Ink Burns

Chapter 83 Real Family

Grandma Liu walked out with her hands in her pockets, and soon brought back Cheng Xingyu who had hurried over.

Grandma Liu showed no emotion, but she was relieved in her voice: "Thank goodness Dr. Cheng came to pay his respects today."

Today is the third day of the coffin's stay. According to the customs of the Wei Dynasty, the coffin needs to be kept for seven days. The door is open on the first three days, and closed on the last four days. Therefore, those who are not related to the host family must come in the first three days. The Cheng family also has to pay for Shan Yue's dowry or funeral, so they must come at this critical juncture.

Shanyue looked up. He hadn't seen Cheng Xingyu for a few days. He could see that he had become thinner. The thin and sharp face of the young man revealed a hint of haste. Seeing that Shanyue was fine and sitting beside him, he slowed down his pace.

Shanyue raised her arm, and the blisters from the palm of her hand had already meandered to her wrist, which was exactly the curvature of the copper basin used to burn paper money.

Cheng Xingyu lowered his eyes and looked at it carefully.

Grandma Liu's eyes showed a bit of anxiety: "Will you be better tomorrow?"

"You need to prick the blister with the tip of a needle first." Cheng Xingyu said.

Grandma Liu urged the little girl: "Go burn some silver needles!"

The little maid hurried out.

Cheng Xingyu added: "We also need a sealed jar of strong liquor."

The little maid has disappeared.

Grandma Liu: Why can’t we talk about it together!
The little maidservant couldn’t be called back!

The backyard was busy, and the man in the family had just died. For the official family, alcohol was forbidden at this time. Grandma Liu was worried that others would take it, so she gave a few instructions and opened the door and windows: "I will go get the strong liquor, Shanyue will go to the flower room, and Doctor Cheng is outside. We should avoid suspicion under the melon field and plum tree."

Shan Yue will obey.

As soon as Grandma Liu left, Shanyue immediately asked through the wall: "Can Ruchun go back to Pingning Mountain?"

The wall of the flower room for the women in the backyard was engraved with a hundred sons and thousands of blessings. Cheng Xingyu said in a gentle voice, "No. Two days ago, she was vomiting and having diarrhea. I don't know if she had a stomachache or caught an epidemic. The post station wouldn't let anyone stay there. They were afraid that the epidemic would flare up again, so they drove her and her mother out. I set up a small room in the medicine store in the suburbs for them to stay."

Shan Yue's head was buzzing, and her heart felt like it was being clenched by a hand: "Why is it so sudden?"

She thought Shui Guang had gone back! She had tried every means to meet Cheng Xingyu today, just to find a chance to hand over the things before going up the mountain to take the exam!

If I die on the mountain, what will happen to those things?!

I didn’t know until I asked, and only then did I realize that Shui Guang was sick!

Shan Yue was so angry that his words were a little harsh: "If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have saved the innkeeper! It was Ruchun who prescribed the medicine for him!"

Cheng Xingyu's voice was gentle, like a warming medicine: "Don't panic, I gave her and her foster mother acupuncture yesterday. I haven't gone to the warehouse today, so they should be feeling better. Even if you don't believe me, you should believe in my medical skills."

Shan Yue shook his head: "It's not that I don't believe you - I know that warehouse in the suburbs, it's in the mountains, the wind gathers and blows overhead, there's no shelter from the cold on all sides, how can it keep good food there!"

A hand, red and purple with heat, stretched out from under the wall, holding a key.

"No. 78, Qiaotou Lane. There are three rooms, a kitchen, and a toilet in the small courtyard. Please take them there, Erlangjun. Tell Erniao to cook soup and three dishes every day and have them delivered."

Cheng Xingyu looked down and saw the girl's red wrist was like a branding iron, burning his chest and making it feel hot and sore.

And the key, the handle is mottled and the paint is peeling, it must be kept close to the body.

"I have rented that yard for ten years, and there are still seven years left. Tell them to live there without worry."

Shanyue's voice was soft, and it seemed to come from far away even through the thin wall: "In the room in the west wing, the third brick in the seventh row of the wall is a hollow brick. You can pry it open. There is a silver note of one hundred taels hidden inside. It is my life savings. You should give it all to Ruchun and her foster mother." "If I can't come back, there are sixty-three paintings I copied from four masters hidden in the room in the central hall. They are all exquisite. If you take them to Shantang Street to sell, one painting can make you a living for half a month." Shanyue explained in detail: "Give Zhu Siming's paintings to Huang Zhi. She is smart and will definitely be able to sell these paintings for a good price. Give Shen Huaizan and Mi Yaohe's to Second Miss. Fifth Master will know how to deal with them. Give all my brushes, ink, paper and inkstone to Zhou Liniang, and then ask Second Miss to take her back to Guoqiaogu. She can paint. If Fifth Master supports her, Guoqiaogu may not have to deal in fake paintings all his life."

The mountain moon tells the story.

Cheng Xingyu was a doctor. He had seen many sick people and many dying people.

Shan Yue is making arrangements for his final arrangements.

Once she goes 'up the mountain', there's a chance she won't be able to come back.

Cheng Xingyu had a bad heart, so his emotions were always gentle and calm, but now he was a little angry: "Except for taking care of Ruchun and her foster mother's illness, the rest will be left to them when you come back!"

Shan Yue fell silent.

She will "go up the mountain" tomorrow. If she is not selected, she will die on the mountain; or she will come down the mountain alive and prepare to marry Xue Xiao and "die suddenly."

She couldn't die yet, but she wasn't sure if she could live to explain herself.

Shan Yue lowered her head slightly and looked at the hundreds of blessings, the fat boy, the peaches, and the cranes on the nanmu board of the wall. All the festive elements were intertwined together, inexplicably joyful and eerie.

"Don't be anxious. If you are anxious, your chest will feel stuffy and painful. You have to live longer so that you can save more people." Shan Yue said in a leisurely voice.

Cheng Xingyu's throat choked: "If you don't go..."

"I'm not sick, you can't save me."

Shan Yue interrupted Cheng Xingyu and said, "No one can save me. I can only go down this path and save myself."

Shan Yue's voice was deliberately cheerful: "If I can get down the mountain safely, I will find a chance to see Ruchun. Magistrate Liu said that the election should take at most five days, at least three days, and it won't be dragged on for too long. If you stick your head out or shrink your head, you will get stabbed. It's better to stick your head out and get hurt. You will look prettier."

Cheng Xingyu felt a dull pain in his chest: since the epidemic, his old illness had become more serious, perhaps because he had been overworked.

There has never been a moment when he hated his broken body more than now.

If he could be healthier, more powerful,
He might not dare to speak!
"Okay." Cheng Xingyu couldn't say anything but okay.

Shanyue thought for a moment and added, "The east wing of the yard is locked. There are some things inside. Don't let Ruchun in - remember that!"

Cheng Xingyu still said, "Okay."

Shanyue raised his hand again and handed over the key.

Cheng Xingyu took it with both hands. The copper key still carried the girl's hot body temperature.

Shanyue calculated the timing very well. As soon as the two of them finished talking, Grandma Liu and the little maid came, one carrying a sewing box and the other holding a pot of wine sealed with wax.

Cheng Xingyu picked up the needle with one hand and squeezed the water out of the blister with the other hand, then rinsed the wound with strong liquor.

Grandma Liu came out of Liushang. She had seen all kinds of torture in the Shangxingsi, but she raised her eyebrows when she saw what she saw today.

Shan Yue remained silent.

Grandma Liu put her hands on Shanyue's shoulders and whispered, "You have to cry. Tomorrow you will be the weak and stupid Liu Shanyue."

"How can a cowardly, ignorant, and timid person not cry even when his wounds are soaked in wine?"

(End of this chapter)