Chapter 64: Heart-shaking
After drinking a bowl of medicine, Fu Chen sat beside the bed, watching her sleeping, his mind full of what Zhang Qing had said.
He asked, "How did you escape? What about the fake Miss Tang?"
Zhang Qing seemed to have returned to the battlefield at that time: "...When the city was breached, the young lady protected the people in the mansion and fought her way out of the city, but she was concerned about the commander-in-chief, so she turned back alone and met General Yu. The two of them rushed forward together, but in the end they never saw the commander-in-chief. Xue Yue knocked the young lady unconscious and handed her to me, asking me to take her out of the city. They..." He opened his mouth, a little dazed: "None of them came back alive."
"When I was taking the young lady out of the city, we ran into a group of northern barbarians. We had another fierce battle and the young lady was seriously injured. We managed to escape with one breath. If we hadn't met a hunter in the mountains by chance, we would have nowhere to stay. The young lady had a high fever for many days and almost... almost..."
"When the young general left, he repeatedly told me to take good care of the young lady. I would do it even if it cost me my life. When autumn came, the young lady's health started to improve. I accompanied her down the mountain, but the servants in the mansion... the old man guarding the gate said that Miss Tang had followed the second prince to the capital, and he had people chase us away."
"The young lady said that we cannot let others use her name to tarnish the reputation of the Tang family. After we paid tribute to the Marshal and the Major General, we found a caravan to enter the capital..."
The young man squatted on the ground, holding his head for a long time and was unwilling to get up. His expression could not be seen, but Fu Chen could feel his despair from his drooped shoulders.
His hard heart seemed to be soaked in an unknown liquid, feeling sour and painful, scattered all over. He didn't know how to deal with this emotion. This unfamiliar emotion made Lord Fu almost at a loss. As if possessed by a ghost, he reached one hand into the quilt, touched her hot little hand, and held it tightly in his hand, as if he wanted to lend her strength in his dream.
Her hands were incredibly thin and delicate, as if a thin layer of skin covered her fingers. However, there were calluses on her palms and knuckles from long-term use of weapons, yet there was an indescribable stubbornness in them. One could tell at the touch that they were not the hands of a pampered person.
When Fu Chen was studying hard, his mind was not as hard as iron as it is now, and he was not able to reach the state of emptiness. The fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy also imagined the joy of having a beautiful woman by his side, and imagined the happiness of passing the imperial examination and the wedding night. He imagined that the girl who could accompany him must be a lady of equal social status, gentle and virtuous, who had read many books, and could recite poems and drink wine and tea together, and they would be a pair of immortal lovers.
However, fate later took a sharp turn and pushed him onto another thorny road. He, who was used to holding a sheep-hair brush, had to hold a knife and arrow, and his hands, which had handled calligraphy and painting pigments, had to become familiar with every bone in the human body to ensure that the bones could be broken quickly with a crisp sound during torture in order to get a satisfactory answer.
The most painful thing is that he has to give up the teachings of the sages and saints that illuminate his way forward, and give up his ideals of self-cultivation, family management, governing the country and bringing peace to the world. Instead, he has to try to figure out people's hearts, touch the reefs in many people's hearts, and turn himself into an obedient knife. Wherever the blade points, everyone trembles in fear and dares not confront it.
An obedient knife should have abandoned its selfish desires long ago, had few ties, and obeyed orders blindly, only then could it climb up along the narrow path.
Meeting her was completely accidental.
He then realized that the beautiful dreams of his youth had long been forgotten and shattered into dust.
When he met her, he realized that he didn't need to warm wine or brew tea, or read poems to understand their meanings. His heart was already shaken, his soul was captivated, and he couldn't control himself.
Tang Ying slept very uneasily. She dreamed that she was walking barefoot in a raging fire. The road ahead was endless. The scorching air waves made her sweat. Her throat was so dry that it seemed like it was going to break. Her heart, liver, spleen had all become scorched land. She urgently needed a rainstorm to save her.
Something cold pressed against her forehead. Even though her consciousness was hazy, she was still reluctant to let it go and wanted to press it tightly. In order to remove the coldness, she closed her eyes and hummed, pressing it hard impatiently.
Are you being obedient now?
Fu Chen lowered his head and watched as two small claws pressed firmly on his big hand that was testing his body temperature, and his palms gradually became wet.
She finally broke into a sweat.
The imperial physician said that high fever is the worst to avoid when it is not burning. As long as you sweat and get a good night's sleep for a few days, you can alleviate half of the symptoms. As for the other half, it will not be cured in a short time. In addition to the root cause of the serious injury, her biggest problem is, as Yao Niang said, too much suffering.
"You are so young, but you are suffering mentally and restless day and night. If you don't take care of yourself early, you may not live a long life." The imperial physician took the girl's pulse carefully and was an expert in taking care of women's bodies. He personally prepared the medicine and brought it to her. He watched Lord Fu give it to the little girl. His original fear was replaced by a gripping curiosity.
It is said that Lord Fu is not interested in women and is cold as ice, but look at the way he feeds the medicine and the gentleness with which he wipes the girl's sweat, as if he could peel off a layer of skin from the girl with a little more strength. The way he is so cautious as if he wants to hold the girl in his hands, if outsiders knew about it, they would probably be so frightened that their eyes would pop out of their sockets and think they saw it wrong .
If the other party was not the commander of the Imperial Cavalry, the imperial physician might have been unable to hold back and found his best friend to tell this romantic story over a glass of wine as soon as he left the Fu Mansion.
Mr. Fu’s romantic story - he couldn’t help but touch his neck. It was not hard enough, so he regretfully prepared to keep this romantic story to himself.
When Tang Ying opened her eyes, she was confused for a moment.
She held something tightly in her two paws and covered her chest with it. When she looked down, she was stunned.
It was actually a man's hand!
What she was holding tightly... was actually a man's hand. The joints were long and strong. She didn't know why he was caught by a sick cat like her. He didn't even struggle and just let her hold him obediently.
Following this hand, I saw Lord Fu's pair of bloodshot eyes, green stubble, and a few strands of messy hair. He was clearly a handsome man carved out of ice and snow, but this appearance dragged him into the mud of the world, and he actually had a bit of worldly air.
"Ahem..." Tang Ying was extremely frightened and quickly loosened her claws, but Lord Fu did not move. After being guarded by the little girl with his hand held in a strange posture at the head of the bed for a whole day and night, all the bones in his body were stiff, and this hand seemed to have lost its autonomy. He would rather be held by her and stare at her peaceful sleeping face than move an inch, as long as she stopped frowning and stopped calling "Daddy and brother" and mumbling nonsense.
Tang Ying felt that she had not slept so well in a long time. She didn't know that Doctor Wang had added some tranquilizers to the medicine for treating the disease. She was holding a warm big hand tightly in her arms. In her dream, she could actually wade through fire and swords and move forward courageously.
"Why are you here, sir?" Tang Ying regretted asking.
As expected, Master Fu looked down at her from above, slowly retracted his right hand, and moved it exaggeratedly, and even heard the sound of the joints cracking: "What do you think?"
Tang Ying slept soundly, perhaps because she slept too comfortably. Her mind was still in the dreamland and she couldn't wake up for a while. She started talking nonsense, not caring that her throat was almost dry and smoking. She wanted to solve the embarrassment first: "No wonder I dreamed that I caught the monster's claws and chopped it into several pieces with a knife. It was too heroic..." Under the understanding gaze of Lord Fu, she secretly suspected that she had ground her teeth, farted, or done some indecent actions after falling asleep. Why did she look at him with an unpleasant look?
Big Monster Fu Chen: “…” Who was it that fell asleep and held his hand tightly and refused to let go, shouting “Daddy, brother”?
Tang Ying quickly added: "You should know, sir, that people are not conscious when they are asleep, and all actions occur in a non-awake state. That is to say, if a person kills someone in a dream, but in fact he suffers from sleepwalking and did climb out of bed to kill someone while asleep, but this person's subjective will... is not to kill anyone, and he himself does not think that he has killed anyone..."
She thought: What am I talking about?
Sleeping with her boss and landlord hugging their hands was essentially a form of flirting, although it was not her subjective intention.
How to relieve the embarrassment after flirting with your boss? Ask for help online! Urgent!!
Tang Ying's mind was filled with crazy comments. She looked up at the man above her head, carefully observing his expression, and guessed wildly: What does Lord Fu mean by this?
Brother, give me some reaction!
Lord Fu's expression didn't seem to change at all after hearing what she said, and he still looked at her with a strange look.
"The same goes for me. I grabbed your hand in my sleep, but I certainly didn't know it was your hand. Maybe it was the hand of someone I knew in my dream..." Zhang Qing just happened to bring in some hot water, and Tang Ying improvised, "Maybe he thought it was my eldest brother's hand, so he didn't care." She glanced at Master Fu's face and it seemed to be getting more and more... uglier.
"When you sleep, you usually like to hold on to your big brother's hand?"
Zhang Qing was so scared that he nearly spilled half a basin of hot water: "No way! I never barge into a lady's room without permission!" There was no intimate physical contact with her while taking care of her sick body.
Sir, what you said is so scary!
Tang Ying thought about the local customs and smiled awkwardly: "I was just making an analogy, for example." She decisively changed the subject and stopped dwelling on the matter. She asked Zhang Qing for help: "Brother, give me some water to drink."
Zhang Qing brought over a glass of water. Lord Fu sat there very... unsympathetically. Tang Ying had to struggle to get up. She felt her whole body was limp. Someone supported her from behind. She didn't care about anything else at the moment. She took the cup of water and drank it all in one gulp, then looked at the teapot eagerly.
Zhang Qing picked up the teapot and prepared to refill her cup, but she snatched it away unexpectedly and guzzled the water from the spout. She looked as rough as a bandit who had just returned from a robbery at the foot of the mountain. She came back to life only after she had half a belly full of water.
Then...she shamefully ran away to pee.
When I came back quarter of an hour later, Lord Fu had already left.
Tang Ying breathed a sigh of relief and complained to Zhang Qing: "Brother, you are such a fool. You saw me fall asleep holding Master Fu's hand and you didn't pull it away. It will be so embarrassing when I wake up."
Zhang Qing wanted to, but as soon as Fu Chen's hand showed any sign of breaking free, she started talking nonsense and crying again: "Daddy, don't go... Brother, please don't go..."
Master Fu sighed, and patted her shoulder with his other hand without any instruction, like coaxing a baby to sleep, and whispered a promise: "I won't leave, you go to sleep obediently."
Zhang Qing couldn't bear to look at it.
What can he do?
My sister has been suffering from insomnia for a long time. This time, the dark circles under her eyes are almost comparable to those of a panda. Not to mention sleeping with Lord Fu holding one hand, even if she sleeps with Lord Fu in her arms on the bed, as long as she can sleep soundly, it doesn’t matter.
At worst...
He thought randomly and smiled innocently: "Next time I see you, I will definitely pull away!"
Tang Ying: “…” Will there be a next time?
"There won't be a next time!" she said firmly.
Zhang Qing: "Wait a minute, I'll go serve the meal. You must be hungry after sleeping for a whole day and night." He ran away.
Tang Ying was sick once and saw the patient meals at the Fu Mansion. In addition to light porridge and side dishes, there was actually tonic soup.
"Uncle Wen, where did you learn this trick?" Fei Wenhai, who worked hard, was very enthusiastic about cooking and her cooking skills improved by leaps and bounds. Unexpectedly, within a week's time, she had already entered a new field and achieved new success.
Zhang Qing: "This was made by the new Madam Mo, who just came into the mansion yesterday and made it especially for you."
Mother Mo was a middle-aged woman with a serious and dull expression. She had a long face and high cheekbones. She was neat and tidy, and was serious about her work. She even consulted the imperial physician Wang who was left at the Fu Mansion about the taboos in the treatment of patients.
Tang Ying drank half a stomach of porridge and a bowl of medicine. She felt like a large two-ear bottle filled with half a bottle of mixed liquid. If she shook it by pulling her ears, she could hear a clanging sound.
Doctor Wang held her wrist and felt her pulse again, then looked at her tongue coating, his face lit with joy: "The young lady's fever has gone down, and she will be fine after a few days of good rest. Eat good food and drink, and avoid worrying too much, and you will surely recover." By curing this Miss Zhang, he also established a good relationship with Lord Fu, and it was time for him to retire and go home to rest.
People with knives came and went in the Fu Mansion, and I couldn't even sleep well.
The more Tang Ying listened to the doctor's words, the more uncomfortable she felt. It seemed like the doctor was trying to deceive a terminally ill patient: From now on, you can eat whatever delicious food you want.
Anyway, there are not many good days left to live.
"Could it be that I have contracted some serious illness?" Tang Ying thought to herself: Am I really too unlucky?
When Doctor Wang heard that her tone was not right, he immediately came to his senses. He had just told this girl not to worry too much, but now she started to have wild thoughts?
He is well aware of the psychology of many patients. If you say it lightly, she will think you are hiding the condition. If you say it more seriously, she will think it is more serious and scare herself half to death.
Lord Fu was always guarding the bedside, how could he dare to scare the girl?
So Doctor Wang explained the medical knowledge to the little girl in detail, only telling her that Tang Ying had a headache and roughly understood that she was in good health. He also repeatedly assured her not to worry too much, and finally sent this overly talkative doctor away.
She stayed in bed for two more days, purely out of laziness, fearing that Yao Niang would force her to do hard labor again when she returned to the Forbidden Cavalry Division - didn't she see that Hong Xiang treated her with disdain?
In terms of seniority, she had the least experience. During this self-examination and self-correction, since she had no connection with the old people in the Shadow Department, she gained Yao Niang's trust and made great efforts. She became very popular in front of Hongxiang and became familiar with many people in the Shadow Department.
Tang Ying thought to herself: I am still very considerate. I have actually learned to read people's faces and know how to stay out of the spotlight when being envied by others. This is really a big step forward in my life.
During this period, Lord Fu came to visit her every day and attended three meals a day. When he was in a good mood, he would stay for dinner or something. He would sit in her cramped little room and eat calmly, even ignoring her rude eating style. It can be seen that to be able to hold the high position of the commander of the Forbidden Cavalry Division, Lord Fu's ability to endure is first-class.
After Master Fu left, Zhang Qing accused her: "You didn't eat so boldly in the past. Aren't you afraid of scaring Master Fu?"
Tang Ying thought: It would be better if he was scared, so that he wouldn't appear in front of me every day and make me dizzy.
Who made Lord Fu's face so pleasing to the eye?
She also received an invitation from the Second Prince's residence, inviting her to a banquet five days later. She had no idea what this guy was up to.
When Zhang Qing saw the post, she remembered that she hadn't told her something: "Sister, you were busy for several days and didn't come back. When you came back, you were unconscious. I haven't told you yet that the Second Prince's marriage decree has come down. He is going to marry the ."
Tang Ying looked at the gold-sprinkled invitation and said, "Is this a wedding invitation?"
Zhang Qing: "I don't know what the Second Prince is up to."
Tang Ying has been showing her personal style recently: "Brother, go out and ask around. If it's a wedding banquet, forget it. We don't have enough money to give as a gift. If it's a family banquet, we can try the cooking skills of the chef in the Second Prince's mansion. I just don't know if we can meet that fake lady?"
Zhang Qing obeyed her almost in every way and ran out to inquire immediately. He almost bumped into Fu Chen who was about to enter the yard to visit the patient. He stood aside to make way for Master Fu, but when he passed by, he called out again, "Master."
Fu Chen turned around: "What's the matter?"
Zhang Qingsheng had a simple and honest face, and his words were particularly sincere: "Sir, please don't tell Miss what I said two days ago. I'm afraid she will be sad."
Tang Ying would be tortured by nightmares when she was asleep, but when she was awake she always looked heartless. She would laugh when she wanted to and make noise when she wanted to, and Zhang Qing would always accompany her.
Fu Chen: “Yeah.” He rarely asked about Zhang Qing’s whereabouts: “What are you doing?” He didn’t stay at home to take good care of the patient.
Zhang Qing repeated Tang Ying's original words, and Lord Fu was so amused that he didn't know whether to cry or laugh: "She is not stingy when she should be, why is she not stingy when she gives alms to beggars, but she is reluctant to give gifts. You should also stop messing around outside, how can a royal marriage be arranged so quickly? It must not be a wedding banquet."
If the Second Prince holds his wedding banquet in the next few days and marries the fake young lady in his mansion, it would be a relief.
Fu Chen has not forgotten the last time they went horseback riding together. The Second Prince has become suspicious of the woman in the mansion, and who knows if he has other ideas in mind.
※※※
The Second Prince's residence, Fenghe Courtyard, has been bustling with activity these days.
The imperial decree granting the marriage had come down, and her status as the Second Prince's consort was set in stone. Tang Ying's heart finally settled down. She couldn't help showing a bit of pride, but she had to suppress it in front of others so as not to be looked down upon by the maids .
In front of A Lian, she no longer had to hide, and her master's hospitality was very generous. It was much more difficult to serve her, whether she was eating, drinking, sitting or lying down, than before.
In the past, she and A-Lian were nominally master and servant, but in reality, she felt very guilty and did not dare to order A-Lian around too much. She maintained the demeanor of the master in front of others, but was much more restrained when the two of them were together.
After all, she was Tang Ying's personal maid. Whenever she went to the Tang Mansion to play, she would always call her "Sister A Lian".
But things are very different now.
She is the future prince's consort, and her status will only be higher, not lower. This honor comes from her future husband, Yuan Lang. Husband and wife are one, so it is natural for her to order A Lian around.
A'lian has not been in a good mood recently. She is inevitably forgetful when doing things. She feels nauseous from time to time when she wakes up in the morning. She feels sour when she stares at the tangerines given by the palace. She heard that the second prince specially ordered someone to send fresh fruits to Tang Ying. She ate half a plate of it and still felt it was not enough.
Tang Ying teased her, "You look like a pregnant woman who is gluttonous. I've never seen you like eating oranges so much before." She looked down on A Lian in her heart and laughed without restraint.
A-Lian was stunned, as if someone had split her brain open, and she finally came to her senses.
She had seen her stepmother get pregnant and give birth to her younger brother. Although she was young at the time, she remembered that her stepmother was sick and lazy all day long, had a bad temper, and treated her like a maid, torturing her a lot during that period.
"The girl is teasing me again. It's just a fresh treat in winter."
Tang Ying smiled and said, "If you don't know , you might think that His Highness sent it specially for you."
A Lian clutched the corner of her clothes tightly, thinking about the words she had confessed to Feng Kui during their intimate moments. She did not dare to look Tang Ying in the eye. She actually accepted her ridicule obediently and retreated with a confused heart.
She counted the days and realized it had been more than a month since she first met Feng Kui.
Tang Ying called other maids in to help her pack. After the marriage was settled, the servants in the mansion all came to congratulate her. The chief secretary also brought people to deliver gifts one after another. Clothes, jewelry, antiques and treasures almost filled up the main house of Fenghe Courtyard.
When the servants in the palace saw the Second Prince's scene, they weighed the future Second Prince's wife again and again in their hearts, and even their attitude of serving her had to be respectful, for fear that they would make her unhappy and get to the Second Prince's ears, which would bring bad consequences.
This girl, A-Lian, is becoming more and more perfunctory.
Tang Ying thought, if there wasn't a secret between them, she would have sent this girl away long ago.
She carefully selected the jewelry from the boxes, her heart full of joy. They were all good things that she would never see in her life. She was almost dazzled by the selection. She just felt that everything was good and delicate. When she was hesitating, a gentle smile suddenly came from behind her: "Do you need my help?"
Tang Ying turned around and saw a handsome and elegant young man wearing a purple gold crown and a prince's dragon robe. He was looking at her gently, and she didn't know how long he was looking at her.
Her cheeks flushed and she unconsciously said, "No one told me when His Highness came!"
Yuan Lang smiled and said, "I told them not to say anything. Seeing that you like it, it's not in vain that I personally selected it."
Tang Ying's emotions were boiling, reaching their peak. She felt her heart burning, and she wished she could die for the man in front of her. Her eyes were red. "Your Highness has been so kind to me, I will always remember it in my heart."
It will take a lifetime to repay this deep affection.
lifetime.
