The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

Translator: NovelMultiverse| Editor: thornling

Seeing Lin Dan with something in her hands, everyone showed curious expressions.

"Brother, this thing is called a wheelchair. I bought it at the Fuji Carpenter Shop. With it, I can push you out for walks." Lin Dan pushed the chair over in a flash with rare excitement in her voice.

Seeing her childlike joy, Xue Boyong also couldn't help but smile.

Madam Xue and Xue Jiming kept incessantly circling around that chair, praising it again and again, saying that the inventor of this thing was too brilliant, it was simply the salvation of the disabled.

The two guards behind Lin Dan had outstanding martial arts and keen hearing, and before they had even crossed the threshold into the courtyard, had heard Xue Jiming singing Wu Xuancao’s praises through the wall. They revealed: "We heard that this wheelchair was invented by Miss Wu. It has been sold at Xuancao Hall for several months already. If, as the second young master said, Miss Wu really put our general’s injury on her heart at all times, why didn’t she bring it up at all? Our general’s manor has money and would never take advantage of Miss Wu. If you brought a chair to us, did you think we wouldn’t pay for it? It can be seen that Miss Wu is busy with the affairs of the nobility and has forgotten such trivial matters."

The other guard added: "When Miss Lin went to Xuancao Hall to kneel three times, the old madam, madam, second young master, and even us servants also went to grovel to Miss Wu and beg for forgiveness. Miss Wu magnanimously expressed that all grievances were henceforth written off and that they should never be brought up again. So why did you turn around and forbid the doctors in your clinic from selling our household a wheelchair? When we tried to buy a wheelchair, we were even berated; they said that they would sell it to anyone but our Xue Manor and told us to hurry up and get lost. It can be seen that Miss Wu pretends to be generous on the surface, but secretly holds grudges. What concern, what treatment, we dare not expect anything from her and can only hope that Miss Wu will not stab the general in the back."

After the whole wheelchair fiasco, they had become skeptical about Wu Xuancao’s hypocrisy. How could they leave her to cozy up to the general? Lin Dan might have been too lazy to bother with her, but that didn’t mean that they would let a scheming person have free reign in Xiaofeng Pavilion.

"Is that true?" Before Xue Jiming even had time to respond, Madam Xue’s complexion had already changed.

"Of course it’s true, all the bystanders on the street are witnesses. We only went to Fuji Carpenter Shop after Xuancao Hall absolutely refused to sell to us." The two guards saluted.

Madam Xue shook with anger and turned to glare ferociously at Wu Xuancao. Xue Jiming subconsciously moved to block the accusatory gaze for his sweetheart, but gave her a look of disbelief.

Wu Xuancao’s whole face was a deep red, her eyes evasive, and she didn't know how to justify herself at all. Back at the border, Xue Boyong didn’t approve of her. He grounded Xue Jiming in the barracks and prohibited the two from having contact. Since then, she had held a grudge against this man. When she heard that Lin Dan caused him to become a paraplegic, she had even gloated for a while. How could she truly place his injury on her heart? Moreover, last time, at Xiaofeng Pavilion, she was severely scolded by Xue Boyong, so she was even more reluctant to have his best interests at heart just to be snubbed.

However, she could never say that out loud, so she could only hang her head, unable to defend herself: "I really forgot. Recently, the Su Prince's old illness has relapsed and I was ordered to go to his manor to treat it. I wanted to wait for his condition to stabilize before bringing the wheelchair over, but I didn’t realize that once it started I would be busy for more than half a month.”

"So, on the one hand, Miss Wu stayed up multiple nights to study the general's case, but on the other hand she was busy treating the Su Prince’s recurring illness. It must have been hard to manage everything on your plate. Miss Wu must have mastered the shadow clone technique and know how to split herself into multiple people. We wholeheartedly admire your skill." 

The two guards saluted and stepped down without saying anything else.

No matter how slow Madam Xue might be, she had to understand everything by now. Wu Xuancao didn't care about treating her son's legs at all. Otherwise, why would she have never mentioned a word about this type of wheelchair, the thing her son precisely needed the most? What discussing the diagnosis through the night, what painstakingly researched treatment plans, these were all words used to fool people, and only number two was perfectly happy to be deceived by her. And if she truly loved the second son, why didn’t she treat his relatives conscientiously?

Madam Xue's only ray of hope was completely replaced with disappointment. Were it not for Zheng Zhe still being posted at Xuancao Hall, she really wanted to chase this woman out! She forced herself to pull the corners of her lips and said, "Doctor Wu is indeed busy with the affairs of the nobility." After that, there was nothing else she wanted to say. What could she say? Did she have to grovel one more time for good measure? Facing someone who doesn’t have the heart, it doesn’t matter how many times you kneel in front of her; she will always be apathetic.

Seeing that his mother had become cold toward Wu Xuancao, Xue Jiming was somewhat anxious, and quickly pulled the other out for a private conversation. Before stepping out of the courtyard, Wu Xuancao glanced back at Lin Dan's study, a gloomy light flashing deep in her eyes.

Lin Dan couldn’t be bothered to take a single look at Wu Xuancao and Xue Jiming. She carried Xue Boyong onto the wheelchair and was engrossed in pushing him back and forth in the yard. When they went downhill, she would even stand on the footrest at the back of the chair and roll down together with him, her eyes flickering with an unadulterated, childlike light.

Xue Boyong looked up at her beautiful little face again and again, his eyes overflowing with tenderness. No matter how much commotion others made, the two of them seem to be in a world of their own, always happy together.

By the time Madam Xue came back to herself, the two had already had enough fun and were slowly making their way back.

"Brother, this armrest is too slippery to the touch. I’ll help you wrap a few strips of cloth around it. The bearing of the wheels must be oiled with tung oil, otherwise it will keep creaking and require a lot of effort to push. Brother, when you’re by yourself, don't get in and out of the wheelchair. Someone must be there to help support you, otherwise you might fall and hurt yourself." Lin Dan prattled endlessly while she fetched the cloth strips and tung oil.

Xue Boyong seemed to be expressionless, but in fact a smile was hidden deeply in his eyes.

Lin Dan finished messing with the wheelchair and continued to speak, "Brother, tell me what you want to eat tonight, I’ll cook it for you."

Xue Boyong immediately waved his hand: "No need to make anything else, there’s still leftover beef from lunch. Just have the cook heat it up. You spent all day outside, you must rest properly when you come home."

"Brother, I'm not tired. How about this, I’ll cut two radishes up and stew them with the beef. Winter radishes are called little ginseng, they’re very nourishing. Then I’ll boil some dumplings. I’ve already made the filling, so I just need to knead some dough. It’s very fast."

"That’s good too, just make it casually. Don’t tire yourself out." Xue Boyong instructed, not completely reassured.

Lin Dan agreed shortly and went. As soon as she entered the kitchen, she put on an apron and started to wash vegetables, cut vegetables, and knead dough, her every move neat and efficient. Madam Xue followed behind and took in her every move, her heart extremely touched. She remembered that in the past, it was unheard of for Lin Dan, this girl, to wash her hands and make the simplest soup. She had never even stepped into the kitchen. But now? She hears that she had since mastered the culinary arts as well as the feminine arts,* and had even been working hard to study medicine. All of these changes had been for the sake of taking care of her eldest son.

*needlework

If a person does not care in her heart, one can see it from her every move. Madam Xue thought that Lin Dan was heartless, but it turned out that she could change this much.

Madam Xue stood at the entrance to the kitchen and deeply sighed for a good while. Then she returned to Xiaofeng Pavilion and said to her son, "Boyong, with Lin Dan here to take care of you, mother can put her heart down."

Lin Dan and Wu Xuancao, she originally loathed both of them. But now, she saw Lin Dan in a different light, while her hatred of Wu Xuancao became deeper and deeper. If you’re unwilling to treat the injury, then don’t do it. Just don’t put on a face full of concern while doing cold and uncaring things. That was truly terrible.

Xue Boyong just smiled but didn’t say anything.

Madam Xue originally wanted to stay for dinner, but when she saw that Lin Dan only brought two sets of bowls and chopsticks, with measly portions, she could only drop the idea. What consideration and affection? This girl was still just as tactless as before!

Madam Xue had already been gone for a long while, when Lin Dan patted her forehead and said, "Wait, I forgot to make a portion for Madam!"

Xue Boyong chuckled and said: "Don’t worry, she doesn’t lack these two mouthfuls of food. You were outside practicing medicine today. How did it go?"

Lin Dan’s eyes lit up with a flash and she immediately became a chatterbox: "It went really well, I learned much more than when I was cooped up at home reading medical books. Although there were only some minor headaches and internal heat, but based on each patient’s situation, I still needed to formulate different treatment plans; it’s extremely interesting. For example, when people have phlegm, some have blockages from external negative energy, caused by gloomy emotions; some have stagnant and sluggish qi, caused by their diet and exhaustion; and some even have inner heat that coagulates their bodily fluids or cold and wet energy that congeals their bodily fluids. Different causes yet lead to the same symptoms, which requires doctors to accumulate enough experience to be able to pinpoint the true cause among the multitude of illnesses involving phlegm, then settle on a course of treatment. Learning medicine is really a huge undertaking; even if you spend your entire lifetime, it might not be enough to master it."

Xue Boyong looked at her eyes, brighter than ever before, and asked, "Do you like to practice medicine?"

"I like it!" Lin Dan nodded without the slightest hesitation.

Xue Boyong patted the table and said, "If you like it, just go do it. I will handle grandmother and mother. Don’t worry about them trying to stop you."

Lin Dan didn't worry at all, but she still nodded and said, "Thank you, brother."

Xue Boyong shook his head, his eyes extremely gentle. As long as the little girl really liked to practice medicine, he would support her to the end, not to cure himself, but to make her happy.

Carefree, the two talked for a while after dinner before they finally parted ways. As Xue Boyong was just about to go to bed, Xue Jiming burst into the room and stammeringly started to talk: "Brother, I'm sorry about the whole wheelchair situation. Xiao Cao’er and I went to Xuancao Hall to inquire about it. Turns out it was her two apprentices who made that decision by themselves and had nothing to do with her. She didn’t know anything about it. Those two apprentices had been beaten by Lin Dan before, so they did this out of resentment."

Xue Boyong interrupted him impatiently: "So are you trying to say that Lin Dan received the consequences due her actions? Whenever anything happens, you always put the blame on a woman. Are you still a man?"

Xue Jiming's face turned red, and he couldn’t say anything even after mumbling for half a day.

"Brother, I came to tell you that Lin Dan, that girl, has no shame! She even told grandmother that she would marry you! Be careful not to fall into her scheme. The only reason she said that was to keep the glory, status, and wealthy life of being a precious daughter in the Xue Manor. Don't be fooled! "

"Are you finished yet? If you’re done, you can get lost!" Xue Boyong looked cold and harsh, but his fingertips were faintly trembling.

When Xue Jiming saw that he was truly angry, he escaped the room.

The room quieted down. Xue Boyong wiped his face with shaking hands, the tips of his ears slowly turning red.