Yining supported her dizzy head and said softly, “Go tell Xuezhi and the others that I’ll join them after I finish copying. It won’t take long.”
After Luo Yixiu left, Yining hunched over the desk, carefully writing each stroke. A cold wind blew through the slightly open side door, making her feel extremely uncomfortable. The characters before her eyes blurred, and her consciousness began to fade as she longed to sleep.
She pinched herself to stay awake, knowing that if she didn’t finish copying, Teacher Gu would likely criticize her again.
A large blob of ink formed at the brush tip, soaking through the paper, but Yining’s hand remained still.
She could barely sit upright. As she struggled to stand and find Xuezhi and the others, the world spun, and she collapsed.
However, someone seemed to catch her, and she fell into a warm embrace.
Still somewhat conscious, Yining smelled a faint soap scent. Her cheek pressed against unfamiliar clothing. Strong arms held her, then moved to let her go. She immediately grasped the person’s sleeve, murmuring, “Don’t leave. I feel terrible…”
Luo Shenyuan fell silent, placing the calligraphy copybooks he had brought for her on the desk.
The usually arrogant little Luo Yining now looked so pitiful, appearing weak and helpless.
But why should this concern him? She was merely ill; surely someone would come looking for her. Helping her further would only invite trouble. Why waste the effort? As Luo Shenyuan moved to push her away, Yining clung to him, feeling awful. She held onto him tightly, pressing her burning face against something cool and comforting. She nuzzled against it, trying to wrap her arms around the cool object for relief.
Luo Shenyuan watched silently as the little girl rubbed against his jade pendant.
“Get up,” he said slowly. “I’ll go find your maids for you.”
Hearing his voice, Yining vaguely recalled that it was her Third Brother. He had said he would bring her calligraphy copybooks today. But what was she holding onto? Yining’s fever-addled mind couldn’t process it clearly, but since it was Luo Shenyuan, she felt he wouldn’t abandon her.
“Third Brother, I’m sick…” Yining said quietly. “My head hurts, I’m thirsty, and I feel awful. Don’t make noise…”
Luo Shenyuan’s brow furrowed slightly, sensing something was wrong. He reached out to feel her forehead.
The girl was burning up!
Without hesitation, he scooped up the little girl and carried her out, meeting Xuezhi and the other maids coming towards them.
Seeing Luo Shenyuan carrying Yining, Xuezhi was surprised. “Third Young Master, what are you…?”
Luo Shenyuan coldly replied, “Your mistress has a high fever, yet none of you are around. You serve her well indeed!” Without further explanation, he strode quickly towards Grandmother Luo’s quarters.
Xuezhi was stunned, having never seen the usually quiet and reserved Third Young Master so sharp and intimidating. After a moment’s pause, she quickly understood and hurried after him. Something had happened to her young mistress!
When Yining was brought back, Grandmother Luo was furious.
How could she not be angry? Yining had left in good health but returned barely conscious, only able to mumble about feeling unwell. Grandmother Luo looked at her precious granddaughter, as frail as a kitten, tears welling in her eyes but held back.
“Is this how you attend to her?” she demanded.
Seated in her armchair with Xu Mama standing beside her, Grandmother Luo faced the kneeling maids and servants who had accompanied Yining to school. Xuezhi and Songzhi knelt at the front, not daring to rise.
Grandmother Luo first pointed at Xuezhi, saying, “You were left by the eldest miss to personally attend to the young miss. How could you be so careless? If she was unwell, you should have brought her back. How could you let her fever get so high without noticing?”
As the head maid, Xuezhi was usually respected by everyone in Yining’s service. Now, holding back tears, she said, “I am deeply ashamed. It was indeed my negligence. Please punish me, Old Madam.”
Songzhi cried out, “I must speak up for Sister Xuezhi. If we’re assigning blame, she should only bear three-tenths of the responsibility. It was Teacher Gu who was unreasonable. The young miss was ill, but she wouldn’t let us attend to her and even punished her by making her copy texts…” Songzhi, between sobs, recounted the events.
Grandmother Luo, usually calm from her Buddhist practices, was now burning with anger. “How dare she!”
The surrounding maids and servants tried to calm the old lady.
Grandmother Luo took a deep breath.
A daughter from a fallen family, merely teaching in the Luo household, dared to be so arrogant towards her precious granddaughter. Who knows how she usually treated Yining? In the past, she only knew that Yining was disrespectful to this female teacher, often talking back to her. She had even helped discipline Yining, urging her to respect her teacher. So this was how Teacher Gu taught! No wonder Yining disliked her!
Xu Mama, knowing Grandmother Luo was greatly angered, advised softly, “This person was invited by the Second Master and teaches in our household. It might not be appropriate for you to reprimand her personally…”
Grandmother Luo coldly replied, “Go there tomorrow and speak with her. If this happens again, I’ll make sure she can’t stay in Baoding Prefecture.”
Xu Mama bowed and retreated. Grandmother Luo had someone help her to the side room. She turned back to look at the maids once more: “Xuezhi, Songzhi, get up and take care of the young miss. The rest of you, go kneel outside.”
Xuezhi and Songzhi wiped their tears and hurriedly followed with hot water and towels into the western side room.
The maids attending to Grandmother Luo were wiping Yining’s face and hands. Luo Shenyuan still stood by the arhat bed, with the little girl clutching his sleeve. She had held onto him just like this when she nearly drowned. Luo Shenyuan looked at the small hand, like a pink dumpling, gripping his sleeve so tightly that her knuckles turned white. He had the strange feeling that she depended on him completely.
But it was only in times of danger that she clung to him like a treasure. Usually, she paid him no attention at all.
The little girl mumbled restlessly as if having a nightmare. She trembled anxiously, seeming very afraid and helpless. Luo Shenyuan stared at her small face, then slowly reached out to feel her forehead again. She nuzzled against his cool hand, moving closer to him, appearing to feel a bit better.
Watching her behave like a small animal, Luo Shenyuan’s lips curved into a slight smile.
Grandmother Luo observed Yining clutching Luo Shenyuan’s sleeve, feeling a wave of sympathy. She said quietly, “Perhaps Yining truly has some karmic connection with you. She always seems to get into trouble when she meets you, yet you always end up saving her.”
Luo Shenyuan was her least favorite among her grandsons, reminding her of the maid who had poisoned her fellow servants. She had always believed that dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and rats’ children know how to dig holes. What good son could such a mother produce?
Indeed, as she had expected, some of Luo Shenyuan’s actions were truly vicious and cunning.
But sometimes Grandmother Luo also felt sorry for him. He was generally filial towards her. Like now, wearing a slightly worn light blue robe that had been washed many times, probably made two years ago, showing his frugality and diligence. He had never been unkind to Yining.
“Yining needs to recover. You should go,” Grandmother Luo said, finally turning away, not wanting to see him anymore.
Luo Shenyuan didn’t say anything. He looked down at Yining’s pale little face and gently pried her small hand from his sleeve.
Yining, in her daze, seemed to sense something and tried to grab onto him again, but Luo Shenyuan had already stepped back, and she couldn’t reach him. He turned and left. At the doorway, he seemed to hear Yining mumbling something. He paused for a moment but continued walking out.
Xu Mama, witnessing this, felt sympathetic.
“Old Madam, although the Third Young Master can be decisive, he has always been good to the Seventh Young Miss. Why do you…?”
Grandmother Luo sighed slowly. “Enough. Even you say this now.” The emotional turmoil left her feeling more tired. She let Xu Mama help her sit down, her expression showing her age. “I won’t be able to look after Meimei for much longer. When I’m gone, who will protect her…”
Xu Mama smiled gently. “Don’t we have someone right here? With the Third Young Master’s temperament, are you worried he can’t protect our young miss? If he truly cares for her, in the future, it will be our young miss bullying others, not the other way around.”
Hearing this, Grandmother Luo fell into deep thought for a while.
Luo Chengzhang finished his official duties efficiently today and returned home early. When his servant asked where he wanted to go, Luo Chengzhang, still thinking of Concubine Qiao’s delicate face like a lotus emerging from the water, spoke with a softened tone: “Go to Concubine Qiao’s. Also, send a message to the madam that she needn’t wait for me for dinner.”
As the servant acknowledged and left, Luo Chengzhang noticed there wasn’t even a single maid standing at Concubine Qiao’s door. He lifted the curtain and entered himself. To his surprise, Concubine Qiao was having a private conversation with Luo Yilian inside. They were startled to see him enter.
Luo Chengzhang smiled. “What are you two discussing that you’ve sent all the servants away?”
Concubine Qiao looked troubled. “It’s… it’s nothing. We were just worried about saying something we shouldn’t. We didn’t want you to think we were gossiping, so we spoke privately.”
Luo Chengzhang sat down, pulling Xuanér onto his lap. “Now you’ve piqued my interest.” He looked at Luo Yilian. “Since your mother won’t say, why don’t you tell me?”
Luo Yilian hesitated before standing up to speak. “It’s about Seventh Sister again. This morning, Seventh Sister used illness as an excuse to insist on having her maid serve her in the study room. Teacher Gu said it was against the rules to bring maids to class and wouldn’t allow it. But Seventh Sister insisted on having her maid attend to her, which angered Teacher Gu, who then punished Seventh Sister by making her copy texts. As a result, Seventh Sister didn’t come to class this afternoon out of spite…”
As Luo Yilian’s voice grew softer, Luo Chengzhang’s anger rose. With each word she spoke, his face darkened further.
Finally, Luo Chengzhang couldn’t contain himself and slammed the table. “This is what happens when she’s spoiled!”
His good mood was completely ruined, Luo Chengzhang stood up with a grim expression and headed towards Grandmother Luo’s quarters.
Concubine Qiao called out desperately from behind, “My lord, the Seventh Young Miss is just a child! She’s also the old madam’s favorite. Perhaps you shouldn’t go…”
Hearing this, the veins on Luo Chengzhang’s temples throbbed. He felt an overwhelming urge to teach Luo Yining a lesson. Without hesitation, he strode directly towards Grandmother Luo’s quarters.
Grandmother Luo and Lin Ruhai were tending to Yining.
Lin Ruhai, usually a straightforward person, couldn’t help crying as she saw Yining so frail: “When I married into this family, the young miss was only two. I’ve always treated her like my own daughter. We’ve always made sure she had the best food and things. How did this happen…”
Grandmother Luo felt agitated by her crying but couldn’t bring herself to scold her, seeing how genuinely upset she was.
Just then, a maid rushed in and whispered in Grandmother Luo’s ear: “Old Madam, the Second Master is coming this way, and he looks very angry.”
Grandmother Luo had a maid help her up and slowly walked towards the main hall. Sure enough, she saw Luo Chengzhang with a furious expression.
“Mother, where is that wretched Yining?”
Hearing him refer to her beloved granddaughter as “wretched,” Grandmother Luo’s brow furrowed. “Look at yourself! Why are you barging in here in such a temper? No matter how badly Yining has behaved, she is still your daughter. How can you speak of her like this?”
Luo Chengzhang, gritting his teeth in anger, said, “I’d rather not have such a daughter. The little wretch misbehaved in Teacher Gu’s class and then lied about being sick. Just because the teacher scolded her a bit, she dared to skip the afternoon class. Where is she? Tell her to come out and face me!”