Ren Yijun had truly awakened, though he still appeared unwell, his face devoid of color. First Madam was sitting on the edge of the bed, tucking in his blanket while speaking softly to him, her eyes still red and swollen.
Seeing Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua enter, First Madam paused and nodded to them, a faint smile on her face. "You've come?"
After stepping forward to pay their respects, Ren Yaoqi asked softly, "We heard Third Brother is doing better, so Third Sister and I came to see him. Aunt, has the doctor been here? What did he say?"
First Madam stood up. "The doctor has already come and prescribed a few more doses of medicine. He said as long as he can take the medicine and eat, he will gradually recover. Later, I’ll invite a few more doctors to the mansion to examine him."
Ren Yaoqi nodded, feeling a sense of relief.
At that moment, First Madam’s head maid entered to report that the matron from the eldest young madam’s quarters had arrived, seemingly with some matter to seek First Madam’s instructions.
First Madam glanced at Ren Yijun again, then hesitated before saying to Ren Yaoqi, "Qi'er, you and your third brother are closest. Please help me persuade him to take his medicine properly and not throw any more tantrums."
Ren Yijun, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. "Where is that woman?" His voice, though hoarse and weak, was clearly displeased.
Ren Yaoqi didn’t immediately understand whom he was referring to, but First Madam quickly walked over. Without regard for Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua’s presence, she coaxed him softly, "First, focus on recovering. Once you’re better, I’ll do whatever you want. If you feel Qi Yuegui isn’t worthy of you, I’ll think of a way once you’ve regained your health. But if you don’t recover, how can I send her away? The fact that you’re improving now might even be because..."
This remark seemed to touch a nerve in Ren Yijun. Enraged, he raised his hand to strike the edge of the bed, startling First Madam Ren so much that her face turned pale. She hurriedly grabbed his hand and said, "My son, don’t be angry, please don’t be angry. I won’t say anything more, I won’t say anything at all. I’ll do whatever you want, alright?"
Ren Yijun looked at First Madam and said word by word, "Drive her away! I don’t want to see her again!"
Ren Yaoqi finally understood. It seemed Qi Yuegui had offended not First Madam but Ren Yijun, which was why First Madam had punished her by making her kneel. But Ren Yijun had been bedridden and only woke up this morning. How could Qi Yuegui have offended him? Ren Yaoqi was utterly perplexed.
First Madam quickly replied, "Alright, alright, I’ll drive her away. I’ll go and drive her away right now! Just stay calm, alright?"
Ren Yijun pursed his lips tightly and stared at First Madam without saying a word.
First Madam sighed, instructed the servants in Ren Yijun’s room to take good care of him, glanced at Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua, and then turned to leave.
After First Madam left, Ren Yaoqi approached Ren Yijun. Seeing that aside from the three of them, only two maids remained in the room, she reached out to check his pulse.
Ren Yijun glanced at her, then closed his eyes and ignored her, though he didn’t shake off her fingers.
Although Ren Yaoqi could read prescriptions and recognized many medicinal herbs by following descriptions, she was still an amateur when it came to diagnosing illnesses and taking pulses. Nevertheless, she carefully checked Ren Yijun’s pulse, recalling the medical books she had read. It seemed his pulse was relatively steady, at least much better than when she had last visited.Thinking of what First Madam had said earlier, Ren Yaoqi said softly, "Third Brother, it's truly wonderful that you've regained consciousness..."
Unexpectedly, Ren Yijun sneered without even opening his eyes, "What's so wonderful? The world just gained another useless person."
Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was momentarily stunned. Could it be that Ren Yijun had suddenly fallen seriously ill because he no longer wanted to live?
Ren Yaohua couldn't stand Ren Yijun's attitude and immediately mocked, "At least you're still a useless person who can breathe, giving your family some peace of mind. If you were dead, you'd be even less than useless!"
A vein throbbed on Ren Yijun's forehead. Ren Yaoqi gave Ren Yaohua a pained look and signaled her with her eyes. Ren Yaohua glanced at the half-dead Ren Yijun, pursed her lips, and silently turned to sit elsewhere.
Ren Yaoqi said, "Third Brother, Third Sister has always spoken this way. Please don't be angry with her."
She paused before continuing, "Although her words may sound harsh, there is truth to them. People don't live solely for themselves. When you suddenly fell seriously ill this time, your mother worried so much that her hair turned white. These past few days, she hasn't slept or rested, staying by your side without even returning to her own courtyard." Ren Yaoqi didn't comment on First Madam's character, but it was undeniable that she was a good mother. Whether it was toward Ren Yaoyin or Ren Yijun, she gave her all in caring for them.
Seeing that Ren Yijun remained silent, Ren Yaoqi added, "Some people are born with good backgrounds, good looks, and good health, yet they choose to live in a drunken stupor, drifting aimlessly through life. Others have ambitions, talent, and ability but lack a good family background, destined to serve others their entire lives, with all their efforts ultimately benefiting someone else. Third Brother, you have talent, looks, and ambition, yet you are trapped in this courtyard because of your health. If I were you, I would also feel resentment and unwillingness. But the world has never been fair."
Ren Yijun stared blankly at the bed canopy above him, his eyes wide open.
"I know someone who, like you, has been in poor health since childhood. Yet I have never seen resentment or unwillingness in him. In fact, people who meet him unconsciously overlook his physical shortcomings, captivated only by his grace. But has he truly never felt discontented about his circumstances? I doubt it. Your background may not compare to his, but the hardships Heaven has given you are the same. The difference is that he overcame them, while you compromised. 'When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it first tests their resolve, exhausts their body, starves their flesh, empties their being, and disrupts their actions, so as to strengthen their will and enhance their abilities'—this describes someone like him. What I'm curious about is, if he can achieve this, why can't you? Thinking about this person's existence, Third Brother, do you still believe you are trapped in this inner courtyard solely because of your poor health?"
Ren Yijun remained silent for a long time. Just as Ren Yaoqi thought he wouldn't speak, he suddenly said, "Xiao Jingxi... the person you're talking about is Xiao Jingxi? I... I am indeed far inferior to him."Ren Yaoqi smiled: "How do you know you're not as good as him if you've never tried? Third Brother, focus on recovering and getting better. If Father can win this literary competition, he might receive an offer from Yunyang Academy. How about going to be his study companion then?"
Ren Yijun gave a slight lift to the corner of his mouth.
Having said all she could, Ren Yaoqi didn't know what else she could do to console Ren Yijun. These matters still needed Ren Yijun to come to terms with them himself.
First Madam had stood by the curtain outside the inner chamber for a long time, listening to the conversation inside. She took out a handkerchief to dab the corners of her eyes, then turned and went out again.
"First Madam, aren't you going to stay and watch over Third Young Master?" a maid cautiously asked.
First Madam shook her head: "It's rare that he's willing to listen to advice. Let Yaoqi talk with him for a while. I'll go check on the eldest daughter-in-law again—some of the accounts she's handling aren't clear." As she spoke, First Madam couldn't help but reflect: over these years, had she been too controlling of him because she was overly concerned about Ren Yijun's poor health?
The maid asked: "What about Third Young Madam? Should we really send her back as Third Young Master wishes?"
First Madam sighed: "Where can we send her now that she's already been carried through the door? Didn't we just have her taken to the side courtyard? Let her stay there for now. Tell her not to go out unless necessary, so Third Young Master won't see her."
Yesterday, they had brought her in for the wedding to ward off illness, and today Ren Yijun's condition had greatly improved. If they were to send her away now, even if she wasn't afraid of people saying the Ren Family was ungrateful, she still had to consider Ren Yijun's illness. Who knew if it really was the effect of the wedding?
"Why does Jun'er dislike Madam Qi so much?" First Madam had only been busy with joy and calling for doctors when she heard Ren Yijun had woken up, not leaving his bedside for a moment. Seeing Ren Yijun lose his temper with Qi Yuegui, she had merely thought her son looked down on her and hadn't looked deeper. Now, thinking about it, something seemed off.
The maid said: "When I heard the young master had woken up, I came with you. I only saw Third Young Master losing his temper with Third Young Madam as soon as we entered. Should I go ask the maid who was on night duty in the young master's room?"
First Madam nodded, her face cold: "We should call her to ask. If Madam Qi really did something improper, I wouldn't feel comfortable keeping her either."
Thus, the maid from Ren Yijun's room was called out by First Madam's people on some pretext.
The maid had known First Madam would come to question her once she had collected her thoughts, so she answered smoothly: "Early this morning, before dawn, Third Young Madam got up. Afterward, she wanted to serve Third Young Master by washing his face and hands. We couldn't very well stop her. Later, Third Young Madam asked us to bring the medicine, saying she would feed it to Third Young Master. Third Young Master still had no reaction and refused to drink it. Then, Third Young Madam took out a foul-smelling packet from her own pocket and held it close to Third Young Master's nose and mouth, muttering something all the while. I heard her say the thing in her hand was some kind of animal's feces that could cure all illnesses. If Third Young Master refused to drink the medicine, she would stuff that thing into his nose and feed it to him through his nostrils. She even said she had once cured a sow in her family this way, so it should work on people too..."At this point, the maid’s expression turned extremely strange, and First Madam’s face also changed, trembling with anger. "How utterly outrageous!"
The maid quickly added, "But Third Young Master really did wake up." Though it was quite possible he had been angered awake by his newlywed wife.
"When Third Young Lady saw the young master had woken up, she tried to force medicine down his throat. Third Young Master smashed the bowl and told her to get out, but Third Young Lady said... she said she had married a useless man who couldn’t even drink medicine. Then you arrived, and when you fed Third Young Master the medicine, he didn’t spit it out again."
Lately, I’ve been feeling physically weak, always cold in my hands and feet. Today, I wore a round, puffy cotton-padded jacket at home, and when my father saw it, he composed a playful poem: "From afar, it looks like a ball; up close, it still looks like a ball; the more I look, the more it resembles a ball—turns out, it is a ball."
Author: "..."
The author must have been a free gift with a mobile phone recharge... 〒_〒...
Too tired to love...
The author, severely wounded in spirit, begs for votes as comfort... 〒_〒
OpenNovel