Chapter 10: The Grand Commander Arrives
Chapter 10: The Grand Commander Arrives
Was she being willful? Did she argue with Lin Wan'er? Did she not obediently wait for him in the carriage?
He really had a bad memory, forgetting everything he had done!
She had never argued with Lin Wan'er; it was them who wanted this and that, and more.
Lu Lingxiao frowned, "Why are you staring at me like that? Did I say something wrong? It's a good thing Wan'er was worried about you and urged me to come find you."
Meng Qianqian's cold eyes looked at him without a trace of warmth.
After he said this, her sharp gaze was like a sword piercing his heart.
He suddenly paused.
"Young Master! You should stop talking now!"
Banxia couldn't bear to listen anymore.
Her young mistress had been drenched like this, yet he blamed the vixen who took him away instead of showing concern for her.
Where had her young mistress gone wrong?
Her young master was too much!
Banxia couldn't care less that they were outside. She took off her own coat and wrapped it around Meng Qianqian, who was freezing.
The coachman, Wu Ge, picked up the bundle on the ground and held an umbrella over Meng Qianqian's head.
"Give it to me," Banxia sobbed as she took the umbrella and supported Meng Qianqian into the mansion.
The coachman gritted his teeth and said to Lu Lingxiao, "Young Master, even if you beat me to death today, I still have to speak my mind! It was wrong of you to bring another woman to the Grand Young Mistress' carriage for the banquet at the Commander's Mansion. And then you left the Grand Young Mistress behind and disappeared for so long. She waited in the carriage without a single complaint. Later, when it started pouring rain, you had taken the umbrella with you..."
"The Grand Young Mistress was worried about you, so she went out in the rain to look for you!"
The last sentence was Wu Ge's personal opinion.
Since he would be driven out of the mansion anyway, a few more words wouldn't make a difference. With that thought, the coachman steeled his heart!
"In such heavy rain, she must have gotten her clothes soaked, so she went to buy new ones. You...you really wronged the Grand Young Mistress!"
Lu Lingxiao was left speechless by the coachman's words.
As he watched Meng Qianqian disappear into the pouring rain, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes.
Meng Qianqian and Banxia returned to the Hall of Sea Butter Trees.
"Li Mama!"
Banxia almost knocked the door open with her shoulder.
Li Mama was startled. Seeing Meng Qianqian drenched and frozen, she quickly rushed over and hugged her.
"What happened to the young mistress?"
"I don't know...waaah..."
Banxia cried so hard she couldn't speak.
Li Mama's eyes also turned red.
Although the Meng family was considered a prominent family in Qingzhou, even if they were merchants, their young mistress had always been doted on by her elders. When had she ever suffered like this?
"Where is the young master?"
"The young master is with that vixen...he's too much..."
Banxia sobbed, breathless.
Li Mama said, "Stop crying. Quickly call the kitchen to boil water and make ginger soup. Also, bring over some hot water bottles and charcoal!"
Banxia cried as she went to do as she was told.
Li Mama helped Meng Qianqian sit down on a stool and began to remove her wet clothes. "Last time the young mistress fell into the water, the doctor said she must not catch a cold again..."
Meng Qianqian's hand had been holding the umbrella the whole way, and it was frozen stiff.
Li Mama spent a long time massaging her before she could slowly straighten her stiff fingers.
And when Li Mama took off Meng Qianqian's shoes, which were soaked in bloody water, she couldn't hold back her tears and turned to cry.
Meng Qianqian: "Mama."
Li Mama wiped her tears, lifted her head, and her red-rimmed eyes looked at her, "Hey, young mistress!"
Meng Qianqian calmly said, "Starting tomorrow, stop the monthly expenses for the Bamboo and Pine Pavilion and the Maple Court."
Mrs. Li said, "The Maple Court is Miss Lin's courtyard. It doesn't matter if we cut off her expenses, but the Bamboo and Pine Pavilion belongs to the young master. Young mistress, do you also want to cut off his expenses?"
Meng Qianqian didn't hesitate for a moment before replying, "Stop them."
After a warm bath and changing into dry clothes, Meng Qianqian lay in bed, hugging a hot water bottle.
By the time Li Mama arrived with a bowl of ginger soup from the small kitchen, Meng Qianqian had already fallen asleep.
Banxia sat by the bed, keeping watch.
Li Mama handed the ginger soup to Banxia and whispered, "You should drink a bowl too, don't catch a cold."
There weren't many confidants by Miss Meng's side, and neither she nor Banxia could afford to fall sick.
Banxia sniffed and took the ginger soup.
Li Mama looked at the snacks on the plate and asked, "Didn't Miss eat anything?"
Banxia shook her head. "Miss said she couldn't eat."
Neither of them knew about Meng Qianqian's encounter on her way back, and they assumed that she had gone off to look for Lu Lingxiao.
"Who could eat at a time like this?" Li Mama sighed and said to Banxia, "You must be tired too. Go and get some rest, I'll stay here."
Banxia didn't want to leave.
"Go on, I'll stay with her."
Li Mama shooed Banxia away.
After a while, she returned to change the hot water bottle and tuck the blankets snugly around Meng Qianqian.
However, Meng Qianqian's sleep was far from peaceful.
She had another nightmare.
One moment she was falling into an icy lake, and the next, she found herself in the midst of a raging inferno, with towering flames reaching for the sky and piercing screams filling the air outside.
She was hidden in a water vat, shielded from the lashing flames by a tall figure.
Meng Qianqian sat up with a start, her eyes widening as she saw someone sitting on a chair by the bed.
Clad in purple robes, with a purple crown atop his head, his skin was a cold, pale white, and his narrow phoenix eyes held a lazy smile, his lips curved slightly upwards.
A hint of surprise flashed in Meng Qianqian's eyes, but it was gone in an instant, replaced by her usual calm demeanor.
"Are you afraid of this commander?"
"The Grand Commander's might strikes fear into the hearts of all under heaven, silencing even the statues. How could a mere woman like me not be afraid? May I ask why the Grand Commander has paid a visit at this late hour?"
Meng Qianqian calling him by his title didn't surprise Lu Yuan, just as he had expected her to find out that he was from the Lu family.
If he didn't even possess this ability, he wouldn't be the Grand Commander who held the imperial court in the palm of his hand.
As for his intrusion into her bedroom in the middle of the night, creating a situation where a man and a woman were alone together, for this unorthodox Grand Commander, it probably didn't even count as outlandish behavior.
Lu Yuan smiled without really smiling as he said, "You pulled on this commander's sleeve and called him 'father' all night. This commander almost wanted to investigate when he had fathered such a grown daughter."
Meng Qianqian looked down and quickly released the purple sleeve she had been clutching tightly.
Lu Yuan waved his wide sleeve, grabbing a basket from behind him and placing it on her lap.
Lying in the basket was a baby girl, her big eyes as dark as grapes, sucking on her fingers adorably.
Meng Qianqian blinked in surprise.
"Feed her," Lu Yuan commanded.
"I don't have any milk," Meng Qianqian replied.
Lu Yuan gave her a look that clearly said, 'Do you take me for a fool?' and produced a warm bag of sheep's milk from the swaddling clothes.
Meng Qianqian's head was spinning, and her throat felt like it was on fire.
She said to Lu Yuan, "I caught a chill, it might be contagious."
Such a young child could easily fall ill from a chill.
Lu Yuan waved off her concerns nonchalantly. "Either way, she'll starve to death. It's better to choose between starving and sickness."
Who asked you to kill her wet nurse?
"What if she still doesn't eat?" Meng Qianqian asked.
Lu Yuan smiled lightly. "Then I'll kill you too."
Meng Qianqian wisely said, "Hand me a spoon, please."
Lu Yuan's lips curved in a cold smile. "Are you ordering me around?"
Meng Qianqian thought for a moment and said, "Please, Grand Commander, grant me a spoon."
(End of Chapter)
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