Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Sheng Zhaoning woke at dusk.

The sun was sinking in the west, golden light shimmering across the room. A wisp of calming incense burned on the table, its mellow, warm fragrance drifting over-a faint scent of sandalwood.

Sheng Zhaoning opened her eyes. Her back was still aching with a dull, persistent throb.

Lady Lu noticed the movement from the bed at once. She looked up anxiously, and when she saw that Sheng Zhaoning was truly awake, delight filled her face. She hurried forward and asked, “Ning’er, you’re awake! Do you feel unwell anywhere?”

Sheng Zhaoning felt the stiffness in her limbs gradually giving way to warmth. She moved her fingers and said, “No.”

The moment the word left her mouth, even she was startled by how hoarse and weak her voice sounded.

She had not expected that after only two years away from blades and swords, this body would have grown so feeble.

In the past, never mind a beating like this-even if a broadsword had struck her back, she would not have fainted so easily.

She really was becoming more and more useless.

After just a few days of studying books, she had somehow picked up a scholar’s frailty for nothing.

Sheng Zhaoning sighed inwardly.

Seeing that she seemed clear-headed and had not cried out in pain, only lying there quietly without the least trace of delicacy, Lady Lu felt a complexity she could not put into words.

If this had been a girl from an ordinary household, such a brutal beating would likely have taken half her life.

But her child had neither cried nor made a fuss. She had simply gritted her teeth and endured it. Lady Lu did not know whether Sheng Zhaoning had suffered so many grievances that she had long grown used to it, or whether, whenever she had been injured in the past, she had always endured it alone in silence.

After more than ten years lost outside the family, in places Lady Lu had never known, how much hardship had her daughter suffered?

Lady Lu did not dare think about it.

She could not truly understand the suffering Sheng Zhaoning had endured before, nor did she have any way of knowing it.

Sheng Zhaoning was unwilling to speak of it, and Lady Lu did not dare ask.

So, faced with that invisible chasm between them, she could only soften her voice and ask in the gentlest tone, “Are you hungry?”

Sheng Zhaoning slowly raised her eyes.

Warmth from Lady Lu’s palm rested lightly on her shoulder.

She had always disliked being touched by others, yet this time she did not move away. Instead, she looked into Lady Lu’s eyes and, as if possessed, nodded.

“Mm.”

A faint sound escaped through her nose.

…

Lady Lu plunged straight into the kitchen, and before long, she brought over several delicate side dishes.

The rich aroma entered Sheng Zhaoning’s lungs with each breath.

Bracing herself, Sheng Zhaoning sat up and looked over. Translucent grains of white rice rested in a bowl, plump and gleaming. A plate of chilled agar jelly was sweet and crisp; five-spiced goose with cheese sauce and red date soup steamed beside it. Osmanthus syrup had been set out separately, with another plate of osmanthus pastries placed beside it.

Everything on the table was something she usually liked to eat.

Sheng Zhaoning had never told anyone her preferences. Even she herself could not say exactly what she liked.

If one had not observed her carefully, with real attention, it would have been impossible to prepare a table like this.

A warm current rose from deep in her heart. Sheng Zhaoning’s eyes flickered faintly. Enduring the pain in her back, she picked up her chopsticks, lifted the piece of goose that Lady Lu had placed in her bowl, and put it into her mouth.

In an instant, a savory, tender flavor filled her mouth.

Sheng Zhaoning’s brow relaxed, and a hint of pleasure appeared in her expression.

It tasted very good.

Seeing that she liked it, Lady Lu’s heart leaped with joy. She continued placing more food into Sheng Zhaoning’s bowl, chopstick after chopstick, and only barely stopped when the food had piled high on the plate.

Between mother and daughter flowed a warmth they had never shared before. Strange and unfamiliar, it seemed as though an invisible barrier was slowly melting away, transforming into a scorching heat that fell drop by drop upon the heart.

The warmth was shattered by a knock at the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

“First Young Master, are you there?” A soft, clear female voice came from outside.

Lady Lu froze and looked up at the wooden door.

She had already recognized that voice… It was Qiuyue.

In an instant, countless terrifying possibilities flooded her mind. Lady Lu’s fingers twitched with nerves, her lower lip caught between her teeth, and cold sweat began to bead at her temples.

Could it be… there was more punishment to come?

Had they found out Ning’er had left the ancestral hall without permission and come to demand an accounting? Or did they feel the punishment had not been enough and intended to add more?

No matter which it was, Lady Lu could not bear it.

She rose unsteadily to her feet, her gaze fixed on that wooden door. Her eyes, usually as gentle and warm as water, now held a trace of resolve and determination.

“Come in,” Lady Lu said, forcing her voice steady.

No matter what happened, this time she would protect her child! Even if it meant talking back to her mother-in-law and being branded domineering and unfilial, she would not let Ning’er suffer even the slightest bit more.

Qiuyue pushed the door open and walked in slowly.

She passed through the front hall and entered the inner room. Seeing mother and child, one standing and one seated, she seemed not to notice the slightly tense atmosphere. With an easy smile, she said, “First Madam, First Young Master, this servant has come on Old Madam’s orders to check on the young master’s injury. I have also brought a few dishes Old Madam personally instructed the kitchen to prepare.”

As she spoke, she set the food box on the table, her eyes seemingly sweeping over the dishes already laid out there by accident.

The food was light and mild, with sweets on the side.

It happened to match the food in the box perfectly.

Lady Lu had been ready to fight to the bitter end. The fierceness in her eyes had not yet faded, but at those words, her gaze stiffened. The ice and snow within it rapidly melted away, replaced by embarrassment, wariness, and scrutiny.

Her expression turned complicated at once.

“Thank you… Mother,” Lady Lu said, forcing out a smile.

Sheng Zhaoning quietly watched everything before her without speaking or moving.

She watched as Qiuyue took each dish from the food box and set it out. They were all flavors she liked, beautifully prepared and clearly made with care.

Once the dishes were arranged, the table was packed full.

Qiuyue’s gaze fell on the plate of osmanthus pastries, her eyes flickering slightly. She smiled and said, “It seems Old Madam and First Madam had the same thought. Golden osmanthus blooms in the ninth month; this is precisely the best season for it.”

Lady Lu did not understand at first. Only when she saw Qiuyue take a separately placed plate of osmanthus pastries from the second layer of the food box did realization dawn on her.

They had made the same dish.

Qiuyue held the plate of pastries and glanced over the table. There was nowhere left to put it, so she could only keep it in her hands. Looking at Lady Lu and Sheng Zhaoning, she said with a bright smile, “Old Madam made these osmanthus pastries by hand and specially sent them over for the First Young Master to taste.”

Lady Lu was at a loss, awkwardly reaching out to take them.

Her hands immediately felt the weight of the dish.

The fragrance of osmanthus spread through the air.

“Old Madam made them by hand.” Whether that sentence was taken apart and examined piece by piece, or left whole as it was, Lady Lu found it somewhat hard to believe.

What kind of favor did one have to possess for Old Madam Sheng to personally make a plate of pastries, specially send someone to deliver them, and even have the plate still faintly warm in one’s hands?

She must have made them with great patience, placed them alone in the lower layer of the food box, filled the bottom with hot water, and had them carried at a brisk pace all the way from Minghui Hall to the rather remote Guanlan Waterside Pavilion.

It could be said she had put in a great deal of thought.

“In that case, please convey my thanks to Mother-in-law…” Lady Lu said with a stiff smile.