The Way of Favors: Chapter 2

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Still a little unconscious, Fu Rong heard an anxious shout.

Why are they shouting?

How could anyone be so bold to shout when the emperor is in the Peony Courtyard?

The words Peony Courtyard dived into her mind as if some dazzling light had just cut through the darkness, and scenes from the past poured in.

Su Prince Xu Jin died in battle, the crown prince killed his younger brother to try to rebel, and the seventh uncle prince Prince An had survived. The previous emperor got a severe illness and gave the throne to Prince An.

He gave the throne to Prince An.

Yes, that seventh uncle prince who had never taken a wife was the new ruler, and both her father and brother were promoted. The Fu family was favored, so she was able to leave the empty Prince Su manor and return to her family. She was only twenty-one, with her beauty known by all the people of the nation. When she heard that the emperor was going to the Peony Courtyard, she used the power of her brother’s guard to get into the courtyard, wanting to earn herself another chance, but just as she was about to accomplish what she wanted, she was pushed into the lake…..

The ice-cold water poured into her throat, making her so uncomfortable that she was unable to breathe.

She was still young, she didn’t want to die……

With an “ah”, the girl who was wearing a long robe embroidered with red flowers suddenly spewed out a mouthful of water, then started coughing and couldn’t stop.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Third Lady is fine!” Shouted the nanny, who was drenched in water, happily. There were three ladies in the manor. Second Lady was gentle and dignified while Sixth Lady was knowledgeable, but only this Third Lady was spoiled unscrupulously by the master and madam. She had secretly slipped to the lakeside to play when the maids weren’t looking and was fortunately seen by her and saved in time.

“Nong Nong!” The voice that called her pet name was soft yet rigid and familiar, but also seemed to be extremely far away. Fu Rong raised her head to see a young woman wearing a green dress running towards her, her face frantic. A bunch of maids trailed behind her.

Tears rolled down Fu Rong’s cheeks.

So is she dead? She even sees her older sister now?

She could even reunite with her sister, so it was okay to be dead……

She looked eagerly at the older sister that was getting closer and closer, then felt her body weaken, and fell to the ground.

~

“Father, you should go to the government office as usual. Mother, younger brother is unable to leave you during the night. And Xuan Xuan, you’re still young, so you guys should go back first. Older brother and I will stay here with Nong Nong, and we’ll send people over if we have anything urgent.” Fu Wan persuaded again through the buzzes of the insects.

“I’m not leaving.” The nine-year-old Fu Xuan sat on the bedside, her face tight and her eyebrows frowning, looking very serious.

Fu Pinyan looked at his youngest daughter, then at his wife who was looking at the girl on the bed worriedly, sighed, and said, “Your Sister Wan is correct. Su Nanny, take Lady Xuan back first. Your bodies are weak, and you guys better not get sick before Nong Nong hasn’t recovered yet. There is not much going on in the government office, so I’ll stay here to accompany Nong Nong, and you guys need not worry about me.”

Although Wife Shi was worried about her daughter, there was still a boy less than a year of age in the main room that she needed to take care of, so she nodded her head and stretched out her hand to Fu Xuan, “Fu Xuan is obedient, you may come over again tomorrow morning to see your third older sister.”

“I’m not leaving.” Fu Xuan, who normally hated crying, lowered her head and started to cry. She lied on the bed, refusing to leave and wanting to protect her third older sister.

“The main hall, go escort your mother and younger sister.” Fu Pinyan frowned.

As soon as her father talked, Fu Chen walked forward and picked up her youngest sister, comforting her as she walked out, “Xuan Xuan is obedient, your third older sister is fine. If you continue to cry, she might laugh at you tomorrow morning when she hears of it. Don’t you hate it the most when she bullies you?”

The clear and gentle voice of youth gradually disappeared into the monk’s chanting.

Fu Rong, who was lying on the bed so that she faced the wall, wiped her eyes with the corner of the quilt.

Was she dreaming? How could a dream seem so real?

This wasn’t a dream, right? She pinched herself continuously, and it really hurt.

But if this wasn’t a dream, how has she become thirteen again?

Reincarnation after her death?

She wanted to tell her father and mother all about this but was interrupted by her father as soon as she started talking by him saying in a strong voice that she was not to talk nonsense. She shook her head to explain to them, but her mother comforted her as she was hugged, saying that those were just dreams she had when she was unconscious and that they were all fake. Fu Rong didn’t believe her, as those were not nightmares and the dreams she was having now were not necessarily good dreams. They were all realistic ones, so the father who pampered her like a gem blocked her from saying anything else by putting a handkerchief into her mouth, suspecting that she had encountered something dirty when she fell into the water. So he had invited the doctor to calm her spirit, as well as invite the monks of Bamboo Forest Temple to do some magic in the courtyard.

The night was long and slow, and she didn’t want to sleep at all. Hearing the low and clear voices of her father and older brothers and sisters before she died, feeling the worry in their tone and recalling the horror in their eyes when she said those words to them, Fu Rong closed her eyes.

Reincarnating after her death. She even thought of it as absurd, so it was no wonder that her family wouldn’t believe her.

Forget it, whether the thirteen-year-old her made a hyper-realistic nightmare that was slow and long or she reincarnated after dying when she was twenty-one would be known if she continued down the path and if the things that will happen in the future match up with her memory, then that means……

Wait, if this was not a nightmare, then……

She would get chickenpox seven or eight days later, and the doctor will persuade her to go to the mansion to recuperate and to prevent it from being passed onto her family members. Fu Rong was accompanied by the nursing mother and stayed there for about a month until she recovered, and was shocked to hear when she returned home that on the night that she had gone to the mansion, her younger brother had died from an illness. Her parents worried that she would think too much and kept it from her.

Her younger brother who likes to grab her fingers!

Fu Rong sat up, her face covered with sweat.

“What’s wrong with Nong Nong?” Fu Pinyan ran over with arrow speed, looking at her as he held her shoulder.

“Daddy!”

Fu Rong fell into her father’s embrace, crying miserably, “I……had a nightmare, in the water, no one was saving me.”

The worried father blocked her mouth again. Fu Rong changed what she was going to say, and didn’t talk about her younger brother.

Fu Pinyan was so heartbroken. Out of his three daughters and two sons, she was the only one who always followed him. She was beautiful and intricate and cute, and no matter how much he didn’t want to favor one over the others, he still did. Her requirements, like soft foams and hot baths, were also never rejected upon and were not at all like the troubles that had happened today.

“Don’t be afraid, daddy is here, as well as your older brothers and sisters. There’s no need for Nong Nong to be afraid.” Fu Pinyan coaxed as he set his chin onto the top of her head and patted her shoulder.

Fu Rong couldn’t stop crying. She cried out her worries from her dream-like memories, stopping right when the drum was hit three times.

“Daddy, don’t scold me, I won’t be naughty in the future.” She said gloomily as she finished crying and buried her head in front of her father’s chest. 

The little girl had cried so much that her voice had become hoarse, but had a plan to beg for mercy inside them. Fu Pinyan lifted his eyebrows, held his daughter’s shoulder tightly, and seeing that her eyes were avoiding his, as they would always do when she was making trouble, said coldly, “How many times have you said these words?”

“Eighty to a hundred times a year.” The teen nearby added to the troubles.

Fu Rong glared at her older brother Fu Chen, then started whining as she pulled at the jade pendant on Fu Pinyan’s waist, “Daddy, I’m already like this, do you bear to punish me? Or could you wait until I recover to punish me?”

His daughter was back to normal and not saying any nonsense anymore, so Fu Pinyan heaved a long sigh of relief. He was so happy, so how could he punish her? He only had his daughter lie back onto the bed, then covered the quilt for her, but was afraid that she would not be able to learn a lesson from how he was favoring her, so he deliberately asked how she was feeling with a cold face.

“Don’t worry, daddy. I’m fine.” Fu Rong stretched out her hand to grab her older sister’s, who was at the bedside, then said to her father and older brother, “It’s already so late, so father and older brother should go back now. I’ll be fine with older sister.” She had been shocked, and she only wanted to drive away her family members, even if they wouldn’t listen to her.

But Fu Rong wasn’t really worried about her older sister.

The doctor had said before that for children under ten years of age, the disease could be transmitted easily two days before the rash appears. It isn’t a big deal if you get the illness, but younger children are more at risk and need to be looked after more carefully. In the dream, let’s just have it as a dream, for now, there was still some time before she developed the rash, and nothing happened to her older sister even if she had accompanied her for three consecutive nights. But her younger brother strangely contracted the illness. Fu Rong had never touched anyone with chickenpox, so when the rash first started appearing, she didn’t know that she had gotten the illness and would hug her younger brother everyday……

She clutched the quilt tightly in the darkness, forcing herself to stop thinking about this. There is no use in regretting. What was important was what was happening now, the present.

Her face was a little pale, but she was pretty energized. Fu Pinyan wasn’t worried anymore, so he gave her a few gentle words, then left with his eldest son. Before he left, Fu Chen turned to Fu Rong and pretended that he was writing, his wide smile showing his white teeth. 

This was telling her that father would definitely punish her by making her copy the text in books, so she shouldn’t be proud too soon.

If it was in the past, Fu Rong would definitely angrily throw a pillow at him, but that was her older brother, the older brother that would protect her no matter what. Seeing that her older brother was still young and naughty, Fu Rong only thought it fun and interesting, and couldn’t believe that her older brother would become the leader of the guards who was as cold as iron.

“Your brother’s just joking with you, ignore him.” Afraid that her younger sister would get angry, Fu Wan purposely sat farther away, blocking Fu Chen’s shadow.

Fu Rong looked at her older sister, who was as beautiful as a peony in April. She said nothing and just hugged her as if she was about to whine.

If she develops the rash, then everything would be real. It’s okay if her father and mother don’t believe her, but she would protect her older sister and younger brother at all costs. She would prevent her younger brother from dying, stop her older sister from marrying that bastard Qi Ce. She wouldn’t be careless.

Fu Wan thought that her younger sister was afraid, so she smiled and said, “It’s okay. Sleep and forget about those nightmares. Daddy won’t bear to punish you.”

“Ok, older sister should also get in, let’s sleep together.” Fu Rong said as she pulled on her sister’s hand.

“Wait, I’ll go get some water to clean your face. You’ve been crying for such a long time that your eyes will swell to the size of peaches tomorrow morning.” Fu Wan teased her.

Fu Rong didn’t want her sister to leave, so she pouted, “You can just have Mei Xiang and Lan Xiang go.” They were both her maids.

Fu Wan looked at her, then said calmly, “They didn’t take good care of you, so were both flogged ten times. Younger sister, if you want to do good for them, then learn to be good.” Comforting was needed when one was shocked, but teaching and warning couldn’t be forgotten.

Fu Rong obediently bowed her head.

How could she forget that even if her father and mother doted on them, they never left any mercy for anyone else? 

Seeing that she understood, Fu Wan stood up and ordered her maid Bai Zhi to go get some hot water.

Was it Bai Zhi?

Fu Rong looked down, a sneer visible on the corners of her mouth. Don’t be afraid, take your time. I will take care of whoever needs to be taken care of.

After washing her face, the two sisters turned off the lights and slept.

On the second morning, Fu Pinyan and his wife raced over to check on their daughter right when they woke up while the monks in the courtyard were still chanting.

Fu Rong had already woken up for a long time and was coughing nonstop. Seeing her father and mother, Fu Rong complained as her eyes started watering, “My head hurts, daddy, go, go drive out those people. They were so noisy that I couldn’t sleep. Now, sigh……their buzzing is making me uncomfortable.”

She caught a cold from falling into the water and it originally was easier to contract an illness, but since his daughter’s conscience was now clear, they naturally didn’t have to exorcise evil. So he immediately ordered the housekeeper to send the monks away politely, then requested for the family doctor, Doctor Li.

Fu Rong was faking her illness and Doctor Li didn’t see much. Seeing the little girl secretly blinking her eyes at him, he understood and prescribed a medicine to cure colds and coughs. Fu Pinyan was born into a noble family, had much experience with governing, and had been promoted to governor of Jizhou, so he didn’t dare prescribe fake medicine. Anyway, the little girl knew that she was not sick, so she wouldn’t drink the medicine.

After Doctor Li left, Fu Rong told the family members around her, “Little Guan is still young, so before I recover, do not bring him over to see me, mother. And you guys, you must clean up well after you leave here and change your clothing before you go see Little Guan to prevent the air from being filled with germs. I’ll say the ugly words first. I like Little Guan the best, so if anyone doesn’t listen to me and causes him to get sick, I’ll, I’ll ignore him for a month!” She could only protect her younger brother like this before she thinks of something to help her move to the mansion quicker.

“Only a month?” Fu Chen was not very satisfied with the time.

Fu Rong bulged her cheeks and stared at him ferociously, “Will you listen? Mother, if older brother doesn’t change his clothes then don’t let me hold younger brother!”

Wife Qiao smiled as she touched her daughter’s red face, “Okay, I know you take good care of your brother. Don’t worry, we’ll all listen to you. Don’t worry about Little Guan, you should first worry about recovering.”

“Mother, don’t deceive me. You must take good care of Little Guan.” Fu Rong whined and hugged her mother, her big misty eyes full of pleading.

“Don’t deceive, when has mother ever deceived you?” Wife Qiao softened even more by the look her dear daughter was giving her, and guaranteed again and again.

Fu Rong was relieved now.

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