The Favorite of the Sick and Weak Lady - Chapter 23.2

Xiao Yu listed everyone who had been there. “Chen Ergou should have also been one of the people wearing clothes of this color yesterday.”

Liang Chengqiu was silent for a moment. She said to the bailiff behind her, “Go and ask about Chen Ergou.”

The bailiff took the order and left quickly. He came back panting before long, with several burly men behind him.

One of them was an old acquaintance. Liang Chengqiu’s brows furrowed as she looked at them.

The bailiff explained, “Boss, I just ran into a few people at the entrance of the village. I asked them and found out that they were here to collect a debt from Chen Ergou. That Chen Ergou owes a gambling debt, and he told them to come to Xiao Yu for the money because Xiao Yu is his brother.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu was shocked. This Chen Ergou actually asked her to pay for him. If she hadn’t reported the case today, wouldn’t these people have come to cause trouble for her?

He really thought of the original owner as a sucker.

“Head Constable Liang, I just told you very clearly that I no longer have any contact with Chen Ergou. You must uphold justice for me,” Xiao Yu said with a bitter face.

The leader of the gambling house was not happy. “He said you would pay for him. Today, this money…”

Liang Chengqiu was displeased. She raised her hand and put her long sword in front of them, looking at them coldly.

They had all seen Liang Chengqiu’s skills and knew she was not someone to be messed with. She was also an official. They backed up a step reluctantly. “Head Constable Liang, what do you say we do about this?”

“Go and find the person who owes you money. Are you trying to get money from someone else because you can’t get it from Chen Ergou?” Jiang Xiaolin couldn’t stand it anymore and snorted.

The leader of the gambling house was speechless. Although their business wasn’t great, they knew that a debt had to be collected from the debtor. They were in the wrong. With the yamen officials present, they shut their mouths.

Jiang Xiaolin was about to say more. What was so complicated about a case? Just arrest them and interrogate them. She was about to speak, but Jiang Ziyu glared at her, and she obediently shut her mouth.

This was so frustrating!

If it weren’t for their family’s friendship, she wouldn’t have tolerated her.

The others didn’t have time to notice their little actions.

Liang Chengqiu paused. If what Xiao Yu said was true, then Chen Ergou was the biggest suspect.

He led the gambling house people to Xiao Yu’s place. Could he be trying to run away? Liang Chengqiu was shocked and quickly said, “Lead the way to Chen Ergou’s house.”

The group went straight to Chen Ergou’s house.

The bailiff knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered.

Liang Chengqiu reacted quickly and kicked the door open. She saw Chen Ergou with a bag on his back, one leg already out the back window.

“Good, you Chen Ergou. How dare you lie to us.” The gambling house people were the first to rush forward and drag him down.

When Chen Ergou saw that he couldn’t run away, he was so scared that he knelt on the ground and started crying loudly, looking very pathetic.

This action made the debt collectors freeze. Even though they had seen a lot, a grown man crying like this…

How should they describe it?

There were many who cried when they couldn’t pay their gambling debts, but none like this.

Everyone present stared at him blankly. He was probably tired of crying, and Chen Ergou’s voice got softer and softer. He looked up and saw Xiao Yu in the crowd. He then set his mind on Xiao Yu. “Brother Xiao, you have to save me. I know you’re rich now, but you can’t abandon me. I’m your best brother. If you don’t help me, they’ll beat me to death.”

“…”

Good heavens! He even dared to use moral blackmail on her.

Why should she pay for him just because she had money? Now, she even wished Chen Ergou would be arrested. How could she possibly pay for him?

Xiao Yu said, “Chen Ergou, don’t talk nonsense. Don’t say that I have money. Even if I did, why should I pay for you? Don’t talk about brotherhood.” She pointed to a corner of the courtyard. “A real brother wouldn’t steal my bricks.”

With that, she turned to Liang Chengqiu and bowed. “Head Constable Liang, he was caught in the act. You must uphold justice for me.”

Chen Ergou froze. Who would count their bricks so carefully? He didn’t even count how many he moved, he just knew he was sweating a lot.

On second thought, maybe she was trying to trick him. He couldn’t fall for it. “Why should you say a number and conclude that I stole them?”

Liang Chengqiu took a step forward, grabbed the corner of his clothes, and said in a deep voice, “And this tear in your clothes. Did you tear it while stealing the bricks last night? Someone, take him away.”

Chen Ergou was completely stunned. When he reacted, he rushed forward and hugged Xiao Yu’s leg, crying heartbreakingly. “Brother Xiao, I know I was wrong. Please save me. I don’t want to go to jail. Save me. If you save me, I promise to take you with me whenever I go out to play.”

Xiao Yu: “…”

Screw him. Who wants to play with him? She wasn’t the original owner. Xiao Yu kicked Chen Ergou away and subconsciously looked at Song Luoning.

Song Luoning’s expression was calm. She glanced at her leg, and a sense of coldness surrounded her.

Afraid that she might misunderstand, Xiao Yu quickly explained, “Wife, I might have loved to play around before, but I’ve really changed my ways now. You have to believe me. I really don’t want to play with him anymore.”

Song Luoning nodded lightly and said “Mmm.”

Xiao Yu wasn’t sure if Song Luoning believed her, but it wasn’t the time to talk. She turned around and thanked Liang Chengqiu.

Liang Chengqiu’s brows were slightly furrowed. “Now that we’ve caught the person, as the plaintiff, Young Master Xiao still has to come to the yamen with me to close the case.”

This was so much trouble?

Xiao Yu didn’t want to cause trouble and nodded. “Head Constable Liang, can you let me make some arrangements first?”

“Yes. See you at the village entrance in a bit,” Liang Chengqiu said, then had her men grab Chen Ergou and walk toward the village entrance.

Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief. She held Song Luoning’s wrist. “Wife, I’ll take you back first. I’ll explain everything when I get back.”

Song Luoning didn’t say anything and let her lead her back. After they got back, Jiang Ziyu and Jiang Xiaolin left first. The remaining task was to move the bricks Chen Ergou stole back. Xiao Yu had planned to wait until she got back to move them, but Chen Ziyi offered to do it.

Xiao Yu thought about it. This was a good idea. It wasn’t right to leave the bricks at Chen Ergou’s place. Besides, she was going to pay Chen Ziyi to help her build the new house. She had to record it in her ledger today. She didn’t like to owe favors.

After everyone left, Xiao Yu took out the Qi-Nourishing Pill from her pocket and handed it to Song Luoning.

“One pill a day. Doctor Jiang just gave it to me.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell the truth, but what would she say if the young mistress asked? Tell the truth? She would probably be seen as a lunatic or a monster. It was safer not to say anything.

Song Luoning frowned and looked at Xiao Yu. She thought, this pervert, I just started to have a good impression of her, and now she’s trying to fool me again. Does she think I’m deaf or blind? I heard what she and Doctor Jiang said.

This was clearly the pervert’s medicine.

Song Luoning’s expression changed again and again. She held the pill in her hand, and her fingertips turned white. She chuckled softly. “Thank you, Hubby.”

She was definitely laughing in exasperation.

This pervert was treating her like an idiot.

Song Luoning closed her eyes. She did owe this pervert a favor. She was sure that she had been overthinking things before. Although this person had lust in her heart, she at least didn’t have evil intentions.

It was okay to give her some money.

When Xiao Yu saw that Song Luoning wasn’t angry, she was about to go to the yamen to close the case.

“Wait.” Song Luoning called out to her.

Why did the young mistress suddenly call her? Xiao Yu turned her head in confusion. “Wife, is there anything else?”

“…” Song Luoning’s lips were pursed into a straight line. After a long pause, she said, “Hubby, you should change your clothes before you go.”

Xiao Yu was confused.

Song Luoning closed her eyes. The image of Chen Ergou hugging Xiao Yu’s leg was in her mind. She was displeased. “Hubby’s clothes are dirty. You should wear something clean to the yamen.”

It seemed to make sense. Xiao Yu nodded as if she understood. She turned and went back to the house. She found a new set of clothes she had bought and stared at Song Luoning.

Seeing that she was just staring and not moving, Song Luoning urged her, “Hubby, hurry up.”

“Ahem…” Xiao Yu scratched her head. Her face was a little red and she felt a little awkward. Although she had a good impression of her, being stared at while changing clothes… she was a girl, after all, and she would be shy.

She hesitated for a moment. “Wife, can you turn around?”

As soon as she said that, Song Luoning’s face flushed. She turned her back. Who wants to watch this pervert change clothes?

She was embarrassed. She heard a rustling sound. After a while, the sound stopped, but Song Luoning didn’t dare to turn around. Only when she heard footsteps did she let out a sigh of relief and turn around.

“Hubby, be careful on your way.” Song Luoning’s expression returned to normal. She smiled gently and helped her straighten her collar.

The woman’s skin was like snow, and her eyes were smiling, like melting spring snow, more beautiful than any other color in the world.

Xiao Yu was mesmerized and nodded blankly.

“Then hurry up, Hubby.”

“Mmm.”

Xiao Yu walked out of the house blankly. Only then did she come back to her senses. She turned and looked at the closed door with reluctance. She pouted. Although nothing had happened, she felt very satisfied when she thought of Song Luoning’s smile.

Forget it. It was better to go and come back early.

Xiao Yu raised the corners of her mouth, took her horse, and left the courtyard.

When she arrived at the village entrance, she saw Liang Chengqiu waiting there with two bailiffs. The gambling house people were gone, so they must have left.

Xiao Yu followed Liang Chengqiu to the yamen. She signed the case file, and the case was closed. Chen Ergou was sentenced to three months in prison for theft. Because he was afraid of the debt collectors, he confessed to all the small-time crimes he had committed over the years. His sentence was changed from three months to three years.

She had seen people who were anxious to get out of prison, but she had never seen anyone so anxious to get themselves into one.

The case was closed. Because she had to rush back to build the house, Xiao Yu didn’t stay long. According to her experience from the last few times, the system would give her a random reward every time she completed a task. Maybe she would get a reward after the house was built.

While she was thinking, she had already arrived at Chen Family Village.

Xiao Yu jumped off her horse, and Chen Ziyi walked toward her. “A’Yu, the bricks have been brought back. What about Chen Ergou…”

“He was sentenced to three years,” Xiao Yu said.

“What? Three years? That can’t be right. The law of Bo Sheng says the maximum sentence for theft is one and a half years. How could he…” Chen Ziyi looked surprised.

Xiao Yu smiled lightly and explained the whole situation to him. Chen Ziyi sighed and didn’t know how to comment. “It’s a good thing this didn’t implicate you.”

Xiao Yu knew what he meant. It was just that the original owner had been hanging out with Chen Ergou before. However, the original owner was timid. She was okay with spending money and having fun, but she really didn’t participate in any illegal activities.

“Zi Yi, there’s one more thing I want to discuss with you. Didn’t we say that we would provide lunch for the people who came to help? Can we change that to paying them a wage? How about 20 coppers per person per day?”

Pay a wage?

Chen Ziyi was stunned. The people in the village were poor. They would just provide lunch when they built a house. This was the first time he had heard of paying a wage. Paying a wage was usually something only rich families did when they built a house.

If it were before, the Xiao family was considered rich, but now…

Chen Ziyi thought for a moment and still expressed his concerns. “It will take at least a month to build the house. Twenty coppers per person per day is a lot of money.”

Xiao Yu naturally knew his concerns, but favors were hard to repay. Besides, she wanted to travel around in the future and wouldn’t stay in the Chen family forever. It was better not to owe favors.

Otherwise, her conscience would not be at ease.

“Don’t worry about that. I still have some money on me, enough to pay for the wages.”

Seeing that she insisted, Chen Ziyi didn’t say anything else. “Okay, if you’ve decided, I’ll tell them. We’ll work harder and try to finish early.”

Xiao Yu agreed. “Thank you for the trouble.”

Chen Ziyi smiled. “We’re family from now on.”

Xiao Yu knew what he meant by “family.” The two families were already arranging a marriage, and Chen Yu didn’t object. Currently, Chen Ziyi was the most capable man in the village, and many women were interested in him. Luckily, Chen Ziyi was honest and devoted to Chen Yu.

If Chen Yu was willing, Xiao Yu would be happy for them.

Chen Ziyi chatted with Xiao Yu for a while and then left. They had planned to start work today, but because of Chen Ergou’s matter, they decided to start tomorrow.

Xiao Yu went back to the courtyard and washed her hands. She had been busy since the morning, and it was already noon. She quickly went into the house to check on the young mistress. Song Luoning was lying on her side, facing inward. So, she went to the kitchen.

She remembered that there was still a piece of meat at home. Although the weather was cool, they didn’t have a refrigerator in ancient times, so it was not a good idea to store it for too long.

Xiao Yu made a dish of stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat, and then stir-fried some dried vegetables with meat. She used a lot of oil, and the aroma wafted far away. Finally, she made a flatbread.

She had planned to steam rice, but the rice she had washed last time was all gone. Given the young mistress’s health, she definitely couldn’t eat brown rice. It was better to wash some and eat it later.

If she had the right tools, it wouldn’t be so much work.

Xiao Yu brought the cooked food into the house. Song Luoning was also awake. Different from before, Xiao Yu busily served Song Luoning food, her attitude very attentive.

“Thank you, Hubby. I’m full.” Song Luoning shook her head. “Oh, by the way, has the case been closed?”

This pervert was suddenly so attentive to her that Song Luoning was a little overwhelmed and couldn’t directly refuse.

It was so frustrating.

Xiao Yu nodded. Seeing that she was done, she started to eat her own food, mumbling, “Is it not to your liking? We don’t have any mushrooms at home anymore. I have nothing to do this afternoon, so I’ll ask Chen Yu if she has time to take me to the mountain to see if I can pick some.”

“You don’t have to trouble yourself. I’m fine with this food. You should rest more, Hubby.”

Song Luoning’s words almost made Xiao Yu cry with emotion.

The young mistress was sick, but she was still thinking about her. Looking at her own behavior in the past, how could she have been so inconsiderate and difficult with the young mistress? How sad the young mistress must have been.

She was really too much.

Xiao Yu was filled with regret and became even more determined to take good care of the young mistress.

“Don’t blame yourself. Taking care of your health is the most important thing. I can handle these little things. Just wait. How about we have mushroom porridge tonight?” Xiao Yu’s voice softened and she asked gently.

Song Luoning nodded. “Hubby, hurry up.”

Xiao Yu pursed her lips and looked at Song Luoning with reluctance. She still had a lot she wanted to say to the young mistress, but she couldn’t be willful now. The young mistress was hungry.

Xiao Yu let go of Song Luoning’s wrist and stood up. “I’ll be back soon.” Her voice was full of reluctance.

The warmth on her wrist slowly returned to normal. Song Luoning looked at her wrist, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes. She should be happy, but why did she feel a sense of loss?

The mushroom porridge required rice, so Xiao Yu had to wash half a basin of it. This time, she mixed a little bit of brown rice into the porridge. Just a little. Brown rice had higher nutritional value than white rice, and eating a little bit could supplement the body’s much-needed B vitamins.

It was good for the young mistress’s health, but she couldn’t eat too much.

When the porridge was served, Song Luoning ate a bowl and wanted to have more, but Xiao Yu refused. She coaxed her gently, “Don’t eat too much at night. If you want more, I’ll make it for you tomorrow morning.”

Song Luoning had no choice but to give up.

After dinner, Song Luoning wanted to take a bath. Thinking that Xiao Yu had been busy all day, she decided not to say anything. She simply washed up and went back to bed.

Behind a thin curtain, Song Luoning’s body was curled up under the blanket, forming a small mound. She was facing away from the outside.

Xiao Yu stared at her for a while, bit her lips. Although she was tired from the day, she wasn’t sleepy. All sorts of thoughts kept popping up in her mind.

She couldn’t think about it anymore.

Xiao Yu exhaled, took out a piece of paper, and since she didn’t have a pen, she found a piece of charcoal from under the stove and drew the steps for making a rice husker. As for the wood, the trees on the mountain she went to today were just the right thickness. If she cut one down and used it sparingly, it should be enough to make a winnowing fan.

Xiao Yu went to bed late. Since they were going to start building the house the next day, she woke up at 5 am, feeling groggy. After she made breakfast, Chen Ziyi brought the people over. There were a total of eleven people, including Chen Ziyi.

Xiao Yu greeted them, went back to the house to drink a bowl of porridge, covered Song Luoning’s porridge with a ceramic bowl, and then hurried out the door.

The people in the village usually used yellow soil and wheat stalks to build houses. They would pile up stones, and the houses they built were only a little more sturdy than the adobe house Xiao Yu was living in now. If there was heavy rain, they could collapse. Xiao Yu bought bricks and lime, and since they were close to the river, it was easier to dig for sand.

So, she chose fine sand and lime, which was more solid than yellow soil.

The eleven people were divided into two teams. One team was responsible for digging sand, and the other was responsible for digging the foundation. Because Xiao Yu paid them a wage, and it was even more than what wealthy families paid, everyone worked very hard. At noon, no one went home. They all brought their dry food and sat together to eat and chat.

Xiao Yu saw that everyone was just eating steamed buns, and she couldn’t bear it. So, she made a large basin of cold-dressed bamboo shoots and added a lot of salt. After all, there were eleven of them, and they were all farmers. It wouldn’t be enough.

Even so, the large basin of bamboo shoots was emptied in a short time. At least they had a salty dish to eat with, and no one complained.

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