The servants who went to pick up Huo Wujiu to move courtyards arrived when Doctor Zhou was administering medicine to him.
When Huo Wujiu married, he came alone, so there was no dowry luggage to move. Hence, at this moment, only two maids and a tall brawny manservant went.
The two maids should have been assigned to serve Huo Wujiu. When they came in, their faces looked surly. They looked down and indifferent.
Seeing that Doctor Zhou was applying medicine to Huo Wujiu, one of the maids opened her mouth and said, “Doctor Zhou, how much longer will it take you to treat him?”
They didn’t look at Huo Wujiu in the slightest, much less salute him, as if they didn’t see him.
While bandaging Huo Wujiu, Doctor Zhou replied, “Hold on, ladies. He’ll be ready in no time.”
The maids grunted, turned around, and said, “Then be quick. We’ll wait outside.”
After saying that, the few of them turned around and went out.
They went out of the room but didn’t close the door, and left it ajar instead. The maid who didn’t say anything before spoke up, “How annoying. If we wait a little longer, it will be noon, and we will have to walk in the sun again on the way.”
The other maid said, “You don’t say. We’re unlucky.”
Hearing this, the maid laughed a couple of times and said, “Unlucky? The sun is not bad luck. We’re only unlucky that we were assigned to this job.”
“Right? Who wants to come and serve a disabled enemy? It’s just not our luck today.”
They made no effort to tone down in the slightest, as if they were afraid that the person inside the room couldn’t hear them. The sharp, clipped voices of the girls reached Doctor Zhou’s ears.
Doctor Zhou’s legs started to tremble.
Others might not know, but he knew that the man sitting in a wheelchair in front of him was the King of Hell, who could kill without batting an eye.
Doctor Zhou was so petrified that he broke out in a cold sweat and carefully raised his eyes to look at Huo Wujiu.
He only saw him sitting in place. There wasn’t a lift in his eyes, nor a bit of reaction, as if he hadn’t heard anything.
The sunrays fell gently onto the side of his face.
Perhaps the sun was so bright that it gave the impression that the motionless cripple in front of him should be an extremely proud man.
Doctor Zhou dared not say more. He swiftly withdrew his gaze and bandaged his legs properly.
“Afterward, you mustn’t let your wounds get wet. The dressings must be changed once every three days. I will report this truthfully to His Highness,” Doctor Zhou said.
Huo Wujiu made no response.
The doctor then packed up his medical kit and retreated.
Not long after, the two maids came into the room. They instructed the brawny manservant to push the wheelchair forward, so they could take Huo Wujiu away and send him to his future residence.
The wheelchair was in no way easy to push.
The wheelchair was originally large and heavy, and because it was for Huo Wujiu, it was only a tool for transporting prisoners. The wheelchair was terribly rough, and the two wheels on the chair taken from a prison wagon were barely installed.
From the room to the backyard where the wives and concubines live, they had to pass through the gardens of the King’s residence if they wanted to take a shortcut. The gardens in the sunny south have always been a sceneric place for strolls. There were streams and ponds everywhere, and small bridges or gravel paths were built for people to walk on.
The two maids loathed their job and didn’t want to bake in the sun, so they insisted on walking through the garden. Even if the manservant was strong, pushing the wheelchair took great effort.
After walking for a while, he couldn’t keep up with the two.
The two maids only cared about moving forward, and only a while later did they turn around and find that Huo Wujiu had fallen behind.
They have long been resentful because they were assigned to serve Huo Wujiu. He was not only a cripple, but an easy target to bully. Hence, when their master did not say a word from the beginning to the end, they became increasingly presumptuous.
One of them turned around and said to the manservant, “Why are you walking so slowly? Is it because she is a lady of an eminent family, so you’re afraid of dirtying her embroidered shoes?”
The manservant pushing the wheelchair was simple and honest. Upon hearing this, sweat dripped down his forehead in anxiety, and he hurriedly explained, “Sister, it’s not my fault. The road is really bumpy…”
The other coldly retorted, “Who’s blaming you? Hurry and keep up.”
Since it wasn’t his fault, then whose was it? There was no fifth person present.
The manservant did not dare to say anything and could only diligently push the wheelchair. The wheels were not sturdy enough to move steadily. In his nervousness, his hands lost control, and the wheelchair suddenly tilted down and was about to tumble to the ground.
But then the man in the wheelchair, who remained silent the whole time, raised his hand lightly and pressed it on the armrest.
The wheelchair stabilized.
The manservant promptly bowed to apologize and thank his master, but out of nowhere, he heard a mellow voice from the front.
“What’s all the noise about?”
When the manservant looked up, he saw two people standing under the weeping willow by the pond ahead, followed by a group of servants. One of them was dressed in green, with pale, delicate and pretty features, looking as gentle as jade. The other one was utterly gorgeous. He was a man, but was naturally enticing. He was dressed in red.
They were the two concubines in the mansion.
The manservant hurriedly followed the two maids and saluted, “Good day, Madam Gu. Good day, Madam Xu.”
The red-clad Madam Gu waved his hand and told them to get up. He stepped forward and said in a lazy voice, “I thought it was someone. So it’s the new Madam Huo who joined the household yesterday.”
As he spoke, he walked up to Huo Wujiu and stopped in his tracks.
But Huo Wujiu acted as if he didn’t see the man.
“How old are you, Madam Huo? You must be 23 years old, right?” He spoke. “You’re a few years younger than me, so just call me elder brother in the future.”
With that, he smilingly stood in front of Huo Wujiu. His stance suggested that he would block the path and wouldn’t go away if Huo Wujiu ignored him.
Huo Wujiu did not lift a single eyelid.
