Chapter 5
I sat alone under the tree for a long time. The morning sun gradually rose and dispelled the fog but failed to wake me up.
Qingzhu woke up and was about to go to the side room to help the young lady wash and dress up. Before she entered, she just turned around the door and saw a slender figure under the green locust tree, looking at half of the sky alone and lonely.
She turned around and was about to call for help, but saw that she didn't even blink and didn't notice the movement beside her. She was still in a daze. Even Qingzhu came forward to put a coat on her, but couldn't bring her back to her senses.
The girl has become less and less talkative...
Qingzhu was reluctant to see the young lady waste her energy like this, so she gently shook her sleeves twice and said, "When did you wake up? It's foggy this morning, please take care of yourself."
Yue Qingning smiled and finally came to her senses. However, how could she dare to tell Qingzhu that she had not slept all night? She knew that her mother must know too, so she just smiled and held her hand.
Qingzhu has always been pure and sincere. If she had heard the news of her own death at that time, she would have cried bitterly. Although Yue Qingning had made up his mind to focus on revenge in the repeated resentment, he could not help but feel pity for his relatives who had treated him sincerely.
How could Que Ming compare with them?
"Nothing, just remembered what happened before."
"Before?"
Qingzhu suddenly had a different feeling when she looked at the young lady. She looked the same as yesterday, but when she turned around, she saw her straight back, as if she had been carrying a heavy burden since the moment she woke up. There was a sorrow between her eyebrows that she had never experienced before.
She didn't understand the sorrow, and couldn't comfort the young lady in any way. She could only hope that she would have someone to talk to.
Maybe someone can share her suffering...
"Miss, the Teng family has written to us several times asking about you, and they even sent someone over yesterday with several supplements. You're feeling depressed and tired at home, so why don't you go to Miss Teng's place to relax?"
It was true that I had been blinded by hatred these days since I came back, and I forgot that I was on the way to meet her. I left that day without having the chance to tell her the reason.
Sister Teng was one year older than her and was much more lively than her. Her family had been imperial physicians for generations. Although her father was not as high-ranking as other officials, he had been the royal physician since Emperor Taizu. The emperor had great trust in his family, so the Teng family had always been respected.
"Did no one send her a message after that day?"
Qingzhu hesitated for a moment, then lied as he looked at the young lady's disappearing back.
"No one probably told her. The young lady fainted that day, and the house was in chaos. No one remembered the incident. Then they thought you had delivered the letter. In short, Miss Teng probably didn't know."
Yue Qingning paused when she heard this. She didn't want to go out at the moment, and she didn't want to see the old people who had a miserable end in their previous life.
But you can't hide forever. Anyway, I still haven't figured out how to deal with Que Ming. It's better to go out for a walk. Maybe I can think of a solution.
"Qingzhu, please ask someone to fish out a purple lotus from the pond in the other courtyard. I want to bring it to her."
Qingzhu quickly agreed. For a moment before the fog dissipated, she thought the young lady was going to disappear in it.
After dinner, she took the box and was about to go out, but she suddenly thought of that man.
He was half a servant. There was nothing for him to do in the mansion on weekdays. He was only asked to follow when going out. Now it seemed that there was no reason to keep him in the mansion.
"Where's Que Ming?"
"Already at the door!"
Yue Qingning's expression froze, and he hurried out of the courtyard. Even though he had been prepared, he couldn't help but feel his emotions surge when he saw the man waiting by the car at the gate. He wore a gray veiled hat that blended in with his gray clothes, making him look so ordinary that he had lost his color.
Is it because of what she said last time...
She had just woken up and still clearly remembered the pain of having her liver and gallbladder crushed by the horse. She was almost crazy and wanted him to die. She even slapped him in the face and scolded him for being ungrateful.
He still remembers what he said when he was unconscious.
A sense of guilt suddenly rose in his heart, and the absurdity of covering his face because of her words gave rise to a little pity, but Yue Qingning forced himself to ignore it and walked to the carriage.
A hand stretched out from her side, the blue back of the hand was slender and pale, leaning to the side like a birch tree, waiting for her to reach out and support it.
That's all! I can't make him see that something's wrong.
Yue Qingning stretched out her hand and placed it on the back of his hand. Her ten fingers were slender and weightless. Que Ming took that hand and lifted it slightly to help her get into the car.
The veil covering his face made it difficult to even look at her. He kept to his status as a servant, hoping only to keep her safe. Constantly looking at her was a way of repaying her for saving his life. These small acts accumulated over the years, slowly brewing in his heart, and now they had turned into a puff of smoke that continued to swell in his chest.
He thought that she must have noticed something, so she frowned when she saw his face, but he really had no way to refute it. The more he tried to suppress those presumptuous thoughts, the harder it was to hide them.
It was as if as soon as she opened her mouth or raised her eyes, all those thoughts overflowed and surged towards her.
"Let's go!"
The beautiful figure in the car lowered the curtain and seemed to take a last look at him.
He knew that he had a special face and was proud of it because he was able to stay with her.
However, the young lady now was no longer the same as before. The more she read, the less she cared about appearance. His only advantage became a flaw. She began to dislike the attention his appearance attracted, and then she began to dislike him...
Que Ming raised his hand and reached into the veil, touching his face. It was like touching a mask, and the touch under his hand gradually became cold and dull.
The wheels rolled on for about quarter of an hour.
Qingzhu got off the car before her with the box in his hand. Yue Qingning had no choice but to reach out to him. As soon as her fingers touched him, he gently lifted up the hand that held hers. The joints of the hand were distinct and it was stronger and easier than she had imagined, helping her get out of the car.
The moment Yue Qingning jumped off the carriage, he quickly withdrew his hand, suppressed his wandering thoughts, and shifted his gaze towards the gate.
The gate of the Teng family in front of us is different from that of other families. Many large wooden branches extend out from the mansion, casting shadows on the corridor outside. Some of them even have fruits on them. You don’t need to go in to know that there must be many natural beauties inside the gate.
After passing through the corridor and before entering Sister Teng's yard, her voice was already heard from it.
"Qingning! How are you? Let me take your pulse!"
"I'm fine."
Teng Xieji pulled Qingning into the house and took her pulse without giving her a chance to explain. She was fine, so her pulse was naturally normal. She felt strange after feeling it for a long time but couldn't find anything.
"I told you, I just felt a little unwell that day, so I didn't go to see you."
“You!”
She put away the small pulse pillow and pulled out a piece of paper from the side.
"I'll write you a prescription. You've had a worry problem since childhood, so you should relax and cultivate your temperament. Don't dwell on it anymore!"
Yue Qingning looked at her profile as she lowered her head and examined her carefully. In the past, she only thought that Sister Teng had a similar personality and age to her, but now she found that her gentleness cast a layer of glow over her whole body. This is probably what people call the difference between doctors and other people.
"You sent me ginseng a few days ago, and now you're worrying again. I really don't know what to do."
She didn't care about Yue Qingning's refusal. She was used to Qingning's gentlemanly demeanor, even towards those close to him. She leaned over and said jokingly, "Then come with me to Lianhu today?"
Seeing her frowning and smiling bitterly, Teng Xieji folded a piece of paper and handed it to Zhu'er, and also saw the box in her arms.
"Oh? What is this?"
Yue Qingning held the box in both hands, tilted her head and teased her, "Sister, guess!"
"I'm afraid you feel sorry for the apology I want to give you!"
Qingning was helpless. She saw through her little thoughts too clearly. She said with a smile: "Sister is really smart. You saw through all my thoughts."
As he spoke, he opened the lid. Inside the box was a celadon bowl, and inside was a huge purple lotus. Dozens of petals overlapped each other, and the petals were a bewitching deep purple, with a hint of yellow showing through the center. You can't see such a complete lotus anywhere else.
Sister Teng really liked it. She took the bowl out and looked at it carefully, and was reluctant to put it down.
"Where did you get this?"
Yue Qingning pursed her lips and said, "Actually...it's the purple lotus that my mother planted. I picked the biggest one."
"You girl!"
Sister Teng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "If your mother knew, I'm afraid you won't be able to come out from now on!"
Her bright smile swept away Yue Qingning's gloomy mood of the past few days. He smiled with her and asked, "Does sister like it?"
"How can I not like it?"
She knew that she would like it. She would go to the Lotus Lake every year just to enjoy the lotus flowers when they were in full bloom. How could such a lotus lover not like it?
Teng Xieji held the lotus flower close to him and played with it for a while. For some reason, he suddenly remembered the boat trip on the lake that day.
"I heard that he fainted on his way to see me that day, but is there anything else I don't know?"
Seeing that he couldn't avoid her questioning, Yue Qingning rubbed his fingers awkwardly. Although he didn't want to lie to her, he had to lie to her now.
"It was hot, and I didn't want people looking at me, so I kept the car windows closed despite everyone's advice. I didn't expect to get a heat stroke before I even got to the destination. It's all my own stubbornness, not anyone else's."
Teng Xieji checked her pulse again, and only after confirming that she was safe did he breathe a sigh of relief and said, "You're fine today anyway, so why don't you go sightseeing with me?"
Yue Qingning hurriedly refused, but when Sister Teng asked her why she didn't go, she couldn't answer.
Teng Xieji was not a man who followed the rules. Hearing that she had no excuse to refuse, he immediately took two curtains and pulled her out.
Yue Qingning didn't even have time to say anything before she pulled him into the carriage and headed towards Lianhu Lake.
But she was still worried, so she lifted the window sill to look at the hatted man holding an umbrella outside. Que Ming seemed to have been paying attention to this side of the carriage, and when he saw her lift the window, he immediately looked over.
"Miss?"
"Nothing." She hurriedly lowered the curtain, smoothed the hem of her dress, and grabbed the edge of her skirt to hide her identity.
Seeing her like this, Teng Xieji, who was already very attentive, immediately realized something and started laughing before she could let go of her awkwardness.
"Why is Queming wearing a hat today? Did you order him to do that?"
Yue Qingning sighed and said a little embarrassedly: "His appearance is eye-catching. I asked him to wear it to avoid trouble."
These words probably didn't come from the heart. Teng Xieji rolled his eyes as if he had figured something out, and muttered softly, "Oh... is that really the case?"
"Stop teasing me, sister!"
She was well aware of the huge gap in status between them, so she laughed twice and didn't continue teasing her.
A young lady from a noble family like Qingning would naturally marry a noble man. It was just a joke in the boudoir, and she didn't want Qingning to gossip about him.
Yue Qingning, who had luckily escaped interrogation, relaxed and couldn't help but empty his mind. He leaned to one side and looked at the pedestrian streets outside through the curtain. Because there were many people watching the sights in the past few days, the carriage was shaking and had to stop occasionally to wait. When the voices outside gradually faded, he finally saw a pier on the lake.
There is a pleasure boat parked on the lakeside, with lotus lanterns hanging all around it, floating in the breeze. It is so exquisite that there is probably no such beautiful boat in the sky.
A few giggles were heard from among them. Before I could hear how many people there were, a man suddenly came out and stood at the stern.
The man seemed unaccustomed to such an occasion, taking a few deep breaths at the stern. The summer cicadas chirped melodiously, the heat creating waves of steam. Feeling bored and annoyed, he stared blankly at the willow trees on the opposite bank. Then the sound of wheels interrupted his thoughts. A carriage slowly approached from the other side of the shaded trees, its bells jingling, drawing attention.
The willow trees on the shore were connected together, and the swaying willow branches blocked the view of the people getting off the car. One could only vaguely see a thin shirt rising up in the wind, creating a light purple vortex, which then suddenly stretched out with the wind and disappeared behind the willow branches.
"Third brother! What are you looking at?"
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