What...what? ! You Miao was shocked as if by a bolt from the blue. He stared at Shi Qi and whispered in his ear with gritted teeth: "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 adding another ten taels can cure the disease, isn't it worth it?"
You Miao was almost out of money and was furious. He could only say: "Okay, okay."
"The master is back home--"
"Master!"
The You Mansion had three entrances and four courtyards. When the wind and snow got heavier, it was like raining knives 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 lifted the curtain, he shuddered and howled a few times. The sedan chair responded by lifting it forward and poking into the gate.
You Deyou then got off the sedan chair. You Deyou was middle-aged and fat. He lived in the capital and specialized in business in the six routes of Jiangnan. He often ran errands for the You family to 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. While wiping his hands, he asked, "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 room, 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, "Is the nephew at home? Should I call him over, sir?"
As soon as these words came out, You Deyou's eyes widened and he said to himself, "The sun has risen from the west. It's broad daylight, and that kid can actually stay at home quietly?"
The concubine smiled and pressed You Deyou's shoulders, explaining, "It must be snowing heavily today, and there's nowhere to go."
You Deyou said, "Forget it, forget it. Call him over and ask the kitchen to make some side dishes. Let's have lunch first."
While speaking, You Miao was still nervous and stared at the doctor. The doctor just squinted his eyes and didn't say a word for a whole incense stick of time, as if he was in a trance. Outside, the housekeeper's voice was heard, "Young master, the master wants you to come over and 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 also touched some change for him as a reward. He whispered to Shi Qi to watch him, 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, so he called him and said, "Stop!"
You Miao: "What's the matter?"
You Deyou said, "Let me ask you, someone came to the Moon Palace last month 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 taught 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 because of the dog slaves, and now he was a little nervous about standing in line. The young men in the capital were not very old, but which family of this group of dandies was easy to deal with? Being influenced by everything around him, he knew about the factional struggles in the court. They all took sides early on and followed Li Yan one-sidedly.
But in fact, following the third prince was not all bad. When the crown prince ascended to the throne in the future, if he did not eliminate his brothers' followers, as long as there was a little bit of blood relationship between them, the third prince would be crowned king. If You Miao voted for the third prince now, he could also become rich when he was crowned king in the future.
You Miao never had much ambition. It was enough for him to stay in one place safely. If he wanted to have the final say, he might as well vote for the third prince now. As long as the "third prince" did not rebel and did not disobey his brothers, he would be as rich and glorious as an official. But You Miao also knew that his father was counting on him to become an official now. What else could he do?
You Miao smiled and said, "I didn't want to go to the palace."
You Deyou nodded and said, "I'm glad to know. I helped you get him back last month."
Alas, people in the capital are helpless. Just as You Miao was about to leave, someone came to deliver a letter outside, saying, "Nephew, the son of the Prime Minister's Mansion sent someone to deliver something."
You Deyou's beard was slightly raised, and his eyebrows jumped. You Miao took the thing and saw that it was a piece of cowhide, Li Zhifeng's indenture.
You Deyou: "What?"
"Nothing." You Miao said, "Nothing."
You Miao put the indenture into his arms, smiled at his uncle, and hurried away.
"How is it?" You Miao asked as soon as he returned to the room.
Shi Qi said, "The doctor said it's nothing serious, just flesh wounds, with a few internal injuries. He asked us to get a prescription for Tianwang Life-saving Pills for him to take. He caught a cold and hasn't recovered yet. I'm afraid his lungs have been damaged. I prescribed this medicine. If he doesn't get better after a while, I'll call him to see him again."
You Miao nodded, and Shi Qi said, "But this Tianwang Life-saving Pill is really not cheap, it costs ten taels of silver..."
You Miao couldn't stop feeling pain in his heart, but he had already spent two hundred taels, so he didn't care about it. He took out some silver and gave it to him, saying, "Go buy it."
That afternoon, Shi Qi brought the medicine back. You Miao fed the life-saving pill to Li Zhifeng, then took a clay pot and sat in the room by the stove to boil the medicine for Li Zhifeng. As he boiled the medicine, You Miao suddenly felt something was wrong. He was originally a young master, but how come he bought a slave and became the one serving him? !
"I did it for you this time." You Miao said depressedly, "It's really not easy. You lose money, take the medicine quickly and get better. I'll do anything."
Li Zhifeng took the Tianwang Life-saving Pill and his face looked better. He just stared at You Miao. You Miao said, "It's really weird. How come I'm the one serving you? Drink it."
You Miao handed him the medicine bowl and didn't even clean up his things. After a day of hard work, he was exhausted and went to bed to lie down.
That night, Li Zhifeng's appetite improved a bit, and he was able to eat porridge made from thick rice. You Miao just wanted him to get better quickly, so he asked the kitchen to make a big bowl of porridge, and sent Shi Qi to buy ginseng, ganoderma and other medicinal materials, and gave Li Zhifeng all the supplements he needed to avoid the trouble of lying down. Before going to bed, he made a big bowl of thick ginseng soup for him to drink, and then went to sleep.
Hearing a noise in the middle of the night, You Miao was immediately awakened. At first, he thought a thief had entered, but when he looked up and saw a figure, he knew it was Li Zhifeng.
He didn't want to steal something and run away. You Miao didn't dare to move. With the white light from the window, he could see more clearly and found that Li Zhifeng was collecting the medicine bowls and rice bowls from the day and putting away the hand warmer. When he was in front of the desk, he paused, as if he saw his indenture, and then put it aside as if nothing had happened.
The next day, because of Li Yan's incident, no one came to look for You Miao, and You Miao was even less likely to go to his house. He was bored at home all day. Sometimes he went to see if Li Zhifeng was okay, and sometimes he talked to him. Li Zhifeng said very little, like a piece of wood. You Miao was very curious about his life experience at first, and asked again and again. You
Miao: "What are Quanrong?"
Li Zhifeng: "People."
You Miao: How did you get sold to the capital?
Li Zhifeng: "I lost the war."
You Miao: "Do you want to go home?"
Li Zhifeng shook his head.
You Miao: "What do you do in the Jiaofangsi?"
Li Zhifeng just looked at You Miao without saying anything. The medicine pot was boiling, so You Miao said, "Go drink the medicine yourself."
Li Zhifeng went to drink the medicine in silence. You Miao said, "Hey, you dog slave, how are you going to repay me?"
Li Zhifeng: "From now on, I will do whatever you tell me to do. If you let me live, I will live. If you let me die, I will die."
You Miao was a little moved. He didn't expect that this guy could speak long sentences. You Miao couldn't think of how to assign him for a while. He asked, "Can you do housework? Can you serve people? Can you comb their hair?"
Li Zhifeng nodded. You Miao asked again, "Can you do laundry, cooking, cleaning, and other rough work?"
Li Zhifeng stared at the medicine bowl and nodded slightly.
You Miao: "Can you fight?"
Li Zhifeng: "Yes, a little."
You Miao: "What else can you do?"
Li Zhifeng drank the medicine and answered: "Accompany in bed."
You Miao remembered and asked: "Have you ever slept with Li Yan?"
Li Zhifeng shook his head. You Miao thought for a while and said: "When you recover, you can serve me. If you serve me well, I will let you go home in a few years."
You Miao didn't know how to play with a man in bed, but looking at Li Zhifeng's appearance, his body was probably not as good as hers. Now she couldn't mess with him. If he died again, it would be too bad.
You Miao sat in front of the desk and asked again: "Can you accompany me to study? Come and grind ink for me."
Li Zhifeng finished drinking the medicine and came to grind ink for You Miao. He lifted his robe and knelt on one knee beside You Miao's desk. The action was very majestic. He rolled up his sleeves and pinched the ink stick with his bony fingers, grinding it repeatedly on the inkstone. You Miao took a look and felt that this man was different from the servants. He had an indescribable temperament.
"Can you read?" You Miao asked again.
Li Zhifeng nodded.
You Miao was shocked. There were slaves who could read?
Li Zhifeng ground the ink, got up and went to pack up. After a while, he came over and sat down beside him. He put his fist to his nose and held back a few coughs. You Miao scribbled something and scribbled on the paper. He couldn't read the book. He was just very bored. When he lay down, he was thinking about Li Yan and others. It was boring to stay at home. However, he didn't want to offend Li Yan and go to complain. What
's more troublesome is that the money is almost spent. The last five hundred taels of silver was spent in less than three months. He had to think of a way to ask for the money from his family.
You Miao glanced at the culprit who lost money and saw Li Zhifeng looking at the things he scribbled on the table with an indifferent expression. Li Zhifeng saw You Miao looking at him, so his eyes moved to You Miao's face and looked at him.
Not only was Li Zhifeng's posture of grinding ink strange, but his kneeling action was also strange. Others just knelt casually or sat down, but Li Zhifeng put his hands on his knees and held his back straight, like those soldiers in the court, with a vague aura of solemnity.