"How is he?" The first thing Shen Qingfeng did after returning to the mansion was to go to the inner courtyard to check on Yu Shuang.
A Man, who was wiping the sweat off Yu Shuang's forehead, stood up quickly when she saw Shen Qingfeng and replied, "Young Master, he's still unconscious."
Shen Qingfeng frowned and walked to the bedside. Looking at Yu Shuang, who was still lying in a coma on the bed, his face darkened.
"Little Young Master, why didn't you come back with the Eldest Young Master?" A Man suddenly asked.
"Hmm?" Shen Qingfeng was taken aback. "Why should I come back with big brother?"
A Man blinked her eyes and said, "Didn't the Little Young Master get urgently summoned into the palace by the Crown Prince last night? This morning, as soon as the Eldest Young Master woke up and heard about this, he was so frightened that he didn't even take his token and rushed directly into the palace to look for you."
Shen Qingfeng was stunned for a while before he finally realized.
Good old Lu Yan! So last night he used this excuse to trick me into the Dingbei Marquis Mansion! And he even set a trap for Xia Chuli!
"Ahem!" Shen Qingfeng cleared his throat and lied, "Oh... Maybe we took different routes on the way and didn't meet."
A Man nodded. Shen Qingfeng changed the subject and asked, "Where's the doctor?"
A Man replied honestly, "He's boiling the medicine in the kitchen."
Shen Qingfeng pursed his lips. After instructing A Man again to take good care of Yu Shuang, he returned to his own room. He sorted out what he had written that day. After taking out a piece of paper, he put the rest in the secret compartment beside his bed.
It was time to put the establishment of the Listening Wind Pavilion on the agenda. He had established the Listening Wind Pavilion single - handedly back then. It wouldn't be difficult to recreate it, but the real challenge was keeping it hidden.
The main reason why the Listening Wind Pavilion could exist undetected back then was because of Xia Chuli's protection. Although Xia Chuli was out of favor, he was still the Crown Prince. With the protection of the Forbidden Army in Bian Palace, the members of the Listening Wind Pavilion were able to settle in the Eastern Palace. But now it was different. He had to figure out everything on his own.
Shen Qingfeng folded the piece of paper and put it in his bosom, then quickly walked out of the room.
"Rong Liu!"
Rong Liu, who was busy in the wood - shed, looked up. When he saw Shen Qingfeng, he quickly ran over and bowed, "Little Young Master? What are your orders?"
Shen Qingfeng took out the piece of paper from his bosom and handed it to him, saying, "Go to the location marked on this map right now, and then..."
Shen Qingfeng leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Then, taking a step back under Rong Liu's shocked gaze, he looked at him and said, "Remember, don't tell anyone about this, not even my father and my elder brother. Do you understand?"
Rong Liu was startled. He quickly stuffed the piece of paper into his bosom and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, Little Young Master."
Shen Qingfeng nodded in satisfaction and said, "Disguise yourself when you go. Remember."
"I understand, Little Young Master."
-
Shen Yu searched all over the palace but couldn't find Shen Qingfeng. He sent a message to his father who was in the Prime Minister's Mansion, then left Xia Chuli, who was burying his head in his studies, and rushed home in a hurry. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Shen Qingfeng sitting at the table, scooping up soup.
"... Little brother?" Shen Yu widened his eyes and quickly ran up to ask, "You weren't in the palace last night? I didn't see you in the Eastern Palace today!"
Shen Qingfeng said, "I was supposed to go to the palace last night, but after leaving the Prince Cheng's Mansion, I felt I had drunk too much. I couldn't hold on on the way. I met a friend and stayed at his place for the night." Shen Qingfeng didn't dare to mention Lu Yan's name. After all, if he did, Shen Yu would probably guess something. What if he took a knife and went after Lu Yan?
"Friend?" Shen Yu was about to ask something, but Shen Qingfeng quickly changed the subject, "Why did big brother come back so early? It's just past noon. Have you had lunch?"
Shen Yu shook his head and said, "Oh, not yet."
Shen Qingfeng smiled and said, "Then would big brother like to try the soup I just made? Although it's not as delicious as yours..."
Shen Yu was stunned. He looked down at the soup bowl on the table and almost instinctively replied, "Yes."
Shen Qingfeng was also stunned - although he could actually guess Shen Yu's reaction.
In his past life, after he entered the palace, he became very indifferent to his family. Although he knew that Shen Yu and Shen Shiqiu loved him, because they opposed his relationship with Xia Chuli, he went home less and less often. Eventually, even though they served in the same court, they hardly spoke to each other.
Shen Yu was always busy with his affairs, but he took time to make soup for Shen Qingfeng more than once and sent the soup to the Eastern Palace. But every time, Shen Qingfeng poured it away.
Now that he thought about it, his response to the family affection from Shen Shiqiu and Shen Yu was really too little.
Shen Yu then reached out his hand and picked up the soup bowl. He took a big sip, but was scalded by the soup and stuck out his tongue, gasping for air.
"Big brother! Drink slowly." Shen Qingfeng quickly poured a cup of cold tea for Shen Yu and handed it to him.
Shen Yu coughed a few times and said, "Delicious."
Shen Qingfeng smiled and said, "It's not as delicious as yours."
"Yours is also delicious." Shen Yu looked at him. The two brothers looked at each other for a moment and then suddenly smiled at each other.
It was a sunny day for a change. Shen Qingfeng arranged to set up a table in the courtyard. Since Shen Yu still had to rush back to the palace to teach Xia Chuli later, Shen Qingfeng only prepared a few small dishes for Shen Yu to fill his stomach.
To be honest, it had been a very long time since he and Shen Yu had sat at the same table to have a meal. He tried hard to unlock his sealed memories, but after he did, he found that there were very few memories about Shen Yu. The clearest memory was the scene of Shen Yu kneeling in front of him after being pierced through the body by a long sword.
Shen Qingfeng's hand holding the chopsticks trembled. He picked up the dish that Shen Yu had put into his bowl, but it tasted bitter in his mouth.
Not only Shen Qingfeng, but Shen Yu also had a lot of feelings. After all, his little brother had changed his ways and was no longer the same as before. The former indifference seemed to have gone with the wind. They were blood - related relatives after all, so there was no knot that couldn't be untied. He looked at Shen Qingfeng sitting beside him and couldn't help but talk more today.
"Big brother." Halfway through the meal, Shen Qingfeng suddenly said, "I want to find a job in the court."
Shen Yu understood as soon as he heard this. After all, the reason why Shen Qingfeng was able to enter the palace before was because of his status as the "Crown Prince's reading companion". Now that he had feelings for Lu Yan, this status was quite embarrassing.
"What kind of job do you want? Big brother will help you."
Shen Qingfeng shook his head and said, "The reason I want to find a job is that I don't want to be idle at home. Since my... relationship with Lu Yan hasn't been made public yet, outsiders think I will refuse the marriage, but actually I won't. If I refuse the marriage, the Shen family will be branded as disobeying the imperial edict. King Xia Jie is a suspicious person and has long been suspicious of the Shen family. This is exactly what he wants."
Shen Qingfeng had already hinted at this to Shen Yu and Shen Shiqiu before, so Shen Yu understood. He asked, "So you want to find a job to maneuver in the court? But without the help of me and father, your official position in the court won't be very high."
Shen Qingfeng smiled and said, "I've already found someone to help me with this."
Shen Yu was stunned and asked, "Who is it?"