Chapter 236: Senior Sister's Pretty Maid

"Woo—"

The night wind wailed, and snowflakes drifted down.

Luo Zijun held the young girl in his arms, walked out of the small alley, and walked along the icy street.

If the plot followed the book, the young girl in his arms would have been left alone tonight, lying cold and desolate in that alley, dying a tragic death.

This should be the third tragedy he had prevented.

The first was the White Snake; perhaps it hadn't fully succeeded yet, but it could be considered a success.

The second was the second young lady of the Jia Family, Jia Yingchun.

The third was her.

Unfortunately, there was no reward.

As Luo Zijun thought about this, he quickened his pace.

The wind and snow gradually grew heavier.

The young girl in his arms was cold, hungry, and ill; if he just carried her back like this, it was not certain she would survive.

Therefore, he came directly to Bao'an Hall.

The shop door of Bao'an Hall was already closed, but it didn't matter; a faint, dim yellow light still shone from the window above.

His senior sister should not have gone to sleep yet.

He immediately carried the young girl in his arms over to knock on the door, calling out to the top: "Senior sister, open the door!"

"Creak..."

The window upstairs opened, revealing a snow-white, beautiful figure.

Su Qingling looked down at him, her whole person cold and aloof; she did not speak, nor did she make any other movement.

Luo Zijun hurriedly looked up and said: "Senior sister, someone is ill. Has Master gone to sleep?"

Su Dafang had originally been preparing to play dead in his room, but upon hearing that someone was ill, he immediately came out of the room and said loudly: "Not yet, I'm coming down to open the door!"

Saying this, he hurried downstairs.

Luo Zijun still admired his master very much; from the beginning until now, no matter how much his master complained behind their backs, he was always single-mindedly devoted to treating patients, and many times when encountering poor people, he wouldn't even charge money.

"Creak..."

The shop door opened.

Su Dafang's gaze turned toward the young girl in his arms, staring at the girl's pale and pretty face for a few moments, and he suddenly seemed a bit hesitant.

Luo Zijun didn't care; he carried her directly into the shop and went over to place her on the chair in the very back.

Su Dafang hurriedly closed the door and whispered: "Zijun, what is your relationship with this girl? I'm afraid your senior sister..."

At this moment, Su Qingling, wearing a plain white dress and draped in a snow-white fox fur cloak, walked down the stairs.

Luo Zijun said urgently: "Master, don't ask, hurry and take a look at her. She likely hasn't eaten for several days, and she is also suffering from internal heat and anger; she looks to be in some danger."

Su Dafang didn't say anything more; he first carefully looked at the girl's complexion, then extended a finger and placed it on her wrist to take her pulse.

After a moment, he frowned and said: "What you said is mostly correct, it is exactly those two reasons, and she has also caught a cold. If she doesn't make it through tonight, I'm afraid..."

Luo Zijun hurriedly said: "Master, you help brew the medicine, I will go to the back to cook some meat porridge."

Su Dafang immediately went to the counter to grab the herbs.

Luo Zijun prepared to go to the back to cook, took a look at the snow-white fox fur cloak on his senior sister, and explained: "Senior sister, this is a maid from the Jia Mansion named Qingwen. The fox fur cloak you are wearing is the one I asked her to help sew. She was falsely accused by the servants of the Jia Mansion and misunderstood by her masters, so she was angry and went on a hunger strike to seek death; she was thrown out tonight, and I just happened to pass by and carried her over."

After finishing, he immediately went to the backyard.

Su Qingling looked at the pale, weak, and severely ill young girl on the chair.

The other party was also staring blankly at her.

Su Dafang quickly finished grabbing the medicine, looked at the two of them, and whispered: "Ling'er, save the person first."

Saying this, he went to brew the medicine.

Su Qingling stood in place for a while longer before turning around and walking upstairs, cold and aloof.

After a moment.

She walked back down, came before Qingwen, and then stuffed a vermilion pill into her mouth.

Qingwen looked at her with trembling eyelashes and subconsciously swallowed the pill in her mouth.

At this time, Luo Zijun happened to come over from the back to check and asked: "Senior sister, what did you feed her?"

Su Qingling said coldly: "Poison."

Luo Zijun didn't pay her any more mind and went over to help his master brew the medicine.

At this moment, Qingwen seemed to have regained some clarity; she looked for a moment at the beautiful, fairy-like girl before her and the snow-white fox fur cloak on her, then looked at the youth by the stove, repeating this several times, as if she had guessed something.

"Is the food in your pot burnt?"

Su Dafang held a cattail-leaf fan, fanning the stove as he spoke.

Luo Zijun immediately got up and went to the backyard.

Before long, he came into the room carrying a bowl of steaming hot lean meat and vegetable porridge.

The enticing aroma soon filled the entire room.

Su Dafang's stomach immediately rumbled, and he hurriedly swallowed his saliva, saying: "Zijun, is there any more in the pot?"

Luo Zijun said: "There is still some."

Upon hearing this, Su Dafang immediately got up to eat, but after taking a few steps, he turned his head back and asked: "Ling'er, are you eating?"

Su Qingling sat at the counter, looking at someone, and did not speak.

Luo Zijun hurriedly said: "Master, I will go serve senior sister in a moment, you eat yours."

Su Dafang didn't say anything more and hurried to the back.

Luo Zijun carried the porridge, came before Qingwen, and fed her with a spoon.

Qingwen looked at him, but tears streamed down her face and she kept her mouth shut.

Luo Zijun immediately grew angry: "If you want to seek death, now is not the time. How old are you? Your body, hair, and skin are gifts from your parents; if you die now, how can you face your father and mother? In the future, during the Qingming Festival or the New Year, who will go to visit their graves? Besides, you have no right to die right now! Since I, this Young Master, saved you and brought you back, you belong to me. Only when I tell you to die can you die!"

As he spoke, he directly used a spoon to rudely pry open her small mouth and barked: "Open your mouth and eat it! If you dare let a single drop spill out, you'll be served a slap to the face!"

A spoonful of porridge was poured into her mouth, and he scooped another from the bowl.

Qingwen shed tears, looked at him with a pitiful, aggrieved expression, and finally ate it, then said with a sobbing tone: "Young Master Luo, you... you are so fierce..."

"Hmph, a disobedient woman deserves to be treated fiercely!"

Luo Zijun fed her another spoonful.

This time, Qingwen took the initiative to open her mouth and eat it, then secretly looked behind him at the girl in the counter who looked like a fairy; she endured it, but couldn't help herself, and asked in a low voice: "Young Master Luo, she... who is she? Is she your real wife? She, um..."

Before she could finish, Luo Zijun had already blocked her small mouth with the spoon and the porridge.

"Eat more, talk less. You're nearly dead, yet you're still so gossipy."

Luo Zijun retorted.

Qingwen ate the porridge silently and didn't speak again, though she still couldn't help but steal a glance at the girl in the counter from time to time.

She had originally thought that in this world, no girl could be more beautiful than Lin Guniang, but seeing her today, she realized there were people beyond people, and that there truly were people in this world who were like celestial beings.

"Lin Guniang has a delicate and fragile beauty, while this senior sister of Young Master Luo has a cold and aloof beauty like a fairy... No wonder Young Master Luo doesn't fancy Miss Yingchun and the others..."

At this moment, she discovered that a ball of fire seemed to be burning in her stomach; her originally ice-cold body was now surprisingly warm, her whole body felt extremely comfortable, her mind suddenly became much clearer, and her spirit seemed to be improving as well.

This was, of course, not just the effect of this bowl of porridge.

Clearly, that pill had played a major role.

Luo Zijun finished feeding her the entire bowl of porridge, then went to the kitchen and found his master squatting at the kitchen door slurping away, having already eaten several bowls.

There was only a small half-bowl left in the pot.

"Master, you only left this little bit for Senior Sister?"

Luo Zijun scooped up the remaining porridge in the pot.

Su Dafang said while slurping: "It's too delicious; I didn't expect the porridge you brat cooked to be so fragrant. Your senior sister has a small appetite; she might not even be able to finish that half-bowl, give me some more."

Luo Zijun ignored him and immediately carried the porridge away.

Arriving at the front room, he placed the porridge on the counter and said: "Senior Sister, eat quickly, be careful that Master doesn't come looking for you for some later."

The enticing fragrance soon drifted into Su Qingling's nose.

She seemed to swallow her saliva, the expression on her face remained cold and aloof, and then she lowered her head and began to eat.

Luo Zijun went over, picked up the medicine brewed on the stove, and carefully poured it into a bowl.

At this moment, a cold voice suddenly came from the counter: "Go scoop some more."

Luo Zijun turned his head to look and saw that she had actually finished the half-bowl of porridge so quickly, and said: "There is none left in the pot; Master ate it all secretly in the back."

At this time, Su Dafang wiped his mouth and came over from the back, saying: "It's clearly because you brat cooked too little; I haven't even had my fill yet. Hurry up and feed that little girl her medicine, then go back and cook more porridge for your senior sister."

Luo Zijun carried the medicine to Qingwen's side, and while feeding her the medicine, he looked toward the counter and said: "Senior Sister, eat next time; eating too much at night is bad and will make you fat."

Su Dafang, who was to the side, immediately glared and said: "How can you brat be like this? It's hard for your senior sister to finally have an appetite, so what's wrong with you cooking more porridge? This little girl on the chair is not related to you at all, yet you not only braved the wind and snow to carry her over, but also cooked porridge and medicine for her without hesitation, busy running back and forth; now that your senior sister takes the initiative to ask for porridge, you actually refuse? Are you a white-eyed wolf, you brat?"

Luo Zijun hurriedly said: "I was wrong, I will cook some in a moment."

Su Dafang snorted, went to lie down on the rocking chair, rubbed his stomach, closed his eyes to rest, and continued waiting for the meal.

After Luo Zijun finished feeding the medicine, he went to the counter to collect his senior sister's bowl and chopsticks, then went to the backyard to cut vegetables and meat again and cooked a pot of porridge.

At this time, Qingwen's originally pale complexion had recovered some ruddiness, and under the illumination of the lamp, she looked even more beautiful.

Luo Zijun came over to look at her complexion, touched her forehead, and then took her pulse, saying in surprise: "Master, she seems to be fine now; what kind of medicine did you prescribe for her?"

Su Dafang lay on the chair with his eyes closed and said: "It has nothing to do with the medicine; the medicinal effect couldn't be that fast. You should go and kneel to thank your senior sister."

Luo Zijun looked at the girl in the counter and asked curiously: "Senior Sister, what did you feed her just now?"

Su Qingling was flipping through a book in the counter and still said coldly: "Poison."

Seeing that she was unwilling to say, Luo Zijun did not ask further and turned his gaze to the sky outside.

"It's getting late, I should go back."

He walked over, preparing to pick up Qingwen and leave.

At this moment, Su Qingling suddenly spoke: "Leave her here; I happen to be short a maid here."

Luo Zijun turned his head to look at her: "???"

Su Qingling looked at him with a faint expression: "What, you're unwilling?"

Su Dafang immediately opened his eyes and said: "Disciple, our Pharmacy is indeed short of someone to help out; your senior sister is very tired from watching the shop alone every day. Let this little girl stay to help pound medicine, grab medicine, and organize herbs to share the burden for your senior sister. Don't worry, we certainly won't mistreat her, and we won't make her do dirty or tiring work; this old bone of mine can still manage that."

Luo Zijun's gaze turned to the girl on the chair.

Qingwen nodded and said softly: "Young Master Luo, this servant is willing to stay here and serve... serve Big Sister."

"Big Sister?"

Luo Zijun was stunned for a moment, looked at her a few more times, pondered for a moment, and said: "Actually, I was planning to take you home, or send you to Chujian Bookstore..."

Su Dafang immediately said angrily: "Brat, what do you mean? Everyone else is entitled to a maid, but your senior sister isn't, is that it?"

Luo Zijun said: "Of course not, I just thought... Senior Sister might not want one, and also..."

"And also what?"

Su Dafang said with a cold face.

Luo Zijun looked at the girl in the counter again and said: "And I don't dare... I'm afraid Senior Sister will be angry..."

Su Qingling looked at him expressionlessly and said: "Are you not afraid of other people being angry?"

Luo Zijun said: "I'm not afraid, I'm only afraid of Senior Sister being angry."

The two met each other's gaze.

The room suddenly fell silent.

"Ahem... I'm going to the back to eat, you two chat."

Su Dafang sensed the atmosphere was not quite right and hurriedly slipped away.

"However, since Senior Sister has taken the initiative to speak, and Qingwen is willing to stay here, then let her stay here."

Luo Zijun looked at Qingwen; he had intended to urge her to change her habit of snapping at people, but upon thinking that the person this girl was facing was not someone else, but his own Senior Sister, he immediately felt that any urging would be superfluous.

In front of Senior Sister, no one dared to be gossipy or long-winded.

Including him.

"Qingwen, I am leaving then; I will come to see you again tomorrow. From now on, this place is your home. If you don't like it, just tell me, and I will help you find another one."

Luo Zijun said softly.

With tears in her eyes, Qingwen said softly: "Young Master Luo, thank you. If it weren't for you tonight..."

"You should still thank your Sister Ling'er. Thanking her is the same as thanking me; she and I are one family, and we do not distinguish between each other."

Luo Zijun smiled, glanced at Senior Sister once more, then walked out the door and quickly disappeared into the wind and snow outside.

Su Qingling stood behind the counter, her gaze fixed outside the door, and she did not speak for a long time.

(End of this chapter)