Chapter 88.1: Mother and Daughter
Inside the study.
Marquis Gu was pondering over how to tell Yao shi everything when he heard the servant report that Yao shi had fainted.
Yao shi, who was recovering from illness these days, lived in a small courtyard, and would only come over to visit Gu Yan and Gu Jinyu every day.
When Marquis Gu arrived at the small courtyard, Yao shi had been laid on the bed by Wet Nurse Fang and CuiCui.
Grannie Fang had caught a cold in recent days, and wasn’t around Yao shi to wait upon her. Wet Nurse Fang took charge of the matters in the courtyard for the meantime, and she also went to summon the physician.
Marquis Gu looked at Yao shi who was unconscious, and then at a room full of trembling servants. His face sank as he said, "Who is serving the Marchioness today?"
Two servant girls suddenly plopped down on their knees.
One of them cried out, "This servant doesn't know what happened... When this servant returned to the courtyard... Madame was already in the room unconscious!"
Marquis Gu snapped, "How are you serving your Madame exactly? Who told you to leave your Madame alone in the yard?"
Another servant girl also sobbed, "Lord Marquis, spare this servant, Madame... She doesn't like people to follow her every day... and this servant dares not to disobey..."
"A bunch of trash!" Marquis Gu lost his temper, at the same time, Wet Nurse Fang arrived with the physician.
They were about to salute Marquis Gu, but Marquis Gu merely waved his hand and said, "No need, just treat the Marchioness quickly!"
"Yes!" The physician walked forward with the medicine box on his back, put a silk handkerchief on Yao shi's wrist, and began to check her pulse.
To be honest, the physician wasn’t optimistic about Yao shi's condition.
Yao shi didn’t seem to have any serious illness, but in fact she had already exhausted her body. At the same time, she was also suffering from too much melancholy, and should avoid receiving too much stimulation. In severe cases, she might have hallucinations and uncontrollable madness and do something irreparable as a result.
Marquis Gu was afraid of this situation, so he had been hesitant to tell her the truth.
The physician checked Yao shi’s pulse for a long time this time.
Long enough for Marquis Gu's cold sweat to break out.
"What's the matter, Physician Chen?" He asked anxiously.
Wet Nurse Fang also looked nervously at Physician Chen.
Physician Chen frowned thoughtfully, and once again checked Yao shi's pulse. He said, "Strange, really strange."
Marquis Gu hurriedly asked, "What's strange? Is the Marchioness’ condition very serious?"
Physician Chen shook his head and replied, "It’s nothing serious."
Yao shi's body had been very weak and unable to withstand stimulation. Generally, passing out should be a very dangerous circumstance. However, Yao shi's pulse condition at this time was smoother than he expected.
That was why he felt strange.
"What medicine has Madame been taking recently?" The physician asked.
Marquis Gu looked at Wet Nurse Fang.
Wet Nurse Fang paused briefly and said, "Aren't those the medicines you prescribed?"
Physician Chen responded, "Take it out and show it to me."
"Ey." Wet Nurse Fang came to the dresser, opened Yao shi's medicine cabinet, and took the medicine bottles and medicine jar that Yao shi had been taking every day recently to the physician.
The medicine bottle was filled with white tablets, which were colorless and tasteless. Physician Chen had never seen this kind of medicine before.
The one in the jar was a small bottle of granules. Physician Chen hadn't seen this medicine either, but he could smell that familiar scent of traditional chinese medicine in it and could vaguely identify the medicinal herbs such as ginseng, wild jujube, fuling, cassia, asparagus fern, cultivated rehmannia root and so on.
"Medicine can also be made like this?" Physician Chen murmured.
He had only seen the medicine made into ball-shaped pills; never had he seen any medicine made into this kind of shape and into granules, especially the white pills, which he couldn’t identify the ingredients at all.
"Where did these medicines come from?" Physician Chen asked.
Wet Nurse Fang looked at Physician Chen in astonishment and replied, "Didn't you prescribe it?"
Physician Chen said, "I haven't prescribed these medicines."
Marquis Gu's cold eyes fell on Wet Nurse Fang, "When did your Madame start taking these medicines?"
Wet Nurse Fang hurriedly explained, "This servant... can't remember when clearly but Madame has been taking it for a while now. Madame refused to take medicine before, but recently she suddenly started taking medicine. This servant thought Madame had finally listened to the advice of Physician Chen."
"Are these medicines the cause of the Marchioness’ fainting?" Marquis Gu asked Physician Chen.
Physician Chen mused, "I don't know... The nerve-calming medicine in the medicine jar should be harmless to the body. The other medicine is pills I haven't seen before, so I dare not conclude anything."
Marquis Gu looked coldly at Wet Nurse Fang and asked, "Who gave these things to your Madame?"
Wet Nurse Fang said with a pale face, "This servant doesn’t know. Although this servant serves by Madame’s side at the moment, Grannie Fang is the one who serves the most around Madame."
Grannie Fang was currently away from the villa due to her cold!
Marquis Gu clenched his fists and said, "Send someone to get Grannie Fang for me!"
Physician Chen thought for a moment and said, "Lord Marquis, don't worry, Madame's pulse condition is better than before. Maybe these two medicines are harmless to Madame."
Marquis Gu said coldly, "Then how do you explain the sudden fainting of the Marchioness?"
"This....." Unable to give an explanation, Physician Chen said, "Madame should wake up soon. We can find out the truth by asking Madame in a moment."
Wet Nurse Fang lowered her head and pinched her fingers.
Physician Chen wrote a prescription. Wet Nurse Fang took the prescription and went to the village pharmacy to get the medicinal herbs.
CuiCui sneaked in through the back door while Wet Nurse Fang was boiling medicine in the small kitchen.
"Aunt!"
Wet Nurse Fang looked out warily, closed the door and said to her, "Why are you here?"
CuiCui said, "Huang Zhong suddenly went to Grannie Fang. Is something wrong?"
Wet Nurse Fang squinted her eyes and replied, "Madame has been taking medicine recently, and she's cured of her illness!"
CuiCua looked pale, saying, "What? Didn’t you say... if she received stimulation... she will..."
Once, Yao shi suffered from great stimulation. At that time, Yao shi's illness still wasn't so severe, and yet she almost failed to keep her life. They thought it was foolproof this time, who knew...
"A letter from Imperial Concubine Shu has arrived. She’s asking the Marquis to bring the young miss back to the capital for her coming-of-age ceremony. The young master’s condition has improved these days. Marquis will definitely take the Madame and the young master back as well..." Wet Nurse Fang said, and her cold eyes rested on the steaming medicine pot.
……
Huang Zhong went to Grannie Fang's home and brought Grannie Fang back to the villa.
Marquis Gu personally went to the study to question her.
At the moment, there were only two servant girls keeping watch in the room.
Wet Nurse Fang entered the room with the steaming soup and said to the two servant girls, "It’s fine, I'll watch things over here. Go to the main kitchen and see if the porridge for the Madame has been cooked. Also, don't forget to send the fruits that the young miss wants to the Orchid Pavilion."
"Understood." The two servant girls stepped down.
Now there was no third person in the room, and there was an eerily still atmosphere.
With the medicine bowl in her hand, Wet Nurse Fang came up to the bed step by step, looked down at Yao shi, who was sleeping peacefully, and said disdainfully, "Madame, don't blame this servant, blame the person who doesn't want you to go back to the Marquis Estate."
Wet Nurse Fang pried open Yao shi's mouth and fed Yao shi a spoonful of medicine from the bowl...