CH 5.3

By the lotus pond, the twilight was murky, and dim light fell into the pavilion.

Shan Xing gathered the scrolls on the table and put them in the bookcase. Lin Bozhou persisted in reading and diligently did it for over 20 years. However, he couldn’t use his eyes when his eye disease recurred, so he just listened to the contents of the books read by Shan Xing and some other Qingke.

When today’s book was finished, Shan Xing said, “Your Majesty, it’s time to eat.”

Lin Bozhou took off the veil covering his eyes and said, “Mm. Call the imperial physician again tonight.

“Yes.”

When Shan Xing turned back to go, a maid hurriedly came ahead.

Lin Bozhou recognized her as Meng Huan’s person and asked, “What?”

The maid knelt and wailed. “Your Highness, please do something. Our m-madam cried from being scolded by Nanny Xu and Sister Xu!”

“…………”

–

All the way over to the courtyard where Meng Huan lived.

Shoes stepped on the slab. Shan Xing secretly looked at the prince regent beside him, who did not say a word, and his mood was very complicated.

According to his previous understanding of the prince, his residence had too many female and male servants. They often had conflicts and quarrels. Sometimes, when it was too intense, some would even jump into the well after being scolded for having an affair, but he would never get involved.

His energy was spent in the court, the large clan, and the cabinet of six ministries and thirteen provinces. He had to care for ordinary people and deal with political opponents. He had already exhausted his thoughts, making him often have headaches and sleepless nights, and his eye diseases would recur sometimes.

But when Lin Bozhou heard the report this time, he unexpectedly stood up. “Where?”

The footsteps piled up outside the courtyard door. Meng Huan hung his head low, staying motionless like a small mushroom. And beside him, Nanny Xu looked embarrassed and said something with some impatience vaguely shown between her brows.

But the moment she saw Lin Bozhou, she knelt before Meng Huan, changing face faster than flipping a book’s page, and her voice was miserable. “Madam, it was this servant’s fault. This servant has spoken out of turn. Begging Madam to calm down. Begging Madam to calm down…… “

She panicked.

She had been a housekeeper nanny in the prince regent’s residence for six years. She had always considered herself the female master of the residence, single-handedly handling the internal affairs. She did not expect to alarm the prince after saying a few words to the little concubine and did not expect the prince to come.

Xu Fanggu looked at her mother in astonishment and said, “Mother, he’s only a concubine. You are the housekeeper’s nanny. Why do you have to kneel?”

Lin Bozhou appeared in sight of everyone.

“……”

Xu Fanggu also knelt with a poof.

Meng Huan lowered his head, tears in the corners of his eyes, and his mind was at a loss.

He cried simply because he felt it was a bit hard. To transmigrate into a book of unfamiliar places without friends or family, someone would control and sneer at him whenever he did anything. He was also looked down upon as a concubine. He just felt that he was useless and wanted to cry from the hardship.

Nanny Xu also consoled him. “Madam, why are you crying? Madam, you can speak if you have something to say. Madam really has a soft temper. This servant can be beaten or scolded but can’t see Madam cry. If you are angry, why don’t you hit me?”

Meng Huan: Ah, yes, yes, I am a waste. I can only cry.

Explicitly or implicitly, wasn’t it saying he was mentally weak and would cry after being scolded for a few words?

What? You’re allowed to reprimand me, but I can’t cry?

Meng Huan was also strangely speechless. He initially wanted to wait for the emotions to settle quietly, but there was suddenly a clatter of kneeling before him.

He raised his eyes and saw Lin Bozhou a few steps away. It was close to evening, and the dim light of the night burned all the way from behind him, staining the forest and the eaves into a dim haze. His tall figure stood in the shadows, eyes downcast, and darkly looking at him.

“……”

Who invited him here? Meng Huan dried his tears straight away.

But the rims of his eyes were still red, the tip of his nose was also a little red, and his eyelashes were still stained wet. The fragile look remained, and the corners of his red lips were slightly curled down.

Lin Bozhou sat down in the pavilion. “What’s going on?”

The air was filled with an indescribable sense of fear and oppression, especially with Lin Bozhou sitting expressionless there, making several participants have cold sweats and trembling legs.

Nanny Xu told the whole story.

Lin Bozhou raised his eyes and said one word. “Hit.”

Nanny Xu’s hands trembled as she walked over to her daughter, lifted her by her clothes, and slapped her hard on the mouth.

“Slap!”

She hit hard, making everyone on the left and right shocked. Soon, a red mark appeared around her mouth, and her hair bun was immediately crooked, but Nanny Xu did not stop and raised her hand for another slap.

Lin Bozhou said two more words. “Go down.”

Nanny Xu hurriedly nodded, looked at her daughter with distress, and said with tears, “Thank you for Your Highness’ kindness. Thank you for Your Highness’ kindness.”

The people in the pavilion dispersed, leaving only Meng Huan in a bit of panic.

He was scared to death.

If the blames were put on both parties, it would be time for him to be slapped.

Unexpectedly, a shadow suddenly fell before his eyes.

Lin Bozhou stood up, and his figure appeared before Meng Huan, reaching over, bones distinct, clasping Meng Huan’s jaw.

Simultaneously, those eyes leaned close, narrowing, and the pupils congealed the night light, concentrating on Meng Huan’s face.

He stared from the corners of the young man’s reddened eyes to the chin still stained with tear marks. His sight was like a predator’s tongue, slowly licking over.

Meng Huan was a little scared by his stare.

Lin Bozhou dropped a word in his ears.

“Useless.”

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