Chapter 16: The Cost Of Drawing

After Lu Zijin finished drawing from her, she saw that Wei Lan was truly about to fall asleep.

She lightly tapped Wei Lan’s nose with her fingertip.

When Wei Lan opened her eyes, Lu Zijin brushed aside the hair on the right side of her own neck and said, “Bite.”

Wei Lan propped herself up and, somewhat exhausted, leaned forward and pressed her lips down, slowly passing her scent to Lu Zijin.

Only after a long while did she finally stop.

“Is that enough?”

Wei Lan asked softly, her voice gentle and languid.

Seeing that Wei Lan was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open, Lu Zijin found her rather adorable.

She was just about to reach out and pinch Wei Lan’s cheek to tease her when she heard Wei Lan speak again.

“You can get off me now, right, I’m going back to sleep, I’m too tired,” Wei Lan said directly, showing no desire at all to linger with her.

Lu Zijin’s expression cooled, and her voice turned icy as well.

“Alright, then go.”

Lu Zijin got off Wei Lan.

Wei Lan did not even look at her.

She sat up, put on her shoes, and then slipped back into her outer robes.

Without turning her head, she yawned and said, “I’m going back to sleep, Madam, do as you please.”

With that, Wei Lan walked out with half-lidded eyes.

She had expended a great deal of her scent, and she could barely keep her eyes open as she walked.

Fortunately, several maids were accompanying her.

When they returned to Fuqu Courtyard, Wei Lan entered her bedroom, took off her outer clothes, and collapsed straight onto the bed.

By the time she woke again, it was already evening.

She pushed herself up and sat there for a moment before remembering that she was now in ancient times.

Wei Lan called out toward the outside, telling the maids to light the lamps.

Before long, maids brought in dishes from the kitchen.

Wei Lan ate quite a bit, yet still felt extremely tired.

Something felt off.

After eating, she took out the book she had previously read about Qianyuan and Kunze in this world and studied it carefully.

Only then did she discover that during the rain-and-dew period, Qianyuan and Kunze were best off exchanging scents so that neither side would feel exhausted and their emotions could be soothed.

But in her case, it was clearly one-sided.

She was being drained alone, while Lu Zijin had not returned any of her own scent.

Wei Lan thought about it for a moment.

Perhaps Lu Zijin simply did not want to.

After all, she herself was nothing more than a kept worker living off someone else.

Each month, she had to let Lu Zijin draw from her for several days in exchange for her fifty taels of silver.

She sighed and prepared to go back to bed to catch up on sleep and recover her strength.

A Kunze’s rain-and-dew period lasted three to four days, and she might very well be drained again tomorrow.

She had to be prepared.

This time, Wei Lan slept straight through until nearly noon the next day.

She finally felt somewhat better.

After calling for a meal, she ate a little and planned to continue resting.

If she went back to carving jade now, she was afraid her body would not be able to take it.

She slept until the hour of Shen.

When she woke again, it was the sound of knocking outside that roused her.

Wei Lan opened her eyes, her voice hoarse as she said, “Who is it?”

“Master, it is this servant, the young lady sent me to ask you to come over,” Qing Zhi’s voice came from outside.

Wei Lan yawned.

She truly had no energy.

She pushed herself up and had someone prepare water.

After washing briefly, she changed into clean inner garments and outer robes before getting ready to head out.

Lu Zijin liked cleanliness, and she did not want to be disliked for going over without changing.

Thinking about it, eating soft rice really was not easy.

Wei Lan walked out of the room, glanced at Qing Zhi, and said, “Let’s go.”

Seeing that Wei Lan did not look well, Qing Zhi asked, “Master, are you feeling unwell?”

“It’s nothing, I just feel a bit tired, let’s go, once it’s done I’ll come back and keep sleeping,” Wei Lan replied as she stepped forward.

“Yes,” Qing Zhi answered, leading the maids to follow behind her.

On the way to Jingchen Courtyard, Wei Lan encountered the Lu household’s head of guards.

Wei Lan did not know who he was.

The guard leader cast a cold glance at Wei Lan and, after a long moment, perfunctorily called out, “Master.”

Before Wei Lan could speak, he turned and smiled at Qing Zhi instead, as though Qing Zhi’s status was higher than Wei Lan’s.

“Greetings, Miss Qing Zhi, did the young lady send you out on an errand?”

Cao Qiushuang asked.

Qing Zhi glanced at Wei Lan before nodding.

“Yes, the young lady invited the Master to come over.”

The smile on Cao Qiushuang’s face faded.

He swept his gaze over Wei Lan a few times, disdain clear in his eyes.

“In that case, Master, you should hurry over, we still have matters to attend to.”

Wei Lan naturally noticed the hostility.

She spoke bluntly.

“What, do you have a problem with me, I am the Master of this household, I am standing right here and you are already chatting idly with others, is that appropriate?”

Seven or eight guards followed behind Cao Qiushuang.

He was tall and broad, likely around one meter eighty-five.

He lowered his gaze to look at Wei Lan and smiled.

“Master, fooling others is one thing, don’t fool yourself too, we still have work to do and no time to chat idly with you.”

With that, Cao Qiushuang turned away and said to the guards behind him, “Let’s go.”

The guards followed him without hesitation.

From beginning to end, no one spared Wei Lan a second glance.

Wei Lan was so angry she laughed.

So her status in the Lu household was even worse than a servant’s.

She could cooperate with Lu Zijin, since she was being paid, but being looked down on by others like this was something she could not tolerate.

“Stop,” Wei Lan said coldly.

Cao Qiushuang did not even turn his head.

He waved his hand casually and said, “My apologies, Master, we still have household matters to deal with and are not as idle as you.”

“So this is how little regard you have for me,” Wei Lan stared coldly at his retreating figure.

Qing Zhi hurriedly said from the side, “Commander Cao has always been like this, he grew up in the household and is rather arrogant, when the young lady’s health improves, this servant will report today’s matter to her.”

Wei Lan already felt unwell, and after being angered like this, she felt even worse.

Still, she gritted her teeth and said, “Let’s go first, I’m not feeling well.”

They were already very close to Jingchen Courtyard, and Wei Lan did not want to make another round trip.

“Yes,” Qing Zhi answered quickly.

After walking for quite a while, they finally arrived at Jingchen Courtyard.

Upon entering the courtyard, Qing Zhi hurried to knock on the door.

“Let her come in.”

“Yes, young lady.”

With Lu Zijin’s permission, Wei Lan entered the room.

Over the past few days, she had been drained too many times.

After each time, she had not rested immediately and still had to walk half an hour back to her residence.

Even with later rest, her body still could not quite handle it.

At this moment, Wei Lan barely had the strength to speak.

Like a machine, she mechanically walked to the clothes rack, took off her outer robes, and then lifted the bed curtains.

Lu Zijin reclined there, waiting.

When she saw Wei Lan’s complexion, her brows furrowed slightly.

“Why does your face look so bad, are you sick?”

Wei Lan shook her head.

“Probably not, I’m just too tired, hurry and finish drawing from me, I want to go back and sleep.”

She obediently lay down and closed her eyes.

She had no energy and no desire to talk.

The more Lu Zijin looked, the more something felt wrong.

She sighed, reached out, and touched the side of Wei Lan’s face.

Only then did she realize that Wei Lan was running a fever.

Lu Zijin looked toward the outside and called, “Go fetch Deng Jin.”

“Yes,” the maid outside responded and immediately went to summon him.

“You’re burning up, it seems you have a fever, I’ve sent someone to call the physician to check your pulse,” Lu Zijin said as she reached out and tore off the medicinal patch on the right side of Wei Lan’s neck.

The faint scent of new snow drifted out, and Lu Zijin felt a little better.

She touched Wei Lan’s forehead again.

It was scorching hot.

She then said to the maid outside, “Prepare a basin of cool water and soak a cloth, bring it to me.”

“Yes, young lady.”

The person outside was Yun Xiang.

She had another maid bring the basin in, soaked the cloth herself, and stood respectfully by the bed.

“Lift the bed curtains first,” Lu Zijin instructed.

“Yes.”

The little maid beside Yun Xiang quickly lifted the curtains and tied them back on both sides with silk cords.

Yun Xiang looked up and saw Wei Lan lying on the outer side of the bed with her eyes closed.

She glared fiercely at Wei Lan but said nothing.

She could not understand it.

Even if scents needed to be exchanged, the young lady should not have allowed such a useless person to lie on the bed.

“Give me the cloth,” Lu Zijin said.

Yun Xiang handed it over.

She and the other two maids stood aside as Lu Zijin took the cloth and wiped Wei Lan’s forehead.

Yun Xiang finally could not hold back.

“Young lady, let this servant do it, these rough tasks are not something you are used to.”

Lu Zijin did not look at her.

She touched the side of Wei Lan’s face again.

It was still hot.

Lu Zijin frowned slightly.

The Qianyuan she had married back was good in every way, except that her body seemed rather weak.

It was only the third day of her rain-and-dew period, and she already could not endure it.

She thought that in the future, she should let Wei Lan eat more and properly nourish her body.

Moreover, Wei Lan had developed a fever, yet the people in her courtyard did not even know.

Clearly, they had not been taking proper care of her.

These servants needed to be dealt with.

As these thoughts ran through her mind, she continued wiping Wei Lan down to cool her fever.

Yun Xiang stood to the side with her hands clenched tightly, wishing she could throw Wei Lan straight out of the room.

But remembering her last reprimand, she could only endure it in silence.