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.
At the beginning of the banquet, Lu Qingshi, accompanied by Gu Song, came out and showed his courtesy as the main character of the night. He met with a few people he had to meet and greeted him. He also expressed his gratitude with politeness and thoughtfulness before leaving the venue with Gu Song's support.
After all, the Lu family still had to entertain the guests. No matter how unwilling the older brothers were, they could only force themselves not to give their youngest brother a hard time.
Gu Song made proper arrangements in advance, and after turning half of the circle, Lu Qingshi's spirit was still good. Although supported by Gu Song, his footsteps were steady, and he was always wearing a gentle smile, which was quite different from the impression of sickness in many people's hearts.
The banquet was self-service. The carefully prepared dishes were placed in different areas, and guests could choose freely, or let the waiter prepare something that suited their tastes.
Regardless of the original purpose, the banquet held by this level of the family would always become a semi-political social banquet.
The people who were qualified to attend were all rich or noble, thus the use of such a relaxed occasion to socialize had long become an invisible rule. Although the main protagonist left the scene early, remembering the rumors about the Youngest Master of the Lu family being sickly and weak, no one expressed even a half-objection.
"Youngest master, look again. There is really nothing you like?"
With his arms firmly holding the thin back, the heartbeat coming from the chest was fairly stable. Gu Song was relieved and joked with him. "I have to do homework late at night, and it's easy to get hungry…"
He didn't use the word homework to cover up a deeper meaning. On the contrary, it emphasized it. The deeper meaning was given away by the deep blush that crept up his face.
Lu Qingshi pursed his lips, his black and white eyes feigning anger at him but was met with a smile by the mischievous servant who was well-prepared. The quiet black pupils steadily accepted the small glare thrown by the eyes of the Youngest Master, and a big smile bloomed on his face.
No idea if it's the habit of being forced out by those elder brothers. Gu Song had always been firm in front of other people and kept a well-behaved servant facade, but he always spared no effort to tease his Youngest Master verbally. Though the teasing would never overwork the Youngest Master, the threat of all thunder but not rain taught the Youngest Master a lesson that would stay in his memory for a long time.
Over the past few years, Lu Qingshi had calmed down a lot under his constant teasing, but he was still flustered and his heart skipped a beat if he didn't pay attention, and he couldn't even say a word in reply.
Gu Song liked to tease him but never neglected his duty to take care of him in the slightest. While smiling and coaxing the Youngest Master who half-heartedly ignored him to talk, he followed Lu Qingshi's gaze with much attention and noted down the dishes the gaze lingered longer, planning to ask someone to send them over later.
Lu Qingshi's stomach was always filled with medicine. Even if there was something he liked to eat, he could only take a few bites at most, and he couldn't even taste it properly.
The Youngest Master was too sensible. He always felt eating a few bites while being unable to taste them was too wasteful. Gradually, he no longer took the initiative to eat, and he only said he didn't like it when he was asked.
Several older brothers took turns to solve this problem, but they couldn't change his mind. Gu Song accompanied him all day so he could understand his thoughts almost at a glance. He never asked him, instead he just fed him and had never missed which taste the Youngest Master liked.
The pinkish tint on Lu Qingshi's face had not faded yet. He was still determined not to pay attention to Gu Song easily and kept walking. After a few steps, his eyes couldn't help but get attracted by a plate of ice cream.
It was prepared as an after-dinner dessert and placed in a white air-freezer. It's just a very simple style, and it didn't look very smooth and delicate. There were also small shiny ice shards, piled softly into hills. A rich milky fragrance was circulating the place, attracting people's attention.
Lu Qingshi wasn't forbidden to eat ice cream. He just needed to refrain from eating a lot so as not to hurt his spleen and stomach. It's just that the ice cream that he usually had was carefully made by the chef at home. The shape was exquisite and the taste was adjustable. He was used to it. On the contrary, he missed the most common "civilian food".
Noticing that the Youngest Master's gaze was locked onto the ice cream, Gu Song raised his eyebrows slightly and calmly took a note about that. He was about to help him walk back but noticed that Lu Qingshi's footsteps seemed to stop.
"Youngest Master, are you not feeling well?"
The Youngest Master would often become dizzy from time to time so Gu Song immediately put away his relaxed mind, leaned down to hold the person steady, and raised his hand to check his wrist pulse.
Lu Qingshi shook his head. He removed Gu Song's concerned hand gently and his eyes fell behind him. "Someone called you."
"Called me?"
Go Song vaguely heard someone greeting him, but he didn't realize that he would be called by someone else. He was slightly startled. Staring at the unexpectedly calm light and shadow in the black eyes, he frowned slightly. "Youngest Master, do I have to go?"
"It's the ninth prince of the Aowei royal family, it's hard to ignore him."
After all, the plot still had to continue. Lu Deng gently smiled towards him and waved his hand. "Go, I'll be waiting for you here."
Vaguely feeling that the Youngest Master was hiding something, Gu Song paused and his eyes fell into those extraordinarily clear and quiet black eyes, before nodding slightly. "Okay, Youngest Master, please wait here. Don't run around."
"I'll be standing here. You can see me when you look back."
Lu Deng nodded, his eyes crossed with this world's protagonist who hastily turned away for a moment, and smiled at the lofty and straight figure beside him and shook his hand.
The warm touch settled along the palm lines, and Gu Song's expression relaxed. He let go of his hand after a while and walked quickly towards the unattended ninth prince.
Lu Deng watched his back getting further and further away, his heart jumping slightly.
"Host, we can keep them out of contact!"
Over the years, the system had been looking over at its host feeling uncomfortable with its own eyes. As a result, it had been completely derailed and turned into a bombardment party, and anxiously said, "The last time the host bought insurance for the collapse of character and it has not been used up, and now there is still time for another collapse!"
"It's ok..."
Lu Deng had become dazed for a moment. He frowned his eyebrows to collect his mind, turning the conversation away. "The approach mentioned before, how many more experience points are needed?"
In today's episode, the protagonist Antonio would crash through everything by mistake, got into a heated argument with Lu Feng, and would tell everything to Gu Song, who was the main character.
According to the old plot, Gu Song would completely turn against the Lu family after getting everything and try to escape with the support of the protagonist.
The consequences of this brain exchange technology were too terrible. Even in the interstellar world, it was explicitly forbidden to study. According to the secret research, only when the two parties had been together for many years, and the mental fluctuations and physical frequencies were fully compatible, could the exchange be successful. Once Gu Song escaped, everything would be in vain, and that's why the Lu family took the risk recklessly.
Lu Deng certainly wouldn't let this happen.
The main line of the plot was to smoothly make the ninth prince reach the pinnacle of life. The changes in the Lu family were an important part of the fall of the second prince. This level of change wouldn't completely shake the main plot and may cause more bumps in the protagonist's path, but as long as the plot was corrected in time, everything would be back on track.
It's not like he can't buy the world when it's really impossible to do so.
The system paused for a second and immediately reported the calculated results to him. "The host needs 50,000 experience points to change the plot branch line, but triggering the plot branch change under the OOC persona, it will only need 3,000 experience points with the previous insurance claim!"
For a while, he couldn't think of what could be considered a plot change under OOC. Lu Deng was groaning in frustration when an arrogant figure in Chinese clothes suddenly walked towards him from a distance.
Lu Deng was a bit startled and raised his head to look, frowning slightly.
It turned out that at this banquet, the second prince supported by the Lu family also came.
The plot synopsis didn't include trivial things and he also didn't see the narrative about the second prince, indicating that the other party didn't contribute much to the original plot.
The escalating stream of villains supporting characters mostly didn't have much of a clear head, and they could easily become a stepping stone for the protagonist. He was afraid the second prince in front of him was also a representative of one of them.
Lu Deng didn't intend to have too much of an intersection with him. He staggered his gaze and wanted to leave, but the second prince quickly walked around in front of him and stopped him with interest. "The little sick child of the Lu family?"
"His Royal Highness."
At least now, Lu Jiaming still belonged to the other party's forces so Lu Deng gave a salute to the other. After that, he was about to step back but was blocked by an arm.
Lu Deng raised his head, his warm eyes showing a clear and polite estrangement. The second prince had already squinted his eyes with interest, teasingly pulled the ribbon around his neck, raised his hand, and touched his face.
"Your eldest brother guards you tightly. It turns out that you are such a good-looking one… You look really good. Go play with me? You haven't been out to play yet…"
"Host, get out of the way! I'll electrify him!"
The original plot's Lu Qingshi was already so sick that he could only get in and out by wheelchair. He had a thorny predisposition and made a big and unpleasant scene at the banquet. Naturally, he wouldn't be targeted by this foolish and wilful second prince.
Although it had tried to hint its host about the incoming molestation, it stayed quiet since this could cause the Lu Family and the second prince to turn against each other, thus turning the plot back to the mainline. But after witnessing this scene with its own eyes, the system was still furious and almost pulled out its own electric whip.
Although Lu Deng didn't have much strength on his body now, it wasn't that difficult to clean up a trash prince who had been hollowed out by alcohol. Hearing the words, he smiled and answered it patiently in his mind, "It doesn't matter, I'll do it myself—"
Before the thought could become reality, there was already a figure at his side. As soon as the second prince's hand touched Lu Qingshi's cheek, he was immediately grabbed by his collar and thrown out.
The deafening sound of collision attracted the attention of many people in a blink of an eye. Lu Deng raised his head in surprise and said softly, "Third Brother…"
Lu Nanxing rubbed his brother's head, greeted his father and elder brother who hurriedly rushed over, and calmly raised his head and complained, "Dad, eldest brother, someone is bullying the youngest brother."
...
The banquet hall was in turmoil. The second prince was smashed into the dessert shelf. Antonio picked up the ice-cream tray, not letting his own, boring, good-for-nothing second brother spill it all over.
Looking at the father and sons of the Lu family, after confirming the matter, trying to expel the second prince without ceremony, the ninth prince, who was sent to make friends, frowned tightly. He stopped Gu Song from hurrying to go. His eyes showed some hatred and anger.
"Why haven't you seen it clearly?! They can do anything for that little guy, even if they are at odds with the royal family—"
Only halfway through the words, he felt something was wrong and hastily stopped talking. He lowered his voice, "What I said to you is true! They are really planning to give your body to the Youngest Master Lu, not the good kind of give ... you are going to die!"
"It's not that I haven't seen it clearly yet. It's His Royal Highness who hasn't figured out my position until now."
This statement was obviously even more strange.
Gu Song smiled helplessly and confirmed first that the Youngest Master was well guarded. He then stopped, turned his gaze back to the ninth prince. He was silent for a moment and spoke very softly.
"Even if I die, I will be able to help the Youngest Master and let him live a healthy and carefree life… That would be my luck."
Of course, he knew that the Lu family had this plan. Even if the situation in the training ground three years ago couldn't be grasped at that moment, it wasn't difficult to understand what was going on after a little thought.
He even went to Lu Jueming quietly afterwards and asked him if he had a way to achieve this. But Lu Jueming strictly forbade him to bring up this idea, and no one in the family mentioned it again.
——If there is such an opportunity, the only reason that hinders him from doing it may be that he is afraid that his Youngest Master will be angry with him.
Antonio held the ice cream tub, stunned in place. No matter how much he thought, he couldn't believe there would really be someone so selfless. Watching him turn around and leave, he couldn't help but try again. "But have you ever thought ... that maybe they are deliberately nice to you?! Intentionally confuse you, then domesticate you, and then let you die ..."
After all, they were still in the land of the Lu family. His voice was raised for a moment and then lowered, watching the figure gradually stop and turn his steps and walk back towards him.
No one should be used as a sacrificial lamb for nothing, and it wasn't wrong to stop this.
Antonio looked up at him. Gu Song walked towards him and leaned over. "His Royal Highness is wrong."
His expression seemed to be recalling something from the very long past. The soft and warm temperature flicked across his eyebrows bit by bit as if he cherished it at the bottom of his heart, and there was a little nostalgic smile in the depth of his eyes.
"Thirteen years ago…I saw him for the first time in the snow. When I knew he was my Youngest Master, my life was already dead-set on him."
Antonio couldn't understand, and stared at him dumbfounded.
Gu Song smiled politely at him, took the whole bowl of ice cream from his arms while nodding slightly in thanks, and hurried back.
His Youngest Master still has to eat.