I’ve Got This Servant’s Back (7.1)
Three years couldn’t be considered short for the Lu family.
Lu Qingshi’s physical condition had always been fluctuating up and down. Although he didn’t weaken all the way as Lu Jueming predicted, his condition had already worsened several times. In the worst case, he lost consciousness for nearly half a month, and even the most powerful medical team in the empire was regrettably helpless.
At that time, Gu Song guarded him to death. No one was allowed to come closer. He himself was sloppily dressed but looked after his Youngest Master earnestly without rest. He washed his face, wiped his body, massaged, and fed medicine.
Even Lu Fanghai almost couldn’t stand it and called someone to knock him out and force him to rest, but his baby brother really opened his eyes again under his meticulous care.
Even though he was pissed at the rebellious servant who dared hook up with his brother, he had the strong urge to tell them to go get a marriage license right away when he saw the two of them were sleeping peacefully with their foreheads snuggled together, Gu Song holding his brother’s hand and kneeling by the side of the bed.
His baby brother must be happy.
As time passed, this rule even surpassed the concern for Lu Qingshi’s body and became the very first priority of this group of older brothers. As for the arrangement that made the youngest brother clearly say “I don’t want to be like that”, it was never mentioned again.
Three years later, Lu Qingshi had finally become eighteen years old.
It was difficult for outsiders to understand how much the Lu family had been walking on thin ice in the past three years. Just the fact that the Youngest Master finally reached adulthood still made the whole Lu family happy even though there were many stumbles along the way. Thus, Lu Qingshi’s coming-of-age banquet had naturally become the most important event for everyone in the family.
The Lu family had been running around almost the entire imperial capital over the years because of the illness of their Youngest Master. Everyone knew the meaning of this coming-of-age banquet. All the guests were either rich or noble. Even the royal family sent the prince to congratulate him.
Lu Qingshi leaned in a modified treatment chair that fit his body and watched his elder brothers bustling back and forth happily with bright light in their eyes, and his expression softened.
“Youngest Master looks good today.”
Gu Song came from behind and adoringly gazed at the Youngest Master who rarely looked well.
He took the ribbon out of his breast pocket, helped to tie it around his neck, and leaned down to fix it properly while whispering close to his ear.
“Are you tired? If so, since you’ve already been here for a while, we’ll go back and rest. Youngest Master, is there anything you like to eat? I’ll get …for Youngest Master.”
“It’s okay, it’s not very tiring.”
Even though they had become extremely close now, Gu Song still persistently adhered to the etiquette in front of people. Lu Qingshi met the melting warmth in the clear water-like black eyes, and the corners of his lips slightly curved up. “I don’t want to eat. You go pick a few things to take back and you can eat while you are doing your homework in the evening.”
Lu Qingshi’s health was often bad and it wasn’t easy for him to stay awake for long so the private teaching classes had been stopped by Lu Fanghai’s decision. For some reason, the more the young master grew up, the quieter and gentler his temperament became, and the rare bit of fun he had was watching his servant write his homework.
In order to make their youngest brother happy, the twelve brothers put pressure altogether, and Gu Song instead became the one who was tortured by lessons and homework every day.
Gu Song couldn’t help but laugh, and continued to fold the collar neatly for him dotingly, and nodded solemnly. “Youngest Master wants to eat cake, I know.”
The two of them had already developed an unspoken tacit understanding over the years. While squinting lightly, Lu Qingshi relaxed and slightly raised his jaw so that Gu Song could continue conveniently. The back of his hand intentionally or unintentionally brushed the Youngest Master’s soft cheeks, and in the twinkling of an eye, he was already spotting a light powder on his clean face.
“If the Youngest Master is not feeling well, just tell me. Don’t tire yourself out.”
After fixing the collar for five minutes, Gu Song reluctantly removed his hand, stood up straight, and continued, “I’m always listening. I’ll be here as soon as Youngest Master shakes the bell.”
When Lu Qingshi was seriously ill, his body had no strength, and even pressing the pager was nearly impossible. Therefore, Gu Song tied a bell to his wrist. As long as Lu Qingshi moved his wrist, he would hear it. And, he would never go far, once he heard the bell, he could get to the bedside with a single step.
This approach was only used once or twice when Lu Qingshi was seriously ill, but the Youngest Master seemed to like it extraordinarily. Not only did he not put away the bell he was tethered to, but he also shook it twice whenever he wasn’t paying attention.
The bells were crisp as if they had poured a lot of vitality into the Youngest Master. Gu Song liked to listen to that sound, and he also had full patience to accompany him. One ring to come and two rings to go, it became a unique signal between the two.
The clear smile melted in Lu Qingshi’s eyes and he nodded gently.
Gu Song finished his instructions but wasn’t in a hurry to get up and get busy. Seeing the little Youngest Master’s eyes flashed under his thick eyelashes, he leaned over and teasingly whispered, “After tonight, Youngest Master will be an adult.”
Although Lu Qingshi’s body might not be able to indulge even after he became an adult, it was still different after crossing that boundary.
Lu Qingshi pursed the corners of his lips, twisted his hands together, clasped his fingers, and pressed his palms altogether.
Gu Song smiled and taking advantage of the opportunity while straightening up, brushed his lips against Lu Qingshi’s ears. “I have a lot of homework tonight…Will Youngest Master accompany me to do it?”
The Youngest Master’s earlobe instantly turned red enough to bleed. He became stiffer, shook his hand like a demonstration, and raised his head slightly. “I can accompany you but you are not allowed to sleep until you finish.”
“Okay, if I don’t finish it—I won’t sleep.”
Gu Song chuckled softly and responded meaningfully.
Looking at the Youngest Master who reacted in a blink of an eye continued to turn red, the courageous servant was satisfied. With a smile, he got up, kneaded his fingertips, held that hand gently, and put it back gently. “Youngest Master, take a good rest. I’ll go see what else I can help.”
The other quickly turned into a serious and faithful servant in a second. Lu Qingshi glared at him powerlessly, his black eyes trying their best to feign a slight sulk, but underneath the thin anger was clearly an unguarded intimacy and softness.
Gu Song’s heart went soft and sweet while starting at this, and he even had to fake a cough to hide the widening smile before saluting him and quickly walking into the crowd.
Lu Qingshi was in good health these days, but he still suffered from fatigue sometimes. Although he had come out as the protagonist, he couldn’t worry about other things at all so Gu Song had to run around in his place. It’s rare to be able to come back to accompany the Youngest Master. There was already no time to spare. If he didn’t go back as soon as possible, he would delay a lot of things.
But, Gu Song’s mind was still on the “homework” tonight. While thinking, he suddenly had a lot of energy and walked away with brisk steps.
❆
After listening to the people sent by Lu Fanghai explain the arrangements, Go Song was called to report to Lu Feng about the Youngest Master’s recent situation so he quickly headed there. After turning around a clean corridor, he suddenly saw two silhouettes as if they were arguing fiercely.
Gu Song instinctively paused his feet and turned sideways to avoid the corridor.
He recognized one of them as Lu Feng. Although he had never seen the other one, the royal dress on that person made it easy for him to guess that it must be the prince sent by the royal family to congratulate Lu Qingshi.
The Lu family wasn’t small in power and was in charge of military and political affairs. Even the royal family deliberately wooed them. Now it’s the time to make good friends but he didn’t know why such a fierce conflict occurred.
Gu Song was muttering in the corner and faint footsteps came behind him. He turned around and was greeted by Lu Jueming’s slightly cold face. “Go do something else. I will talk to my father about Xiaoshi.”
When it’s something to do with the youngest brother, Lu Jueming usually didn’t have any superfluous expressions and attitudes. Gu Song had long been used to it so he saluted and turned around to leave.
The Lu Family was naturally wealthy, and the entanglements of the upper echelons would never be less. But, he had never paid much attention to it so he didn’t even know the specific forces of the Lu Family.
From the beginning, his job was only to take care of his Youngest Master. Moreover, he didn’t want to take care of other things.