CH 151.2

Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 151 Pt. 2

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

Once Qiao Xiuli left, the old mama hurriedly went to the main courtyard.

In the main courtyard, Duchess Zhenguo was reclined on the big Kang, with a maid massaging her calf

A woman in her fifties with a square face walked in hastily, then whispered something into the ear of Duchess Zhenguo.

Duchess Zhenguo was so startled that she sat up straight from the Kang and almost fell if it weren’t for the old mama catching her in time.

“Old madam, no need to be so anxious. It’s only word that was passed on by someone below. This matter has not yet been confirmed yet, so it needn’t be taken too seriously.”

Duchess Zhenguo regained her seating and waved her away. “What kind of evidence is needed? I already said before, that face of Qiao-shi’s belongs to someone with premature death. I don’t want her to drag my Mang’er down. All day long, she coughs. Every time it’s changing seasons, she coughs. Even when it’s only slightly cold, her complexion is like that of a sickly child. Could it be that her health is even worse than mine at this age?”

She showed a look of disgust on her face. Then with a solemn expression, she said, “This matter must not be taken lightly. Although that girl Yue’er doesn’t really matter, there’s still the little young master. This disease is nothing to be taken lightly. Even if others are unaware, you should be aware of how my eldest uncle died back then. The other masters of the household were fine since they stayed away, but how many people who worked in his courtyard survived?”

Mama Bai shuddered at the incident. She was the dowry maid of Duchess Zhenguo. Of course, she remembered what happened in Marquis Nanning Manor.

Afraid of being criticized, the eldest master did not move out but sealed his courtyard. Everyone avoided the courtyard. The servants wouldn’t even approach the gate unless absolutely necessary. This was because every three to five days, a maid from his courtyard would die. But it wasn’t because they were infected. Living in this kind of stressful environment, fearing that they would be the ones to fall ill next, some of them couldn’t stand it. They either jumped into the well or turned crazy.

Over those years, rumours spread within Marquis Nanning Manor that the courtyard was haunted. Once the eldest master was gone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Later, everything in the yard was burned, and the courtyard was directly rebuilt.

“Then what should be done about this?” Even Mama Bai’s usual composure slipped for a brief moment.

If it was only a servant, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. At worst, they’d throw the servant out. However, it wasn’t a random servant but Madam Shizi.

“Go and invite Doctor Huang, then make a visit to Lanruo Pavilion.” After thinking about it, Duchess Zhenguo changed her mind. “I’ll go with you. In her eyes, I must be the villain. Since I’m such a wicked person I might as well be wicked to the end.”

Qiao-shi slept for a while. Once she woke up she asked the maids to bring her medicine when Duchess Zhenguo arrived, bringing people with her.

Covering her nose with a handkerchief, she stood far away and said, “You’ve been sick for some time now. Mang’er mentioned to me before leaving to take care of you. It’s not good to always be like this, so I brought a doctor here to take a look at you.”

Qiao-shi wanted to get off the bed to pay her greetings but was stopped by the servants. Hearing her mother-in-law say that she brought a doctor over to take a look at her, she was very happy. This was because Duchess Zhenguo had never shown a good attitude towards her in the past.

In her heart, she felt that it wasn’t appropriate for her to lie in bed while making her mother-in-law stand. She was about to urge a maid to bring over a chair when Duchess Zhengguo’s expression made her heart skip a beat. For some reason, she recalled what Qiao Xiuli had said earlier.

Qiao-shi’s face turned pale. “Mother, this daughter-in-law’s illness is not a serious problem. Just recently, in July, the Shizi invited an imperial physician over to check on this daughter-in-law. He gave a new prescription and the effects aren’t bad. This daughter-in-law caught a cold when she was young, and it’ll go away after a few days of coughing. There’s no need for you to…”

Duchess Zhenguo interrupted her, “It doesn’t matter if it’ll go away after a few days, but it’s always good to have a doctor take a look.” 

Now that the matter has reached this point, Qiao-shi could only follow along.

The maids pushed aside the beaded curtains and put a handkerchief on Qiao-shi’s exposed wrist. Then someone brought in a thin-faced doctor who appeared to be in his fifties

This person’s surname was Huang, and he was a doctor who had served Duchess Zhenguo for many years. His medical skills were top-notch and he was well-known in the capital. Naturally, it was impossible for such a person to work for only one person. Every year, Duke Zhenguo would give him a large sum of silver and he’d be in charge of the family’s health. They would all go to him for both the serious and the light illnesses.

Doctor Huang stepped forward, took a seat next to the bed, and put his hand on Qiao-shi’s wrist.

He spent a long while taking her pulse, then he shifted himself and took the pulse again. He asked the maids to move aside the curtains to look at Qiao-shi’s face and tongue. Then he asked if her hands, feet or heart felt hot and whether she had a dry throat or difficulty sleeping. He even asked if she sweated a lot during her sleep.

Given the difference between men and women, it was highly unusual to be asked these kinds of questions. Doctor Huang repeated himself, and Qiao-shi told him the truth.

After that, Doctor Huang didn’t say anything else but went outside.

Duchess Zhenguo followed.

Seeing this, let alone Qiao-shi, even Ru Meng and the other maids couldn’t help but panic.

“Old Madam, seeing Madam Shizi’s symptoms, I suspect that she suffers from excess heat due to yin deficiency in her lungs…”

Duchess Zhenguo was not a doctor, how could she understand what he was saying? “So does she have it or not?”

Doctor Huang sighed, “A disadvantage of this disease is that it’s not easy to diagnose it in the beginning, but once it’s diagnosed, it’s usually too late. At this time, this old man is still unable to tell. You can only keep a close eye on it. If Madam Shizi continues to cough blood, it wouldn’t be too late to make the call then.”

“In other words, she may or may not have it?”

Doctor Huang nodded.

Duchess Zhenguo couldn’t help clenching her hands. Her face was thoughtful, it was obvious she was in a dilemma. Seeing this, Mama Bai hurriedly asked a maid to lead Doctor Huang out.

After a long while, seeing Duchess Zhenguo take a deep breath, Mama Bai asked, “Old madam…”

“Go and take away the Yue lass. Lanruo Pavilion will be temporarily closed. Random people are not allowed to enter or leave at will. “

Mama Bai was surprised at first, but she could understand Duchess Zhenguo’s decision.

At this time, this was indeed the safest move. Otherwise, if the disease were to spread, it would implicate the entire household.

As Yueyue was taken away, she bawled her eyes out. Although she was still young, she could feel that something bad had happened.

But in the end, she was still young. Once she was told that she was going to play with her brother, her crying gradually stopped. With most people gone, Lanruo Pavilion felt empty.

Qiao-shi appeared to be calm, but inside, she was full of panic.

The maids were also flustered. In the end, they tried to console Qiao-shi by telling her not to think too much. There was no way she had tuberculosis. Someone must have whispered something into the old madam’s ear, who then seized this opportunity to make trouble for her. Once the Shizi came back, everything would be fine.

Qiao-shi also tried to force herself to think like so, but in the end, she still couldn’t hold back her panic.

All of Lanruo Pavilion was looking forward to  Sun Mang coming back quickly, but he wouldn’t be able to come back for a while. He was stationed in Tongzhou, Daxing, and Wanping to prevent the disaster victims from entering and disturbing the capital.

Meanwhile, rumours spread in the household that Madam Shizi was suffering from tuberculosis and that the old madam had sealed Lanruo Pavilion.

In such a huge household, there were inevitably people who spread rumours and wished to cause trouble. The tongfangs who were dismissed by Sun Mang back then were mostly all children of the servants in the household. Given the huge number of servants, many of them shared common interests. A number of them couldn’t wait to see Madam Shizi land in hot water and fall out of favour. This way, perhaps the people who were sent away back then could come back.

The rumours spread like wildfire as the servants discussed it animatedly. It reached the point that even Yueyue, who lived in the main courtyard, heard some of it.

She didn’t know what tuberculosis was or how serious it was. She only knew that her mother was ill, extremely ill. She wanted to go back to Lanruo Pavilion to see her mother, but the maids and mamas wouldn’t let her go. No matter how much she cried and bawled, even when her brother went to beg, her grandmother still wouldn’t let her go.

At this moment, the servants came to report that the eldest young master of Jin Wang Manor was here.

Yueyue immediately remembered what Xiaobao once said to her –

“I’m an imperial grandson, my father is a prince and my grandfather is the emperor. In the future, I’ll also be a prince. With my protection, no one will dare to bully you. …”

Yueyue knew that both the emperor and the princes were very important people. Since she called him Chen Gege, he would definitely protect her, right?

He must.