I never thought that there would be a day when Lu Qingsu would return to the Xu family in Shangjing.
"Young Master, come." Lu Qingsu came in with hot porridge, sat down on the side of the bed obediently, and helped me up from the bed. He held the porridge bowl, scooped it with a spoon, let off the heat, and let me eat it bite by bite.
Lu Qingsu's appearance doesn't seem to have changed much from what I remember. However, his appearance is much darker, and his body seems to be stronger than before. It seems that he is still passable in Jiangzhou.
While feeding me, he said: "The villain is helping to take care of the village in Jiangzhou, where the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and the villain only knew that so many things happened in Beijing a few months ago." He sighed, with He sighed a bit, "The prosperity and decline of the aristocratic family is ultimately determined by the emperor's thoughts."
The Xu family is indeed not as good as before, but a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse, even if it is not enough, it is still more than enough.
"Now, we can only rely on the two young masters—" Lu Qingsu's voice paused, and he didn't continue. He just turned around and said, "It's a difficult time, and my wife is not good at housekeeping, and she doesn't listen to advice. Mrs. Huayang always only cared about the third room, and the third young master's body was in such a situation. I'm afraid no one could make up his mind for a while. Therefore, after Mr. Zhang asked the master for instructions, he wrote a letter and sent the villain out of the river. The state was recruited back..."
He said, put down the spoon and looked at me. Those eyes were still the same as before, as calm as water, and only by looking deeply could one feel the spontaneous sadness. He seemed to hesitate to speak, opening and closing his mouth several times.
In the end, he just said lightly: "You have suffered."
Smell my eyes, I smiled slightly.
It sounds like a simple sentence, but it contains endless helplessness and sorrow. The strange thing is, when I saw him come back, my heart didn't feel too many waves. On the contrary, I heard that he was doing well, and the regret hidden deep in my heart seemed to be finally settled.
After I lay down, I vaguely heard voices outside—
"If you can't even serve Shaojun well, there is a shortage of people in the laundry room, so you can go there."
Then there was a "plop", followed by a panicked voice begging for mercy: "Guan Lu, I, I know I was wrong, I will definitely serve you well in the future, and I will never dare to leave without authorization again..."
No matter how bad it is, in the eyes of the servants, the person in front of the master is still so many times stronger than the others. If he was sent to the laundry room, he would have no chance of getting ahead in the future.
In fact, I didn't blame her for anything. The inner house is cold and warm. I have seen a lot since I grew up. Whoever is not wise and protects himself, as long as he does not make trouble, it is considered good.
"Yinping, you have to know, no matter what, the one inside is the only young master of the Xu family. A few, or even dozens of you, are not worth as much as a single hair of him. If there is a good or bad, you think, young masters If you find out after returning home, you still have your life."
"I... Yinping really realized my mistake. Guanshi Lu, please, don't tell Manager Zhang. I will definitely work hard and serve you well!"
I guessed that Lu Qingsu didn't really want to punish Yinping severely. Now that the mansion is short of people, it may not be able to do a better job if he transfers other people. Yin Ping was just being playful, and now that things are going on, I don't have the heart to control my subordinates, so she will inevitably push her forward.
"It's good for you to know your mistakes. In the final analysis, if Shaojun hadn't spoken for you, I wouldn't dare to give you another chance. However, rules are rules, and punishment is unavoidable. You can go to Mr. Zhang to get two boards yourself." " Lu Qingsu said, "Remember. Today, if there is no Shaojun, there is no need for your people to be here."
"...Yes." Yinping backed out.
Since this time, Yinping really cared a lot about me, and never dared to neglect his duties again.
Lu Qingsu would come over every day. He was always careful and considerate, and when he saw what I was missing, he made up for it one by one. I was recuperating in the courtyard, and I didn't hear anything outside the window, so Lu Qingsu would tell me about the things in the mansion: "In the past two days, Madam and Master have quarreled again."
"...Why?" I knew that the husband-wife relationship between Yu Shi and Xu Shangshu had existed in name only a few years ago. Yu's temperament is so domineering that ordinary people can't bear it. I don't know if she was like this before, or it gradually evolved into this in this inner house.
Lu Qingsu shook his head, it seemed that he didn't know either. It's just that if the master is not on good terms, the unlucky ones are still the subordinates. Lu Qingsu only said: "Right now, not only is there turmoil outside, but the Xu residence is also in turmoil. Madame acts perversely and suspiciously, and treats others extremely harshly. She has already forced away several stewards..."
Recently, the more Lu Qingsu talked to me, the more he let go of his scruples. Rao, in the past, I'm afraid I couldn't imagine that he and I would talk and talk about things calmly like other people.
Under Lu Qingsu's care, my body also gradually recovered.
Usually, there are a lot of miscellaneous things in the mansion, if he can't get away, he will come once every two days. He thought it was because he was afraid that I would be bored, so besides the affairs in the mansion, he often mentioned to me what he had seen and heard in Yunzhou.
"From Shangjing to Yunzhou, it will take half a month even if you go fast, and if you go by water, it will take a month." He said as he walked with his hands behind his back, "The climate in Yunzhou is hot, and there are no matter how many men and women there are dark skinned. , shorter. The Yunzhou dialect is also very different from the northern dialect. When the villain first arrived in Yunzhou, except for the tents in Zhuangzi, almost no one could understand what the villain said."
I listened quietly to what he said, and in a trance, I couldn't help secretly feeling a little envious.
For more than ten years, I have lived within the wall, completely involuntary. I think back to when I was a child, I used to think absurdly that being married was a kind of blessing, and the nuns often said that it is better to have children by concubines, and it is better to marry and be the master of another family than to live like weeds. Now, I finally understand how difficult it is.
Lu Qingsu watched me finish my meal, she should have stood up and said goodbye, but she didn't want to but looked at me and remained silent. After a long while, he said with emotion: "Compared to when we first met, Shaojun... has indeed grown up a lot."
His words also reminded me that the first time I saw him, I was still under fifteen years old. Now, two years have passed since then.
In the middle of nowhere, I remembered that inadvertent glance again, as well as the phoenix coronet, the burning brazier, and the bright red sedan chair, all these images are still as clear as if they happened yesterday, but they are so far away that they seem to be from the previous life same thing.
Lu Qingsu stared at me for a long time, and after that, he seemed to be dazed. Just look, he stretched out his hand, that rough palm caressed my cheek, and at the same time that I suddenly regained my senses, he had already turned over.