That day, You Miao took the dog-barbarian slave named Li Zhifeng home. His cousin was angry at home, and You Miao didn't dare to make a big fuss and disturb others. He ordered the servants to put the half-dead man in the room, put him behind the screen, and put some padding on him, like a doghouse, and then threatened the people, saying that no one was allowed to tell anyone, and then he pretended that nothing had happened and went back to sleep.
It snowed heavily that night. You Miao was lying in bed, thinking of a stray dog he had picked up when he was at home. He woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't help but get up to look to see if the dog slave was dead.
At midnight, there was a sound of panting like a bellows behind the screen. You Miao couldn't sleep anymore, so he got up quietly without telling the maid outside. He walked barefoot on the cashmere carpet, dressed in a white dress whiter than snow, holding a small five-color glass lamp, and looked behind the screen.
The dog slave was panting intermittently, and was probably going to die. You Miao couldn't help but feel distressed when he thought of his two hundred taels of silver. He lifted the quilt and looked carefully with the glass lamp.
Previously, in the ice and snow, this man was frozen to purple all over, and blood, urine, sweat, and vomited bile mixed together and all froze into ice. Now, after being covered by the quilt for half the night, the water has melted and there is an unpleasant sour smell on his body. His hands and feet were well-proportioned, with big soles and long fingers. His body was eight feet long, and his two strong legs were as powerful as a wild horse. The thing between his legs was as beautiful as a donkey's.
When You Miao looked at his face again, he suddenly saw that he had his eyes open. He was startled again and almost knocked the lamp over on his face.
His eyes were dull and he stared at the glass lamp.
"Why did you save me?" His voice was low and hoarse.
You Miao: "You... are you still alive?"
He didn't answer. You Miao thought how to answer this question? Say that he wants to hear the dirty things of Quan Rongnu and Li Yan? You can't say that.
You Miao: "It was just a whim. You... are you okay."
You Miao held the lamp and waved it over his face. The man's eyes finally fell on You Miao's face. The five-colored light of the glass lamp shone through the screen. The colorful light turned and turned, shining on his face and You Miao's face.
You Miao: "You spent two hundred taels of silver from me, you can't die, what's your name?"
He looked at You Miao's face without blinking, and after a long time he answered:
"Li Zhifeng."
You Miao confirmed his name, and said: "Because of you, I have offended Li Yan, you have to be sensible. I will call a doctor for you tomorrow, you lie down first."
Li Zhifeng did not answer, so You Miao put the glass lamp next to the screen and went back to lie down. That night he was always worried that the two hundred taels of silver would die, and from time to time he stood up and looked at the screen, listening with his ears erect. When it was dawn, he tiptoed over again and saw Li Zhifeng with his eyes closed, and used his hand to feel his breath.
Li Zhifeng: "I'm not going to die, you can go to sleep without worry."
You Miao nodded and walked back. Li Zhifeng said again: "I will always remember your life-saving grace."
You Miao smiled and said: "Just don't die."
You Miao was fast asleep at this time, and didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky. He couldn't sleep well after tossing and turning all night. When the maid came in, she sniffed and said: "Master, what's the smell in the room?"
You Miao hurriedly said: "Go out, go out, all go out, it's none of your business."
You Miao got the maid out, and suddenly thought of something, and said: "Move the incense burner in."
The maid was puzzled, and You Miao asked again: "Where is the master?"
The maid bowed and said: "The master went to the door of the Minister of Revenue."
When You Miao was washing his face and rinsing his mouth, another servant came to report outside the door: "Qiao'er is waiting outside the second gate, preparing for the young master to study."
How could You Miao have the mind to study?
He hurriedly said, "We won't go today. Let's all go down and have a rest."
Every day, the servants would prepare to accompany the reading, and the book boy was also brought from home. Every day, everyone pretended to do it, and no one came to test their homework, so they were happy to be free and relaxed.
After You Miao finished washing up, the incense burner was brought in, filled with incense, and breakfast was sent to the room.
You Miao also ordered some porridge to help digestion and appetite, soaked some fried partridge meat, and asked the maid to tear it into shreds and soak it in the porridge. He ordered everyone to go out and hid a bowl.
"I want to take a bath. Go and prepare the water. Then call Shiqi in." You Miao said.
After a while, the servant called Shiqi came in with a bucket of water. Shiqi was the servant who often followed You Miao. He was assigned to him by You Miao's uncle. He also knew that You Miao bought a disabled person last night. When he came in, he asked in surprise: "Master, did you hide the dead dog in the room last night?"
"What dead dog." You Miao said: "Where is the two hundred taels of silver? Come on, help me."
You Miao didn't dare to let his uncle know about this, for he was afraid that his uncle would throw him out of the door and beat him up as soon as he saw Li Zhifeng. We have to heal his wound first, and then tell our uncle that this is a slave sent by someone else. To heal his wound, we need to call a doctor. To call a doctor, we need to wash him first.
Shi Qi put his sleeves in his hands and stood behind the screen with You Miao. You Miao said, "What are you looking at? Lift him up."
Shi Qi's face was twitching. This man was too smelly. He was reluctant, but he had to help You Miao carry him up. Li Zhifeng staggered and couldn't stand steadily. You Miao asked again, "Can you walk by yourself?"
Li Zhifeng nodded, but his feet were weak.
You Miao and Shi Qi carried him to the bathtub and soaked him headfirst. With a splash, both of them were splashed with water. Shi Qi looked bitter. You Miao said, "Go find him some clean clothes to wear." After that, he asked Li Zhifeng to turn over. Li Zhifeng had no strength at all, leaning against the bathtub with his eyes closed.
You Miao picked up the loofah stick and rubbed him reluctantly, picked up his hair and put it behind his head, and looked at his face.
"He's handsome." You Miao said, "Are you okay?"
Li Zhifeng seemed to have used up all his strength, lifted his hand from the water, and trembled as he pressed it on the back of You Miao's hand in front of the bucket.
You Miao muttered, "How can such a big man not even beat a few servants?"
"They gave me muscle softening powder."
Li Zhifeng's voice was very small and weak, and You Miao didn't hear it clearly. He leaned close to his lips and asked, "What?"
Li Zhifeng's voice was a sigh.
"Martial arts."
You Miao was surprised.
"You also know martial arts?"
Li Zhifeng couldn't speak, and You Miao wanted to ask him something, but seeing his half-dead appearance, he had to ignore it for the time being and put it aside for now.
Shi Qi came in with clothes, and You Miao first put the wet Li Zhifeng on his couch, put on a single shirt and trousers for him, then put on a cloth robe, rolled him up with a mattress, and moved him behind the screen. Shi Qi rolled up the original quilt, took it out and threw it away. You Miao breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was finally done.
Li Zhifeng's hair was still wet, and his face finally had some color. He was a little darker than You Miao, thin and unrecognizable, with high cheekbones and a scar on his brow that had not yet completely healed. It was probably caused by Li Yan hitting him with a vase during the fight. The scar was two inches long, stretching from the brow to the ear. Such a handsome man was ruined by a scar.
He closed his eyes, his two sword-like thick eyebrows were very beautiful, his nose was also high, and his fingers were slender, but his face was gray, like a dead person. You Miao called him again: "Hey."
Li Zhifeng opened his eyes weakly, with a little brown in his pupils, and opened his lips, but he couldn't speak.
You Miao took out a jade from his neck, bent down and tied it around his neck, and said: "This is the life-saving talisman my mother gave me. I'll lend it to you first. Get up and eat something."
You Miao put the porridge bowl in a basin of hot water and took out a small jade whistle. When Shi Qi came back, the two picked up Li Zhifeng and asked him to sit down. You Miao was only fifteen years old and Shi Qi was only fourteen. It was exhausting for two half-grown teenagers to manipulate such a big man. They finally fed him a bowl of warm porridge.
After eating porridge, You Miao sent Shi Qi to ask for a doctor. Seeing that he couldn't go out today, he simply sat in the room, flipped through books, and was in a daze. Li Zhifeng coughed behind the screen. You Miao hurried over to see that Li Zhifeng's face finally had some color after eating porridge. His skin was darker in color, not as delicate as You Miao's.
The veins on the back of his hand were exposed. When he coughed, he turned sideways and covered his mouth tightly. You Miao stroked his back and looked at him worriedly for a while, thinking that if the doctor came and said he couldn't be cured, he would just... throw him out. But he was so big, and it was windy and snowy outside, so it wouldn't work to just throw him at the entrance of the alley. He had to be thrown farther away, which would be pitiful. Two hundred taels of silver...
If he had known not to do that earlier, You Miao couldn't help but feel distressed just thinking about it, and secretly reminded himself to take back the jade pendant his mother gave him when throwing him out, so as not to throw him away with others.
"How old are you?" You Miao asked sympathetically.
Li Zhifeng: "The eleventh year of Qingshuo."
You Miao nodded. This year is the thirty-third year of Qingshuo, which means he is already twenty-two.
You Miao sat back at the table, holding the hand warmer, thinking for a while, then went over and put the hand warmer in Li Zhifeng's arms, sat down beside his bed behind the screen, and asked: "When were you sold to the capital?"
Li Zhifeng: "Seven years ago."
She was sold to the Jiaofangsi at the age of fifteen. You Miao vaguely knew what that place was - the women of wealthy families who were confiscated and sent to the army would be sold to the Jiaofangsi to be prostitutes, and there were also many men there, but this thing called Quanrong slaves was the first time he heard of it. He just didn't know what this guy came from. Looking at his appearance, he didn't look like a young prostitute.
"Young Master."
Shi Qi's voice came from outside, and You Miao immediately got up and went out. The old doctor was covered in snow and carrying a medicine bag, and You Miao let the doctor in. Standing by and watching with a worried look on his face, Shi Qi just winked at You Miao, who moved his eyebrows to indicate what was wrong?
Shi Qi whispered, "The master is back."
You Miao rolled his eyes and said, "Did you call me?"
Shi Qi shook his head, and You Miao said, "Don't worry about him for now."
The doctor did not ask about Li Zhifeng's background, nor did he ask why there was a man living in the room of the young master of the You family. He just frowned and took the pulse seriously.
Shi Qi said to Li Zhifeng, "My young master hired the best doctor in the capital for you, a money-loser, and paid him ten taels of silver."
What... what? !
You Miao was struck by a bolt from the blue. He stared at Shi Qi and gnashed his teeth in his ear and said, "Why did you hire such an expensive doctor?"
Shi Qi said, "Master, you have to think about it. The compensation is worth two hundred taels of silver. If you can cure it with another ten taels, isn't it worth it?"
You Miao was running out of money and was furious. He could only say, "Okay, okay."
"The master is back home--"
"Master!"
The You Mansion has three courtyards and four courtyards. When the wind and snow got heavier, it was like a knife raining outside. The carriage stopped outside the mansion, and the sedan chair carried the master of the You family into the second gate and stopped outside the hall. As soon as You Deyou opened the curtain, he shuddered and howled a few times. The sedan chair responded and lifted forward again and pushed into the gate.
You Deyou then got off the sedan chair. You Deyou was fat in middle age and had a big head and ears due to eating too much. He lived in the capital and specialized in business in the six routes of Jiangnan. He often ran errands for the You family to report news and inquire about the movements of the court. He ate delicacies every day and ate a lot. He was so tired as soon as he walked into the hall.
The concubine hurried forward to serve him, handed over a hot towel, and lit a charcoal basin. You Deyou felt better and asked while wiping his hands: "Where is You Miao?"
You Deyou still had to take care of this troublesome nephew. First, You Miao was the eldest son and grandson of You Dechuan's family, and his status was not ordinary after all. Second, the You family had to have someone to take care of it. According to You Dechuan's intention, it was obvious that he wanted his son to be an official, so he had to ignore it. You Miao ate and made trouble on weekdays, and You Deyou turned a blind eye.
The housekeeper replied, "My nephew is at home? Should I call him over?"
As soon as he said this, You Deyou's eyes bulged and he said to himself, "The sun is rising from the west. It's broad daylight. How can that kid stay at home so quietly?"
The concubine smiled and pressed You Deyou's shoulders, explaining, "It must be snowing today. There's nowhere to go."
You Deyou said, "Forget it, call him over, ask the kitchen to make some side dishes, and eat lunch first."
While talking, You Miao was still nervous and stared at the doctor. The doctor just squinted his eyes and didn't say a word for a stick of incense, as if he was in a trance.
Outside, the housekeeper's voice sounded, "Young master, the master invites you to come over to talk and have lunch."
You Miao had to go over. He was worried before leaving, so he took out ten taels of silver and gave it to Shi Qi, and touched some silver coins for him as a reward. He whispered to Shi Qi to watch, and then hurriedly followed You Deyou over. You Deyou didn't say anything else, just asked him how his studies were going, who he usually played with, etc.
You Miao was worried about the extra person in the room, and he had just finished breakfast and couldn't eat, so he hurried back to his room, saying that he was reading.
You Deyou was even more surprised, thinking that his nephew had changed his nature, and called him and said, "Stop!"
You Miao: "What's the matter?"
You Deyou said, "Let me ask you, someone came to the Moon Palace and sent a message..."
You Miao remembered that thing and hurriedly said, "The Third Prince wants me to be his study partner?"
You Deyou sneered and said, "Are you going?"
You Miao was a little hesitant, and You Deyou lectured him again, "I'm not saying anything bad about you, why are you so confused? The Third Prince's man is good, but he is not the prince after all..."
You Miao had a falling out with Li Yan over the dog rongnu incident, and now she felt a little uneasy thinking about taking sides. He was not a big boy in the capital, but which of these dudes was the most economical?
Naturally, he had been influenced by his ears and his eyes, and he had already known the factional struggles in the imperial court.
Everyone stood in line early and followed Li Yan one-sidedly.
But in fact, being with the third prince does not mean that everything is bad. In the future, the prince will be the crown prince. If he does not eradicate his brother's gang members, as long as there is a little bit of flesh and blood, the third prince will be crowned the king.
If You Miao votes for the third prince now, he can follow him to the richest side when he is crowned king in the future.
You Miao has never had much ambition, just staying in one place is enough. If she wants to be able to make the final decision, she might as well vote for the third prince now.
As long as the "third prince" doesn't rebel or disobey his brother, he will be as rich and wealthy as he is. There are few officials.
But You Miao also knows that his father now expects him to become an official, so what else can he do?
You Miao smiled and said, "I didn't want to go into the palace."
You Deyou nodded and said, "It's good to know. I helped you get him back last month."
Alas, I was in the capital and couldn't help myself. Just as You Miao was about to go out, someone came from outside to deliver a message, saying: "Master nephew, the prime minister's son sent someone to deliver something."
You Deyou's beard was slightly raised and his eyebrows were twitching. You Miao took the thing and saw that it was written on a piece of cowhide, Li Zhifeng's deed of betrayal.
You Deyou: "What?"
"No." You Miao said, "It's nothing."