Chapter 9
The corner of Lu Lin’s mouth twitched as he looked at Chu Bai Xu.
Chu Bai Xu’s eyes widened.
How could someone talk in their sleep?
After a moment, Chu Bai Xu scoffed, “Aren’t you also one of ours?” After all, Lu Mian was also a member of the Chu family.
Lu Mian continued: zzzZZZ.
He was asleep and heard nothing.
The three walked back and ran into Tao Rouxuan and Madam Chu, who were looking for them.
“Asleep?” Tao Rouxuan’s voice was soft.
“Mm,” Lu Lin replied. “Tired.”
Tao Rouxuan’s eyes smiled. “Let’s go back.”
Madam Chu glanced at her a few times before slowly withdrawing her gaze and beckoning her son.
Chu Bai Xu, who had been summoned back and forth several times today, hesitated, then went to his mother’s side.
The group returned to their carriages. As they were about to part ways, Madam Chu smiled at Tao Rouxuan. “Sister-in-law, bring Mian Mian to our residence for Old Madam’s birthday banquet in a few days.”
Chu Bai Xu, who had been bored in the carriage, suddenly looked up, his eyes flickering with a bright spark. He turned to see Lu Lin carrying the sleeping Lu Mian into the carriage.
Chu Bai Xu awkwardly averted his gaze and met his mother’s eyes.
“What are you looking at?”
Chu Bai Xu feigned nonchalance. “What?”
Madam Chu raised her chin. “Someone once said they hated Mian Mian the most.”
Chu Bai Xu touched his nose. “Did I?”
He had indeed said those words, but now he wanted to take them back.
Madam Chu chuckled and said after getting into the carriage, “I think that child’s temperament is quite good now, but he still needs someone to protect him.”
Chu Bai Xu hesitated. For a moment, he wanted to say, “I will,” but although they were cousins, their relationship hadn’t reached that point yet.
Madam Chu, unaware of his thoughts, added, “He seems more likable than before.” After seeing Lu Mian today, she could hardly remember what he had been like before.
Chu Bai Xu coughed lightly. “Y-yes.”
He was indeed much more pleasing to the eye.
Meanwhile, Lu Mian sneezed and slowly woke up.
“Slept well?”
A voice rang out. Lu Mian’s eyes darted around and landed on Lu Lin, who was sitting beside him. He frowned. “No.”
Lu Mian rubbed his nose, then pouted. “Someone scolded me in my dream.” And called him a pig.
He then proudly raised his head and punched the air. “I could tell that person was courting death! I beat them up right then and there, hmph!”
Lu Lin looked at him.
Lu Mian froze: O.O.
Had he acted too smart?
After a moment of thought, Lu Mian declared excitedly, “I am the Dragon King of the East Sea! Venmo me $50, and I’ll make you my first disciple!” He still remembered accepting Lu Lin as his disciple.
Lu Lin listened to his rambling. “Can the Dragon King of the East Sea be tripped by a stone?” He ignored the rest of what he said.
He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but every time Lu Lin brought it up, Lu Mian felt like life was hard. He pretended not to understand, making robotic noises. “Error, command not recognized. Press 1 to repeat, or gouge out your eyeballs.”
He glanced at Lu Lin, seeing the other’s speechless expression and apparent lack of intention to reply. Lu Mian breathed a sigh of relief.
He fidgeted restlessly for a while, unable to sit still after being cooped up in the carriage for so long. So, as soon as the carriage stopped, he eagerly jumped out to catch butterflies, although he ended up catching nothing.
The silence in the carriage was stifling. Lu Mian thought that if Lu Lin didn’t become Chief Grand Secretary, he could become a monk and practice silent meditation. This person seemed to have no need for human interaction. He, however, couldn’t stand it.
Lu Mian moved to the window, pushing it open slightly. Outside, green grass and blue sky stretched out before him, the fragrance of earth and grass filling his nostrils. He closed his eyes and basked in the sunlight, taking a deep breath. After a while, he opened his eyes, his gaze flickering. “Ah! Brother!”
Lu Mian’s eyes widened. “Brother, brother, brother!”
Lu Lin had been watching him since he made the first sound. Lu Mian turned his head, wanting to share his discovery with the other person in the carriage.
“What brother?”
Lu Mian pushed the window open wider, pointing at the grey pigeons gliding in the sky. “Look! Pigeon! It’s alive!” Pigeon was also a type of ‘brother.’
Lu Lin raised an eyebrow, glancing in the direction he was pointing. After a pause, he said, “If it’s not alive, is it dead?”
“Dead ones can’t fly that high,” Lu Mian muttered logically. “I’ve never seen a dead one.”
Under Lu Lin’s silent gaze, he added, “But I’ve had pigeon soup.”
Lu Lin looked at him for a few seconds, then closed his eyes, not saying another word to Lu Mian for the rest of the journey.
Lu Mian turned his head and continued to look out the window, amusing himself.
“Sip, sip, sip—” Lu Mian mimicked the action of holding a bowl, trying to entice the birds, his lips curving into a smile, dimples appearing.
Unfortunately, no pigeons flew into his ‘soup bowl.’
Unexpectedly, pigeon soup appeared at dinner. Lu Mian happily drank two large bowls, his stomach full and round as he lay on the couch by the window.
Perhaps he had eaten too much, because after a while, Lu Mian’s stomach started to hurt, cramping in waves. He bit his lip, his face gradually paling, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Lu Lin returned after finishing a book and found the room unusually quiet.
He was now sharing Yulin Pavilion with Lu Mian, but they didn’t spend much time together – Lu Lin went to the academy during the day and returned to his previous small courtyard to study in the evening.
Because of Lu Mian, Tao Rouxuan’s attitude towards him had changed, and even the servants in the Lu residence had become more respectful. Those who had once neglected or even bullied him were now living in fear, afraid that Lu Lin would remember and take revenge.
Lu Lin wouldn’t lay a hand on them, at least not now.
He wasn’t the type to forgive and forget. He would wait for the right opportunity, and then he would settle all scores.
Lu Lin knew that his heart wasn’t pure. He had imagined their deaths countless times, each one gruesome, all at his own hands.
But before he could put his dark thoughts into action, everything changed.
And this change was all because of one person.
Lu Mian…
Because of his amnesia, Lu Lin’s life had become much easier.
But even so, Lu Lin never forgot what he had done.
After his mother’s death, his days in the Lu residence had become increasingly difficult, but after Lu Mian arrived, true misery began, stripping him of almost all dignity.
His recent interactions with Lu Mian had caused some changes in his emotions, but only slightly.
The room was dark, the two servants waiting outside. Lu Mian must have fallen asleep.
Lu Lin quietly entered the room, intending to make his way to the inner room in the dim moonlight. But after taking a few steps, he heard a soft, suppressed groan, weak and full of pain.
He stopped.
“Lu Mian?”
Lu Mian’s stomach hurt terribly; he felt drained of all strength, and no one had noticed anything was wrong. After dinner, he had told A-Qing and A-Ping to leave him alone, not to disturb his “pancake-making,” not realizing he was digging his own grave.
Finally, he heard movement by the door and groaned, guessing it was Lu Lin.
Sure enough, a cold voice reached his ears. Lu Mian almost cried, using his last bit of strength to say through gritted teeth, “Finally!”
Lu Lin didn’t light the lamp. He turned and walked to the antique shelf by the wall, opening a box. A dazzling light filled the room as the night pearls illuminated the space, revealing the figure lying on the couch.
Lu Mian was slumped over the small table, his clothes stained dark, looking like he had just been pulled out of water, his hair wet and plastered to his pale face. His dark eyes were misty, looking at him with a vulnerable expression.
Lu Lin paused, then quickly stepped forward to help him up. “Where does it hurt?”
Lu Mian, who was already in pain and unable to think clearly, just whimpered. He sounded extremely pitiful, his watery eyes seemingly blaming him for taking so long. Lu Lin’s throat tightened. “Sorry.”
Lu Mian was in agony. “Not sorry, hurts!”
He needed a doctor!
Because of the Young Master’s sudden illness, the entire Lu residence was brightly lit that night.
Tao Rouxuan rushed over immediately, and the doctor arrived soon after. It wasn’t a serious illness; the food he had eaten was too rich for his weakened body to handle.
“How could this be?” Tao Rouxuan was stunned. “Mian Mian has always been healthy.” He was like a little calf, rarely getting sick.
The old doctor stroked his beard. “But from his pulse, Young Master’s body is severely depleted…”
“Could it be from the head injury before?” Tao Rouxuan asked anxiously.
The old doctor paused. Everyone knew that Madam Lu, the current wife of the Minister of Rites, was the younger sister of the Empress, and Young Master Lu’s identity was also not to be trifled with. To protect himself, the old doctor’s eyes shifted several times before nodding in agreement. “Yes, it should be… it should be that.”
Tao Rouxuan said, “Then please prescribe some medicine, doctor.”
After watching her son take the medicine, Tao Rouxuan sat by the bed for a long time. Lu Hongzhi also stayed by her side. “Madam, it’s late, go back and rest.”
He glanced at Lu Lin, who was standing not far away. “Leave it to Lin-er.”
Tao Rouxuan hesitated. “Then I’ll trouble Lin-er.”
Lu Lin shook his head and watched them leave from behind the screen. His gaze fell on Lu Hongzhi, his eyes dark, like a gathering storm, ready to engulf and shatter anyone who approached.
Just then, a tearful voice came, “Waaah, am I dying?”
Lu Mian was huddled under the covers, sobbing.
The darkness in Lu Lin’s eyes instantly vanished. He turned his head.
Lu Mian reached out his hand.
Lu Lin paused, then stepped forward.
Lu Mian grabbed his hand. “After I die, keep it simple. You inherit all my legacy…”
Lu Lin’s eyes flickered, a hint of emotion flashing across his face.
Then he heard Lu Mian continue, “My position as the Dragon King of the East Sea, I pass it on to you. The legacy has been passed, live up to it.”
