Marrying Gold and Jade

He nodded without daring to look at anyone.

As for his "like", Lin Yu chose not to ask any more questions.

Some things should be left to him and said in person later.

"Then I'm going back."

Mingyuan kept his head down the whole time, and only dared to raise his eyes when she turned around.

She watched Zhu Lian Qingdai take her over and the group left the courtyard. Only when she could no longer see any trace of them did she raise her hand and close the window in front of her.

The candle on the table had not yet burned out. He sat down, with the lost and recovered golden bell lying in his palm.

But something is wrong.

The boy leaned closer and indeed saw a loose end of the braided red rope.

He tried to repair it, but the rope was too thin and his fingertips were too rough, so instead of being able to wrap it back around, he got his skin hooked on it several times.

……

When Lin Yu returned to Yaoguang Courtyard, it was already time for bed.

Zhu Lian Qing Dai helped her change into her nightgown, lowered the bedside curtains, and extinguished the candle before leaving.

There is no moon tonight and the house is pitch black.

Originally, he was very tired after running around outside for half a day, but when he thought about tomorrow's events, Lin Yu turned over and was not sleepy at all.

I thought over and over again that I would never let such a simple plan succeed this time.

Day two.

I could vaguely hear Zhu Lian's voice, and a cool hand touched my forehead.

Lin Yu thought weakly: I am still sick.

I was not sick in the heavy rain, but I was sick in a sleepless night full of worries.

I felt a chill in my body while half asleep and half awake. I couldn't even open my eyelids and my whole body was burning.

"Keep an eye on the front yard," she pulled Zhu Lian's hand with great effort, "If there is anything... anything earth-shattering, be sure to tell me."

"Okay, okay, I'll save you the trouble."

Zhu Lian put the little hand back into the thin quilt, thinking that she was talking nonsense because of a burn.

Everything is peaceful at home, how could anything earth-shattering happen?

Lin Yu's illness was very serious. She only vaguely remembered that Doctor Luo Qiluo came to see her once and the maids changed her towels several times.

I finally came to my senses. The sun was setting outside, shining through the carved window lattices, illuminating the entire room.

Her brows jumped, fearing that she had missed the blood test.

"Red curtain..."

It was Qingdai's turn to be on duty now. She took a bowl of medicine from outside the door.

"Miss, you are awake now. Drink the medicine while it is hot."

Lin Yu was helped to sit up and insisted: "Front yard..."

"Nothing important happened at home today," Qingdai quickly continued. "Madam came to see you once, and Doctor Luo said that you were worried too much, which is why you suddenly fell ill. What are you worried about recently, young lady?"

A spoonful of black medicine was brought to the lips, and the bitter taste immediately penetrated into the nose.

"Miss, drink quickly. After you finish, let's have Liang Ji's peach pancakes. How about that?"

Qingdai was the best at coaxing herself. Lin Yu let her feed him a few spoonfuls with a bitter face, but still couldn't believe that Wanying didn't come.

Obviously, it is this day.

"Really... not coming?"

When the bowl of medicine was empty, Qingdai took out some peach paste and said, "Master Ji has been here."

He added, "Not really. He seemed to have heard that the young lady was ill, so he stood outside the courtyard. I asked him if he wanted to come in, and he turned and left."

Lin Yu was still a little drowsy and wanted to say "Don't worry about her", but then he realized something else.

The day that person came, Lin Ji gave him a name as soon as he opened his mouth, without even showing the slightest bit of surprise.

Could it be that he already knew about that person's existence?

Just as he was about to speak, a piece of preserved fruit was put into his mouth.

"Well……"

"Miss, eat slowly, don't choke. What do you want for dinner? Doctor Luo said you need to eat something light and easy to digest..."

Lin Yu held the fried peach in her mouth, and the bitterness in her mouth gradually dissipated.

He could only sigh inwardly that Qingdai was still a little impatient. After so many years, she really hadn't learned anything from Zhu Lian.

After swallowing it down with great difficulty, he said, "Go to Qihe Hall and tell Lin Ji that I want to see him."

Qingdai said quickly: "The girl didn't want to see him before..."

"I told you to go!"

"I'm going right now!"

The little maid ran away.

The medicine made Lin Yu sweat. When he lay down, he felt very sticky.

Not long after, Zhu Lian pushed the door open again. Perhaps he heard she woke up, and came in holding a pot of flowers.

"Mingyuan heard that the young lady was ill and wanted to come and see her, but the young lady hadn't dressed yet, so I didn't know. Later he sent this over."

Lin Yu perked up and discovered that it was a pot of holly, which should be the one he had originally kept in the greenhouse.

The branches were trimmed to be graceful and stretched, with the tangled roots underneath just emerging a little bit, and tiny white flowers dotted among the dark green branches and leaves.

Just like seeing snow in June, it is also called June snow.

As his fingertips, as white as flowers, stroked the leaves, Lin Yu sighed, "Thanks to him, my greenhouse is being maintained for me."

Zhu Lian also said: "I think he is quite capable."

Lin Yu waved his hand and said, "Put it on my desk. Wait until the roots underneath are lifted up a bit before watering it."

Zhu Lian did as he was told.

About a moment later, Qingdai came back cautiously.

"Master Ji said that he was busy with affairs at the government office today and was unwilling to move around."

What do you mean by unwilling to move? It's obvious that you are avoiding me.

Yesterday he was eager to meddle in other people's business, but today when I wanted to see him, he made excuses instead.

He must know something.

But what should I do now? Should I go find him directly?

Then he would definitely act as deadpan as before and ignore me.

After weighing the pros and cons, Lin Yu decided not to alert the enemy, and even more so not to make trouble for himself, so he suppressed his doubts.

I sweated a lot that night, and took a shower and changed into fresh clothes early in the morning. My condition improved a lot, but the doubts in my heart lingered for a long time.

I sent Zhu Lian to inquire about my father's whereabouts, but she said he had left home a long time ago.

"What are you worried about, young lady? Why are you so depressed?" Qingdai fanned her and took in her abnormality.

Without waiting for anyone to answer, he began to speculate wildly: "Could it be that he didn't go to the Li family's wedding banquet that day, and now he regrets it?"

"Don't worry, girl. It's ours, and no one else can take it away from us. We don't want others' either..."

Lin Yu propped up his head, worried that his daughter would be snatched away by someone else.

But she couldn't tell others about the situation before her. Her heart felt like fifteen buckets thrown into a well, or like it was being steamed in an iron pot over a low fire. She couldn't feel at peace for a moment.

And every time this happened, she would think of Mingyuan.

Zhu Lian came in from outside and said to her, "Now that the sun has gone down, it's not too hot. Why don't you go to the water pavilion and play the piano?"

Ruan spent a lot of effort in cultivating her daughter, and among the four arts of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, she paid particular attention to the zither.

Lin Yu's coming-of-age gift was a seven-stringed harp made of spruce wood. It was said that the wood was bought at a high price, and a skilled craftsman from the imperial capital was invited to carve a ruyi pattern on it. It was extremely exquisite.

"The girl's hand is injured. Can she still play the piano?" Qingdai asked again with concern.

Lin Yu raised his hand and saw that the small wound caused by the hemp rope had healed without him noticing.

"Go call Ming Yuan."