Xie Shengxiao was startled by Qiao Zhao’s question and fell into thought: “Injured? When we were captured and brought aboard their ship, we would all get hurt more or less while resisting.”

“No, I mean, has that young lady ever been bitten by cats, dogs, rats, or other animals?” Qiao Zhao explained with a grave expression.

“Bitten by cats, dogs, or other animals?” Reminded by Qiao Zhao, Xie Shengxiao suddenly remembered: “There were quite a few vicious dogs on that island. When we first got off the ship, she seemed to have been bitten on the trouser leg by a vicious dog—”

“Qi Niang was bitten through the calf by that vicious dog.  I saw the dog’s tooth marks left on Qi Niang’s calf.” A woman said quietly.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhao’s expression changed slightly.

Observing Qiao Zhao’s serious demeanor, Xie Shengxiao couldn’t help asking: “Miss Li, doesn’t Qi Niang just have a common cold?”

Qiao Zhao closed her eyes and thought for a moment. Hearing the continuous banging and roaring sounds in her ears, her expression became even more serious.

She opened her eyes, swept her gaze over everyone, and said after taking a deep breath: “That young lady’s initial symptoms were very similar to a cold, which is why I mistook it for one. But looking at it now, she very likely has a mad dog bite.”

“Mad dog bite?” Everyone was stunned.

For Chi Can and the others, this was a rare disease they had never heard of.

Xie Shengxiao’s face suddenly changed: “Mad dog bite? Is it when someone is bitten by a rabid dog, then the person goes mad too, becoming frenzied and afraid of water, ultimately dying in madness?”

“Has Miss Xie seen such patients before?”

Xie Shengxiao’s face paled as she nodded: “I have. In our town, there was a butcher whose dog suddenly went mad last year and bit his youngest son. In his rage, he skinned the dog and ate its meat. Who knew that after a month or so, his youngest son suddenly went mad too and died not long after? The butcher’s wife was so traumatized that she lost her mind, and during one pig bone chopping session, the butcher was so mentally disturbed that he chopped off his arm. A perfectly good family was destroyed in the blink of an eye. People all said it was that dog coming back for revenge.”

“Was it the Zhang butcher’s family?” Qiao Zhao blurted out.

There was a Zhang butcher in Baiyun Town, considered one of the well-off households in town. The only thing that troubled him was that his wife had given birth to seven daughters in a row, for which she had endured countless beatings.

Qiao Zhao had a deep impression of the Zhang butcher’s family because one year, when she came to town to visit Xie Shengxiao, she accidentally witnessed Zhang butcher grabbing his wife’s hair and beating her violently in the street. People came and went on the street, all either standing at a distance to watch the excitement or turning a blind eye.

Unable to bear it, she stopped Zhang the butcher, only to receive a thorough scolding from his wife.

Even now, she remembered clearly what Zhang’s butcher’s wife looked like.

That woman in her forties put her rough, large hands on her hips and spat viciously at her: “Bah! What business is it of yours to interfere in our family matters? Are you trying to seduce my husband, you little girl?”

She had never heard such crude language in her life, and suddenly understood why the neighbors living in the same small town remained indifferent.

She quickly withdrew, but before she had gone far, she saw Zhang butcher slap the woman to the ground, cursing as he kicked and beat the fallen woman without mercy.

The woman who had just been cursing at her didn’t even dare to get up, lying obediently on the ground pleading: “Master, don’t be angry, it’s all my fault, all my fault…”

Xie Shengxiao laughed at her for getting into trouble for nothing, saying with emotion: What was her fault? Nothing more than giving birth to seven girls in a row, which became her greatest sin. In front of men, she could only kneel, having even forgotten how to stand up.

It was also that time when Xie Shengxiao said to her earnestly: I will definitely not marry a man who only cares about continuing the family line. If I can’t be a man, then I’ll strive to be a woman like a man, relying on myself.

Oh, during her last meeting with Xie Shengxiao before marriage, Xie Shengxiao had mentioned the Zhang butcher’s family, saying that the butcher’s wife had finally given birth to a son.

So the child who died from a mad dog bite must have been that little boy.

Xie Shengxiao looked deeply at Qiao Zhao and asked in surprise: “How does Miss Li know about the Zhang butcher’s family in our town?”

Qiao Zhao explained without changing expression: “General Shao took me to town to eat rice noodle soup, and I occasionally heard people talking about it.”

Rice noodle soup? Chi Can raised his eyebrows.

What was that? Why didn’t he take him to eat it?

Yang Houcheng was equally dissatisfied.

When did Tingquan go to eat rice noodle soup with Miss Li? Although he had never tried it, rice noodle soup sounded delicious. After they ate it, they didn’t even tell him or Shixi?

Both young companions looked at Shao Mingyuan with indignation, and only felt somewhat balanced psychologically when they remembered he couldn’t see.

“I see.” Only after hearing Qiao Zhao’s explanation did Xie Shengxiao feel relieved, but she couldn’t help glancing at Shao Mingyuan, feeling somewhat displeased.

Marquis Guanjun took Miss Li to eat rice noodle soup?

From Miss Li’s tone, she and Marquis Guanjun seemed quite close.

But A’Chu had been gone for less than a year…

Xie Shengxiao pressed her lips tightly.

Miss Li was kind-hearted and certainly not at fault—it must be Marquis Guanjun who had improper thoughts upon seeing her beauty!

With this thought, Miss Xie’s slight improvement in opinion of Marquis Guanjun immediately reverted to the original state, or even worse.

Unable to see several people looking at him, Shao Mingyuan kept his eyes slightly lowered with an expressionless face, but his heart was blooming with joy.

Zhaozhao had mentioned in front of so many people that he took her to eat rice noodle soup, showing that Zhaozhao didn’t mind others knowing about their relationship.

This feeling of being acknowledged was wonderful.

Qiao Zhao had no idea that her casual explanation had triggered so many thoughts in several people. She glanced at the door and frowned: “I still need to confirm this again.”

Mad dog bite was no ordinary disease and couldn’t be treated lightly.

“Miss Li, you’d better not bother with it. That young lady is mentally disturbed—what if she hurts you?” Yang Houcheng couldn’t help but advise.

Shao Mingyuan suddenly spoke: “Mad dog bite, as the name suggests, is contracted from being bitten by a rabid dog. What if the afflicted person bites someone else?”

Qiao Zhao said gravely: “Then the person bitten by them might also develop the disease.”

“Is there any way to treat this illness?” Xie Shengxiao asked.

“This condition has an incubation period before onset, as short as one or two days, as long as several months or even over ten years. Before onset, the person is no different from normal people, but once it strikes—”

“What happens?” Several people asked in unison.

Qiao Zhao swept her gaze over everyone, her eyes passing over those trembling young women, and sighed: “Once it strikes, it’s almost impossible to cure with medicine.”

Xie Shengxiao’s face paled: “Has she already had an onset?”

Listening to the scratching sounds from inside the room, Qiao Zhao said in a heavy voice: “If that young lady has indeed contracted mad dog bite, then she hasn’t just had an onset—she’s entered the stage of hydrophobia and madness. If she can survive this stage—”

“Will she be lucky enough to live?” Yang Houcheng interrupted to ask.

Qiao Zhao looked at him and shook her head: “No, she will fall into a coma and ultimately die from throat spasms and suffocation.”