Miss and farmhand

Huang Chu should have thought of this.

Even if the old woman listens to her, she will report everything that happens here to Shen Yurui in detail.

Shen Yurui simply stood by the door, her expression subtle, making it impossible to tell whether she was looking at Huang Chu or Luo San on the bed.

After a while, she turned to the person behind her and said, "Go and get the dirty clothes and wash them."

It was as if he had given himself a way out. The maidservant hurriedly came in and took away the dirty clothes.

Huang Chu continued to coax Luo San to open her mouth and drink the medicine, but Luo San still refused to move, lying stiffly on the bed with her eyes fixed on Shen Yurui. Because she was too weak, she could do nothing but watch, and no emotion could be seen in her eyes.

Shen Yurui went out.

Luo San Guniang closed her eyes. Huang Chu hesitated, holding the spoon filled with the medicine, unsure whether to put it down or continue waiting.

She had a feeling that Luo San was not asleep.

Sounds from outside drifted into the room. Shen Yurui was talking to her old woman by the window.

"Should we show her the letter?"

Shen Yurui snorted, "At a time like this, there's no need to add fuel to the fire."

The old woman sighed, "Indeed. My cousin has a hard life."

He paused, seemingly noticing Shen Yurui's expression, then changed his words, "But that's so careless. How could she sneak out in the middle of the night? We've never met a girl like that before. Who would have thought we'd have to check her house repeatedly like we're investigating a criminal? Oh dear."

At this moment, Huang Chu wanted to speak up to warn those outside that they could hear everything inside. She placed the medicine bowl on the table and tapped it. The old woman fell silent, but the two people outside still didn't leave.

After a while, Shen Yurui finally spoke.

"Now everyone is pointing out our mistakes, saying we didn't take good care of Miss Biao. The longer we keep her here, the more it seems like we're the ones in the wrong."

The old woman nodded meekly, "That's right."

"But who knew that the truly heartless ones were her own parents? We told them, at least, that there was no problem with her reputation, and everything was taken care of. We could take her back and pretend it was a second marriage, and it would all be covered up. Who would have thought that we would find doctors, medicine, tea, and water for her, and take care of her with all our hearts, only to receive a letter from her own parents stating that they wanted to sever ties with her, that they would treat her as if she didn't exist, and that they never wanted her to come back."

Huang Chu felt a chill creep up from her fingertips, spreading all the way to her heart.

Even she couldn't bear to turn around and see how Luo San would react to these words.

Shen Yurui was still saying, "If they dare send her back, tie her up, drown her, or hang her. In short, we don't want this daughter anymore. What a heartless person."

The old woman fell silent. She seemed to be terrified too; she was afraid of hearing such murderous words spoken in front of the girl.

Shen Yurui was not afraid. It was impossible to know what she was thinking. She stood upright like a Bodhisattva. Her thin silhouette could be seen from the window, but she did not appear weak because of her thinness. On the contrary, she seemed even more resolute.

She didn't know when they left. Huang Chu stood by the window, motionless, unable to think of any expression or words to turn around and face Luo San.

The rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other could be heard behind me.

Huang Chu quickly turned around and saw Luo San struggling to sit up. She hurriedly reached out to help him.

Luo San laughed and said, "I'll go tell my cousin to send me to the temple. I have no other hope anyway, and I don't want to disgrace my own family and then disgrace hers as well."

"How can you move now?"

"Wouldn't it be better to die on the road? Death is cleaner."

She glanced at the medicine on the table. "There's no need to waste good stuff."

There was a fierce determination on her face, which puzzled Huang Chu. She had such a mindset, yet she was going to die.

Huang Chu couldn't help but say, "Senior Brother Zhu said he wants to see you."

Luo San's pupils seemed to shrink suddenly. She closed her eyes, her brows and eyes turned down in sorrow, her lips trembling but tightly pressed together, refusing to cry, refusing to cry out for help.

Huang Chu said, "He still wants to marry you."

Luo San laughed. Tears followed.

Huang Chu coaxed her, "Take your medicine, and I'll let him sneak in, okay? I've wiped your face and fixed your hair, so it'll be fine for you to see people. You two talk, and I'll keep watch outside the door for you."

She went and brought the medicine bowl back from the table, placing it in front of Luo San. Luo San sniffed, then suddenly raised his hand and fiercely wiped away the tears on his face.

"Sometimes I can't tell if you're genuinely naive or just pretending," she said to Huang Chu with a smile. "You've all put me in this situation, and now you're saying these things?"

She said this with a sense of satisfaction, wanting to see what kind of expression Huang Chu would have on his face.

Panic, guilt, denial, anger...

She can feel good no matter what expression she makes.

However, Huang Chu simply stirred the medicine in the bowl with a spoon and insisted on bringing it to her lips.

"Then it's to get revenge on me," she said softly, "so that you can take the medicine, get better, and have the strength to take revenge on the suffering you've endured."

Luo San was stunned.

The porcelain spoon was pressed against her chapped, dry lips, the medicine seeping into the cracks, and she opened her mouth and drank it down.

Luo San's illness gradually improved.

Huang Chu hadn't gone back since the first day she went to feed him the medicine. She had no self-awareness whatsoever; even when confronted directly, she knew Luo San truly didn't want to see her again.

She would only occasionally ask Aunt Han how her cousin was doing. Aunt Han was an elderly woman who knew many of the servants on the First Madam's side and could find out things.

"I'm getting better. But it's not my own home after all. When I was seriously ill, I didn't realize it, but now that I'm better, how can I not notice? Life is getting harder now."

"How so?"

"It's the same old story. She's insisting on sending her to the temple. She was sick, so the First Madam had an excuse to keep her for a couple more days. Now that she's almost recovered, the Master and Yong-ge have been staying at the academy for so long, it's such an eyesore. This is forcing the First Madam to send her away. Poor thing, she can't stand it because it's not her own home. Her own home is not as good as this place."

Huang Chu looked up. "You found out too?"

"Everyone knows, everyone's talking about it. After such a disgraceful incident, they just abandoned their daughter here. What kind of parents are they? Country folk are fierce, and they wouldn't dare send her back now, she might die. What will become of her now?"

For some reason, Huang Chu was no longer worried about Luo San Guniang. Ever since she drank that bowl of medicine, as long as she didn't give up on herself, Huang Chu felt that she had just as many ideas as Shen Yurui.

But I can't say this to Han's mother, because I can't explain it to her.

After a sigh, a maidservant hurried over.

After the show stopped, Huang Chu rarely went to the garden anymore. The weather was hot, and going out in the sun made her dizzy. It was much cooler at home, so she preferred to stay in the flower hall to cool off.

Shen Xuying was even lazier than her. Her room was the best location chosen by Huang Xingtong, warm in winter and cool in summer. She didn't even need to leave her room, and let the wet nurse take Rongniang to her room to play.

Huang Chu used to enjoy visiting her mother, but lately she had been preoccupied with her thoughts and was afraid that her mother would notice and worry, so she had to stay alone in the flower hall.

The maid stood by the door and said, "Young Miss, that Young Master Zhu is here again. Or perhaps..."

"No. My aunt is almost recovered. If he really wants to see her, he doesn't need to bother me anymore."

"Then how should I reply... I can't just say it like that, can I?"

"You're stupid. You could have just said I couldn't get up because of the summer heat."

The girl left. A little while later, she ran back.

"Young lady, Young Master Zhu said he'd like to come and see you. Do you need a doctor?"

"Just tell them I'm asleep!"

The girl left again. This time she didn't come back.

Han's mother looked at it strangely, "That is, after all, Young Master Zhu. You even call him Senior Brother. How can you be so rude and make up lies to deceive people?"

Huang Chu grimaced.

There are some things she can't tell Han's mother. The old lady always thinks she's a young girl, and there are many things she shouldn't know or say. If she were to tell Han's mother everything she's been thinking lately, Han's mother would be terrified.

She propped her head up with her hand, pressing her face against the windowsill. The old wood, painted a reddish-brown, was smooth and slightly cool to the touch, providing relief from the heat. But she had to turn over and press her face against another spot every now and then, as the original wood would warm up from her body heat.

She tossed and turned in the room like she was airing out a quilt.

Suddenly she said, "Men are all the same, they're all liars, and even if you call them out on it, they can keep up the act."

Han's mother was stunned, and immediately reached out to pat her.

"Pah! Pah! Pah! What are you saying, young lady? Aren't you ashamed? Who taught you to say that? Don't you dare say it again!"

Huang Chu dodged and rolled over, when suddenly he saw a projection flash by outside the window. He blinked, thinking that he was just too hot to notice the shadow.

Unexpectedly, in the study next to the flower hall, the man, having been reading and writing for a long time, stood up to rest his eyes by the window and overheard a young lady from a prominent family, who was not yet married, offering her insightful opinions to him.

Naïve to the point of being laughable.

She didn't know that if she weren't herself, if she didn't have a father like Huang Xingtong to support her, most men wouldn't even bother to lie to women.