Chapter 685: Side Story: Zhui Yu's Return 01

Miss Su, this is the ledger for this month from the five shops on East Street.

I heard you were ill, so the shopkeepers all sent the ledger to your residence for you to review.

If you feel better, please take a look at it as soon as possible.

After a fit of violent coughing, Su Miaor eased a bit and replied, "I know, you may go."

After the steward left, Su Miaor had the maid light all the lamps in the corner.

The hall was brightly lit; Su Miaor sat before the desk, wearing her outer garment, and began to examine the ledger carefully.

The personal maid Liu Ya, feeling distressed, pushed the medicine bowl toward her: "Miss, these past few days of your illness, you've only just been able to get out of bed today. You're still running a fever, and your cough won't stop."

"If you keep going like this, your body simply can't endure it, yet you still insist on looking at the ledger."

"You at least need to think about your own health; if your health breaks down this time… what will we do?"

"Or perhaps we should just forget about it tonight?"

Su Miaor shook her head, picked up her handkerchief and coughed a few times, then said, "It's nothing serious."

"I know, this time it's just a worse cold."

"The Empress originally had someone teach me to keep accounts, wanting me to have the skill to support myself."

"Later, thanks to her recommendation, I joined the Heavenly Wind Merchant House."

"Now that I've finally managed to oversee the five shops with great effort, how could I just abandon it? If I can't even handle this small matter well, how could I face the Empress?"

"Losing her face is more important than losing my life."

Having said that, Su Miaor set down her work and told Liu Ya to go rest; there was no need to stay by her side.

Liu Ya's eyes turned red.

Watching Su Miaor take her medicine, Liu Ya held the empty bowl and reluctantly left the room.

But after a short while, Su Miaor heard the sound of someone entering the door again.

She whispered, "Didn't I tell you to go rest… cough, cough…"

"No need to worry about me…"

"Once I finish looking, cough, cough… I'll know when to rest."

"Cough, cough…"

The whole room was filled with her coughing and panting.

Yet she didn't lift her head at all, her eyes fixed on the ledger, unwilling to glance away even for a moment.

The abacus beneath her hands kept clacking away nonstop.

Until her body felt light, she let out a startled cry before realizing someone had scooped her up horizontally straight from the chair.

Su Miaor was frightened out of her wits.

She lifted her head and saw Zhui Yu's face, then let out a great sigh of relief.

"Cousin, how is it that you've come back?"

Zhui Yu's face was full of suppressed anger.

Without a word, he turned, carried Su Miaor to the bedside, and laid her on the bed.

Su Miaor struggled to get up: "No, I still need to finish the ledger; cousin, you don't know, I've already delayed this for several days…"

"I can't let the Empress down, nor can I lose her face… cough, cough…"

Zhui Yu pressed her shoulders down, holding her firmly against the bed.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

His repressed roar frightened Su Miaor so much she lay on the bed, daring not to move.

"Cousin… he has never been this angry before."

"He is someone with a very cheerful disposition."

"He is always smiling with narrowed eyes."

"He is modest and gentle toward anyone."

"Toward himself, he is consistently patient and thorough; although not overly attentive or meticulous, overall he is a very mild person."

"But today he has flared up in anger."

Zhui Yu's face was grim; in the flickering candlelight, his dark side seemed to show, letting Su Miaor almost see his shadowy aspect.

Zhui Yu covered Su Miaor with the blanket.

"Sleep."

"The Empress, knowing the truth, will only blame you for neglecting your health, and will only be disappointed that you place these worldly affairs above your own life."

"You must first have a healthy body before you can speak of the future."

"Don't worry about the ledger."

"With me here, go to sleep."

Perhaps it was the medicine, or perhaps Zhui Yu's words truly left Su Miaor unable to hold on any longer; her eyelids actually slowly closed.

In the middle of the night, she vaguely seemed to see him sitting before the desk, head lowered, not knowing what he was calculating.

His voice was soft, yet it lured Su Miaor into a deeper slumber.

The next day, Zhui Yu summoned the Imperial Physician Du from the palace and personally had him diagnose Su Miaor.

Fortunately, she really was just suffering from a cold.

After a few doses of medicine, Su Miaor felt much better.

Only then did she learn that Zhui Yu had been summoned back by a letter from Liu Ya.

The letter sent in the afternoon had him return by evening.

He is usually very busy, almost always residing in the military camp outside the city.

So, the general's residence that the Emperor had originally bestowed was, in ordinary times, occupied only by Su Miao'er, this cousin miss, living there alone.

Fortunately, the servants in the residence were all honest and diligent; those who weren't were all asked by Zhui Yu to have Uncle Wu come and kick them out.

So, no one in the residence dared to say a single idle word about this cousin miss; they all treated her as the true master.

As for the common folk in Jinling City?

There was the deterrent of the general's residence, and also Zhui Yu himself rarely returned to the residence to avoid suspicion, so naturally no one dared to gossip.

It's just that his return this time was really too sudden.

Last night, Su Miaoyu hadn't noticed anything amiss, but now that she thinks about it, it seems he spent the whole night in her room?

Miaoyu felt a little uneasy, hoping no unfavorable gossip about him would spread.

I am now an impure person.

Although her older cousin never minds and has kept her past well hidden, if one day her past were exposed… how embarrassed would her older cousin be?

She came to the desk.

Su Miaoyu then saw that all her account books had been personally calculated clearly and meticulously by him.

It turned out that last night he had stayed up in her room trimming the lamp, finishing the matter she couldn't let go of.

Su Miaoyu flipped through them and was surprised to discover that he had done it very carefully.

Moreover, wherever there was a problem, he had marked it in a blank notebook.

As it turned out, he even knew how to keep accounts.

This made Su Miaoyu feel ever more strongly that her older cousin was truly a treasure.

Besides his superb martial arts, he also knew many things that surprised Su Miaoyu, such as sign language and the obscure Western Regions dialect.

What in the world is there that he cannot do?

Just thinking about this, a feeling of admiration that could not be contained welled up in Su Miaoyu's heart.

Exactly when did this feeling that she shouldn't have arise?

She didn't know either.

It seemed to have happened unconsciously.

It seemed to have grown during their increasing time together.

She admired her older cousin because he was a rare gentleman in this world.

He was both courageous and strategic, brave and skilled in battle.

Moreover, he was handsome and kept himself pure.

She admired her older cousin not just as a general who could fight on the battlefield, but also as a talented and considerate young man.

However, she considered herself impure; even though her older cousin had already expressed his wish to fulfill their engagement, how could she bear to defile him?

Back when they were still in Mantucheng, Zhui Yu had proposed marriage.

But after Su Miaoyu fled, he would no longer allow anyone to mention her name of Lan Ting.

He said, "Miaoyu is Miaoyu."

No matter what hardships she had endured, she was still his cousin Miaoyu.

Su Miaoyu then understood that he would not force her to marry.

In the year or so that followed, he indeed never brought it up again.

Miaoyu thought: This is fine; spending their lives as brother and sister is already her blessing.

When he eventually meets his destined partner in the future, she will also respect his older brother and his wife.

If his sister-in-law thinks her staying in the Jiangjun Fu would be inconvenient, by then she should have saved enough silver to move out and set up her own household, and she would suffer no grievance.

Anyway, the laws of Dayue have long since changed.

They will no longer force unmarried women over twenty into marriage.

At most, people will gossip a bit, and remaining unmarried for life will actually be freedom.

But as time goes on, her gaze has become increasingly uncontrollable, always furtively drifting toward where her older cousin is.

If this continues… her thoughts will sooner or later be discovered.

Su Miaoyu was about to urge Zhui Yu to leave quickly, but then Zhui Yu asked her whether she wanted to go together to Mantucheng.

"What are you going to Mantucheng for? Has the Emperor given you an important mission?"

Zhui Yu: "Po Feng is getting married."

"The Emperor and Empress cannot attend the banquet, so they have me bring gifts and join the festivities in their stead."

"The Emperor and Empress still feel rather regretful about this."

"Po Feng and Leng Dian are getting married; they can't attend in person, so they've told me to make up for it when I marry someday."

Zhui Yu said this while looking into Su Miaoyu's eyes.

Su Miaoyu's face flushed hot as she turned away.

"But… I have matters at hand…"

Zhui Yu: "I have already personally gone to see Zheng Mama."

"She asked me to deliver a letter to the manager of the Delicacies Restaurant, Mei Shuang."

"She said she would help you manage things for a few months."

"For those few months you needn't worry about those several shops; just relax and follow me to Mantucheng."

As he said this, Zhui Yu asked again: "Do you still remember Mei Shuang?"

Su Miaoyu nodded: "I remember. Her husband is Deputy Commander Yang of the Imperial Forest Army."

Zhui Yu: "Do you know that she used to be merely a maidservant by the Empress's side?"

Su Miaoyu indeed did not know this.

However, she knew that there was a not-so-small scar on Mei Shuang's face.

But she is still the well-known manageress of Jinling City.

Who doesn't know her methods?

Straightforward and decisive, ruthless and unique.

No one dares to bully her.

Moreover, no one dares to cause trouble for the Zhenyin Restaurant.

Moreover, she still controls the remaining dozen or so shops of the Tianfeng Firm in Jinling City.

So Su Miaolong not only knows her, but also takes her as a role model.

But it turns out she is also someone personally trained by the mistress?

Miaolong felt even more determined deep down, telling herself that she must never disgrace the mistress's face, and must become the mistress's left and right arms in the firm, just like Mei Shuang.

Su Miaolong followed Zhui Yu to Mantuo City.

Carrying magnificent congratulatory gifts, a long procession, after rushing for over a month, they finally reached Mantuo City two days before the wedding banquet.

Upon seeing the mysterious bride Su Miaolong, they realized she was actually the foolish and silly southern girl from before.

However, she now seems to have recovered her health and even her memory.

Seeing Su Miaolong, she still remembered her.

"Sister Lan Ting!"

The southern girl took Su Miaolong's hand, as if seeing an old friend, very enthusiastic.

Su Miaolong blushed slightly: "Actually, my real name is Su Miaolong. If you don't mind, just call me Miaolong."

The southern girl also openly said her name: "I am Ping'er."

Ping'er, Nanping?

Why does this name sound somewhat familiar?