Chapter 196: Trust Me, You’ll Be Fine
Luo Wen and his men were still carrying Xiang Minghou toward Yuehua Small Building when Aunt Liu and the others received the news. They rushed over and met them in the garden.
"General! General, what’s happened to you?" Aunt Liu cried out, her mouth opening as if about to start sobbing.
"Everyone, be quiet," Ye Qianning said with a frown.
Aunt Liu immediately covered her mouth, stifling her sobs and not daring to make a sound.
"Dad’s condition is not good. He needs quiet," Ye Qianning said urgently. When she was anxious, she hated having people panicking and wailing in her ear.
"Pangtuan..." Peony called out.
"Aunt Liu, all of you, stand guard outside Yuehua Small Building. If Mrs. Wang and Si Yan come to cause trouble, beat them mercilessly," Ye Qianning instructed without breaking stride.
The concubines, who had been jogging to keep up, stopped in their tracks at her words.
"Go on, Pangtuan. Leave the outside to us." Peony was the most perceptive of the group and immediately guessed that the General’s injury had been caused by a family member.
Ye Qianning and her group hurried into Yuehua Small Building.
"What did Pangtuan mean? What’s going on with Mrs. Wang and Si Yan?" Bailing asked, confused.
Huaihua, Shaoyao, and the others were also bewildered. They didn’t know what had happened in the front courtyard. The eight of them had rarely left the rear courtyard since moving into the General’s manor.
For one, they disliked the old madam and the people from the second branch. For another, the old madam often called them shameless seductresses, claiming they were a disgrace and forbidding them from entering the front courtyard.
Thus, within the manor, they stayed in their own courtyards, confined to their small world. As long as the manor’s affairs didn’t concern them, they rarely paid any mind.
"Isn’t it obvious? It’s highly likely that Second Master was the one who injured the General," Peony said, puffing her cheeks in anger.
"What?"
"Would Second Master have the guts?"
Everyone was shocked and somewhat incredulous.
Aunt Liu recalled something. "A few days ago, the Emperor bestowed many gifts upon Pangtuan. The old madam and Second Master never took Pangtuan seriously to begin with, and Second Master took most of those gifts to pay off his gambling debts. The General probably found out, and he got desperate and lashed out."
"How inhumane! It’s one thing to take the rewards given to the General, but he dared to take Pangtuan’s as well?"
"Second Master injured the General, and now Second Mistress dares to come cause a scene? I’d like to see her try."
"No, even if she doesn’t come looking for trouble, I’m going to her! Shaoyao, Bailing, Baixiang, you three come with me. We’ll go block her at the second branch’s doorway," said Hua Qiao, who was always hot-tempered.
Upon hearing this, Shaoyao, Bailing, and Baixiang immediately went to stand with her.
"I’ll go too." Aunt Liu stepped forward. Though her status was low, everyone knew she was the General’s lady.
If word got out that mere concubines were beating up people from the second branch, it would damage the General’s manor’s reputation. But if the General’s lady ordered it, it would mean the second branch was at fault and the main family was doling out punishment!
"Go easy on them. The adults are at fault, but Zhenzhu is still young," Peony reminded them.
"Got it," Hua Qiao replied.
Aunt Liu led the way, with Hua Qiao, Bailing, Baixiang, and Shaoyao following close behind.
"Come on, let’s go guard Yuehua Small Building."
Peony led the three other concubines—Huaihua, Sansan, and Xinghua—toward Yuehua Small Building.
「Inside the room」
Luo Wen and his men carefully placed Xiang Minghou on the bed.
"Go prepare hot water, alcohol, needles, thread, and scissors," Ye Qianning ordered.
Du Yi heard her and immediately went out.
At that moment, Xiang Minghou’s consciousness was still relatively clear. "Pangtuan, Dad has a strong will to live. I won’t die. Don’t cry."
’If this were the past, when I had no one to live for, being wounded like this by my own birth mother... I would rather have died. It would have served as repayment for the grace of her giving me life.’
’But now, I don’t want to die. I haven’t watched Pangtuan grow up yet. How could I be willing to die just like this?’
"Dad, don’t worry. I won’t let you die. Trust me." Ye Qianning wiped away a tear. ’He was stabbed in the abdomen, and his internal organs are damaged. The surgery will take several hours.’