Chapter 247, Falling ill

After finishing the calligraphy, Zhuyun has been lying on the bed. Gao Ziang picked up a silk handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from her forehead. His eyes became even gentler as he looked at Zhuyun: "Silly girl, I am not worth your efforts."
"I know why you say that. You already have someone you love the most, and everything I do may not be reciprocated." Zhu Yun gently flipped her body, "I don't want any more in return either. Tonight, for you to come over and accompany me to spend a wonderful night, I am already very satisfied."
高子昂看她脸色苍白，便倒了杯水，端到她眼前来：“喝口水吧。”
"Thank you, master."
Zhuyun struggled to get up, feeling a strong dizziness. Just as Gao Ziang was about to help her, Zhuyun smiled and said, "Master, I'm fine."
As soon as she finished speaking, she took the cup and drank the whole glass of water. After sitting for a moment, she finally regained her spirits. She stood up and said, "Master, let's go to the private room to talk."
Gao Ziang was very confused. He had always hoped to come to her room, but now he denied himself. He decided not to dwell on this anymore and just focused on the fact that she had just finished writing. He advised her, "Take a rest, your body is still weak."
She waved her hand and said, "Young master, there's no need. I know you came to Qinfang Pavilion this time and will be leaving soon." In fact, she had an implicit message that she didn't want him to leave from her room, but she didn't say it in front of Gao Ziang.
Zhujun tidied up her clothes and pulled Gao Ziang back into the elegant room. The two sat down, and Zhujun busily poured wine into the cups. Just as she picked up a cup, Gao Ziang snatched it from her hand.

He poured another glass of water and said, "You just finished writing, so don't drink alcohol. Just have some water."
"Are you here for entertainment? How can you not drink?"
"Keep me company and talk with me."
"Okay, I can tell that you're not in a good mood. People like me are just a form of entertainment for wealthy people like you when they're not feeling good."

"You don't have to underestimate yourself."
"Master, you are still good. If it was someone else, they wouldn't treat us as decent people. They would just abuse us, and then give us a few pieces of silver to send us away."
To speak, but not know what to say. Zhujun sat quietly beside him, watching him drink glass after glass of strong liquor.
At this moment, Zhujun really wanted to know Gao Ziang's opinion of her, and even wanted to know if he had any favorable feelings towards her. She asked, "Young master, you rarely come to such pleasure establishments. This is only the second time. I want to know, why did you call for me?"
Gao Ziang stared at her for a while and said, "You are very beautiful."
Zhu Yun deeply understood the mindset of passionate men like Gao Ziang. "You must think I'm pitiful, falling into the mortal world," she sighed faintly, "I will forever be worthy of your pity, but not of your love."
Gao Zi'ang did not respond to her words.
"I really envy Li Wanning, I really envy the two sisters Li Wanying and Li Wanning. One of them married you legitimately, and the other one can receive your true love. Is it really determined by birth?"
Guo Ziang wanted to say something, but Zhu Yun spoke again: "I really envy Li Wanning's background. For a woman, her background determines her whole life. It can even change a person's nature. For example, women are naturally prone to crying. Li Wanning could cry and laugh freely from a young age, while I used to cry as a child, but soon discovered that no one cared or paid attention to my tears, so I gradually stopped crying. After falling into the world of dust and facing various men, tears became like a weapon, and I learned to cry again, but it was all fake tears. It wasn't until I met you, Young Master, that I rediscovered the true meaning of crying. Because you genuinely care about a woman's tears from the bottom of your heart, you make people uncontrollably yearn for more."
Gao Ziang pondered for a long time, turned his face, and said affectionately, "Zhu Jun, have you ever thought about leaving Qinfang Pavilion? Maybe it's not suitable for you here."
"If I leave Qinfang Pavilion, where can I go? You don't want me either."
"Are you content with being so vulgar?"
"Who would want to be bald when they have hair? What difference does not being content with being vulgar make?" A lonely expression appeared on Zhang Yujun's face.
"Poverty is not an excuse for moral degradation."
"Officials and businessmen collude, using courtesans as a cover for their dirty transactions. Power oppresses people, leaving no room for reason, and there is no daylight, how much cleaner is the outside world compared to ours! I escaped from the Qinfang Pavilion, but have I truly seen the daylight outside?"
"Yes, we really can't choose to go to a clean world. The world outside is not clean, but at least it's free."
Unable to resist, Zhuyun took a small sip of wine and said, "Young master, you have a clear contrast in your heart towards the women around you. Li Wannin is a level that I can never reach in my life. She not only doesn't bow down to money, but she can even maintain such a high moral ground as to regard money as worthless. The reason she can remain unaffected by all the glitter and glamour is because she's seen it all before and it has hurt her. If I had the same wealthy background as Li Wannin, if I had been exposed to luxury and splendor from a young age, and if I had been well-versed in literature, I would also treat gold and silver as insignificant and not become corrupt."
高子昂觉得竹筠说得不无道理，每个人都有每个人的活法吧。他没有再劝。
Zhu Yun's mind was always filled with the image of Wan Ning, and suddenly, Wang Pinhong's words came to mind as well, not to offend her, especially in front of the young master. So she said, "By the way, someone from the mansion delivered a message. I will listen to you and won't bother Li Wanning anymore."
She originally intended to follow the young master, but unexpectedly, because he always mentioned Wan Ning, Gao Ziang lost his mood and became even more depressed. Without the mood to stay in the Qinfang Pavilion any longer, he returned to the Gao Mansion in a sullen mood.
Back at Gaofu, he lay on the bed for a while, becoming more and more annoyed as his mind was filled with Wannin. Unable to calm down, he called Yi'er again and had several barrels of wine brought to his room, then started drinking.
"Young master, since you want to have a drink, why don't I invite young master Zhang Hanyu to come and accompany you? Among these people, young master Zhang is the only reliable one."
"Forget it, it's getting late. You don't have to go. You just accompany me. If he comes, you won't have a chance to drink."
Yi'er thought it was a good opportunity to persuade him not to be angry with Miss Wan Ning. "Since Young Master esteemed her, I will follow your orders."
"Young Master, I know you have genuine feelings for Miss Wan Ning. But forgive me for speaking frankly, you are behaving a bit flustered right now. To reconcile with Wan Ning, you need to calm down first. Also, you must maintain a certain distance from other women, especially Zhu Yun. I believe Wan Ning is very sensitive, she knows about your feelings for Zhu Yun."
"How much do you dislike Zhu Yun?" Gao Ziang asked.
"Master, to tell the truth, Zhu Yun is very beautiful and somewhat pitiful. Plus, she keeps saying she likes you, so you will notice her. But when you ask this question, Yugui is not happy."
"Young master, why are you unhappy about my matters!"
"This is not just your matter, but also Miss Wan Ning's matter. Since you already have Miss Wan Ning, you shouldn't be going around enjoying yourself."
"What are you talking about? Am I the kind of person who would treat Wan Ning that way? It's ridiculous that you serve by my side every day and still can't see that I have emotions for Wan Ning, can't you?"
Because he was in his own room, Gao Ziang drank without restraint and got really drunk. Being drunk, in a dazed state, he only had one direction in mind, which was to go to Li Mansion.
Despite the opposition of his subordinates, he insisted on going to the Li's residence. As he walked halfway, there was a pouring rain from the sky. Yier thought that he was going to cause trouble at the Li's residence, so he forcefully brought back the drunken young master with a few henchmen.
Yi’er is very worried. Drinking and staying in the rain for a long time can make you sick.
As expected, the next morning, as soon as Gao Ziang woke up, Yi’er saw that his face was pale and he looked unenergetic. Yi’er asked, "Master, what's wrong with you?"
"Feeling dizzy and uncomfortable."
"Master, are you sick?"
"Young master, touching his forehead, felt that it was very hot. Just as he expected, he had really caught a cold from being drenched in the heavy rain."