Chapter 434: Sick
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qi Haoran carried Mu Yangling all the way back to their residence. As he walked, he instructed the servants to get hot water from the kitchen.
As it was winter, hot water was stored in the kitchen at all times. Hence, not long after Qi Haoran carried her back, hot water was brought over. Qi Haoran said, “Hurry up and take a bath and change.”
Although Qi Haoran was fast enough, Mu Yangling still fell sick the next day and sneezed the entire day. Qi Haoran could only get someone to invite the doctor over.
When Qi Feng sent someone to call Qi Haoran over, Qi Haoran was accompanying the doctor, so he said impatiently, “Just say that I have something on. If Old Master needs anything, just instruct the servants to do it.”
The servant girl who came to invite Qi Haoran did not dare to say anything else. She went back in fear and trepidation to reply. Hearing his son’s reply, Qi Feng furiously jumped around in the study and scolded Qi Haoran.
When Fei Bai sent the doctor out, it was unknown if it was by chance or on purpose, but he led the doctor to the path closest to the study. The doctor could hear Qi Feng scolding people all the way out.
Hence, less than half a day after the doctor left, many people who were watching the Qi Residence received the latest news.
Qi Haoran’s wife, Madam Mu, was so frightened that she fell sick. It seemed that although she was very bold at the palace banquet, she was actually not very bold and was still very respectful. She most likely only had the guts to resist because she was afraid that Qi Haoran would marry another woman.
The news of Qi Feng scolding Qi Haoran and forcing him to divorce his wife had also spread, further confirming the rumor that he was biased. Qi Haoran had finally avoided taking in another wife, so why was he stirring up trouble now?
Was Minister Qin’s daughter that easy to marry?
At this moment, the Emperor issued a decree to reprimand Lu Zhen, seize his official position, and let the Lin’an Prefecture government office judge his act of marrying when he already had a wife.
Everyone knew that the storm of Qi Haoran and his wife rejecting the marriage had come to an end. The one who ended up suffering was Lu Zhen. Indeed, he shouldn’t have spoken up at the palace banquet. Just because of that one sentence he made, Mu Yangling successfully redirected the disaster to him.
Mu Yangling didn’t care about anything else now and focused on recuperating. She rarely fell sick, but who knew that the illness would come so aggressively this time? The first day, she only sneezed, but at night, she started to feel dizzy. The next day, not only did she have a low fever, but she also coughed.
As if facing a formidable enemy, Qi Haoran thought that someone had drugged her. He was so frightened that he didn’t dare to call for a doctor anymore. He only asked Fan Zijin to find a prescription to treat the illness, and checked the herbs over and over again. Only then did he feel relieved.
Mu Yangling wasn’t aware because she was groggy and ill, but Qi Haoran had lost a lot of weight after three days. His deep love was also witnessed by everyone. Although the servants of the Qi Residence did not say anything, their respect and fear for Mu Yangling elevated.
Mu Yangling had no idea. After taking the medicine and covering herself with the blanket for the entire night, she sweated twice and finally felt better. She opened her eyes and saw that Qi Haoran was sleeping beside her. Touching his cheek with her fingers, she realized that he had lost a lot of weight. Her heart ached.
The moment Qi Haoran opened his eyes, he met Mu Yangling’s gentle eyes. Qi Haoran subconsciously smiled and widened his eyes, then got up and touched her forehead. “Your fever has subsided. Are you feeling much better?”
Mu Yangling nodded. “I feel lighter now, but I’m still coughing a little. I should be fine after taking medicine for two more days.”
Mu Yangling touched his face and said, “You’ve lost so much weight. People always gain weight during the new year…”
Qi Haoran smiled nonchalantly and pulled up the blanket to cover her. “Do you want to sleep a little longer? It’s still early.”
Mu Yangling looked outside and shook her head. “I’d better get up. I’m hungry.”
Qi Haoran immediately instructed someone to serve the millet porridge. “Eat something light first. When you recover, I’ll bring you out to eat something delicious.”
Seeing that Qi Haoran was coaxing Mu Yangling like a child, Spring and the other servants looked at each other and smiled before quietly leaving.
After eating and drinking her fill, Mu Yangling was energetic again. Although she still coughed from time to time, one could tell from her face that she was almost fully recovered.
Now completely relieved, Qi Haoran realized that he was also very hungry, so hungry he felt as if his chest was pressed against his back. Hence, during breakfast, Qi Haoran almost swept away all the food on the table. Qi Feng tried enduring it but couldn’t help but say, “Your wife was nowhere to be seen on New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year. Yesterday, on the second day of New Year, relatives came to visit and didn’t see her as well. You should bring her to meet your uncles and aunts today.”
Qi Haoran stuffed the last mouthful of steamed bun into his mouth and said nonchalantly, “Uncles and Aunts are in Fuzhou. When did they return to the capital?”
Frowning, Qi Shaosheng said, “Second Brother, Father is talking about my mother’s brother. Now that my uncle is your uncle, you should have visited him yesterday. However, you couldn’t leave yesterday because you had to take care of Sister-in-law. Since Sister-in-law has recovered today, why don’t you go to the Wu family?”
Qi Haoran pursed his lips and said, “Who said Wu Miao is my uncle? My uncle’s surname is Zhu. Alright, I’m full. I’m going to visit my Aunt today. I’ll get the storeroom to prepare a New Year’s gift for her.”
He glanced at Qi Shaosheng and Qi Shaotai and said, “Oh, my Aunt definitely wouldn’t like to see Second Brother and Third Brother, so you’d better not go.”
Qi Shaotai threw down his chopsticks and shouted, “Who cares? Fine, I won’t go then.”
Madam Wu also threw down her chopsticks angrily and cried, “Master, what does Haoran mean? I’ve already been promoted to the legitimate wief. Since Xiuyuan’s not at home, it’s fine if he doesn’t visit the Wu family. Even if he didn’t include gifts for the Wu family in the gifts he sent back, I can pretend not to see it. But Haoran is clearly in the capital, yet he has never once visited the Wu family. Am I considered his legitimate stepmother or not?”
Smiling, Li Jinghua said, “Madam, you’ve misunderstood Fourth Brother. Didn’t Second Uncle and Third Uncle visit the Wu family? Since we have so many relatives, it’s normal for us to split up and visit them separately. Besides, Fourth Brother doesn’t have the final say on whether you were promoted or not. It’s up to the clan. Since your name is recorded in the genealogical tree, who dares to say that you weren’t promoted? Even if the government office comes to check, we can righteously insist.”
Madam Wu stopped crying. It would be bad if the government office came to check, okay?
Qi Feng suppressed his anger and glanced at Madam Wu. “Don’t cry.”
He looked up at Qi Haoran and the other two and waved his hand. “If you want to leave, leave.”
Qi Haoran raised his eyebrows in surprise. He thought that they were going to quarrel again, but he did not expect them to let them go so easily. However, he never liked to think too much about things, so he pulled Mu Yangling and left with Li Jinghua.
Mu Yangling said hesitatingly, “Should I go too?”
After all, considering she was sick, it didn’t seem appropriate for her to pay others New Year visit now, right?
Qi Haoran said nonchalantly, “It’s much more comfortable at Aunt’s place. When we go there, we’ll just go horse racing with Zijin. I’ll introduce my former friends to you.”
“Sister-in-law, you can stay at Aunt’s place when the time comes. There are many people there. We’ll come back to pick you up in the afternoon,” Qi Haoran said.
Li Jinghua said with a smile, “Go ahead and play. It’s not like I don’t know how to come back.”
For the past few days while Qi Haoran had been taking care of Mu Yangling, Li JInghua had not been idle. She had already spoken to several families in the clan, and this trip to the Fan family was also an opportunity to socialize.