Preface

  "I told you it was going to be hot, and the school over there has already stopped classes. But no, Master had to insist on sending him to school anyway. Now it's the hottest part of the day, even the sun can't bear it outside, let alone Yuan'er's fragile body which has been weak since childhood!" The woman said with a hint of resentment.

  "I'm also helpless, the old lady spoils him too much. Whose child enters school at six or seven years old? Tong'er is already over seven years old and still hangs out in the inner courtyard every day. If we don't discipline him strictly, what will he become when he grows up?" The middle-aged man's voice.

  Li Yong lay on the bed, listening dazedly, feeling his whole body soft and sour, wanting to open his eyes, but his eyelids were as heavy as a thousand catties. After using half a day's strength, he finally opened them a little bit. Looking along the seam of his eyes, his heart was already in turmoil.

  The first thing that caught my eye was the brown carved beam, and when I turned my head slightly, the whole room was filled with an ancient aroma, even more so than the furniture on display at the Red Wood Museum. A woman dressed in light blue satin sat on a small stool by the bed, her head bowed and sobbing, her facial features indistinct, only the pearls on her head moving slightly; not far away, a person stood with their back to me, wearing a long gown, and that shiny black thing hanging down their back was none other than a queue.

  This is not Li Yong's first time seeing this kind of braid, all the Qing dynasty dramas on TV are performed like this, how could he not recognize it? The difference is that the mainland historical drama has a greenish-blue forehead for the braided head, while Hong Kong and Taiwan dramas can also have a parting in the hair or dye the hair.

  Rightly thinking, but heard a voice. "Chang Fang only has one grandson, and the old lady's favoritism is also common, let alone Yuanyuan is an understanding child!" The woman wiped away her tears while defending herself, so she didn't notice anything unusual about the little person on the bed.

  "Ah, isn't the doctor done examining him? It's just heatstroke, he'll be fine after a couple of days! The problem is how to keep it from Old Lady, so she won't worry. She's almost seventy years old!" The man behind him raised his hand and patted his head, sighing.

  Li Yong became even more confused, both a son and a grandson, what's going on? Just as he was thinking about it, he heard a cold hum from outside the house: "You've driven my precious grandson to this state, now you're coming to pretend to be a filial son, do you think my wife is blind and deaf?" Along with the voice, a slightly wealthy-looking old woman walked in surrounded by maids.

  She was wearing a long gown with wide sleeves, embroidered with plum blossoms and golden longevity characters on a blue-green background. Over it, she wore a jacket with cloud and crane patterns, made of blue satin. Her white hair was combed into a bun at the back of her head, and only two jade hairpins in the shape of plum blossoms adorned her hair. The two people inside the house quickly stood up to greet her, repeatedly calling out: "Old Madam!"

  The old woman's face was frosty, and she didn't even bother to tidy herself up. She strode straight over to the bed, her maid trailing behind her with a curtsy, saying: "Greetings, sir! Greetings, madam!"

  The old man waved his hand and shooed them away. The young woman, who was called "Madam", followed the old woman, wanting to support her, but the old woman stopped in her tracks, looked at Madam, and said sternly: "When it comes to being a father, he's too indulgent, and when it comes to being a mother, she's too overcautious! Men are careless, and women don't know how to be more careful. A good child like this has been made to suffer so much!" She pointed at the ice basin in the corner of the room: "And still no one has taken it away, Ruan'er's body is weak, even after the heat has passed, she can't use ice directly!"

  The lady's eyes were red-rimmed, and she ordered the ice basin to be removed. The old woman gave the old man a sideways glance before turning around to come to the bedside, where she saw that the child had woken up, his face no longer pale, but full of loving kindness.

  Li Yong looked at the old woman, this was the "old lady" that the two people mentioned, inexplicably, unknowingly, he felt a few more points of closeness in his heart, and his facial expression also softened unconsciously.

  He was already being held in the old woman's arms, with joyful tears in her voice: "Good grandson, it's good that you're awake, let's go to grandma's place to rest, I won't be at peace if you stay in this courtyard!"

  Li Yong's whole body trembled. What was going on? Could it be that the "son" and "grandson" they were talking about was actually himself? His mind suddenly cleared up a lot.

  Not just Li Yong was frightened, but also the old woman.

  Seeing her grandson's eyes wide with fear, his face pale, and none of the usual cleverness, she felt a pang in her heart. She followed her grandson's gaze to see the old man standing there, thinking that he was scaring her grandson because he was being too strict on his son. Suddenly annoyed, she scolded: "What are you doing standing there? Can't you hurry up and leave? Are you trying to scare my grandson to death?"

  Li Yong on this side only felt a splitting headache, raised his hand to rub his temples, but was startled by the slender little arm. Before he could think more, he felt a blackness in front of his eyes and fainted.