The estate manager, Nanny Wang, arrived with her maids and pages abruptly.
As Wenxi took just a few steps outside, he ran straight into them. Neither side expected the encounter, and they paused in surprise. Fortunately, Wenxi reacted quickly, taking the initiative to bow and greet the elderly woman before him. He remembered this nanny; half a month ago, it was she who had suddenly arrived to deliver the news that they should prepare to return to the Marquis’s Estate.
“Where is the Seventh Young Master?” she asked Wenxi sharply.
Nanny Wang had grown up by the side of the Marquis’s wife, Lady Chen. She was extremely efficient in her work and very strict about rules. Seeing Wenxi, she first frowned, her face showing clear dissatisfaction. After all, he was just the son of a concubine from a humble background, and even his personal page was so reckless.
“Our young master is inside,” Wenxi replied. Being quick-witted, he could tell from the setup that the Marquis’s Estate intended to bring them back. No matter what, the Seventh Young Master would finally be able to leave this wretched place. No matter how poorly the Marquis’s Estate might treat them, it still beat starving and freezing here.
Hearing Wenxi’s answer, Nanny Wang led her people straight inside without knocking or asking for permission, completely disregarding Rong Xun’s current status. Anyone unaware would have thought she was the master of the house.
Watching in a daze, Wenxi quickly picked up his pace to follow.
As soon as Nanny Wang stepped into the room, her brows furrowed deeply. Leaving aside the fact that the room’s furnishings were dilapidated and not a single piece of furniture was pleasing to the eye, the chill that hit them the moment they walked in was enough to make anyone shiver uncontrollably. The room was damp and cold, and not a single brazier of charcoal had been lit.
At that moment, Rong Xun was curled up on the bed, covered by an autumn quilt. Who knew how long the quilt had been in use; it was covered with numerous patches. The person under the quilt was so still it was hard to tell if he was dead or alive.
“Preposterous!” Nanny Wang shouted angrily, spinning around and slapping Wenxi across the face.
She demanded furiously, “Is this how you serve the young master?!”
After striking Wenxi, Nanny Wang waved her hand, signaling the servants behind her to check on Rong Xun’s condition. Lady Chen had instructed her to bring him back completely intact, and the Seventh Young Master absolutely could not afford any mishaps at this time. Rong Xun was, after all, the blood and flesh of the Marquis of Yong’an; if outsiders were to witness this, there was no telling how they would gossip about the Marquis’s wife.
Though slapped, Wenxi did not dare harbor the slightest resentment. He hurriedly bowed to beg for mercy, whispering, “Nanny, you misunderstand. It’s not that this servant mistreated the young master; it’s simply that living under someone else’s roof leaves one with grievances too difficult to voice.”
As he spoke, Wenxi glanced at Rong Xun, who was unconscious from a high fever. His mouth puckered, and tears instantly filled his eyes as he poured out every detail of how the farming couple had mistreated the two of them, naturally adding plenty of exaggeration along the way.
Upon hearing this, Nanny Wang’s expression turned very ugly. Half a month ago, when she was sent on this mission, she had brought plenty of silver and food, along with plenty of clothing and daily necessities, carefully instructing that couple to look after the Seventh Young Master well until she came to fetch him. It seemed they had not only ignored her instructions but had also swallowed everything she brought. Otherwise, how could these two master and servant be living in such dire poverty?
Given that the dignity of the Marquis’s Estate was at stake, Nanny Wang immediately sent a page to punish the couple. Daring not to delay any further, she had her people carry the unconscious Rong Xun into a carriage and hurried back to the Marquis’s Estate without a moment’s rest.
The leaves on the trees along both sides of the road had completely fallen, waiting only for the spring breeze to blow next year and bring new life.
Secretly lifting the curtain to look back at the farm disappearing behind them, Wenxi slowly let out a breath. “We’re actually out?”
The person who had supposedly been unconscious suddenly spoke up. Rong Xun slowly opened his eyes, doing his best to suppress a cough as he chuckled softly, “We finally left that hellhole.”
“Yes, Young Master! We won’t have to starve or freeze anymore.” Wenxi poured a cup of warm water from the small table on the side of the carriage. Supporting Rong Xun’s head with one hand, he carefully fed him the water.
Remembering the screams of the couple he had heard just as they passed the western courtyard, Wenxi still couldn’t hide his joy. After feeding Rong Xun the water, he said excitedly, “Young Master, you are so clever! Nanny Wang really helped us vent this pent-up anger.”
In truth, Rong Xun’s illness wasn’t that severe, at least not to the point of unconsciousness. But three days ago, he had suddenly called Wenxi to his bedside and mysteriously asked if he wanted to vent their frustration. The targets of their revenge were naturally the couple in the eastern courtyard.
Wenxi had nodded eagerly; of course he wanted to get back at them. For years, taking advantage of the fact that he and the young master were young and had no backing, those two had bullied them over and over again. He had hated their guts for a long time.
Hearing Wenxi’s reply, Rong Xun had smiled faintly. Calculating that the Marquis’s Estate would send someone within the next few days, he had told Wenxi to clear away the only charcoal brazier in the room, replace the winter quilt with an old autumn one, and toss several of the better furnishings into the storehouse. The living conditions, which had previously been passable, now looked only slightly better than a slum.
When the people from the Marquis’s Estate arrived, the master and servant put on a pitiful act for Nanny Wang. When it came to acting, Rong Xun was a master.
Just as he anticipated, the people from the Marquis’s Estate were truly fooled by his bitter display. After fifty heavy strikes of the board, who knew if that couple would even survive? At the time, Wenxi had asked him how he was so certain Nanny Wang would punish the couple.
Rong Xun had only offered an inscrutable smile. Of course he was certain. Since the people of the Marquis’s Estate wanted him to take someone’s place in a marriage alliance, they would naturally ensure his safety. Furthermore, the State of Jing placed a heavy emphasis on status and hierarchy; for that farming couple to treat the orders of the Marquis’s Estate as mere wind past their ears would naturally infuriate the estate’s people.
Rong Xun was not a broad-minded person; he was notoriously vindictive. Whenever he thought of how miserably the original owner had lived before his death, the more he thought about it, the more suffocated he felt. If he didn’t put those two petty villains in their place before leaving, even his meals wouldn’t taste good back at the estate. The best method was to let even more vicious people deal with them. Even if it meant hurting the enemy a thousand times at the cost of eight hundred of his own, he had to retaliate.
It was just a pity for Wenxi, as he hadn’t expected that old nanny to suddenly strike him. Seeing Wenxi smiling so broadly that his teeth showed, with a distinct handprint still glowing on his cheek, he looked both pitiful and somewhat comical.
Rong Xun coughed softly and said helplessly, “You got it wrong.”
“Ah?” Wenxi looked at Rong Xun in confusion. “I suppose this servant does not know where he was wrong. Please enlighten me, Young Master.”
“Nanny Wang wasn’t doing it to vent our anger,” Rong Xun pointed out piercingly. “The reason she punished that couple was entirely because they didn’t take the Marquis’s Estate’s orders to heart. To put it bluntly, it was because they showed disrespect to the Marquis’s Estate that they were punished.”
Otherwise, an unfavored son of a concubine like him didn’t have enough weight to make a nanny from the Marquis’s matriarch’s side personally seek justice for him.
“Ah, is that so.” Although Wenxi was four years older than Rong Xun, he had followed him to the suburban farm at a very young age and stayed there for seventeen years. Though life had been hard, he remained pure-hearted and couldn’t think quite that deeply about things. He had always thought that since the young master was, after all, the Marquis’s biological son and had once been deeply loved by the concubine back then, the Marquis should at least be somewhat partial toward the young master.
Wenxi’s spirits immediately drooped. He suddenly felt that life back at the Marquis’s Estate might not be very pleasant either. “Young Master, once we go back, are we going to keep getting bullied?”
He had just escaped a tiger’s den with the young master; he hoped they weren’t walking right into a wolf’s lair.
“No,” Rong Xun blurted out, though the answer sounded a bit lacking in confidence. “Probably not. I’m going to be married off to the Prince of Chen’s Manor not long after we return.” If they were going to be bullied, it would probably be at the Prince of Chen’s Manor. At the very least, he was now the nominal fiancé of the Prince of Chen. Surface-level appearances still had to be maintained, so the people of the Marquis of Yong’an’s Estate shouldn’t give him trouble right now.
In less than half a day, the carriage arrived at the gates of the Marquis of Yong’an’s Estate. Along the way, seeing that Rong Xun had regained consciousness, Nanny Wang had secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Rong Xun was still the Seventh Young Master of the estate, and this was his first homecoming in seventeen years; if he had been carried in unconscious, it would have looked rather unsightly.
“Young Master, we have arrived. Please step out of the carriage.” Outside, Nanny Wang had already extended her hands, ready to support Rong Xun at a moment’s notice.
“Cough, cough, cough.”
The carriage door opened, and before anyone could even be seen, a suppressed fit of coughing drifted out. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was enough for the pages guarding the gates to hear. Nanny Wang’s expression changed slightly, and belatedly, she bent her waist a bit lower, reaching out to help Rong Xun down from the carriage.
As a cold wind blew, a corner of plain white clothing fluttered. Rong Xun stepped down from the footrest shakily, walking three steps and resting everyone. His face was pale and devoid of color, making it seem as though a slightly stronger gust of wind could knock him flat right then and there.
Wenxi tightly clutched Rong Xun’s arm, not daring to let go, while smiling slightly in a corner where no one could see. Previously, he had only known that the young master was brilliant at his studies, but he never expected his acting skills to be top-notch as well. When he put on his act of illness, he had almost fooled him, too. If he hadn’t stayed by his side year-round, he really would have thought Rong Xun was on the verge of death.
Seeing Rong Xun’s condition, Nanny Wang’s heart sank deeper and deeper. Lady Chen had given repeated, earnest instructions to bring him back completely intact. But looking at the Seventh Young Master’s current state, would he even be able to hold on until the day of his wedding with the Prince of Chen? Heaven forbid the Seventh Young Master should kick champagne before the Prince of Chen even arrived in the capital.
Rong Xun was supported by Nanny Wang and Wenxi as they entered through the side door. According to the laws of the State of Jing, children born to concubines were not permitted to use the main entrance.
Fist pressed against his lips, Rong Xun coughed intermittently. He calmly sized up the door frames on both sides of the side entrance, lifted his leg to step over a threshold that was nearly as high as his knees, and narrowed his eyes imperceptibly.
Damn it, this is so frustrating.
Nanny Wang first led Rong Xun to pay respects to the Marquis’s wife.
The moment Lady Chen saw his appearance, the words sitting on the tip of her tongue were swallowed back down. She hurriedly instructed someone to summon a physician.
“Nanny Wang, take the Seventh Young Master to Warm Fragrance Pavilion in the Southern Courtyard to rest. Such a poor child, how did he manage to get so thin?”
“Understood, Madam.” Nanny Wang hesitated for a second before complying.
“Cough, cough, cough.”
Rong Xun couldn’t help coughing again, offering Lady Chen a difficult bow with Wenxi’s support. “Thank you, Mother.”
“We are all family, there’s no need for thanks.” A faint smile hung on the corners of Lady Chen’s lips. Finished speaking, she instructed the maid behind her, “Hongxiu, go find a few nimble-fingered pages and maids to wait on the Seventh Young Master.”
“Yes, Madam.” Acknowledging the command, Hongxiu lowered her head and quickly stepped out.
“If anything is missing later, just tell Nanny Wang,” Lady Chen said affectionately, pulling Rong Xun’s hand. “Don’t worry about anything; getting your health back into shape right now is the most important thing.”
Outwardly, Rong Xun nodded obediently, but inwardly he couldn’t help sneering. Lady Chen was probably just afraid he would suddenly drop dead of illness, leaving no one to substitute in marriage for her son. He was good-looking, and even when ill he didn’t look too disheveled; instead, it added a touch of fragile handsomeness that instantly inspired pity in anyone who looked at him.
Yet, when Lady Chen looked at that face of his, her expression turned cold.
“Nanny Wang, take the Seventh Young Master away, and have the physician properly look after his health.” As she spoke, she slowly pulled her hand back, turned around to return to her chair, and picked up her teacup, refusing to spare Rong Xun even half a glance.
The people in the Marquis’s Estate were certainly efficient. The moment Rong Xun stepped into Warm Fragrance Pavilion, two physicians who had been waiting for a long time swarmed over. After examining him for a long while, they prescribed a pile of restorative tonics for his health before departing with their medical boxes on their backs.
After all the commotion, the crowd of people in the room finally dispersed completely. Rong Xun told the newly arrived pages and maids to step outside, leaving only Wenxi to attend to him indoors.
“Ah, I can finally get a good night’s sleep.” Rong Xun rolled around on the warm, comfortable bed. The charcoal fire in Warm Fragrance Pavilion was blazing, and the room even had a heated brick bed underneath. He hadn’t slept a single peaceful night back at the farm. Now, resting in such a comfortable environment, drowsiness washed over him.
Yawning, he patted the empty spot beside him and said to Wenxi, “Wenxi, come up and sleep together. This bed is so comfortable.”
“No, Young Master, please don’t make fun of me,” Wenxi said in a flustered tone. “How can this servant share a bed with his master? Please spare me this disrespect.”
“Why are you still so rigid? There’s no one else around.” Rong Xun mumbled. Seeing the look of impending tears on Wenxi’s face, he stopped while he was ahead. “Alright, I won’t joke with you. Suit yourself, then. I’m really going to sleep.”
“Then, Young Master, what do we do next?”
“We do whatever we’re supposed to. Our top priority right now is to whip our bodies into tip-top shape.” Rong Xun’s voice gradually grew softer. “Health is the capital of revolution. Sleep, sleep. Even matters as big as the sky can wait until tomorrow.”
Moments after he finished speaking, Wenxi heard the steady sound of even breathing coming from the bed.
Wenxi furrowed his brows with worry, quietly lowering the bed curtains on both sides and retreating to a daybed nearby to keep watch. Now that they were in the Marquis’s Estate, all their food and clothing were countless times better than before; even guarding the bed in winter didn’t feel cold.
What worried Wenxi most was still his young master. Ever since the young master’s second drowning, his personality had changed significantly upon waking, and he would occasionally blurt out things Wenxi had never heard before. He no longer looked as grief-stricken and melancholic as he used to, yet Wenxi felt that the young master looked at everything far too indifferently.
Could it be.
Wenxi couldn’t help guessing that Rong Xun was heartbroken to the core and no longer had any attachment to the mortal world, and was having thoughts of taking his own life again. After all, it wasn’t as if it hadn’t happened before. Back at the farm, hadn’t his young master tried to end his life three times?
Wenxi’s eyes instantly turned red. Clasping his hands together, he silently prayed for the concubine mother in heaven to bless the young master.
Over the next few days, Rong Xun truly focused on recuperating his health. He stayed indoors, never stepping outside the gates. Aside from the Marquis’s wife whom he had seen on the day he entered the estate, he hadn’t laid eyes on a single other member of the family. Every day upon waking, he waited for maids and pages to wait on him, demanding the finest food and the most nourishing drinks. Even the bitter medicinal tonics brought by the maids were downed in a single breath.
His body had indeed been far too weak; sometimes just walking a few steps left him panting for half a day.
Lady Chen was probably genuinely terrified that Rong Xun wouldn’t survive until the wedding day, so everything she gave him was of top quality. Within just a few days, Rong Xun’s complexion had improved significantly, and even Wenxi, who followed closely by his side, had visibly rounded out a bit.
That day, Rong Xun was resting his eyes while lying on the daybed when he overheard a discussion among the maids in the front hall:
“I heard Sister Chen from external procurement say today that the Prince of Chen’s army will be entering the city before long.”
“I heard it too! Right now, people are gathering on Changrong Street every day just to catch a glimpse of that God of War prince.”
Hearing this, Rong Xun couldn’t help raising an eyebrow.
Does that mean his never-before-seen fiancé is coming back soon?