Chapter 28 Helping Out [VIP]
Chapter Summary: My husband is an unlucky fellow.
More than half an hour later, the group hurriedly arrived in Shou County.
Xu Luchuan rode alongside the carriage. From the moment he stepped into Shou County, no matter how he looked around, all he saw were dilapidated houses and cries of agony. They came from a prosperous place, yet they could not understand this hellish place.
"Stop the carriage," Liu Shiyu said from inside, and Lian Yue reined in her horse. She then called out, "Liang Cheng."
Hearing her call, Liang Cheng dismounted and approached.
"Your Highness, what are your orders?"
"You personally oversee the delivery of the items to the county government, and also investigate the previous accounts. Remember not to mention me. Go and do it." Liu Shiyu assigned the task to Liang Cheng, who raised his hand in response, "Yes, Your Highness."
Liang Cheng left, leaving Xu Luchuan standing alone by the car. He looked at Liu Shiyu and asked, "What about me?"
Liu Shiyu ignored Xu Luchuan and got off the carriage.
Once her feet touched the ground, she turned around and immediately declared loudly, "You will stay by my side and protect me."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Luchuan's lips twitched.
He never imagined that Liu Shiyu would insist on bringing him all this way for such a purpose.
Xu Luchuan was puzzled and unwilling.
But Liu Shiyu wouldn't give him any chance to escape. She immediately reached out and handed it to Xu Luchuan: "Come on, my dear Right Supervisor. We should get to work."
Xu Luchuan dismounted and did not accept her offer.
Liu Shiyu pouted in anger to express her dissatisfaction, but then she turned around and ordered Lian Yue: "Go and stop the carriage."
After receiving the order, Lian Yue set off, and Liu Shiyu then walked towards the makeshift thatched shed by the roadside.
As soon as Xu Luchuan and Liu Shiyu reached the front of the thatched shed, a strong medicinal fragrance wafted towards them.
Liu Shiyu looked up and parted the mist, just in time to see an elderly man weighing medicine. The scales in his hands moved with crisp, deft movements. Liu Shiyu approached him and softly asked, "Sir, is there anything we can help you with?"
The elder, without looking up, called out, "Guangbai," upon hearing Liu Shiyu's words.
"What's wrong, Master?" The man named Guangbai rushed over immediately upon hearing the voice. The elder still didn't look up, his hands still weighing the medicine. "Give these two some work."
"Okay, Master." Guangbai nodded, then turned to look at Liu Shiyu and Xu Luchuan.
Looking at the two people in front of him, Guangbai couldn't help but scratch his head. What a handsome couple, but they didn't seem like the type to come to a place like this...
"Young master, young master?" Liu Shiyu noticed the person in front of him was in a daze and reminded him.
Guang Bai realized what was happening and awkwardly smiled apologetically, "Oh, I'm sorry. Please come with me."
Guangbai led Liu Shiyu and Xu Luchuan to the thatched hut where the wounded were resting, gave them some simple but trivial tasks, and then went to the front to brew medicine.
Watching Guangbai leave, Liu Shiyu was full of energy. Xu Luchuan, however, remained unmoved. It wasn't that he lacked compassion; it was just that he suffered from a germ phobia, and in this somewhat harsh thatched hut, he truly didn't know where to begin.
Liu Shiyu, carrying a bowl of medicine, walked past him and deliberately squeezed in, saying, "Make way, some people shouldn't block the way if they're not going to work."
Xu Luchuan, startled by her jostling, reached out to argue, but Liu Shiyu darted away. She then carried a bowl of medicine to a man with an injured arm and said, "Brother, here. It's time for your medicine."
After Liu Shiyu finished speaking, she looked down at the man's injured arm and said, "Your hand is not convenient, so I will feed you."
"Thank you, my lady," the man said.
Liu Shiyu smiled, showing no airs of a princess whatsoever, and reached out to hand over the spoon containing the medicine. But the medicine stopped abruptly a few inches from her elder brother.
Liu Shiyu was stunned, and so was her older brother.
Looking at her wrist being held, Liu Shiyu turned around in confusion. She only heard Xu Luchuan say in a deep voice, "I'll do it."
Liu Shiyu was somewhat at a loss after being bewildered by Xu Luchuan, and involuntarily replied, "Okay...okay."
As Liu Shiyu spoke, she stood up and offered him her seat. Xu Luchuan took the medicine bowl and sat down in front of his elder brother.
Standing blankly behind Xu Luchuan, Liu Shiyu began to wonder. Wasn't he unwilling to help just now? Why is he suddenly so eager? This guy is really hard to understand!
Liu Shiyu lowered her head and touched her wrist, which Xu Luchuan had just held. Unconsciously, a blush crept up her cheeks.
"Can someone help change the dressing here?" someone shouted. Liu Shiyu snapped out of her daze and immediately replied, "I can!"
While feeding his elder brother medicine, Xu Luchuan kept glancing at Liu Shiyu.
Changing the dressing? It should be alright.
Wait a minute, that person's injury is on their back! And it's a strong young man! Wouldn't changing the dressing on their back require taking off their clothes?
Upon thinking of this, Xu Luchuan felt extremely uneasy, and his hand unconsciously quickened as he fed his elder brother the medicine.
"Sigh, I was saying..."
"no...."
"Your medicine..."
After being thoroughly "irrigated" by Xu Luchuan, the eldest brother couldn't even finish a single complete sentence.
Seeing that the medicine was almost gone, Xu Luchuan put away the spoon and suddenly stood up, startling his elder brother.
But his elder brother seemed to have read his mind and teased him calmly, "Young master, you've been feeding him the medicine so well. I can tell your mind has already flown away. Thank you, young master. I'm fine here. You should hurry up and help that lady."
How could Xu Luchuan possibly accept his elder brother's statement?
He simply nodded and left, pretending nothing was wrong, not even glancing up as he walked towards Liu Shiyu. It was Liu Shiyu who noticed him passing by with the bowl of medicine and spoke first: "Have you finished feeding the medicine?"
Xu Luchuan didn't answer, and silently brushed past Liu Shiyu.
Liu Shiyu's gaze followed Xu Luchuan as he gradually disappeared into the distance, her furrowed brows filled with complaints about him.
The person had walked away. Liu Shiyu turned around angrily and looked at the young man in front of her, saying, "Never mind him! Young man, let's take off our outer clothes first. I'll change your dressing."
We? Take off our coats?
When Xu Luchuan heard these words, they took on a different meaning.
He moved with lightning speed, placing the medicine bowl on the small table in front of him in a few steps. Then he turned back.
Just as Liu Shiyu reached out to help the young man with limited mobility remove his outer garment, Xu Luchuan grabbed her arms and lifted them above her head. Forced to look up with her hands raised, Liu Shiyu knew without a doubt that it was Xu Luchuan.
"What are you going to do now?" Liu Shiyu complained. Xu Luchuan immediately released her arms. "Do you know how to change the dressing? Don't delay her treatment."
"I know, someone just taught me."
Liu Shiyu was still sulking about what had just happened, and she was determined not to back down. Xu Luchuan ignored her, turned around, moved a wooden stool to sit beside her, and personally changed the young man's dressing.
"Do you still want to stay here and watch?"
Xu Luchuan asked a question, and Liu Shiyu, feeling a little embarrassed by the young man's half-exposed chest, quickly got up and left.
Guangbai came over from the front to deliver the medicine and happened to witness everything. He then spoke up to defuse the situation: "Wife, we need someone to help us at the front. Come with me to the front to prepare the medicine."
"Okay." Liu Shiyu quickly agreed and followed Guangbai ahead without looking back.
We arrived at the front.
Guangbai moved a stool and handed Liu Shiyu a fan, telling him to sit in front of the earthenware pot used for decocting medicine, fanning it and tending the fire. He, in turn, watched as water was added to the pot. But Liu Shiyu had never done such work before.
After only half an hour, she choked so badly that her vision went black and she coughed repeatedly.
Seeing this, Guangbai quickly asked Liu Shiyu to sit in an open space, lest she get herself into trouble before she could help others.
Seeing Liu Shiyu sitting to the side with two black marks on her cheeks, Guangbai couldn't help but say, "Wife, you are so lucky. It seems that your husband is protecting you very well. I imagine that at home, he does the same thing as today, not letting you do any chores."
Who? Xu Luchuan is protecting me? Bah!
Liu Shiyu crossed her arms, her eyes filled with disdain and accusation against Xu Luchuan.
Guang Bai, oblivious to the situation, continued, "You two don't seem to be locals. Where are you from? And what made you decide to come to Shou County?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Shiyu's eyes lit up. She picked up her fan and fanned herself twice before explaining, "We're from Yongzhou. My husband is a born unlucky fellow. I recently consulted a fortune teller to do some calculations for him. Guess what the fortune teller said?"
"What did the master say?" Guangbai put the lid on the pot and turned around curiously.
Liu Shiyu paused in mid-air with his fan and exclaimed, "The master said he lacks virtue! He needs to accumulate virtue and do good deeds. So we've come to accumulate virtue."
Guang Bai was intimidated by Liu Shiyu's imposing manner and quickly chimed in, "Oh, that young master is quite unethical... no, he's just unlucky."
Liu Shiyu was smug and pleased with herself.
Xu Luchuan finished changing the young man's bandages and stood up, only to sneeze several times in a row.
Several chivalrous young women nearby noticed this and asked with concern, "Young man, have you caught a cold? I have some hot soup here, would you like to warm up?"
Once someone spoke up, the others nearby chimed in.
In an instant, the atmosphere inside the thatched hut was no longer as quiet and oppressive as it had been when they first arrived.
Liu Shiyu, who had been busy for a long time without food or water, was starving, so she and Guangbai found some dry food and hot soup. But when she excitedly carried the food to Xu Luchuan to eat with her, she saw him surrounded by people who were taking good care of him.
Seeing this, Liu Shiyu hurriedly pushed forward, mimicking the others in the crowd, and said, "Young master, young master. Eat mine! I have some too, I have some too!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com