Shen Qingzhu’s throat swelled with unbearable pain. Entering with tears in her eyes, she saw Bai Qingyan smile at her and speak gently: “You’ve returned.”
Shen Qingzhu’s eyes swelled as she knelt on one knee, forcefully suppressing the choking in her throat: “This subordinate has returned.”
Bai Qingyan gently leaned the silver spear in her hand against the corridor pillar behind her, walked to Shen Qingzhu, bent down to support her arms and help her up: “It’s good that you’re back…”
Shen Qingzhu gripped Bai Qingyan’s involuntarily trembling arms in return, actually feeling the iron sandbags tightly wrapped around Bai Qingyan’s arms. With a slight effort, she could feel the dampness of sweat.
Startled, she looked up at Bai Qingyan, seeing sweat dripping steadily from her chin.
She had heard from Xiao Ruohai about how the eldest miss had picked up the Shooting Sun Bow on that journey to the southern frontier, and her heart had been wracked with pain!
But she never imagined that the eldest miss would also use such extreme methods to practice with the spear!
“Get up!” Bai Qingyan said.
Shen Qingzhu stood with reddened eyes, looking at Bai Qingyan: “Eldest Miss…”
“Let’s talk inside.”
“This servant will brew Miss Qingzhu’s favorite Da Hong Pao tea and prepare some food for her,” Chun Tao said, also extremely happy.
Bai Qingyan pulled Shen Qingzhu by the wrist into the room, wiped her sweat with a handkerchief, and, while removing the iron sandbags from her body, asked: “Did you come directly back from Luopan Mountain?”
Shen Qingzhu knew Bai Qingyan was worried about Bai Qiyun. She nodded, removed the sword from her waist and set it aside, then came forward to kneel beside Bai Qingyan, helping her remove the soaked sandbags from her legs.
“Wei Gao, the death warriors, and I escorted Ninth Young Master to Luopan Mountain. Ninth Young Master then told us to return, saying he feared Eldest Miss and Seventh Young Master didn’t have enough people around them, and that he wouldn’t be in danger at Luopan Mountain! When we insisted on following the rules of Sihai Pavilion at Luopan Mountain wouldn’t let us enter, only allowing the young master to enter the mountain alone! So I had Wei Gao lead the others to wait at the foot of the mountain for Ninth Young Master, while I returned first.”
Thinking of Bai Qiyun’s legs, her throat constricted as she asked Shen Qingzhu in a low voice: “Is Ah Yun… well?”
“Eldest Miss, rest assured. Ninth Young Master… his backbone and fighting spirit remain! The reason Ninth Young Master didn’t want to see Eldest Miss and went directly to Luopan Mountain is because he doesn’t want Eldest Miss to see him as he is now and grieve for him! Ninth Young Master said Luopan Mountain’s Sihai Pavilion has many capable and extraordinary people. He went to sincerely beseech the Seventh Young Master’s master, Gu Yijian, to see if Sihai Pavilion has any way to restore his legs. If there’s truly no way, he’ll become Gu Yijian’s disciple!”
“Ninth Young Master said that even the frail eldest sister, to support the Bai family and for the border people, donned armor and went to battle, suffering greatly to regain the Shooting Sun Bow! He, a dignified man of the Bai family, may have lost his legs… but his hands remain! As long as he doesn’t die, he doesn’t want to be a useless waste that makes his relatives worry. The peaceful world that generations of the Bai family worked together with all their might and sacrificed themselves to achieve – as a descendant of the Bai clan, he should also contribute! Ninth Young Master hopes that when they meet again, mother and eldest sister can take pride in him, rather than grieve for him!”
Hearing these words, Bai Qingyan’s nose tingled, and her eyes immediately filled with tears.
Bai Qiyun was indeed, no matter when, a fine son of the Bai family.
With such sons, the Bai family… would not fall.
“You just returned and must be tired! Go rest! When you’ve rested well, we’ll talk in detail…” Bai Qingyan looked at Shen Qingzhu’s travel-worn appearance with dark circles under her eyes, knowing she must have rushed back day and night. “After this, there will be many things I’ll need to trouble you to do!”
Shen Qingzhu didn’t force herself to stay, nodding: “Alright…”
When Chun Tao entered carrying Da Hong Pao tea and saw Shen Qingzhu about to leave, she was quite surprised: “Won’t Miss Shen stay longer? Nanny Tong is already preparing a feast.”
“Let Qingzhu rest first. Tell Nanny to prepare the feast this evening,” Bai Qingyan said.
“Yes!” Chun Tao quickly held the curtain for Shen Qingzhu, saying, “This servant will escort Miss Shen…”
Bai Qingyan watched through the window lattice as Shen Qingzhu left Qinghui Courtyard, then looked down at her palms worn bloody, slowly clenching her hands into tight fists.
How far apart were she and her brother were!
When she was injured, she pampered herself. Her brother, having lost both legs, still didn’t lose his fighting spirit and didn’t forget their ancestors’ aspirations!
A faint smile appeared in her reddened eyes. Now both siblings were working hard. She hoped that when she next met Bai Qiyun, she too could make her brother proud, rather than… cause him grief.
When Bai Jinzhi learned that Shen Qingzhu had returned, she hurriedly rushed to Bai Qingyan’s place, only to find that Shen Qingzhu had already gone to rest.
Bai Jinzhi sat on an embroidered stool beside Bai Qingyan, watching Chun Tao twist Bai Qingyan’s hair while saying: “I heard that the Emperor’s headaches have been getting worse lately. Only Concubine Qiu’s massage techniques can provide some relief. The Imperial Medical Academy is at its wits’ end. Originally, Imperial Physician Huang recommended having Physician Hong examine the Emperor, but for some reason, the Emperor wasn’t very willing!”
“But I think, what else could it be? It’s just because Physician Hong is one of the Bai family’s people, so the Emperor still has some wariness in his heart. Now the Emperor is willing, but Physician Hong has already left the capital.” Bai Jinzhi spoke with schadenfreude.
Bai Qingyan lifted her gaze from the book in her hands, looking at Bai Jinzhi: “Where did you hear these things?”
“I heard it from A’Rong, Imperial Physician Huang’s granddaughter. This morning, I secretly went to see how lively Cousin Changsheng’s wedding was, and I happened to run into Huang family’s A’Rong, who also has to observe mourning like me. A’Rong was also secretly going to watch the excitement!”
Bai Jinzhi picked up her teacup and took a sip: “The two of us sat in a teahouse for a while. A’Rong said that yesterday evening, the palace sent people to Imperial Physician Huang’s mansion, asking him to invite Physician Hong to the palace. But Imperial Physician Huang said Physician Hong had left the capital several days ago to wander and practice medicine, and now no one knows where he’s gone! A’Rong was puzzled why the Emperor didn’t come directly to our house to invite Physician Hong, but instead went to Imperial Physician Huang’s mansion.”
If the news came from Imperial Physician Huang’s mansion, then it was credible.
The Emperor had headaches, and only Concubine Qiu’s massage techniques could provide relief…
Bai Qingyan tapped her palm with the book. She had never heard of the Emperor having headache problems before.
Moreover, the Emperor’s frequent headaches… seemed to have started after Concubine Qiu entered the palace.
She pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Bai Jinzhi: “Little Four, find an opportunity to casually tell A’Rong that the foster daughter our grandmother adopted, Miss Lu, has extremely superb medical skills. The difficult and complex ailments of servants and old women in our mansion that couldn’t be cured for years were all treated by Miss Lu.”
Bai Jinzhi’s eyes lit up – this was a task her eldest sister had given her. She nodded: “Eldest sister, rest assured! It happens that… A’Rong left in such a hurry that she left the handkerchief she lent me at my place. I’ve washed it clean and will deliver it to A’Rong tomorrow.”
She nodded. After her hair dried, she had Nanny Tong casually arrange it in a simple chignon, then went to Changshou Courtyard.