The first time in history

Chapter 179 Another Lu Xiucai

The curtain of the bed was drawn open, and Li Shishi's face was still a little pale.

"Why don't you lie down on the bed?" Qian Mingduo stepped forward to support her, "Do you feel better?"

Li Shishi nodded slightly, leaning back on the armchair. Her hair was not tied up and was a little messy.

"Although you are sick," Qian Mingduo couldn't help but praise, "but you are still so beautiful!"

"You're kidding!" Li Shishi smiled, "I haven't washed myself for two days. I'm already unkempt."

Qian Mingduo sat down by the stove and asked, "Have you ever heard of this saying?"

"What?" Li Shishi asked curiously.

"Although she is disheveled, she is still a beauty!" Qian Mingduo said lightly.

Li Shishi closed her eyes and shook her head. "I am old and ugly. I am no longer a beauty."

Qian Mingduo squatted in front of Li Shishi and looked at her seriously. "Don't be so self-deprecating. In my eyes, your beauty cannot be easily erased by time. You are like a flower that never withers. You always exude unique charm at all times."

Li Shishi opened her eyes and smiled bitterly, "You are overpraising me. I am just a sick person now. My beauty is gone, so how can I be charming?"

Qian Mingduo curled his lips and said, "Your beauty is not limited to your appearance. Your talent, your temperament, and your gentleness are all intoxicating. Even in this sick state, you still have a moving quality that makes people pity you."

Li Shishi lowered her head and said, "Don't say those words anymore. I'm just an ordinary woman, I don't deserve your praise."

"What should I call you?" Qian Mingduo stood up and said.

"My last name is... Wang." Li Shishi said softly, but her eyes glanced at Qian Mingduo unnaturally.

Qian Mingduo nodded, "Miss Wang!" He poured the medicine in the pot into a small bowl and stirred it gently with a small porcelain spoon. "What's your name, Miss Wang?"

"I have forgotten my name?" Li Shishi said calmly.

"If I say... I still remember your name, will it scare you?" Qian Mingduo brought the bowl of medicine to Li Shishi.

Li Shishi took the medicine bowl and smiled. "I don't even know my own name, how can you know it?"

"The girl's surname is Wang, right?" Qian Mingduo asked.

Seeing that Li Shishi nodded slightly, "Then should I call the young lady... Wang Shishi?"

Li Shishi's hand holding the medicine bowl trembled a little, she quickly glanced at Qian Mingduo, and slowly put the medicine bowl on the table.

"Thank you for taking care of me these days. I will repay you." Li Shishi sat up straight and said with an extremely serious expression: "Please go back."

Qian Mingduo smiled and sat on another armchair. He took off his right shoe, curled up his legs, and stepped on the chair with his heels. "Although the lady's surname is Wang, she later changed her surname to Li, so I should call her Li Shishi!"

Li Shishi's expression suddenly changed, and she looked at Qian Mingduo. There was a hint of panic and vigilance in her eyes, which then turned into a slightly nervous calmness.

"How do you know?" After a long silence, Li Shishi asked softly.

Qian Mingduo sighed, "First of all, please don't worry. I will never tell anyone about you. Please rest assured about this."

He walked to the cabinet, thought for a while, and took out the papers written to Li Shishi and gently placed them on the table.

Li Shishi closed her eyes and sighed, "I know I shouldn't keep these things, and I know they might put me in danger. But..."

"But you can't bear to leave!" Qian Mingduo sat down slowly. "You may miss those glorious years, but that was indeed the most brilliant chapter in your life.

Those words and paintings are the praises of others for your talent and beauty, and also the testimony of that era. Your former brilliance is indelible. ""

Qian Mingduo paused and said, "High officials, talented scholars, and even the emperor are all obsessed with your beauty and talent. Your legend will leave a deep mark in history."

Li Shishi smiled faintly.

"Why does Miss Li live in seclusion in this shabby village?"

"I moved here last autumn." Li Shishi took a sip of medicine. "The two emperors were captured by the Jin people, and Bianjing has become an abandoned capital. Although some people wanted me to follow them. However, I was tired of the life in the red-light district, so I lived in seclusion in Yingtian Prefecture."

After taking the last sip of the medicine, he said, "I bought a small courtyard in the city and lived with a maid. But before long, some rogues would come to harass me. Some dignitaries would come to visit me again and again."

Li Shishi sighed softly, "When I found out that it was my personal maid who told these people where I lived and exchanged it for some silver, I asked a former sister to find this small courtyard around Lin'an Prefecture. At the end of autumn last year, I moved here alone."

"The girl did a very meticulous job." Qian Mingduo smiled.

"Meticulous! How do you mean?"

Qian Mingduo smiled and said, "I guess the young lady's sister must be living in Lin'an Prefecture and must be living a pampered life."

Li Shishi nodded. "How did you know that?"

"It's very simple. A poor man like me, the girl wouldn't ask her for help. And..." Qian Mingduo looked at Li Shishi, "The reason why I said the girl was meticulous is because the girl's sister would not tell anyone where the girl lives."

Li Shishi smiled and asked, "Why?"

"The young lady's sister will tell their master that the young lady is living in seclusion here," Qian Mingduo shook his head. "I think the master will definitely find a way to see the young lady. The three words "Li Shishi" are enough to make him yearn for her endlessly."

Qian Mingduo paused, "So the girl's sister will not tell others that the girl is living in seclusion here. In this way... no one will disturb the girl's peace. So, the girl is very meticulous!"

Li Shishi looked at Qian Mingduo with curiosity, "You seem to have become a different person these days."

"What did I look like before?" Qian Mingduo smiled crookedly.

"A few days ago, that rascal was also outside my door, fiddling with the bolt with a knife. You also discovered him, but you... were so scared by his words that you ran back into the house and closed the door." Li Shishi glanced at Qian Mingduo.

"But this time, you beat him away, and also beat his older brother away. It seems like you have mastered martial arts overnight. And...and you have become much braver."

"You might be talking about another Mr. Lu." Qian Mingduo said embarrassedly.

"When I first came here last year, I asked you to buy some persimmons for me, but you..." Li Shishi smiled with her hands covering her mouth, "You looked so stingy. I've already eaten your persimmons twice for free this year, how come you suddenly become so generous?"