Even though Zhao Tianqi was unwilling, he had no choice but to nod reluctantly.
The prefect was very satisfied when he saw it. He looked at Jiang Ling and said, "Magistrate Zhao has agreed, so you can rest assured, Jiang. As for all the expenses he incurred, I will send someone to settle them in a month! Alright, Tianqi, you and the rest of you come with me!" As he spoke, the prefect pointed to several students except Zhao Qianyu.
Seeing this, they followed closely behind the prefect. Just as Zhao Qianyu was about to burst into tears, Zhao Tianqi kicked him hard and warned him not to cause any more trouble, or he would be in for a world of hurt.
Zhao Qianyu was just a teenager, and seeing this scene, he panicked and shouted that he wanted to go back with his father.
But to everyone's surprise, his father, out of respect for the prefect's authority, could only reluctantly push him away, telling him to reflect on his actions and behave himself.
Zhao Qianyu sat in Jiang Ling's yard and wailed loudly, while Jiang Ling was exasperated. She glanced at Jiang Zhishan and the four children and said, "Alright, you can go to school now. I'll handle the rest!"
Jiang Zhishan and the others looked at Jiang Ling with worried eyes, but Jiang Ling raised the corners of her mouth to indicate that they were alright.
Since they couldn't miss school, Jiang Zhishan and his group of five hurriedly ran towards the school.
Now only Jiang Ling and Zhao Qianyu remained in the courtyard.
Although the sun was not as scorching as it was at noon, it still radiated tremendous energy. Jiang Ling glanced at Zhao Qianyu, who was still crying and making a fuss, and simply moved a chair to sit at the drinks area, drinking mint water while continuing to watch Zhao Qianyu sitting on the ground crying and making a fuss.
On any other day, if Zhao Qianyu started crying, his grandmother and a group of servants would immediately come to his aid, especially his grandmother, who would tenderly embrace him.
She had been crying for several minutes now, and no one had come to comfort her. The scorching sun had left her drenched in sweat and parched.
He covered his eyes and peeked through his fingers. Jiang Ling was sitting leisurely in the shade, watching him with a half-smile.
Seeing this, Zhao Qianyu was instantly enraged. He jumped up from the ground and rushed towards Jiang Ling, standing in front of her with furious eyes and saying, "Hey! I'm thirsty! Get me some water right now!"
Jiang Ling gently placed the teacup on the table and looked at him, saying, "First of all, I don't call you 'Hey,' you can call me Aunt Jiang or Jiang Shi. Secondly, no one will serve you when you come to our house, so you will have to do everything yourself!"
"You!" Zhao Qianyu had never suffered such an injustice before. He glared at Jiang Ling and stood there, somewhat at a loss.
Jiang Ling ignored him, stood up from her chair, and went to the kitchen to start her afternoon work.
Jiang Ling had been busy for an unknown amount of time when she suddenly heard a loud "bang" outside the door, followed by screams from several women. Jiang Ling immediately put down her work and ran outside.
Zhao Qianyu lay on the opposite side with his eyes closed and his face pale. The woman who screamed was one of the people who came to Jiang Ling's house to do some work.
"What a nuisance!" Jiang Ling rolled her eyes and walked over to Zhao Qianyu's side. Judging from his appearance, he had most likely suffered from heatstroke.
Jiang Ling sighed helplessly and turned to the village women, saying, "Sisters, please lend a hand and carry this boy inside!"
Upon seeing this, several village women rushed over and, together with Jiang Ling, carried Zhao Qianyu to the bedroom.
"Sister-in-law, is this Lord Zhao's son?" one of the village women asked with a curious look.
Sure enough, the news of the county magistrate and the prefect visiting Jiang Ling's house had spread throughout Lu Family Village.
Jiang Ling nodded. Several village women looked at Zhao Qianyu, whose eyes were closed, and asked worriedly, "Sister-in-law, is Young Master Zhao alright?"
"Okay. Don't worry, he just fainted from anger! You guys go out and get back to work, I'll take care of him for a while!" Jiang Ling said.
These village women weren't the type to meddle, and upon hearing Jiang Ling's words, they all went out and started doing their own things.
Jiang Ling looked at Zhao Qianyu, who was frowning, and cursed under her breath for being troublesome. She then opened the system store, bought a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi Water, pried open Zhao Qianyu's mouth, and poured it into his mouth without any mercy.
"Cough...cough..." After a few minutes, Zhao Qianyu coughed a few times and slowly opened his eyes.
Jiang Ling held a glass of water to Zhao Qianyu's lips and said, "Drink it!"
This is the heatstroke relief medicine that Jiang Ling bought in the mall.
Zhao Qianyu looked at the grayish-brown liquid in the cup, then sniffed it. A pungent smell of Chinese medicine filled his nostrils, and Zhao Qianyu quickly shook his head and refused, saying, "What is this? Are you trying to kill me?"
Jiang Ling ignored Zhao Qianyu's rudeness. She put the cup aside and said, "Whether you drink or not is your business. You just had heatstroke. Don't forget what the prefect said: whatever happens to you, your father will be solely responsible, and it has nothing to do with me. Even if you die, it has nothing to do with me!"
"Death?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Qianyu's already pale face turned even more deathly gray.
"Drink it or not, it's up to you! Anyway, I'm telling you, this is a heatstroke remedy!" Jiang Ling said, then got up and walked towards the kitchen.
Zhao Qianyu hesitated as he looked at the cup of Chinese medicine. After a long internal struggle, he finally picked up the medicine, frowned, and gulped it down.
In the afternoon, Jiang Zhishan returned to Jiang Ling's house with his nephew and niece. Jiang Ling had already prepared lunch: several egg pancakes, a dish of homemade pickled wild vegetables, some fried meatballs mixed with a lot of starch, and brown rice mixed with white rice.
"Go wash your hands, then it's time to eat!" Jiang Ling said, looking at the children with kind eyes.
After the children obediently washed their hands, they sat around the dining table. Jiang Yaojie, who was closest to Jiang Ling, glanced at the people at the table and whispered to Jiang Ling, "Mom...we have a special guest in our family!"
"Yaojie, go and call him for dinner!" Jiang Ling said, glancing into the bedroom.
Jiang Yaojie nodded and stood up, but soon returned to the dining table with a dejected expression. He hung his head and said to Jiang Ling, "Mother, he... he won't come out!"
Looking at Jiang Yaojie's current state, Jiang Ling knew that the young master lying in the bedroom definitely hadn't given Jiang Yaojie a friendly look.
Jiang Ling patted Jiang Yaojie gently and said, "Okay, it's alright, Mom will take care of it. You and your uncle eat first! Mom will be right back!" With that, Jiang Ling got up and walked towards the bedroom.
Just as Jiang Ling had predicted, as soon as she walked in, she saw that man lying on the bed with his legs crossed, looking fearless.
"Zhao Qianyu, dinner's ready!" Jiang Ling said, standing expressionlessly at the door.
"Eat? Do you think I could stomach that kind of pig swill? You better hurry up and go to the Imperial Kitchen and buy me a whole eight-treasure duck and a plate of cold tripe salad! Otherwise, I'll..."
"Smack!"
Before Zhao Qianyu could finish speaking, Jiang Ling slapped him hard across the face.
Zhao Qianyu suddenly sat up in bed, covering his face which had been slapped red by Jiang Ling, and shouted at Jiang Ling in disbelief, "You...you...you shrew, how dare you hit me?"
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