Recently, their business has been on the decline, and although Cai Ying and Min Zhong both had put in a lot of effort, their two families could still do more.
While he was mulling things over, he suddenly heard a disturbance outside the garden.
"Young Master, Young Master! This servant is begging you! Begging you! Please help the Young Miss find a doctor!"
He frowned slightly. "Chao Sheng."
Chao Sheng immediately came to report. "Young Master, it's the Young Mistress' servant girl who's arguing with the manservant at the door. She said that the Young Mistress is sick. She makes it sound like it's very serious so she hopes we can help her find a doctor to take a look."
'Sick?'
'Wasn't she fine all day long? Why did she only fall sick during the night?'
'Was she using this excuse to lure him over?'
Shen Juncheng was slightly dumbfounded. When he heard about her from Yue Luo, he thought that she was a quiet person. He didn't expect her to be so vulgar.
Yun Yun flicked her sleeve. "Ask Yue Luo to go and see if she's really sick. If she is, find a doctor. If she isn't, inform me."
He didn't have time to deal with such petty tricks. If she can't remain obedient, he would simply eliminate her directly.
Yue Luo accepted his order and left with Cui Yan.
After a few moments, Yue Luo returned. "Young Master, the Young Madam seems to be really sick."
By that time, Shen Juncheng was just about to take a bath. His hand was already unbuckling his belt when he heard the report, which made him pause. 'Was she really sick?'
"With what?"
Yue Luo replied respectfully, "I'm not sure. I just heard the Young Mistress complaining that she was cold. She was already covered by several layers of blankets, but when I touched her hand, it was very warm. Maybe she's running a fever from being chilled by the wind."
'Indeed, she is delicate. The temperature only slightly dipped today, and yet she's already caught a chill.'
But he continued to undress. "If it's just a cold, just go find a doctor for her."
"Yes, Young Master." Yue Luo took her leave.
Just as she was walking out the room, she suddenly heard the Young Master say, "Hold on."
"Did you check if her face was red along with her warm palms?"
"Young Master, her face wasn't red. In fact, she was pale and shivering."
Shen Juncheng frowned and stopped undressing himself. He then fastened his belt again and put on the white veil that covered his eyes. "I'll go there personally."
Yue Luo was stunned but quickly led the way.
Cui Yan wished that she could pile everything in the room and set it ablaze if only it could keep out the cold for her Young Miss. Seeing that she was still complaining about how cold she was, anxious tears started to fall from her face.
"Miss! Miss! What's wrong?! Miss, please don't scare me."
That night, not long after she had fallen asleep, she heard a clatter from next door so she quickly got up to check.
As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw the Young Miss sitting in front of the closet. She reasoned that she felt cold so she went to get a blanket, but because it was too dark, she accidentally knocked over the chair.
Cui Yan then hurriedly helped her back to the bed and then went to the closet to take out a winter blanket. The Young Miss was clearly wrapped up tightly already, but she still felt too cold. Cui Yan touched her forehead again with her hands, but found that she was running hot. Extremely hot! However, her arms and back were very cold.
How could there be such an illness where the palms and forehead are hot, while the rest of the body was cold? She immediately went to the Qingjing Pavilion to find the Young Master.
She was still unfamiliar with the area they were in so how could a little servant girl like her find a doctor?
It was then that footsteps could be heard just outside the door. Occasionally, coughs could also be heard. When the door was pushed open, Cui Yan turned to see the Young Master had come in. She immediately went on her knees and kowtowed hard, "Young Master! Young Master! I beg of you! Please find a doctor for the Miss. She's really sick."
Shen Juncheng caught a glimpse of the person on the bed from the corner of his eyes, but he didn't say anything.
Yue Lueo quickly came forward to pull Cui Yan up. "Get up quickly, Cui Yan. Don't block the Young Master from checking the Young Madam's pulse."
Cui Yan's eyes were filled with tears. "Does the Young Master know how to take a pulse?"
Yue Luo explained, "The Young Master's health has always been poor since he was a child, and he's always been susceptible to cold winds too. He's been in contact with doctors for such a long time that he's learned some medical expertise himself. Don't make such a fuss or you'll disturb him."
Cui Yan quickly stood up and moved aside. She's always thought that this Young Master was weak, although if one was exposed to medicine for over ten years, it's understandable if he learned some things about medicine. Moreover, pulse-reading relied on feeling, so it should still be fine even if he couldn't see.
She quickly wiped away her tears and held in her sobs. She was afraid she'd disturb him.
Shen Juncheng's master was Liang Guangwen, so his medical skills weren't bad.
He extended his cane, pretending to not be able to see when he started to move forward. He also didn't forget to pretend to be weak, and made sure to cough twice.
When he reached the bed, he sat down and grabbed Su Anan's wrist.
Her wrist was cold, but the palm was hot. When he felt her pulse with his fingertips, he finally understood what happened.
'Yu'er is too ridiculous!'
'She actually used frost powder!'
Frost powder was a poison that immediately melted into the body of a person who had a normal body temperature when it made contact. One would typically only feel cold without any other symptoms, but six hours later, the poison would take full effect after it had fully gotten into the bloodstream.
Liang Mingyu's father was proficient in medicine, so it was only natural that his daughter wasn't ignorant of the subject as well. In fact, Yu'er was so talented in using poisons that she often carried poison to play tricks on other people.
'She must have used it at noon today.'
Shen Juncheng frowned. The amount of poison was well controlled, so it intended to only make people cold for a single night. The next day, the poison would have gradually dissipated, and then they would be fine.
He believed that Yu'er wouldn't go so far, but what Yu'er didn't expect was that Su Anan wasn't exactly normal.
Shen Juncheng only found out because he was checking her pulse.
'This heart disease is probably congenital in nature, and perhaps, since she's lived a carefree life till now, the disease never manifested symptoms much.'
Unfortunately, the frost powder acted like a spark that triggered the heart disease to flare up. This was why she looked so seriously ill.
If she really stayed like this all night, he was afraid things wouldn't end well for her…
However, if he were to save her, he would have to waste one of his precious heart protection pills.
So Shen Juncheng hesitated. 'Should I save her?'
It's just an informant of the Liu Family. Why not take advantage of this and…
Su Anan's consciousness was already fading. She felt so cold that her teeth were chattering as she was curled up tight in thick quilts.
In a daze, she felt like she had returned to that poor alley on that day that it was snowing.
That certain day was also so cold. No matter how tightly she wrapped her tattered cloak around herself, it couldn't block the pervasive chill. She felt extremely cold and afraid.
It was the feeling of nearing death. She could clearly feel her life slipping away, freezing bit by bit.
However, she didn't want to die!
She wanted to live so badly! She wanted to hear Cui Yan call her to eat steaming hot red bean barley soup again. She wanted to hear her mother lovingly say, "Anan, come quickly. Put on a cloak so you don't catch a cold."
A warm memory came over her, which made it seem she returned to her childhood. Back to her mother's side.
'Mother, mother…'
"I'm so cold!" Su Anan shouted deliriously. "Mother, mother…!"
Shen Juncheng lowered his eyes and looked at her.
Her face was pale as she was curled up into a small ball, looking extremely fragile.
Suddenly, the warm colors in her memory faded, and her mother's figure disappeared.
Su Anan abruptly opened her eyes.
Her eyesight was still blurry so she couldn't really see anything clearly. All she could see was something white in front of her.
That white reminded her of the gently falling snow before her death in her previous life. Slowly burying her in the dirt.