Chapter 39: Troublemaker
Four candles were lit in the small reception room. Fei Wenhai had cooked the soft mutton soup in a casserole according to Tang Ying's method and brought it in along with a small red clay stove. He added coriander and chopped green onions. The aroma whetted one's appetite, not to mention that there were freshly baked sesame cakes next to it.
Tang Ying stretched her neck, her eyes almost piercing into the casserole, and sang praises to Fei Wenhai: "Uncle Wen, your cooking skills are much better than the chef at Yanyue Tower!"
Although Fei Wenhai didn't know what Tang Ying was doing recently, it had become a routine for her to go back home with Fu Chen in beggar's clothes every night. At this moment, her tattered felt hat and broken bowl were placed aside. After getting along for a long time, he treated her as his own child or niece, and couldn't help but scold her: "You said you gave birth to a beautiful daughter, but you made her look like this, and your brother doesn't care about you?"
If she hadn't been brought back by an adult, and she lifted her hair to reveal a pair of bright eyes, with her beggar-like appearance, he would not have been able to recognize her if she walked on the street.
"How can my elder brother take care of me?" Tang Ying smiled awkwardly and leaned back in the chair. She felt severe pain in her ankle, which was probably swollen like a pig's trotter. She had just been brought over by Lord Fu. Facing his icy face that could cool her down in the summer, in the late autumn and early winter, her hands and feet were so stiff that she had no place to put them.
Fei Wenhai muttered a few words and found that Fu Chen had a cold face. When he left, he winked at Tang Ying: Little girl, be obedient and don't make the adults angry!
Tang Ying felt very wronged: I may have caused trouble, but... I didn’t ask Lord Fu to clean up the mess.
She was also quite responsible and had never thought of asking Lord Fu to cover for her - taking in the two siblings without any relatives or friends was already the most she , so she must not cause any trouble to them.
The servant brought in hot water, and Commander Fu urged him disdainfully, "Why don't you go take a shower?"
Tang Ying had eaten half a pancake outside at noon. She was so hungry that she wanted to go back to the kitchen and eat a big meal. "No need. I'll go back and wash it."
Fu Chen: "Go wash."
Tang Ying limped over, took out a small porcelain bottle from her arms, dripped a few drops into the basin, untied the rag-like cloth tied around her hands, avoided the wound and scrubbed all the black on her skin, revealing its original white color.
She washed carelessly, just washing it twice. The wound on the back of her hand had not healed yet, and it had cracked again due to her misbehavior over the past few days. Fortunately, the weather was cold and there were no signs of suppuration or ulceration, but it was still difficult to wring out the face towel. She was hesitating while holding the wet face towel, and Fu Chen strode over, snatched the towel and wrung it dry.
"Thank you, sir." Tang Ying had a strange feeling.
Even if Lord Fu wanted to be close to the people, there was no need for him to help her with such small things. This was the local custom, which attached great importance to hierarchy. Serving others was a job similar to that of a servant, and Lord Fu was obviously no exception.
When Fu Chen was about to hand it to her, he saw black marks on her temples and ears. He didn't know what he was thinking at the time, or if he was thinking nothing at all, but he pressed his hands on her head and wiped it. It was not until a surprised little face appeared under the handkerchief that he realized he had overstepped the line.
"You..." Lord Fu had good adaptability. His face remained cold and he actually accused her: "You can't even wash your face clean, are you still a woman?" He stuffed a face towel into her hand and turned around to find medicine to hide his embarrassment.
Tang Ying: “…”
Tang Ying was questioned about her gender twice tonight. She was shocked at first by Lord Fu's behavior, but after being accused, she ignored Lord Fu's abnormality. She touched her cheek and began to doubt herself.
"Ahem, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, sir." Tang Ying was very self-reflective.
Just imagine that Lord Fu didn't even look at the pretty and charming Ninth Princess, not to mention Yao Niang's subordinates, each with their own strengths, who walked past him and were as indifferent as beautiful women with withered bones. With her appearance, it would be even more difficult for her to catch Lord Fu's eye.
Maybe Lord Fu just regarded her as a troublesome subordinate, so why should she be so sentimental?
Tang Ying is still very self-aware.
After she figured it out, the embarrassment she had just felt quickly disappeared, and she even found a suitable excuse for Lord Fu: "Your Excellency treats your subordinates like brothers and sisters..." Before she finished her words, Fu Chen had already returned with a medicine box in his hand.
He had a cold face, as if he was a debt collector. The man in front of him was a deadbeat who owed a huge amount of money. He shouted angrily, "Sit down!" If she continued talking, he could not guarantee that he would do something out of line.
Fu Chen felt annoyed for a moment, but then he forced himself to suppress it. Even he himself couldn't figure out where this annoyance came from.
Tang Ying observed the other person's expression and didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore. She sat down obediently, wanting to cry inside.
"..."Where is the friendly Lord Fu?
She didn't even understand what she had said wrong to offend this person.
Fu Chen pulled her wrist over and cleaned the wound on the back of her hand. He felt that the wound was even more serious than before. His brows knitted together, and he unconsciously revealed a harsh tone of scolding his subordinates: "Your hand is so rotten, can't you live in peace for a few days?"
Fortunately, a lot of the care that Tang Xing had received since childhood was contained in this tone of questioning. She had seen too many rough men in the military camp, and the one who scolded the most might just be feeling sorry for you.
She couldn't help but reveal a nostalgic look: "In the past, there was a military doctor named Xie in the camp. Every time I was injured, he would scold me. When I first entered the military camp, I felt that he was unkind, as smelly and hard as a stone in the toilet, and it was extremely difficult to get along with him. Later, when a horse broke its bone while training, he helped me fix the bone, and I heard the tone of his voice when he talked to others..."
She drank the medicine and felt pain for another day. She looked groggy, but was actually still conscious. She heard Xie Wenzhong scolding Tang Yao: "How do you raise a child? If it gets any worse, her leg will be lost. She's a girl, how can she get married if her leg is lame? If you don't feel sorry for her, just let me take care of your daughter and let her help out in the wounded camp. It's better than following you around and getting hurt all day long." His tone was more angry than ever, but his love and heartache were reflected in a way he had never shown in front of others.
From then on, Tang Ying understood that some care is hidden under scolding and nagging, and can only be understood by the person involved if he feels it with his heart.
"The tone you used when speaking to Uncle Xie today was exactly the same." She said with a smile, suppressing the tears in her heart.
Although she didn't explicitly say who that "someone else" was, he could guess it from her expression. His heart softened and he gently bandaged the wound on her hand. He secretly felt amused - she had really put on a cold face in vain.
He usually scares away many people with his cold face, and his subordinates would tremble with fear when they see him look unhappy. Of course, more people might still be afraid of his power, but Tang Ying was not afraid of his cold face and could even justify the reasons for his cold face.
Fu Chen couldn't help but feel a little secretly delighted.
He squatted down, took off Tang Ying's shoes, and said indifferently amid her exclamation: "Hasn't your Uncle Xie straightened your bones?"
Tang Ying: “…”
She was really choked by these words. She actually felt that what Lord Fu said... made a lot of sense and that she was the one being pretentious.
Lord Fu helped her with good intentions, but when Uncle Xie was correcting her bones, did she ever dodge or evade?
Tang Ying's kung fu and horse training skills were acquired through hard work, but she couldn't take any chances. Injuries were commonplace. She would meet with Xie Wenzhong from time to time, and she had her feet held and her bones adjusted at least three or five times. It was just a matter of changing to a young and handsome man. In her previous life, there were male doctors delivering babies in the obstetrics and gynecology department, so what's wrong with pinching a foot? !
After she deeply reflected on her conservative and outdated thinking and despised herself for not being able to remain calm about Lord Fu's beauty, she was finally able to look at the matter with a normal mind.
But at the same time, a thought popped up in her mind: My feet... won't stink Lord Fu, right?
The thought was a real bummer.
In this situation, the young and handsome man squatted in front of her, holding her swollen foot and slowly touching the bone. In any other scene, Tang Ying would have the illusion of being loved and proposed to. However, considering that Mr. Fu was famous as Liu Xiahui, she just let her imagination run wild.
"It's nothing serious, the bones are fine." As soon as Lord Fu finished speaking, he exerted force with his hands, and there was a "kaba" sound. Tang Ying screamed and tried to grab her feet: "It hurts, it hurts!" You know that men are not telling the truth.
Fu Chen failed to do as she wished . He held her feet tightly and said sternly, "Don't move!"
Tang Ying was still in shock: "What... do you want to do?"
"Apply medicine." Fu Chen poured the medicine oil from the porcelain bottle and rubbed the swollen area until it became hot. He was secretly surprised: Are all women's foot bones so slender? Even though the foot under his hand was swollen like a steamed bun, it was still a white, plump and cute steamed bun.
Tang Ying was rubbed so hard that she screamed repeatedly, almost begging for mercy: "Sir, be gentler! Can you be gentler? It hurts!"
"If it doesn't hurt, will you remember it?" Fu Chen suppressed the strangeness in his heart and went to wash his hands and eat expressionlessly, leaving Tang Ying alone to hug her feet and look at herself in the mirror.
When they were eating at the table, Fu Chen finally remembered to ask, "What on earth have you gotten yourself into?"
Tang Ying thought to herself that she saw through Lord Fu. He probably felt that there was nothing feminine about her, so he treated her like his subordinate. She also treated him with the same attitude as she treated Tang Yao's personal guards in the military camp. She ate the meal in no time, totally disregarding her image. She was enjoying the meal so much that she almost choked on the mutton soup when she heard his words.
“Ahem—”
Fu Chen: "It seems that this is a big disaster. Tell me about it."
Tang Ying swallowed the mutton in her mouth and said cautiously: "...Actually, if you can lend me some money, I can move out with Tengyun." So as not to implicate him.
Fu Chen raised his eyebrows: "Is it so serious?"
Tang Ying: "Do you really want to say it?"
Fu Chen: "Go ahead."
Tang Ying said with difficulty: "Today... I seem to have accidentally... hit the eldest princess's son." Seeing Fu Chen's face change, she quickly raised her hand and swore: "I didn't mean to do it. I was just angry when I saw him bullying others. Who knew that he was the eldest princess's son after the beating!" She muttered: "Who let him let his slaves commit crimes and bully a thin boy? He looks lawless and deserves a beating!"
Princess Yuan Heng got married at the age of seventeen, gave birth to her son Huan Yanbo at the age of twenty-seven, and her husband died of illness the following year, leaving her a widow. Who in the capital didn't know that she doted on her only son?
Fu Chen didn't know what to say anymore.
He could only point at the troublemaker in front of him, and said angrily: "Why do you have to hit him when you can hit anyone else?"
I wonder if the eldest princess will be bedridden again this time?
He couldn't help but feel curious.
