Chapter 62 - Cousin
C62: Cousin
In front of the sixth prince’s Mansion, a mother and a daughter were arguing with the servant.
Their clothes were old and yellow by washing, but they were barely clean.
It was probably a long journey on the road. Both of them looked tired, especially the older one, who seemed to be on the verge of fainting.
Since he had not got the master’s order, so the servant outside the door naturally did not dare to let them in.
No matter what they said or how much of a ruckus they made, they just wouldn’t let them go.
Yan Yu arrived just in time to hear a female voice argue: “We are not frauds!”
The servant were already impatient. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were women, they would have treated them with their fists and legs already. He angrily said, “You’re not a fraud?”
“How could Your Highness have cousins like you from far away? Where did you from, the royal family, nobles, end up like this?”
There were many people at the door, pointing at the mother and daughter. Most of the people had the same opinion as this servant and did not believe their words.
steward Zhao rushed over with Yan Yu. He was worried that the news would spread and cause trouble, so he quickly ordered servants to chase away the crowd.
The mother and the daughter pair immediately quieted down from their excitement and looked at Yan Yu, who was standing behind the steward, without saying a word.
The young girl carefully examined his appearance. From his eyebrows to his eyes, from his nose to his mouth, she didn’t dare to miss a thing.
After a long moment, as if to confirm something from his face, she spoke hesitantly, “Cou…cousin?”
This girl was Ouyang Yi.
Ouyang Yi was tall and slender, with a pair of raised eyebrows that were exactly the same as those she had been when she was young. She carried a sense of heroic spirit.
Perhaps it was due to the sharpening of the edges of life that she no longer had the arrogance and confidence as she had when she was a child. In front of Yan Yu, she actually seemed a little nervous and helpless.
It was not difficult to recognize Yan Yu. He hadn’t changed much. Other than his height rapidly rising up, everything else was almost the same as when he was young.
For example, when his eyes, nose, and mouth were combined together, it was a face that she couldn’t be more familiar with.
That was why Ouyang Yi recognized him as soon as she saw him on the street. She secretly followed him while he rode the horse and saw him walk into the sixth prince’s Mansion with her own eyes.
Ouyang Yi was shocked at first, thinking that she had recognized the wrong person. He just had Li Yu’s look…
However, after inquiring, she found out that the sixth prince was named Yu, and her hope was rekindled.
How could it be so coincidental?
What had happened after he and the uncle and aunt fled?
Ouyang Yi had been observing secretly from outside the door for several days. From every single action and demeanor he took, she felt more and more that he was Li Yu from back then.
After she told it to her mother, Madam Li, Madam Li naturally didn’t believe her and even said that she was too exhausted to think properly.
After the Li family left, their lives weren’t easy. Madam Li rented a small room to do needlework for living. As time passed, Madam Li’s eyes gradually became disabled, so she changed to washing clothes for living.
Even in winter, Madam Li couldn’t rest, and she did washing work for several years. In order to support her daughter, Madam Li’s health became worse and worse.
By the time Madam Li was aware of it, it was already too late. Ouyang Yi went around looking for doctors to treat Madam Li, but none of the doctors were able to cure her. Not willing to give up, she brought Madam Li to the capital to seek treatment.
There were many experts in capital. There might be a doctor in the capital who could cure her mother’s illness.
They had been living frugally all the way to the capital, but they met Yan Yu before they could find a famous doctor.
Only after Ouyang Yi described Yan Yu’s appearance to Madam Li did she follow her to check it. After taking a look, she was stunned.
Yan Yu’s gaze swept over them. He didn’t recognize them at first, but when Ouyang Yi called him cousin, he recalled.
His expression was stunned and he did not say anything for a long time.
The steward was unable to figure out his attitude, so he turned his head to instruct the servants, “What are you waiting for?”
“Get rid of this mother and this daughter!”
Ouyang Yi staggered a few steps after being pushed. She reached out her hand to grab the corner of Yan Yu’s clothes. “Cousin, don’t you know me?”
“I’m Ah Yi!”
She did not know why he had become the sixth prince. She only knew that she was his cousin, no matter how many years had passed.
On the other side, Madam Li was caught off guard and was pushed to the ground, her body knocking against the stone steps. Her body was already in a bad condition, and after this collision, she lied on the ground and didn’t get up for quite a while.
Ouyang Yi hurriedly went up to support her and nervously called out “Mother!” several times.
Madam Li bent over and coughed a few times. She, who was only in her thirties, looked like a terminally ill old woman. The corners of her eyes were covered with fine lines.
She looked at Yan Yu, opened her mouth, and exclaimed with mixed feelings, “Yu’er …”
Then, she tilted her head and fainted in Ouyang Yi’s arms.
When the servant maids served ginger jujube and sugar water, Xie Zhen was sitting on the side of the bed, touching her stomach thoughtfully.
As for the biddy’s words, she felt very magical, bleeding can make her give birth to a child?
She didn’t understand these things, and it wasn’t good for biddy to explain it to her in detail. After all, there was a difference in status, so she had to find an opportunity to ask her mother.
She drank the brown sugar water and lay for a while, feeling better.
The main courtyard was called Zhanyue Court. Because it was the first courtyard in the backyard, any movement from outside could be heard from this side.
She lay in bed, drowsy, but the outside was in a mess.
Yan Yu had Madam Li sent to Pavilion Changqing in the back of Zhanyue Court and asked the doctor to diagnose her.
The steward hurriedly gave the order. Before long, a servant invited an old doctor.
After the doctor had diagnosed Madam Li, he said seriously, “Her body is cold and her heart and lungs are failing. It is because she have been working hard all year round, and it is not possible to recuperate in a short time.”
“Madam’s illness has dragged on for too long, so it probably won’t be easy to treat.”
When Ouyang Yi heard this, she immediately threw herself at Madam Li’s bedside and cried out loud. “Mother …”
Yan Yu frowned and asked carefully, “Will she be cured?”
The doctor thought for a long time before shaking his head. “I can only do my best. Whether she can be cured or not will depend on her luck.”
Then he sat down by the side of the table and wrote his prescription. There were several medicines listed on it, and he asked them to send someone to fetch them with him.
The steward paid the doctor and followed him out of the room.
Ouyang Yi was still crying. Madam Li had just woken up and heard the doctor’s words. She let out a long sigh.
Many doctors in Qing Zhou said that she wouldn’t live for long. However, Ouyang Yi didn’t want to believe it and insisted on bringing her to capital.
Now that she was in the capital, and she got the same result.
She propped herself up and patted Ouyang Yi on the back. “Stop crying. Let your cousin see you as a joke …”
Ouyang Yi stood up and wiped her tears. She turned to look at Yan Yu behind her and said, “Cousin, I beg you to cure my mother …”
Yan Yu lowered his head, his expression unreadable. When she heard Ouyang Yi’s words, he only slightly nodded and didn’t say anything.
He could not tell how he felt, it was subtle, he thought he had no family in the world, but he had an aunt and a cousin.
He was always indifferent to relationships, and after so many years, he couldn’t feel any feelings for them. But since the relationship between them was still there, he had no choice but to admit that they were his family members.
Although Madame Song and Li Xiqing weren’t his birth parents, in his heart, they were better than his birth parents.
The Li family was the only true home for him. Living in his home was life, while living in the Imperial Palace was just for survival.
The difference was like heaven and earth.
Yan Yu arranged for two servant maids, Liu Lan and Xiang Lan, to take care of their living quarters.
Not long after, the servants brought the medicinal herbs, Liu Lan boiled the medicinal herbs and serve it to Madam Li.
The servant maids advised Madam Li to get some sleep, but Madam Li looked at Yan Yu with a worried expression. “Ah Yi and I have suffered a lot. If Yu’er feels sorry for us, then let us stay here for a while …”
Yan Yu looked at the white hair at her temples, as well as the wrinkles on her forehead, and nodded.
“Aunt, go to sleep first. Take care of your body.”
With that, he walked out of the room and stood for a while in the porch, preparing to head towards Zhanyue Court.
Ouyang Yi hurried out of the room and caught up with him. “Cousin!”
He stopped and turned his head to ask, “Is there anything else?”
Ouyang Yi felt that he was even more difficult to get close to than when he was young. Even though he wasn’t very enthusiastic when he was young, he would at least have a different expression on his face.
Right now, whether it was his eyes or his tone, there was a sense of alienation and indifference in them.
Ouyang Yi stopped and looked around before probing him. “Are you really sixth prince?”
His thin lips were slightly pursed. He didn’t like being asked this question.
When Ouyang Yi saw that he did not reply, she thought he was being difficult to answer. She stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve. “Why are you the sixth prince?”
Where are uncle and aunt?
Where are they?
“Where did you guys go all those years ago …?”
Yan Yu took half a step back, pulled up his sleeve and said in a low voice, “Let go.”
She was filled with confusion and didn’t even listen to his words. He stepped back and she kept following him. As she spoke, she felt wronged. “When you two left that year, me and my mother lived by each other’s lives. The money uncle gave us was stolen, so my mother went to do needlework and wash clothes …”
The more she spoke, the more hurt she became. She went from sobbing to wailing, clinging to Yan Yu’s sleeve and refusing to let go.
“We finally arrived at the capital. I didn’t expect to meet you again …”
Yan Yu frowned. He was annoyed by her crying.
A hour later, Xie Zhen finally woke up.
The pain in her stomach eased a lot. When she sat up and looked around, she realized that something was wrong.
When Yan Yu left earlier, he didn’t say where he was going. Why didn’t he come back after so long?
Looking at the servant maids in the room, they all seemed like they wanted to say something, but didn’t dare to.
When Xie Zhen saw it, she called to Tan Mei. “What’s going on in the mansion?”
Tan Mei scrunched up, she didn’t know how to say.
They had also heard that the sixth prince had brought a pair of mother and daughter back and settled them in the Pavilion Changqing.
They hadn’t figured out what to say to Xie Zhen, and she asked first.
Tan Mei mumbled under Xie Zhen’s gaze, “His Highness just brought back a woman and a girl …”
They didn’t know what was going on. They only knew that the sixth prince had called a doctor and seemed to be very nervous.”
After listening to this, Xie Zhen blinked her dark eyes. After a while, she asked, “Live in Pavilion Changqing?”
Tan Mei nodded, and her forehead was covered in sweat.
She made a “oh” sound. Tan Mei put on her shoes. “Then let’s take a look.”
Tan Mei bent down to put on her Huzhu shoes. She was worried that she would catch a cold, so she put on another satin embroidered flowery bird tattoo cloak, then led her out.
The other servant maids followed behind her without saying anything. It was probably due to Shang Yu’s warning that no one was allowed to blabber in front of Xie Zhen.
All the way to the Pavilion Changqing, the newly built mansion was brand-new and clean. There were no signs of it being dilapidated.
Even though there were only a few servants. There were two servant maids in the yard who had just been transferred over by Yan Yu. They were all waiting on him in the house.
As a result, the prince’s wife had come, and there wasn’t even a servant that could communicate with him.
Xie Zhen came up the steps into the yard, and before he had taken two steps, he saw the two persons standing face to face under the porch.
Yan Yu had his back facing her. He was facing a young girl, so she couldn’t see her face clearly.
Her clothes were a little worn, not like those of a big family girl, and she sounded like she was crying, clutching Yan Yu’s sleeve with one hand, crying and calling him “Cousin.”