That night, after finishing washing up, Shen Qingyao unsurprisingly fell ill with a fever and collapsed.
Poor Lu Zhao, with one hand still injured, but couldn’t trust anyone else to take care of her. With sheer determination, he used his remaining hand to feed her medicine and tuck her in. Shen Qingyao, her small face flushed red from the fever, hid under the covers and chuckled softly. She thought to herself how this trip had really been miserable—now both of them were bedridden.
Lu Zhao, unable to bear it any longer, pinched her nose and scolded, “You’re so sick and still laughing? Why didn’t you say you were uncomfortable earlier? Did you have to wait until it got this bad?”
If Lu Zhao had said this when they first met, Shen Qingyao would have been genuinely frightened. But now, she wasn’t afraid of him at all—after all, she knew he wouldn’t really do anything to her.
She blinked her innocent big eyes and, with a pitiful pout, said, “But you weren’t awake, Elder Brother Lu Zhao. I was worried and didn’t feel the discomfort! Besides…” Shen Qingyao lowered her eyes. “With Elder Brother Lu Zhao not awake, how could I dare get sick? Who would take care of me if I did…”
So, it’s all your fault. Shen Qingyao shifted the blame without any hesitation.
Lu Zhao was at a loss for words. He thought to himself, were all the attendants on the boat invisible? How could there be no one to take care of her? But her words hit him right in the heart. The thought of her being sick without him by her side did worry him. And he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed her reliance on him and didn’t want that to change.
Lu Zhao looked at her for a while, then sighed with a smile, realizing her spoiled attitude was his own doing. His gaze softened, and he ruffled her hair with his large hand. “You’re relying on the fact that I won’t scold you, aren’t you?”
Shen Qingyao turned her head away to dodge his hand and playfully said, “You clearly scolded me just now, so you can scold me after all.”
She was extremely vengeful!
Lu Zhao raised an eyebrow and chuckled, “You call that scolding?”
Shen Qingyao nodded earnestly, then had a playful thought and said seriously, “Of course! Let me tell you, my Husband is very kind and spoils me a lot. If he knew about this, he would surely teach you a lesson!”
“Oh? Really?” Lu Zhao, holding back his laughter, sat on the bedside and surprisingly played along, “Teach me a lesson? Who is this amazing Husband of yours? How does he spoil you?”
“Of course, he’s amazing. He…” Shen Qingyao was getting into it, her chin up and eyes bright, ready to continue her act. She wanted to see if praising him more would make him embarrassed. But before she could finish, Lu Zhao suddenly leaned in, propping one hand beside her ear, and followed the curve of her raised chin to plant a quick kiss on her chattering mouth.
Shen Qingyao was stunned.
Lu Zhao’s lips left hers as quickly as they touched, but he didn’t move away. He hovered right above her, his eyes filled with a triumphant smile. Trapped in place, Shen Qingyao didn’t know where to look. He whispered, “Is this how your Husband spoils you?”
…Shen Qingyao bit her lip, feeling this question was impossible to answer.
If she said yes, what if he did it again? If she said no, what if he found another way to do it?
She closed her eyes and suddenly remembered she was still sick. How could he not even spare a patient!
“You…” Shen Qingyao hesitated for a moment, then brought her hand out from under the covers to gently push him away. Her voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, almost inaudible even to herself. “You suddenly… I’m still sick! What if you catch it!” Didn’t he have any basic hygiene and prevention awareness!
Hearing this, Lu Zhao leaned in and laughed a few times, clearly in a much better mood. At least he wasn’t as distressed as when he first found out she had a fever. Shen Qingyao quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
He finished laughing and straightened up. As he withdrew his hand, he touched her forehead again, feeling that her temperature had gone down. The young girl had exhausted herself taking care of him and waiting for him to wake up these past few days. Not wanting her to stay up any longer, Lu Zhao stopped teasing her and tucked her small hand, which she had just extended, back under the blanket.
“Sleep,” Lu Zhao said softly.
Shen Qingyao quickly fell asleep and entered another strange dream.
In the dream, there was a long, wide corridor that seemed endless. At that time, Shen Qingyao had just arrived in the capital from Yunyang with her family. On her first outing with her Eldest Brother, she got separated in this unfamiliar place.
Despite being only six years old, little Qingyao didn’t show any signs of panic. Holding a piece of sugar cake, she would take a small bite every couple of steps, chewing it slowly and savoring the taste, completely unconcerned about her Eldest Brother not finding her.
Qiwushu Academy was the best enlightenment academy in the capital, exclusively for noble children to begin their education before moving on to the Imperial Academy after passing the assessments. Today was Shen Yushu’s first day reporting in, and bringing along a delicate and charming little girl drew quite a bit of attention as soon as they entered.
When little Qingyao wandered near a classroom, she overheard people inside discussing this matter. Curious, she quietly approached and pressed her ear to the window.
Inside, a sharp voice full of contempt and disdain said, “Hmph! What can a country bumpkin from a small place become? He might be a genius in Yunyang, but he’ll probably become useless in a few days here in the capital, hahaha!”
Following this remark, many people laughed.
Little Qingyao frowned deeply. The genius from Yunyang was her brother, after all. How could these people, who didn’t even know her Eldest Brother, say such things!
Someone else inside said, “I went to see this morning. That country bumpkin from Yunyang is quite good-looking, and the little girl with him is also very cute!”
The first speaker, seemingly unable to tolerate any praise for outsiders, cursed and added, “No matter how good-looking they are, can they be better looking than Lu Zhao? Bringing a little girl to school, he must have brought his child bride!”
Another burst of laughter erupted inside. Little Qingyao’s face turned red with anger, and she wanted to rush in and argue with them immediately. She also memorized the name Lu Zhao. The people had mentioned him with admiration, so he must be their leader. It was likely Lu Zhao who instigated this slander! Little Qingyao gritted her teeth, determined to tell her Eldest Brother to stay away from these people.
Suddenly, there was a scream from inside, and the laughter stopped abruptly.
Little Qingyao was startled and couldn’t help but peek inside. She saw a well-dressed boy clutching his knee, his face twisted in pain and fear as he looked towards the window. Following his gaze, little Qingyao noticed another window nearby, where a handsome boy sat on the windowsill, tossing two black chess pieces in his hand. He smiled, but his smile silenced everyone in the room.
Upon closer inspection, a similar chess piece lay at the foot of the boy clutching his knee.
“Speak properly if you want to talk. If you can’t, then shut up. Dirty words are disgusting to hear,” the boy said calmly. Then, he slightly turned his head and winked at little Qingyao. His icy demeanor melted into a warm smile.
So he had noticed her all along. Little Qingyao thought in a daze, this boy is really good-looking, even more so than her Eldest Brother.
Later, whenever Shen Qingyao recalled this moment, she realized that her unconditional trust and admiration for Lu Zhao might have started from this very encounter.
“Elder Brother… thank you…”
“Why are you thanking me?” Little Lu Zhao turned his head to look at the little girl who had been following him the whole way, feeling a bit helpless. “There’s no need to thank me, I didn’t do anything. Go find your brother quickly.”
The academy didn’t allow unauthorized people inside, and today there was only one group of newcomers, among them a little girl. Little Lu Zhao quickly guessed her identity.
“I have to thank you! You’re a good person, Elder Brother! You… you even taught those bad people a lesson!” Little Qingyao insisted, still following him as if she wouldn’t leave until he accepted her gratitude.
Little Lu Zhao sighed and rubbed his forehead lightly. “Alright, alright, I’m a good person. You’re welcome. Now hurry along, your brother will get worried.”
Little Qingyao beamed at his words, her eyes curving into smiles. She lowered her head and broke the half-eaten sugar cake in her hand, stuffing the larger half into Xiao Lu Zhao’s hand. Feeling the sticky sensation in his palm, Little Lu Zhao frowned and instinctively wanted to shake it off, but the little girl chirped, “Elder Brother! This is for you! It’s really tasty!”
Little Lu Zhao forced a somewhat friendly smile and stiffly said, “Oh, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Elder Brother!” Little Qingyao was even happier, skipping away before suddenly turning back. “Elder Brother! You’re really a good person! Much better than that Lu Zhao or whatever!”
With that, she skipped off again.
…What on earth? Lu Zhao or whatever?
Lu Zhao, who had just been labeled as a good person, frowned. So now I’m a good person, but Lu Zhao is a bad person? I’m better than myself? He clicked his tongue in confusion. Did the little girl misunderstand something?
“Stop!” Lu Zhao called out to the little girl. She turned back with a puzzled look, her eyes clearly asking: Elder Brother, what else do you need? I’ve already given you the sugar cake.
Little Lu Zhao squinted at the little girl who was now protectively holding the other half of the sugar cake, finding it amusing. He had no interest in the sticky treat. Tossing the sugar cake up and down like he did with chess pieces earlier, he walked closer step by step.
He bent down, meeting Little Qingyao’s eyes, and mischievously whispered in her ear, “I forgot to tell you, my name is Lu Zhao.”
Shen Qingyao woke up laughing. She hadn’t expected the original owner’s first encounter with Lu Zhao to be like this. She felt a joy in discovering a plot twist not mentioned in the original story.
But as she laughed, her smile faded.
Lu Zhao and the original owner had many memories together. Now, he treated her well, tolerated her, kissed her—was it really because of her, or because of those past memories? Shen Qingyao lowered her eyes. Despite the excuse of amnesia, she couldn’t shake the discomfort of feeling like she had stolen someone else’s life.
[Host…] the system cautiously spoke. It could synchronize with Shen Qingyao’s dreams and knew what was bothering her.
[Host, I think you’re overthinking this. Does it matter who it is? The past is the past, and if it weren’t for you, these two characters wouldn’t even have an engagement!] So, don’t dwell on the past, just live in the moment! The system felt it had reached a new level of understanding.
Fortunately, Shen Qingyao was a carefree person. She was only troubled for a few minutes before agreeing with the system. There’s no point in dwelling on the past. After all, she is Shen Qingyao now! Two little kids couldn’t have any real love anyway! The original owner had childhood friendship, but turning that into love was definitely her doing!
After some self-hypnosis and adjusting her mood, Lu Zhao returned. Seeing Shen Qingyao awake, he came over and naturally put down the bowl he was holding, then leaned in to check her forehead’s temperature.
“Good, no more fever,” Lu Zhao said softly. “Here, have some porridge.”
“Mm, I don’t want to.” Shen Qingyao stared at him for a while, thinking he looked even better now than when they were kids. She stopped him from picking up the bowl, acting like a spoiled child. She snuggled into his arms, pouting, “I’m too sleepy. I need my Husband to hold me to wake up and have porridge…”
*Pfft.* Lu Zhao chuckled, then hugged her and said indulgently, “Alright, husband will hold you…”
Thanks for the chapter!!!!