"Alright! I'll go now." Li Wenshan jumped up and first picked up Li Xia from the table.

  "Wait!" Li Xia patted her brother's head, "You go find Mr. Qin first and borrow ten taels of silver from him. Give the silver to Old Lady Hong and let her hire some people to help. With money, things can be done easily."

  Hong's aunt saw off Li Wenshan, tightly grasping the package of loose silver coins, her heart was filled with wave after wave of warmth, and tears streamed down her face in two lines.

  All these years, she has given up on this family and her husband.

  Zhong Baozi is not a good thing, she is dragging down the old master and this family to be her filial son and grandson. She will eventually harm the old master and this whole family to death. However, the mistress has three virtues and four merits, only listening to the old master's words. In the old master's eyes, the best person in the world is Zhong Baozi, and in the mistress' eyes, the best person in the world also becomes Zhong Baozi. The old master is blind, and the mistress herself does not have a discerning eye. If she says one more word, the mistress would instead say that she has evil intentions in her heart...

  She had originally let it go...

  Madam has good fortune, young master is so talented at such a young age, with eyes bright and heart clear, he can accomplish great things...

  Hong's aunt weighed the package of silver again, and only then did the young master, who was still so young, show such understanding and knowledge of human relationships... This is truly a great blessing for his mother.

  Hong's wife opened her purse, picked out two small pieces of silver and put them in her sleeve. She hid the silver package, went out the door and headed to the back kitchen to talk to Tang's wife.

  ………………

  That afternoon, Zhong Nian's wife fell ill.

  Mrs. Xü was filled with four parts joy, three parts guilt and three parts unease, as well as a full ten parts of self-reproach for that four parts of joy, personally overseeing the invitation of the doctor, repeatedly examining the pulse diagnosis, personally decocting the medicine, and instructing Li Dong to watch over her.

  Someone took a large sum of money to the temple to offer incense for peace and safety, and then went back and forth to ask about the well-being of Zhong Nainai's family. It was as if they didn't know how to calm their own restless and guilty heart.

  Li Xia and Li Wenlan sat opposite each other, drawing characters with their hands, but both of their minds were on the little servant girl who had gone back and forth to report on how Concubine Jing was doing.

  Mrs. Xue told County Magistrate Li about the illness of Zhong Yiren, which doctor was invited, what he said, how the pulse diagnosis was, and how she and Dong'er personally decocted the medicine, etc., and that Zhong Yiren only drank half a bowl, and so on, telling every detail, while observing County Magistrate Li's expression.

  Magistrate Li's face was stern as he listened halfway, but he couldn't help feeling impatient and wanted to go over and take a look. He raised his eyes to see his eldest son staring at him intently from across the way, and his foot that had been lifted fell back down again.

  He can't go, if he goes, the hierarchy will be messed up again, for Shan Ge's future and also for the family's future...

  Alas, this is all his fault. He just thought about keeping a low profile and didn't tell Grandma that the reading companion was for Shang Ge's own good... If Grandma had known, she wouldn't have minded these things.

  For him, for this family, she would give up anything, even her own life...

  Mrs. Xue saw County Magistrate Li and only nodded, instructing to serve the meal, but didn't act like before. As soon as she heard that Clock Ah-yi was ill, she wanted to go immediately, without eating or drinking tea, and personally served her by the bed like a filial child. Her heart was surprised, happy, and nervous, suppressing complex emotions that were hard to clarify, trying to put on a calm face.

  Li Xia glanced at her father, who was worried and anxious but thought he had calmed down, then looked at her mother, who was 60% happy and 40% nervous but also thought she was calm, and let out a long sigh in her heart. Her parents were such honest people!

  Magistrate Li finished his meal with patience, scolded Li Wenshan a few times, and then critiqued several of Li Wenlan's calligraphy pieces before saying he wanted to go out for a walk.

  Watching her father walk out the door with his hands behind his back and a serious face, Li Xia gave Li Wenshan a subtle signal, and Li Wenshan quickly stood up, making an excuse that he needed to go back and study, and walked out the door.

  Li Xia slipped quietly off the couch, stuck to the lamp shadow and slid out of the door. She had only run a few steps when she was caught by Li Wenshan.

  "Father is over there..." Li Wenshan's eyes sparkled with excited gossip, pointing to the upper house where Clock Aunt lived next door.

  As soon as Xia gave him a glance, he knew what she meant. She must be following her father to see what he was up to.

  Li Xia nodded repeatedly, indicating that she would go ahead, and the two of them crouched down, one in front of the other, sneaking stealthily to the corridor outside Zhong's main room, and then to the window below, where they stood on tiptoes to listen for any movement.

  "...I know, I'm old and useless now. You all think I'm a nuisance...I know..." said Nanny Rong with a choked voice, holding back tears. "Wait till you're done, then I'll go home. What do I have to ask for in this life? As long as you're well, your uncles are well, what do I have to ask for? You don't need to be like this...wait till you're done, then I'll go home..."

  "Auntie, don't say that, it's me... this is all my fault, I didn't make things clear to you." Magistrate Li's voice was both urgent and pained.

  "Aunt, I was raised by you with your own hands, what kind of person I am, you know best. How can you think this way? Aunt, you're not unaware that in my heart, I regard you as my own birth mother. A foster parent is more important than a biological one, you are my mother, how could I possibly..."

  Auntie Zhong burst into tears, "Ming Ge, if it weren't for you, when your mother died that year, I would have smashed my head to death. It was all for you, those years, in order to protect you growing up, how much suffering I endured, nine deaths and one life...

  Your mother's life is tough, but my life is a hundred times, a thousand times tougher than your mother's. In those years, I cried every day with a heavy heart. If only I could have died for your mother, one death would have ended all the suffering... it's all because of my tough fate...

  "Don't worry, I'll go home now. I'm alive for your sake... You think it's good, I'm in the way, I'll leave... You're grown up now, with a wife and children, a warm family, not like the lonely person you used to be... I'll go home now, you have a wife and children..."

  The old woman was muttering to herself and crying in a sorrowful voice.

  "Auntie, how can you do this? How can your son bear it?" County Magistrate Li also burst into tears, his sobs punctuated by the muffled thud of his knees hitting the ground.

  Li Xia hastily signaled Li Wenshan to take a look inside, and Li Wenshan took a peek and gestured back to Li Xia: Their dad had knelt down.

  "It's all the son's fault for not making things clear to his aunt." County Magistrate Li said with a sob.

  "Aunt, listen to your son. Your son has no dislike for you at all. If he did, may heaven strike him with lightning! Aunt, listen to your son. Today's matter is your son's fault. Your son should have spoken to you first, aunt... it's all for the sake of Shan Ge..."

  Magistrate Li told in detail how Li Wenshan had caught the eye of King Qin, how he was invited by King Qin to read books at Wan Song Academy, and how Luo Shuai had specially allocated public funds because his brother Shan Geer was invited by King Qin to accompany him in reading, and that Shan Geer's future prospects were boundless.

  "...Auntie, the Emperor dotes on this young prince, the Empress Dowager is renowned for her virtue and moral character. Auntie, Shan Ge has won the favor of the Prince, his future prospects are boundless, he will not end up like my son, wasting half his life...it's all because my son lacks ability, that's why...all these years I've been troubling you, Auntie."

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