All Hail Cousin Brother

343 This Isn’t My Biological Brother, Right?

Song Mingzhao paid attention to the fire strength. When the cup was boiling, he picked up some tea and placed it into the teacup. “I’m worried that you’ll ruin this rare good thing.”

Even someone as gentle as Song Wanhui couldn’t help but feel angry. “I’ve also learned tea art since I was young. How can I ruin such a good thing?!”

Song Mingzhao pulled out the charcoal from time to time and did not speak.

The more Song Wanhui thought about it, the angrier she became. “You’re all brothers, but why is the difference so big? Not only does Yao Yao’s cousin know how to teach her calligraphy, studies, and zither skills, but he also knows how to make a fan and a zither for her. On Yao Yao’s tenth birthday, he even gave her a seal with a peach blossom stone. Second Miss Yu said that Cousin Zhou spent a lot of time carving it himself. Even her father praised it endlessly…”

!!

Song Mingzhao’s breathing slowed down slightly as he interrupted her. “It’s that cousin of the Yu Residence from Youzhou? The only young master in Youzhou?”

Song Wanhui was stunned again. She did not expect her brother to be interested in Cousin Zhou. “Yes, that’s him.”

Seeing the tea in the cup rolling up and down, the charcoal fire in Song Mingzhao’s furnace was pushed aside. “What’s his name?”

Song Wanhui subconsciously replied, “I think he’s called Zhou Linghuai!”

“He has a good relationship with the Eldest Miss of the Yu Residence?” The tea had already reached the boiling point. Song Mingzhao took a teacup and poured some tea into it.

After placing it there for a moment, he picked up his teacup and brought it to his nose to smell it. A faint smile appeared on his indifferent lips.

Clearly, he was very satisfied with the tea he had made.

Seeing that he was only focused on himself, Song Wanhui was so angry that she did not want to speak.

Indeed!

This wasn’t her biological brother, right?!

Song Mingzhao took a sip of the tea. There was a hint of sweetness in the bamboo fragrance, which complemented the medicinal bitterness in the tea. When it entered his mouth, there was a hint of bitterness. When it entered his throat, it was sweet and mellow. When it entered his stomach, he felt a fragrance seep into his body. When the tea entered his mouth, he felt a hint of sweetness in his mouth that he couldn’t wrap around.

Song Mingzhao glanced at his sister. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

As Song Wanhui sipped her tea, she said, “Yao Yao is very close to this cousin of hers. In short, she doesn’t leave him alone. Moreover, this cousin of hers is also a powerful person. I heard that not only is he a genius, but he’s also good at the zither, chess, books, and paintings. Yao Yao has a lot of calligraphy and paintings of the Zhou family’s cousin in her house. In a word, he’s superb. Unfortunately, his leg is broken…”

Song Mingzhao held his breath.

Then, he recalled the scene of Eldest Miss Yu standing under the Bodhi tree and making a wish on the eighth of April.

She couldn’t help but guess what wish Eldest Miss Yu had made at that time.

Was it related to her Cousin Zhou?

Song Mingzhao felt that he was thinking too much, so he changed the topic. “Did Eldest Miss Yu give you the medicinal tea to make tea?”

Song Wanhui nodded. “Yao Yao was the one who took the bamboo juice and made the medicinal tea herself. It naturally has a different taste when brewed with bamboo. Isn’t it good?”

Song Mingzhao nodded.

Song Wanhui looked at the huge courtyard and suggested, “Big Brother, why don’t you plant a piece of light bamboo in your Jiuzhao Pavilion too? This way, when it rains every year, you can also cut bamboo to extract the juice and make tea.”

Song Mingzhao looked at the expensive flowers and trees in the courtyard, but he did not feel that it was a pity.

Without hearing her brother’s reply, Song Wanhui knew that her plan had failed.

Her brother had been stubborn since he was young.

He was probably not her biological brother!

Just as she was letting her imagination run wild, Song Wanhui heard her indifferent eldest brother say, “The imperial astronomer has made an announcement. Tomorrow, the sky will be clear. The dragon boat competition in the moat will continue as usual. You can invite Eldest Miss Yu to watch it.”

Song Wanhui was stunned for a moment before she reacted.

It was indeed not good for the old, weak, and disabled people of the Yu Residence to go out. Previously, the Flower Festival had already troubled the second branch a lot. It probably wouldn’t be good for Yao Yao to go out with them again.

There was probably no chance for her to watch this rare Dragon Boat Race.

If she sent an invitation to Yao Yao, it would make sense for her to watch the Dragon Boat Race together.

However, since when did Big Brother care about such matters?

On second thought, she felt that she was thinking too much. Her brother had often taken Yao Yao’s medicinal tea from her. With her brother’s personality, it didn’t seem strange for him to make such a suggestion.

Song Mingzhao turned around and instructed the servant beside him, “Plough off the flowers and trees on the small mountain in the south and plant light bamboo.”

In his early years in the capital, he was famous for adding mountains and water in the courtyard.

His Jiuzhao Pavilion had filled in a mountain and planted a lot of expensive flowers and trees. In the past, he had thought that it was not bad, but today, he felt that planting bamboo seemed more elegant.

He looked up and suddenly saw a blurry figure in a bamboo forest. She was dressed in pink and was instructing the servants to chisel the bamboo.

Song Mingzhao suddenly felt dizzy. He shook his head hard and looked in that direction—

The trance-like scene dissipated, but he could still vaguely hear Yan Lan’s coquettish voice. “Song Mingzhao, can I make tea with bamboo juice for you…”

Every word entered his ears, but it was not real at all.

Song Mingzhao’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly clutched his chest and panted.

“Big Brother, what’s wrong?” Seeing that there was something wrong with him, Song Wanhui hurriedly went forward and helped him sit down. She saw that his face was extremely pale with a hint of gray, making him look withered.

“I’m fine. I’m just a little tired.” Song Mingzhao took a deep breath and picked up the tea with trembling hands. He brought it to his lips and took a few sips. Slowly, the throbbing in his heart calmed down, and his expression returned to normal.

Song Wanhui was a little worried. “Should we report it to Mother and invite the imperial physician over to take a look?”

Her eldest brother’s expression just now was really too terrifying. It actually revealed a sickly expression. He was not dead, but his heart was already on the verge of stopping.

It was really indescribable and she felt uneasy.

Song Mingzhao shook his head. “I still have something to do in my study, so I’ll leave first.”

Before Song Wanhui could answer, he already stood up and strode out of the octagonal pavilion.

Song Wanhui was relieved to see that he was indeed walking in a majestic manner and did not seem to be in trouble.

When he returned to the study, Song Mingzhao sat in front of his desk in a daze. For some reason, the blurry image from before made his heart ache.

He laid out the rice paper, picked up his brush, and closed his eyes. After a while, he opened them and drew a bamboo leaf…

...

In the Yu Residence, Yu Youyao accepted Song Wanhui’s gift. Seeing that it was a very exquisite sachet, she was very happy. After playing with it for a while, she asked Chun Xiao to keep it carefully.

Then, she sat in a pavilion near the Xiaoxiang Forest with her cousin to brew tea.

Yu Youyao held her cheek with both hands and watched as her cousin ground the tea. Holding the pot with one hand, he poured boiling water from top to bottom. He was sometimes high and sometimes low and sometimes fast and sometimes slow. He poured it into the cup filled with tea leaves.

When the tea and water were mixed, the water veins immediately transformed into all kinds of patterns. There were mountains, rivers, flowers, birds, insects, fish, and beasts. It was like an

ink painting.