Tao Mo's condition was somewhat recurrent, the fever went back and forth, and he went back and forth about three times before he stabilized.
Everyone in the county government was so busy that they were on their backs, and there were even rumors among the subordinates that this term of county magistrate would not survive this year.
At that time, Lao Tao and Hao Guozi were circling around Tao Mo. They had heard these rumors at the time, so they had no time to worry about them. When Tao Mo's condition stabilized, Hao Guozi immediately took the roster and began to settle accounts after autumn.
The county government was in chaos again. However, this kind of panic dilutes a bit of sickness and adds a bit of excitement.
Although Tao Mo's fever has subsided, his illness comes like a mountain, and his illness goes like a thread. The collapse cannot be repaired in a short while, so he can only lie on the bed temporarily and let Lao Tao and Hao Guozi take turns to take tonics and nourishing medicines. Soup is served.
Tao Mo ate disgustingly, and couldn't bear to let down the good intentions of the two of them, so he could only pinch his nose and pour down.
After five or six days like this, one day, he couldn't help but asked, "Gu She, haven't you come all this time?"
Hao Guozi, who was helping him to cool the tonic with a spoon, raised her head angrily and said, "Who knows. It's been a few days, and there is no word on success or failure."
Tao Mo's expression darkened, and then he held a glimmer of hope and said, "Then, does he know that I'm back?"
"Of course I know." Hao Guozi said, "I sent the carriage back as soon as I got back."
Tao Mo was silent for a while, then whispered: "Oh".
"However," Hao Guozi paused, subconsciously looking towards the window.
Seeing his nervous expression, Tao Mo also became nervous, "What happened?"
Hao Guozi said: "Although Gu She didn't come, Gu Xiaojia came two or three times and brought some medicinal materials, which he said were given by Mr. Gu. But Lao Tao sent them back."
"Ah? Sent back? How did you do it?" Tao Mo grabbed his hand nervously.
Hao Guozi shook his hand, and the soup in the spoon spilled out, just falling back into the bowl. He was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Young master, don't worry. Although Lao Tao gave him a cold shoulder, he still has a sense of propriety. He said that he didn't get paid for his merits. In short, he didn't hurt the other party's dignity."
Tao Mo withdrew his hand silently, and sighed: "He is so arrogant, he must be very uncomfortable." Gu Xiaojia came two or three times, which means he came again after bumping into a wall. This is extremely rare for Gu She, right
He gently grabbed the quilt with his fingers, making three shallow scratches.
"Master?" Hao Guozi waved her hand in front of him.
Tao Mo grabbed his hand and said, "Help me prepare the carriage!"
"Now?" Hao Guozi frowned.
Tao Mo said: "He sent so many medicinal materials, because of his feelings and reason, I should come to the door to thank him."
Hao Guozi said: "But the young master has not recovered from his serious illness, so he should not get out of bed."
Tao Mo said: "It's just a minor illness, it's just a serious illness caused by you." As he spoke, he was about to get out of bed.
"Then drink the first medicine." Hao Guozi sent the tonic forward, but thought of a way to stop him.
Tao Mo took the medicine and swallowed it without looking at it.
"Ah, I have other things to do later, why don't I let Lao Tao send the young master there." Hao Guozi had an idea, and immediately threw the hot taro out.
But Tao Mo's wishful thinking was not to let Lao Tao know, how could he let him destroy it, so he grabbed him with his backhand and said, "If you have something to do when you come back, just say I'm ready. You go and prepare the carriage first." He paused After a pause, he said in particular, "Don't let Lao Tao know."
Hao Guozi's scalp became numb when he heard it, so he had no choice but to go out to prepare the carriage, but secretly regretted that he was too talkative.
Tao Mo stood up and put on his coat.
He lay on the bed for a few days, and when he got out of bed suddenly, he felt top-heavy for a while, his feet seemed to be stepping on clouds, and he couldn't exert his strength for a long time. After finally gaining a foothold against the bedpost, Hao Guozi came back.
"The carriage is ready so soon?" Tao Mo was taken aback.
Hao Guozi shook his head and said, "Someone is here to visit the young master."
Tao Mo's eyes lit up, "Gu She is here?"
"No." Hao Guozi sighed softly, "It's Young Master Yiyu. Peng Xiang came here several times before, and I told him that the young master was ill, so I sent him away. I didn't expect him to come here in person this time."
"Ah." Tao Mo hesitated, groped his way back to the bed, and said softly, "Please come in."
"Young Master, you're not going to Gu's house?" Hao Guozi couldn't tell what it was like after escaping one catastrophe after another.
Tao Mo said: "It's the same if you go later. Please invite Yiyu in first."
Hao Guozi went out.
Tao Mo leaned on the bed for a while, his eyelids were a little heavy, and he heard the sound of small footsteps approaching slowly from a distance. He opened his eyes in a trance, and a figure in a white brocade jacket and a green gauze stepped in.
Tao Mo opened his eyes wide.
The pearl and jasper hairpin on Yiyu's bun flashed, shining brightly. He put on makeup today, it was a bit thick and gaudy, but it made his good facial features stand out even more. "You're sick, I'll come and see you."
Peng Xiang stood behind him, as usual, gently supported his waist, and helped him to sit down on the chair in front of the bed.
"I'm sorry, I've missed you." Tao Mo tried his best to sit up.
The corners of Qi Yu's mouth slightly raised, and said: "Look, how unfortunate you and I are, either I'm lying on the bed to see you, or you are lying on the bed to see me."
Tao Mo smiled wryly.
Yi Yu sighed softly: "Unfortunately, we never had the chance to lie on the same bed."
He spoke so blatantly and expressed so relentlessly that Tao Mo had nowhere to hide and could only bow his head in silence.
Even if he was obsessed with the rainy season back then, their contact was limited to the casual touch when they toasted glasses. It's not that he didn't know that Yiyu was not innocent, nor that he didn't know that Yiyu's closeness to him was just a means of seduction, but at that time he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, so he didn't want to have a skin-to-skin relationship in the land of fireworks. , In his heart, he became a happy guest who played on every occasion.
It's just that at that time, he never expected that the situation would take a turn for the worse.
Huang Guangde would suddenly attack him because of the rain, and his father even died in the prefect's yamen trying to save him!
When he hated extremely, he also hated Yiyu. I hate him for watching with cold eyes, hate him for committing himself to Huang Guangde insincerely, and don't want to die with him! But the hatred is only temporary. After all the emotions slowly settled, he suddenly realized that those pains and hatreds were just to protect himself. Because from beginning to end, the person he really hated was himself!
If it wasn't for being addicted to wine and sex, if it wasn't for being incapable of doing anything, if it wasn't for being idle...
His father would not have passed away so bleakly, so unwillingly, so regretfully!
"Wu Wen." Yi Yu whispered.
Tao Mo looked up, only to realize that tears had blurred his eyes at some point, and he could only see a distorted haze.
There was a coolness on the lips.
He backed away in shock, and wiped his eyes in a hurry, just in time to see Yiyu retreating slowly.
"You..." Tao Mo stared at him with wide eyes.
Yi Yu turned her head to Peng Xiang and said: "Leave the things, you go out first."
Peng Xiang frowned, with a hint of unwillingness on her face, but in the end she still put the yellow cloth bag in her hand on Yi Yu's lap, and exited the door.
Touching the bag with hands like nostalgia, Yi Yu said in a low voice, "You guessed right. I knew that Huang Guangde wanted to harm you back then."
Tao Mo's heart tightened.
Yi Yu said: "But he is not for me, let alone for you. He is for your father's rice business. I still remember the famine that year, most of the rice businesses raised their prices, but your father insisted on going his own way, not only did not raise the price , instead of lowering the price to sell rice?"
Tao Mo said: "I remember. I still remember that Huang Guangde specially gave my father a plaque of 'A Merchant of Accumulation of Good' at that time, and praised him wildly."
"Praise? Hey." Yi Yu sneered, "He praised it because your father did good deeds and won the hearts of the people, so he had to do it. Do you know that many of those rice merchants who raised their prices belonged to Huang Guangde?" people."
Tao Mo looked at him in shock.
Yi Yu said: "Since then, your father has been a thorn in his side, a thorn in his flesh. He has been deliberately trying to hit your father, and your matter is just an excuse for him."
Tao Mo's heart beat suddenly, and he asked after a while, "When did you know?"
"I knew it from the beginning." Yi Yu said, "He has always been my frequent visitor. It's just that he is an official and cannot come here blatantly, so he often secretly sends a sedan chair to pick me up in the middle of the night. At that time, he still needs to be famous. , and still wanted to be promoted to a high-ranking official, so he was extremely cautious in dealing with things. But in the next few years, somehow, he gradually became unscrupulous." He paused, looking at Tao Mo who was speechless by a series of facts, He said softly, "So, if you want to blame me or hate me, it's all right."
"No. I don't blame you." Tao Mo pressed the corner of the quilt with his palm, letting tears hit the quilt one by one. The pain in his heart made his words tremble, "All this It's me, it's my fault, I have no one to blame." Even though Huang Guangde only used him to beat his father, he was the one who gave Huang Guangde an excuse after all. Otherwise, maybe his father's prudence might not give him the opportunity to sneak in.
Thinking of this, he regretted ten thousand times why he didn't kill himself! If so, at least his father would survive...
It should have been his father who survived!
Yi Yu looked at him with infinite compassion in her eyes, but she didn't know who she was addressing.