Lu Baichuan still had to give them face, so he said, "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely be there."
Afterwards, the couple took their son home and invited the young apprentice to their house for a casual meal before letting him return to the clinic.
This wasn't the first time the young medicine boy had eaten at Xishuiyuan; he knew the place well. After his meal, Xu Dashan or Fang Da would take him home by carriage, which was quite pleasant.
When we returned to Creek Garden, the dog had already woken up, but he wasn't in good spirits. He was listless and unwilling to talk, and he didn't even eat much for dinner.
This was the first time the child had encountered such a situation, and He Jiuniang and Lu Baichuan stayed with him the whole time, without blaming him for it.
"Mother, I know I was wrong."
The dog had been well-behaved and hadn't spoken since waking up. He would nod or shake his head whenever asked anything. Finally, before dark, he spoke to He Jiuniang.
At this moment, He Jiuniang was telling him a story. When she heard him say this halfway through, she was stunned for a moment.
Lu Baichuan was the first to react and said softly, "Your parents aren't blaming you. This isn't your fault."
The dog didn't speak, but its eyes were fixed on He Jiuniang.
He knew his mother was angry today.
He Jiuniang thought for a moment and said, "You are wrong. You were wrong for not listening to your mother. You had a cold but still craved herbal tea, which only made you sicker. But it's not your fault that you got poisoned; it's the fault of the bad people. You don't need to blame yourself for it. Your parents are scolding you because they feel sorry for you suffering like this at such a young age, not because they're angry that you got poisoned. Do you understand?"
Although these words had already been said once at the clinic, He Jiuniang still patiently repeated them a second time, wanting to instill correct values in her child from a young age so that this incident would not leave him with a shadow and cause him to go astray when he grows up.
He finally nodded and said, "Thank you, Father and Mother."
He felt a warm glow in his heart. His parents were not angry at all; instead, they stayed with him, took care of him, and told him stories. He vowed never to be greedy again.
Lu Baichuan watched his wife teach their son without saying a word, but he was silently learning in his heart.
He really doesn't understand how to raise children; all he can say is that it's not his fault, but he doesn't know how to explain the specific situation to the child.
But his wife was different. She explained things clearly and easily, making the child realize that he was wrong and would correct his mistakes in the future, without leaving any shadows or psychological burdens on the child.
Like I said before, his wife is really amazing!
The family of three slept together that night. Before going to bed, the dog was in much better spirits, ate a little porridge, and then fell asleep.
The next morning, I wanted to ask him to skip school, but he insisted on going, and he didn't even skip the martial arts training stage.
He Jiuniang had to admire him for this; if it were her, she would definitely want to slack off.
In the morning, everyone did their own thing. A group of children went to school and shops, while the couple went to the clinic and the government office. In any case, everyone was busy with their own things and did not interfere with each other.
At noon, Lu Baichuan went to the clinic to find her and told her about the latest developments in the interrogation.
"As soon as I arrived at the yamen this morning, Lou Chong told me that they had uncovered something important during the interrogation!"
Lu Baichuan deliberately kept her in suspense, while He Jiuniang diligently picked at the food in her bowl, nodding in response but showing no curiosity whatsoever.
Unwilling to give up, Lu Baichuan asked again, "Guess what Meng Zhang said?"
He Jiuniang glanced at him, unable to bear making him lose face, so she casually guessed, "The poison was given to him by the prefect?"
"Haha, no!"
Lu Baichuan was satisfied and continued, "During the exam, Meng Zhang sat around Mr. Kang and Guan Yuping and saw Guan Yuping cheat. However, the cheat sheet accidentally fell to Mr. Kang's feet, which led people to mistakenly believe that Mr. Kang was the one cheating."
“He knew that Guan Yuping was the future brother-in-law of the prefect and dared not offend him, so he didn’t dare to say anything. Now that he’s in the Huoyun Division’s office, he’s scared and has told everything in order to lessen his punishment.”
He Jiuniang couldn't help but click her tongue: "Since he saw that Guan Yuping cheated, why did he say that Mr. Kang cheated in front of so many people yesterday? His heart is despicable!"
"Yes, when the truth comes out, we will definitely give Mr. Kang an explanation, but we can't make too much of a fuss about it now."
"At that time, Meng Zhang will be the best witness, so you must keep a close eye on him."
"Of course, once the truth comes out, we will clear Mr. Kang's name."
As he spoke, Lu Baichuan placed a piece of meat into He Jiuniang's bowl.
"Of course, he was misunderstood, and it's really unlucky for him to encounter something like this. But does the prefect know what the situation is like now? Why haven't we heard you mention him lately?"
He Jiuniang changed the subject because she felt there was nothing more gossip to be had about Kang Xiucai.
"Qian Xing has been living the high life lately. He always thought he had covered his tracks perfectly, so he's been drinking with people everywhere and spending all his time with his new lover. Yesterday, his new brother-in-law passed the imperial examination, so naturally there's going to be a banquet to celebrate. The next few days will probably be filled with such occasions."
"Tsk tsk, it seems Qian Xing has made quite a bit of money off the two ladies. Otherwise, how could he live such a carefree life on his meager salary? I never realized Qian Xing was this kind of person before. Now, even without investigating, I still feel he's not clean. He might have already gotten involved with Dongting."
"It's hard to say, we'll have to check to find out."
Lu Baichuan always made his own conclusions about such matters, so he did not agree with He Jiuniang's words.
He Jiuniang didn't care about him. She was just enjoying the gossip and could naturally comment on Qian Xing's matter, regardless of whether it was true or not.
"By the way, take care of your work these next few days. Before Qian Xing's wedding banquet, we need to go back to the county town. It's the opening of your sister-in-law's restaurant, and we need to go back to support her. Also, I don't know how the construction of the ancestral hall is going. Even if you don't have time to follow along the whole time, you should still go back and check on it."
He Jiuniang reminded him, afraid that he might forget about going back.
"Yes, I know that. I'll arrange it. Don't worry."
Lu Baichuan nodded, deciding that he couldn't just coast along after returning home; he needed to get things sorted out first. Qin Jian hadn't been to the government office for several days, and he didn't know what was going on.
Could I have really been... you know?
Speaking of Qin Jian, he's really having a hard time these days. To show his sincerity, he's been working like a servant in Qingyin Garden these past few days, serving tea and water to that woman all day long.
Unfortunately, her illness just wouldn't get better, and she had to take medicine every day.
And he has to join in cursing his brother and sister-in-law, saying bad things about them. It's really upsetting to think about.
Fortunately, this effort wasn't entirely without its benefits. At least the woman now believes that he is sincere towards her and is no longer feigning resistance like she did at the beginning.
Well, now it's just feigned intimacy.
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