HLnovel Chapter 8 Burning Affection
Chapter 8 Burning Affection
The cell was pitch black, and the light shining through the small hole allowed them to guess the time outside.
The jailer knocked on the iron gate, knowing that it was already broad daylight.
"Wake up, everyone. This morning, each of you will have a steamed bun and a bowl of water for breakfast."
Upon hearing the sound, Wenwen sat up abruptly.
The jailer, with a sword at his waist and a rattan whip in his right hand, descended the stairs with an indifferent expression, followed by two jailers, one carrying a bucket of water and the other a basket.
"Since it's just this one family, let's leave it in front of the inner room and let them take it themselves."
"Yes, sir." The two jailers responded and left.
The jailer approached the door and whispered, "Madam Wen, Minister Ren instructed me that this is all I can do to help. The food is fairly clean."
Grandmother hurried forward two steps: "Thank you for your trouble, Jiangtou."
Wenwen suddenly darted to the door, grabbed the door frame with both hands, looked up and said sweetly, "Thank you, Uncle Jiang."
"Okay, eat up." Jiang, the jailer, waved his hand, swung his rattan whip in the air, cursed a few times, and trotted out.
Grandmother held Ren's hand and patted the back of her hand.
"Your in-laws are so kind! Don't let yourselves get involved. Eldest daughter, the Wen family's future rests on your shoulders..."
“Mother, Father and the others know what they're doing. The Wen family… will be alright… I wonder how Dalang and the others are doing…”
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law comforted and encouraged each other.
My third aunt also helped everyone fetch water and get steamed buns.
Wenwen examined the steamed bun in her hand. It was dark, about the size of a fist, a bit hard, and she couldn't squeeze it. It had a raw, coarse grain smell.
Modern experts also recommend eating whole grains occasionally and fasting for a few days now and then. They could certainly follow that advice.
Wenwen picked up the water and took a sip to moisten her throat, then took a bite of the steamed bun. She frowned, put a little more effort into her teeth, and took a small bite, chewing slowly.
The Wen family members were the same; they were all trying to adapt, silently grinding their teeth, and no one showed any dissatisfaction.
The younger children followed suit.
When Sixth Sister saw Wenwen looking at her, she raised the steamed bun and waved it at her, tilted her head, blinked her big eyes, and looked like an adorable little girl.
When Wenwen saw the few small teeth marks on the steamed bun, Liu Mei's cheeks puffed up like a little hamster, which was very cute.
"You guys, if you can't chew it, put it in the bowl to soak until it's soft before you chew it. Chew it a few more times, don't waste food, understand?"
She demonstrated as she spoke.
The younger ones nodded eagerly.
It's true what they say, whoever feeds you is your mother; a late-night snack successfully won over several little kids.
Steamed buns are chewy, and chewing them more can help improve brain function.
The cell was filled with the sound of chewing.
Wenwen chewed on her steamed bun, but her mind was still racing.
He went through the items that the Luo family had collected, opening box after box. There were gold and silver jewelry, gold and jade ornaments, silks and satins, rare medicinal herbs, books and paintings, antiques and curios, a wide variety of items, all neatly categorized and organized.
One of the boxes, about the size of a palm, piqued her curiosity and also felt somewhat familiar.
The box is square, with a carved flower on the top of the lid, but surprisingly there are no clasps on the side.
Wenwen opened the lid, and a cool breeze wafted out. In the middle of the box was an eight-pointed star jade pendant, its color a vibrant green. Four small round holes were evenly distributed around the center of the pendant, forming a circle.
Wenwen picked up the jade pendant, its icy coldness seeping into her palm and sending a shiver down her spine.
I suddenly remembered seeing a box like this in my grandfather's room when I was a child.
Thank goodness, the system even knows to stack items according to the order they were collected.
Wenwen rummaged through the pile of items in her grandfather's storeroom.
After searching for a while, they finally found the same box among a pile of boxes of different sizes.
She couldn't wait to open it, and sure enough, there was another eight-pointed star jade pendant in the middle of the box. Its color was also vibrant green, but the jade pendant only had a small round hole in the center, which was larger than the four small holes on the Luo family jade pendant.
Wenwen couldn't help but speculate about conspiracy theories. Could the Wen family's current calamity be related to the jade pendant?
It seems I should ask my grandfather carefully when I see him.
People really can't help but think about it, just as Wenwen was thinking about her grandfather.
Footsteps echoed from in front of the iron gate.
As soon as the iron gate opened, an old man walked down the stairs with his head held high, followed closely by a leader and several guards, who carried a stretcher.
With his hands behind his back, the father-in-law ordered, "Carry Old Master Wen into the jail."
"Yes, my lord."
The children in the cell listened intently and realized something was amiss. They all got up and approached the cell door, staring longingly at the person on the stretcher.
Third Uncle and Third Brother hurriedly got up and stood by the prison door.
Uncle San's hands were clenched tightly at his sides, his tendons bulging.
The third brother gripped the fence with both hands, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead bulging.
Ren helped Old Madam Wen up, while Wenwen held her grandmother's hand, leaning against the middle railing, staring nervously at the cell.
The other women and children all craned their necks to look into the cubicle with concern.
When her father-in-law stood in front of the prison gate, Wenwen clutched the hem of her clothes, her eyes filled with tears, and timidly said, "Uncle, could you put my grandfather here? We want to be closer to him. Thank you, Uncle."
After she finished speaking, she gave her father-in-law a smile.
The grandmother made a prayer, saying, "Thank you for your help, sir."
The head eunuch looked at the women, then at the men, and after a moment, he gave instructions to several guards.
"Place the person in the middle of the railing."
After the guards put the person down, the eunuch didn't say a word or even give them a glance before turning and leaving.
Shouts from the Wen family members rose up.
"master…"
"Father…"
"grandfather…"
……
No matter how much people call for it.
Grandpa Wen didn't react.
At this moment, Old Master Wen, Wenwen's grandfather, the old general who stabilized the country of Zhongzhao Kingdom, had a white cloth tied around his forehead, bloodstains on the front of his clothes, a pale face, and weak breathing. You could not see the rise and fall of his chest unless you looked closely.
Uncle and Third Brother each held Old Master Wen's hand.
Grandmother reached over the railing and patted Grandfather's arm, softly calling, "Grandpa, Grandfather, wake up..."
Grandfather remained unresponsive.
The whole family was anxiously waiting around.
At that moment, a calm, low voice rang out among the crowd.
"Mother, I'll give it a try."
Second Aunt pulled an inconspicuous wooden hairpin from her hair, twisted it, and a gap appeared at the end of the hairpin. She pulled out a thin needle from it and squatted down near the railing.
"Third brother, press on Father's philtrum. Sanlang, press on your grandfather's left hand here."
"Sister-in-law, please sit with Mother for a while."
"Chunyan, take the children and stand to the side."
My second aunt calmly explained everything, and her composure offered everyone a sense of comfort.
Wenwen's second aunt, Ye Jingyi, is the second daughter of the Ye family, a renowned family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in the south. She has been exposed to traditional Chinese medicine from a young age and is proficient in the basics of observation, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation.
My second aunt looked focused, her eyes slightly sharp. She held the needle in her right hand and grasped my grandfather's right hand with her left. She found the acupoint, inserted the needle precisely, and rotated the needle back and forth with her thumb and forefinger, slowly and carefully inserting and withdrawing the needle.
Soon after, beads of sweat appeared on my second aunt's forehead.
Gradually, Grandfather's complexion improved, his breathing became stronger, and his chest rose and fell more.
My second aunt finished her acupuncture treatment. "Mother, Father's head injury is severe, and his old wound has flared up again. Your daughter-in-law can only... can only do her best..."
After her second aunt finished speaking, she lowered her head and dared not look directly at her grandmother.
"Sigh... I understand, Mother understands. I'm sorry to trouble you, Second Daughter-in-law. You should rest for a while."
Grandmother looked somber and silently wept beside grandfather.
The cell fell silent.
Wenwen sensed her family's emotions: bewilderment, confusion, fear, and anger.
She herself was no exception. Faced with her family's sorrow and her grandfather's health condition, and thinking of her fate in her previous life, a trace of hatred suddenly arose in her heart. This hatred took root, sprouted, and slowly grew.
Wenwen felt the sapling of hatred growing, trying to absorb her blood and bone to grow. Her chest ached more and more. Just as the tree was about to burst out of her chest, a flame suddenly rose from the bottom of her heart. The flame grew bigger and bigger, and in an instant, it burned the towering tree to ashes, leaving only a section of gray-black trunk that stood straight into the sky.
This sudden change caused Wenwen to tremble all over, her face to turn pale, and her whole body to burn with fever. The pain made her grip her grandmother's hand tightly, causing her to suddenly collapse beside her grandmother.
Her unusual behavior greatly worried her grandmother.
"Wen'er, Wen'er, what's wrong with you~~~~ Second son's wife, come quickly and see Wen'er, is she having another relapse? Oh dear, heavens~~~~ What's happening to the Wen family~~~"
In an instant, the prison was filled with cries and screams, as everyone's suppressed fear was magnified at this moment.
Wenwen had all her senses, but she couldn't move her whole body. She watched her grandmother anxiously praying to Buddha, watched her second aunt trying to calmly give her acupuncture, watched her mother crying anxiously, and watched her brothers and sisters looking distressed. She wished she could get up immediately and tell them: she's alright.
But she can't do it; she can't even move her eyeballs now.
I wonder if Xianbao can explain all of this.
Wenwen steeled her heart, closed her eyes, and ignored the cries from inside the cell; she was going to go in and ask.