Jiang Yanyi cried enough, sniffed, and then remembered to ask him: "Why did you come here?"
Feng Shuo looked at her red nose from crying, hiding the pity in his eyes, and said, "I heard about the Chu family, and I didn't see you at the antique soup shop, so I came here to look for you."
He glanced sideways at the snowy, gray streets and asked, "Want to ride a horse?"
Jiang Yanyi then realized that he had come here on horseback. His jet-black warhorse was standing not far away. Although it was not tied, it was very humane and did not run around. Heavy snow fell on the horse's mane, and the horse stamped its hooves from time to time to shake off the snow on its body.
Jiang Yanyi had never ridden a horse before, and now she was in a heavy mood. She really wanted to run for a while to relax, but looking at the horse that was half a head taller than her, she hesitated and said, "I don't know how to ride a horse."
Feng Shuo glanced at her and said, "Of course I will take you."
Jiang Yanyi still remembered the injuries on Feng Shuo's body: "Your old illness makes you afraid of colds, so you'd better not get rid of it."
Feng Shuo took her hand and walked towards the warhorse: "We have been exposed to the cold wind in the Xizhou camp for so many days, it doesn't matter if I carry you for a round."
In the past, his fiefdom was in the south, and the hidden dangers of his old illness were not obvious in winter. When he arrived in Xizhou at the beginning of this year, the weather here was freezing cold, and the old injury on his back started to hurt repeatedly. After recuperating with medicated food and baths for so long, his physical foundation was good and his condition was obviously improving.
His hands and feet were cold indoors before, but now, the hand he was holding Jiang Yanyi's was warm even in the wind and snow.
Feng Shuo jumped on his horse and stretched out his hand towards Jiang Yanyi.
Jiang Yanyi hesitated for a while before handing him her hand. In that instant, she felt her whole body being pulled upwards with great force. She was lifted into the air and when she landed steadily on the horse's back, Feng Shuo had already wrapped her tightly in a warm fox fur cloak.
"Let's go." His clear voice came almost close to Jiang Yanyi's ear.
Perhaps it was because the weather was too cold, the hot breath he exhaled when he spoke felt particularly noticeable on her skin.
He kicked the horse's belly, and the horse spread its four hooves and ran towards the deserted street.
Originally, this street belonged to the Hu family. Now that the Hu family has been raided, all the shops along the street are closed tightly. There are no pedestrians on the street. The ground is covered with a thick layer of snow, which is stirred up by the trampling of horses' hooves.
Jiang Yanyi's body leaned back due to the inertia of the horse's running, and her back was just against his chest. He held the reins with both hands, and his arms naturally formed a protective circle, as if even if the sky fell, he could protect her within the range of his arms.
The wind blowing in his face was icy cold. Feng Shuo didn't let the horse run too fast, so he didn't feel any pain when the cold wind blew on his face, but the depression lingering in his heart seemed to be mostly taken away by the cool wind on his face.
The densely packed houses were rapidly disappearing into the distance as if retreating; the icicles under the eaves were gleaming in the morning light; the mountains in the distance were covered with snow, appearing a smoky gray-green color.
A snowflake fell on Jiang Yanyi's eyelashes. She blinked gently, and the snowflake melted into tiny water droplets hanging on her eyelashes. The long street nearby and the mountains in the distance were reflected in her eyes, like a lake.
Feng Shuo rode his horse directly out of the city. There were mountains on both sides of the official road. The dead grass covered with a thin layer of snow lay on the roadside, and the coldness and silence added a bit of desolation.
Jiang Yanyi listened to the sound of horse hooves and looked at the vast world in front of him, and his mood slowly calmed down.
When Feng Shuo finally stopped riding his horse, she said, "Thank you."
Feng Shuo said: "Do we need to thank each other? When spring comes and the weather is not so cold, I will teach you how to ride a horse."
She said, “Okay.”
Feng Shuo continued, "You are too weak to draw the bow and arrow, but you can learn to use it. I will teach you how to swing the knife and where to stab the sword to kill someone."
"When I'm around, you don't have to know anything. But when I'm not around, you have to be able to protect yourself."
This is why he knew that it was hard for her to run a shop, but he did not stop her. He respected all her decisions. "It's for your own good" was not a reason to break her wings at will. He was willing to wait for her to transform from a fledgling to an eagle.
Jiang Yanyi's eyes turned red because of what he said. She asked, "Feng Shuo, why are you so nice to me?"
"You are my future wife. If I don't treat you well, who else can I treat well?" He wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with his fingers: "I originally planned to ask for marriage after your mother and others arrived in Xizhou..."
He didn't say anything else, just hugged her gently: "Don't let your imagination run wild, and don't be afraid. No matter what happens, you still have me."
The snow is cold, but this embrace is warm.
After being in this strange world for so long, Jiang Yanyi realized for the first time what it felt like to completely rely on and trust someone.
From then on, I had someone to talk to about my joys, sorrows, and happiness.
***
Although Madam Jiang was buried in the capital, she still had to observe the mourning period.
Old Madam Chu is emotionally unstable and has to be persuaded by Jiang Yanyi to eat three meals a day. She can only live in the newly bought house of the Chu family and can't take care of the store. Fortunately, there is Chef Yao in the kitchen, so there will be no trouble. The old scholar can also help with the accounts. Yang Xiu just needs to bring the account book back to Jiang Yanyi for review every night.
She spent the ten thousand taels of silver that Chu Changping had given her before very frugally, and after decorating the entire mansion, she had eight thousand taels left. She returned it to Chu Changping, who told her to keep it for herself. Jiang Yanyi refused to take it, and gave the silver note to Old Madam Chu that night.
What Jiang Yanyi was more concerned about was the injury on Jiang Yangui's leg. As the saying goes, "It takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone." Perhaps it was because of the bumpy ride to Xizhou, Jiang Yanyi saw him several times with his face pale and sweat all over.
The external medicine was changed every day and the internal medicine was taken every meal, but Jiang Yan couldn't figure out what went wrong.
She was worried, so the next day she invited a famous doctor from Xizhou to treat Jiang Yangui's injury.
Before this, Jiang Yanyi had never seen the wound on Jiang Yangui's leg. Every time she came to see him, he had asked the servants to change the medicine for him. This time, in order to check the wound, the doctor removed the gauze wrapped around his foot. Jiang Yanyi found that his wound had already festered and there was a layer of rotten flesh outside the wound.
The doctor shook his head and said, "We can't let the wound fester like this. We have to dig out the rotten flesh."
Jiang Yanyi felt a knot in his stomach.
Jiang Yangui lay on the bed with a pale face, as fragile as a piece of fragile porcelain, but he still said to her: "Sister, don't look at it, it's disgusting."
Jiang Yanyi couldn't help but blush: "The injury on your leg has worsened, why didn't you tell me?"
She turned around and was about to go out and call the guard who usually took care of Jiang Yangui: "Chu Zhong!"
"Sister, don't blame Uncle Zhong. It was me who told him not to say it. Grandmother has been in poor health since Japan, and I don't want to worry her anymore. It's a broken leg anyway, and if it gets worse it will just be like this. If the doctor digs out the rotten flesh it will still fester." Jiang Yangui said with a pale smile.
It is winter now, and if the wound on his leg is bandaged too tightly, it will easily fester. But if it is not bandaged tightly, the wound will develop frostbite, which will be even more difficult to deal with.
His leg had already festering once when he was in the capital. The doctor scraped off the rotten flesh, but it is still the same now. Jiang Yangui no longer has any hope for this crippled leg.
Jiang Yanyi was anxious and angry, and he was so distressed that he didn't know what to say, "Do you know that if the injury is too serious, we may have to cut off both of your legs to save your life?"
The ancients did not understand the concept of amputation, so she could only explain the consequences to Jiang Yangui in this way.
Jiang Yan saw that his brother looked stunned, as if he had no idea of the consequences of the wound getting worse. He felt sorry for him and turned to the doctor and said, "Please dig out the rotten flesh on his leg."
The doctor waved his hands, put away the medicine box and walked out: "My medical skills are not good enough, I dare not take this risk! Girl, for this kind of corrupt external injury, you should ask someone to go to the military camp to ask. The military doctors in the barracks are the best at dealing with these."
As soon as the doctor left, Jiang Yanyi looked at Jiang Yangui lying on the bed and said, "Do you really want to torture yourself to death? Or do you want to piss me off to death?"
Although Jiang Yangui had experienced so many changes and had become more mature mentally, he was still only fourteen years old, and he did not understand some knowledge that he had never been exposed to before.
When Jiang Yangui said that if his legs continued to deteriorate, he might die, his eyes revealed a bit of fragility and pain: "Sister, after all, our surname is Jiang, not Chu. I don't want to cause trouble to my grandparents anymore. If it weren't for my crippled legs, why would mother have lost her life?"
He was afraid that Jiang Yanyi would be upset, so he didn't tell her that when he was in the capital, the doctor had prescribed a pill for pain relief, but it was too expensive. When his aunt heard that the medicine was only for pain relief, she didn't let the servants buy it. Madam Jiang once went to her aunt for help, but was ridiculed by her. She said that the Chu family had already spent a lot of money on his medical treatment. There have been many similar incidents in the capital. If it weren't for these, why would Madam Jiang take the risk when leaving the city.
They were the ones who brought disaster upon the Chu family. Eldest aunt's eldest daughter lost her marriage because of this, and second aunt chose to divorce for fear of being implicated. Jiang Yangui knew that both his eldest and second uncles hated them and were unwilling to care about him as a burden.
He had no right to hate them.
But when he thought of his mother's death, his heart ached and he wished he could take her place. Why was he still alive and well? He was still being despised and dragging down his sister!
Jiang Yanyi knew that Jiang Yangui could say such a thing. Thinking about the attitudes of the two uncles of the Chu family, she guessed that he and Madam Jiang might have suffered a lot when they were in the capital. She looked at the young man gritting his teeth and crying on the bed, and said distressedly: "You also know that mother is gone. Yangui, you are the only relative I have in this world. If something happens to you, what do you want me to do?"
“Sister…” Jiang Yangui’s shoulders were shaking as he cried silently.
Jiang Yanyi held his hand and said, "Just think of it as living well for your elder sister and your dead mother, understand? Nothing is more important than living. If you don't want to stay in the Chu family anymore, I've rented a house on Duhufu Street, and there's an empty room. When your injury gets better, we'll move in. My elder sister opened an antique soup shop, which is enough for our daily expenses."
She remembered the wound on Jiang Yangui's leg, so she called the servants in to change the herbal bandage for him. Chu Changping was not at home, so she had to go to Feng Mansion in person.
Feng Shuo returned to the Xizhou camp, but when the housekeeper Fu Xi heard that she wanted to hire a military doctor, he hurriedly ordered someone to ride on horseback to the Xizhou camp to deliver a message. Fearing that she would be waiting anxiously, he lent her the doctor from the Feng Mansion and asked her to bring him over to treat Jiang Yangui's injury first.
The doctors in Feng Mansion are better at internal conditioning. After all, Feng Shuo was rarely injured. Even if he had knife wounds or sword wounds, he would handle them himself. He almost never asked the doctors to help treat external injuries.
The doctor examined Jiang Yangui's injuries and felt his pulse. After reading the prescription Jiang Yangui was taking, he frowned and said, "For an injury like this, he needs to take Huangqin Pain Relief Pills to be effective. Otherwise, his wound will remain inflamed and he won't be able to heal."
Jiang Yanyi asked hurriedly: "Where can I buy Huangqin Pain Relief Pills? I'll send someone to buy them right away."
When Jiang Yangui heard the words "Scutellaria baicalensis analgesic pills", his dark eyes were stunned for a moment, but Jiang Yanyi was busy asking the doctor and did not notice the change in his expression.
The doctor shook his head and said, "That's a medicine that can only be found at the Xinglin Clinic in the capital. Where can you buy it in this part of Xizhou? But I can make this pill, but it will take some time. There are some herbs in it that are hard to find."
"Thank you, doctor!" Jiang Yanyi hurriedly thanked him.
The doctor took a look at Jiang Yanyi's festering leg and said, "I will prescribe another prescription for you in the next few days. I will boil it for you to take. When the Scutellaria Pain Relief Pills are ready, I will switch back to this prescription."
He was not good at dealing with external injuries. The rotten flesh on Jiang Yangui's leg was eventually dug out by Doctor Hu who came from the military camp. Doctor Hu was an expert in dealing with such external injuries. He only used a small amount of Ma Fei San. Jiang Yangui hardly felt any pain, and the rotten flesh and pus in the wound had been cleaned away.
Doctor Hu reapplied medicine to Jiang Yangui and reminded him of some daily dietary precautions. Although he was a little shocked at first, he did not show any curiosity at all later on as to how Jiang Yanyi had transformed from a camp prostitute into the cousin of the Chu family.
People of their age have seen all kinds of storms and waves, and they know what to say and what not to say, what to be curious about and what not to be curious about.
After seeing off the two doctors, Jiang Yanyi comforted Jiang Yangui with a few words before going to the kitchen to boil medicine for him.
Jiang Yangui lay on the bed, his expression seemingly calm, but his hands hidden under the quilt were clenched into fists, and his eyes were dark and deep, with no one being able to see to the bottom.
**
When Master Chu's first wife Liu heard that Jiang Yanyi had hired three doctors to treat Jiang Yangui, she slammed the table in anger in her room: "She really doesn't know how expensive food and oil are. She hired three doctors at once. Did she think she was in the capital? Where did she get so much money to squander? Does it mean that our Chu family owes her Jiang family?"
Liu's eldest daughter Chu Shubao was embroidering nearby. Hearing this, she said, "Mother, please stop talking. I went to see my cousin Yan Gui yesterday and found that he didn't look very well. It might be that his leg injury has worsened. Cousin Yan Yi is also worried. Our family has managed to escape to Xizhou and we should support each other. Why are you still saying this?"
Mrs. Liu was very angry with her eldest daughter: "She ruined your marriage, and you are still speaking for her?"
Chu Shubao threw down her embroidery and said, "How can that marriage be good? Kang Erlang has no reputation and no character, and his family has five or six maids and concubines! You still tell me that this marriage is good, are you my real mother?"
Liu said angrily, "You are too arrogant. His uncle is the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. How lucrative is that? Your father is a commoner. Do you still think you have the fate to marry into a noble family?"
Chu Shubao muttered, "It's his uncle who works in the Ministry of Revenue, not him. My third uncle was the general of Yunzhou a few years ago! His rank is much higher than his!"
"You also know that was a few years ago!" When Liu mentioned this, she regretted it so much that her intestines turned green. A few years ago, when Chu Changping was the general of Yunzhou, the wives of officials she made friends with were all well-known. If the marriage had been arranged at that time, why would she have chosen to be the tallest among the short ones later
Speaking of Chu Changping, Liu was also full of resentment: "You keep calling your third uncle all the time. Do you know that this whole family almost lost their lives because of your third uncle meddling in other people's business?"
Chu Shubao said unhappily, "Third Uncle said that being arrogant among brothers and sisters is called being a bully at home, but being rude to outsiders is the real power! Whenever any brothers and sisters in the Chu family are bullied, we must unite to face the outsiders!"
The more Liu talked to her daughter, the more upset she felt. If this silly girl continued to be taught by Chu Changping, she might be sold one day and have to help count money. She was so angry that she poked Chu Shubao's forehead with her finger: "You believe everything your uncle says? Why can't you listen to what I teach you? Why did I give birth to a brainless person like you?"
She was so upset that she called the housekeeper to go out and said, "Mother Qin, come with me to take a look. If the girl from the Jiang family buys a bunch of tonics like ginseng and deer antlers, I won't recognize the money as official accounts!"
The housekeeper looked embarrassed and said, "It was the silver that the cousin gave herself. No money was taken from the public account."
Liu was relieved at this, but when she thought of the reason why Jiang Yanyi paid Jiang Yangui for the doctor so readily, she became unhappy again: "It is said that my third brother bought this house and gave her 10,000 taels of silver to decorate it."
She glanced at the furnishings in the room and pouted, "This room is so shabby, nothing is pleasing to the eye, I wonder how much of this ten thousand taels of silver she kept in her pocket!"
Chu Shubao rolled her eyes and said, "Mother, my cousin gave the remaining eight thousand taels of silver to grandmother last night. You always say that my aunt is a bad person, and I see that your temper is the same as my aunt's!"
Just as Liu was about to get angry, she stood up and walked out the door: "I'm going to see my cousin Yan Gui."
Liu was so angry that she was shaking. She pointed at Chu Shubao's back and asked the housekeeper, "Is she my biological daughter?"
The housekeeper said, "How come the eldest daughter is not your biological daughter? When you gave birth, I was watching by your side, and the midwife and maids didn't do anything!"
Liu glared at the housekeeper. She felt that she might be angered to death here today.
The author has something to say: I appreciate the hard work of waiting for the update, and I'm sorry that this chapter is even later~
More updates in the evening~
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2020-12-07 08:38:44~2020-12-09 05:43:08~
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