Li Fulang, seeing this, believed Lu Yu's words even more and asked no further questions, merely smiling to himself.
His grandson actually understood jealousy. But immediately, he began to worry again.
Xuan'er clearly placed his entire heart on his wife. If Lu Yu were to betray him, this child Xuan'er must not follow in his father's footsteps.
Lu Yu, seeing the ever-changing expressions on his grandfather's face, knew he was worrying about such matters.
He quickly grabbed Shen Xuan's hand and assured Li Fulang, "Grandfather, I promise you, I will never betray him in this life. In this life, he is my only husband, and I love only him. Please rest assured."
These words were spoken quite openly, making Li Fulang a little uncomfortable. He could only nod repeatedly, "Good, good. As long as you can be good to our Xuan'er, I will have no regrets even if I die."
"Grandfather! What are you saying?"
Shen Xuan, who had been touched by Lu Yu's words, was startled pale by his grandfather's next sentence.
"Grandfather, are you feeling unwell? Wife! Quickly help Grandfather take a look."
Shen Xuan's last few words clearly carried a tremor. His grandfather's frail health from half a month ago was still vivid in Shen Xuan's mind, and he was constantly worried.
"Silly child, I was just speaking casually. Look how scared you are."
"Grandfather is fine. Don't worry." After taking Li Fulang's pulse, Lu Yu squatted in front of Shen Xuan, constantly whispering reassurances and gently stroking his tense body.
"Hurry and relax. If you continue like this, your wife will be worried sick."
Hearing this, Shen Xuan did not act shy as usual. He still sat on the chair with a pale face, his gaze unfocused.
Li Fulang knew how much impact his words had on Shen Xuan and kept comforting him.
Flocks of wild geese passed over Li Manor, continuing their flight south. As they flew past Yu Man Lou, they were startled by a sudden "crash" from within and changed their formation.
In a room on the second floor, a wooden box was knocked to the ground, scattering its contents.
The man stood there stunned, while the woman bent down to pick up the items on the floor, only to be kicked away by the man.
"Yi'er." Gu Yitong slowly straightened up, murmuring.
"I'll say it again, I am not the Yi'er you speak of!" Mu Xiang stood there, his chest heaving violently, as if trying to suppress his anger.
But what emotions he was truly suppressing, only he knew.
"You are!" Gu Yitong's brows furrowed, her eyes filled with sorrow. "Otherwise, why would you treasure this wooden box filled with bamboo dragonflies and musical scores so much?"
"You think I treasure these things? How laughable."
Mu Xiang walked to the box he had kicked away, cast a cold glance at her, reached out, picked up the musical scores, and tore them to shreds. He then broke the bamboo dragonflies and threw them aside.
"I grew up here. Naturally, my childhood toys are here. I study music, so it's not strange to have musical scores."
"I don't know why you think I treasure these things. Now that I have destroyed them, you can leave."
Looking at Mu Xiang's cold gaze, Gu Yitong lowered her eyes, speechless.
She slowly turned and left, no longer possessing her usual spirit.
With a "pat," the door was closed. Mu Xiang collapsed to the ground with a thud, his emotions no longer suppressed. Tears welled up in his eyes, and his hands, hanging by his sides, trembled uncontrollably.
He reached out and cupped the shredded paper and broken bamboo dragonflies in his hands, gathering them to his chest. He pushed himself up from the ground and stumbled to the table, painstakingly using glue to reassemble the torn musical scores, and with his hands, he tried his best to smooth out the creases on the bamboo dragonflies.
His fingertips were scraped and bleeding, but he seemed to feel no pain, mechanically continuing to stroke them back and forth until the bamboo dragonflies were stained with blood.
Mu Xiang recoiled as if startled, frantically wiping his hands with his clothes, trying to remove the blood. But once stained, how could it be wiped away?
Just like him, having entered a brothel, how could he hope to return to a normal life?
Mu Xiang let out a bitter chuckle, tugging at the corners of his mouth, trying to force a smile like he had in childhood, but large drops of tears fell uncontrollably.
As Gu Yitong left, she encountered Zi Su and asked about the time Mu Xiang came to the brothel.
"It seems to be around eight years old. I had already been here for a year then. We were among the earlier ones to arrive in this batch."
"Eight years old..." Gu Yitong murmured to herself.
"Young Master Zi Su, do you have time now? I'd like to chat with you."
Seeing the plea in Gu Yitong's eyes, Zi Su's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to meet her gaze, "I have time."
"Then let's go to the tea house opposite. It's quieter there."
Gu Yitong found a seat by the window and signaled the waiter to order a pot of tea.
"Young Master Zi Su, Yi... when Mu Xiang came here at eight years old, did he suffer any hardship?"
"Not really. His piano skills were already excellent when he arrived, which made everyone like him, so our leader kept him."
Seeing Gu Yitong's worried gaze, Zi Su didn't wait for her to ask and continued, "He was the youngest to arrive here. He practiced for less than a year and performed on stage with me when he was nine."
"And your names?"
"Men who come here must choose a stage name before performing. We were quite close then. I hadn't studied, and this name was given to me by him." Zi Su paused and then said, "When I went to your medical clinic that day, I realized my name was actually the name of a medicinal herb."
"Did you know Mu Xiang before? He must have been a young master before he came here, knowing everything, even choosing names with such scholarly depth."
"I..." Gu Yitong fell silent. Yi'er didn't want others to know.
"Young Master, I have other matters to attend to. I must leave now. Thank you for today." Gu Yitong stood up to take her leave.
After Gu Yitong left, Zi Su did not leave. He sat in his seat, drank all the tea, and then asked the waiter the name of the tea. It turned out the tea was called Yu Hua Cha, and it tasted delicious.
Just past noon, the four grandparents and grandchildren were gathered, talking. Lu Yu sat beside Shen Xuan and suddenly heard Shen Xuan let out a muffled groan.
"What's wrong?" Lu Yu exclaimed, quickly turning to look at Shen Xuan.
Shen Xuan's face was pale, and his forehead was covered in sweat. It was clear he had been enduring it for a long time.
"What's wrong? Where does it hurt?" Lu Yu's voice was not low, attracting the attention of those in the room.
Shen Xuan held her hand and shook his head at her, signaling her to be quiet.
But Lu Yu did not listen and became even more anxious, "Tell me quickly, what is bothering you?"
Saying this, she was about to take his pulse.
"No, no, no." Shen Xuan pushed her away, flustered and unsure what to do, with his grandmother still present.
His grandfather, seeing Shen Xuan's unnatural expression, understood what was happening and spoke up, rescuing his grandson from his embarrassment.
"Alright, alright, Xuan'er is fine. Daughter-in-law, don't worry."