Flower Stealing Master

Lu Wushuang’s private chamber was located in the inner quarters of the Lu residence, while Song Qingshu had been assigned to a guest courtyard on the other side. If he went over openly in the middle of the night, he would inevitably disturb others in the household. Though his conscience was clear, visiting an unmarried young woman at such an hour would inevitably invite all sorts of improper assumptions from others.

Song Qingshu hesitated briefly, then decided to go quietly and return quietly. With his lightness skill, no one in the Lu residence would notice him. Lu Wushuang was a woman of the wulin, and he would leave as soon as he delivered the medicine. Surely she wouldn’t mind.

Having made up his mind, he set off without alerting anyone, making his way under the cover of night toward the courtyard where Lu Wushuang was staying.

Before long, Song Qingshu reached his destination. Without disturbing the maidservants outside, he went directly to Lu Wushuang’s room.

“Miss Lu, it’s Song Qingshu. I have an important matter and request a meeting.” Not wanting to be rude by barging in, Song Qingshu knocked lightly on the door and used his internal energy to concentrate his voice into a beam, transmitting it inside.

He waited a moment, but there was no response from within the room. Song Qingshu frowned. “Could she already be asleep?” It was quite late, and Lu Wushuang was recovering from an injury…it wouldn’t be surprising if she had turned in early.

“Miss Cheng? Miss Cheng?” Song Qingshu switched to calling for Cheng Ying. In his view, Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang were so close that Cheng Ying would certainly be at her cousin’s side, taking care of her.

Lu Wushuang, being the injured one, might sleep more soundly. But Cheng Ying was naturally alert and should have been easily roused.

But after calling out for a while, there was still no response. Song Qingshu wondered, *Could it be that she’s afraid to see me after what happened last night?*

It would be perfectly normal for her not to want to see him after those events. Song Qingshu smiled, worried that she might misunderstand his intentions, and explained the purpose of his visit. He thought to himself, *This concerns Lu Wushuang’s entire future. Surely you’ll come out now.*

Still, there was no response. Song Qingshu’s expression finally grew serious. He closed his eyes and used his qi sense to probe the situation inside the room. He detected only one person breathing…presumably Lu Wushuang herself.

“Cheng Ying isn’t here?” Song Qingshu had not expected this outcome at all. “Well, I’ll just leave it with Lu Wushuang instead.”

Releasing his internal energy, he used it to slip through the crack in the door and lift the latch from inside. He stepped into the room. Apart from the scent of herbal medicine, there was also a faint, subtle fragrance of a young woman. Song Qingshu smiled to himself. *It seems that until the end of time, women will always smell fragrant.*

“Miss Lu? Miss Lu?” He closed the door behind him and called out as he walked deeper into the room. Even as he reached the bed, she did not respond.

Song Qingshu’s face darkened. He thought to himself, *This woman sleeps like a log. She wouldn’t even know if someone slept with her.*

“Miss Lu?” He sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to shake her shoulder. Surely that would wake her. He was well aware of the strict social rules of this world, but he didn’t see anything improper about his behavior. In later generations, such interactions between friends were perfectly normal. Since there were no outsiders present, why bother with all the tedious formalities?

But Lu Wushuang not only failed to wake up…she turned over and hugged his arm, mumbling indistinctly, “Fool, Fool… don’t leave me…”

Song Qingshu reached out with his other hand and felt her forehead. It was alarmingly hot. He frowned. “How is it that she’s running a fever and no one is attending to her? Where’s Cheng Ying?”

He fully extended his qi sense and found that aside from Lu Wushuang, only one maidservant was breathing in the entire courtyard. There was no sign of Cheng Ying. Yet based on what he had seen yesterday, Cheng Ying had clearly been staying next door. “Where could she have gone?”

It turned out that the events of the previous night had shaken Cheng Ying so deeply that she had been distracted and conflicted all day, unsure of how to face Song Qingshu and her cousin in the future. Additionally, the return of her brother-in-law Lu Guanying made her even more uncomfortable.

With her state of mind in turmoil, Cheng Ying grew increasingly restless. Finally, she simply took leave of Lu Wushuang and left to clear her head.

Lu Wushuang had tried repeatedly to persuade her to stay, but Cheng Ying, unable to reveal the truth, could only lie that her martial sect had summoned her. With that, Lu Wushuang had no choice but to bid her a reluctant farewell.

Lu Wushuang’s body was already weakened by her leg injury. During the day, she had heard news of Yang Guo, leaving her heart stirred and melancholy. Then Cheng Ying left, and all her sorrows bottled up inside. In the end, lovesickness turned into illness, erupting in the middle of the night.

Feeling miserable, she didn’t want her servants to see her in such a state, so she had sent them far away. Combined with Cheng Ying’s absence, no one discovered how sick she had become.

Naturally, Song Qingshu knew none of this, nor did he have time to ponder it. He quickly raised his voice, trying to wake her. “Miss Lu, wake up! Wake up!”

Finally, Lu Wushuang opened her eyes, bleary and dazed. There was no trace of clarity in them. When she saw Song Qingshu, instead of showing any surprise, she delightedly threw herself into his arms.

“???” A fragrant breeze assailed his nose. Holding her burning hot, delicate b0dy, Song Qingshu’s mind was filled with nothing but question marks.

“Fool, you’ve finally come to see me. Do you know how much I’ve missed you?” Lu Wushuang pressed her cheek against his chest, murmuring to herself.

Song Qingshu finally understood. He smiled wryly and pushed her away. “Miss Lu, you’ve mistaken me for someone else.” At the same time, he channeled a stream of true qi into her body.

“Ah?” Lu Wushuang’s eyes regained a flicker of clarity for a moment. Seeing who she was embracing, she recoiled as if scalded, scrambling back onto the bed and grabbing the blanket to wrap tightly around herself. Her pretty face flushed bright red…whether from embarrassment or the fever, it was impossible to tell. “Y-you… why are you here?”

“I came to deliver your medicine.” Song Qingshu took out the Black Jade Interruptus Ointment and waved it in front of her, explaining his purpose.

“Th-thank you, young master,” she said. She started to reach for it but immediately realized her arms were bare and hastily withdrew in panic. “Would you please… please leave it on the table.”

*Although Lu Wushuang’s face isn’t quite the sort that could topple a kingdom, the b0dy beneath her clothes is surprisingly fair and alluring.* He hadn’t had a chance to look closely earlier, but now, with that fleeting glimpse, Song Qingshu noticed that she was wearing only the thinnest undergarments, with large expanses of fair skin exposed on her arms and legs.

Sensing his gaze, Lu Wushuang turned her reddened face away and instinctively shrank further into the bed.

Song Qingshu smiled faintly, placed the Black Jade Interruptus Ointment on the table, then changed the subject. “Why are you here all alone with no one to look after you? Where’s your cousin?”

Only then did Lu Wushuang explain that Cheng Ying had left. Song Qingshu’s expression turned strange. “She ran away?”

Buried under her blankets, Lu Wushuang had no idea why he reacted that way. Had something happened between him and her cousin? But before the thought could develop, waves of dizziness washed over her forehead, and she no longer had the energy to think about it.

Sensing her body swaying, Song Qingshu said gravely, “You have a fever. Your b0dy is burning up. We need to bring your temperature down quickly. If an infection reaches your injured leg and causes complications, you might not only lose the leg…you could lose your life.”

Lu Wushuang didn’t fully understand words like “infection” or “complications,” but that didn’t stop her from realizing the gravity of the situation. She grew flustered. “Th-then what should I do?”

“First, let’s find a doctor,” Song Qingshu said. If it were an internal or external injury, he could treat her by channeling his internal energy. But for a common cold or fever, he was powerless. He turned and headed for the door.

“Ah… Young Master Song, wait,” Lu Wushuang called out weakly but urgently.

Song Qingshu paused and looked back. “What is it?”

“I wouldn’t dare trouble you, young master. I’ll send a maidservant,” Lu Wushuang said.

Song Qingshu shook his head. “I’m faster with my movement skill.”

Lu Wushuang bit her lip. “Does young master truly not know, or is he pretending not to?”

Song Qingshu felt a flash of displeasure. “What do you mean by that?” He thought, *I’m kindly trying to find a doctor for you, and this is the thanks I get?*

“If… if you go to fetch a doctor, then everyone will know you came to my room at night,” Lu Wushuang said with frustration.

“So what? Our conduct is aboveboard. We have nothing to hide,” Song Qingshu frowned.

“You are a great hero, so naturally you don’t care about such things. But this is the environment I live in. Gossip can be vicious. If there were actually something between us, the gossips in this household would be too intimidated by your reputation to say much. But once you leave, they’ll think you seduced and abandoned me. They’ll say all sorts of ugly things.” Having lived in this household for so many years, Lu Wushuang was well aware of the sordidness hidden within these wealthy, powerful families.

Lu Wushuang struggled to prop herself up, reached out, and pulled a bell cord by the bed. Only then did she say to Song Qingshu, “I’ve summoned a maidservant. I’ll have her find a doctor. Young Master…”

Seeing her hesitant expression, Song Qingshu smiled. “All right, I know what you’re going to say. I’ll make myself scarce.”

Hearing footsteps approaching, Song Qingshu flickered behind a folding screen. Moments later, a maidservant rushed in. Seeing Lu Wushuang’s condition, she panicked and began to fuss noisily.

Lu Wushuang finally managed to calm her down and instructed her to find a doctor. The young maid agreed readily and hurried out.

Confirming that the maid had left, Song Qingshu emerged from behind the screen and frowned. “That girl was so loud and excitable. Is she reliable?”

Lu Wushuang smiled ruefully. “Reliable or not, she’s all I have. Young Master, would you trouble you to pour me a cup of water?”

Seeing her dry lips, Song Qingshu smacked his forehead. “Look at my memory. A feverish patient needs to drink plenty of water.” He quickly poured a cup of water and handed it to her. “Stop calling me ‘young master’ all the time. It sounds so formal. If you don’t mind, just call me Brother Song from now on.”

Holding the cup, Lu Wushuang thought of how that Fool already had a fiancée, how Cheng Ying had left her, and how the person staying by her side in her weakest moment was Song Qingshu…someone she had previously been at odds with. All kinds of emotions welled up at once, and her voice choked with tears. “Th-thank you… Brother Song.”

Song Qingshu smiled. “They say people are at their most vulnerable when they’re sick. It seems that’s true. Just a while ago, you wanted to bite my head off.”

Lu Wushuang blushed. Somewhat embarrassed, she said, “I stopped hating you after you fixed my leg.”

Song Qingshu chuckled. “But earlier, you didn’t sound nearly as sincere as when you called me ‘Brother Song’ just now.”

“I…” Lu Wushuang grew flustered and was about to say something when her vision suddenly went dark, and she swayed, about to topple over.

Song Qingshu quickly caught her and held her steady. “Are you all right?”

Lying in his arms, it took a dozen or so breaths before she recovered. “I-I feel dizzy whenever I move too much.”

Song Qingshu immediately felt her forehead again. His expression turned grim. “You’re probably approaching forty degrees now. You’re already showing signs of convulsions. We need to bring your temperature down immediately, or your life will be in danger!”

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