes, thank you, Mother."
Meng Yu slightly raised her eyes to look at the opposite side. In just two days, she had already lost a lot of weight, her chin was sharper, and even her eyes were red and swollen. She looked like she had lost her soul and had no trace of her former liveliness.
Seeing this scene, Meng Yu felt a pang of sadness, as if her heart was blocked, devoid of any joy. Although she and Meng Yin did not get along, at least she had not done anything too outrageous to her. Now that she was like this, she felt sorry for her.
After finishing their meal in silence, Meng Yu and Aunt Shen took their leave from Madam Yuan.
The three walked in silence until they were halfway there when they suddenly saw Meng Zhangzhou and Jiang Xuanli stop at the corner of the corridor. Meng Zhangzhou asked with a smile, "Jingyun, haven't you been busy these past few days? What brings you here today?"
Jiang Xuanli handed him the food box in his hand: "When my mother heard that the fourth young lady couldn't eat or sleep, she specially bought a chicken and made a chicken soup with goji berries and astragalus. Astragalus can replenish qi and raise yang, and it can also treat loss of appetite."
Meng Zhangzhou's pupils dilated slightly. He knew Jiang Xuanli's family situation best; they couldn't even afford to buy a piece of meat, so how could they possibly afford to buy a chicken? They originally had two old hens left, so his mother must have taken one to stew.
Thinking of this, Meng Zhangzhou felt even more reluctant to accept, and hurriedly raised his hand to refuse: "I appreciate your kindness on behalf of my fourth sister, but you have worked hard, so please save this chicken soup for her to nourish her body."
“Brother Meng, you are being too polite. Your family has helped me so much, and my mother is very grateful. When she heard that Fourth Miss was feeling unwell, she quickly made chicken soup. If you don’t deliver it to her, how will I explain it to my mother?” Jiang Xuanli forced himself to hand the food box to him.
Meng Zhangzhou could no longer refuse and had no choice but to accept.
Just then, Ah Rong rushed over and said urgently, "Young Master, General Lu has arrived. Master just finished his shift and wants you to come to the front hall to receive the guest immediately."
Meng Zhangzhou raised an eyebrow, asking in confusion, "Which General Lu?"
"Who else could it be? Our future fourth son-in-law!"
"Lu Xiuyi? He's not dead?"
Looking into the distance, Meng Yu was both surprised and astonished. She was surprised that Lu Xiuyi was still alive, and astonished that the person who said these words was Jiang Xuanli.
His slightly raised tone clearly contained a hint of barely perceptible frustration, disappointment, and a trace of resentment. Lu Xiuyi had no grudge against him; he wasn't dead, so why was he angry?
Meng Zhangzhou was completely unaware of the change in Jiang Xuanli's expression. He simply stuffed the food box back into Jiang Xuanli's hand and said cheerfully, "Alright, Fourth Sister doesn't need to drink the chicken soup anymore. You can take this chicken soup back to your aunt to help her recover. For my Fourth Sister, General Lu is the best medicine in the world."
After saying that, Meng Zhangzhou walked towards the front hall.
Meng Yu hurriedly pulled Aunt Chen and Huaiyin along another path back to Qingli Courtyard.
As soon as she entered, Huaiyin chattered on and on: "Miss, look what I told you before, evil deeds live on for a thousand years. That young Marquis Lu is very lucky. He won't die so easily."
"He's not dead. No one in the whole mansion is happier than Fourth Sister." Meng Yu felt relieved and took out the half-embroidered mandarin duck pillowcase again. After learning of Lu Xiuyi's death some time ago, she had put the pillowcase away. Now that she heard he was still alive, she naturally wanted to continue embroidering.
Not long after, Yan'er returned from fetching water, chatting exaggeratedly with Zhi Mian and Huai Yin while eating melon seeds: "Sister Huai Yin, Sister Zhi Mian, you didn't see it! General Lu's betrothal gifts filled the entire courtyard and still couldn't be contained. Steward Lin had no choice but to have the remaining gifts carried to the alley entrance and laid out all the way to the back gate. Just by glancing at it, I can see that the gold, silver, cloth, pearls, and jewelry are all ordinary. There are all sorts of things like coral, sandalwood carvings, Tian Shan snow lotus, and thousand-year-old ginseng. Even the Second Miss couldn't help but sigh that the Fourth Miss is so lucky. Come to think of it, I've never seen anyone have such a grand display when giving betrothal gifts in my entire life."
Zhi Mian cracked a melon seed: "I heard General Lu just returned, and he immediately proposed marriage upon his return?"
Yan'er replied, "I heard from Steward Lin that General Lu had already had the betrothal gifts prepared, and he was just waiting for him to return before presenting the gifts."
Zhi Mian clicked her tongue and commented, "General Lu must be deeply in love with the Fourth Miss, otherwise, why would he be in such a hurry?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Huaiyin smiled and tapped Yan'er on the forehead, "You silly girl, you saw it but didn't hurry back to call us. It would be a waste for us not to watch such a big show."
Meng Yu, who was leaning against the couch by the window with a pillowcase embroidered with mandarin ducks, reached out across the windowsill and tapped Huai Yin on the top of her head when she heard this.
Huaiyin covered her head and glanced back at her sideways: "Girl, it hurts."
Meng Yu put down what she was holding, frowned, and suddenly raised her hand to tap her on the forehead. "It's good that you know it hurts. Don't always get involved in every kind of excitement."
Huaiyin couldn't dodge in time and cried out in pain, nodding with a wronged expression: "Seriously, miss, how could you bear to hit me twice?"
Meng Yu raised her hand, pretending to knock on her head again. Huai Yin quickly got up and ran away, forgetting to turn back and make a face at Meng Yu, shouting, "Miss, if you knock on my head again, I'll go to my aunt for help!"
Meng Yu watched her running figure disappear quickly, smiled and shook her head, then continued with her work.
In the evening, Aunt Shen brought back another piece of news, saying that the date for Meng Yin's wedding had been set: "It will be on the seventh day of the eighth month."
Meng Yu was startled, her eyelids suddenly twitching a few times: "The seventh of next month? Aunt, you didn't mishear?"
Aunt Shen was also surprised: "At first I thought I misheard, so I asked again. But Madam smiled and said it was right. She also mentioned that it happened to be your birthday that day, so it was a double celebration."
Boom!
Meng Yu's head seemed to explode in an instant.
***
Meng Yu didn't believe that things would happen by such a coincidence.
She even went to check the auspicious date, only to find that it was indeed an auspicious day for marriage. This news shocked her so much that she couldn't fall asleep for a long time, tossing and turning on her bed before finally drifting off.
It was as if the doors and windows were tightly shut, not a single breath could get in.
Meng Yu murmured as she woke up from the heat. She opened her eyes and wanted to get out of bed to open the window, but in the dim candlelight, she saw a tall figure silently looming over her, standing abruptly by the bed and watching her.
Meng Yu was startled and instinctively wanted to shout, but Lu Xiuyi bent down and covered her mouth first, saying with a hint of helplessness, "What are you shouting for? You can't make a sound anyway."
He reeked of alcohol, his face flushed. Meng Yu frowned, brushed his hand away, and gestured, "What are you doing here?"
I missed you, so I came to see you.
Meng Yu raised her hand again: "But I don't want to see you. Go away."
"I don't care, I'm not leaving." As he spoke, he ignored how disgusted Meng Yu was and pressed his entire body heavily against her.
Meng Yu was astonished that he understood both of her two hand gestures. He hadn't expected that he would already know sign language after only half a month apart.
While she was still in surprise, Lu Xiuyi's body pressed down on her. Unfortunately, the bed was too small to accommodate two people. Although Meng Yu had moved to the side, she was still inevitably pressed down on her thigh.
The summer pajamas were a bit thin and see-through. She was forced to sit with her knees bent, the pajamas pulled up to her thighs, revealing her fair legs, while the man's face was pressed against them.
Meng Yu blushed with embarrassment and tried to pull her leg back, but he was incredibly strong and held on tightly, refusing to let go. He rubbed his face against hers and muttered, "I don't care, I won't leave. Meng Yu, I beg you, please don't be so heartless."
Her voice, which was originally slightly hoarse, now carried a hint of resentment and grievance, as if she had been treated extremely unfairly but was powerless to resist.
His voice struck Meng Yu's heart. Her hand, which wanted to push his face away, stopped in mid-air. As she tried to move forward, her fingertips involuntarily flinched.
Meng Yu sighed and finally withdrew the hand that had been trying to push him away.
Unable to move her legs while he held her down, Meng Yu, bored, glanced at Lu Xiuyi in the flickering candlelight. He had thick eyebrows and large eyes, with a well-defined jawline; his face, originally somewhat resolute, softened with a touch of gentleness when his eyes were closed.
After watching for a while, Meng Yu suddenly realized that the place he was pressing against was unusually hot. She subconsciously looked up at his forehead and her face immediately darkened.
He actually... has a fever??
No wonder he was sleeping so soundly.
Without a second thought, Meng Yu quickly lifted his head off her lap and gently placed it on the pillow, then tiptoed to open the door.
It was late at night, and all the lights in the courtyard were off. Meng Yu tiptoed toward the kitchen, and as she passed Zhi Mian and Yan'er's room, she heard deafening snoring coming from inside.
Meng Yu went to the kitchen, fetched a basin of cold water, and took a towel back to her room.
Lu Xiuyi was burning up with fever and unconscious. Meng Yu quickly soaked a towel, wrung it out, and applied it to his forehead.
To everyone's surprise, after applying the compress for a while, his fever showed no signs of subsiding; instead, his forehead became burning hot.
There were no fever reducers like in her previous life here, and Meng Yu only had some herbs left. However, these herbs could only be boiled in water. If she started a fire to boil the medicine now, it would be secondary to waking up the people in Qingli Courtyard. The biggest fear was that it would attract the attention of the old women on night patrol.
If it were discovered that the future fourth son-in-law of the Meng family was in the third daughter's bed, not to mention how Meng Yin would react, just thinking about the scathing gossip that would drown a person from the mouths of those old women would be incredibly vile and unpleasant. Moreover, given Meng Yanqing's temperament, if such a thing happened, he would never bother to investigate and clear her name; he would simply order her to be drowned on the spot to protect the Meng family's reputation.
Having no other choice, Meng Yu brought over all the face towels and hand towels from the kitchen, unbuttoned Lu Xiuyi's upper body clothes, and then placed the wet and wrung-out face towels and hand towels on his forehead, neck, and armpits respectively.
After the face towel and hand towel absorbed the heat from his body, they were taken off again, soaked in cold water, and then applied back to his body. This was repeated countless times, and the towels in the basin were changed several times, before Lu Xiuyi's fever gradually subsided.
Meng Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief, and at this moment, her eyelids drooped heavily.
She yawned, and unable to hold back any longer, she lay down on the edge of the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
***
A smiling face suddenly loomed large in front of me.
The moment Meng Yu opened her eyes again, this was the scene that greeted her. She was startled and took a step back.
The man in front of her smiled leisurely, the flush on his face had faded, and even his eyes had regained their former brilliance. He didn't forget to tease her: "Since Yu'er has stripped me completely naked, she has to take responsibility for me."
Upon hearing this, Meng Yu came to her senses and realized that Lu Xiuyi's clothes were still hanging around his waist, and his strong upper body was still naked.
She didn't know when he woke up. She parted her lips slightly and muttered, "Shameless."
Unexpectedly, Lu Xiuyi understood her lip movements and revealed a wronged expression as a victim: "Yu'er stripped me naked and then said I was shameless. I'm the one who was exposed, I'm the one who lost my innocence, yet you turn around and accuse me. I don't care, you have to take responsibility for me."
Meng Yu: "..."
When would it be considered to ruin his reputation if I simply undressed him or kindly helped him reduce his fever?
Seeing his shameless expression, she had no choice but to raise her hand and explain, "You're burning up with fever. How can I bring down your fever if I don't take off your clothes? Do you expect me to watch you burn yourself into an idiot before you're satisfied?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Xiuyi's expression brightened instantly, and he immediately leaned forward: "Yu'er brought down my fever? How did you do it? Why did you take off your clothes? Did you touch me with your body? If so, I should reciprocate in kind."
The man's unique cedar scent suddenly enveloped her, making Meng Yu feel uncomfortable as she stood up and took two steps back.
He asked four questions in a row, even answering them himself. Meng Yu rolled her eyes at him: "Fine! The cold water and the towel brought down your fever, you should repay them!"
Meng Yu didn't want to pay him any more attention, so she turned around and opened the door. "If you're done, hurry up and leave. I don't want to get into trouble because of you."
The sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn. If he didn't leave soon, the early-rising old women would all see him.
Because Meng Yu had taken care of him all night, Lu Xiuyi was in a very good mood. He didn't argue with her when he heard this. He slowly put on his clothes, got up and left the bed, just as she had said.
Just as he was about to step out the door, he seemed to hear Meng Yu call his name, and he subconsciously turned around to look at her.
As expected, Meng Yu raised her hand, her beautiful face showing a seriousness he had never seen before: "Lu Xiuyi, after this, don't come here again. You saved me, and now I've saved your life. We're even. From now on, you'll be my brother-in-law. I hope you'll treat Meng Yin well."
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