Chapter 228: Chapter 228: Time to Make a Will
Cui Yun’s eyes were deep red at the corners, as he struggled to suppress the turbulent emotions within him.
With a ’creak’, the man burst through the door.
"Sir?"
Ji Qing, startled, quickly stood up, but Cui Yun remained indifferent, his lips pressed tightly together as he strode outside.
Meanwhile, Sister Yingwu limped along, taking each step with a grimace from the pain emanating from her hips.
"I told you not to go easy, and you really didn’t, did you?"
Ying Yi: "Of course."
"I never hold back. As a leader, I am also relieved that you didn’t use our personal relationship to make me break the rules."
"I bought some roast chicken. I’ve put it in your room."
Sister Yingwu fumed with nameless anger. If not for her respect for the Shadow Guards’ absolute loyalty to the master along with their obedience to Ying Yi, how could she let Ying Yi have the upper hand?
"Who cares about your roast chicken!"
Sister Yingwu glared at him, annoyed: "Take it and leave."
Ying Yi’s lips parted as he was about to speak again, but then he saw Cui Yun leaving the house. With respectful deference, he made way without leaving any further instructions, quietly following Cui Yun’s departure.
Sister Yingwu: ...
It was her who let Ying Yi leave.
Not angry, not angry.
Once Cui Yun had gone, Yicui and Ningzhu, who had been waiting outside, hurried inside to see a curled-up figure on the couch. Yicui’s eyelids twitched.
"Miss Shen."
She reached out to pull at the bedding.
"Don’t suffocate yourself."
The girl peered out with her misty eyes, letting out a delicate sigh.
"Miss Shen, if you feel sleepy, go to sleep. I, your servant, will watch over you. If you get thirsty or hungry, just instruct me."
Shen Hua struggled to keep her eyes open: "I can’t sleep."
She covered her ears.
"If I sleep, I’ll turn into a cat."
Nobody took the drunken words seriously.
Yicui, caught between laughter and tears, soothed her with a coaxing tone: "Miss Shen, where did that come from?"
Shen Hua hung her head in dejection, unable to tell how much time had passed.
"Yicui."
"Your servant is here."
"Bring me paper and ink immediately."
Shen Hua murmured gloomily: "I need to write my will."
Yicui’s smile faded.
"Miss Shen, why bring up such ominous things?"
Shen Hua, radiant and beautiful, had also been driven out by the Shen Family. It was only because she had nowhere else to go that she sought Cui Yun’s protection.
However, her name was tied to the estate, stores, farmland, various gold and jade rings, precious embroideries, and the like—a considerable fortune.
"Your servant won’t take it."
Yicui: "Today is your birthday, don’t talk about such disheartening things."
Shen Hua’s eyelids drooped sullenly.
"You’re so fierce."
"You never spoke to Miss Shen in such a harsh tone before."
Yicui turned her head away.
Shen Hua, resolute: "If you won’t take it, then don’t! Who cares! I’ll get it myself."
Lately, she hadn’t been going out, always pondering what would happen after her passing, and had been hiding the fact that she had been vomiting blood during the nights these past few days.
"They said five years without worry, but the pain in my chest, like being stabbed by needles, often makes me feel like I’m dying."
Yicui stiffened.
Shen Hua spoke softly: "I still wish to be buried with Daddy and Mama."
But, that would be in the Shen Family’s cemetery.
At the moment, it wasn’t her decision to make.
She had offended Shen Qu and the clan elders; even in death, the Shen Family’s cemetery wouldn’t have a place for her.
This was the consequence of Shen Hua falling out with them.
But she, oh she was stubborn indeed.
I always urge others to be open-minded, but when it comes to myself, I adhere stubbornly to my beliefs, walking a thorny path to its dark end.
"I’ve thought it through."
"I still want to be buried within the boundaries of Fengzhou. No matter how far I have to travel, I’ll return. I’ll claim a mountaintop just for myself. From there, I can look north and see the Shen Family’s cemetery, and I won’t feel alone."
At that moment, Ningzhu came in with hot water.
Seeing Yicui’s eyes red and fighting back tears, she subconsciously rubbed her fingers.
Yicui wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, "Didn’t I ask you to stay with Sister Yingwu and look after her?"
"Sister Yingwu said she’s fine."
Ningzhu pursed her lips, "I don’t believe it."
"She’s just worried I might compete with her for the roast chicken, so she sent me out."
Shen Hua muttered groggily, "What’s wrong with Yingwu?"
Yicui: "She’s injured."
Shen Hua responded slowly.
Lifting the quilt, she said, "I’ll go see."
As long as Shen Hua didn’t speak those unpleasant words, Yicui naturally followed her lead.
The night was chill, and Yicui wrapped Shen Hua tightly, fearing that the girl might catch a cold and suffer ill consequences.
Yicui, who had attended to Shen Hua the longest and was always extremely meticulous, even made her flower teas specially. If it wasn’t rose, it was dried chrysanthemum, and the petals had to be in even numbers.
For, indeed, Shen Hua would count them!
Shen Hua rubbed her eyes, and wrapped by Yicui with a soft scarf, then she stepped out.
Outside the house, the moon shone bright and clear, with a trace of frosty chill.
"Where are you going?"
Just as she stepped over the threshold, a cold voice reached her ears.
It was Cui Yun returning midway. The man stood under the eaves, his tall figure lithe and as cooling as water.
Shen Hua, holding a cat lantern, looked towards the source of the voice, and a cold breeze made her shrink her neck and bury half of her face into the scarf.
Someone approached, finally stopping beside the girl.
He glanced toward Shen Hua’s shiny eyes, realizing fully that peace was not an option tonight.
"Doctor Ni said—"
Cui Yun frowned silently, yet stepped aside to clear a path.
"Go then."
Shen Hua shut her mouth.
The sense of liberation surrounding her dispelled her gloom.
The girl, walking past Cui Yun arrogantly, swayed toward a direction. Her cat lantern, delicate and refined, not bright enough for practical use, was a gift from Cui Yun from a previous lantern festival. As she moved, the lantern swayed violently, the candlewick flickering light and dark.
Indeed! This is the proper way everyone should treat Shen Yangyang!
Her walking posture full of arrogance, striding briskly and boldly.
Ji Qing was always sharp in observing expressions, immediately pulling Ningzhu aside: "What is Miss Shen doing?"
Although he posed the question out loud, it was meant for a man who was a few steps behind Shen Hua to hear.
"Going to Yingwu’s place."
Usually, Yingwu closely protected Shen Hua, but now injured, she returned to the Shadow Guard quarters.
They followed from a distance, falling far behind.
Ningzhu whispered, "Didn’t the Marquis leave?"
Ji Qing replied, smooth and savvy, "The master cannot rest easy about Miss Shen."
Unaware of just what happened inside the room that had rattled the master so profoundly, Cui Yun had stopped in the corridor, enduring the chill for a long while shivering. Before Ji Qing could even probe, he saw Cui Yun turn back.
Men, after all, have a few odd days where their personalities seem peculiar.
Turning a corner, Shen Hua hadn’t proceeded far when someone caught her by the collar.
Shen Hua clenched her little fists tightly.
Cui Yun’s eyes twinkled with amusement, "Wrong way."
With a slight force of his hand, he turned Shen Hua in a different direction.
The girl was momentarily confused, then quickly assumed a haughty stance.
"I know!"
She clacked a few steps forward. At the next corner, the girl halted, looked around with curiosity, finally, deflated, she cleared her throat softly.
"I’m testing my cousin..."
Cui Yun sighed softly, "Turn right."
Shen Hua, never willing to concede defeat, spoke as if her words were precious, "You’re quite good."