Song of Everlasting Sorrow

"Pear... Pear..."

From a distance, the soft call, the gentle tone that seemed to reveal sadness, made Yunli open her eyes in a trance.

"Mother..." There was a beautiful face in the white field of vision, and under the curved eyebrows was a pair of eyes that flowed like stars.

"Li'er." Niang smiled, and her smile was full of joy and kindness.

Yunli also felt happy, but felt an inexplicable heartache, why did she dream of her mother?His mother passed away six years ago.

That was also the only time that Yunli left Ji's house with the help of the young master, and went back to Yunfu in northern Zhejiang for the funeral.

Yun Li is the son of a concubine, and he is also the youngest child. Originally, it would be his turn only after his elder brothers had finished offering incense, but Ji Fuxiang, as the young master of his family, took him along to be the first to kowtow and offer incense. and toast.

"Your mother is my mother." Ji Fuxiang said this sentence without any hesitation, and everyone in Yunfu looked at each other in surprise.

Yunli was really moved at that moment, the young master didn't just regard him as a servant, never...

"Li'er..." Niang was crying, with two lines of hot tears streaming down her face.

"Mother! Don't cry!" Yunli was anxious, and stretched out her hand, trying to wipe the tears off Mother's face, but his hands couldn't touch anything, nothing...!

"...Ah!" Yunli cried out uncomfortably.

"Yunli, are you awake?"

Suddenly, a hand gently grabbed Yunli's waving hand in mid-air, and Yunli's high-hanging heart could not help but stabilize.

"Hmm...?" Yunli slowly opened her eyes and saw Ji Fuxiang. His eyes were red, his complexion was pale, and he was very haggard, but his eyes were full of surprise.

"Young, young master... I... woo." Yunli just opened her mouth when she felt a sharp pain in her throat.

"Don't talk, don't move yet, the doctor said, you need to rest." Ji Fuxiang quickly comforted, tucked the quilt tighter, and then lightly stroked Yunli's sweaty forehead, the fever seemed to subside.

"What time is it?" Yunli cleared her throat, looked at the bright light shining through the window, and asked suspiciously.

"A quarter of noon." Ji Fuxiang asked the housekeeper to bring a hot water basin, and after wringing out the cloth towel with his own hands, he wiped Yunli's forehead.

"I...was unconscious all day?" Yunli vaguely knew that he had fainted. While taking a bath, it was almost evening. So, he was unconscious for a whole night and morning?

"Two days, Master Yun." The housekeeper interrupted from the side, and Ji Fuxiang immediately gave him a hard look.

"Two days?!" Yunli was surprised and also felt flustered, "Who am I...?"

"The doctor said, you're fine, it's just that your heart and lungs got cold and evil spirits invaded, so you suddenly fell ill." Ji Fuxiang gently patted his chest and explained gently.

"This way..." Yunli relaxed a little, but his chest was still very stuffy. He had to take a deep breath to breathe fresh air.

gas.

"Quick, bring the tea." Ji Fuxiang said again, took the chamomile tea with rock sugar in the housekeeper's hand, and fed it to Yunli spoonful by spoonful.

"Thank you..." Yunli said, licking her wet lips.

"Why are you being polite to me?" Ji Fuxiang looked at him dotingly, "The only thing that matters is that you take good care of yourself."

At this time, the servants came in to announce that Dr. Wan from Yuyaofang had come to see Master Yun.

"Call him in, Yunli just woke up."

After Dr. Wan and a boy carrying a medicine box came in, they first saluted to Ji Fuxiang and then to Yunli, then sat down on the Jindun, looked carefully at Yunli's face, and began to take the pulse.

For a while, only the sound of the strong wind blowing the branches outside the window was heard, and the room was quiet, and everyone stood with their hands folded and holding their breath.

"Master Yun, is your chest hot? Does it hurt?" The doctor finally asked.

"Well, sometimes, but I don't feel hot, but I often want to cough and feel a little tired." Yunli replied in a low voice, and the doctor asked him to open his mouth again, and looked at the flushed tongue coating.

"Master, your body is weak, avoid consuming qi, blood and body fluids, don't move too much, and take a good rest. In the past few days, I will prescribe a few decoctions for calming the nerves and invigorating qi, and I will take them for you. When you feel better, I will further recuperate , don’t be impatient.” The doctor said kindly.

"Yes, Doctor Lao." Yunli nodded in thanks.

Dr. Wan got up, washed his hands in the basin, and then glanced at Ji Fuxiang. Ji Fuxiang nodded clearly, saying that he wanted to see the doctor off, and followed him out.

"Why don't you need to apply acupuncture? Just take a look at it like this? What is Yunli's disease?" On the corridor outside the house, Ji Fuxiang asked Dr. Wan anxiously. He had just seen the doctor take out the acupuncture bag. , but in the end it didn't work.

"Master Ji..." Looking at Ji Fuxiang who was burning with anxiety, Dr. Wan's face was serious, he sighed, and finally said softly, "Master Yun suffered from tuberculosis, which was caused by the infestation of tuberculosis due to weak constitution, lack of energy and blood The initial illness is in the lungs, and the spleen and kidneys will be affected after a long period of time. Master Yun may have been ill for a while, and now the focus is on recuperation, and acupuncture is of little use."

"What are you talking about?!" Ji Fuxiang stood there stunned as if hit by a thunderbolt from the blue sky. Doctor Wan clearly said yesterday that it was just that the bath water was too hot, and Yunli was weak and fainted.

"Before, the old man felt that Master Yun's pulse was weak, his body was thin, and he had symptoms of yang deficiency and lung heat, but he couldn't diagnose it." Dr. Wan frowned, and said with deep guilt, "It's useless for the old man. I just ask now. Knowing that the young master is not only deficient in yang, but also deficient in yin, so the bone steaming fever, shortness of breath, hoarseness, coughing and hemoptysis... It is obvious that the heart and lungs are damaged, and the disease can only be cured by recuperation, and it is difficult to get rid of the root cause..."

Of course Ji Fuxiang knew that tuberculosis is not such a disease that can be easily cured, but no matter what Dr. Wan said next, Ji Fuxiang couldn't hear him. He impulsively grabbed Dr. Wan's hands and asked him to diagnose Yunli again , and even knelt down, asking the doctor to heal Yunli no matter what. Ji Fuxiang, who is always polite, has never been so crazy. The housekeeper and servants were terrified. After Ji Fuxiang, he sent the doctor away.

"Tuberculosis...?"

After such a fuss, Yunli also found out from the servants what kind of disease she was suffering from, she leaned against the head of the bed with a pale face and trembling body, terrified.His mother died of tuberculosis, and it took only three months from the first illness to her death.

Yunli bit her lips tightly, even if Ji Fuxiang was going to get married, but he was not ready, so he just left the young master like this?He also wants to watch the young master get married, give birth to a child, and watch the young master's child grow up happily...

A pain in Yunli's heart made her throat feel hot, and she fell to the edge of the bed uncomfortably, coughing up a big mouthful of blood.

※※※

The autumn wind blows, and the yard outside the window is covered with dead leaves. Countless leaves are sliding in the wind and fluttering around, just like Yunli's thoughts at the moment, erratic and uncertain.

"The young master quarreled with the master again last night, and broke the imperial purple sand teapot. The quarrel was so fierce that no one dared to persuade him."

In the morning, when the housekeeper came to deliver medicine to Yunli, he secretly told Yunli about it.

Yunli thanked the steward, since he fell ill in the spring, he rarely left the Qilin Hall, but he knew that the master had been putting pressure on the young master to force the marriage, but the young master refused to agree to it.

"I only want Yunli and nothing else!"

When the butler repeated these words, Yunli's eyes filled with tears, and she murmured bitterly in her heart: "Master, why are you doing this..."

After the housekeeper left, Yunli couldn't restrain her excitement anymore and got up from the bed.His two feet are as thin as wood, stepping on the cotton shoes, as if dragging two small boats.

Holding the wall with her hands, Yunli slowly moved to the window, pushed open the carved lattice window, and she could see the eaves of Fengxian Palace.

Fengxian Palace is the residence of Master Ji and his wife. If the young master gets married in the future, he can also move there. This Qilin Palace will be left to the young master's children.

Getting together and parting is hasty, and the past has become empty, but even if the times will change and the people who live there will change, Yunli knows that the feelings in her heart will never change, because this is the true meaning of love.

Yunli leaned against the window sill, hugged her thin arm, and pierced the light blue blood vessel with needle holes. Ji Fuxiang specially invited a foreign doctor from Shanghai to see him.

Dr. Felson is also a missionary. He was one of the first group of people who followed the British army to preach on the mainland. He said in broken Chinese that it was pneumonia. The germs had already invaded the alveoli and kidneys. The condition suddenly deteriorates, and the patient will suffer from blood poisoning, shock and death.

Even with Ji Fuxiang translating, Yunli still couldn't understand what bacteria and alveoli were.However, the conclusions of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine are generally the same, that is, the organs have been damaged and can only be recuperated slowly by medicine.

Since then, Ji Fuxiang has tried every means to collect all kinds of precious medicinal materials and spent a lot of money to buy them. As long as he hears that they are beneficial to the treatment of tuberculosis, he can get them no matter how far away they are.

"God bless you all." Doctor Felson crossed himself devoutly on his chest. He had never seen a man as infatuated as Ji Fuxiang, even though he loved a man.

Also because of Ji Fuxiang's reckless investment, Dr. Felson obtained a lot of newly developed western medicine from England, which is said to be able to effectively eliminate bacteria, and he came to inject Yunli every three days.

This medicine is indeed effective. Traditional Chinese medicine once said that Yunli could not survive the spring, but he not only survived the spring, but also passed the summer without incident. Now that late autumn is here, winter is not far away.

—Is it a miracle?

Yunli couldn't help thinking this way, everyone said it was a miracle, but Yunli knew that she was just returning to the light, lingering on her last breath.

Even if there is only one more day to live, Yunli insists stubbornly, even if there is only one more day, he still wants to persevere, he thinks that it is enough to watch the young master every minute and every second, and share his sorrow.

"Yunli, why are you up? Lie down and rest." Suddenly, Ji Fuxiang's voice came from behind.

"Young master?" Yunli turned her head happily. Under the long hair like splashed ink, her cheeks were thin and her chin was sharp, but it did not damage his natural beauty, especially those black eyes that were as bright as midnight stars. It is soft and elegant.

"Don't move, I'll hug you." Ji Fuxiang hurried over and hugged Yunli.

"Didn't you say that the master has a meeting today, why did he come back so soon?" Yunli asked obediently, leaning on Ji Fuxiang's arms.

Early in the morning, Master Ji sent someone over to say that several important guests came from Beijing, and he asked Ji Fuxiang to entertain them immediately.

"It's not an important guest. With Dad here, I don't need me." Ji Fuxiang said lightly, put Yunli on the bed, covered the quilt, and saw a bowl of soup on the low table.

"The medicine is cold, I'll warm it up later, and you can drink it again." Ji Fuxiang didn't blame Yunli, but gently brushed away the hair on Yunli's forehead, and said dotingly.

"I'm sorry, young master, next time I will definitely take the medicine on time." Yunli felt sorry, because hearing the news that the master and the young master were quarreling again, he felt extremely uncomfortable in his chest and couldn't take the medicine.

"Well, you are the most obedient." Ji Fuxiang stroked Yunli's forehead in comfort, and said, "When I hugged you just now, I found that you were a little heavier."

"Hehe, my appetite is much better these days." Yunli responded with a smile.

"This is a good thing. It seems that the combination of Chinese and Western medicine is very good. Your complexion has turned rosy these days." Ji Fuxiang smiled happily, and then picked up the medicine bowl, "Just wait, I'll go and come back."

"Okay, young master." Yunli nodded and said.

In order to facilitate the decoction, Ji Fuxiang ordered people to build a medicinal food room outside the Qilin Hall. Cooked food.

Every dish is hot and freshly baked, so there is no need to worry about Yunli's gastrointestinal instability and spit it out after eating it. Ji Fuxiang tried his best to take care of Yunli.

Yunli also worked hard to live, because for him, being able to see the young master all the time was the best medicine in the world.

Ji Fuxiang went out with the medicine bowl, but he seemed to have met someone, Yunli heard Ji Fuxiang say very rudely: "What are you doing here?"

It's rare for the young master to speak to people in this tone, Yunli braced herself in surprise, and when she looked out the door, a woman's voice came in.

"Don't be angry. I just came to visit Brother Yun. I heard that he has been in poor health." With a delicate voice and a pure Beijing accent, one could tell it was the daughter of a wealthy family.

"That's none of your business." Ji Fuxiang still refused people thousands of miles away, and said indifferently, "You go, Yunli needs to rest."

"Master, I'm awake." Yunli said towards the outside of the room, interrupting their conversation, after a moment of silence, Ji Fuxiang brought two strange women in with some displeasure.

Said to be a woman, she was very young, the one walking in front was about ten years old, her hair fell in a bun, her eyebrows slender into her temples, her appearance was very delicate and gorgeous, she was wearing a fine silk satin cheongsam, with modai bottom The color is dark red, and the flowers are full of fragrance.

Behind her was probably a maid, about fifteen or sixteen years old, bowing her head and lowering her eyebrows. She was braided and holding a red lacquer food box in her hand. She was dressed rigorously and her embroidered shoes were spotless.

This pair of master and servant reminded people of people in the palace. It was not the first time that the Ji family had entertained the royal relatives.

"Are you..." Yunli looked at the leading girl and asked.

"I'm from Prince Duan's Mansion," the girl looked Yunli up and down, and said crisply, "Brother, just call me Qinlan."

"He's not your brother." Ji Fuxiang said mercilessly, "Don't call him so affectionate."

"Master, don't be like this." Yunli glanced at the young master helplessly. When it came to Prince Duan's Mansion, Yunli knew who she was. A princess who grew up in the palace since childhood.

This daughter must be the jewel in the palm of Prince Duan - Qinlan Gege, who is also Ji Fuxiang's future wife, and today's guests should be Prince Duan and Qinlan Gege.

No wonder the young master came back soon.

"Qinlan Gege, thank you for thinking highly of me and willing to call me elder brother, but I was born as a commoner, so I really can't afford it." Yunli bowed her head to her and saluted.

"But..." Qin Lan glanced at Ji Fuxiang, seeing his indifference, she had no choice but to say, "Forget it, you all see me like this because I'm Gege."

"Nothing." No matter what, etiquette is still required, Yunli understands that his every move represents the young master, so he dare not neglect in the slightest.

"Li, you don't need to be polite to her." But Ji Fuxiang said, walked to the bed, and held Yun Lilu's hand out of the quilt without any hesitation, "She interrupted your rest and you don't know it."

"Master..." Yunli was a little anxious, how could the young master treat his fiancée like this.

"I'm leaving now. Ama and Erniang are still waiting for me in Gumeixuan." Qinlan gave Ji Fuxiang a sad look, but seeing Yunli's sickness, she couldn't say much, and told the maid Leave the pastry, and then say that she will come to visit Yunli again.

"Don't come again, you are not welcome here." Ji Fuxiang's attitude was unprecedentedly cold and resolute, even Yunli's persuasion could not be listened to.

After Qinlan and the maid left, Ji Fuxiang frowned and said: "I said before, I don't like anything that separates us, even if she is Princess."

"Master, you can't..." If you are so stubborn, one day... I will leave you.

For this, Yunli could only sigh deeply. The deeper the love, the more painful the heart. He hoped that the young master could live on his behalf and have a bright future.

And this wish can only be fulfilled by that Qinlan Gege.

--to be continued