The protagonist chased the villain, and Tiandao screamed in anger

(Evil Ghost x Sickly Young Master)

In front of the shadow of the octagonal window frame, the weeping crabapples outside the corridor were soaked in the dense rain. They had not yet bloomed, and the rose-pink buds were sleeping in clusters, swaying from time to time in the wind.

Beside the crabapple tree, a few emerald green lotus leaves in the emerald green lake received the heaven-sent rain, which fell into tiny pearls. Then they gathered together and fell back into the lake along the slope supported by the green leaves, forming flower buds.

A thin and pale hand stretched out from the Eight-Angled Immortal Lotus Pavilion leaning against the lake. The fingertips touched the lotus that was about to bloom, and the backhand caught the slightly cold rain water.

The gauze curtains beside the pavilion moved without wind, sweeping across the pale, bony wrists like the moving hem of a skirt.

"I know, cough cough...it's okay, just some rain." The person who was speaking was interrupted by coughing, his voice was hoarse, and he spoke in fragments.

He withdrew his hand, picked up the handkerchief in his sleeve and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

His eyes fell on the pavilion which was clearly empty except for himself, and he spoke to a corner of it: "Thank you, I feel much better now."

No one answered in the pavilion, and he stopped talking too. He sat upright on the bench beside the pavilion, continuing to listen to the melody of rain hitting the sparse lotus leaves.

After a while, a maid in an orange-pink dress came hurriedly from the long corridor in the distance. When she ran to the outside of the pavilion, she stopped and bowed to the person sitting inside. She said in a hurry: "Master, the lady...she wants you to come over now."

The maid had a worried look on her face, obviously knowing that this journey would not be safe.

"Zhu Huan, Madam... cough... did she say... anything?" The young master in the pavilion, who was dressed in a light-colored long gown, could not hide his cough while speaking, and it was quite difficult for him to ask this question.

Zhu Huan twisted her handkerchief in her palm, bowed and walked a few steps closer. After looking around, she lowered her voice, but was indignant: "The two big maids in Furong Courtyard were lazy and talked together. I didn't dare to get too close, so I only heard a few words from a distance. It seemed to be something..."

"...getting married, bringing good luck, etc..."

The maid Zhu Huan only heard a few words, and was not sure about what she said. Although she was uneducated, she felt that the idea of ​​bringing good luck to a man was too superstitious, and judging from the behavior of the stepmother in Furong Courtyard, it was not a good thing to think about it.

Upon hearing this, the eldest young master looked calm and showed no emotion. He just propped himself up and walked out.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter, anyway... you'll know when you get there."

"Yes"

After the maid bowed, she fell behind the young master, and the figures one in front and one behind gradually disappeared at the corner of the corridor.

The mist and rain were still falling. A breeze blew by, rolling up the green gauze beside the pavilion. In the haziness, a figure in red seemed to flash by the side of the stone table.

Looking again, there was nothingness.

……

In the main hall of Furong Courtyard, a kind-hearted lady with pearls and jade on her head and a gentle face was sitting on a carved sandalwood chair with a cushion on it, sipping a cup of tea. When she heard footsteps approaching from afar, the corners of her lips instantly raised.

"Yu'er is here, come and sit down!"

"How can this maid do her job? In such rain, she didn't even think of buying clothes for the young master? She deserves to be beaten and sold off. Let's see who dares to treat my son like this in the future!"

When Mrs. Xiao saw Xiao Yu coming over, she stopped drinking the tea in her hand, stood up to greet him, pulled her stepson aside to ask him carefully, then turned around and scolded Zhu Huan who followed her.

Zhu Huan was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a thump on the cold, hard brick floor. The sound of his kneecaps hitting the bricks was extremely clear in the spacious main hall.

"Madam, please forgive me! Madam, please forgive me!" Zhu Huan was afraid of being executed and sold out, so he immediately kowtowed and begged for mercy.

"It's my fault for wanting to be cool. My mother is kind and she doesn't have the heart to blame the servants. Ahem, I remember the calming tea in Qingxiyuan is not ready yet, go and check it out."

Xiao Yu rescued the maid and found a reason to send her away.

"Yes, young master." Upon hearing that, Zhu Huan stood up quickly and did not dare to stay any longer. He held his breath until he ran out of Furong Courtyard before relaxing.

She looked at the exquisitely carved gate of Furong Courtyard. Although she was worried about the young master, she did not dare to step in again. After hesitating for a while, she turned back to Qingxi Courtyard.

Outside the diamond-lattice window frame, the hibiscus flowers that have been carefully cared for in the yard are growing well. The flower heads are large and full, like peonies, and the varying shades of pink appear even more delicate under the nourishment of the rain.

Xiao Yu retracted his gaze and listened to the greetings from the hostess, Madam Lin, responding in a low voice from time to time, and coughing twice at just the right time.

In the end, Mrs. Xiao put in enough effort to appear nice and finally got to the point of calling Xiao Yu over.

"Yu'er, your illness is the result of years of illness. You have been to many clinics and doctors for so many years, but there has been no improvement... Although you did not come out of my belly, you and I have been mother and son for many years."

"I have long regarded you as my own flesh and blood. Seeing you spitting blood day after day, I feel like a piece of flesh has been cut out of my heart."

The more she spoke, the sadder she became. Madam Xiao choked up and burst into tears. She covered her face with a handkerchief and cried. She seemed even more worried and distressed than Xiao Yu, the sick principal.

Xiao Yu coughed twice, and a flash of blood appeared on the handkerchief. His face was as white as paper, and there were a few drops of blood between his lips.

"Don't worry, mother... my son... cough... takes medicine every day, so there's no need to worry about this."

"Oh, dear child, stop talking." Madam Xiao stopped crying, put the handkerchief aside, and called the maid waiting outside the door to come in, "Wanxiang, quickly pour a cup of soothing tea for the young master!"

"Yes"

The maid in blue bowed and entered, lowered her head and served Xiao Yu a cup of tea, then quietly and carefully left.

"Yu'er, in the past, your affairs were mostly taken care of by the master, but now, your father is also ill, and everything in this house has fallen on my shoulders..."

"Mother's hard work"

Mrs. Xiao lowered her brows and sighed at the difficulty of managing a household. She waved her hand and turned the topic to Xiao Yu.

"These chores are my responsibility, so I won't mention them. But as a mother, I can't bear to watch my child suffer from illness. I still have to take care of you."

"A few days ago, I went to the Taoist temple with the wives of the Sun and Yang families in the city to burn incense and pray for blessings. On the way, I met an old Taoist priest with a limp. This man was really strange. He could tell my son's illness at a glance without any evidence..."

"…After careful questioning, the old Taoist priest came up with a feasible method. Yu'er, why not give it a try?"

Mrs. Xiao became more and more excited as she spoke. She was obviously very happy about this opportunity and unexpected news. She looked at Xiao Yu with a bright smile.

Xiao Yu knew that this was not a good idea, but he couldn't offend the other party in public. His stepmother was good at superficial work. If he said something inappropriate, he would definitely be known as a disobedient elder and unfilial mother the next day.

"What method? Ahem... mother, you can tell me."

"Speaking of which, my son is already 22 years old. If he were in another family, he would have had both a son and a daughter. But in Yu'er's room, there is not even a maid..."

"Mother thought, why don't we try out what the old Taoist said and find a girl with a compatible horoscope for my son and bring her into the house to celebrate the occasion? Who knows, Yu'er's illness might be cured!"