Faced with Qingru's decision, Rulin did not feel depressed anymore and asked the emperor to renew his leave again and again. Since he was only a minor official at the moment, the emperor did not take him as a newly promoted scholar seriously and let him go.
One rainy night, he visited the Li family. Li Shi silently took him to Qingru's room, and then sent away the few waiting people.
Qingru quietly rustled flowers on the couch. When she saw them walking in, she put down the cloth in her hands, looked at the old furniture in the room, and then looked at Rulin's expression.
"Dad, my place is in tatters. Why did you bring Brother Zhang in?"
The two of them were sitting next to the old armchair, looking at each other, smiling, and then sitting quietly.
"Third girl, Rulin is going back to the capital..."
"He wants to take you back, let's see what you think." Before she could say anything, Li Shi continued: "Actually, Rulin has a bright future. Daddy thinks it's a good place to go."
After urging him again, he stood up and clasped his hands on his waist: "Rulin is a good boy. Let him go. Give the baby a good birth and return it to the King of England..."
Speaking of which, Qingru clutched her stomach with red eyes: "No, you can't..." "This is my flesh and blood, I won't give it to the King of England!"
Rulin looked at her posture, and then he closed the sadness on his brows again and again, and became silent.
"Sister Ru, come to me and I will take care of you and the child! No matter what you choose, I will follow you. I really don't want to watch you spend your whole life being an orphan because of this child."
She was stunned and suddenly felt a sour taste in her mouth. She waved her hand to pull down the bed curtains and refused to speak any more.
Rulin stood in front of the bed curtain, looking at the blazing heater in the room, listening to her sad and beautiful crying voice, and her white crisp fingers peeking out from under the window curtain, he stayed in place with sadness.
After a long time, she fell asleep in the tent, and Li Shi patted Ru Lin on the shoulder and took him to the front hall. Along the way, the early spring in the North did not enter this tranquil garden where all the sceneries were in decline. The withered yellow bamboos were still hanging down listlessly. As we walked, people's mood also declined along with the scenery. The night was like water, and the cold was soaking in. The bones were broken, and the hurried drizzle soaked the brows. The two of them gathered their cloaks and walked, when they met Li Xianke, who had just returned from private school. Xianke was walking away with a large bag of bean cakes and chestnut cakes, chatting and laughing with the maid Cui He. , when he met Li Shi and Zhang Rulin, he stopped smiling and bowed gently:
"Dad! Brother Rulin!"
Li Shi took a closer look at Xianke's clothes, stood there and looked at him for a long time, and then found that he had many things in his hands, while the hands of the maid Cuihe were empty. Smelling the smell of meat smoke all over his body again, Li Shi curled his lips and said, "Where have you two been?"
Xianxiao replied with a smile: "Dad, I went to the street to buy some delicious tea snacks with sister Cuihe. In the evening, I will make roasted meat and make a cloud offering. Do you want to come tonight?"
Shi raised his eyelids and said: "If you want to eat it, just ask the servants to cook it. But you, a young master, hang out with the servants every day, what does it look like!"
Shi did not raise his voice, but just put his hands in his sleeves and spoke arrogantly. He looked at Cuihe again and said: "Cuihe used to be the most capable servant girl around Qingya. How could he be so disrespectful to serve the young master?" , let my son hold the big and small bags, is he the master or are you the master?"
Cuihe pressed his head again and again, then bowed and reached out to take the two packets of cakes, but was stopped by Xianke - "No need! You have been grinding ink for me for a whole day, and your hands are all wet." It’s turning red from the cold!”
Xianke refuted again: "It's what I want to mention, dad doesn't have to worry about it!"
Hearing this, Shi glanced at Cuihe and wanted to criticize her, but when he saw that there were outsiders around him, he couldn't scold her. Instead, he smiled and said to Xianke, "You are thinking about this servant, but Xianke Son, you must know that you are a young master, and there is an order of hierarchy among superiors and subordinates. Now that Brother Zhang is here, I will call you Brother Zhang a joke!"
Xianke bowed and smiled at Zhang Rulin: "Brother Rulin must be a discerning person. This early spring is the coldest than winter. My little servant girl has been grinding ink for me for a whole day, and my hands are so cold that the skin is peeling off. It should be stuffed in your purse to keep warm. The pastries are not heavy in my hands, so I can just carry them. Cuihe is my daughter’s house, and it will be bad if my hands are frozen!"
Cuihe stood beside him, looking up
Listening to his sincere eyes and his young yet powerful voice, she twisted the silk in her hand around and around her fingertips.
Rulin nodded and smiled to show his understanding, and then said: "Yes, Xianke, you are considerate of my little servant girl, you are really a kind-hearted person."
"I'm not showing sympathy for the servant girl, but I only care about He'er!" Xianke replied again.
Zhang Rulin felt that it was inappropriate for him to say this in front of other servants, as it would cause dissatisfaction and rumors among the other servants, so he first looked around, then smiled calmly, as if to smooth things over - "Hey, I have seen this girl before. No matter how decent he is and what he does, if I were you, I would definitely cherish him. Such a considerate little servant girl, no wonder you consider her like this."
Li Xianken nodded.
At this time, Shi Fu said: "Anyway, Cui He, you don't have to do anything about distance. You are an old man who used to be with the second girl. You must not be slack or arrogant when serving the young master. Did you know that?"
"Although Fourth Brother thinks highly of you, you are no different from other servants. Merits will be rewarded and misdeeds will be punished. Do you understand?"
General Shi's hands were tied tightly and he was extremely arrogant. This was a very ordinary sentence for a master, but after Xian Ke heard it, he didn't know where the courage came from. Instead of being as silent as usual, he directly said to his father in front of him: "Don't worry about me, Daddy, He'er will be by my side for five days." After many years, she is gentle and considerate, low-key and sensible. She is not as wanton and rude as dad said. Moreover, she is my little servant girl. It is my business to prefer her, and I have never regarded her as anything. Treat like a servant!"
"Fourth brother..." Shi Jiang frowned and was about to say something, but was interrupted by Li Xianke's sudden farewell.
——"Dad, I won't say any more to you, I'm going back to my room to rest!"
His farewell look was so calm and powerful, and he passed by in a flash. He didn't pay attention to his father's surprised look in his eyes at all, and he walked quickly to signal Cuihe to keep up with his agile pace.
Shi turned to look at Xianke's retreating figure, confused. He had no idea that Li Xianke, who had been silent and well-behaved since childhood, would talk back to him today over a servant. This was not only a contempt for his majesty as a father, but also an attack on his status as the head of the family.
This time, a deep seed was planted in Li Shi's heart.
It was a spring day, the sun was so bright, Li Xianke had free time and Cui He set up an oven in the pavilion in the courtyard to roast the meat. One of the two people was mixing sauces and side dishes in a bowl, while the other was slowly fanning the air over the charcoal fire next to the grill. There were lamb slices, Hu pancakes, golden bamboo shoots and more on the log plates next to them. There were some pepper condiments, and hot wine was burning in the pot on the other side. The honey-hot roasting was accompanied by the rich plum wine, lingering like mist and smoke in the sky above the courtyard, making the servants all around smell and salivate. Don't give up.
Seeing that the sauce and water were mixed in her hand, Cuihe was about to take the small cattail leaf fan from Xianke's hand and prepare to let her bake it, but Xianke gently took her hand away and said, "Who wants to ask you to do such a dirty job? Wouldn't it be nice if I was the one doing the baking every time? I told you, you are a daughter, so you should protect your hands and cheeks well. If you are exposed to smoke or fire, it won't look good!"
Cuihe gradually stopped her hand and squatted aside to watch him roasting meat. The bright warm flames shone on the young man's face, and the orange flashing flames reflected in his clear eyes, just like the heat in his heart when he was young and youthful.
Cui He looked at it for a while and then didn't dare to look at it anymore! He quickly lowered his head and looked confusedly for something on the newly made shoes.
"What are you looking for? Don't these shoes look good?" Xian asked after seeing her looking down at the shoes seriously.
"It looks good, it looks good, I like it!" She smiled, a slight pear dimple reflected on her cheek.
"If you like it, I will pick more good materials to make shoes and clothes for you."
Without waiting for Xian Ke to finish speaking, Cui He hurriedly waved his hand and refused: "No, no need. The slave's shoes and clothes are enough. It would be a waste to buy more!"
"What a waste, money can't buy you like it! Don't you like beautiful clothes in your daughter's house? My sister was with King Yong, and she had to change three sets of clothes a day. King Yong tried his best to buy them for her , although I cannot give you something valuable like King Yong, but this is the minimum I have to give you."
Cui He did not express her understanding, and continued to look into his eyes, lowering her head - "I understand, but after all, King Yong and the lady are husband and wife.
, slave... and Fourth Brother, are master and servant, which have different meanings. "
"I know that Fourth Brother treats me well, but... there is a difference between superiority and inferiority. If you treat me so well, it would be inappropriate for other caring people to look at you and say something bad to you."
Hearing this, Xianke slowly put down the tongs and fan in his hands, looked at the hot flames, and blushed.
At this time, he did not dare to look at Cui He's sincere eyes, and could only face the heater in front of him.
It took him a long time to carefully say: "You should understand my... thoughts about you."
"The reason why I treat you well is because I have sincere affection for you!"
Cui He was shocked, still doubting something, but she understood everything from his sudden gaze.
She did not refute or argue, but walked silently to the stove where the wine was being made, looked at him quietly, and then lowered her head an inch: "Fourth brother, you are now a young man, and you have just begun to understand the love between your children. It is inevitable, but we must not be treated like a king and a lady."
"In my heart, I really treat my fourth brother as my younger brother."
Hearing this, Xian Ke raised his head slightly, looked at her righteous words, lowered his face again, continued to fan the fire with his hand, and turned over the meat on the iron rack.
The two of them didn't say a word again until they finished eating. After eating, Xianke went back to the room and soaked in the library.
He has been taciturn since he was a child and is not good at expressing himself. He is only used to being friends with poems and books, as well as pen and ink. Since his mother passed away five years ago, he has grown up under the strict guidance of his father, and he has become unclear about the thin layer of family affection. The only thing he has is that Cui He is around all the year round, caring and caring to him.
Even now, his special feelings for Cui He are getting out of hand.
