Chapter 252: Ripples in the Heart
Bai Ruozhu felt more and more upset as she spoke, her voice starting to choke. She couldn’t clearly explain why she was upset; she didn’t realize how obtuse she was when it came to feelings, just feeling a sense of unease in her heart.
Little Dengdeng didn’t seem to understand, he was too hungry. He was nursing furiously, almost choking himself.
Bai Ruozhu helped him by gently patting his back, but her thoughts had drifted far away.
...
The next morning, Bai Ruozhu carefully hid the set of clothes that Jiang Yichun had given her. She dressed in ordinary clothes and picked up Dengdeng to leave the room.
Seeing Dengdeng sleeping peacefully, Lin Ping-er sighed, "This child really can’t be without his mother. See, the moment you came back, Dengdeng’s sleep has become settled."
Bai Ruozhu giggled, looking at the adorable Dengdeng. Of course, her son was closest to her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Xiaosi seemed a little down. Suddenly, she realized that Xiaosi didn’t even know who his mother is. No wonder he looked upset. Her heart felt heavy. If she had the chance, she should at least dig into Xiaosi’s background. She could then let him make an informed decision about his life.
The family continued their usual work. In between, Bai Ruozhu took Little Dengdeng for feeding, suddenly recalling that Jiang Yichun might come looking for her. So, she decided to wear her nursing shawl more securely. Thankfully, Jiang Yichun was not so presumptuous as to disrupt her during such times.
While operating their business, there were customers talking about the city gate closure from the previous evening.
"I heard some news; apparently, some big shot was ambushed," a matron said mysteriously.
"What big shot, how can you know?" a man to the side replied skeptically.
The matron pursed her lips in dissatisfaction and said, "My next-door neighbor’s relative is the wife of the sheriff at the County Government Office. Do you think that news would be wrong?"
Bai Ruozhu felt dizzy just listening to the chain of relationships the matron explained - needless to mention the confusion in the minds of the other listeners.
"So, what happened to this big shot? And was the villain caught?" the previous man asked again.
The matron smirked and said, "I heard he escaped danger, but was seriously injured. And then, no one knew where he went. As for the villain, they are not easy to catch."
"Who could that be?" someone else asked.
The matron put on a serious face and said, "Why should we, the common people, concern ourselves with these matters? If you knew the identity of the criminal and those from the Government Office couldn’t catch them, wouldn’t you just be silencing yourself?"
Everyone agreed and stopped asking further, praising the matron for her worldliness. The matron greeted the compliments with a smug smile.
Bai Ruozhu pondered quietly from the side, who wanted to assassinate Jiang Yichun? And not just once, but multiple attempts have been made. This was a grand scheme indeed.
Moreover, if Jiang Yichun was attacked because spies infiltrated his ranks, then the assassination plan must have been in the works for quite a while.
During a quiet afternoon, Bai Ruozhu brought Little Dengdeng back to the West Courtyard to rest. As soon as she returned, she could hear gentle knocking sounds from the window at the back, coming in sets of threes with brief pauses between.
Bai Ruozhu put Dengdeng on the bed, walked softly to the window, and peeped out. As expected, it was Jiang Yichun. But this time, he was not wearing a mask, and his face still looked frighteningly pale.
She opened the window and asked, "Are you feeling better now?"
Jiang Yichun looked at her, relieved to see that she didn’t look angry. When Bai Ruozhu threw harsh words at him last night and left, he felt like waves were crashing in his heart.
First, he felt anger. He didn’t care about her being a widow, yet she seemed completely ungrateful? Then, he felt remorse – he regretted not investigating and assuming that her husband had passed away. Finally, he felt a sense of loss, though he didn’t know where this sense of loss was coming from, whether it was because Bai Ruozhu had rejected him.
No matter how angry he was, the moment he saw Bai Ruozhu, his anger melted away. He was even worried she might be angry with him. When he realized this, he sighed ruefully in private, wondering when he had become so crestfallen?
"Much better, your medicine is really effective," Jiang Yichun said while looking into Bai Ruozhu’s eyes.
Bai Ruozhu averted her gaze; she was afraid of looking into his eyes, as if she would see something, or rather, she instinctively wanted to avoid something.
"The antidote you need is missing some ingredients. I didn’t expect to have difficulty sourcing them in the town. Can you manage to find them from other places?" Bai Ruozhu said, taking out a note from her sleeve and handed it to Jiang Yichun.
As Jiang Yichun reached to take the note, his fingertips grazed against her fingertips for a moment. The contact was so light and brief it could be mistaken for having not happened. Nonetheless, his body convulsed slightly and he almost reached out to hold her hand and ask her, ’Don’t you like me? Then why did you risk your life to save me?’
Eventually, he put those thoughts aside and withdrew his hand out of respect for her identity and demeanor.
Bai Ruozhu also felt a ripple in her heart. If he really wanted to take responsibility, would she accept? A thought popped up in her mind, but she quickly rejected it. She didn’t like the sound of someone taking responsibility. She would rather prefer mutual affection and a natural progression of feelings.
He opened the note and glanced at it, furrowing his brows.
Seeing his reaction, Bai Ruozhu pointed to two of the herbs and said, "These two herbs are not hard to find, but when I went looking today, two pharmacies had been bought out. I was afraid of being noticed, so I didn’t continue searching."
Jiang Yichun’s eyes narrowed. Those people were bold enough to enter the city and go against him. They bought the very herbs he needed for detoxification, clearly wanting to impede him.
"Don’t go to the pharmacy anymore; I will find the rest as soon as possible," Jiang Yichun said.
Bai Ruozhu looked at his pale face and sighed helplessly, "Wait a moment." She then left the room and walked toward the kitchen.
Fang Guizhi was busy working in the kitchen when she saw Bai Ruozhu; she asked, "You’re still awake, Ruozhu?"
"I’m here to fetch some medicinal soup that’s been prepared. After drinking it, I’ll go to sleep," replied Bai Ruozhu, afraid that Fang Guizhi might come to find her. She left immediately with the medicinal soup.
She was, after all, a soft-hearted person, Bai Ruozhu thought to herself.
When she entered the room and closed the door, she saw that Jiang Yichun had jumped into the room from the window. He was sitting beside the bed, amusing Dengdeng, who was reaching out to touch his face, most likely looking for the mask.
Jiang Yichun looked up and saw Bai Ruozhu coming over with the medicinal soup. He felt a warmth in his heart and stood up straight.
"This soup will help in the restoration of Qi Blood, you should drink it first," Bai Ruozhu said and handed over the soup. Suddenly, she stumbled over a stool, and everything – herself and the soup – went crashing towards the floor.
"Ah..." Bai Ruozhu let out a soft gasp. In that moment, her mind wasn’t thinking about the impending hurt but rather, the unfortunate waste of the soup....