Chapter Extra Part 5

That summer was plagued by drought. For an entire month the blazing sun hung overhead without a single drop of rain. Not only could the crops in the fields not endure the dryness, even the old trees and bamboo groves on the hills withered in patches.

A single spark could set the mountains ablaze, and disasters occurred frequently.

From the time Ning Muyan began handling the drought relief, he had been rushing about everywhere and had not slept well for even a single night.

Fortunately, by September the weather cooled. Two heavy rains finally arrived, temporarily easing the drought.

But after the drought, those two storms were followed by a sudden drop in temperature. It felt as if winter had come overnight.

Caught unprepared, many people caught colds. Even the servants in the Ning residence were struck down, and coughing could be heard everywhere.

There was fear that a plague might follow the drought, and no one knew whether these colds were contagious. Everyone felt uneasy and frightened.

Outside the estate, porridge kitchens were opened repeatedly to provide relief for the disaster victims whose harvests had failed. Ning Muyan personally supervised the work.

During these months he had been so busy that the number of days he returned home could be counted on one hand.

This time, when he finally returned to the residence after finishing his work, he was utterly exhausted. Walking alone along the solemn stone path in the estate, he noticed a maid with flushed cheeks coughing badly. She was already so weak that she could barely keep walking.

He had long heard that many people had caught colds because of the sudden change in weather. Being occupied with court affairs, he had not had the leisure to oversee matters inside the residence. He had assumed that someone would have arranged medicine and winter clothing for the servants.

Now that he had finally returned home after so much hardship and saw this scene, anger rose in his heart. Just as he was about to step forward and ask about the situation, someone else reached her first.

“Xiao Liu, help her up quickly.”

“This servant greets Young Master Bai Lian.”

The sick maid was weak and trembling as she tried to bow, but she was quickly supported.

“No need for formalities. Drink the medicine while it is still hot. It works best that way.”

The maid’s eyes turned red.

Many people in the residence had caught colds, but those with status could go out for treatment. Those without status simply had to endure it, and others avoided them out of fear that the illness was contagious.

For someone to ask after her was already rare. For someone to personally deliver medicine was even more touching.

“At present many servants in the residence have caught colds. It is because the weather changed suddenly and people did not add clothing in time. Do not worry. The more anxious you are, the worse the illness becomes. I have brewed some medicine for colds in my courtyard. Go back and rest. Later you can come drink another bowl.”

The maid wiped her tears. “Thank you, Young Master Bai Lian.”

“If you know anyone else who has caught a cold, you may bring them to take a bowl as well.”

“Yes.”

Bai Lian took back the empty bowl. “Go on.”

After watching the maid leave, Bai Lian also walked away with the bowl. In the distance Ning Muyan had been about to approach, but Bai Lian had already taken a side path and disappeared quickly, as though afraid someone might notice him. Ning Muyan stopped where he stood.

He remained beneath the corridor eaves for quite some time before Qing Mo came looking for him. Only then did he withdraw his gaze and leave.

That night Bai Lian was boiling herbal medicine when Xiao Liu, the servant attending him, rushed in excitedly.

“Young Master, we do not need to boil medicine anymore!”

Bai Lian raised an eyebrow and set aside the palm fan he was using to stir the fire.

“Why?”

“I heard that Young Master Ning has returned. He has already ordered Qing Mo to distribute medicine for colds and thick winter clothes to every courtyard. This month everyone has also received an extra half month of wages.”

Bai Lian relaxed at the news and spoke softly.

“Is that so.”

Ning Muyan had been busy with government affairs for more than two months. Bai Lian had not seen him even once during that time. Hearing that he had returned safely eased his heart, even though they had not met.

“Young Master, the principal wife only cares about celebrating Consort Ling’s birthday. She stays in the palace for days at a time and does not manage the household at all. If not for you brewing medicine to help everyone this time, who knows how the lower servants would have survived.”

Xiao Liu continued, “Why not tell the master about this? Then he would know who truly cares about the residence.”

Bai Lian shook his head.

“That is unnecessary. As long as the master has returned to oversee things, it is enough.”

A concubine who tried to show off would only place himself in danger. Why be so tactless?

“You have worked hard these past few days. Let us rest early tonight.”

Thunder suddenly crashed as the rain, which had begun earlier in the night, grew heavier.

Raindrops battered the roof with loud, rhythmic noise that was both chaotic and strangely peaceful.

Bai Lian stirred the fire in the stove, washed up, and went to bed. Lying there, he thought that after only a few days of busyness he was already exhausted. Ning Muyan had been working outside for two whole months—he wondered how tired he must be.

Thinking this, listening to the rain outside, he slowly fell asleep.

At some unknown hour, Bai Lian seemed to hear someone knocking on the door. Drowsy, he wondered why dawn had come so early.

He climbed out of bed with sleepy eyes and saw Xiao Liu entering with a lantern.

“Is it morning already?” he asked.

“No, it is not dawn. Qing Mo has come to request Young Master Bai Lian.”

Bai Lian froze. His sleepiness vanished instantly.

Qing Mo was Ning Muyan’s personal attendant. If he had come, it meant Ning Muyan was looking for him.

“Do you know what it is about?” Bai Lian asked while hurriedly putting on his clothes.

“I do not know. But Qing Mo seemed very anxious.”

Outside the rain still poured, driven by strong winds.

“The master suddenly developed a high fever during the night. With this storm it is impossible to fetch a physician immediately. We heard that Young Master Bai Lian understands some medicine, so we came to trouble you for help.”

Hearing that Ning Muyan had a high fever, Bai Lian became even more worried.

“Xiao Liu, warm the fever medicine I boiled earlier tonight and bring it immediately. I will go see the master first.”

“Yes.”

Walking along the corridor, the slanting wind whipped rain across the floor, soaking much of it. Bai Lian paid no attention to the cold.

When they reached Ning Muyan’s main courtyard, Qing Mo hurriedly held an umbrella over him as they entered the bedroom.

The moment Bai Lian saw the man lying in bed, his first thought was that Ning Muyan had grown darker and thinner.

Though he was asleep, he looked extremely restless, tormented by the fever.

Bai Lian stood at the doorway for a moment before walking over. He bent down and touched Ning Muyan’s forehead—it was burning hot.

Qing Mo asked anxiously, “Is the master in serious condition? Should we inform the Old Madam?”

“The Old Madam is elderly. If we disturb her in such wind and rain and she catches a cold, what then?” Bai Lian said. “I brewed medicine tonight that has not been used yet. When Xiao Liu brings it, let the master drink it and see if the fever goes down.”

Qing Mo nodded. “Alright. I will check on the medicine.”

After Qing Mo left, Bai Lian ordered servants to bring water. He soaked a cloth and placed it on Ning Muyan’s forehead, then wrung out another cloth and repeatedly wiped his face, neck, and hands.

For two months Ning Muyan had rushed about from dawn to night. The more severe the drought outside, the harder he must have worked. Now that the crisis had passed, his body finally relaxed—and with the sudden cold weather, illness came easily.

Looking at the man lying on the bed, Bai Lian felt complicated emotions.

He remembered the first time he had seen him—a noble young master raised in luxury, almost otherworldly.

Now that he had entered official service, that former elegance had faded. Instead he bore the marks of toil. He had grown stubble along his jaw, and the lines of his face had sharpened. He was no longer the pampered young master he once was.

People only saw how quickly he rose in rank. Few knew the hardship behind it.

Bai Lian sat beside the bed, his gaze flickering.

At that moment Ning Muyan felt as though he were trapped in suffocating heat, like the scorching days spent rushing to extinguish mountain fires in midsummer.

Then suddenly the weather seemed to turn cloudy and cool.

His body felt a little better. In a daze he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a pair of reddened eyes glistening with tears.

In those clear eyes was a tenderness so deep it seemed ready to spill out.

Concern.

Yes—Ning Muyan, even with his mind clouded by fever, clearly sensed that the gaze was filled with concern.

Over the years he had seen many kinds of looks directed at him—envy, expectation, admiration.

But never concern.

His brows shifted slightly.

The person before him noticed he was awake and quickly stood up, speaking softly and awkwardly.

“My lord, you are finally awake.”

Ning Muyan slightly lifted his hand, intending to wipe away the tears from those eyes, but then lowered it again.

He said nothing.

Just then Qing Mo hurried in with the warmed medicine.

“Young Master Bai Lian, the master is awake?”

“Yes. Quick, let him drink the medicine.”

Qing Mo rushed forward.

“My lord, you are finally awake. You frightened me.”

Ning Muyan sat up and drank the medicine without protest, though his gaze remained on Bai Lian standing quietly nearby.

Soon afterward a physician finally arrived despite the rain. Seeing several people crowd the room, Bai Lian quietly stepped back, knowing he was no longer needed.

When he reached the eaves where Xiao Liu waited with an umbrella, Qing Mo hurried out.

“Young Master Bai Lian, the master says he hopes you will stay and look after him.”

Bai Lian was stunned.

After the physician finished examining Ning Muyan and wrote a prescription, someone had to go prepare the medicine and boil it, which would take quite some time. Bai Lian estimated that by then the fever would likely already be gone from the medicine he had given earlier, but he did not dare say so.

He simply stood quietly.

When the physician left and Qing Mo also went to supervise the medicine, only Bai Lian and Ning Muyan remained in the room.

Bai Lian suddenly felt awkward. It had been a long time since the two of them had been alone together.

The last time had been back in the prefectural city, before the family moved to the capital.

Back then he had been an inexperienced country youth entering a noble household for the first time, bold like a newborn calf that feared no tiger.

Now, after several years surviving in a grand household, he was no longer so naïve.

It was Ning Muyan who broke the silence first.

“Were you worried about me?”

Bai Lian looked up. His fingers twitched slightly. After a long pause, he nodded.

“I am fine.”

Ning Muyan’s voice was gentle.

Bai Lian did not know whether he was speaking softly on purpose or whether illness had softened his usual sharp tone, but either way it made Bai Lian’s eyes grow warm.

“That… is good.”

Bai Lian went to the basin, wet the cloth again, and returned to the bedside.

Ning Muyan watched him and held out his hand first.

Bai Lian gently held his burning hand and wiped it slowly with the damp cloth, cooling it little by little. They repeated the process again and again without speaking.

Yet Ning Muyan kept watching him.

Quietly watching him.

Perhaps the time of a stick of incense passed. Perhaps half an hour. Bai Lian did not know exactly how long.

Only that the water in the basin had been changed four or five times.

Outside, the rain had not stopped.

But Ning Muyan’s fever had.

The later medicine was never used.

Ning Muyan asked Qing Mo to leave the medicine on the table. When Qing Mo withdrew, Bai Lian knew it was time for him to go as well.

He bowed.

“My lord, since your health has improved, you should rest early. I—”

Before he could finish, Ning Muyan suddenly reached out and grabbed him.

“My lord?”

Ning Muyan did not answer. Instead, the strength in his grip tightened. Bai Lian lost his balance and fell into his arms.

Startled, Bai Lian suddenly found himself pressed beneath him.

He watched as the bed curtains fell.

A burning kiss landed on his lips.

Bai Lian thought Ning Muyan intended to share a husband-and-wife night with him.

Fearing that Ning Muyan had little strength after the fever, he cooperated with his movements.

Yet after kissing him intensely for a while, Ning Muyan simply held the back of his head and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Bai Lian was held firmly in his arms.

After that, Ning Muyan did nothing more.

It was as if he was already satisfied. He simply held him like that and slept until morning.

In the dawn light, Ning Muyan turned his head to look at the person resting in his arms.

A smile slowly appeared on his face.

The End.