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墨書 Inktalez
Qing Wu entered the room with a red tip on her nose. Perhaps it was frozen, as her eyes seemed to have a layer of mist, looking moist and pitiful.
Liu Anfeng pulled the blanket aside and stared at her for a while before turning his face away, glaring intently at the two maids and Dou Mama.
Seeing this, Dou Mama whispered a few words to Qing Wu and then turned to leave the room.
Mingzhu was still trying to figure things out when Luoxia reacted quickly, pulling Mingzhu along with her outside and slightly closing the door behind them.
With no one else around, Liu Anfeng's expression improved significantly.
"What are you doing here?" Liu Anfeng asked as he sat up slowly. "Those two really are something; clearly, you’re so busy, yet they let you come in here. Isn’t that wasting time?"
Noticing his slow movements, clearly cautious of his injury, Qing Wu hurried over to help. She wanted to reach out and support him but he dodged away. Looking around, she grabbed a pillow and placed it behind his back.
Liu Anfeng felt somewhat pleased inside, but somehow what came out of his mouth was: "Busybody."
Seeing him frowning, Qing Wu began to understand.
She slowly moved back, keeping a distance of three or four feet from Liu Anfeng, and then softly asked, "Brother San, are you... angry?"
"Angry?" Liu Anfeng snorted coldly and scoffed, "How could I dare to be angry at you! I... huh... hey?"
He suddenly turned his head sharply towards Qing Wu, causing his injury to sting. He cried out in pain while covering his neck and stammered, "Y-you just... what did you just call me?"
Noticing a plate of apples on the table next to a fruit knife, Qing Wu was contemplating whether she could use the knife to peel an apple for him when she heard his question. She thought for a moment and hesitantly replied, "...Brother San?"
Inside, Liu Anfeng felt overjoyed, unable to suppress a smile that crept onto his lips. Not wanting Qing Wu to notice, he stiffened his neck and turned his face away, chuckling quietly to himself. Once he managed to contain his laughter, he slowly turned back to look at the girl.
At a glance, it was alarming.
The girl had already jumped down from the chair and was walking towards the table where the apples were placed. That wasn't the most important part. What was truly shocking was that she was not staring at the plate of apples, but rather at the fruit knife beside it!
Liu Anfeng was startled. In the blink of an eye, Qing Wu had picked up the knife and was gesturing over one of the apples.
Liu Anfeng hurriedly shouted in a harsh tone, "Let me tell you, I don't like eating unpeeled ones! If you dare to peel it, I will never eat apples again!"
His voice was quite loud. Mingzhu heard this and, fearing there might be a quarrel inside, wanted to push the door open to take a look.
Luoxia reached out to stop her and shook her head. She pointed inside, indicating to wait a moment.
Before long, a weak voice from inside said, "Then what do you want to eat?"
"I don't want to eat anything!" Liu Anfeng yelled. Seeing the girl lower her head as if feeling wronged made him feel somewhat guilty. He scolded himself silently a few times, patted the edge of the bed, and said in a deep voice, "Why are you just standing there? Come sit over here."
His tone was noticeably much gentler than before.
Qing Wu found his sudden change strange; she couldn't understand how he went from being angry to seemingly calm all of a sudden. But seeing the bruises on his face and remembering that he was injured all over, she figured his mood must be fluctuating due to discomfort.
He had become like this for her protection, hadn't he?
If those people had ignored her completely, he would surely still be lively and well as he had been before.
Thinking of this made Qing Wu forget about his earlier outburst due to his discomfort. She softly responded and walked over to his bedside. Noticing a Jinwu nearby, she dragged it over and placed it beside the bed before sitting down steadily.
Liu Anfeng saw that she was far enough away from the knife and finally felt relieved. Glancing over, he noticed the girl was blinking her watery eyes at him and couldn't help but clear his throat. After thinking for a while, he managed to say a few words: "I hear you've learned quite a bit of poetry? Very good, very good. Since there's nothing else to do, why don't you recite some for me?"
When Qing Wu was on her way back, she felt quite good.
After she finished reciting the new poems to Liu Anfeng, he surprisingly took the initiative to explain the meanings of those poems to her.
Although Huo Yun'ai had taken the time to discuss them with her when she was free, seeing Liu Anfeng take the initiative made Qing Wu listen attentively without saying much. In the end, she sincerely thanked Brother San.
Liu Anfeng's expression softened considerably.
Even though he turned his back on her and ignored her as she was leaving, Qing Wu felt that their relationship seemed to have eased a bit, which made her quite happy.
However, this feeling of joy did not last long; it disappeared after just a short while on the way back. This was because she encountered someone on her way home.
Aunt Meng from the Meng Family.
Due to several days of sunny weather and the diligent efforts of the servants in the manor, the ice and snow on the paths had completely vanished. The roads were quite dry, so Qing Wu insisted on walking by herself.
As she walked slowly, she began to notice many details that she had overlooked in the past few days.
For example, both sides of every path in the manor were lined with soil where flowers and plants had been planted. It was likely that in spring and summer, it would be a beautiful sight with blooming flowers and lush greenery. Additionally, there were scattered paintings along some lower parts of the walls. At first glance, they seemed unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the composition was beautiful and the brushwork delicate. They did not appear to be created by a craftsman; rather, they seemed like...
"Those were painted by the Second Young Master during his leisure time," Danqing said. "What do you think, Miss?"
Qing Wu thought for a moment and replied sincerely, "They're quite good. More of them would be even better."
Danqing smiled with her lips pressed together.
Peach Silk clapped her hands and said, "After the Second Young Master returns, I will go speak with him. I believe it won't be long before we can have a bit more."
"If you say it like that, the Second Young Master will think it's your request. To maintain the relationship, he wouldn't want to refuse your request. Is it appropriate for him to abandon his study time for this?" Dou Mama scolded lightly. "The Young Masters still need to prepare for next year's exams; how can they have time for this now!"
Dou Mama naturally exuded an air of authority and managed Qing Wu's household very well, earning the respect of the servants. Hearing her speak this way, Peach Silk awkwardly apologized.
Unexpectedly, before Peach Silk could finish her words, someone appeared from the path nearby. It was Meng Family.
She was dressed in a dark blue cotton coat with white polka dots, adorned only with a few auspicious cloud patterns at the cuffs and collar. Although she was not much older than He Family, years of hard work had made her look significantly older.
When Meng Family approached Qing Wu, she smiled at her and looked somewhat awkwardly at Dou Mama, saying, "I would like to have a few words with the Fifth Young Lady; may I ask if you all could grant me this convenience?"
Dou Mama was always cautious about new relatives in the household. No matter how sincere Meng Family appeared, she showed no signs of relenting and simply smiled, saying, "You may not know this, but since our young lady arrived at the house, she has never been without someone by her side. She cannot be without someone to attend to her. If what you wish to say is inconvenient in front of me, then I must apologize."
This statement was quite straightforward; if it could be done this way, then just do it directly; if not, please leave without further discussion.
Upon hearing this, Meng Family thought that it must be due to the earlier incident in the hall where Matriarch and Shen had angered those from the Third Branch, which is why even she was being guarded against. She hurriedly said, "I mean no harm; I just want to ask the young lady for a favor."
She carefully observed those in front of her and noticed that Danqing and Peach Silk had quietly stepped back while Dou Mama had picked up Qing Wu, clearly showing her protective stance over her mistress. Meng Family understood that this was their bottom line.
After much contemplation, she finally found it difficult to speak in front of Dou Mama: "Young lady, I have just one request. I wonder if you could say a few good words for me in front of your parents so that Yang Ge'er can study together with your brothers at that school?"
Qing Wu never expected her to make such a request; she actually wanted to keep her son in the capital.
It should be noted that Master had long passed away, leaving only his only son by Meng Family's side. It seemed that this decision was made to secure a better future for Liu Anyang.
Seeing the redness around Meng Family's eyes, Qing Wu slightly turned her face away and sighed quietly.
Aunt Meng is a gentle and soft-spoken person who avoids trouble, and she is very filial to the Matriarch. If it weren't for her son, she probably wouldn't secretly do this behind the Matriarch's back.
But since she has the intention to secure a good future for Liu Anyang, why not seek help from Father, her mother, and her three brothers? Why come to her instead?
It’s simply because she sees that her parents and brothers all dote on her. Even Brother San, who is usually the most unruly, would wait at the gate for a long time just to see her.
She wants to use the love of her family to persuade her parents, hoping they won't have the heart to refuse this matter?
She cannot do that!
“No.” Qing Wu said clearly, word by word: “If you want it, go ask yourself. It has nothing to do with me.”
With that, she no longer looked at the Meng Family and only gestured to Dou Mama before continuing on her way.
That night, as Qing Wu was about to fall asleep, she vaguely heard a lot of commotion outside, with constant noise.
When the Door outside made a sound, she even heard a conversation between Peach Silk and Red Peony. But she only caught Red Peony saying, “Madam instructed not to disturb the young lady,” and after that, their voices became too low. She was too tired and soon fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Qing Wu learned that Liu Anfeng had developed a high fever that night and had not improved despite having two doctors come to examine him overnight.
Qing Wu hurriedly got ready to go check on him, but before she could reach Liu Anfeng's courtyard, she was stopped halfway by Mama Huang.
“Madam has been busy all night without closing her eyes and is currently watching over the young master in his room,” Mama Huang said. “Madam specifically instructed that the young lady is weak and must not go over. If you catch a cold as well, it would be disastrous.”
Qing Wu's heart sank.
She knew that Liu Anlan had fallen ill due to catching a chill back then, which led to unfortunate events. Now Liu Anfeng...
Thinking of the young man from yesterday who was clearly injured but anxiously waited outside for her, Qing Wu could not sit still.
She hurried back into the house, quickly packed some books she needed for class into her bag, and asked Peach Silk to prepare the carriage for their trip to Zheng Ning for lessons.
Dou Mama was somewhat puzzled and worried that Qing Wu might have remembered incorrectly, reminding her, "Miss, today doesn't seem to be a class day."
"I have something I don't understand and need to consult the teacher."
With this statement from Qing Wu, Dou Mama did not ask further.
She knew that Qing Wu's teacher was Huo Yun'ai and not Zheng Ning. Since Qing Wu insisted, there must be some other reason.
Sure enough, once they were alone, Qing Wu told Dou Mama the truth.
"Doctor Luo's house is nearby. I want to try asking him to see Brother San."
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