“Your Royal Highness, this is Su … the eldest Miss Su’s medical kit given to you last night.”
With the golden sunlight breaking through the clouds and illuminating the world, Xia Houmo returned to the county yamen after dawn.
He opened the medical kit, in which several medicine bottles were orderly placed on a prescription.
Xia Houmo’s eyes became dim. “What’s the matter?”
Donglin recalled, “Miss Su hurriedly pushed the medical kit to me and left; at that time, my men seemed to have vaguely seen Second Prince’s followers.”
Xia Houmo was suddenly struck by the words that his eyes darkened, exuding a cold and gloomy air.
After closing the medical kit, Xia Houmo strode towards the door.
Coincidently, Xia Houkun just arrived at his door.
Xia Houkun stopped Xia Houmo. “Where are you going, ninth brother?”
Xia Houmo gave him a cold glance and directly walked past him.
At this time, Su Muge’s door opened, and Su Lun stepped out of the room.
Xia Houmo paused for a moment but did not stop walking.
Su Lun stood upright and turned around. After seeing him, Xia Houmo’s eyes became darker.
Seeing the two, Su Lun hurried forward to bow and salute, “Nice to see you, Second Prince and … Lord Xia.”
Xia Houkun walked towards Su Lun with coldness in his eyes. “Lord Su, are you going to see those patients again?”
Su Lun was speechless for a second; then he thought of Su Muge’s words, and could only bite the bullet and say, “Yes.”
“It is so considerate of Lord Su to care for the people. I’m deeply moved.”
Su Lun panicked. “Second Prince, you are flattering me. It is my duty.”
Xia Houkun found it boring to see Su Lun’s submissive look, which was not as interesting as the skinny kitten-like “Su Lun” last night.
As soon as Su Lun had appeared, Xia Houmo knew that this was the real “Lord Su”, but he kept ignorant to see what Su Muge and Su Lun were intended to do.
Xia Houmo turned back to his room with a sullen face, making Donglin quite puzzled.
“Where did Su Lun settle before?” Xia Houmo asked in a cold tone.
“In the inn on the backstreet of county yamen.”
Xia Houmo suddenly stood up, taking Donglin by surprise.
“I will go and saddle the horse.” Donglin turned around and walked towards the door.
“Come back. When did I say I am going out?”
Uh…
What did your posture mean other than going out…?
With an overwhelmingly depressing atmosphere inside, Donglin could only be brave to say, “Your Royal Highness, I’ll go and find if Miss Su is …”
Before he could finish, he felt the air too frozen to breathe.
“Why would I look for her? Go out.”
“Yes, excuse me.”
Now Xia Houmo was alone in the room.
He closed his black eyes and gently rotated his jade thumb ring on his finger. The speed of the rotation gradually became faster.
Donglin would be astonished to see his behavior now because it would only occur when His Royal Highness was upset.
Zuoqiu strode out of the room and felt curious to see Donglin’s bitter face. “Look at your face. Have you been single for too long?”
Hearing this, Donglin punched him. “Nonsense.”
Zuo Qiu smiled slightly. “Is His Royal Highness here?”
“Yes,” Donglin raised his voice, “Your Royal Highness, Zuoqiu is back.”
There was no response coming from the room.
Thinking of Xia Houmo’s lousy mood today, Donglin worked up his courage and said again, “Your Royal Highness, Zuoqiu has something to report.”
There was still no response from the room.
The two gave each other a look. Even if His Royal Highness didn’t want to see them, he wouldn’t keep silent.
Donglin pushed the door open, but there was not a single trace of Xia Houmo in the room.
“It’s weird. He was absolutely in the room just now …”
Zuoqiu glanced at the window at the back of the room. “Could there be an assassin?”
Donglin looked a little pale.
They knew the powerful Kung Fu of His Royal Highness very well, so they were wondering what kind of assassin could appear in front of him silently without making others notice.
At this time, the missing Xia Houmo appeared in an inn behind the county yamen.
Since the flood receded, some inns, restaurants, and stores had slowly resumed business.
The waiter, resting his head on the table for a nap, suddenly felt a cold air around him and woke up with his body shivering.
Looking up to see a tall and slender man standing in front of him, he was so scared that he fell from the chair!
“Your… your honor, are… are you settling down here?”
Xia Houmo went straightly out of the inn without taking a look at him.
He never expected that the little girl had already gone!
“Ah-choo!”
Su Muge, who was sitting on the carriage, suddenly sneezed; she rubbed her nose, pulled the curtain aside, and looked outside the window.
She had set off before dawn today. If she was fast enough, she should be able to return to Shunyang prefecture before dark.
Drawing up the curtains, Su Muge leaned against the carriage wall and closed her eyes.
She had been excessively tired these days.
She reached out her hands to feel her chest; it was … too flat!
All women wanted to be beautiful. It seemed that she had to have a beauty ritual at home.
“Uncle, the road is quite smooth. Please speed up.”
“Okay!”
The coachman raised his whip, making the carriage run much faster.
After a long and bumpy journey, they finally entered the gate of Shunyang prefecture.
Although she had left Shunyang prefecture for days, Su Muge felt like a century had passed.
As soon as Su Muge got out of the carriage, Li Mama returned from outside.
Hardly had Li Mama come to the side door when she saw Su Muge. For a moment, she thought she was dazzled, standing still in a daze.
When Su Muge got out of the carriage, she also saw Li Mama at once. She walked over and gave her a glimpse. “Li Mama couldn’t recognize me within a dozen of days?”
Li Mama suddenly came to her sense, with no less surprise in her eyes. But she quickly suppressed her emotion and lowered her eyes. “It’s the eldest Miss, please come in.”
Anyway, Su Muge left Su Mansion to find Su Lun, which was concealed by An. She didn’t want Su Muge to be eulogized as a great filial daughter in Shunyang prefecture; meanwhile, she was afraid that Su Muge would make trouble outside, which might drag her down as well.
After entering Su Mansion, Su Muge returned directly to Peachblossom Courtyard.
Without much change, it was still quiet and serene.
Su Muge stepped into the yard with a long-lost smile.
Now that the weather was getting colder, Zhao would carry little Wenmo to the yard for a walk every day.
It was dark now, and the lights were already on.
Zhao spent the night embroidering under the lamp, and when she felt tired, she would go to see little Wenmo and check if the little guy slept soundly.
Without Su Muge in the mansion, Yueru didn’t have much work to do, so she turned in very early.
Hongmei came out holding the teapot, and suddenly saw Su Muge standing in the courtyard; she was so shocked that she almost dropped the teapot to the ground.
“Miss… Miss…the eldest Miss!”
“What? Mumu! Where is Mumu?”
Hongmei’s loud shouts attracted Zhao, who hurriedly ran out and saw Su Muge walking to the door; she flew forward and held Su Muge in her arms, her eyes were red and tearful.
“Mumu, you are finally back. You are making your mother so worried.” Zhao was choking with sobs, holding Su Muge in her arms; Su Muge could feel her resounding heartbeat and hot tears.
Feeling warm inside, Su Muge suddenly felt her nose sore.
Mother was the one who truly cared about her. Even though she was not so powerful, she was her most reliable support. They were related by blood.
“Mother, don’t cry. I was just outside learning the rules and manners from others…”
Zhao, being all tears, released Su Muge, wiped the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief, and pulled Su Muge inside the room.
Hongmei couldn’t be happier to see Su Muge back, so she hurried to wake up Yueru and others.
“Well, don’t get in my way. Let me talk with Mumu.”
Zhao told the girls to retreat.
“Why did Madam arrange you to learn the rules and manners at this time? I heard that some counties outside Shunyang prefecture have been flooded, which are in a mess.”
When leaving Su Mansion, Su Muge had made an excuse with An to leave the mansion. The excuse went that an old Mama in the imperial palace had retired and returned to her hometown in Shunyang prefecture, so An wanted to seize the opportunity and send Su Muge to learn the rules and manners.
But the Mama had a weird temper. She would never stay in other people’s mansions. Instead, the Misses were all sent to her house to learn the rules and manners. For better learning results, they could also live with her.
The excuse was not so good, but plausible.
The other day, An had come to butter up Zhao, who had some doubts but was not so skeptical, given that it was for Su Muge’s benefits. However, she was still worried every day, and couldn’t help releasing her restrained emotions after seeing Su Muge coming back.
“Mother, don’t worry. I just learned the rules and manners in Mama’s house and didn’t go outside. Has brother been well-behaved these days?”
Speaking of her son, Zhao smiled. “Of course, he eats well and sleeps soundly. How better can he be?”
“I’m going to see my brother.”
At the thought of little Wenmo’s tiny and soft body, Su Muge could not wait to touch him now.
At this moment, the little guy was asleep, and the nanny was guarding the baby on the couch. Seeing Su Muge back, she was stunned and was about to salute. Before she could do that, Su Muge stopped her.
“Wenmo, sister is back.” Approaching to the crib, Su Muge pointed slightly on little Wenmo’s plump cheek.
The little guy seemed to have felt the move, pursed his lips, and moved his hands.
“Little young Master has been sleeping very well at night, and he only woke up once for milk. I have never seen such a docile child.”
Su Muge tucked the quilt for little Wenmo before she stood up. “Take good care of the little Young Master, and I will guarantee you a good life in the future.”
“Yes, yes, I dare not have any slight.”
Su Muge spent another while with Zhao before returning to her room. Having known about Su Muge’s return, Yueru and others were already waiting outside at this time, high-spirited.
“Miss, you’re finally back …” In the whole of Su Mansion, Yueru was the only one who knew what Su Muge had done besides An and Li Mama. Seeing Su Muge back safe and sound, she finally felt at ease.
“Well, I’m back. Shouldn’t you be happy? Get ready for hot water. I need to take a nice bath.”
“Yes, right away,” Xinche and some other girls responded and started working.
In the cleaning room shrouded with steam, Su Muge sank her body completely into the hot water, and every cell of her body was relaxed and relieved.
So nice, everything was over …
