Seeing her agreement, Yunyi thanked her joyfully. After Meixue left, her eyes gradually turned cold. After being in the household for so long, she finally had a chance to see Li Yuan. She would definitely take Li Yuan’s life!
She had previously thought that once she entered the Governor’s residence, she would be able to see Li Yuan, but these newly entered servants could only work in designated places and weren’t allowed to go elsewhere, with no chance to see Li Yuan at all. She could only wait day after day. Fortunately, she had finally waited for this opportunity!
The next morning, Nanny Yang commanded all the women to rise early and practice well once more before nightfall, but after waiting left and right, Meixue still didn’t appear.
Nanny Yang said displeasedly, “Where is Meixue? Why hasn’t she come yet? Who shares a room with her?”
Jiang Caiping hurriedly stepped forward, “Meixue should still be in her room. When I got up just now, she told me she felt somewhat unwell and would come later.”
“Later…” Chunxiu glanced over with a cold laugh, “Is she planning to come when the sun sets in the west? She just became the lead dancer yesterday, and today she’s already putting on airs, making us and Nanny Yang eagerly wait for her alone.”
After being scolded by her, Jiang Caiping became anxious and hurriedly said, “Meixue isn’t that kind of person. She must be feeling unwell, which is why she’s late.”
Nanny Yang spoke up, “Enough. Go check on Meixue. If there’s nothing seriously wrong, tell her to come quickly and not delay everyone’s practice.”
Jiang Caiping agreed and quickly left. Just as she reached the doorway, she was stopped by someone—it was Yunyi, who asked puzzledly, “Miss Jiang, why haven’t I seen Meixue this whole time?”
“She’s feeling unwell. I’m just going to check on her.” Hearing Jiang Caiping’s words, Yunyi’s heart sank, and she quickly went with her toward where Meixue lived. Pushing the door open, they saw Meixue lying on the bed in only an undergarment, not even covered with a quilt.
Jiang Caiping quickly walked over, “Sister, how are you? Are you still feeling very uncomfortable? And why aren’t you covered with a quilt? What if you catch cold? The weather is getting colder each day.”
Before she could pull the quilt over, Meixue opened her eyes and said with some effort, “I’m fine. Did Nanny Yang send you?”
Jiang Caiping nodded, “Nanny Yang has been waiting for you and is somewhat displeased, so she sent me to check. You…” Before she could finish, Meixue already said softly, “I’m fine now. Help me get up.”
With Yunyi and Jiang Caiping’s support, Meixue barely managed to stand, but her whole body was limp without any strength. Every inch of skin exposed outside her clothing was alarmingly hot—no wonder she hadn’t wanted to cover herself with the quilt.
Yunyi asked puzzledly, “Meixue, what’s wrong with you? You were fine yesterday, weren’t you?”
“I don’t know either. Since yesterday, I’ve been feeling feverish all over, and my head keeps aching.” Meixue said weakly, then continued, “Alright, quickly help me over there. Don’t keep Nanny Yang waiting.”
Jiang Caiping said worriedly, “But… sister, you really don’t look well right now. Perhaps we should call a physician to examine you?”
“No need. I can still hold on. Let’s go.” Seeing her say this, the two could only support her all the way to the dance hall. The people waiting there were all shocked to see Meixue’s weak and haggard appearance. Only Chunxiu secretly sneered—wasn’t this exactly the moment she had been waiting for?!
Nanny Yang frowned, “Meixue, did you catch cold during the night and end up like this?”
“No, after finishing dance practice yesterday, I…” As Meixue was speaking, she felt warmth under her nostrils, and then the women cried out in alarm, “Blood!”
Meixue quickly raised her hand to wipe it away, only to see her fingers covered in bright red blood—she was having a nosebleed. Seeing the situation was wrong, Nanny Yang quickly gave Meixue a handkerchief to cover her nose, then said to Yunyi nearby, “Quickly tell Steward Lin to have someone fetch a physician!”
While waiting for the physician to arrive, Meixue’s blood kept flowing continuously, and the more she wiped, the more it flowed, frightening Jiang Caiping nearly to tears.
After an unknown amount of time, a physician of about forty years finally appeared. Seeing so much blood, Nanny Yang was also somewhat panicked. Although these dancers weren’t important in the household, it would still be troublesome if someone died.
As soon as the physician entered, she immediately said, “Physician, quickly find a way to stop Meixue’s bleeding. She’s already lost a lot of blood.”
The physician agreed and took out silver needles to insert into several acupoints. After this, Meixue’s bleeding indeed gradually stopped, making everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Strangely though, despite losing so much blood, her cheeks remained rosy as if completely unaffected.
After Yunyi brought water to wipe the blood from her face, the physician sat down to take her pulse. After he withdrew his hand, Yunyi hurriedly asked, “Physician, what illness does she have?”
The physician shook his head, “She hasn’t fallen ill.”
Jiang Caiping immediately said, “That’s impossible! Sister Wu has no strength in her limbs, her whole body is feverish, and she had such a severe nosebleed for no reason. How could she not be ill?”
“She indeed hasn’t fallen ill. The reason these symptoms appeared is because the deficient fire in her body is too vigorous—she’s too weak to accept supplements.” After saying this, he asked, “May I ask, miss, have you recently taken ginseng, polygonum multiflorum, or other strong tonics?”
“I did take ginseng, it was…” Before Meixue could finish, Chunxiu suddenly cried out in alarm, “So it was you! You stole and took my ginseng!”
Meixue asked puzzledly, “What are you talking about? When did I ever steal your ginseng? You clearly gave it to me yourself.”
“I would give it to you?” Chunxiu laughed coldly, “Wu Meixue, you really have thick skin, actually lying with your eyes wide open. For no reason at all, why would I give you ginseng to take? To flatter you? Simply ridiculous!” After saying this, she turned around with a face full of grievance, “Nanny Yang, Meixue stole and ate my ginseng. You must seek justice for me!”
Nanny Yang said, “What exactly happened? Explain it clearly. And where did that ginseng come from?”
“When I went home yesterday, my father knew I would be performing before the Governor tonight and was very happy. Seeing that I looked somewhat pale, he took out all the family’s savings and had me buy a ginseng root to replenish my vitality. After returning, I had the ginseng stewed and brought it to the dance hall. Later, Sister Jirong called me over to talk, so I went aside and left the ginseng soup there. Who knew that when I finished my business and went back, there wasn’t a single drop of ginseng soup left inside—it had obviously been drunk by someone, and even the ginseng pieces inside had been chewed up messily and couldn’t be stewed again. Although I was somewhat angry, I thought that since we’re all sisters, asking abruptly might hurt our harmony, so I didn’t tell you, Nanny Yang. But now it’s clear—it was definitely Meixue who did it!”