After days of traveling, Mu Lingsu, who was already sleep-deprived, quickly fell asleep on the horse. She was exhausted, and no matter how hard she tried, she still leaned against Yu Linzhi and fell asleep.
Yu Linzhi also knew that she was really too tired, so he didn't wake her up. Instead, he kept riding her as she fell into his arms, hoping that she would sleep better. Mu Lingsu had always been strong and never showed weakness. This time was rare for her. Even when he rescued her, she only said politely, "Thank you, Mr. Yu," and nothing else.
Over the past few years, the two of them have also had a sense of relying on each other. He saved Mu Lingsu from the knife of the bandits, and Mu Lingsu pulled him back from the gates of hell. The two owed each other a life, and they helped each other for eight years.
He clearly remembered that he didn't like Mu Lingsu the first time he saw her, so why is he so close to her now?
Thinking of this, Yu Linzhi suddenly wanted to laugh.
During the years he was in the palace, he and Mu Lingsu had spoken no more than ten sentences to each other, but now they only see each other once a month. It was amazing that she could still put aside the past grudges and treat him even though there was a deep blood feud between the two of them.
Yu Linzhi lowered his head to glance at Mu Lingsu who was sleeping soundly. His thoughts drifted further and further away, and he began to recall the day they met outside the palace.
At that time, he had just returned to Lin'an from Nanjing. When he was about to enter Lin'an City, he couldn't find the way and turned off the official road. He came to a small road and happened to see Mu Lingsu being kidnapped by a group of bandits. At first, he didn't notice that the girl he rescued was Mu Lingsu. When he was about to continue on his way, he was stopped by Mu Lingsu.
"Thank you, Mr. Yu." He turned around when he heard this familiar voice. Mu Lingsu, whose hair was a little messy, was standing there, looking up at him with sparkling eyes.
He and Mu Lingsu had met dozens of times before, and he always thought she was just an average-looking person, ordinary, far inferior to her sister, but this casual glance made him feel amazed. He was a little shocked, and after a brief daze, he remembered that she was expelled from the palace by the Queen's decree. What he saw was being robbed by bandits, and what he couldn't see might not be that difficult, so he asked her if she needed any help.
"I need a skill that can keep me alive." Mu Lingsu told him that all the officials of the Mu family were implicated in the murder of Concubine Lu Defei. The old and young in the family were waiting for dinner, and as the eldest daughter, she should take this responsibility.
Just when he was about to promise to help her open a clinic in Lin'an, she said coldly and distantly: "It's better not to trouble Master Yu to find a solution for me. I just need to go back to Suzhou. The elders at home will not leave me alone."
Yu Linzhi knew that the Mu family was now in ruins. Most of the officials were in jail, and the rest were either demoted or dismissed. The rest of the family, young and old, were all waiting for food, and no one could help Mu Lingsu. Only the second daughter, Mu Yaoguang, who was waiting to marry the prince, lived well in the Duke of Qi's mansion, but the future princess herself was in danger and certainly could not take care of her sister.
He asked, "Does the Mu family still care about you now?"
As soon as he said this, Yu Linzhi knew he was wrong. He was about to explain, but Mu Lingsu said self-deprecatingly: "Mr. Yu is right. My family has fallen into poverty. We can't even afford to buy rice, let alone buy me a store in the city." Even the money she used to go home this time was given to her by Prince Yi Yang.
"I have been born with a weak disease since I was a child. I have to take medicine all year round and I need a doctor to accompany me. If you don't mind, come back to Lin'an with me." If Mu Lingsu returned to Suzhou, she would be afraid that her life would become even more difficult. A whole family would be waiting for her to eat. She was used to being lazy in the palace before. If she opened a clinic like an ordinary doctor, she would definitely not make any money.
"Master Yu, you and I were both in the palace before. One of us is from Concubine De's family, and the other is from the Queen's family. Now that you are helping me like this, aren't you afraid that your grandfather will be angry?"
Mu Lingsu thought that she didn't have a good relationship with Yu Linzhi. Although she was close to Prince Yi Yang, she and Yu Linzhi had almost never spoken to each other. Facing Yu Linzhi's sudden help, she was also very confused, as if they were friends for many years, so Yu Linzhi was so righteous. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
She said, "If you feel pity for a weak woman like me who has no one to rely on, then forget it. I hate it most when people pity me just because I am a woman, even if it is you, Master Yu."
"In that case, I won't force you." Yu Linzhi stopped talking about helping her and looked up at the sky. "It's getting late. It's not . I'll ask you to go back to Lin'an with me to rest for a night and then continue your journey tomorrow morning. Are you willing, Miss Mu?"
As soon as they arrived at the Yu Mansion, Yu Linzhi fell ill due to inhaling some pollen, and soon he began to cough up blood and faint. All the doctors invited by the Yu Mansion were helpless, and it was Mu Lingsu who pulled him back from the brink of death. Seeing that Mu Lingsu was so skilled in medicine at such a young age, Yu Jianwu persuaded her to stay and finally made Mu Lingsu reluctantly agree to be Yu Linzhi's doctor. In order to repay her, Yu Jianwu even paid for a piece of land in Suzhou in her name and opened a clinic specifically for her.
Before they knew it, the two had maintained this special doctor-patient relationship for eight years.
"The grandson of Old Man Gu!" Shen Hanyan's voice brought Yu Linzhi back from his memories. He looked down and saw that Shen Hanyan had gotten off the carriage at some point and rode on Shen Qingyu's horse, catching up with him. "I didn't bring any palace maids with me. You wake up Mu Lingsu." What she meant was that she wanted Mu Lingsu to serve her.
When Shen Qingyu heard her request, he was very angry: "Yan'er, stop messing around!" Just now, Shen Hanyan only asked him to catch up with Yu Linzhi, and did not tell him her purpose. When he saw Mu Lingsu fell asleep in Yu Linzhi's arms, he was unwilling to talk.
"Brother, I'm really not convenient." Shen Hanyan turned around and acted coquettishly with Shen Qingyu. The domineering look just now was gone, and she only looked like a delicate little girl. She urged Yu Linzhi, "Hurry up, Your Highness is waiting for someone to serve tea."
Yu Linzhi glanced at Mu Lingsu who was still sleeping in his arms, and said to Shen Hanyan with a smile, "Princess, please let little Mu go. She hasn't had a good sleep for several days because of my life." He always thought that Shen Hanyan was stupid and incapable of doing anything except bullying others. Now that she wanted to put on the airs of a princess in front of Mu Lingsu, he would definitely not agree.
Shen Hanyan had never met anyone who rejected her before. She pointed at Yu Linzhi and said, "You also said that you are just a commoner now, and you dare to disobey my order..." Before she could finish her words, she was grabbed hard by Shen Qingyu, and she staggered and almost fell down.
"If you keep making trouble, I will knock you out and send you back to the palace! Once you leave the palace, don't think that everyone is your maid and eunuch, and you can order them around at will." Shen Qingyu spoke in a rare and commanding tone. He got off the horse and made a gesture to Shen Hanyan who was sitting on the horse, " Hurry, get off and go back to the carriage."
Shen Hanyan walked back to the carriage reluctantly. Just as Shen Qingyu was about to apologize to Yu Linzhi, a man on horseback came towards them from the direction of Lin'an City. Yu Linzhi was far away, but he recognized the man as the servant who delivered letters to the Prime Minister's Mansion all year round.
"Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu." He gently woke up Mu Lingsu from her sleep. Seeing her open her eyes sleepily, he lowered his voice, which was not in line with his nature. He said, "Wait a moment. My grandpa has sent a letter home."
Mu Lingsu was already very , and the sudden interruption of her sleep made her a little confused for a while: "What?"
As he was talking, the servant of the Gu Mansion had already come to Yu Linzhi and said, "Young Master, Grandson." The servant was a man of few words, and regardless of the presence of others, he took out Gu Cheng's letter and said, "This is a letter from the master. The master said that you don't need to reply to his handwritten letter, and asked you to reply to him verbally after reading it."
Yu Linzhi's intuition told him that his grandfather was trying to use both kindness and force to force him to go back. If he didn't go back, it was very likely that his father would have died in Caishikou.
"No need to read it, just go. Go back and tell my grandfather that I have read the letter." Yu Linzhi took the letter and tore it into pieces.
He is no longer as easily controlled as he was when he was a child, perhaps because he has become less dependent on emotions, or perhaps because he has found new ones to rely on. Not to mention when he was a child, even five years ago, if his grandfather sent him a letter full of love and affection, he would immediately set off to return to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
After all, he had grown up and understood which of maternal and paternal love he could not get and which was within his reach. Compared with the cost of becoming a political victim, he would rather live in the swordplay of the rivers and lakes. This was also one of the reasons why he chose to leave the Prime Minister's Mansion. The death of Mu Lingsu's adoptive father Mu Simiao gave the young Yu Linyi a wake-up call.
A famous doctor died in the harem struggle . When Yu Linzhi learned the news, he seemed to foresee his own fate. He calmed down and chose to return to his biological father whom he had not seen for many years.
"This..." The servant was in a dilemma. He couldn't agree, nor could he refuse. He was at a loss.
Yu Linzhi knew that his behavior was not very responsible, which was equivalent to letting the servant take all the blame. Seeing the servant like this, he couldn't bear it: "Forget it. Go back and tell grandfather that no matter what, I will not go back, let alone serve as an official in the court."
What else could Gu Cheng ask of him? Apart from inheriting his ancestor's influence and becoming an official in the imperial court, there was probably no one else he could ask for. Yu Linzhi thought he knew Gu Cheng very well, and he knew what his grandfather wanted to say without even reading the letter.
The servant got the news and was about to ride away when he saw that the woman riding with Yu Linzhi was the eldest daughter of the Mu family. After hesitating, he asked, "Master grandson, is this the sister of the Crown Princess?" He was considered a close confidant of Gu Cheng, so he had met Mu Yaoguang and the Crown Prince, and guessed Mu Lingsu's identity at a glance.
"I'm not." Mu Lingsu hated to see people mentioning her sisterly relationship with Mu Yaoguang in front of her, so she subconsciously denied it as soon as she opened her mouth.
"Young Master Grandson, I'm leaving first." The servant was very perceptive and stopped asking questions when he heard Mu Lingsu's attitude.
Yu Linzhi waited until the servants had gone far away before he said to Mu Lingsu, "I'm not in a good mood. Will I be angry to death suddenly?" He was really not in a good mood. He became worried whenever he heard his grandfather's name. Especially today, after he saw the wanted warrant issued by his grandfather, he became even more worried.
In his life, up to this age, in the past twenty years, he has not met many people who simply want to be good to him and have no interests. He has lived in the small courtyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion since he was old enough to understand. He has never seen his biological parents, and even his wet nurse Mi taught him how to talk and walk. Later, when he grew up, his grandfather, who had raised him, began to scheme against him, trying every means to make him obedient and train him to be a successor. As a result, he was unwilling, and the grandfather and grandson fell out.
"Xiao Mu." Yu Linzhi called Mu Lingsu's name and asked half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Is there no one who wants me to be alive?"
Mu Lingsu could never have imagined that Yu Linzhi would suddenly ask such a question that she could not give an immediate answer to. He had been weak and sick since he was a child, and had been living in this world with difficulty, as if every day he was alive was a fluke. But his will had never been depressed, just like a healthy person. This time he suddenly became so negative, which made Mu Lingsu very uncomfortable.
Seeing that Mu Lingsu didn't answer, Yu Linzhi smiled and answered himself: "It should be."
He turned to the people accompanying him and said, "You go back first, I will follow you later." Then he asked Mu Lingsu, "Can you ride a horse? Go back with them first. I will just wander around and relax."
He would not be in a good mood when he thought of his grandfather. It would have been fine in the past, but now his father was still in prison, and it seemed that if he did not obey, his father would definitely lose his head.
There are so many people in the world who are relaxed and happy, but he is the only one who is caught in a dilemma all his life.
"I'll go with you." Mu Lingsu blocked his hand that was about to help her get off the horse, looked into his eyes and said, "Do you want me to write a letter to the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace and ask Yaoguang if they can think of a way to at least revoke the beheading sentence?"
I still remember that two years ago, Gu Cheng also wrote a letter. Although she didn't know the content, Yu Linzhi vomited blood as soon as he read the letter. He had been sweating for three days and was once in critical condition. She was really worried, so she wanted to follow him all the way. If anything happened, she could still watch over him and save his life.
Yu Linzhi hesitated for a moment, but gave up the idea of ​​separating from the main group: "Forget it, let's go back."
Facing Mu Lingsu, Yu Linzhi couldn't show his weak side. In all the years they knew each other, Mu Lingsu had saved him many times. In front of her, he always seemed to be the one who needed help. He tried hard to adjust this relationship, but always failed. She was still so strong, and the help he provided didn't seem to change her at all, but she was indispensable to him.
Yu Linzhi inadvertently saw Shen Qingyu teaching Shen Hanyan a lesson.
What would he do if someone appeared and took Mu Lingsu away?