Cheng Chi nodded with a smile.
Zhou Shaojin’s entire being became flustered as she stammered, “His Majesty… sending both medicine and people… what should we do…”
Cheng Chi embraced her soothingly and whispered, “I’ll tell you about this matter later. Don’t let anything slip.”
He still needed to go attend to the illness.
Zhou Shaojin nodded woodenly and said, “I won’t tell anyone…”
After all, she was still young and couldn’t withstand such shocks.
Cheng Chi sighed with a smile, pulled her into his arms and kissed her repeatedly, saying many comforting words. Only after seeing her complexion improve greatly did he go to Cheng Shao’s quarters.
Zhou Shaojin smiled bitterly, feeling helpless.
Since Second Uncle dared to do this and Cheng Chi said it was fine, she’d better not meddle in these matters.
Second Uncle not being sick was ultimately a good thing.
When preparing the medicine, she wasn’t as attentive as before. Thinking the medicine would either be discarded or wasted anyway, she sat by the stove lost in thought while fanning.
Second Uncle surely wouldn’t collude with the Imperial Medical Bureau’s physicians, would he?
Then how did he deceive those imperial physicians?
Why did Second Uncle pretend to be ill?
Was he avoiding suspicion for knowing too many imperial family scandals?
But he had already drafted the decree and investigated the case. Avoiding suspicion at this point—wasn’t it too late?
And that Aunt Chang.
Did His Majesty bestow her upon Second Uncle merely out of concern? Or had Second Uncle shown some abnormality that made His Majesty suspicious, so he placed Aunt Chang beside Second Uncle—ostensibly to care for him but actually to monitor him?
Last time when she and Cheng Chi speculated about her previous life, she had suspected the Cheng family’s extermination might be connected to Second Uncle. Could Aunt Chang’s arrival indicate things had already begun?
Unfortunately, in her previous life she didn’t know how the Cheng family was raided, nor whether His Majesty had bestowed an Aunt Chang upon Second Uncle… This was truly troubling!
Chun Wan’s startled cry reached her ears: “Madam, what’s wrong?”
Zhou Shaojin looked down and only then discovered the medicine pot was bubbling and the medicine had overflowed.
Chun Wan quickly lifted the lid off the medicine pot and said, “Madam, this medicine must be prepared over low heat. Fortunately we discovered it early—there’s still two-thirds of the water left.” As she spoke, she hesitated: “Madam, should we prepare a new batch of medicine?”
Knowing Cheng Shao wouldn’t drink this medicine, why should she even bother preparing it!
Zhou Shaojin thought of everyone’s rushing about today and couldn’t help feeling troubled.
She stammered, “Just switch to low heat now. The medicinal liquid will just be less concentrated. Replacing a batch would require getting another prescription—too troublesome.”
Would this be somewhat disrespectful to Second Old Master?
Chun Wan was somewhat puzzled. Seeing Zhou Shaojin zone out again, she didn’t dare ask more questions. She banked half the stove and slowly prepared the medicine.
Min Jia walked over.
She said, “Little Aunt, why don’t you go rest? I’ll watch over things here.”
“No need,” Zhou Shaojin smiled. “There are maids and servant women watching nearby. I’m just sitting here fanning. You all will take the second half of the night shift. The weather is getting colder now, and going a whole night without sleep is too exhausting. You should go rest. We don’t know when Second Uncle’s illness will improve. It probably won’t be just a day or two. If you don’t rest well now, what will you do later?”
Min Jia looked at her calm, unruffled face with complicated eyes. After quite a while, she softly murmured “Mm” and returned to her room.
Zhou Shaojin continued fanning the medicine.
Min Jia was just an ordinary common girl after all—married by parental command and matchmaker’s word. She had done nothing wrong. If there was any fault, it could only be said that fate played tricks on people.
She sighed inwardly.
Cheng Chi didn’t return until midnight.
In the unfamiliar environment without Cheng Chi, Zhou Shaojin couldn’t sleep at all.
She found a book and read while waiting for him.
Hearing movement, she threw on her clothes and went to greet him.
Seeing Zhou Shaojin had been waiting for him all along, Cheng Chi’s heart warmed. He allowed Zhou Shaojin to help him wash up. The two went to bed, extinguished the lamp, and hid under the quilt to whisper as they had in recent days: “Second Uncle told me that His Majesty has been investigating the source of that aphrodisiac incense. Because Second Uncle needed to assist the Ministry of Rites in organizing the funeral, Han Ding has been secretly investigating this matter. A couple days ago, Han Ding quietly came to find Second Uncle, saying that if they continued investigating, it would implicate the Fifth Prince. He was scared to death and begged Second Uncle for advice. Second Uncle told him to simply investigate thoroughly—no matter what they encountered, let His Majesty make the decisions. Han Ding left gratefully, but Second Uncle worried His Majesty would ultimately still assign this matter to him, so he simply started pretending to be ill… Knowing some things isn’t necessarily a good thing!”
Zhou Shaojin’s heart pounded wildly as she listened. She couldn’t help pressing her hand to her chest and asked worriedly, “Aunt Chang won’t see through this, will she?”
“She won’t!” Cheng Chi said, then chuckled softly. “After dinner, Aunt Chang served in Second Uncle’s inner chamber. With just a movement of his eyes, she knew what Second Uncle wanted. Even Second Uncle was surprised. Looking at that, she didn’t seem like someone who had only met Second Uncle a few times.”
Zhou Shaojin immediately became interested and said, “Do you think Second Uncle will keep Aunt Chang?”
“That’s an elder’s business,” Cheng Chi smiled. “No matter what Second Uncle thinks, if he has a companion in his old age, I think that’s quite good. At least Ah Bao and Ah Ren will have someone to care for them.”
Zhou Shaojin laughed softly, burrowed into Cheng Chi’s embrace, wrapped her limbs tightly around him, and said steadily and securely, “Then let’s sleep quickly! Tomorrow many people will certainly come to visit Second Uncle. Will you enter the palace tomorrow to express gratitude to His Majesty on Second Uncle’s behalf? How will Second Uncle dispose of that medicine?”
Cheng Chi shifted positions and encircled Zhou Shaojin in his arms, saying, “Second Uncle wants to promote me, so he specifically had me enter the palace to express gratitude to His Majesty at this time. Second Uncle has already spoken—it wouldn’t be good if I didn’t go. As for that medicine,” he lowered his voice and whispered in Zhou Shaojin’s ear, “Did you see that person-height cloisonné longevity vase by the screen in Second Uncle’s inner chamber? The medicine is in there!”
Zhou Shaojin’s ear tickled from his exhaled warm breath. She laughed with hunched shoulders and said, “Whose idea was this? That vase is so tall—it wouldn’t even be easy to pour the medicine out. Why not find a smaller bottle to better eliminate all traces!”
Cheng Chi touched his nose. Without admitting he was the mastermind, he said, “This matter ends here. Don’t speak of it again. With so many people around, who knows if someone might overhear? This is the crime of deceiving the Emperor!”
Zhou Shaojin felt sorry for herself once more.
Since marrying Cheng Chi, through constant exposure, she had gradually become somewhat indifferent toward His Majesty, the Crown Prince, and others.
Would Father be surprised if he knew!
Afterward, the Cheng family’s gate was indeed as busy as a marketplace.
By the time Cheng Shao recovered, it was already February of the following year.
During the Lantern Festival, the Fifth Prince entered the palace to pay respects. After having lunch at the Cining Palace and returning, he began having diarrhea. In just two days, he passed away.
In less than a year, His Majesty had lost four adult princes in succession.
Unable to withstand this blow, the Empress Dowager fell ill.
Lady Pengcheng was extremely anxious. Sometimes she would send people in the middle of the night to ask Old Madam Guo to recommend famous physicians from Jiangnan. Other times she would send people to ask Old Madam Guo whether to offer three or five sticks of incense when burning talismans… This made Zhou Shaojin and the others feel very tense as well.
Old Master Song had been ill all along but still hadn’t expired.
The Song family set Song Mu’s wedding for the tenth day of the second month.
Qiu Shi sent people to the Xie family, wanting to move the wedding date forward.
The Xie family also worried about encountering another national mourning or some incident. The two families discussed avoiding conflict with the Song family’s wedding date and set Cheng Rang and Miss Xie’s wedding for the fourteenth of the second month.
Liao Shaotang, as in her previous life, successfully passed the provincial examination and would participate in the metropolitan examination held in the capital in March.
Also participating in the metropolitan examination were Cheng Ju, Cheng Shi, Cheng Zheng, and Pan Zhuo.
Zhou Shaojin hadn’t expected Cheng Zheng to also pass the provincial examination.
It seemed that after the Jiuru Lane clan separation, the third branch also had their own plans.
Qiu Shi asked Zhou Shaojin somewhat uncertainly, “Cheng Zheng specifically came to visit me the other day. I only entertained him for lunch. Do you think I should send food and clothing to the inn where he’s staying…”
If Cheng Zheng succeeded in placing on the golden list, he would be a jinshi.
Since Cheng Rang wasn’t skilled at studies, this made Qiu Shi naturally feel a kind of reverence toward promising clan nephews.
She knew about the conflict between the senior branch and second branch. But what exactly had happened between the senior branch, second branch, and third branch back then—she might not know. Those who knew might not be willing to associate with the third branch.
Zhou Shaojin said, “You should ask Eldest Sister-in-law’s opinion about this! After all, she’s the clan matriarch.”
When Cheng Xu had his incident back then, the third branch had been involved behind the scenes. Yuan Shi might not be willing to associate with the third branch.
Zhou Shaojin only cared about Liao Shaotang.
Although with the lessons from her previous life, Zhou Chujin had quickly established her footing in the Liao family in this life and was as devoted to Liao Shaotang as in the previous life, the Liao family truly had too many issues—even though Zhou Chujin had already given birth to Guan Ge, some people in the Liao family still demanded Liao Shaotang take a concubine because Zhou Chujin hadn’t added sons to the family in these two years. This angered both Zhou Chujin and Liao Shaotang thoroughly.
If Liao Shaotang could pass the jinshi examination, he would have a say in the Liao family and could stand on his own.
Zhou Chujin’s days would be much better.
Zhou Shaojin went to both the Great Xiangguo Temple and the White Cloud Temple to offer incense for Liao Shaotang. She obtained talismans and drew a pattern of immediate ennoblement to send to Yuqian Lane, having her sister make brother-in-law a garment according to it to wear when taking the examination.
She also rushed to the Song family to help Madam Song prepare Song Mu’s wedding and helped Qiu Shi prepare Cheng Rang’s wedding. In just a few short days, she had become noticeably thinner.
Cheng Chi felt very distressed. When he returned at night, he helped massage her, saying, “It’s just dowry gifts of gold and silver jewelry, face powder and rouge—you could just leave it to the steward aunties. Why are you joining in the excitement? Even running to the silver shop to select designs…”
Zhou Shaojin giggled and said, “I just find it very interesting! I used to envy others who were surrounded by crowds wherever they went. Madam Song is very kind. Going to help, I learned many things following Madam Song. When someone else gets married next time, I’ll be able to handle the wedding matters by myself.”
Was it because her previous life had been too lonely?
Cheng Chi’s heart suddenly ached.
If it weren’t for seeing her spirits were still good, he would have directly forbidden her to go.
He bent down and kissed her rounded shoulder, saying, “Just don’t tire yourself out!”
“Mm mm mm!” Zhou Shaojin nodded, humming comfortably.
Cheng Chi laughed despite himself and said, “Is it really that comfortable?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Zhou Shaojin said repeatedly. “Teach me this method, and I’ll massage you afterward.”