Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 286 - 38: Reunion (4) (Second Update)

The Hong Family Courtyard was now silent, with even the servants having retired for the night. Hong Sheng personally opened the door for Ruan Yu and the Seventh Son, welcoming them into the inner courtyard.

At this time, the Ninth Son and Tie Dan had already been settled into Leng Xiao’s room to sleep. Susu had assured the two that she would arrange a room in the house for them so they could occasionally stay overnight.

Hong Sheng seemed unaffected by other women, but he exhausted all his tenderness on Susu.

He immediately noticed that Susu wanted to speak privately with her cousin, so he took the Seventh Son to the courtyard to gaze at the moon.

One should know that, even in June, the nights in Hami are quite cold. The Seventh Son, unlike Hong Sheng, was merely dressed in simple clothes without any warm robes. The sensation was, to put it mildly, quite biting!

In the hall, with all doors wide open to avoid suspicion, Susu and Ruan Yu shared a tearful gaze for a long time.

Susu personally poured her brother a cup of warm red date soup. "It’s not good to have tea so late at night; you won’t sleep well. Drink this, brother. I noticed you don’t look well, you should take care of yourself."

Ruan Yu accepted the cup, seeing not only a few red dates floating in the clear soup, but also some goji berries and even slices of dangshen.

It was the same drink their aunt used to often have; seeing it, Ruan Yu felt that the sense of unfamiliarity when first seeing his sister was indeed just an illusion from their long separation.

Susu naturally didn’t know that, in a certain moment, the Sixth Son keenly sensed her secret, but thankfully it was just for an instant, quickly submerged by the flow of time.

Ruan Yu felt as if he had returned to the Jingchen Residence in Duke Li’s Mansion (Aunt Su’s courtyard), with Aunt brewing tea, and his sister always muttering mysteriously as if reciting something.

Now, Ruan Yu knew that his sister was reciting a fragrance formula passed down through their aunt’s maternal family, passed to the daughters, not the sons. Aunt had revealed it to him on her deathbed, mainly fearing that his sister was too young to understand its preciousness and the peril of harboring such a treasure.

He originally intended to tell his sister when she was older, mostly because she was sensitive, timid, and prone to worry. He feared that if he told her and it weighed on her heart, it might make her ill.

Yet before he could even explain the details to his sister, a coup changed everything in the Capital City. The Ruan Family collapsed in an instant; fathers and brothers were thrown into death dungeons, and he couldn’t even see his sister as he was exiled to the Northwest...

When could he return home to wash his guest robe, to hear the silver tunes of a sheng, to smell the burning of aromatic letters, as time so easily leaves people behind. Red cherries have ripened, and bananas have grown lush.

"Eight years we’ve not met, do we just sit silent until dawn?"

Susu forced a smile, whispering, "Brother, you have become distant from me! Aunt is gone, and you left too. Though I have benefactors who help me, the love of Old Madam Song, with no lack of food or clothes, my heart always feels empty. Knowing I could marry Hong Sheng and come to the Northwest, the happiest part for me was getting closer to you at last."

Ruan Yu reached out to pat his sister’s head but realized that they had grown up; Thirteenth Lady had married, no longer the little girl chasing behind him calling "Brother, Brother".

Ruan Yu rubbed his face hard, discovering that in seeing Thirteenth Lady, he seemed to return to being the concubine’s son praised as "Yu Lang" in Duke Li’s Mansion, somewhat innocent, somewhat righteous, a bit proud, yet also somewhat inferior and timid.

But those useless things he thought he had already cast away long ago.

Ruan Yu murmured with a laugh that seemed a little like crying, "I’m regressing as I live," and then said to Susu, "Thirteenth Lady, Brother is not as brave as you." Susu reached out to hold her brother’s hands, which were hanging weakly.

Though unable to hear the words exchanged inside the room, the spying Hong Sheng and the Seventh Son inevitably felt touched by sadness at that moment.

Hong Sheng thought perhaps having an additional "big brother-in-law" was not such a good thing after all; the Seventh Son, recalling Susu’s ’queen-like’ demeanor yesterday and the ’weakling’ state of Sixth Brother today, felt the future leader was going to change, yet it still wasn’t him.

The child’s heart felt bitter, but the child wouldn’t say...

Meanwhile, in the living room, Ruan Yu’s intellect at last returned, briefly discussing with his sister and understanding what a "cousin" was, and even learning that their scoundrel father had left them a large inheritance, just over 300,000 taels of silver between him and his sister.

At this time he was not worried about Susu not having her own dowry anymore, because even if Duke Li’s Mansion hadn’t fallen, as a concubine’s daughter, Thirteenth Lady’s dowry of 50,000 taels would have been substantial enough.

"The money Seventh Sister gave me, I’ll take out 50,000 taels as a dowry for you from Brother and Aunt."

Seeing her brother mention Aunt Su, Susu knew it was impossible to refuse, laughing, "Brother, your sister is a little rich woman now. I’ll take care of you in the future."

Ruan Yu finally showed a smile.

"You keep the remaining money first; Ling’s health is poor. I’ll write you a prescription, and you help buy more herbs."

Even when there was money, such herbs were hard to come by, and later even the silver was gone. Now, this money came at just the right time. With Susu’s help, Ling could finally take the right medicine.

Susu didn’t ask why Ling’s health had deteriorated to such a state, seeing that her brother didn’t want to talk about it.

So she only worriedly asked, "Should we find a doctor to examine Ling again?" A prescription that lasts for a period, Chinese medicine is very particular about that.

Ruan Yu shook his head; it would draw too much attention. "Qin Dusi has people secretly check Ling’s pulse every month; the prescription has never changed, it’s all warm-tonic herbs, but not much can be carried."

So that prescription, Ling altogether didn’t take more than ten doses, and even the poorest tonic they resorted to be checked repeatedly, afraid someone would tamper with it.

Ling had been injured for two years, worsening health year after year, yet they could only watch helplessly.

Qin Dusi and Mrs. Qin had already done more than enough, as diligently as they could. The madman above was the Emperor, even if they didn’t want to admit it, they had to: "Under heaven, none of the land is not the king’s land, under the earth, none who are not his vassals."

Seeing this, Susu stopped asking questions, leading her brother to the study. Ruan Yu, eight years estranged, took up Xiangfei’s Toothed Purple Hair Brush, looking at the Ten Views stationery from the Kyoto Bamboo House, taking a long time before writing.

And outside the study, from surreptitious glances to openly watching through the glass, Hong Sheng and the Seventh Son displayed varied expressions.

Hong Sheng felt that the Sixth Son holding the brush seemed like a fine wine, refined over time to leave only essence, with a long-lasting fragrance; or like a dusty pearl, finally wiped free of the dirt, emitting a gentle, clear light.

But he felt inexplicably agitated, simply because Susu was the one grinding ink for the Sixth Son. The harmony between the two seemed to make everything else around them non-existent.

It shouldn’t be like this! Susu and Ruan Yu had just reunited, had only recently learned of each other’s existence. How could they seem like siblings long-separated?

Siblings? Siblings! Looking at how their three points of similar appearance matched with a sevenfold similarity in temperament, Hong Sheng dared not think further.

The Seventh Son just felt a sourness in his eyes, as if they’d forgotten that happiest, verdant era of youth.

He quickly bowed his head, wiping away a tear, and upon raising it again, saw Hong Sheng’s not-so-good expression, then whispered languidly, "My Sixth Brother was once titled Yu Lang when young, praised by the noble daughters of Kyoto, ’a gentle, incomparable gentleman like jade’."

Seeing Hong Sheng’s even worsened expression, the Seventh Son felt a kind of "your discomfort is my delight" sensation.

Not wanting to arouse others’ suspicion, Ruan Yu didn’t linger long at the Hong Family, he and Seventh Son each carrying the already asleep Ninth Son and Tie Dan, taking along the bundle Susu had prepared, returned under the cover of night.

Until their parting, the siblings tacitly never mentioned their pasts, whether hardships or joys, those pasts without each other’s involvement were not fit to be spoken of at this time!