Lu Zhuo felt utterly weak.
It was as if he had endured a long dream—a dream shrouded in darkness, his consciousness like stagnant water. At times, he could hear faint sounds, but their meanings eluded him, and soon everything would sink back into deathly silence.
Only when he opened his eyes and caught the first glimmer of light did Lu Zhuo suddenly remember who he was—recalling the injury he had sustained on the battlefield and his return home.
But this was not his bed; his bed would never be adorned with such vibrant red.
Lu Zhuo tried to turn over, but his body no longer felt like his own. He couldn’t even manage to shift, let alone make a sound.
Behind him, the steady, rhythmic sound of breathing indicated that there was someone else sharing the bed.
Lu Zhuo’s gaze fell once more upon the crimson wedding quilt before him.
When he had returned to the capital, there were only half a month left until the wedding. Could it be that he had remained unconscious, and the ceremony had proceeded as scheduled?
This was the only explanation Lu Zhuo could think of.
Though his body remained feeble, his mind grew increasingly clear.
That meant the person lying behind him was his newly wedded wife, Sixth Miss Xie, whose given name was Hualou.
Lu Zhuo felt a pang of shame. For her to enter his life in such a manner—it was truly unfair to her.
Despite his near-numb weakness, the need to relieve himself grew urgent. After a moment of calm, Lu Zhuo attempted to move his fingers. Even this small action proved immensely difficult. Finally, his right index finger twitched, but tapping against the soft bedding produced no sound.
His eyes shifted toward the inner bed frame.
His finger was relatively close to it.
In the stillness of the night, Wei Rao was abruptly awakened by a faint, rhythmic tapping sound coming from behind her—like someone gently knocking on the bed.
Bold as she was, Wei Rao felt every hair on her body stand on end. Fortunately, the room was brightly lit, and the festive red decorations softened the eerie chill.
Wei Rao remained still for a moment. Soon, besides the tapping, she could also discern a faint, raspy sound—like someone breathing with their mouth open.
This sound was even more unsettling.
Wei Rao leaped out of bed in one swift motion. The moment her feet touched the floor, she turned defensively, only to find nothing amiss on the bed except Lu Zhuo lying with his back to her.
Her heart raced wildly, her breath coming in sharp gasps as if she had just finished a horse race.
Lu Zhuo couldn’t see, but he could hear—and he could sense her fear. He even expected her to scream or flee, but instead, her footsteps paused.
Was she observing him?
Lu Zhuo tapped three more times.
Finally, Wei Rao noticed the hand partially exposed outside the quilt. What a hand it was—long, slender fingers, deathly pale, and so emaciated they resembled chicken claws soaked in water for too long.
“Young Master, are you awake?” Wei Rao slowly approached the bed, leaning in to look at his face. Sure enough, the man’s eyes were open. His long, dark lashes were perhaps the only feature that remained unchanged about him. Even his hair, after more than ten days of unconsciousness, had become as dry and lifeless as straw.
Lu Zhuo couldn’t see her face, but he could hear her voice. It sounded somewhat familiar, though he supposed most young ladies’ voices were similarly sweet and soft.
Just as Lu Zhuo waited for her to turn him over, she dashed away, joyfully exclaiming, “The Young Master is awake!”
Lu Zhuo furrowed his brow, but he could only endure the frustration in silence.Mama Miao was the first to rush in. After confirming with her own eyes that the Young Lord had awakened, her first thought was to send someone to inform the Duke of Yingguo, the Old Madam, and the various branches of the Lu Family. Her second was to summon the Imperial Physician residing in the guest courtyard.
Wei Rao had already arranged for the young maids to handle these tasks. Tears welled in Mama Miao’s eyes as she wept with joy. After the initial excitement, she remembered the most crucial matter. Sobbing with happiness, she carefully adjusted Lu Zhuo into a position facing outward: "Young Lord, you’ve finally awakened! You’ve been unconscious for eleven days. Don’t worry, the Imperial Physician will be here shortly!"
Lu Zhuo did not look at the woman standing behind Mama Miao. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Mama Miao and moved his lips.
Noticing this, Mama Miao leaned her head closer.
Lu Zhuo uttered, "A Gui"—the young servant who attended to his daily needs.
Understanding, Mama Miao replied affectionately, "Does the Young Lord need to relieve himself? Your back is severely injured, so you mustn’t move now. I’ll fetch the necessary items…"
"A Gui." Lu Zhuo’s gaze suddenly sharpened, and his voice grew slightly louder.
Mama Miao’s wrinkled face flushed with embarrassment. It was her fault—the Young Lord was a man of noble dignity. While he was unconscious, it couldn’t be helped, but now that he was awake, how could he allow an old woman like her to attend to such personal matters?
"Very well, very well, this old servant will fetch A Gui at once," Mama Miao said hurriedly, momentarily forgetting the presence of another person in the room.
With Mama Miao gone, Lu Zhuo’s view was unobstructed, and a figure in a red dress entered his line of sight. He slowly lifted his gaze to see a beauty with cascading black hair. Her lovely face bore no trace of cosmetics—her arched eyebrows and phoenix eyes, fair skin, and cherry-like lips gave her a sweet appearance.
She was also looking at him, seemingly somewhat nervous.
Lu Zhuo did not recognize Wei Rao.
He had only seen her three times—twice in men’s attire, and once at a palace banquet where she had deliberately dressed and made up to appear gentle and demure.
A woman’s hairstyle accounted for half of her overall appearance; changes in hairstyle could drastically alter her beauty or plainness. With her hair loose, it was even harder for someone unfamiliar to recognize her. Moreover, Lu Zhuo had just awoken from a serious illness and had already assumed the woman by his side was his fiancée, Xie Hualou.
Unable to speak, Lu Zhuo nodded with difficulty toward his newlywed wife by the bedside.
Wei Rao suspected that Lu Zhuo did not recognize her.
Just as she was about to explain the matter of the Marriage to ward off misfortune, Liuya hurried in and urgently said to Wei Rao, "Miss, A Gui is here. Shouldn’t you tidy up quickly?"
Everyone had been in a flurry earlier, but now that A Gui had arrived and the Duke of Yingguo and others who lived farther away would soon swarm in, it wouldn’t do for the young lady to be caught unprepared.
Hearing this, Wei Rao immediately slipped away to the western side room. Liuya instructed Bitao to keep watch here while she gathered the hair-styling tools to attend to her mistress.
As Wei Rao changed clothes in the western room, she heard a loud wail from the eastern room—likely from Lu Zhuo’s servant, A Gui.
Wei Rao glanced at Liuya before her. If anything were to happen to her, Liuya would probably weep even more bitterly, wouldn’t she?
Half a quarter-hour later, Wei Rao emerged from the western room. She had changed into everyday attire and styled her hair in a simple yet elegant bun. At such a critical moment, it was not appropriate to dress elaborately.
After attending to the Young Lord, A Gui had been dismissed by Mama Miao, as this was the bridal chamber and there was no reason for him to linger.
Before Wei Rao could go to see Lu Zhuo, the Duke of Yingguo and his party arrived in a rush. Wei Rao hurried over to greet them.No one paid her any attention. From the Duke and Duchess of Yingguo down to Lu Zhuo's youngest cousin Lu Che, every member of the Lu family had their hearts solely focused on Lu Zhuo, each eager to witness with their own eyes the awakening of their dearest kin as quickly as possible.
Wei Rao understood this, so she silently walked at the very back, leaving the space by the bedside to the Lu family members and the Imperial Physician who had been stationed at the Lu residence.
The family let the Imperial Physician examine Lu Zhuo first.
There wasn't much to see—Lu Zhuo had sustained injuries on his back, lost vital energy, and fallen into a coma. Because of his unconscious state, he couldn't eat and had been sustained solely by nourishing soups. This slowed his recovery, and the wounds worsened over time. Now that Lu Zhuo had awakened, all the Imperial Physician could do was continue monitoring him. As long as Lu Zhuo didn't fall unconscious again and followed a regimen of diet and medicinal soups, his wounds would gradually heal, and his depleted vitality would slowly be restored.
"I will first write a prescription for Medicinal Cuisine. The heir has gone too long without proper nourishment. From now on, he should eat small, frequent meals, gradually increasing the amount."
After reassuring the Lu family, the Imperial Physician took his leave.
Lu Zhuo managed to drink a little water but remained in a state where he could only keep his eyes open dryly, unable to speak. His gaze swept over each of his relatives by the bedside—every one of them had grown thinner, their eyes red-rimmed or filled with tears, including his most stern and imposing grandfather, the Duke of Yingguo, whose eyes were also red.
Lu Zhuo smiled faintly, silently telling his family that he had awakened and was alright.
His mother, He Shi, was the happiest and wept the most intensely.
The Duchess of Yingguo scanned the room and spotted Wei Rao standing quietly by the screen. The new bride neither sought credit nor showed resentment; when their eyes met, she even offered a gentle smile.
Having moved past the initial wave of ecstatic relief, the Duchess remembered that this was the newlyweds' chamber. She promptly arranged for her husband and the other sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and granddaughters from the three other branches of the family to return to their quarters and rest, suggesting that any further conversations could wait until the next day.
Eventually, only the Duchess of Yingguo and He Shi remained by the bedside—the mother-in-law seated beside Lu Zhuo, the daughter-in-law standing and wiping her tears.
Recalling the fourth condition Old Mrs. Wei had mentioned, the Duchess of Yingguo, exercising caution, asked Wei Rao to first escort He Shi to the side chamber to wash her face.
Wei Rao considerately assisted He Shi out of the room, with Mama Miao, Bitao, and Liuya following behind.
Only then did the Duchess of Yingguo lean down, stroking her eldest grandson's heartbreakingly gaunt face, and say, "Shoucheng, you were unconscious for eight consecutive days without waking. The Imperial Physicians were at a loss, and Grandmother was truly desperate. I thought of discussing with the Xie family to see if we could move the wedding date forward by a few days, so that the sixth young lady could marry into our family to ward off misfortune through marriage."
Lu Zhuo nodded; he had guessed as much.
However, a faint trace of irony appeared on the Duchess's face. "But fate plays cruel tricks. Grandmother had always liked the sixth young lady, believing the two of you were a match made in heaven. Little did I expect that just when we urgently needed a bride to ward off misfortune, Old Tutor Xie would also reach the end of his lifespan, passing away peacefully the very night before we planned to discuss the marriage to ward off misfortune."
Lu Zhuo stared at his grandmother in astonishment. If Old Tutor Xie had passed away, how could the marriage to ward off misfortune have proceeded? Had he truly indebted his wife to such an extent?The Duchess of Yingguo held her eldest grandson's bony hand and continued, "The Xie family said that the late Grand Tutor doted most on Sixth Miss Xie. If she were to marry during the mourning period after his passing, it would be unfilial. This is reasonable, so I respected their wishes and took the initiative to withdraw from the engagement. The betrothal was called off in the morning, and in the afternoon, your grandfather and I went to Cheng'an Marquis's residence to propose to Fourth Miss Wei Rao. Why Rao Rao? Because I couldn't bear to wrong you. Rao Rao is more beautiful than Sixth Miss Xie in appearance and character..."
While praising Wei Rao, the Duchess of Yingguo watched her grandson closely. In addition to the reasons she admired Wei Rao, she specifically mentioned Wei Rao's kindness and righteousness—the first two conditions Wei Rao had set for the marriage: if the marriage to ward off misfortune failed, she would not accept any betrothal gifts and was willing to observe widowhood for Lu Zhuo for five years.
The Duchess of Yingguo mentioned this not because she was pleased that her family had taken advantage of Wei Rao, but because she wanted Lu Zhuo to understand what an exceptional young woman Wei Rao was. She reminded her grandson not to dislike Wei Rao because of idle gossip outside and to truly treat her as his wife.
Lu Zhuo listened expressionlessly.
Though his body was weak, his mind was perfectly clear.
Wei Rao's mother, Li Guiren, and her father, Master Wei the Second, had once shared a deep affection. Yet after Master Wei the Second's death, Li Guiren had only observed widowhood for three years. He and Wei Rao had no emotional bond, only a slight rift. Would a woman as wild and untamed as Wei Rao willingly marry him to ward off misfortune out of sympathy or gratitude for his service on the frontier?
Lu Zhuo did not believe it.
This marriage to ward off misfortune would undoubtedly benefit Wei Rao.
First, the two conditions would improve her reputation. Otherwise, if she had happily agreed to the marriage or refused the Duchess's proposal outright, her reputation would have suffered even more. Of course, this trouble was brought upon Wei Rao by his family's proposal. It was only natural for Wei Rao to find ways to minimize the losses to Cheng'an Marquis's household, and Lu Zhuo did not fault her for that.
What concerned him was Wei Rao's voluntary proposal to observe widowhood for five years.
To gain a good reputation, three years of mourning would have sufficed. Why did Wei Rao insist on five?
The kitchen sent over the medicinal cuisine—a shallow bowlful.
The Duchess of Yingguo personally fed Lu Zhuo. As he drank, Wei Rao and He Shi returned.
He Shi watched intently as her son finished the medicine and spoke a few cheerful words. Remembering Wei Rao, she took her hand and said to Lu Zhuo, "Shoucheng, your awakening is entirely thanks to Rao Rao bringing you auspicious energy. You must repay her properly in the future."
Lu Zhuo looked at Wei Rao.
In the presence of the two elders, Wei Rao modestly said, "The heir's fortune is naturally blessed. He would have awakened regardless. It has nothing to do with me."
The Duchess of Yingguo and He Shi both refuted her, attributing the credit entirely to Wei Rao.
Wei Rao had no choice but to lower her head as if in shyness.
Seeing this, Lu Zhuo felt only a cold sneer.
The idea that a marriage to ward off misfortune could save someone—such an absurd notion—he had never believed, nor would he ever believe it.
His awakening was due to his own fate, not yet sealed. It had nothing to do with Wei Rao or any other woman willing to marry him for this purpose.
Author's Note: Heir Lu may be a dog, but we must praise his firm belief in science!
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