Xie Miao had never seen him look so weak. After being stunned, she asked, "Are you feeling better?"
"It's okay, it's just a minor injury." Cui Muli said, "A-Miao, sit down and chat."
If it was a minor injury, why did three imperial doctors need to provide first aid for two hours?
Xie Miao had no intention of exposing him. She moved a stool and sat down not far from the bedside. She was stupefied when her eyes fell.
...
"Cousin," she said, "You are holding the book upside down."
"Oh." Cui Muli turned the book back and said with a calm expression, "Okay."
Xie Miao was sitting upright. Whilst thinking about how she could inquire without leaving any trace, Cui Muli said: "Can you sit closer? I was injured and my eyesight is somewhat reduced."
Xie Miao raised her eyes suspiciously, is there such a thing?
Cui Muli said: "I was in a coma for three days before I woke up. It took another three days before I could sit up..."
Xie Miao moved forward with the stool.
Cui Muli: "At first, I couldn't drink the medicine. Shen Yang finally fed me some, and I immediately vomited it out..."
Xie Miao simply put the stool next to the bed. Cui Muli ceased exploiting his misery and said with a smile, "Many thanks Cousin, for coming to see me."
Xie Miao asked a question, already knowing the answer: "Cousin, the arrest of Wang Yongqi, the Minister of the Ministry of War, is also related to the disaster silver case?"
Cui Muli said: "Eight years ago, Wang Yongqi and Yu Junfeng, the Minister of Dali Temple, were ordered to go to Longxi to investigate the case. He secretly found out that the matter was caused by General Zou, but did not report it to the court. Instead, he transferred the disaster money to Hangzhou Prefecture and together with his uncle, Wang Keyi, he seized a huge sum of money."
Xie Miao asked again: "Then the Emperor had people raid the estate of the Chief Minister of Ministry of War. Does this mean that the case has been settled and Chief Minister Wang and Wang Keyi will plead guilty and be executed?"
Cui Muli said: "On the day I was attacked, Wang Yongqi said he had something to say to me. Not long after I arrived at the zhao yu, Wang Keyi committed suicide in prison. Wang Yongqi was arrested and confessed, and I was assassinated on the way back home."
Xie Miao said superfluous words seriously, "Cousin Cui, you are being targeted."
Cui Muli said: "Three feet of ice cannot be frozen in a day. The accumulation of soil into a mountain is not the work of Si Xu. Wang Yongqi used to cover the sky with one hand in the Ministry of War. If you want to eliminate his power, you can only do it step by step."
Xie Miao asked: "Aren't you afraid?"
Cui Muli asked back: "Can you retreat if you are afraid?"
...No, if the Cui Mansion and the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion retreat, the only consequences will be the collapse of their families and the separation of their wives and children.
She stared at him. Even though his face was haggard, he was still polished and incorruptible, and his integrity was as strong as pine. It is this kind of tenacity that can carry the Cui family's immortal character for centuries.
She sincerely admired him and said, "Cousin, you have to be more careful from now on."
Cui Muli was delighted by the worry in her eyes when he heard her say: "When are you going to report to the Emperor the evil deeds of that scumbag, Dian Ziming?"
Cui Muli glanced at his injured arm and said with a wry smile: "I need to send someone to collect evidence of Dian Ziming's crime and find definite proof. After everything is ready, I will present it to the Emperor and try to knock him down with one blow."
Xie Miao said: "How long will it take to find out?"
Cui Muli said: "Dian Ziming and his lackeys are dead, which makes the investigation more difficult. There are cases like this that take seven or eight years."
Xie Miao couldn't hide her disappointment, "Will it take that long?"
"En." Cui Muli said: "Fortunately, the disaster silver has been recovered. The Emperor will relax the pursuit of Madam Zou and Cong'er, so they have no worries for the time being."
Xie Miao sighed, never mind, that can also be counted as good news.
"Don't worry. Since I promised you, I will do it no matter what."
After Cui Muli finished speaking, he couldn't stop the itching in his throat and coughed repeatedly. When Xie Miao listened, she was really afraid that his lungs would be coughed out of his chest.
"I'm going to find someone..."
She was about to get up, but he stretched out his hand to pull her sleeve, and said while coughing: "I... cough, cough, it's okay... cough, cough... Just sit with me for a while."
Xie Miao had no choice but to sit down and watch silently as he coughed to death without any intention of comforting him.
Indeed, her heart is like a rock.
Cui Muli lightly lowered his long eyelashes and thought mockingly to himself, it was all his own suffering, he brought it upon himself.
Xie Miao pulled back her clothes and said, "Cousin."
He turned a deaf ear and held the corner of her clothes and refused to let go.
"..."
Xie Miao even thought that the person in front of him was a three-year-old naughty boy, not the intelligent and wise Second Young Master Cui.
The two of them were pulling left and right, neither of them willing to let go, and the situation reached a deadlock.
Thud, thud, thud.
Someone knocked on the door outside, "Young Master, it's time to change the dressing."
Xie Miao took the opportunity to pull back her sleeves and said, "I won't bother Cousin changing the dressing. I will visit you with my aunt another day."
Cui Muli moved his fingers and finally said one word, "Okay."
Xie Miao straightened her skirt and stood up. Shen Yang happened to lift the curtain and come in. He was surprised to see her, "Miss Cousin, you are here too?"
Xie Miao said: "Just about to leave."
"You walk slowly." Shen Yang nodded, and walked closer with a basin in his hand. He unexpectedly met Cui Muli's dark phoenix eyes, which were as dark as the sea.
......Huh? Why does he think the Young Master is angry?
"Young Master, I'm here to change your dressing." He said tremblingly.
Cui Muli pursed his lips tightly and looked at him indifferently.
"The-, the imperial doctor said that the medicine should be changed twice a day to help the wound heal." He stuttered inexplicably.
Xie Miao's footsteps had already stepped out of the inner room. Cui Muli's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he exuded a negative and pessimistic aura.
Shen Yang's back felt cold, then he suddenly felt enlightened. He raised his voice and said, "Although this subordinate's skills are not good and the wound bleeds every time, there is no other reliable person available at the moment. Young Master, please bear with me for the time being."
Xie Miao's steps slowed down.
Shen Yang pretended not to know and continued to exaggerate: "It's just a little blood, just wipe it dry. It's better than having it fester and pus. The imperial doctor said that your wound is too deep. If it is not treated properly and causes a high fever, it could possibly be life-threatening."
Xie Miao's hand lifting the curtain paused and she couldn't help but look back at Shen Yang.
Shen Yang threw the long towel over his shoulders. With the style of a bather, he roughly pulled Cui Muli to sit on the edge of the bed, and took off his clothes, "Who asked you to not have a capable maid by your side. Therefore you can only make do with your subordinates ..."
Cui Muli lowered his head, like a weak doll, letting others manipulate him.
"..." Xie Miao's eyelids were beating wildly, "Shen Yang."
Shen Yang looked up blankly, "Miss Cousin, what's wrong?"
Xie Miao frowned, "You should be more careful with your movements."
Shen Yang immediately acted like a strong man and said, "Miss Cousin, this subordinate usually wield swords and spears. I don't know what meticulousness is..."
When he spoke, his hand was too strong, causing Cui Muli to shake violently, and his forehead almost hit the bedpost.
Xie Miao:......
Cui Muli:......
Shen Yang: ...Young Master, this is all for your happiness. You can't settle the score later.
Xie Miao was so frightened that she acted before reason and said, "Put down your things."
Shen Yang snickered, then suppressed it forcefully, "I put down my things? Then who will change the Young Master's dressing?"
Xie Miao choked out a sentence, "I'll do it."
"You will change the Young Master's dressing? Is that okay?"
"It's better than killing your Young Master." Xie Miao couldn't hold back her anger and walked up to him. She spread her palms, "Give it to me."
Shen Yang handed her all the things, but he couldn't help but cry out in his heart: God knows how meticulous he is in changing dressings. Even when tying knots, he specifically asked the ladies in the embroidery garden for advice. He sacrificed himself for the Young Master this time. Indeed, it is an enormous sacrifice.
After explaining the steps for changing the dressing, he quickly retreated with a wink.
Xie Miao walked to the table, and soaked the long towel in the warm water. She said with her back to him: "If you don't want to, I can go to my aunt's courtyard to find someone -"
"I want." He replied softly: "Besides you, I can't trust anyone."
Xie Miao understood what he meant. He had become a thorn in the eyes and flesh of countless people, and anyone could harm him.
She wiped her hands, twisted the long towel and hung it on the edge of the basin. She walked to the bedside and said, "I will loosen the clothes."
He sat upright and said, "Okay."
She straightened out the collar that was twisted by Shen Yang first. Then she slowly opened the belt of his clothes, and took off his coat and lining one by one, revealing a thick blood-stained bandage on his shoulder blades. Her fingers suddenly stagnant.
After a while, she held the small scissors and carefully cut the bandage. She unwrapped it in circles.
She was so close, her eyes are clear and moving as autumn water, and her eyebrows were furrowed with concern. She was as beautiful as a lonely goose, flying into his airspace alone.
...want to keep her so that she can never fly away forever.
His heart was clamouring madly, but he was calm on the outside.
The bandage was completely removed and the hideous wound was exposed to the field of vision. Xie Miao took a breath of air and was speechless.
Dense threads covered the red and swollen wounds, like ugly and terrifying thousand-legged centipedes, clinging firmly to his straight shoulder blades.
In his previous life, he had never encountered such a dangerous pursuit, nor had he suffered such serious injuries.
Thanks to her intervention, everything changed.
He saw her panic and comforted her, "It's okay."
Xie Miao turned away and said in a solemn tone, "You will have to endure it a little."
She wiped the bloody ointment with a handkerchief, and repeated it several times. She kneaded the transparent ointment with her fingertips, and applied it gently to the injured area.
The process will inevitably bring out pain, which swept into the heart and mind, and become an indescribable throbbing.
He thought that maybe this injury was not a bad thing.
After changing the bandage, beads of sweat appeared on Xie Miao's forehead. Cui Muli pressed it away for her with a handkerchief without waiting for her reaction.
Xie Miao subconsciously took a few steps back, rubbed her sore wrist, and said, "Okay."
He had no reason to keep her anymore and could only watch her disappear behind the curtain.
*
Qiao Mu sent Xie Miao out of the courtyard and said with a smile: "Miss Cousin, if you are free in the future, you might as well come and see the Young Master more often."
Xie Miao avoided answering and said, "Go to Tongren Medical Centre later and ask an old doctor to come and teach Shen Yang how to dress the wound."
Qiao Mu was confused when he heard this: Huh? There was nothing wrong with Shen Yang's wound dressing change. He studied seriously with the imperial doctors for several days. Even Imperial Physician Lin praised him for being both rough and fine!
Xie Miao kept her thoughts in mind and did not go back to Haihua Yuan directly. Instead, she wandered aimlessly to Shangqing Lake.
After the heavy rain last night, the weather suddenly turned cooler. Maple leaves covered the paths, and the feeling of autumn swept over the world.
Fu Lu saw that she was a little underdressed and said, "Miss, if you still want to stand for a while, this servant will go get you a cloak."
Xie Miao said: "Okay."
She only looked at the lake and no longer sat on the railing. The scene of falling into the water last year was still vivid in her mind. At that time, she had just come back from rebirth, and she made a fool of herself in front of Cui Muli and Zhou Niannan. They were afraid of her being scheming, and no one was willing to go into the lake to save her.
The four seasons passed by in the blink of an eye. They all changed, but she remained the same. She refuses to change and would not change.
Someone approached from behind, and she said tiredly: "Fu Lu, I'm tired. Let's go back."
The air was quiet, and a familiar soft female voice sounded, "Miss Xie, it's me, Su Panyan."