In the Dongqiao Room, in front of the Kang, there is a patch of light golden sunshine with mottled grids.
She stood inside the grid, her brows furrowed in thought, her figure clear and pale.
She is still his Xiao Wan.
But in the past, she would not stand in such a disciplined manner. She would usually sit on the heated kang, burn incense, and feel dizzy and sleepy.
And he would come over to her during court, push her awake with a smile, let her have hot tea, and play a game of chess with her.
Song Chengming looked at the kang table and saw a game of chess that had been pushed aside. He offered her three options: up, middle, and down, but she was unwilling to do so.
As a concubine.
It is a royal decree to marry Qin Meng.
She works as a maid in the inner house to support herself in her old age.
But these days when she quit her job, she seems to be running a shop outside and doing business. She does not intend to serve Shuluan wholeheartedly and become a concubine in the future.
Song Chengming stared at her, trying to see what she was planning in her heart.
She looked back at Song Chengming.
Marquis Nankang said slowly: "Su Jintian, I plan to let him be promoted to a thousand households."
"Thousands of households?" She was surprised, "He is willing to give up such a lucrative job in the Qinhuai South Bank of Baihu?"
He couldn't help shaking his head and laughing.
Since the Marquis asked her, she thought for a while: "Although he is an official with thousands of households, he takes care of all his junior brothers and sisters. They serve as companions and serve as errands, but it is such a big family and the expenses are so high. By the way.
, he still owes me money and hasn’t paid it back yet.”
Poor guy. She thought, she had to help her get rid of Yang Cuiping.
Song Chengming smiled: "How much do I owe you?"
She compared the numbers.
Song Chengming couldn't help being surprised: "You have saved a lot of money. He actually borrowed this?"
"Not as much as the Marquis spent on my illness." She suppressed her pride and bowed her head humbly, making him laugh. Because she remembered this affection, Song Chengming's eyes filled with satisfaction:
"When you go to court today, the old man Wu in front of your Majesty asked about the battle between Su Jintian and Yang Pingcui. I was thinking that your Majesty wanted him to walk in front of the emperor."
"Your Majesty doesn't have much money to reward him." She pondered how much the promotion would affect Su Jintian's income. She knew as soon as she heard that the dead eunuchs in the palace in Wu Lao's stall wanted to win over Su Jintian. She thought about it again and laughed.
, "That's fine, if the old guys are willing to subsidize him, he should pay me back."
"..." Song Chengming sighed with a smile, "He is different from you. Now his wealth is enough to support everyone in Biying Palace."
She glanced at Mr. Hou and said nothing.
She was aware of this matter, but naturally she didn't betray her friend, saying that he was making money behind the Marquis' back and doing shady business.
However, she looked at Song Chengming again, who was leaning back and playing with the jade pieces on the chessboard casually.
She looked at the chess pieces in his slender fingers and thought, apart from her and Jintian, did the Marquis also have a group of close men? They were staring at Su Jintian.
This group of men should be in the hands of the second manager of the company. Even she didn't know it before.
But if he could stare at Su Jintian, he must be a master among masters. She was surprised, she had never heard of it?
As expected, Mr. Hou is a sinister villain.
"Don't let him know. He has a weird temper." She couldn't help but mentioned it anyway.
"It doesn't matter if I know. If he betrays me, I won't see you again." Song Chengming's eyes flashed, and there was a hint of temptation in his words.
"He is actually quite jealous of me. I am more famous than him." She quickly clarified, "We are just good friends on the surface. I couldn't hold it back a few times and started fighting with him. Lord Marquis, you know they are in Biying Palace
Those who came out are all evil heretic lunatics. He doesn’t do his job well and is patronizing, but he actually dares to get along with—"
She refrained from speaking out.
Song Chengming smiled dumbly: "And the second young lady of Uncle Jingxi's family?"
She plays dumb.
In fact, it’s more than just the fourth young lady of Duke Xu’s mansion.
How could Song Chengming not hear the rumors, but in his opinion, this kind of romantic affair was not a big deal. Otherwise, she would not have said it deliberately.
These ladies are all the widows of their husbands who died. Their husband's or natal family's homes were confiscated by the Jin Yiwei. They could protect themselves without being exiled. They had no worries about food and clothing but were desolate in their hearts. It was inevitable that they secretly had one or two lovers.
Song Chengming laughed, stood up, and looked at her. Cao Xiwan never mentioned that he wanted to be with Su Jintian.
He would never let the two men he relied on most get married.
Nankang Hou went to the outer room and had a few words with Ping Nanbo's steward.
She calmed down and sat down by the Kang in the east corner, thinking carefully that she had already said what she wanted to say to the Marquis today.
Lest the Marquis think she is pretending to be ill and secretly colluding with Su Jintian.
Liu Ruhai took a note from Ping Nanbo's steward.
Turning back, Nan Kang looked at him thoughtfully.
"Uncle, there were several worshipers in front of me and we made a bet." He told Marquis Nankang with a smile.
"oh?"
"I was betting that Mrs. Cao was practicing in seclusion and had gone crazy. That's why she asked the students to come over and check her pulse."
The Marquis of Nankang wanted to laugh, but he couldn't. He could only sigh. If the note handed out by the steward could enter the Marquis's mansion, of course he knew what it was about. Otherwise, his work as the deputy governor of Jinyiwei would have been in vain.
"Sir, please take a look at Xiaowan again."
Cao Xiwan looked at the copper-shelled hourglass in front of the window. It took a lot of time to diagnose the pulse this time.
I also thought, the last time she came to seek medical treatment, did he still have any reservations?
Liu Ruhai glanced at her expression. He didn't have any reservations last time. Last time, the female ghost Qingluo from the Jinyi Guards suddenly came to kill him. He was already shocked when he noticed that she had lost her strength. A few old wounds were nothing.
Today I just want to win the trust of Nankang Hou, so I take the trouble to point it out one by one.
Otherwise it will be inconvenient.
If Marquis Nankang and the two masters were not present, she would not have agreed to such an inspection.
"Please look at the back of your neck. I have to kowtow on Madam Cao's back."
She thought for a while, turned around and sat down.
When she entered the outer study room, she had just taken off her cloak. She was dressed thickly in winter. In order to wear a snow hood, she also tied up her hair today. It was easy for the doctor to look at the back of her neck.
The Marquis walked over again.
She thought that it was for Lou Shuluan's sake that the Marquis could endure such a troublesome matter.
Liu Ruhai was on the back of her neck, pressing her neck. She felt like her tongue was about to spit out, so she held it back.
Then, he tapped on her back one place after another, and suddenly he struck her. She suddenly hit forward and fell onto the kang, coughing violently.
Marquis Nankang was startled and quickly supported her. He looked at Liu Ruhai who was standing behind her.
She endured the severe pain and took out the handkerchief to cover her mouth. She coughed violently, her cheeks were red and her forehead was sweating.
Marquis Nankang quickly reached out to pat her back, but he noticed Liu Ruhai's gaze and held back.
"Bring hot tea."
"Yes." Liancheng responded, turned around and greeted outside the door.
"Ms. Cao has a hidden wound on her back. It looks like it was injured by an animal." Liu Ruhai thought for a while, "A bear?"
She looked back at him in surprise.
"Yes." Nankang Hou responded in shock, "There is a hidden injury? It has not been cured? It was the imperial medicine."
Liu Ruhai knew that she should have been injured in the elephant and leopard room in the palace.
In the Elephant and Leopard Room, exotic animals from various countries were kept as tribute, including elephants, leopards, bear bears and the like. I am afraid that she was accompanying Song Chengming, and there was an assassination and she was present.
Even the second manager knew the inside story and couldn't help but admire Mr. Liu's medical skills. He quickly asked
The mother-in-law and the boy brought a pot and hot water over. Cao Xiwan drank a few sips of hot tea, which gradually subsided the severe pain in his back, and twisted the handkerchief in the basin to soak up the sweat from the fine cloth on his forehead.
Liu Ruhai said: "Please check your pulse again."
She sat down in front of the window again and put her hands on the pillow.
Liu Ruhai also saw the glances exchanged between Cao Xiwan and Song Chengming. Was this a tacit understanding between life and death for more than ten years?
The lasting affection between Nankang Hou and his wife is stronger than this life-and-death friendship?
Liu Ruhai couldn't help but be surprised.
Surprisingly, Cao Xiwan was able to calmly walk away when faced with Song Chengming's gaffe.