Chapter 190 – The Old Madam is from a Scholarly Family (part 4)

The benefits of having a few more servants in the family were obvious.

Early in the morning, when Li Su and the others got up, the hot water had already been boiled. After washing up, breakfast was ready. Although Zuo Kui’s wife couldn’t hear her, her cooking skills were really good. She had leftovers from dinner last night.

This morning, she cooked a pot of thick rice porridge, steamed 3 fresh buns, and made fragrant Chinese chive pancakes.

After breakfast, the Li family recognised her culinary ability.

Li Su was particularly satisfied. As she was now, there was no other higher pursuit than the pursuit of food. “Your culinary ability is good. Keep up the hard work!”

Although Zuo Kui’s wife could not hear her, after Zuo Kui made some gestures, she realised that Li Su was praising her, and she was very happy.

She quickly finished her breakfast and took out the dirty clothes that the Li family had changed from. Zuo Kui was chopping firewood and carrying water for her. Yan’er clumsily tried to help, but was called over by Li Su, who was afraid that Yan’er would fall into the well.

“Yan’er, come here and play with Ru’er.”

Zuo Kui and his wife motioned for their daughter to go quickly.

Over there, Li Yuan was teaching Li Ru how to read in the sand table. Yan’er looked at it and hurried over. Because of long-term malnutrition, Yan’er was obviously about the same age as Li Ru, but she was a head shorter than Li Ru. “Young Master, Young Miss, can I follow along and learn?”

“Sure, let’s learn. My younger sister just started,” Li Yuan said indifferently.

Yan’er was overjoyed. Li Ru had a little friend and was also very happy. She held Yan’er’s hand, and the three children chatted together.

Li Su sat under the porch and basked in the sun. Liu Yingniang did needlework by the window. The atmosphere was beautiful.

But then, there was loud banging on the door, which broke the silence in the courtyard. Zuo Kui glanced at Li Su, put down the axe in his hand, and limped to open the door.

The children were also frightened by the sound of the door and ran behind Li Su.

The door opened and several people came in with a stretcher.

“This is Mister Li Yu’s house, right? Our young master asked me to escort Mister Li Yu back. Now that he has been escorted back, I will leave.” A man who looked like a servant bowed, turned around, and wanted to run away, but was caught by Zuo Kui.

“Wait, let’s make it clear first. What’s wrong with him?” Li Su strode over.

“Ahem! I’m not sure who Mister Li Yu offended. He was beaten with his head covered, so his inner organs were injured and he missed the exam. My son and Mister Li Yu stayed at an inn, and he was kind-hearted. He couldn’t bear to see Mister Li Yu like that…so, he asked me to escort Mister Li Yu back. My young master is still waiting for me. I have to go back quickly.” Seeing that the man wouldn’t let him leave, he had to explain the reason vaguely.

Then, while everyone was unprepared, the man ran away. The others who carried the person saw this and ran after him.

Liu Yingniang had already rushed out at this time. She cried when she saw Li Yu like this.

Li Su rolled her eyes. “Why are you crying? Help me take him into the house first.”

At this time, the neighbor, Ling Er, heard the movement and rushed over to help. Together with Zuo Kui, they carried Li Yu to the bed in the west wing. Li Su turned around and took a piece of silver, and said to Ling Er, “Sorry to bother the second master, but I will have to trouble you to ask a doctor for help. Be quick!”

Ling Er nodded, took the money, then left.

“Don’t cry! Open the window to get fresh air in. Hurry up! Boil hot water and change A-Yu’s clothes.” Li Su saw that Li Yu’s clothes had not been changed for more than ten days. They were dirty and blood stained. One couldn’t even tell what colour they were originally.

Zuo Kui and his wife quickly got to work.

Liu Yingniang wiped her tears and turned to look for clothes.

Li Su stood in front of the window and instructed. “Yuan’er, stay in the house with your younger sister and Yan’er. Don’t run around, do you hear me?”

Li Yuan nodded. He held his younger sister’s hand tightly and ran to the west wing. They stood at the door and did not dare to come in. There were tears in Li Ru’s eyes. What’s wrong with Daddy? Li Yuan hugged his younger sister and comforted her silently.

When Ling Er brought the doctor, Li Yu had already been changed out of his dirty clothes. He looked a little more refreshed.

After the doctor checked his pulse, he opened Li Yu’s eyes and said a lot of words that no one could understand.

Li Su rolled her eyes. “Doctor, what are the important points that we need to know about my son?”

“The young man has an injured heart and he has also hurt his lungs. He needs to take good care of himself,” the doctor said while stroking his beard.

“Doctor, please prescribe the medicine and just say whatever he needs,” Li Su said.

The doctor wrote a prescription and Li Su took it. The doctor’s handwriting was so flamboyant that she couldn’t understand it.

“Take the medicine according to the prescription. Take it three times a day for a month. I will come back in a month to check his pulse. If the situation improves, I will change the prescription,” the doctor said.

Li Su looked at Ling Er. “Erlang, I will have to trouble you to make a trip to get the medicine for me. Is there enough money? I’ll get you more if it’s not enough.”

The doctor said, “This recipe requires ginseng and the price of ginseng can be…”

Li Su turned around and went to her room. When she came out, she took a bank note with a value of two hundred taels. “If the doctor’s pharmacy has good ginseng, I will buy it. As long as my son can be cured, then it’s okay to spend more money.”

Liu Yingniang had been crying since just now. But, at this moment, she wiped away her tears and nodded repeatedly. Seeing that her face suddenly turned pale, Li Su softened. “Doctor, can you check my daughter-in-law too?”

The doctor received the bank note, happy in his heart. He nodded, sat down, and checked Liu Yingniang’s pulse, only to find out that Liu Yingniang was three months pregnant.

Li Su was shocked. Damn! So Liu Yingniang was sold while pregnant? The original owner was really a sinner!

The doctor also said that Liu Yingniang had blood and qi deficiency, and she needed to take care of it. Without saying a word, Li Su took out another piece of silver and asked the doctor to prescribe the supplements.

Liu Yingniang was surprised and delighted when she learned that she was pregnant. After she gave birth to the twins, she had not been pregnant for several years and she felt sorry for her husband. Now that she was pregnant with great difficulty, her husband had become like this.

After sending the doctor away, Liu Yingniang’s eyes were red. “I made my mother spend money.”

“Stop talking about those useless things. It’s important to keep your body healthy.” Li Su waved her hand.

When Li Yu woke up, it was already dark and an oil lamp was lit on the table. When he found out that he was at home, he was relieved. Afterwards, he felt that his body was still a little sore, but it was clean and refreshed. He then remembered that he had missed the provincial exam because of his straightforwardness, and several years of hard work had been in vain.

“Husband Yu are you awake? Mother, Husband Yu is awake!” Liu Yingniang opened the curtain and came in to find that Li Yu was awake. She was very happy.

“A-Yu is awake? That is good timing. The medicine is ready. Drink it while it’s hot.” Li Su came in with the medicine bowl.

Li Yu looked at his mother and wife and finally calmed down a little. He was still a little ashamed. Li Su helped him sit up. She handed him the medicine bowl and let him drink the medicine. Liu Yingniang brought a glass of water and told him to rinse his mouth.

Just as Li Yu was about to speak, Li Su said, “Okay, wasn’t it just missing the provincial exam? What’s the big deal? Take care of yourself and go to the next one.”

“Mother!” Seeing his mother’s reasonable attitude, Li Yu felt even more remorseful. The family was originally a decent family, but in order to provide for him to study, coupled with his father’s illness, they were already destitute. He was full of ambition and had prepared for a long time. He didn’t expect…

“Okay. With regards to what happened, no matter how sad you are, you can’t go back. You need to take care of yourself right now. I forgot to tell you that Yingniang is pregnant,” Li Su said.

Li Yu looked at Liu Yingniang in surprise. “Is that true? Yingniang, are you really pregnant?” But then Li Yu thought about the fact that the family was already heavily in debt. Now, he was sick again. Yingniang was pregnant at this time, and to add to the family at this time was…

Li Su saw what he was thinking, and shook her head helplessly. “Yingniang, go see if Yuan’er and Ru’er are sleeping. I have something to tell A-Yu.”

Liu Yingniang nodded and took out the empty bowl.

“Mother knows what you’re worrying about. Don’t worry, the family’s debts have been repaid. There is also still money left for you to continue your studies and support your children,” Li Su said.

Li Yu couldn’t believe it. His mother never kept things from him. He knew the situation at home the best. Where did the money come from?!

Li Su sighed. “Your grandfather rescued a merchant in the Western Regions in his early years. The other party gave him a treasure in order to repay his kindness. Your grandfather regarded it as a family heirloom. It was a pity that your two uncles died young, and your grandfather had only one child left. Your grandfather gave the treasure to his mother before he died. As the saying goes, if you don’t reveal your wealth, you can’t touch this treasure if you don’t think of it as a last resort. If you become an official in the future, it would have been put to good use. Son, there was really no way. I had to take that treasure out and sell it. Things are dead, but people are alive. Nothing is more important than a person.”

Li Yu looked like he had listened to a book from heaven. “Mother, what was the treasure?”

“A crystal clear glass cup,” Li Su said lightly.

Li Yu’s eyes widened. “Mother! How much money did you earn when you pawned it?!” Such a cherished item would definitely be worth a lot of money. So much money…

Li Su glared at him. “What does it matter anymore? It’s important to take care of yourself and study hard! Don’t worry, the shopkeeper has sworn that he won’t tell anyone who pawned the glass cup and how much it was worth. Outsiders won’t know. I have kept all those bank notes well hidden. There have been several thieves around the house in the past few days, but they haven’t found a penny! Besides, the neighbors are all kind-hearted.”

Li Yu was a little relieved. His mother’s ability to hide things was really good. After so many years, he had no idea that there was a family heirloom such as a glass cup at home. “Mother! Your son is useless and mother had to pawn the family heirloom!”

“It’s good that you know! Work hard and strive for a high rank. If you can get a title conferred on to your wife and have your son inherit your title, your mother can also get an official title!” Li Su said bluntly.

Li Yu was speechless and almost suffered a heart attack. His mother’s words took a while to digest. Couldn’t his mother be a little more polite when she spoke? He was her son!