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T/N: Thank you patrons for sponsoring this chapter part
Title: ChongFei Manual
Chapter: 071.2 out of 171
When they arrived at Banyan Tree Courtyard, they saw the doctor treating Wei Chang Yin's leg.
Hearing that they had come to see Wei Chang Yin, First Madam didn't stop them. She invited them into the inner room and was barely able to force herself to smile as she said, "Ah Luo... Thank you for kind intentions.”
The smell of medicine was so strong that it seemed to flood the inner room. It assaulted their senses and irritated their noses and mouths.
Wei Luo and Liang Yu Rong couldn't get used to such a strong medicinal smell at first. As soon as they entered, they started choking from the smell. After they finally adapted to the smell and walked behind the lacquered, yellow rosewood divider screen that was carved with stylized clouds and had a landscape painting in the center, they saw Wei Chang Yin stiffly sitting in a chair and soaking his legs in a wooden barrel.
Little by little, the doctor added medicine into the barrel. There was a fire beneath the wooden barrel and white mist came from the water. A glance showed that the water was very hot. Wei Chang Yin's handsome face was deathly pale and there was sweat on his forehead. He looked very difference from his usually elegant appearance.
Even thought he was in pain, his aura of calm and quietness didn't change. He only closed his eyes and pressed his lips together without saying a word.
He had probably heard their footsteps. He opened his eyes to look at them and was barely able to force out a smile as he said, "Ah Luo and younger sister Yu Rong have come..."
Liang Yu Rong hadn't seen such a scene before. Inside her sleeves, she clenched her hands and clutched her silk handkerchief. She felt awful and worried for Wei Chang Yin. She hesitated with answering for a long time before stepping forward and softly asking, "Is older brother Chang Yin in a lot of pain?"
Wei Chang Yin restrained the pain in his eyes and weakly said, "Doesn't hurt too much."
How could it not hurt?
His face looked terrible and his clothes were soaked with his sweat. How could it not hurt?
Liang Yu Rong and Wei Luo stood at the side. Originally, they had wanted to see if he was okay. But, now after seeing this sight, they wished they hadn't come here. If they hadn't, they wouldn't see the sight of him in so much pain and feel so bad for him.
They stood at the side for a while. They couldn't help or do anything useful. To not hinder the doctor as he treated Wei Chang Yin, they said good-bye to First Madam and left.
Before leaving, as she was turning around, Liang Yu Rong's inadvertently saw an open bag of pastries on the square table near Wei Chang Yin's bed. It was the soy flour pastry with red bean paste that she had bought for him. There were several layers of red beans in the pastry and it was sprinkled with a thin layer of glutinous rice flower. It was sweet and fragrant without being greasy. She had purchased eight pieces of this pastry and now there was only two left.
Did he like them?
Liang Yu Rong froze for a moment and turned her head to look at Wei Chang Yin.
Coincidentally, Wei Chang Yin was also looking at her and their eyes met. He curved his lips into a faint smile. His face was gentle. Even while he was in such a sorry state, he was still calm and composed.
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After Wei Luo sent Liang Yu Rong off, a few days peacefully passed
Today was March 15th and the day that Zhao Liuli would be leaving the palace.
Wei Luo woke up early. She sat in front the mirror to apply makeup. Normally, she didn't like to use too much cosmetics. It was probably because she was young and her skin was at its best. Putting on makeup would only hide her natural skin color. Today, she didn't apply anything on her skin either. She only darkened her eyebrows with a brush and used a little bit of pink lipstick. Looking into the mirror, her lips were pink and glossy.
She changed into a pink top with a cloud pattern and a moon white crepe skirt with butterflies and flowers. She had Jin Lu arrange her hair into two loops at the top of her head and inserted a golden flower hairpin inlayed with precious stones. Now, everything was sorted out and she was ready to go out. Just as she put on her satin shoes embroidered with plum flowers, she heard a servant girl come inside and say, "Fourth Miss, Princess Tianji has arrived."
(T/N: Below is a picture of Wei Luo's hairstyle.)
She nodded. She was ready to go out and and leave Duke Ying's residence.
In front of the entrance, there was a Eight Treasure carriage with a bluish green cover. Yang Zhen was stand at the side of the carriage and wearing a black robe.
Seeing that she had come out, Yang Zhen nodded at her in greeting.
Wei Luo stepped on the carriage's pedal to enter the carriage. She lifted up the curtain to look and slightly paused in moving.
Not only was Zhao Liuli in the carriage, Zhao Jie was also inside. He was wearing a light green robe with a python pattern.
Zhao Jie was sitting the furthest inside. Noticing her gaze, he lifted his eyes to look at her. His gaze was deep without any concealment.
After being gaze by him like that, Wei Luo felt fearful and almost turned around to leave the carriage.
Unfortunately, Zhao Liuli was a step faster. In high spirits, she pulled Wei Luo down to sit next to her. Her eyes were as bright as the full moon. "Ah Luo, today, you look prettier than before."
Wei Luo absent-mindedly nodded, "I put on lipstick."
Her seating position wasn't good. Originally, there was a distance between Zhao Liuli and Zhao Jie. Now, she was sitting between them. On her left, there was Zhao Liuli. On her right, there was Zhao Jie. It wasn't good no matter how she looked at it. Although she wasn't cramped, having Zhao Jie’s hands near her hands, it was still too intimately close.
The carriage was spacious. If Zhao Jie wanted to move to farther away, he could. But, he acted as if he didn't notice anything and didn't move.
Wei Luo tried to endure it, but she finally tilted her head and curved her almond eyes as she asked, "Older brother Prince Jing, could you sit a little closer to the inside?"
He thoughtfully looked at her with his eyebrows raised. Instead of moving, he curved his lips into a smile and said, "Why? Do you feel crowded?"
She nodded and said, "Yes."
After a long time, he finally moved and sat down on the other side of the carriage, which was directly in front of her.
Wei Luo, "..."
This arrangement was even worse. His legs were long. If he didn't retract them, they would easily touch her calf. This sense of pressure was even worse then he was sitting next to her. Wei Luo puffed out her cheeks and decided that he was doing this deliberately. She moved her legs closer to Liuli's side to avoid touching him. She didn't continue look at him. She turned her head and attentively listened to Zhao Liuli.
Zhao Jie hands were placed on top of each other. His dark eyes looked at the girl in front of him. An imperceptible smile flashed through his eyes. There was a hidden meaning in that smile.
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In half a month, it would be Zhao Liuli's hairpin ceremony. The reason she came out today was to buy an item.
The carriage stopped in front of a jade store. She led Wei Luo down the carriage.
Walking into the store, their eyes were filled with glittering jewels. There were all sorts of jade jewelry that dazzled their eyes. Zhao Liuli walked to the shopkeeper. Her eyes turned and she whispered, "Do you have something that comes in a pair?"
This shopkeeper had been in business for many years. His experience was ample, so he naturally knew what she wanted. Seeing the two refined girls in front of him with noble auras, his insight told him that a large profit was waiting for him. He hurriedly said, "I do. Please wait here for a bit. I'll bring them out." Not long after, he came out from the back of the store with a vermillion box carved with blossoming tree peonies. He put the box in front of them and opened it, "This is the store's collected treasure. Please look."
On top of the red silk, there was a pair of white jade pendants. These first class jades had a flawlessly exquisite color and luster. However, the shopkeeper wasn't pointing out this aspect. In order to let them see what was special about these jade pendants, he brought the jade underneath the sunlight. Underneath the sunlight, they saw that there was a concentric knot in each of the jade pieces. This was extremely rare by itself. In addition, the concentric knot in each jade was very similar. Therefore, the shopkeeper named this "concentric knot jade".
Zhao Liuli liked them at first sight. These two jade pendants could be worn around their neck and hidden in their clothes. No one would find out.