Chapter 28: Salt and Oil Do Not Enter

  Cao's family had fifty taels of silver, and his heart was set on hiding the private money to avoid trouble. He advised: "Your purpose has been achieved, we should go home now. At this time, your aunt and second brother are worried about you."

  He Huan didn't move, but slowly replied: "Aunt Cao, please trouble yourself to go back and report the news first. Later, I'll head home with Bai Zhi..."

  "Later?" Cao was taken aback. When Shen Zhihua handed her the silver, he made it clear that he hoped they would return to the He family as soon as possible. "Young lady, what are you trying to do again? At this time, Mr. Shen won't see you. Besides, you're not a doctor..." In He Huan's suspicious gaze, Cao's voice gradually weakened.

  "Aunt Cao, was it the Shen family who paid for my medical expenses and medicine?" He Wan asked. Seeing Aunt Cao's eyes flicker, she pursed her lips lightly and continued: "Originally, Mr. Shen wanted to send me to a doctor's house, do you want the Shen family to pay this silver, forcing them to keep me?"

  Cao's family scolded with a loud voice: "You fainted at the Shen family, and the cost of medicine is naturally borne by them. Besides, the Shen family can afford this little money."

  "The Shen family has money, that's their business!" He Huan suddenly started coughing violently, feeling a wave of dizziness.

  Bai Mian saw the mistress coughing violently and hurriedly stepped forward to help her catch her breath, softly advising: "Miss, don't be angry, actually today was all because of Aunt Cao. And the diagnostic fee and thank-you gift were..."

  "Shen Jinglun is willing to give silver, why should I push it out?" Cao's sudden rebuke suppressed Bai Miao's words of "thank you".

  He Huan coughed until his whole body was soft and he couldn't say a word. Cao Shi knew her temper very well, she didn't want to get angry, but at this moment, she had used the Shen family's silver, as the saying goes "eat people's mouth soft take people's hand short", later when she went to negotiate with Shen Jinglun, she would definitely feel inferior to him. Besides, her illness had nothing to do with the Shen family, and this silver shouldn't have been paid by the Shen family in the first place.

  Cao's family secretly touched the silver at her waist, afraid that the cooked duck would fly away without wings, claiming she would return to He's house immediately and left without looking back.

  Cao's wife had long since fled without a trace, and it was only with great difficulty that the coughing finally subsided.

  Before long, Xiangcao returned from Shen Zhihua's side and apologetically said to He Huan: "Miss, the steward asked me to tell you that he doesn't need your apology or thanks. He just hopes that after you return home, you'll take good care of yourself, and that will be enough."

  He Huan was not disappointed, as she had expected things wouldn't go so smoothly. She wanted to speak up, but suddenly her stomach churned and she let out a "retch" sound, vomiting up all the medicinal soup she had just drunk.

  Baizhou supported He Huan, and her eyes were instantly filled with tears. Xiangcao poured warm water for He Huan on one side, while calling the little maid outside the door to come in and clean up.

  After a flurry of activity, He Huan was settled onto the soft couch by the window. As she looked out the window, she saw that there were maidservants with their hair tied back and young menservants hurrying to and fro, occasionally passing by one or two people in charge, all of whom seemed busy but organized.

  He Huan's suspicions in her heart grew even more certain. She closed her eyes and weakly asked, "I'm really not feeling well, can I rest for a while before going home?"

  Xiangcao saw her face was pale, lips were white as paper, and she could only nod. She and Baizhi fed Hehuan half a bowl of rice porridge together, then served her the medicinal soup, and after she finished drinking, they left her to rest on the couch.

  He Huan tried to clear her mind and think of the next move, but the fever made her dizzy and the medicine made her drowsy. Slowly, she fell asleep.

  When He Huan opened her eyes again, she felt sticky all over and full of sweat. She turned to look around, but only saw Bai Mian sitting stupidly on the edge of the bed.

  He Huan didn't make a sound, and instead listened intently to the movements outside the house. At this moment, although she was still weak all over, her fever had subsided, and her mind was no longer as muddled as before.

  Earlier, when she said her first words: I am Lin Xiyuan, she had already decided to break up with Shen Jinglu. However, Shen Jinglu never believed in supernatural things and it was not easy to convince him. At that time, she didn't confess to him at the beginning because of this reason. Last night, she repeatedly declared in front of everyone that she was not He Huan, which was a foolish move.

  He Xuan was so absorbed in thought. She had no way to convince Shen Jinglin, and didn't even know if she could see him, but only by making Shen Jinglin believe her could she stay by her son's side without leaving an inch.

  It wasn't until much later that Bai Rou finally discovered that her mistress had awoken. "Miss, you're awake?" she exclaimed with a look of surprise, and immediately her eyes reddened again.

  "What time is it?" He Huan asked.

  Baizhou wiped her eyes and replied: "Just past noon, Miss, are you feeling a bit better? Are you hungry?"

  He Xuan nodded and allowed Bai Miao to help her sit up, anxiously asking: "How is Young Master Shen? Is there any news?"

  Bai Mian shook her head and said: "The slave has been in the house all along, when Xuan Cao left, she left two small maids outside the house to keep watch."

  It was probably the sound of movement in the house that a 12 or 13-year-old maid knocked on the door and entered, saying in a crisp voice that Xiangcao had sent someone to the He family early to fetch clean clothes for He Huan, and fearing it would disturb her rest, ordered her to wait outside.

  She handed her clothes to Bai Miao, and then told He Huan that someone had already gone to inform Xuan Cao, and the carriage was ready. The curtains of the carriage had been thickened, so He Huan would not catch a chill from the wind on the way.

  Such a blunt eviction notice, He Huan would certainly understand, but she was worried about her son's safety and could only pretend not to understand with a thick face. She thanked him and asked, "I don't know if your young master's illness has been diagnosed?"

  The little maid shook her head and said she didn't know. He Huan asked again if he could see Zi Lan, and then saw Xiang Cao holding lunch standing at the door. She still used the same words as before, claiming that she hadn't seen Zi Lan since last night.

  He Huan suddenly felt something was off and asked: "Isn't Zilan serving by the side of your family's young master?"

  "This servant doesn't know." Xiangcao shook her head, put the lunch on the table, and apologetically said: "Miss Biao, it's chaotic at home now, so you can only make do with this simple meal for lunch." Her implied meaning was that everyone was worried about Shen Nianxi, so don't linger around and cause more trouble.

  He Huan took a look at the four dishes and one soup on the table, which were made by Shen family's second-class cook. Although they looked exquisite and appetizing, following Shen family's convention, these dishes were only used to entertain guests who came uninvited.

  Xiangcao stepped aside and continued, "If Miss Biao has no further instructions, I'll withdraw for now. After you've had your lunch, one of the younger maids will bring up the mid-day medicinal soup. As for the remaining medicine..." She glanced at He Huan out of the corner of her eye, "I've already packed it and put it in the carriage."

  "You mentioned this, I was just going to ask you, how much silver is the medical fee and the cost of the medicine? I'll go home and get the silver, and send it over later." He said this, and then He Huan smiled awkwardly, explaining: "Last night I rushed out the door, and didn't bring any silver on me."

  Xiangcao replied fluently, "The matter of the silver has been instructed by Master Shen, Miss Biao doesn't need to worry about it." She bowed again to Hehuan and said with her head lowered, "Miss Biao please have your meal, I will take my leave first."

  "Wait a minute." He Xuan hastily straightened his body and said unequivocally, "Please inform Manager Shen that I will personally deliver the silver later and hope to hand it over to him in person."

  "Miss, please forgive me, there are many things at home, and I don't know where Steward Shen is either, so I couldn't deliver your message." Xiangcao bowed again, "However, Steward Shen instructed earlier that if Miss insists, she can give a note of money to the carriage driver and ask him to bring it back."

  What a happy language, suddenly heart-borne sorrow. Last autumn, the villages near Jizhou City were raided by pirates, and many fishermen and tenant farmers could not pay their rent. Shen Jinglun let her own tenants pay one cent, saying it was to accumulate blessings for their son. Later, she personally strung up those copper coins and put them in her son's cradle...

  "Miss, what's wrong?" Bai Mou stretched out his hand to support He Huan.

  He returned to his senses with a start, shaking his head lightly, only to find that Xiangcao had already left. It seemed that even if she came to the door with silver later, neither Shen Jinglu nor Shen Zhihua would see her. What to do? Xiangcao had obviously received instructions early in the morning, which was why he asked three questions without knowing anything, and Zilan had said last time that she would not see anyone from the He family again.

  "Miss, there's something..." Bai Rou hesitated with a look of uncertainty.

  "Just say what you want to say, don't be so ambiguous." He Huan felt annoyed in her heart. If there was really no other way, she could only go to Qing Song Guan to find Da Han.

  "It's not just the medical expenses and medicine fees, Aunt Cao also took fifty taels of silver and two bottles of medicinal cream from Mr. Shen..."

  "What's all this, thanks to Aunt Cao for helping him deal with it -" He Huan stopped abruptly.

  Shen Jinglun didn't know she was Lin Xiyuan, he wanted to use silver to clearly distinguish himself from the He family, this was his consistent way of doing things; as for Cao's family, their greed for wealth, she had long been aware of it. They were not wrong, the one who was wrong was her, the her of last night was too impulsive, too irrational, and brewed a series of consequences.

  At the moment of He Huan's grief and regret, Xiangcao was already standing in front of Shen Zhihua, describing every word and action of He Huan in detail, and finally concluded: "Shen Guanjia, according to the slave servant, Miss Biao will definitely find another excuse to come and visit again."

  Shen Zhihua remained noncommittal, nodding for Xuan Cao to withdraw. After she had gone some distance, he entered the western wing and said to Shen Jinglun, "Sir, although Miss's words and actions are somewhat eccentric, she seems to be very concerned about Young Master."

  Shen Jinglun put down the book, his eyes followed the corridor to the east wing, and vaguely saw that Silu and Nainai were carefully taking care of the sick child. He withdrew his gaze, turned his head to look at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window, and asked in a low voice: "Is everything arranged properly on the side of Qing Song Guan?"

  "Yes." Shen Zhihua nodded affirmatively, "Neither Miss Biao nor anyone else can see Mrs. Lin." He paused slightly and smiled: "As it happens, Miss Biao persuaded Mrs. Lin to go to Qing Song Guan, which inadvertently helped a great deal; otherwise, with so many mouths in the Lin family, it would have been difficult to keep Young Master's illness from Mrs. Lin."

  "If it weren't for Xie San suddenly appearing, some things wouldn't have had to be rushed at that moment."

  "Old Master is right." Shen Zhihua immediately retracted the smile on his face and said seriously: "Regarding Xie San, I quietly inquired about him. He claimed to be Xie Zhenghui at the yamen and was recommended by the son of Yong'an Hou to enter Liu Shan Men as a captain. I remember that the young master recommended five people back then, three of whom went to Liu Shan Men, and the other two..."

  "Age." Shen Jinglin lightly spat out two words.

  Shen Zhihua's expression changed suddenly. It was ten years ago that the son of Yong'an Hou recommended Xie Zhenghui to go to Liu Shan Men, but Xie San was only around twenty years old. He said urgently: "Master, Lin Hu has verified it, Xie San's waist card is genuine and authentic, impersonating a government official is a capital offense... I will inform County Magistrate Lü immediately..."

  "Zhi Hua, you've always been cautious and prudent in your actions, so why did you lose all sense of proportion as soon as you encountered the word 'Xie'?"

  "Grandfather forgive me." Shen Zhihua was stunned.

  Shen Jinglian put down the book and said calmly, "I'm not blaming you. As I said before, we should remain unchanged in the face of countless changes. That thing happened ten years ago, and Ji Zhou is far from the capital. You don't need to be so tense."

  Shen Zhihua's face was filled with shame. After a long while, he said in a low voice: "Xie San impersonated Xie Zhenghui, but the token is real... If it was Xie Zhenghui who voluntarily handed over the token to him..."

  "This is what I'm really worried about, and it's the reason why I've been trying to lure him out. Shen Jinglu let out a light sigh and said to himself, "It's already been over ten years, and back then Xie San was only around ten years old or so. Who could it be?" He furrowed his brow in thought, but after a moment he shook his head and sighed again: "Forget it, even if I had seen him before, I probably wouldn't recognize him now."

  "But he probably recognizes Grandfather and also recognizes me." Shen Zhihua's face changed slightly.