Chapter 46: As If Gravely Wounded

And another thing—why did Lu Yunzhou come to the Shen family? Shouldn't he have gone home after returning to the capital?

Lu Yunzhou came to Hua Garden because Master Shen had instructed him earlier to bring Shen Chaoxi back. So, when the accident happened halfway from Sanqing Peak to the capital, he bore some responsibility.

After Shen Chaoxi fell from the cliff, she plunged into a swift river; falling into the water twice, he worried about the young lady's physical condition, so he called Gu Suizhou to look after her.

Gu Suizhou was a doctor. His professional expertise surpassed that of many experts in the capital. Lu Yunzhou summoned him as a precaution, knowing Shen Chaoxi’s health was unique.

But upon arriving at the Shen family, Lu Yunzhou went first to see Master Shen, recounting everything in detail.

“Yunzhou, I’m so grateful to you. If you hadn’t saved Chaoxi, I can’t imagine what would have happened to that girl,” said Master Shen in a low voice. They’d encountered a storm on the way, followed by a fall from the cliff. When he first heard the news, his heart was in turmoil, but thankfully, they returned safely.

While speaking, Master Shen personally brewed a cup of tea, his hands lined and yellowed with age, pushing the cup toward Lu Yunzhou and placing it before him.

“Teacher, this is what a student should do.”

“You, you,” Master Shen chuckled and shook his head, marveling at Lu Yunzhou’s excellence and maturity.

“But since you’re all back safe, you must be tired?” Master Shen noticed a trace of blood on Lu Yunzhou’s face. Despite his polite humility, and thorough recounting meant to reassure Master Shen, the elder saw clearly that Lu Yunzhou’s arm betrayed some discomfort.

Master Shen’s gaze darkened, his tone gentle. “I’ll have a room prepared for you. Stay here, take a bath, rest. I’ve heard you carried Chaoxi all the way through the mountains.”

Then, he instructed the family servants to ready a room for Lu Yunzhou in Shen Garden. After hours in the river and hiking through the mountains with someone on his back, even with his strong constitution, Lu Yunzhou inevitably appeared a bit weary. Master Shen saw all these things.

“Thank you, Teacher,” Lu Yunzhou replied courteously.

He had always been this way—before his mentor, he set aside his cold demeanor, appearing only as a respectful and proper junior.

Yet his refined and handsome face needed no superfluous expression to convey his reserved, noble bearing that radiated from within.

Master Shen admired him greatly.

#

“Miss Shen.” Elsewhere, Gu Suizhou, led by the servants, arrived at Shen Chaoxi’s residence.

It was his first time stepping into Hua Garden, his first visit to the Shen family.

Hua Garden was vast, the lake clear, the trees lush and green. The vintage courtyards nestled within swaying shadows, layered and intricate.

As soon as Gu Suizhou entered, he saw the young girl in a wheelchair, emerging from her room under the servants’ care.

Outside, luxurious lights reflected off the murals in the retro living room—a landscape ink painting, the hues spreading gently, as if one stood among mountain gorges and waterside pavilions.

On either bank stood solitary mountains, like a pair of cool eyes, now lifted to settle upon Gu Suizhou.

“Hello,” Shen Chaoxi saw him, pressed her lips lightly, and nodded.

Gu Suizhou’s gaze darkened; he paused for a moment.

Before him, not far away, sat a girl in a pale ink-colored long dress, her brows arched gracefully.

Her exquisite, cold face wore no makeup, her lips pale, but her bone structure was strikingly beautiful, her figure slender, her fragile back draped in a jacket, her complexion wan, her whole being seeming almost frail.

Gu Suizhou nodded gently and stepped forward to examine Shen Chaoxi’s injured foot.

“Miss Shen, is it your ankle that’s hurt?”

He wondered about this.

“Yes.”

Her voice was cool and soft. With lowered eyes, her gaze fell on her ink-colored skirt. One could hear her calm tone, but see no trace of emotion in her eyes.

Gu Suizhou knelt before her, wearing medical gloves, gently pressing the tissue around her ankle to assess the injury.

Fortunately, it was a minor wound.

“Don’t worry, Miss Shen.”

Soon after, Gu Suizhou finished examining her foot, stood before the girl, and removed his white sterilized gloves.

“It’s just a mild sprain.”

His demeanor was calm, his voice gentle. “As long as you rest at home and avoid strenuous activity, your foot will recover within half a month.”

He spoke to Shen Chaoxi.

More precisely, to the chronically ill eldest Miss Shen.

For Shen Chaoxi, this slight sprain was insignificant; she could walk as usual.

Yet in Gu Suizhou’s eyes, she was the frail fiancée of the heir to the Lu family.

Thus, he felt both responsibility and duty to offer careful advice.

“Thank you, Doctor Gu.”

Shen Chaoxi looked at him as she spoke.

“No need for thanks, Miss Shen.”

Gu Suizhou’s face carried a gentle smile. He looked at the girl in the wheelchair, his dark, gentle eyes meeting hers.

#

“I’m simply fulfilling a request.”

He spoke with courtesy and humility, matching his temperament—like a born healer, able to ease patients’ anxiety through conversation.

But Shen Chaoxi felt no relief.

She smiled faintly at the corners of her lips.

“Xiaoxiao, please see Doctor Gu out.”

“Yes, Miss.”

#

After Gu Suizhou finished examining Shen Chaoxi’s foot, her attendant escorted him out.

Passing through one of Hua Garden’s courtyards, beneath an ancient towering tree, Gu Suizhou saw Lu Yunzhou leaning lazily against the trunk. He had changed into clean black clothes, arms folded, resting quietly.

As Gu Suizhou walked over, his approaching footsteps made Lu Yunzhou slowly open his eyes.

“Yunzhou?” Gu Suizhou called.

“Why aren’t you resting, taking a bath or sleeping? Why are you waiting here?”

Since returning from the foot of Sanqing Peak, Lu Yunzhou hadn’t truly rested.

Moreover, after receiving a call from Chen Yu, he had rushed to the Shen family in the middle of the night, finding Lu Yunzhou just back from the mountain.

Gu Suizhou asked, “Did you see your teacher?”

“Mm.”

Lu Yunzhou’s expression was cool, his voice low and magnetic, tinged with a tempting exhaustion, lips pressed in a faint reply. His whole face was shrouded in the tree’s shadow, indistinct.

“How is she?”

Hearing Lu Yunzhou’s question, Gu Suizhou replied earnestly, “It’s just a minor sprain.”

But Lu Yunzhou caught the underlying meaning in Gu Suizhou’s words.

He seemed to have more to say.

Lu Yunzhou frowned and looked over at Gu Suizhou, his eyes deep and black, like thick ink spreading in the night, his gaze cold.

“Your little fiancée—her leg is indeed injured, but it doesn’t seem to be a recent injury.”

Gu Suizhou recalled the anomaly he noticed while examining Shen Chaoxi’s foot and shared it, with nothing to hide between them.

“And her complexion isn’t good. Typically, someone chronically ill would look pale and haggard, but in her case, it’s as if she’s suffered a serious injury, her body still weak from blood loss and not yet recovered.”