Baisui, who had fallen, pulled away the silk scarf that was covering her face and stared curiously at the two people in front of the cabinet. It was strange that the two people did not move for a long time.
You Yuji was the first to react. She didn't say anything, but supported Si Que's arm, stepped onto the embroidered stool again, and placed the bottle of red plums in her arms.
She even slowly adjusted the angle of the vase, so that the side with the more blooming red plums faced outwards. She got down from the embroidery stool, slowly put it back to its original position, and then walked slowly towards the bed. She sat down beside the bed, raised her eyes and looked at Si Que quietly.
"Come here," she said.
Her tone was as gentle as usual. Si Que listened carefully but couldn't tell whether she was angry or not.
Si Que walked towards her and sat down beside her. Before he could speak, You Yuji bent down, grasped his ankle, lifted his "injured leg" and placed it on her leg. She pushed up the hem of his snow-white skirt and piled it on his knees, then slowly pulled up his trouser legs, revealing the "injury" fixed by the narrow wooden board.
She untied the layers of white gauze on his legs, then took off the two wooden boards that fixed them, and finally saw his "injury." His calf was intact, without even a scratch.
"No wonder you never let me watch you change the dressing." You Yuji put his legs down, said this softly, and stopped talking.
Si Que really didn't hear any anger in her tone. But he always hated malicious deception from others. If he were You Yuji, he would definitely be furious.
Although her tone was normal and there was no anger in her eyes, Si Que didn't believe that she was not angry.
He looked deeply at You Yuzhi, guessing what was in her mind, while also thinking about how to explain it.
Suddenly, You Yuji let out a sigh, and Si Que immediately raised his eyes and looked at her cautiously.
"Don't be like this." She said softly, "No matter what the reason is, you shouldn't lie and make the people who care about you worry and feel sad for you."
You Yuji still felt bad when she thought of the day when he jumped from the second floor. Even after so long, she still couldn't help but feel palpitations every time she thought of that scene.
Si Que lowered his eyelashes, not wanting to look into her eyes for a moment. He said, "Sister, why are you still so gentle and not angry at all?"
He heard her say—
"It's true that I jumped, but I'm lucky that I didn't get hurt."
Si Que closed his eyes.
You Yuji placed her hand on the slightly cool back of Si Que's hand, and was surprised to find that his hand was very cold. She suppressed what she was about to say and asked first: "Are you cold?"
She held his hands and placed them in her palms to warm them. Tenderness came from his hands, slowly making his whole body feel warm.
You Yuji glanced at him and knew that he seemed reluctant to speak, so she continued, "I won't abandon you. You are already weak, so don't hurt yourself anymore, okay?"
Si Que remained silent.
He felt a little tired for some reason and didn't want to put on a smiling mask to act. He took back the hands held by You Yuji, stood up and walked towards the beauty couch under the window.
He sat down on the beauty couch, picked up the wine on the small square table on the couch, and slowly poured a glass.
When Chen Anzhi came over to talk to You Yuji, he was drinking carelessly. He had almost finished the pot of red plum wine, and there was not much left in the pot.
He shook the wine cup, watched the wine swaying in the candlelight, and drank it all in one gulp.
You Yuji watched his every move silently, her brows slowly furrowed.
Si Que drank up the wine in the cup, put it down, and poured another cup.
You Yuji stood up and walked towards him quickly. When Si Que was about to drink from the wine cup, You Yuji grabbed his wrist.
Si Que raised his eyes and looked at her.
"I've wanted to say this a long time ago. You're not in good health. You really shouldn't drink so much."
Si Que still looked at her expressionlessly, without saying a word or letting go.
Instead, You Yuji looked away first. She lowered her eyes and said in a low voice, "At first, I wanted to find a man to help me give birth to a child. I only wanted one child and didn't want to have too much contact with the child's father. I thought that since this child had no father, I could give him double the love and let him grow up happily and healthily. But my mother is very important to me, and so is my father. If a person has no father, even if he gets a lot of love from his mother, it's still a pity, right?"
The corners of her eyes were slightly red, and she looked at him tenderly.
"Can you take better care of yourself? I don't want our child to never be hugged by his father, let alone remember what his father looks like."
Si Que's gaze fell on the redness at the corners of her eyes and he asked in a low voice, "Are you pregnant?"
You Yuji was slightly startled and bit her lip. She let go of her hand awkwardly and lowered her head in disappointment. The disappointment and frustration caused by not getting pregnant came over her again.
Si Que looked at the wine cup in his hand. The wine in the cup was still swaying under the light, with a faint aroma of wine floating in the air. He put the cup in front of his lips and took a sip, letting the fragrance of the wine linger between his lips and teeth for a while.
Then he placed the wine cup on the table.
From that day on, Si Que never touched a drop of alcohol again until his death.
"Sister." He slowly smiled and put on the beautiful smiling mask again.
He grabbed You Yuji's wrist and pulled her into his arms. He placed his palm on the back of You Yuji's hand, crossed it over her abdomen, and called out again, "Sister."
"Hmm?" You Yuji turned her head and looked back, her soft lips gently sliding across his cheek, from the corner of his lips to his temples.
You Yuji didn't mean it, so she couldn't help but step back a little in embarrassment.
"I will listen to my sister from now on." Si Que's tone was extremely obedient.
He held You Yuji's hand again and kissed her fingertips. He left tiny kisses on the back of her fingers, wishing he could swallow her up, but afraid of hurting her, so he could only leave kisses one after another.
He suddenly thought that if he could live one or two more years, it wouldn't be so bad.
At night, when You Yuji was sleeping, Si Que looked at her sleeping face quietly. Time passed slowly, the stars and the moon climbed up and down in the night sky, but his eyes never moved away from You Yuji.
Just today, he had an extra layer of greed in his heart.
One day in the future, if his smiling mask is taken off and she sees his true face, he prays that he can get one thousandth of her tenderness and forgiveness as she does today.
At least, don't be sad.
Si Que raised his hand and gently stroked the outline of the corners of her eyes with his fingertips.
The next morning, Zhenxu and Baohe hid in a corner, talking quietly. They stood in the corner of the corridor and whispered for too long, attracting the attention of many servants. Unfortunately, the two of them were so focused on their discussion that they didn't notice other people's eyes at all.
Madam Jing saw this and shook her head disapprovingly, muttering, "How outrageous! Only the Madam is so kind, let another master whip you!"
Madam Jing raised her voice: "It's already so late and why don't you come in and serve me?"
Zhenxu and Baohe then fell silent, exchanged glances, straightened their clothes, and quickly went into the house to serve.
When they entered the house and saw Si Que standing under the window, they couldn't help but take a few more glances at his legs.
"Can a broken leg heal so quickly?" Baohe couldn't help but whisper in Zhenxu's ear.
Bao He did not answer, but said: "This is also a good thing for our plan!"
Baohe's eyes lit up and she thought that this was true!
While combing You Yuji's hair, Zhenxu casually said, "Madam, I heard that the night view in Lianshui is very beautiful recently."
"Lianshui?"
Zhenxu said hurriedly, "Yeah. Probably because the New Year is coming soon, plus the Queen Mother Dong is celebrating her birthday. Now they have decorated the place early. At night, floating lights cover the water surface, and the starry sky is reflected on the water. It is so beautiful to cruise on the lake!"
Bao He, who was handing over a hairpin, thought the pillow was too euphemistic and quickly replied, "I heard there's a 300-year-old Albizia albizzia tree over there. If lovers make a wish under the tree, they can seal their romantic bond for three lifetimes!"
Bao He remembered that Princess Que was in poor health, and hurriedly added: "We can also pray for her safety and well-being! It would be great if Madam could take Princess Que there to relax!"
You Yuji looked at the two of them in the bronze mirror with amusement and asked with a smile, "Could it be that you two are bored staying in the mansion and want to go out for a walk?"
Zhenxu shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, we are doing this for the Madam's own good!"
Baohe rolled her eyes and said, "Of course we want to go out and play, too."
Zhenxu looked at Baohe in surprise.
Bao He continued to smile and said, "But Madam is more important. We both saw that Princess Que is in much better health, so it would be good for her to go out and relax!"
You Yuji turned around and looked at Si Que.
He didn't like the chattering of the maids, so he went out and stood alone in the courtyard. You Yuji could only see a little bit of his clothes through the open window.
"That's fine," she said.
Zhenxu and Baohe smiled at each other.
The first step of the plan, success!
When they arrived at Lianshui, they still had the second and third steps...
When You Yuji went to the flower hall today, she clearly felt that Chun Xing, Lin Yingying and Cui Yu were talking less than before. Lin Yingying and Cui Yu were better, but Chun Xing hardly dared to say a word.
You Yuji understood why, but didn't want to mention what happened yesterday.
She took the tea handed to her by the maid, took a sip, and felt the heat warming her body. She said, "I heard that the night view of Lianshui is pretty good recently. I plan to go and see it in a few days. Would you like to go with me?"
Chun Xing wanted to refuse, but she didn't dare to be the first to refuse.
Lin Yingying smiled sweetly with her eyes curved: "Okay! I'll go with my sister!"
You Yuji smiled at her and asked casually, "I haven't seen you doing needlework recently. Have you prepared everything for your sister's wedding?"
"Everything is almost ready. There are only a few small things left. Just let her make them herself."
You Yuji asked a few more questions about Lin Yingying's sister's husband's family, and Lin Yingying answered with a smile. Cui Yu occasionally joined in the conversation. The atmosphere gradually became warmer and returned to its usual state.
Chun Xing sat quietly for a long time, and her slightly stiff back slowly relaxed.
She took the tea from the maid and thought that her fear was a little exaggerated. The lady was kind and obviously didn't take them seriously, nor did she intend to target them. If she didn't annoy the lady, she would always be so kind.
Chun Xing raised her eyes and secretly glanced at Princess Que who was sitting quietly beside the Madam. Suddenly, she felt that her thoughts just now were not right. Not only should she not annoy the Madam, but she should not provoke Princess Que either.
Madam Jing came into the house and reported that Zhuo Wen had returned.
You Yuji naturally handed the sleeve stove in her hand to Si Que beside her, stood up and walked out to listen to Zhuo Wen's report. She asked Zhuo Wen to track down Yi Yuhuan's whereabouts, but Zhuo Wen followed the route You Yuji said and did not find any trace of Yi Yuhuan.
You Yuji frowned, but there was nothing she could do but order Zhuo Wen to continue investigating.
Originally, You Yujie was going to go for a walk in Lianshui as mentioned by Zhenxu and Baohe tonight, but she was menstruating and her body was heavy and she couldn't touch cold water, so she postponed the trip to Lianshui.
When her period was over, it snowed heavily for days. She had no choice but to wait until the snow stopped, find a sunny day, and take a few concubines to Lianshui.
Lianshui is not far away.
They set off after dinner, and when the carriage arrived at Lianshui and they boarded the pleasure boat, it was just dusk.
Qi Mingcheng stood at the window on the second floor of the restaurant, feeling anxious about the Queen Mother Dong's birthday banquet. He raised his eyebrows and looked into the distance, looking at the pleasure boats on the water, and saw Si Que stepping onto the pleasure boat.
Qi Mingcheng's lazy body suddenly straightened up.
The author has something to say: I will draw 111 red envelopes from the readers who leave comments on both chapters today, fuck