Chapter 56 Wrong
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Zhou Liu-lang was taken aback.
“Ban Qin?” he asked, “Why?”
Zhou’s father spread his hands.
“That’s what I want to ask you,” he said.
Who would have thought that this girl actually knew Minister Chen? How many more surprising things had this girl kept hidden?
He originally thought it was just her cleverness that allowed her to bring the fool back home over such a long distance, so he didn’t ask much.
“I’ll go ask her,” Zhou Liu-lang said, turning to leave.
The steward stumbled in from outside.
“Master, Minister Chen has arrived,” he said, trembling.
He had sent his name card to inquire, and after confirming, he came in person so quickly?
The Zhou father and son exchanged glances, astonished.
Could this girl be so important?
The two of them dared not be negligent and hurriedly went to the guest hall. Minister Chen, wearing a cloak and hood, had already strode into the hall, followed by an old servant carrying a little girl.
“Minister Chen…” Master Zhou hastened to bow and greet him.
As he opened his mouth, Minister Chen removed his hood and bowed in return.
“Please, could the lady from your family save a life?” he said.
Save a life?
Master Zhou was stunned.
“Which lady?” he asked.
He and his brothers had a total of seven sons and eight daughters. Five daughters were already married, and three were still at home, with the youngest still a baby.
How could any of his daughters possibly have the ability to help Minister Chen?
“The lady served by that girl Ban Qin,” Chen Shao said.
The lady served by Ban Qin?
“But Ban Qin serves my son Liu-lang,” Master Zhou said, glancing toward the hall entrance. “Look, here she comes.”
Chen Shao turned to look and saw two maidsholding lanterns, leading a girl hurrying in, with Zhou Liu-lang emerging from the corridor.
The young girl, upon seeing the approaching maid, happily reached out her hand.
She called out to Ban Qin.
Ban Qin was slightly surprised, not expecting to see this young girl again at home.
“You…” She was about to speak but, seeing both the young master and the master present, quickly bowed her head in greeting.
“My grandfather wants to see you,” the young girl said, running over to grab her hand.
“Ban Qin, do you remember the old man who was given wine and asked about his illness by your lady at the temple in the heavy rain that day?” Chen Shao, seeing his daughter’s reaction upon meeting Ban Qin, confirmed they were indeed old acquaintances and immediately asked without further delay.
Ban Qin was bewildered by the sudden reappearance of the young girl and was stunned when an unfamiliar man asked about it.
That day, in the heavy rain, at the ruined temple, during their journey with carriages and horses, the two of them together, the small brick stove, the wine, the difficult trek.
Her mistress had forgotten about the events due to her illness, and Ban Qin was no longer by her lady’s side.
She thought those memories would never be brought up again in her lifetime, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
“Who are you?” she asked tremulously.
Chen Shao, seeing her acknowledgment, was overjoyed.
“The old man is my father. Your mistress was perceptive; my father didn’t recognize it at the time. Now he is gravely ill and bedridden. Please, I beg your mistress to save him,” he said, bowing deeply.
The fact that Chen Shao was bowing to a young maid shows how urgent his situation was.
The conversation between the two left the Zhou father and son a bit confused, and Ban Qin was also stunned. The terms “old man,” “gravely ill,” and “mistress” were overwhelming her thoughts.
“Mistress? Which mistress?” she asked dazedly.
At this moment, Young Master Qin also arrived. Hearing this, he was struck with a sudden realization.
He finally understood why he had always felt that something was off—now he knew what was wrong!
“She is the mistress who taught you how to make snacks, the one who doesn’t like to drink strong tea, and the mistress who you’ve accompanied home for a thousand miles,” Young Master Qin said, not caring about the servants assisting him. He leaned on his cane and stepped forward slowly.
In the side room, Zhou Liu-lang and Young Master Qin looked at Ban Qin, who was kneeling and bowing her head.
“When we met again at that time, Miss said his illness needed to be treated early. Because I mentioned there would be a consultation fee, the old man smiled and didn’t believe it and left. I never expected, I never expected that he would really fall ill again,” she said, trembling.
“Wait a moment,” Zhou Liu-lang, feeling somewhat dazed, interrupted Ban Qin. “Miss said, Miss said—who is this mistress you’re talking about?”
Young Master Qin sighed.
“Liu-lang, don’t be disbelieving. You know very well who this mistress is,” he said.
But Zhou Liu-lang stubbornly continued to look at Ban Qin.
“It’s my mistress,” Ban Qin answered, looking at Zhou Liu-lang.
“That fool?” Zhou Liu-lang shouted in disbelief, “She can treat illnesses?”
“My mistress is not foolish. She was just ill but is slowly getting better,” Ban Qin quickly replied, with a hint of urgency. “Yes, she can treat illnesses, very well, indeed.”
Zhou Liu-lang was filled with shock and horror.
“Nonsense! Absurd!” he exclaimed, waving his sleeve.
A fool! A fool! What nonsense was this!
Ban Qin, startled by his outburst, shivered and dared not speak further.
“Ban Qin,” Young Master Qin took over the conversation and asked, “Let me ask you, how did you travel from Bing-zhou back to Jiang-zhou?”
Ban Qin looked at him.
“We just walked and stopped along the way, and that’s how we got back,” she replied.
Hadn’t she been asked this before when they first arrived? Hadn’t she already explained it?
“How did you manage the travel expenses?” Young Master Qin asked.
“It was… earned from treating illnesses by my mistress,” Ban Qin said.
“Nonsense!” Zhou Liu-lang exclaimed angrily, rising to his feet. “What are you scheming with such outrageous lies! Wasn’t the money for your journey left by my grandmother?”
Because of this, he had never asked about it before—wasn’t it perfectly clear? How dare this girl speak such nonsense now!
Ban Qin looked at him in fear, not understanding why the young master was so angry, but also seeming to grasp some of it.
“Miss, why don’t we tell them how we got here? Old Madam didn’t leave us any money, did she? If we mention that you know how to treat illness, wouldn’t that make them happy?”
“They wouldn’t believe us.”
They wouldn’t believe us.
Zhou Liu-lang looked down at the maid in front of him, and as he heard these words, a lady seemed to appear before him.
The figure of the lady, who had once seemed like a lifeless doll sitting idly, gradually became clearer.
She seemed to stand up slowly, appearing even taller than him.
“You fools wouldn’t believe it if I said that.”
A trace of a mocking smile appeared on her lips as she looked down at him.
With a loud thud, Zhou Liu-lang turned and punched the screen. The six-panel painted screen crashed down with a clatter, startling the maids outside, who rushed in only to be shouted out by Zhou Liu-lang.
“Ban Qin,” Young Master Qin sighed and looked at the frightened maid, “Go and see the master. Tell Minister Chen the truth—your mistress is still in Jiang-zhou.”
Ban Qin nodded, feeling a mix of fear and inexplicable sorrow as she glanced at the angry Zhou Liu-lang. She bowed her head and quickly left.
Something must have gone wrong…
“Liu-lang, you’ve really made a mistake this time,” Young Master Qin said, shaking his head as he looked at Zhou Liu-lang.
“What mistake?” Zhou Liu-lang grumbled, waving his sleeve and sitting down. “She didn’t tell me, how was I to know she wasn’t a fool? I’m not a deity.”
Young Master Qin looked at him and suddenly smiled.
“Alright, I was wrong; you haven’t made a mistake. You’ve just stirred up a big mess,” he said, casting a meaningful look at Zhou Liu-lang.
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