Chapter 306: Are You Willing to Give Your Best?
This was not the first time that Jiang Yichun had taken advantage of someone’s mother, or the first time he had been caught red-handed by Dengdeng. But this time, it felt more embarrassing, as he was taking advantage while Bai Ruozhu was fast asleep, and he was so close to being seen by Dengdeng, that his face even started to feel hot.
Dengdeng happily reached out his little hand to him. Jiang Yichun, reluctantly letting go of Bai Ruozhu’s hand, made a hushing gesture at the boy, before picking him up.
Dengdeng started dancing happily while Jiang Yichun, with a smile on his face, carried him around the room.
"Dengdeng, would you like your uncle to teach you boxing in the future?" Jiang Yichun asked softly.
Dengdeng broke into laughter. Jiang Yichun glared at him, holding him with one arm and another making another hush gesture to him. He looked fierce when angered, but Dengdeng didn’t seem to be afraid at all, continuing to wave his hands and smile sweetly at him.
Jiang Yichun hastily turned to look at Bai Ruozhu sleeping on the bed. Seeing that she was sound asleep, he finally relaxed.
Judging from Dengdeng’s behavior, Jiang Yichun realized that he had become quite fond of the child. Could it be that he was projecting his feelings for the mother onto the son?
"I’ll teach you horseback riding later. When you’re older, I’ll also give you a small knife. Then, you can ride a horse while carrying a knife. Your mother will surely be overwhelmed with joy." Jiang Yichun’s eyes twinkled with delight as he spoke, completely oblivious of how goofy he looked while laughing.
Dengdeng started giggling again. Jiang Yichun urgently hushed him. But Dengdeng found it fun and mimicked him, blowing air out of his mouth. Because his mouth was wet with saliva, Dengdeng ended up blowing bubbles.
This time, Jiang Yichun could no longer hold back his laughter and snickered aloud.
Bai Ruozhu, who had a light sleep, was awakened by the laughter. She had been exhausted and so hadn’t noticed the noise until now.
As soon as she woke up, her first instinct was to reach out toward the sleeping area of Dengdeng. When her hand found nothing, she instantly became fully alert and noticed the pair of young and old, smiling in the room.
Getting up, she shot a glare at Jiang Yichun. "When did you get here? Why didn’t you wake me up?"
Jiang Yichun thought to himself that he had been touching her hand and she hadn’t woken up, so what use would calling out to her have been? But of course, he couldn’t say that aloud.
"I saw you were too tired and didn’t want to disturb you," he said, a mischievous smile on his face. In fact, he realized that he had purposely been silent, not wanting to wake her up so he could "do as he pleased".
Alright, he hadn’t been that dark-hearted. At most he had only held her hand. Well, he wouldn’t admit to having been constantly staring at her enticing red lips.
Bai Ruozhu got up from the bed. Jiang Yichun hurriedly said, "It’s so cold, put your jacket on."
His voice was a bit rushed, almost commanding, but he couldn’t hide the concern behind it.
Bai Ruozhu didn’t make a sound, but went to get her jacket and put it on.
"Has there been any new developments regarding my second brother?" Bai Ruozhu asked, looking at him.
Jiang Yichun looked at her weary eyes, it pained him to see her carrying such a heavy burden even when she was so exhausted.
"He’s doing well in jail. Officer Li has been sending him books to read, and the imperial envoy will be here tomorrow," Jiang Yichun said. "He was supposed to arrive yesterday, but he ran into some trouble on the road and got delayed by two days."
Bai Ruozhu’s eyes widened slightly. "Trouble? Was the imperial envoy targeted for assassination or something?"
Jiang Yichun shook his head. "The exam paper leaker is the chief examiner this time. He’s just a low-ranking official and doesn’t have the power to pull anything like that off. It’s some other matter. The imperial envoy’s inspection tour isn’t only about this case."
Hearing that, Bai Ruozhu realized there were far more important matters, so she didn’t inquire further and kept quiet.
Jiang Yichun sneaked a peek at her. He wanted to say something but seemed undecided about how to bring it up.
"The memorandum I wrote is ready. Should I entrust it to you or Officer Li to submit, or should I submit it myself through a drum-beating appeal?" Bai Ruozhu broke the silence and asked.
Upon hearing Bai Ruozhu mention a "drum-beating appeal", Jiang Yichun was taken aback. He respected her bravery—most common people at this time wanted nothing to do with the government, let alone lodging a formal complaint by drum-beating. But soon he laughed, remembering how boldly adventurous Bai Ruozhu could be. Despite her current powerlessness, she was cunning like a little fox when making plans.
"If you go for a drum-beating appeal, the impact might be larger. The elders from your clan could go with you. It would also help them distance themselves from Bai Yibo," Jiang Yichun said.
Bai Ruozhu nodded in agreement. She had the same idea.
After waiting for a while, she looked suspiciously at Jiang Yichun. Why was he so quiet today? If he had nothing to do, he didn’t need to stay here. She wanted to go back to sleep.
"Do you have something else?" Bai Ruozhu, growing impatient, asked, staring at him.
Jiang Yichun paced nervously with Dengdeng in his arms, betraying his agitation.
"Well, I went to see my master yesterday. He was very surprised when he saw my wound." Jiang Yichun glanced carefully at Bai Ruozhu before finally speaking up.
"My master wants you to share your suturing technique, saying it would be of great use to the imperial court. He can then plead for rewards for you, such as securing your second brother and Bai family’s future." Jiang Yichun coughed lightly after finishing. "Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t mean you must agree. After all, it’s your unique skill. If you don’t want to reveal it, it doesn’t matter. My master isn’t an obsessive person."
"I’m willing!" Bai Ruozhu agreed readily with a beaming smile. Why wouldn’t she agree to such a good deal?
The suturing technique wasn’t her invention, nor was the catgut sutures her research. She had only used modern medical findings. If there were doctors around who wanted to learn from her, she would generously teach them. So the thought of rewards didn’t occur to her, and she didn’t see this technique as something rare and valuable that she should hold onto.
Only now did she understand why Jiang Yichun had been so hesitant. He was afraid she would get angry, thinking he wanted to steal her unique skill. This realization made Bai Ruozhu feel both amused and exasperated. He had been worrying over nothing.
"Are you sure you don’t mind?" Jiang Yichun asked again, unsure whether Bai Ruozhu was really pleased or just angry enough to laugh.
"There are rewards and it could change my second brother’s fate. Why would I not agree? Furthermore, even if an ordinary doctor asked for guidance, I would teach him. If a doctor hides everything, it will be difficult for medical skills to flourish."
When she was little, her grandpa had taught her traditional Chinese medicine and explained why it was declining. On one hand, it was hard to learn; on the other hand, due to age-old conservative thinking, people always felt the unique skills should not be passed on. Some families even had the tradition of passing skills only to males, not females. As a result, many good things were lost in the currents of history.
Of course, neither would Bai Ruozhu casually teach anyone her method of using poison. That was something she had to keep secret.