Lihoumen

Chapter 32: The Master is a bit strange these days

From then on, Shen Han never set foot in Lan Ya Ju again.

The young couple had just started to get along well, but then it turned out like this again. Am and Lingzhi didn't understand why they were having a quarrel and were very anxious.

On the third day, the old lady still didn't see Shen Han coming, so she hurried to the study to ask for help: "Young lady, please tell me the truth, what happened between you and the uncle? Did the uncle offend you? If you can't bring yourself to do that, I will go and ask the uncle for you."

As she said this, the old lady was about to go out regardless of Qingqing's attempts to stop her. Qingqing hurriedly stood up and held the old lady back, explaining, "Grandma, you don't have to ask him. Since I'm separating from him, I must have my reasons."

Hearing this, the old woman stopped and asked anxiously, "Young lady, what do you think? You refuse to tell me, but I am so worried."

That day Shen Han said he was going hunting, but when he returned, Qingqing could clearly smell the strong fragrance on him.

That is the spice that only women in brothels would use.

He would rather go to brothels and find those women to relieve himself, but he doesn't want to touch her!

After spending some time together, the hope she had for him was suddenly shattered. She couldn't imagine what it was like for such a banished immortal to visit prostitutes.

She was sad and disappointed.

Seeing that the old lady kept asking questions, Qingqing was silent for a long time, and then she said carefully: "My husband's rest is about to end. He is busy with official duties, so he doesn't come here often."

Even though he had done something that Qingqing found unbearable, she still couldn't bear to speak ill of him in front of outsiders.

She tried hard to find excuses to cover up for him.

How could the old lady be so easily fooled? She frowned and asked in confusion, "Did the son-in-law bring this up?"

Qingqing nodded hesitantly and replied, "He told me that the night before, so I asked Lingzhi to take his clothes and belongings back to the study the next day." She saw that the old lady didn't want to believe her, so she tried to explain, "My husband is young, but he holds a high position. This time he pacified the Three Feudatories and made great contributions. It is inevitable that people will envy him. How can he relax? He must be diligent in government affairs."

Grandma still didn’t believe it.

Seeing Qingqing like this, the old lady didn't want to ask any more questions, but she couldn't help thinking about it. After thinking for a while, the old lady suggested: "Since you are so hard-working, I will make some supper for you later."

The old lady stopped pestering Shen Han to come over, and Qingqing finally breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said yes, then picked up the medical book she had been reading and continued to study it.

The old lady was about to turn around and leave when she suddenly remembered something and turned around and said, "Ever since the young lady gave gatekeeper Madam Wang acupuncture a while ago, her chronic cold legs have gotten much better. She even asked someone to send in a bag of wedding candy for you yesterday, saying that she wanted to thank you for your kindness." As she spoke, the old lady took out a small bag of wedding candy from her sleeve pocket and placed it on the table in front of Qingqing with a smile.

The wedding candies were wrapped in oil paper and were round and plump. They were high-quality goods from shops outside. Such things were not considered to be good things in the Marquis's mansion, but in poor families, they would not even be willing to buy them for their children during the New Year.

Qingqing understood that this was Mother Wang's way of thanking her, so she did not refuse and only asked, "Has her daughter-in-law given birth?"

The old lady nodded and said, "It's a boy, both mother and child are fine, but I heard that her daughter-in-law has not produced milk, and mother Wang said she wants to take a few more days off to take care of her at home."

Qingqing said, "There are plenty of people in the yard. Grandma told her not to worry. Her daughter-in-law just gave birth and is weak, so she asked her to stay at home and take care of her for a while."

As she spoke, Qingqing stood up and walked to the table, wrote down a prescription, and handed it to the old lady, saying, "This is a prescription for lactation. Tomorrow, let the little girl go to the medicine store to get four prescriptions according to the prescription, and then send them to Mother Wang, and let her boil them and give them to her daughter-in-law in the morning and evening. In two days, she will be able to produce enough milk."

The old lady took the prescription with a smile and replied, "Young lady, you have brought me back to health. I would like to thank you on behalf of Mother Wang."

"It's just a piece of cake." Qingqing said, leaning on the couch and continuing to hold the medical book.

Today was Shen Han's first day on duty after his day off. When he finished his work in the yamen, it was already the western border of Wujin. He simply had dinner in the yamen before returning.

Shen Han returned to the study and was about to take off his official robes when he glanced up and saw a bowl of hot soup and some snacks on the table. He called Ajiang and asked, "This doesn't look like the work of the mansion's cook. Who sent it?"

Ajiang replied, "It was sent by Grandma Sun who is by my wife's side."

Shen Han stopped taking off his coat and asked, "What did grandma say when she brought the things?"

Ajiang scratched his head, tried to recall, and replied: "Grandma said that the lady understands that you are working hard, so she asked the cook in the small kitchen of Lan Yaju to make some midnight snacks." Glancing at his master's inquiring eyes, Ajiang paused and added: "Grandma also told you to take good care of yourself no matter how busy you are."

"That's all?" Shen Han asked.

Ajiang nodded and replied, "Apart from these, grandma didn't say anything else."

Shen Hanyou said unwillingly: "Think about it again."

Ajiang tried hard to recall it, then shook his head and said hesitantly, "Grandma really didn't say anything else."

Shen Han frowned slightly when he heard that, and reached out to continue taking off his official robe. Ajiang hurried forward and diligently helped his master to undress.

Shen Han raised his arm slightly, and when Ajiang helped him change his clothes, he lowered his eyes and asked, "When grandma came over, did she mention how Madam is doing recently?"

A Jiang stopped when he heard that. He shook his head at first, then suddenly remembered something and said to Shen Han, "Grandma didn't mention it, but I asked her. I asked her, and she said that she hadn't seen Madam leave the yard recently."

Before Ajiang could finish, Shen Han asked, "What did grandma say?"

Ajiang replied: "Grandma said that Madam doesn't like to go out."

The light in Shen Han's eyes dimmed slightly. After Ajiang helped him take off his official uniform, he said, "Go and make me a cup of tea. I still have some official business to attend to."

Ajiang agreed and went down. After a while, he brought hot tea. Seeing that the midnight snack on the table had been finished by Shen Han, Ajiang offered him a teacup and waited at the side with his hands down.

Shen Han worked hard for a long time before putting down his pen. He stood up, stretched his waist, and asked, "What time is it?"

Ajiang replied: "It's midnight."

Seeing that the master did not give any other instructions, Ajiang asked tentatively: "It's not too late today. Madam hasn't gone to bed yet. Do you want to go to the main courtyard to rest?"

Shen Han was silent for a long while after hearing what Ajiang said. Just when Ajiang thought that his master had some thoughts, he saw his master said expressionlessly and coldly, "No need."

Ajiang didn't dare to say anything more. Shen Han had always been very clean, so Ajiang hurried to the side room to prepare the bath water for his master. While his master was taking a bath, he neatly made the bed and lit some calming incense. When Shen Han came out of the bathroom in the side room, Ajiang had already prepared everything before going to bed.

Shen Han came out of the bathroom and sat down on a chair. A Jiang came up to him and asked, "I have been doing the hair-cutting for you these past few days. I know I am not as careful as Sister Zhu Feng, so why not ask Sister Zhu Feng to do the hair-cutting for you today?"

Shen Han leaned on the armchair, half squinting his eyes to rest, and replied lightly: "No need."

In the past, such delicate work was done by the maids, but for some reason, the master had asked him to do it these days. Seeing that the master still did not allow the maids to approach him today, Ajiang had no choice but to bite the bullet and do something he was not very good at. Although he was very careful in doing such things, he was clumsy and hurt the master several times, but fortunately the master did not blame him.

After finally wringing out his master's hair, Ajiang was about to leave when Shen Han asked, "What kind of incense is burning in the incense burner today?"

Ajiang replied: "It's sandalwood."

Shen Han said: "This fragrance is too strong, please take it away and replace it with a lighter one tomorrow."

Ajiang wanted to say that sandalwood was the most elegant of all spices, but he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips. He only agreed hesitantly, then picked up the incense burner and left the study.

When they got outside, the maid Zhufeng came up to them immediately and pulled Ajiang aside and said, "Brother Ajiang, why didn't the master call me in to serve you today?"

Ajiang sighed and said, "How can I know what the master is thinking?"

"Young man, do you think I was the one who allowed Miss Lin to enter the study room without permission that day, and I also said too much in front of the master, which made the master unhappy?"

The master has been different these past few days, but Ajiang couldn't quite figure out what exactly was different: "The Lin family's cousin is different from others. The master won't be angry because of this, but the master doesn't like servants to talk too much. From now on, you should be more careful with your words."

(End of this chapter)