Special Fondness – Chapter 23

　　Early the next morning, Bai Ping got up, personally simmered the medicine, and sent it to Tang QiaoYuan’s bedroom. 

　　The candles inside the room were still burning, although the sky was already bright, the person in the room seemed to be unaware of it, was maintaining the same posture as last night, sitting beside the bed, lowering his head and looking at Fang Su’s face. 

　　Bai Ping couldn’t bear to see it, her movements were gentle as she walked forward, put the bowl of medicine on the small table, only afraid that if she spoke she would disturb that person, so she kept her voice very low, and called out: “Master, it is dawn.”

　　Tang QiaoYuan relaxed his spirit, and turned to look at her, his exhaustion was apparent to the eye.

　　“Give me the medicine.”

　　“It’s still a bit hand-burning.” Bai Pin replied, bending over and scooping the medicine with the small spoon, thoughtfully blowing it for a while before sending it to that person’s hand. 

　　Tang QiaoYuan held Fang Su up, just as he did last night, carefully feeding it to him, Bai Ping watched a while on the side and felt that at this moment, the time was more appropriate, thus she opened up to tell him what happened late at night. 

　　“Master, after this servant woke up, she heard people pass on a message, saying that ruffian Li has already been caught.” Her words were spoken halfway, she took a look at Tang QiaoYuan’s expression, seeing that it wasn’t too gloomy, only then did she ask, “How do you* think he should be dealt with?”

　　*您 respectful way to say “you”

　　Tang QiaoYuan nodded when he heard it, and actually wasn’t in the mood to think deeply about it.

　　Yesterday when Fang Su hadn’t been found yet, he was gritting his teeth and hated the people who kidnapped Fang Su, he thought about it countless times in his head, once he have caught the few people, how he would cruelly torture them so it would be enough to relieve his hatred, but at this moment he was only concerned about when Fang Su would be able to safely wake up, he was exhausted physically and mentally, simply ordered: “Kill him.”

　　His words died down and he silently continued his hand movement, until the whole medicine soup was finished, and laid him down as if holding a treasure. 

　　Tang QiaoYuan picked up Fang Su’s right hand and kissed it softly, not holding it like he did last night, put that inside the quilt, stood up, and looked out of the window at the time of the day, he wanted to get things done early, but did not dare to let his guard down, and carefully explained to the girl in the room: “Bai Ping, I am going to the Jade courtyard, you stay inside the room to watch after madam, don’t take a single step away.” 

　　Bai Ping naturally understood the lingering fear this person had in his heart, and immediately complied with a salute: “Master can rest assured, this servant will keep waiting here.”

　　Tang QiaoYuan heard that and nodded, then stretched out his hand and used the back of his hand to caress Fang Su’s face. 

　　Before leaving, that person carefully close the door, intentionally called a few servants, surrounding the inside and outside of the courtyard so it was impenetrable, and finally left feeling relieved. At present, he was keeping Fang Su safe, but he felt remorse in his heart, only thinking that if this was done earlier, then they wouldn’t go to the point where Fang Su would encounter yesterday’s danger.

　　Tang QiaoYuan thought about it back and forth, and the one he hated the most was still himself for being lenient with Qin MeiWan for all these years, if it was not for the piety filial, and not to pay the debt of gratitude on his father’s behalf, he should have stop involving himself with Qin MeiWan at childhood —— Qin MeiWan was not the kind type since childhood, at that time the innocent rabbit was tragically murdered, unexpectedly it didn’t make him more alert…

　　This person thought it over and his heart was in a haze, when he took a step into the Jade courtyard he felt that the place was extremely cold, although many people were guarding inside and outside, there was not a single noise, on the contrary, it made it more quiet and desolate here. 

　　Tang QiaoYuan didn’t say a word, went directly into the courtyard, pushed the door, and walked into Qin MeiWan’s bedroom. 

Read on milkteatranslations.wordpress.com

　　The person inside of the room still looked like she did yesterday, only that the hair at her temples looked more messed up, leaning on the bed in a daze, from afar it was hard to distinguish if she was asleep or awake. Tang QiaoYuan walked closer, his want seized the arm of the girl on the bed, without any pity making her lift half of her body. And Qin MeiWan didn’t feel surprised, her eyes were actually open, looking at him with a cold smile, her expression was extremely numb.

　　The words were on the tip of Tang QiaoYuan’s tongue but he couldn’t spit them out, he was afraid that once he would have opened his mouth he won’t be able to hold his anger, not being able to help but strangle this vicious woman to death with the palms of his hands, he half restrained his blood-red eyes, his eyes seemed to see through her, he looked at her for a while and it unexpectedly made Qin MeiWan laugh. 

　　Each sound Qin MeiWan let out was spooky and ear-piercing, seeming to be laughing and crying, then cursed in a hoarse voice: “Tang QiaoYuan, why are you looking at me like this? Didn’t you already rescue that great wife of yours, hm? Do you want to kill me to vent anger for him, or is it that he is finally dead, so you have come here to take revenge?” 

　　Tang QiaoYuan stared at her, not listening to her words, simply calming down the hatred in his heart, waited until he could finally open his mouth to speak, and spoke with a dark expression: “I have come to kill you.” 

　　Qin MeiWan’s expression didn’t change, she slept very little for the last few days, the original delicate features were gone, her facial color carried some gloominess, sarcastically said: “Then kill me…Were you not supposed to kill me earlier on? If you’d made a move ten years ago, that rabbit wouldn’t have to die in such a horrible way…… Elder cousin, have you ever heard a rabbit’s shriek? You sure don’t know how intriguing it is, he got cut off……ah——!”

　　A scream in horror suddenly cut off her words, Qin MeiWan widened her eyes staring at the man who had his arms propped on top of her and looking down at her, the dagger stabbed deep into the plank of the bed, just then in a flash the stab was fast, and shallowly lacerated her ear.

　　After Qin MeiWan cried out, she couldn’t make any sound for a while, couldn’t speak calmly, her chest heaving, and breathing shakily. After a moment, the stabbing pain in her ear slowly spread, her trembling fingers slowly went to touch it, then saw the fresh blood on her fingers, stared at the man with confidence, and growled loudly: “Tang QiaoYuan! You really want to kill me?! How can you kill me! I am your younger cousin… Your Tang family is indebted to my father!” 

　　Tang QiaoYuan’s eyes carried along with them a turbulent dark tide, struggling to grasp the rare sense of reason in his head, but by her howling, he waited for her to vent until she had nothing to say then heavily replied: “I indeed owe uncle Qin a debt of gratitude, but over the years, what you did in my Tang Mansion, you should know it better than anyone……I’ve bear you until now if the two words ‘mutual kindness¹’ can be measure with weight, then it should have been paid off cleanly long ago……This time Fang Su has turned a calamity into a blessing, but if he really encountered a mishap, then this dagger sure would have taken your life…… Qin MeiWan, today I am going to leave you alive, from now on, won’t have anything to do with your Qin family.  

　　“What did you say… Tang QiaoYuan… How can you pay it off cleanly!”  Qin MeiWan seemed to have gone crazy, she refused to ponder the meaning of his words, and said sharply: “If it wasn’t for my father’s generous donation, uncle and aunt would be living on the street long ago, how would you even have such a comfortable life like now! You can’t pay it back!”

　　“You’re right,” hearing this, the person didn’t seem to feel guilty, replied, “if it wasn’t for uncle Qin’s help, my Tang family wouldn’t be richer than he is today……  Maybe I would have become the child of a poor family, wouldn’t be able to eat fresh seafood, and wouldn’t be able to wear brocade robes, but I would still be able to guard the person I love without needing to worry whether he will suffer from poisonous harm.” 

　　Qin MeiWan was stunned upon hearing this. 

　　Tang QiaoYuan’s eyes were as cold as ice, said again: “To me, which is unimportant and is important, do you understand it?” 

　　“No…… I won’t understand, Tang QiaoYuan……You can’t treat me like this! You can’t deny me……”

　　Qin MeiWan continuously shook her head, that person didn’t care, spoke up: “I will order people to send you back to Liu City, and also will let people personally tell master Qin everything.”

  　　Once these words came out, the room was suddenly silent.

　　Qin MeiWan’s murmurs stopped, the unfamiliar appellation that came out of Tang QiaoYuan’s mouth rang in her ears, her face immediately turned ashen, and full of despair. 

　　“From now on, if you still dare to take half a step into Lin Zhou city, don’t blame me for making a false counter-charge, so that your entire Qin family and even mansion included won’t stay safe.” Tang QiaoYuan said quite a lot, his anger was gradually vented, he slowly drew the dagger out, stood up straight, and stayed away from her, continued to speak ruthlessly, “Master Qin can consider that he brought up a wolf to injure himself, but I have bear it until today, I have nothing to be ashamed of and have a clear conscience.” 

　　Qin MeiWan’s tears fell, her heart was still not resigned to, sitting up awkwardly from the bed, and her hand wanted to pull him, and until now hadn’t spoken a single word admitting being wrong, but it was useless in the end.

　　Tang QiaoYuan hated looking at her, refusing to stay any longer, he turned around and walked out of the room, ordering the people in the courtyard: “Immediately get the carriage ready and restrain this woman to go back to Liu City, get her back together with her maidservants, if there’s still one person who still dare to come here, no life will be spared without exception!”

　　Everyone respectfully responded affirmatively, Qin MeiWan dejectedly sat in the room listening to his indifferent words, utterly disheartened.

　　The troubles were finally sorted out, now that the eyesore wasn’t here anymore, the Tang Mansion was back to its old state. 

　　It was supposed to be quiet and peaceful, yet the people in the courtyard still felt apprehensive, they were all keeping their heads down and busy with their own chores, especially the servants in the main courtyard, every one of them were terrified. 

　　A day just passed like this, the sky was getting dark again, Tang QiaoYuan was waiting by the bedside for the whole day, the one who was supposed to wake up was still in a state of unconsciousness, his lip color was pale, and his situation hadn’t improved. 

　　Bai Ping hurriedly went to invite the doctor to come and check the pulse, the old man frowned while checking at Fang Su’s injuries, his movements were careful, with no careless omissions, after a long while, spoke with certainty: “Master Tang doesn’t have to be anxious, madam is really fine, and should be wake up tomorrow……”

　　Fine, but why doesn’t he wake up?” Tang QiaoYuan was holding back his anger, but his voice was very unstable, “Sir said it yesterday, that he will wake up today, but now, is saying that it will be tomorrow, if it is still the same case tomorrow, then what should be done!” 

　　The doctor’s forehead was sweating and was at a loss as to what to do, and could only repeat himself in persuasion: “Master Tang, be patient and wait for another day.”  

　　“Master,” seeing that this person was about to lose his temper, Bai Ping who was behind called him, hurriedly comforted, “Madam’s misfortunes have already reached their limits, don’t let your mind wander…”

　　The words that were about to come out of Tang QiaoYuan’s mouth were halted, hearing the sentence “misfortunes have already reached its limits”, managed to regain some sanity, and calmed down again. 

　　His heart was aching when looking at Fang Su, after staying silent for a while, and whispered to send the guest out.  

　　Bai Ping bowed and left along with the doctor, and in passing, shut the room’s door for that person. 

　　Tang QiaoYuan’s palm was on Fang Su’s cheek and felt that although the skin was warm, it was lacking color, yet he wasn’t aware that he hadn’t slept for days, and in reality, his complexion wasn’t any better. 

　　His body was extremely exhausted, yet he refused to close his eyes, Tang QiaoYuan only wanted to keep looking at Fang Su, looking forward to the moment when he would open his eyes. But this hope was kept all day, only to make him progressively disappointed and restless with anxiety, deep inside, he was aware that Fang Su would eventually wake up, but he couldn’t help himself from being worried and afraid, his mind was hard to control and kept guessing over and over the misfortunes that Fang Su encountered in the mountains, until that his mind was about to collapse; if it wasn’t for the fact that he was whispering Fang Su’s name, he was afraid that he had already gone crazy. 

　　“Su Su……” This person’s voice was slightly hoarse, whispered to him, as if that would make him less worried, said in a self-deprecating way, “The doctor said that you should have woken up……But you won’t wake up, is it because you are angry with me? If you are angry with me because I left you all alone in the courtyard, then you should wake up and punish me, anyhow is fine, I will accept the punishment……”

　　The person on the bed didn’t respond, their eyes tightly closed.

　　Tang QiaoYuan bent his lips in a forced smile and didn’t know until when he could hold on, only wanting to guard him until he woke up. 

　　Another night has passed quietly, the person beside the person sat still as a rock, but in the short span of a few hours, a few strands of white hair had appeared on the full head of black hair. 

—— Who knew that staying together until their hair turned white could come so easily.

---

Notes:

1. The word used here is ‘情分’ and is usually translated into ‘mutual affection’ but the meaning was more like ‘for the old times’ sake’ so I changed it into “mutual kindness” because both families have helped each other over the years.

*Every time QMW addressed TQY as ‘cousin’, she actually say ‘elder cousin’, but it only struck me now that the translation was just so simple, for the previous chapters I only translate it as “cousin” because I couldn’t think of a word that made it … smooth. orz

I am sorry for the delay. I finished translating it on Monday night but wanted to do a last check before posting it. I have had torticollis since last Friday/Saturday and it was really hard to keep me extra motivated… The other chapters might be delayed too but the final chapter should be posted at the end of the month just as expected.

---

Milktea

You can buy a coffee to support the website or buy me a coffee individually. Your support is greatly appreciated!

---

ToC