Chapter 72: The Unacknowledged Will

Chapter 72: The Unacknowledged Will

Upon hearing this, Xie Huaiqian took off like the wind, running even faster, disappearing in a flash.

Tsk, even the mature and precocious Xie Huaiqian became flustered in the process of being a little tutor.

Lu Mingchao reluctantly got up from the rocking chair, trying her best to appear kind and gentle.

"Ru'an, where did your eldest brother get to in the lesson?"

A shy and reserved smile appeared on Ru'an's pale, delicate face, and she obediently said, "Mother Lu, here."

Next.

A quarter of an hour.

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Half an hour.

Lu Mingchao heard countless times, why, over and over.

She was numb, completely numb.

And Xie Jingyi, who had been listening, went from being initially enthusiastic to later snoring away.

Only Xie Ru'an was tirelessly and relentlessly on the path of a hundred thousand whys.

Lu Mingchao took a sip of warm tea, soothed her dry throat, and then reached out to rub Xie Ru'an's little head, "Ru'an, take a break."

Xie Ru'an took the opportunity to snuggle into Lu Mingchao's palm, "Mother Lu is so nice."

Lu Mingchao lowered her eyes, watching the tea in the cup swirl gently.

No, she wasn’t that nice.

After a few cups of light tea slid down her throat, Lu Mingchao finally felt alive again.

Finally, Xie Huaiqian came running into the room, panting heavily, with a sheen of sweat covering his forehead.

"Mother, she, she's back." Xie Huaiqian supported himself on his knees with both hands, gasping for breath, sweat pouring down in buckets.

Anyone who didn’t know would have thought it was a scorching summer day.

Lu Mingchao's hand, as she wiped Xie Huaiqian's sweat with a handkerchief, paused, and she furrowed her brow, "Feng Jinyu?"

"Back?"

Last night, Xie Yan said that Feng Jinyu had been badly injured in the collision and had lost a lot of blood.

"How did she come back?"

Was she carried or walking?

Xie Huaiqian chugged a cup of warm water, catching his breath, "She was carried back."

"Tiger's house is separated from the Feng family by two walls. I was originally trying to get some information at Tiger's house, chatting away, when suddenly I heard the Feng family become noisy."

"I watched as she was carried down from the donkey cart, the thick cloth wrapped around her forehead was already drenched in blood, and it was still seeping out."

Another donkey cart followed the old village head's cart, from which an old man and a young man alighted.

The elder wore a faded long gown and a fur coat that had lost most of its fur, while the younger was dressed in a dusty short jacket and long pants. At first glance, they bore a slight resemblance.

The old man and the young man also entered the Feng household. Afraid of causing trouble, I didn’t dare to delay.

Lu Mingchao frowned deeply, her fingers unconsciously clutching her handkerchief, her heart filled with confusion and doubt.

She had specifically chosen the fastest-acting medicinal hemostatic powder and wrapped the wound with gauze bandages. Once they reached the town, the doctor at the medical clinic would take over the treatment. This outcome was unexpected.

As for the old man and the young man, they were presumably the Old Scholar, engaged to Feng Jinyu, and his eldest son.

What was the Old Scholar's purpose in appearing at the Feng family now?

"Mother, I think she might not survive," Xie Huaiqian hesitated, pursing his lips before finally speaking.

He knew what a dying person looked like.

Xie Huaiqian's words struck Lu Mingchao like sharp thorns, each one piercing her nerves.

How could this be?

How could this be!

At this moment, Lu Mingchao instinctively speculated with the worst intentions about the Feng family and the Old Scholar.

What had happened after Feng Jinyu was sent to the town’s medical clinic last night?

Just as Lu Mingchao was considering whether to go herself, the haggard and disheveled Feng Jinyu's mother arrived.

As soon as she saw Lu Mingchao, Feng Jinyu's mother anxiously grasped her hand.

"Feng Jinyu's mother?" Lu Mingchao was startled.

"Xiao Ming, do you still have any golden wound medicine to stop the bleeding?" Feng Jinyu's mother asked anxiously.

Lu Mingchao nodded. "I’ll accompany you to check on her."

"That would be wonderful. Your presence might lift Jinyu's spirits," Feng Jinyu's mother replied, nodding repeatedly.

She could see clearly that ever since the incident at the old village head's courtyard where the Qi family girl was punished, her sister-in-law's eyes had shone when she looked at Lu Mingchao, though her sister-in-law stubbornly refused to admit it.

She doubted her sister-in-law could endure much longer.

However, Lu Mingchao's presence might allow her sister-in-law to pass more peacefully, comforted by a familiar face.

While walking, Lu Mingchao inquired, "Feng Jinyu's mother, how is Jinyu's condition?"

"Didn’t she go to the medical clinic?"

Feng Jinyu's mother slapped her thigh, her eyes red. "That cursed Old Scholar!"

"Your golden wound medicine halted the bleeding, so my mother-in-law and I rushed Jinyu to the town’s medical clinic."

"The Old Scholar had somehow learned that Jinyu's time was nearly up and went to the clinic early in the morning, saying that the betrothal agreement had been set and that a man of honor stands by his word. Even if Jinyu didn’t have long to live, he wouldn’t break the contract and would formally marry her."

"Passersby outside the clinic lauded the Old Scholar's loyalty and integrity, hailing him as an exceptional gentleman."

"The Old Scholar proposed that Jinyu recuperate at his residence, a suggestion I deemed improper."

Feng Jinyu's mother was swayed by the Old Scholar's nonsense and believed that Feng Jinyu, having made such a fuss, would surely be unmarriageable if she didn't wed the Old Scholar. Blinded by her own misguided beliefs, she followed the Old Scholar's suggestion and had Feng Jinyu carried to his house while she was still unconscious.

Thinking that this way, Feng Jinyu would accept her fate and settle down and live peacefully with the Old Scholar.

Feng Jinyu's mother had her best interests at heart, but Feng Jinyu, with her strong-willed nature, was not one to easily resign to fate. Upon waking and finding herself in the same room as the Old Scholar, who then made some inappropriate and cutting remarks, she was overcome with shame and anger and slammed her head against the hard, bare bed frame.

At that moment, a large pool of blood splattered across the bed frame.

The doctors at the clinic tried every possible method to stop the bleeding but to no avail, and they sent her home to let fate decide.

"The doctor said Feng Jinyu probably wouldn't survive," Feng Jinyu's mother said, her voice breaking with emotion, turning her face away and wiping away tears.

Lu Mingchao's heart sank.

Would she not survive?

Such a vibrant person.

When Lu Mingchao arrived at the Feng family's home, the courtyard was already crowded with people.

Some elderly folks were sighing and lamenting the tragedy caused by Old Lady Feng and the Old Scholar, while offering what they believed to be well-meaning and practical suggestions to marry Feng Jinyu off to the Old Scholar before he changed his mind and before she passed away, to prevent her from becoming a restless spirit after death.

Their words, carried by the wind, reached Lu Mingchao's ears.

Lu Mingchao felt a heavy weight in her chest. Could Feng Jinyu not even have her wishes respected at the cost of her life?

Indeed, Feng Jinyu had acted impulsively in seeking death.

But, if there had been room for discussion, Feng Jinyu might not have been so resolute.

Guided by Feng Jinyu's mother, Lu Mingchao passed through the crowd, stepped over the threshold, and saw the Old Scholar sitting upright in a chair.

The Old Scholar looked arrogant, his disdain unmistakable in his eyes.

All show and no substance.

Lu Mingchao slightly furrowed her brows.

"Alive"