Union

Chapter 23 Delivering Soup
Lei Ting has never liked contact with women. He turned around to ask Sui Yun to come over and ask her questions, but he saw that the Second Master was instructing Sui Yun to go to Magistrate Fan's office.

This was serious business, and Lei Ting dared not disturb him, but he was also really impatient to chatter with the woman.

Lei Ting then asked the Second Master, "Aunt Ding sent a girl over to deliver a message. Would you like to see her, Second Master?"

"What message do you want to send?" Chen Yanzhou dismissed Suiyun and sat back down in his recliner.

Lei Ting stepped aside to let Sui Yun leave, then scratched the back of his head and replied, "I haven't asked yet. I don't know what message that woman wants to convey. Why don't you ask her yourself, Master?"

Chen Yanzhou gave a noncommittal "hmm," and said, "Let them in."

Yunying was called in, and she kept her head down the whole time, not daring to overstep the bounds in the slightest.

Even so, she caught a glimpse of the Second Master out of the corner of her eye; he was leisurely reclining in a deck chair.

The recliner rocked gently as the Second Master leisurely flipped through a book, sipping his fragrant tea with a carefree air. His relaxed demeanor was a far cry from the furious anger that Aunt Ding had been worried about.

It seems that Aunt Ding's heat-clearing and detoxifying soup was wasted.

Yes, Yunying's official purpose this time was to deliver a soup to clear heat and reduce internal fire.

As for the reason for sending soup...

They had also heard the saying "stupid is worse than a donkey" from the rough and unskilled women in the inner quarters.

Although they all thought it was just a coincidence, and that no one would be so audacious as to deliberately come up with such a dirty trick to humiliate the county magistrate.

But what if?
Thinking about this "what if," Aunt Ding couldn't sit still.

She walked back and forth in the flower hall countless times, wishing she could wear down the floor of the flower hall.

Aunt Ding came to comfort Second Master, but she also knew that the best solution in this kind of situation was to pretend ignorance and let time fade the memory. Otherwise, if they rushed to advise Second Master to take things easy, where would he put his face?
But Aunt Ding really felt sorry for her master and couldn't bear to leave this second master. So, she carefully selected snow pears, radishes and lean meat, and slowly stewed them with a small pot of water to make a pot of heat-clearing and fire-reducing soup for the second master.

As for why the important task of delivering the soup fell to Yunying: Firstly, everyone guessed that the Second Master was probably in a bad mood and didn't want to come and cause trouble, so they all made excuses to avoid it. Secondly, Yunying had her own purpose—she wanted to tentatively inquire whether what the Second Master had said before about helping them get their indentures back and marrying them off was true. If it was true, could he help her get her indentures back…?

Putting aside these wild thoughts, Yunying simply said that she performed the proper greetings meticulously, and then, without waiting for the Second Master to ask any questions, she handed over the food box in her hand.

"Dinner will be two quarters later than usual tonight. Aunt Ding was worried that Second Master might be hungry, so she first stewed this snow pear, radish and lean pork soup for him to have something to eat first."

Chen Yanzhou hummed in agreement, and Lei Ting, tacitly acknowledging his master's consent to leaving the pear soup, stepped forward and took the food box.

With her hands empty, Yunying straightened her back even more.

She roused herself and spoke again, "Aunt Ding also sent a message saying that she received a letter from the capital this afternoon. It was from her old colleagues who work at the Duke's mansion. The letter mentioned in passing that the Duchess has been feeling unwell lately. I wonder if Second Master has heard of this?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yanzhou immediately stopped what he was doing.

The rocking chair stopped rocking, and the teacup was placed on the low table next to it.

Chen Yanzhou put away his books, stood up, and walked towards Yunying.

Yunying still didn't raise her head, but her back was straighter than before.

Gradually, an unfamiliar masculine scent began to linger around him. The faint aroma of pine and ink seemed slightly cool, as if mint had been added; a light inhale was enough to clear his mind.

A pair of dark leather boots and a black robe came into view. The robe was adorned with exquisite cloud embroidery and hung motionless two steps away from Yun Ying.

A deep, husky male voice sounded overhead. The second master frowned and asked, "What else did Aunt Ding say?"

Yunying shook her head, "Auntie didn't say anything else."

What else could Aunt Ding say? Even if she knew some other things, it was not appropriate to tell Second Master.

Otherwise, wouldn't her old sister who wrote the letter be blamed?

You should know that the rules of the Duke's Mansion are very strict.

Aunt Ding's old friend told Aunt Ding about the Duchess's health condition, partly to curry favor, but it still broke the rules.

If the Second Master finds out who that person is, he definitely won't let her off easily.

Aunt Ding didn't come in person because she thought that if she faced the Second Master's relentless questioning, she wouldn't be able to hide anything and might say things she shouldn't, which would be a disaster for him. But keeping this from the Second Master indefinitely was also not an option.

Aunt Ding didn't want the distance to widen the relationship between the mother and son—she also wanted the Second Master to care more about his wife and make her happier.

Given all this, Aunt Ding told Yunying about it and asked Yunying to pass on the message, but she didn't come herself.

Of course, there was another reason why Aunt Ding didn't come in person: the Duchess was ill, and the Second Master would definitely urge Aunt Ding to return to the capital to take care of her. Aunt Ding would absolutely not return to the capital before completing the task assigned by the Duchess!

Leaving aside all this nonsense, Chen Yanzhou was very dissatisfied with the maid's reply, and his sword-like eyebrows furrowed deeply.

He asked the maid, "Auntie, do you know how Mother fell ill? What symptoms did she have? Is she fully recovered now?"

Chen Yanzhou asked these questions as soon as he opened his mouth, and only after he finished did he realize that the maid in front of him was still bowing her head. So he spoke again, "Raise your head and answer."

Yunying raised her head, and when Chen Yanzhou saw her face, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

He still remembered the beautiful woman with cloud-like hair in front of him, and knew that she was the person Lin Shuqing had specially asked her mother to send to serve him.

This woman was a girl raised on the estate of the Marquis of Chang'an, meaning she belonged to the Marquis of Chang'an's household.

Chen Yanzhou's expression grew even colder, and his handsome features became even more aloof. He said in a deep voice, "Tell me everything you know."

But what does Yunying know?

Aunt Ding had only asked her to come here to divert the Second Master's attention and prevent him from becoming too angry. Besides, it was the Second Master urging them to return to the capital that made Aunt Ding feel a sense of urgency. She couldn't change the Second Master's mind, so she could only hope that he would be overcome by lust, take a fancy to one of the girls, and then keep them all.

As for Yunying's appearance, to put it bluntly, even within the Chang'an Marquis's estate, she was exceptionally beautiful, with few able to rival her. Here, even outstanding individuals like Mujin and Qiuning paled in comparison.

Although Aunt Ding still couldn't see through her, didn't know what the girl really wanted, or what she was thinking all day long, her indenture was still in the manor, so even if she wanted to cause trouble, she couldn't.

Aunt Ding wasn't afraid of not being able to control Yunying, so she decisively took this opportunity to let Yunying show her face to Second Master.

As for Yunying, she is very sensitive to people's emotions.

When the second master saw her face, his tone became noticeably colder than before, and he even turned and took two steps away, his disdain was all too obvious.

Yunying's heart sank; her hopes of getting her contract back had been dashed. Her heart felt heavy, and she became listless. Her reply to Chen Yanzhou was naturally indifferent, as if she were speaking to someone insignificant.

Yunying: "This servant knows nothing else. Aunt Ding has never mentioned it, nor has this servant inquired about it. If Second Master wants to know, why don't I summon Aunt Ding and you ask her yourself?"

The study fell silent for a moment, and Chen Yanzhou narrowed his eyes as he looked at the woman who had lowered her head again.

Why does she seem so hostile towards him?

Whatever the reason, it has nothing to do with him.

The second master felt that wasting time on this woman was extremely boring.

He then indifferently ordered, "Go down, and there's no need to call Aunt Ding over."

Yunying responded and curtsied gracefully before taking her leave.

She left so readily, showing none of the reluctance that other women felt upon seeing Chen Yanzhou, which surprised the two people in the room.

But Chen Yanzhou had many other things to do, and he simply didn't have the time to waste on a woman who wasn't worth his attention.

He thought he would write a letter later to ask his mother how she was doing.

As for Aunt Ding, even if she knew something, she probably wouldn't tell him. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she couldn't, so why put her in a difficult position?

Chen Yanzhou's thoughts wandered, while Lei Ting, stroking his chin, stared blankly in the direction of the door.

I felt like I saw a bit of Second Master in that girl just now. That aloofness of hers, I must say, really did resemble Second Master quite a bit.

Thank you to reader 2019^ for the 100 reader points. Thank you so much!

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(End of this chapter)