Chapter 882: Chapter 882: Second Brother’s Scarred Face—How Will He Marry a Wife?
"Mother, you all..." Lian Hua stomped her foot and spoke anxiously. Seeing the situation, she turned to look at the Emperor, her mind racing, and quickly let go of the Emperor’s hand, wanting to avoid him.
No matter the customs, how could she accept her parents’ salute!
The Emperor understood her thoughts and was prepared. He glanced at Lian Hua, confirmed that she was fine, and then quickly walked forward to assist Su Ran and Lian Changhe, who were about to kneel: "No need for formalities, stand up."
Su Ran shook her head, insisting: "The Son of Heaven is supreme, it wouldn’t be appropriate according to etiquette."
The Emperor said: "Today is just about family matters, Mother-in-law is being too formal. Come, quickly help them up."
Zhang Qing responded with a sound, cleverly going with other Young Eunuchs to help the others.
Only then did Su Ran relent, bowing slightly: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Lian Hua patted her chest and breathed a big sigh of relief. Her mouth curled into a smile as she looked brightly at Lian Changhe and the others. Xiao Qing wanted to help her walk closer, but she waved it off; she could walk on her own.
At that moment, she walked a few steps closer, eager to speak warmly, but met her mother’s reproachful gaze, so she quickly restrained herself and stopped.
She understood her mother’s intent; there were many eyes outside the hall, formalities had to be observed, any matters would wait until they were inside.
Father was blocked by His Majesty; he couldn’t be seen.
She turned her head slightly, and saw her Clan Aunt and a skinny old man smiling at her; that was her Clan Uncle, probably hungry, she thought, and would serve him a few more bowls later.
Looking further back, she then saw her master, who hadn’t changed a bit; still as detached from earthly matters.
Her gaze moved to the back and instantly met Lian Wanzhen’s eyes.
She smiled broadly; her second brother was still as big as before. She wanted to praise how imposing her second brother looked but upon seeing Lian Wanzhen’s face clearly, her brows furrowed suddenly – oh dear, why does second brother have a scar on his face, disfigured, how could he marry a sister-in-law?
Carrying some worries, she glanced to the side; ah, that was her third brother, looking really handsome, even more so than the little lady.
Lian Bingcheng, Lian Wanzhen, and others also smiled at Lian Hua. Both sides were so focused on each other that they were just grinning idiotically, until the Emperor invited everyone inside, waking them from their trance, and they followed him into the Star Palace.
Lian Hua walked in front holding the Emperor’s hand, turning back repeatedly, grinning so wide her teeth showed, unable to close her mouth, smiling foolishly.
As she smiled, she suddenly realized someone was missing – huh...where’s her big brother?
Regarding Lian Musu, he was currently recuperating at the Huang residence; it wasn’t that he didn’t want to go, but he really couldn’t move. Divine Doctor Huang had forbidden him from moving for the foreseeable future; whoever dared move him would have their legs broken together for recuperation.
Because of his leg treatment, Lian Musu had no choice but to stay at Divine Doctor Huang’s residence, unable to return home.
During the Lian Family case trial, Divine Doctor Huang had already returned from the palace, devising a treatment plan for Lian Musu’s leg. After the trial concluded, Divine Doctor Huang and Huang Zude, who was resting at home, treated Lian Musu’s leg.
Lian Musu’s leg had been broken improperly years ago, with new bone forming at the fracture, and the areas not properly connected suffered significant abrasion, causing the bone to heal crookedly, resulting in a limp.
His leg bone needed to be broken again and re-set, a painful process involving breaking the bone, cutting open the flesh, grinding away the crooked bone, and re-attaching it, with the cutting and grinding being especially painful, enough to make others gasp.
Lian Musu had to remain conscious and immobile throughout the process; Divine Doctor Huang used all means possible to ease the pain, sealing leg acupoints and using a numbing soup to make the leg insensitive, but it was still very painful.
During that time, Lian Musu bore the pain silently, biting a cotton cloth, with veins bulging and cold sweat pouring down his forehead, tearing the cloth underneath him.
When it was finally over, he was like he’d been pulled from water, fully soaked in cold sweat, at the brink of mental collapse. Muddled, he heard Divine Doctor Huang say it was done and then fainted, making Lian Bao, who was taking care of him, burst into tears uncontrollably.
Lian Bao felt increasingly distressed seeing Lian Musu endure pain with such difficulty, reminding himself repeatedly not to be willful and self-righteous in the future.
For Lian Wanzhen, Lian Changhe, and others, Divine Doctor Huang chased them out like flies, commanding that no one should enter until Lian Musu was healed, leaving only Lian Bao to care for him.
Divine Doctor Huang despised their inexperience, always loud and boisterous, preferring Qian Chen who was effective, delivering a precise blow, just enough to break the misaligned bone.
Lian Musu’s injured leg had undergone significant movement and needed constant care, so Divine Doctor Huang forbade him from relocating, and thus he regrettably missed the chance to enter the palace and see Lian Hua again; only Divine Doctor Huang dared to do such things, with other doctors, the leg would’ve been ruined long ago.
At this moment, Lian Musu’s entire left leg was strapped with splints, sitting rigidly by the window of the room next to the Huang Family’s pharmacy; this was his temporary residence.
He held a volume of books, gazing out the window, lost in thought.
These books were gifts from Minister Fan upon his apprenticing; they were insightful for his future endeavors. During recovery, he read voraciously, but today was the day the whole family entered the palace, making him somewhat distracted, silently calculating where his family had reached and whether they had seen his little sister.
Wu Sheng came in with a flask of tea, hurriedly placing it on the table, and went over to close the window: "Young Master, it’s cold now, let me close the window, so you don’t catch a chill."
Lian Musu came to and shook his head: "No need, it’s not cold yet, the room is stifling with the brazier burning, just let it ventilate some more."
Wu Sheng stopped: "Then if you feel cold, call me to close it?"
"Okay." Lian Musu smiled.
Just then, a young gentleman walked in from outside; Lian Musu looked over and smiled: "Youxuan is here."
The Fan Family youth, Fan Youxuan, gave Lian Musu a proper student salute: "I’ve come to see how Teacher is doing. How does Teacher feel now?" The young man in his voice change period produced a notably conspicuous voice.
Before Lian Musu could speak, Wu Sheng snorted, blowing air from his nostrils: "I fear checking on the Young Master is just an excuse to show off knowledge for real." His Young Master was already like this, yet this lad came here to seek guidance, wasting the Young Master’s time.
There’s not much agreement between Wu Sheng and the Fan Family youth; Wu Sheng disdained Fan Youxuan for being someone who doesn’t lift a finger, thinking himself above others, not doing anything, yet expects Lian Musu to worry about his food and shelter, only to show off those two taels’ worth of knowledge with a voice like a duck, expecting to be taken care of like a young lord, whining everywhere out of Fan Residence, clearly detesting the bed and quilt yet pretending otherwise, resolutely lying on them without covering himself — a pretender.
Besides being overly ambitious, even though his Young Master was in such a condition, he still bothered him daily, as if the whole world had to revolve around this Fan-named fellow.