Yu Xiangbo’s expression froze instantly; he wore a pained, forced smile of disbelief. “Ex… exile?”
Yu Tingzheng was also stunned. “How can it, be so serious?”
“The law of the current dynasty is as such,” Su Chenyan replied calmly. “However, if the matter is not reported to the authorities, then naturally it will be as if nothing happened.”
Yu Tingzheng breathed a secret sigh of relief and gave a soft, affirmative response. If the authorities were truly involved, he feared he would be branded with the reputation of being unfilial.
Yu Xiangbo had beaten and scolded him in the past because he was his son. Now that he was no longer a part of that family, he had been caught off guard and injured today. Yu Tingzheng vowed secretly that he would never allow the man to harm him again. Furthermore, Yu Xiangbo was a coward by nature who feared trouble; after this incident, he would surely never dare to bother him again.
Qiao Xie draped an arm over Yu Tingzheng’s shoulder and said loudly, “To think our dynasty has such a law! I shall keep a close eye on things from now on. If Uncle Yu dares to strike A-Zheng even once more, it’ll be three months of prison food plus a year of exile. We’ll see if Uncle Yu can still stay in Yanti Village, then.”
Master Yu swallowed hard. He knew they had decided to let him go this time, but he remained uneasy. He grabbed Yu Tingzheng’s hand and said pleadingly, “Zheng’er, I’m sorry. It’s Father’s, I was just too anxious. As long as your mother is unwell, I cannot find peace. That is why I hurt you. Please, please forgive me this once.”
Even at this point, he was still trying to deceive him.
His father’s mouth was full of lies. Though the man was his biological father, Yu Tingzheng only felt the pain in his stomach transfer to his chest. With a trembling hand, he pushed the man’s grip away and withdrew his hand.
“As for forgiveness… let it be. There is no need… for us to meet… in the future.”
With that, he bid farewell to the teacher and prepared to return to the Pei house. Qiao Xie, still worried, walked him all the way to the gate before leaving.
The butler and A-Tong hadn’t been able to find Yu Tingzheng at home and assumed he had gone out for business. After waiting half the day without his return, they were just about to head out to search for him when he appeared. Seeing his poor complexion, they grew worried and crowded around him, asking what had happened.
Yu Tingzheng did not tell them what he had endured. He merely said he had gone to see the teacher and that the heat had perhaps caused a touch of heatstroke. The two men pulled him into the room, added some ice, and poured him water to drink.
Not long after, a knock sounded at the gate. A-Tong went to answer it and returned with a white porcelain bottle. He said the Young Master of the Wei family had delivered it on behalf of the teacher, instructing Yu Tingzheng to take two pills daily for the next few days.
Yu Tingzheng couldn’t help but be surprised. He remembered the teacher’s hand on his wrist and realized that he had been checking his pulse this was medicine to treat his internal injuries.
A-Tong examined the bottle closely, pulling back the blue cloth-wrapped stopper and sniffing the opening. “What is this?”
Yu Tingzheng took the bottle and stammered, “The teacher… saw my complexion… was poor, and gave me… something to nourish… my body.”
The butler stared at the medicine bottle for a while, making Yu Tingzheng feel a bit guilty. The butler then sighed and said, “While it is a kind gesture, one should not take too much. Our Young Master, alas, has been soaked in medicine jars since he was a child. Once you take too much medicine, your body becomes dependent on it.”
Yu Tingzheng was taken aback. “I won’t… take too much.”
Seeing the boy looking pensive and melancholy, the butler poured him some water. “Master Yu, please take the medicine.”
With the water in one hand and a pill in the other, Yu Tingzheng put the medicine in his mouth and swallowed it.
“Do you not find the medicine bitter?” A-Tong asked, curiously sniffing the bottle, which emitted waves of an unpleasant odor. His face twisted in a grimace.
Yu Tingzheng smacked his lips and shook his head. “It’s not bitter.”
“Then you are much more impressive than the Young Master! He hates bitter medicine. Every time he has to take it, he has to be coaxed, and he absolutely must have preserved fruits afterward.”
“What are… preserved fruits?”
“Sweets,” A-Tong replied with a grin. “For children.”
He only dared to say such things when his master wasn’t around. If Pei Qingyu heard him, he would receive a punch at the very least. “But the Young Master always eats them in secret. As servants, we act as if we haven’t seen a thing. One cannot say a word about it, or he will be very displeased.”
Yu Tingzheng chuckled, imagining Pei Qingyu finishing his medicine with a stiff face and then secretly eating a piece of candy. The thought was quite amusing. With this laugh, his face regained some color.
The butler shook his head with a smile. “Madam and the Young Master should be returning tomorrow, and we’re almost out of food. A-Tong, come with me to town to buy groceries later.”
“Understood!” Life in the village was dull; A-Tong was thrilled at the prospect of going out and insisted on bringing Yu Tingzheng along.
In all his years, the furthest Yu Tingzheng had ever gone was to Mount Ling to gather firewood or pick mushrooms. Hearing that they were going to town, his eyes widened. Forgetting the pain of the kick, he jumped up and said he wanted to go. The butler didn’t try to persuade him to rest and instead went to prepare the carriage.
This was Yu Tingzheng’s first time riding in a carriage, and he found it entirely novel. He climbed inside and looked left and right, thinking to himself that wealthy families were truly different even their travel involved a carriage.
As the carriage began to move, he grew nervous and sat stiffly. When he caught the butler smiling at him from across the seat, his face turned red with embarrassment. The carriage had a small window, and the curtain swayed with the motion, letting in bits of light. Growing curious after sitting for a while, Yu Tingzheng couldn’t help but lift the curtain and peer outside.
Juhe Town was not far from Yanti Village; it took only half an hour by carriage. Yu Tingzheng spent the whole trip looking at the scenery. When they arrived and he climbed down, he realized his backside was quite sore from the jolting of the carriage.
However, that didn’t matter. He was instantly dazzled by the scene before him. The people of Juhe Town lived along the river, which was bustling with boats. On the streets, vendors called out their wares, music played from the taverns, and the sounds of friends shouting and drinking filled the air. It was even more lively and prosperous than he had imagined.
Seeing his curiosity, A-Tong puffed out his chest and explained things to him one by one. Though he had only been there for three months, he acted more like a local than the boy who had been born and raised there.
The three of them stopped and started, buying whatever delicious food or interesting toys they saw. By the time they reached the end of the market, they hadn’t bought any of the planned groceries, but were laden with various items. Yu Tingzheng had never spent money so lavishly before. Despite his repeated protests, the butler and A-Tong insisted on buying things, claiming they wanted them, but the items always ended up in his hands or his mouth.
Because they had arrived late, the sun was setting by the time they finished their stroll. Seeing the vendors starting to pack up, they remembered their purpose. They managed to buy their ingredients just before the market closed and hurried back to the village in the fading twilight.
That night, after bathing, Yu Tingzheng climbed into bed. As he snuggled into the fragrant, soft bedding, the thought of Pei Qingyu’s return tomorrow made him feel inexplicably unhappy.
Pei Qingyu had many rules. When he was around, Yu Tingzheng always felt as if he were bound by invisible shackles; he had to be extremely cautious in everything he did, lest he inadvertently displease the other boy. Yu Tingzheng didn’t want Pei Qingyu to be unhappy, so he acted with great care. The days while Pei Qingyu was away had been the most comfortable of his life.
As soon as this thought occurred to him, he slapped his own head. This is the Pei house! How could I wish for him not to return? That’s far too much.
He forced himself to think of Pei Qingyu’s good points. As he thought, he began to miss him intensely, wishing he could see him right this moment.
He tossed and turned all night. Finally, at the first light of dawn, he was ready to welcome the other boy back only to hear a knock at the door. A-Tong was standing outside, shouting for him to hurry up and get ready for school.
Yu Tingzheng suddenly remembered: after the two-day break, he had to go to the academy today. He had completely forgotten!
With a sudden burst of energy, Yu Tingzheng flipped out of bed. He quickly changed, washed up, took his book box, and dashed out of the house. Running outside, he found it was drizzling. He turned back to grab an umbrella and collided head-on with A-Tong, who was running out to give him one. The impact left him grimacing in pain, and tears welled in his eyes.