Chapter 348

The cold wind rose with a bone-chilling cold.

As people in Fengjing bundled up in thick padded jackets, the popular young master Xu Mo of the Zhu family unexpectedly fell into the freezing cold pond at the Imperial College. When he was fished out, his lips had turned white.

Fortunately, with the help of the second young master of the Jiang family, he was rushed to Wen's Clinic in haste and his life was saved with great effort.

Unfortunately, his life was barely saved.

It was said that the cold had entered his lungs, causing him to cough violently every day, even coughing up blood several times.

Some people lamented that such an outstanding young scholar, who could challenge the big families and fight for a chance to retake the imperial civil service exam, would perish like this.

Others were suspicious, feeling that it was too much of a coincidence that he would suddenly fall into the icy pond, and that he was rescued instead of drowning directly.

No matter what they thought, Xu Mo just lay in bed, motionless.

Jiang Sheng held Wang Xiaozhu’s rouge carefully, being extremely careful not to miss a spot while applying it.

"That's enough, Jiang Sheng," Wen Zhiyun said softly beside him. "If you apply any more makeup, big brother won't be sick but chilled to death."

Chang Yan was drinking water and nearly choked.

"But I have to apply it evenly," Jiang Sheng pressed two more times, "Luckily Miss Xiaozhu doesn't like fragrance, so there's no scent of rouge, otherwise we could only use face powder."

Chang Yan coughed even harder, while even the bedridden Xu Mo couldn't help but slightly raise the corners of his mouth.

"Alright alright," Zhang Xianglian, who didn't know when she had entered, said, "Xiao Mo is sick, you guys need to behave yourselves and not giggle."

After speaking, she took out a tea bowl and dabbed the corners of her eyes before leaving chokingly.

Jiang Sheng put away the rouge and gave a thumbs up. When it comes to acting, Auntie Zhang is the best!

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door from outside. The few children put on solemn expressions and peeked out through the crack of the door. It turned out to be the Jiang siblings.

As soon as they entered, they rushed straight to the room and saw the pale-faced Xu Mo. Their eyes had turned red. "What happened? He just fell into the water, how could he have injured his lungs? How can he take the exam like this?"

Jiang Sheng pressed his lips together.

Only the people of the inner second courtyard knew that Xu Mo was pretending to be sick. It was deliberately kept from others. Even the master craftsman had come yesterday to cry for a bit.

Today was probably the Jiang siblings' turn.

"Brother Xu," Jiang Chengfeng stared blankly for a long time before pounding the wall with his fist. "This must be a sinister plot by the Fang family. I must have failed to protect you well, I owe you."

"Don't be like this, brother," Jiang Chengyu said distressfully as she rushed up to stop him.

Lying in bed, Xu Mo also slowly opened his eyes, speaking lightly and weakly, "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"You call this fine?" Jiang Chengfeng said angrily. "I'm going to beat Fang Yuan to death. It's all the Fang family's fault."

As he spoke, he really turned to leave.

Xu Mo hurriedly reached out to stop him and remembered that he was supposed to be sickly so he lay back down again.

He almost blew his cover.

"Brother Jiang," he panted for breath and deliberately slowed down his speech, "listen to me, don't act rashly. Read through all the books I gave you. When you fully comprehend them, I will recover."

"Really?" Jiang Chengfeng was doubtful.

Those books were all four fingers thick. It would take until at least next spring to finish reading them.

"Truly," Xu Mo said categorically.

Next spring would be the time of the imperial exam. How could he not recover by then?

Only then did Jiang Chengfeng breathe a sigh of relief. He sat for a while longer, left a lot of medicinal materials, and urged them to come to the Jiang residence anytime if they needed help before taking his sister away.

Next was Master Dou alone.

Seeing his pale student, Imperial Tutor Dou heaved sighs of regret and grief, also cursing the Fang family violently for their inhumanity. He was also annoyed that Xu Mo did not exercise more caution.

"Don't worry, Sir," Xu Mo said ever more guilty that he was deceiving his respected teacher. "This student will be healthy and well, and will definitely not delay next year's exam."

Dou Weiming only thought he was comforting him. He nodded heavily and left two ginseng roots behind.

A few days later, Qi Huai and Zhao Yuan also came, bringing a girl in black. Her eyes were red.

After the usual concerned words and obligatory curses at the Fang family, Qi Huai held Xu Mo's hand and said heavily, "Brother Xu, we'll wait for you to take the exam together. You have to win, don't let the Fang family succeed." Zhao Yuan's tears and snot flowed out even more. "Brother Xu, you must get well. You have to get well. We're all waiting for you."

"I will," Xu Mo gave a pale smile.

Even though his body was healthy, he also vaguely experienced the powerlessness of sickness - not of the body, but of the countless pitying looks, the sympathy that cannot be spoken, the hopeless future, the helplessness.

After Qi Huai and the girl in black left, Zhao Yuan lingered for a long time before leaving too.

Unexpectedly, the Zhu family also came.

In addition to Zhu Sihuan, there was also a young master from the Zhu family main branch. He warmly enquired solicitously but also surreptitiously observed, even feeling Xu Mo's wrist several times.

When he sensed the extremely weak pulse, his face revealed some smugness. "It seems Brother Xu is really unfortunate to have fallen into the icy pond. I only hope he can recover soon and not miss next year's exam. He can still work hard four years later."

In contrast, Zhu Sihuan's expression changed slightly, with undeniable worry in the depths of his eyes. "You must get well."

Xu Mo gave a wry smile, his complexion even paler, even his lips were blackish.

"Brother Xu..." Before leaving, Zhu Sihuan secretly left 200 taels of silver. "Focus on recovering, don't let the villains succeed."

Xu Mo held it to his chest, filled with complex emotions.

After the Zhu family, the Yao family came to deliver some medicine, and even the He family sent someone to visit. Who knows what they were thinking.

But for the siblings of the inner second courtyard, none of that mattered anymore.

They quietly accompanied Xu Mo, taking turns every day to tell him the latest news from outside, or just sit quietly reading or watching him wielded his writing brush vigorously.

The days passed slowly, nearing the end of the year.

The whole city of Fengjing was joyous, yet they remained quiet as usual without even buying new clothes.

"Why hasn't second brother come back yet after going to settle the sheep? Does it really take that long?" Jiang Sheng stared blankly at the big red lanterns outside. "He still doesn't know about our plan. Won't he get a shock when he comes back?"

Just as the saying goes, speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives.

The next day, the dust-covered Zheng Ruqian came knocking.

He hadn't even managed to unload the sheep yet, let alone boast about his great achievements in Shang Commandery. He rushed straight into Xu Mo's room.

Obviously, he had heard the sensational news outside and knew that Elder Brother was critically ill.

While he already knew, when he actually saw his Eldest Brother lying pale-faced in bed, Zheng Ruqian still couldn't help but bawl loudly, "Big brother, big brother, what happened? What on earth happened to us? Last time I came back and that huge little sister was gone, this time I come back and Big Brother is sick, looks like he's going to die."

"Big Brother, wuwuwu, wake up! Don't have an accident, don't have anything happen to you. We can't do without you."