Chapter 2: Family Gathering Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Sulo
A few days later, Xia Qian"an also adapted to the present life he was living. After breakfast every day, he went through the Green Bamboo Courtyard for a walk. Sometimes, when he was interested, he would play the guqin there.
After visiting the bamboo grove, he would go back to his study to read books. Most of the books on the bookshelf were medical. After reading a few pages a few days ago, Xia Qian"an became interested in traditional Chinese medicine.
Xia Qian"an guessed that the original owner was probably interested in traditional Chinese medicine as well. The shelves were full of books on that aspect, and there were some traditional Chinese medicine herbs in the yard.
Xia Qian"an would go to have a look when he was free. Usually, watering and care were done by the maid Qiu Shui. At noon, Dongjì Xue would remind him to eat, but a few days later, the work was handed over to An Jiu.
At first, Xia Qian"an was embarra.s.sed to be seen by An Jiu, and his heart was broken. However, his face became thick the more times… Ah no, he got used to it. Anyway, he had been continuously watched by An Jiu, so it was now no longer a big deal to have the shadow guard continue watching him. So Xia Qian"an gave up his treatment completely to An Jiu.
Obviously, in front of An Jiu, Xia Qian"an had a thundering heart under his calm face.
After lunch, Xia Qian"an wandered around in the Green Bamboo Courtyard to eat, then went back to the study to read. In the evening, after taking a bath, eating, and drinking tea, he lay in bed and slept. There was no nightlife in ancient times, so he went to bed early.
If he went to do something, it would be going to drink flower wine as the men did. Generally speaking, men would go to brothels to find women.
But this life was far from Xia Qian"an.
So every day was the same for Xia Qian"an, and then was repeated the next day. An Jiu never moved away from his Master, and with his Master"s regular life, sometimes he was bored and thought that he was probably the most leisurely of all shadow guards, the one in the safest environment.
His force value was above average in the shadow guard camp. When he was a.s.signed, he thought that he would not live for so long, but he did not feel that his Master"s life wouldn"t be dangerous.
An Jiu stood not far behind his Master, trying to weaken his sense of existence, head slightly low.
“Thump…”
Xia Qian"an lay half on the table regardless of his image.
“Ow…”
However, it was not his modern low table covered with plush cushions. He hit his chin with a crack, and his eyes turned red immediately.
“Master…”
“Uh… It"s okay. Can I have lunch now?”
Xia Qian"an rubbed his chin with one hand and stood up using the table for support with the other hand. He was too careless and looked stupid again. His image of being a master was almost lost by him. Fortunately, his expression was preserved, Xia Qian"an thought without expression.
“Master, we have a quarter of an hour before you can eat.”
An Jiu looked at his Master, saw that his eyes were a bit red, but his facial expression was normal as he rubbed his chin, so he bowed his head respectfully.
“Then go find Dongjì Xue and bring me some snacks to cushion my stomach.”
Xia Qian"an, who didn"t have much appet.i.te this morning but had a bowl of porridge anyway, was hungry now and decided to use An Jiu"s ‘extraordinary means" to fill his stomach. An Jiu disappeared in front of Xia Qian"an without a sound. It didn"t take long for him to reappear with a plate of medicine cake in his hand.
The traditional Chinese medicine materials in the medicine cake came from the traditional Chinese medicine in the yard, and the cake was good, beneficial to the body, and had a sweet taste.
“Ah… That was so fast.” Xia Qian"an grumbled. After eating a few pieces, Xia Qian"an stopped eating, and there were about four or five pieces left on the dish.
“An Jiu, finish it. Don"t waste it.” Xia Qian"an moved the medicine cake to the left, making it convenient for An Jiu to get, and then picked up his book to read.
An Jiu watched his Master continue to read again, and swallowed down the words he wanted to say. He picked up the cake and glanced at his Master. He felt embarra.s.sed, but still followed his Master"s orders and finished the plate until there was nothing left.
Xia Qian"an had been living a leisurely life for half a month. However, some people thought that it was too long. The trouble would soon be coming.
Xia Qian"an was sitting on a stone bench in the small bamboo forest, playing the guqin quietly, and An Jiu was standing a few steps behind him. An Jiu ears twitched, he glanced at the direction of the cobblestone path, then turned around. The action was completed in an instant and too fast to be seen clearly.
Soon, the shadow of Qiu Shui appeared, and her pace showed that she was in a hurry. Seeing that her Young Master was playing the guqin, Qiu Shui stopped. She struggled a little and thought that the news was essential, so she spoke, “Seventh Young Master, there is a family dinner tonight.”
Fortunately, after half a month"s ‘training," Xia Qian"an didn"t get too immersed when doing something.
“Hm.” Xia Qian"an stopped, put his hand on the string, and looked up at the Qiu Shui.
“Then… Don"t you need to change now, Young Master?”
“Let"s go.”
Xia Qian"an nodded and got up to walk with Qiu Shui. An Jiu picked up the guqin and followed his Master only a few steps away.
Xia Qian"an had changed into a light blue chang pao. The cloth was better than usual, and his hair was also taken care of by Chunyu. Chunyu smiled faintly; the temperament of the Young Master changed a lot. “Seventh Young Master, put on this chang pao, it"ll look much better than usual.”
“Mn.” Xia Qian"an said casually, he didn"t have the heart to consider whether he looked good or not.
“Young Master, it"s late. Let"s go quickly.”
“Mn, lead the way.”
No matter how reluctant he was, Xia Qian"an finally followed Qiu Shui and slowly walked to the hall.
The closer he got to it, the more servants there were, and Xia Qian"an"s face grew paler while his hand trembled under his sleeve. But Xia Qian"an still tried to maintain a calm expression, raised his head and chest, and tried to show the temperament of a n.o.ble young man.
To face the family, even illegitimate children had to learn aristocratic etiquette, and they hated to have contact with him because of his social disorder, so he took a longer time to learn than others.
“Seventh Young Master, why are you so pale? Are you not feeling well?” Chunyu originally turned around to see if the Young Master had kept up with her. Unexpectedly, she saw that the Young Master"s face was white.
“I"m okay. We should get to the hall. Let"s go.” Without expression, Xia Qian"an said, adjusting his mood as he walked.
This situation would happen quite a lot in the future. He needed to adapt from now on. It"s not his modern era here, and he didn"t have a willful capital. Xia Qian"an tried to hold his trembling hands and move on.
An Jiu followed his Master in the shadows, looking at his Master"s pale face and trembling hands in his sleeves. His mouth was in a straight line, and his eyes were dark.
Along the way, Xia Qian"an and many servants pa.s.sed by one another. They all walked by without expression as if he didn"t exist, only some of them stopped to salute.
As expected, he was a commoner with a low sense of existence.
When he arrived at the hall, the seats were almost full, except for the seats of the prince and the princess and the two brothers. Xia Qian"an followed Chunyu to his seat, which was far away from the main seat. When Xia Qian"an appeared, only a few people looked at him and then turned to talk with others. Seeing this, Xia Qian"an sighed in relief and hoped no one noticed him for the rest of the night.
“Seventh brother, why are you so pale?”
Xia Qian"an turned to look at his brother, shook his head and said softly, “I"m okay.”
Hearing this, the man was bored. He turned to the other side and teased his nerdy second brother. He was the sixth elder brother of Xia Qian"an, the concubine"s son, but he was higher than a concubine"s son. Xia Qian"an"s sixth brother was a famous romantic young man. He"s had several concubines since he was young, and none were alike.
Xia Qian"an sat in his position, head slightly lowered, and didn"t go to see anyone. After waiting for more than ten minutes, all the others arrived.
When they moved their chopsticks, Xia Qian"an picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. At family banquets, Xia Qian"an was used to eating only the last few dishes in front of him, while the other dishes remained untouched.
Fortunately, in front of him were meat and vegetables, and not dishes he hated.
Xia Qian"an bowed his head to eat slowly and paid attention to what everyone said from time to time so that he didn"t have to ask himself. It was not that he was narcissistic, it was that everything was ‘in case." Fortunately, there were no topics he needed to respond to, and then he had finished eating.
Together with Chunyu, both of them went all the way to the gate of Green Bamboo Courtyard, and Xia Qian"an was really relieved to let Chunyu go first. It was not dark yet so Xia Qian"an asked An Jiu to come out and hang out with him in the courtyard.
Xia Qian"an couldn"t think of a reason why he didn"t mind his dependence on An Jiu.
Anyway, An Jiu, as his shadow guard, would be with him.