C58

He rested for four or five days before feeling better. Every day, he would just lie in bed and read some random books. Second Wife Gong would bring a girl to accompany me. She would lean on the brick bed to make needlework or play with the girl. In the letter, the two young ladies of the Jiang family sent me their condolences on my illness. In the letter, they mentioned that they would invite me to visit the Jiang family when my illness recovered. The delicate handwriting on the letter didn't look like it came from a general's house. The next day, a woman from the Jiang family took a candied fruit sealed in a small bottle and said that the two ladies of the Jiang family had personally pickled it. Big Miss Xue also sent a letter. She apologized for falling into the water with very polite words. She also sent me a box of ginseng, which was used to nourish my body.

The ginseng sent by Miss Xue was received by Lu Ping into the library. The candied fruits sent by the Jiang family were distributed among the people in my room. The moment I opened the sealed lid, I could smell the sweet scent coming from inside. The girl put her small white hands into the jar and then into the jar, not knowing which one to eat. Finally, she picked up the lightest plum. Little kids liked bright colors, so they didn't expect the plums sent by the Jiang family to be differentiated from sweet to sour, yet this girl took the most sour ones. The girl frowned and wanted to spit out what she had in her mouth, but she didn't have any place to spit it out. The girl looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. Gong Er's wife felt heartache when she saw her daughter, but she didn't loosen her mouth.

I took the glazed spittoon that was placed on the kang, but the girl still held the plum in her mouth and didn't spit it out. After a long time, I finally managed to eat it. Second Wife Gong was afraid that she would not let me have my way, so she explained in a low voice, "Mei Zi was chosen by herself, so she should eat it all." I nodded. To have such an insightful mother, this girl would definitely make no mistakes in the future.

When Mother Du opened the curtain and came in, she saw me sitting on the brick bed and laughed, "Miss is really working too hard, even when she's sick, she's still learning how to be a girl." Lu Ping moved her chair over. After she sat down, I smiled and said, "How is it hard work? Lying here all day long is going to get mouldy!" Mother Du looked at her daughter-in-law and the maidservants behind her setting up the food for me. She smiled and said, "It is the best if you recuperate and recuperate." These days my meals were delivered from my grandmother's kitchen, and every day Mama Du herself came to watch me eat, and after eating she took the plate back with her, and since that day my grandmother saw my father at night and went back and got some cold, and every day she would only stay in the room and send red jade four or five times a day to see how I was doing.

"Mother, try this plum. Which one is delicious? Bring some to Grandmother." I pointed to a row of small jars in front of me.

"Then this servant is truly blessed!" Mama Du took one of the canisters and tasted it. She chose the sweetest one.

"Sorry for troubling you, mother. Tell Grandma that I've recovered, and that I'll pay my respects tomorrow." I politely smiled at Mother Du.

Mother Du smiled and replied, "The old lady looks forward to Miss day and night." He led the servants away.

When Second Wife Gong left in the afternoon, she took a bottle with her and left in a neither too sweet nor too sour manner. The rest of the maids in the house were divided up, there were still many servants, but there were a few with names, some that could be eaten, some that could be eaten, some that couldn't.

In the evening, I wrote a letter to the Jiang sisters. It was a bustling scene outside. I raised my head and said to Green Pingping, "Let's go out and see what's going on." "En!" Lu Ping replied before putting down the ink stick in her hand and leaving.

From outside came the voice of Lu Ping speaking and the crying voice of the little girl. Moments later, Lu Ping's high-pitched voice was heard saying, "Disperse!" There was silence outside.

Lu Ping came in and stood in front of the brazier to roast it for a while before coming closer. She then picked up the ink stick in her hand and began to grind it. She smiled as she told me what had happened.

"What's wrong?" Seeing the expression on Lu Ping's face, I knew that it wasn't a matter of urgency. I continued writing the letter in my hand.

"Miss gave me those canisters of candied fruits in the afternoon, so I gave them to the little girls. I didn't expect that the two little girls would start a fight over who had a few candied fruits." Lu Ping's hands paused.

"Then go get a few and give them to her." I didn't take it to heart.

"It's better not to." It did not seem like what Lu Ping usually did. She had always been the one to give things to others.

"Hmm?" I asked, looking up.

"Miss, you don't know, I gave that jar to Sister Zhou. The girl with most of the shares is Sister Zhou's niece, and the one with the least share is her mother's daughter in the Madam's yard."

I shook my head and put down my pen. I instructed Lu Ping to bring a jar of plum seeds to the little girl. Lu Ping didn't understand what was going on, but she did as she was told.

I was a little disappointed in my heart. I didn't expect that after so long, Lu Ping was still unworldly. If it involved his mother and grandmother, it would be best for them to stand far away. Wasn't what she did just to give her mother face? Mother has always been a strong one, so when Mother came to her, Mother would only feel that if I attached myself to Grandmother, then I wouldn't respect her. I still have to borrow Mother's strength to enter the Xue family, how could I be so early in the morning? In addition, even though they were just two little girls, the servants in the yard were all watching how I, a young lady, would behave. Being impartial was the most normal way of doing things and if I were to act in such a manner, how could I subdue them in the future?

When Lu Ping returned with the plum, her expression was somewhat depressed. I wanted to explain to her why I had to give it to her, but her hand never left her. She just lied on the bed and blurrily fell asleep, so I forgot about it.

The next morning, after I changed my clothes, Lu Ping stood behind me and combed my hair. Looking through the mirror, I saw a faint cyan color in her eyes, and I knew that she didn't sleep well last night. I shook her hand. "Never mind, take your time." After thinking about it, he felt relieved. Wasn't the reason why I was able to consider everything the way I did in my previous life? Lu Ping had always been living in the inner chamber and had grown up beside the young miss. Naturally, she had a simple personality. Although Lu Ping looked older than me, I was already thirty-seven years old. Lu Ping was only a fifteen-year-old girl.

Walking along the corridor, I carefully thought about it. I want to see King Qi. However, King Qi couldn't just jump in through the window like Brother Lu Ping. How could he find a way to meet someone like me, who didn't even set foot outside the door?