The sky was still a dull gray, the flying eaves and corners of the Shen mansions rear residence were quietly pasted on the gray-blue sky like a pair of paper cuts. In the courtyard, two rough maids were holding tall bamboo brooms sweeping the floor. Seeing Shen Muqing come out, they hurried forward to pay their respects, with one of them, who was slightly older, saying: "Miss, its still not bright outside, do you want us to call someone to hold a lantern for you?"

  The quiet and peaceful An Garden of Shen Muqing was just behind Lis house, very close.

  "That wont be necessary." Shen Muqing smiled and said, "Lets not trouble Nanny."

  The old woman hastily shook her head: "No trouble, no trouble..."

  Shen Mu Qing smiled and nodded at the two women, then exited through the back door and entered Lis courtyard along the covered corridor.

  Under the eaves, four eight-sided glass lanterns were hung, emitting soft light. Seven or eight maidservants stood with their hands down in front of the large red gauze curtains. Seeing Shen Muqing arrive, some hurried to open the curtains, while others went inside to report: "The young lady has arrived!"

  Shen Mu Qing stepped inside, and a thick fragrance of cedar wafted up to greet her.

  She looked around hopefully.

  The servant woman beside her hurriedly smiled and said: "It was the mistresss orders, to burn some incense. She said that this room is full of medicinal smells and she cant stand it."

  Li suffered from a severe hemorrhage during childbirth due to her advanced age, and although she survived, she had been taking medicine every day for over a decade.

  Having been ill for so many years, Ive got a strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine deep in my bones. A little incense cant get rid of it...

  Shen Mu nodded thoughtfully and responded with a gentle "hmm" to his wifes previous words.

  That woman saw Shen Muqing didnt say anything and secretly let out a sigh of relief in her heart.

  The girl speaks little, but when encountering things, she always smiles, yet her gaze is extremely sharp, as if wanting to see through your five internal organs and six external orifices. So although shes young, no one in the household dares to treat her like an ordinary child... everyone is cautious around her.

  Jin Yu waited on Shen Muqing as she took off her cloak, and a slender woman emerged from the western corridors green silk canopy and the embroidered screen.

  She was in her late twenties, with a face as white as jade, a pair of long eyebrows slanting into her temples, and bright, piercing phoenix eyes. She wore a dark green jacket with four auspicious motifs, a narrow-sleeved dress with twelve embroidered orchids on the front panel, and black hair styled in a peony bun. A jade stone flower headband adorned her forehead, and she wore a pair of pearl earrings and a pair of lantern-shaped earrings with cats eye stones. She looked elegant and refined, radiant with beauty.

  Luomei and Jincheng hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects to the woman, while Shen Muqing laughed and called out "Aunt Chen".

  This womans maiden name was Xie Hong, and she also came from an official family. Later, her father was implicated in a corruption case by his superiors and demoted to county magistrate. Her mother had passed away early, and she followed her father on his appointments, which delayed her marriage, and at the age of twenty, she still hadnt married. Five years ago, through the mediation of Shen Zhens fellow graduate, Liu Jun, who was the governor of Zhejiang Province, she became Shen Zhens concubine. In the second year after entering the household, she gave birth to a son, whose milk name is "Da She", and he is currently Shen Zhens only living son.

  Aunt Chen curtsied and gave Shen Muqing a blessing, smiling: "The mistress is thinking of you, miss, please go in quickly!" Her voice was soft and sweet, with a hint of joy.

  She has been married into the Shen family for many years, and no matter when she sees her, she always has a smile on her face... This is also a skill, worth learning from and drawing lessons from...

  Shen Mu Qing thought for a moment before entering the house with Chen Niang.

  Li is fifty-two years old this year. The long-term illness has not only turned her hair white, but also made her skin dry and yellowish, and her eyes dull and lifeless, looking like an old woman in her seventies.

  She lay listlessly on her pillow, with her personal maid, Tangerine, sitting at the edge of the bed serving her medicine.

  As soon as she saw Shen Muqing, she immediately beamed with a smile, and her eyes sparkled with a bright light like the morning star: "Why so early, cant you sleep a bit more?"

  Shen Mu Qing knelt down and saluted her, pouting his mouth and furrowing his brow, pretending to complain: "Madam is really something, on the one hand teaching me to rise at dawn, sweep the courtyard, and on the other hand saying I came too early......its really hard to serve you!" As he spoke, he sat down on the edge of the bed and took the medicine from Xiang Huais hand.

  The maids in the house all covered their mouths and giggled.

  Li also smiled, but his smile had a hint of sadness.

  Daughters are close to themselves, who doesnt like them. But this daughter is too understanding, too considerate, making her feel guilty - if she hadnt been bedridden for a long time, her daughter would be serving her every day, and how could she have grown up so young, yet without any childishness, but rather like an adult, enduring everything, tolerant of everything, containing everything...

  Thinking of this, she couldnt help but touch Shen Muqings head: "Can you still handle your schoolwork?"

  When Shen Muqing was eight years old, her father Shen Jun invited a scholar surnamed Min to tutor her at home.

  Shen Muqing was feeding medicine to Li Shi while smiling and saying: "Your lessons are interesting, I like them very much."

  Li held his eyes steady and calm.

  She only has this one daughter, so she naturally treats her like a precious gem. Not only does she constantly worry about her daily life and well-being, but also often asks those around her to inquire about her needlework lessons, checking on how shes doing. Just the other day, she heard someone say that Shen Muqing actually argued with the teacher during class...

  Thinking of this, Li pushed the medicine bowl lightly and said seriously: "Mu Qing, dont worry about Master being unhappy. Although Mr. Min is not an ordinary person who was invited by Master three times to come to the thatched cottage, if theres no fate, we wont force it."

  Deep and quiet, serene and subtle, lost in thought.

  Mr. Min taught her for five years, and they got along well all the time... She didnt know where her mothers words came from!

  "Whats wrong with you, child?" Mrs. Li scolded, seeing her daughters puzzled expression, "How did you come back the day before yesterday?"

  Shen Mu Qing let out an "ah" and finally understood what her mother was pointing at.

  "Mr. Min is teaching his daughter the Analects of Confucius," she explained with a smile, "which mentions the people can be made to follow it, but cannot be made to understand it. We had different views on this and discussed it for a few sentences."

  Mr. Li still had some doubts.

  At her young age, how could she argue with Mr. about these university questions? However, she was not prepared to refute her daughters words in front of everyone in the room - afterwards, she would naturally go to verify them.

  Lis expression was relieved, and he smiled slightly as he drank the medicine in one gulp.

  Shen Muqing took the small dish of sweet white sugar from Chen Niangniangs hand and handed it to Li Shi, who picked up the sugar with her fingertips and put it in her mouth. Chen Niangniang then took a handkerchief and helped Li Shi wash her hands. Shen Muqing smiled and said: "Mr. Liu prescribed five packets of medicine last time, which were finished yesterday. Shall we ask Lin to invite Mr. Liu over this afternoon to take the pulse again?"

  Mr. Liu is a doctor at Tai Hospital, specializing in internal medicine and gynecology. After Dr. Zhou of Tai Hospital retired three years ago, he has been treating Mrs. Lis illness.

  Mr. Li sighed: "This illness of mine is just like this, opening and closing, nothing more than some Ginseng and Deer Antler Pills... Dont worry about it! Whether you take it or not doesnt matter."

  Shen Mu Qing listened quietly, her eyes dimming slightly.

  Since the beginning of summer, Lis mental state has been getting worse and worse, and her body has also started to show signs of edema. Unfortunately, she had studied Chinese before, so although she knew that this situation was not right, she couldnt come up with any specific measures to take, and could only anxiously urge Li to take his medicine and do other small things like that...

  A thought flashed through Shen Muqings mind, and she thought of the suffering Mrs. Li had endured from her illness over the years. She pretended to be playful and said, "How can you say that, Mr. Liu? He prescribes different medicines according to different situations. Like last time, he prescribed medicine to nourish the stomach and spleen, and the time before that, he prescribed medicine to dispel wind and evil... And when he prescribed the Ten Complete Great Supplement Pill, it was because you needed to be supplemented, wasnt it?"

  Daughter is very considerate and always thinks of ways to comfort her mothers heart...

  Mr. Li was both delighted and distressed, patted Shen Muqings hand: "You kid!"

  Shen Muqing knew that with this stir, Lis heart was relieved a bit. She covered her mouth and smiled: "Lets just say it like this, in the afternoon let Lin Guanshi go to Tixian Hutong and invite Mr. Liu to take a look."

  Mrs. Li smiled and nodded slightly, and a little maid took the opportunity to report: "The young master has come to pay his respects to the madam!" Mrs. Li heard this and smiled faintly, saying: "Quickly bring him in, its very windy today, dont let him catch cold!"

  Before long, a woman in a crimson jacket brought in a child dressed in pink.

  That child, three or four years old, with eyebrows and eyes still not fully developed, had black hair, wore a bright blue eight-treasured calabaza hat, a five-colored brocade cloak with golden threads all over it, white silk socks, satin shoes, and on his chest he wore a crimson gold necklace with a long-life lock pendant, and on his hands were crimson gold bracelets with four or five little bells that shook back and forth making a dull ringing sound.

  He was Da She, and the woman holding her was Da Shes wet nurse Tian Mama.

  Madam Chen hastily fetched a large red satin cushion and placed it in front of Mrs. Lis bed.

  Dà Shěs mother placed a large cushion in front of the embroidered mat, and Dà Shě knelt down on the mat with great respect: "Child greets Mother! Wishing Mother good fortune, longevity, peace, and health!" After finishing speaking, he kowtowed three times.

  Because of his young age, when Da She got up, his small body swayed back and forth.

  Li smiled and looked at Da She: "Our familys Da She is getting more and more sensible! Look at this little appearance, even more steady than adults!"

  Mother and son are connected at heart. As Lis stepmother, she can praise Dashe like this, and Chen Yinniang shows a slightly proud expression.

  He rolled his big black eyes and replied seriously: "Thank you, Mother, for your praise!"

  Looking at his pretentious appearance, Shen Muqing couldnt help but smile.

  Dà Shě slightly tilted his head, curiously gazing at her.

  Although the two were siblings, they came from a large family with its own rules. They each had their own courtyards and their own maidservants. Moreover, Shen Muqing was preoccupied with her own thoughts and didnt dare get too close to anyone, including this younger brother of hers, so she kept him at arms length. As a result, although the two siblings would occasionally meet, they were not close.

  Tians mother saw this and quickly pulled on Dashens sleeve, reminding him in a low voice: "And the young lady!"

  Dà Shě suddenly enlightened and let out an "oh", then respectfully gave a salute to Shen Muqing.