Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 338 Delivering Medicine

The news of Daiyu's illness quickly spread throughout the two palaces.

When the emperor heard the whole story, he held a volume of Tao Yuanming's works, lowered his head for a while, and said in a barely audible voice: "Send some good medicine in the name of the empress dowager."

Dai Quan listened with his head bent. After a pause, when he saw that the emperor had no further words to say, he sighed and responded. He went to select the herbs himself, informed Yanjia Palace, and then personally brought a box of ginseng and deer antlers to the Jia Mansion.

Jia She and Jia Zheng were flattered and welcomed Dai Quan into the house with smiles on their faces.

But as soon as the old eunuch was sent away, Jia's mother fell on the couch with a laugh, her face full of tears: "The old master saw that my life was too hard, so he asked me to let go!"

Mrs. Xing and others who were serving nearby hurriedly tried to comfort and console her upon hearing what she said.

Baoyu was silent for a long time, and when the noise in the room gradually died down, he whispered, "Don't think too much, old ancestor. The emperor is now determined to retire and has not said a word about the affairs of the court.

"This is probably because you didn't ask Meng Shangyi to come and give you acupuncture. Sister Lin... Princess Zhaoqing was anxious, so she asked the Queen Mother to urge you to take care of your health."

Grandmother Jia paused as she wiped her tears.

Wang Xifeng took the opportunity to say, "Brother Bao is absolutely right! Old Ancestor, please don't overthink it!"

"Brother Bao has been smart and considerate since he was young! Now that he is an official in the court, he knows all these subtle thoughts!

"You should just listen to your good grandson and take good care of yourself, and wait for him to get married, have children, and be promoted to a noble and prime minister. That's the right thing to do!"

These words made Grandmother Jia laugh.

The family was relieved.

However, when Lady Jia fell into a daze and everyone left, Baoyu turned around and went to find Jia She and Jia Zheng, and said with tears in his eyes, "The Lord only sent the medicine and didn't order the imperial physician to come. I'm afraid this is exactly what the old lady guessed."

How could Jia Zheng listen to such words now? He immediately flew into a rage, and shouted "little bastard", and then he was about to find something that he could use to hit him:

"The old lady has loved you all her life in vain! You curse her like this at this critical moment!"

Jia She did not stop him. He just snorted and ordered someone to invite Mrs. Xing and Wang Xifeng over.

At that moment, several masters who had a say in the Jia family gathered together. After hearing Baoyu's guess and seeing Jia She's serious expression, Mrs. Xing and Wang Xifeng knew that this was true and they couldn't help but panic.

"Isn't it often said that only when His Majesty personally visits the patient, the ministers will have no choice but to...?"

Mrs. Xing would never dare to utter the word "death" even if she had the courage to do so.

Jia She frowned and twirled his beard, sighing deeply: "The Northern Palace didn't even copy out a single letter. No matter which one of the Supreme Lords or the Current Emperor comes before this matter, it will only add fuel to the fire.

"Our family used to be close to the Northern Palace, and later on they wanted to marry Lin girl off as a concubine. It's possible that we have already incurred the dislike of the current emperor.

"Now that the old lady is seriously ill, she should have been allowed to rest without asking about anything, but now she refuses to be treated. And she is not letting her rest quietly, but she sent Lian'er's daughter-in-law to the Wang family and the Xue family a few days ago..."

At this point, everyone understood that it was because their family was not low-key enough that they attracted the "reward" from the Supreme.

Wang Xifeng and Baoyu both lowered their heads silently and said nothing.

Jia She looked at Jia Zheng, who was in a daze, and then he glanced away coldly, saying in a deep voice: "Pass the order down, close the door, and wait for the sick in the whole house!"

Jia Zheng was startled and looked up at Jia She: "Brother, these young people still have jobs to do!"

"With the old lady like this, what good can they do with their shady jobs?!"

Jia She said coldly, and then looked at Mrs. Xing, "You take the wives and girls to serve the old lady well. I will take the men of the family to kneel in front of the ancestors in the ancestral hall and pray for the old lady."

It’s actually a good idea.

Mrs. Xing nodded in agreement.

Wang Xifeng and Baoyu naturally agreed and left in silence.

However, the whole family was notified except Jia Huan - he was not at home today.

At this time, Jia Huan had already been bewitched by Taoist Zhang's sweet words and would go to Qingxu Temple every few days.

Because he always went to the place of spiritual practice, and sometimes he couldn't make sense of things, he often had to bring his aunt Zhou with him - under the pretext of accompanying his aunt to burn incense.

Today, he was whispering with Taoist Zhang in the back hall. He took out a few letters he had stolen from Jia Zheng's study, handed them to the old thief hesitantly, and smiled flatteringly:

"Now that I have finally submitted my pledge of allegiance, Grandpa Zhang, please say a few good words for me in front of the prince!

"Tomorrow the prince will clear his name, so I have to keep the plaque of our Duke's Mansion, so as not to bring shame to the prince, right?"

From what he said, he was asking for too much. He didn't even mention inheriting the title, but directly asked for the position of "Duke"!

Taoist Zhang sneered in his heart, but said sternly: "Of course it is! Can an ordinary fourth or fifth rank official be worthy of the status of a man like us?!"

Two people were laughing at each other sinisterly when suddenly there was a shout outside, followed by a burst of ping-pong sounds and the footsteps of countless people in chaos!

Taoist Zhang's face changed, and he was about to run back, clutching the letters in his hands!

Jia Huan suddenly became alert, hugged Taoist Zhang, and asked in a trembling voice: "Grandpa Zhang, what happened outside? Where are you going? You must take me with you!"

Taoist Zhang struggled twice but failed to get free, so he quickly forced a smile and said, "Of course. We are all in the same boat."

Seeing that Jia Huan still didn't let go, he was so anxious that sweat appeared on his forehead. He lowered his voice and said anxiously, "The current emperor is not doing things right! Who knows what's going on outside? Brother, come with me and hide in the secret room at the back!"

Jia Huan's heart skipped a beat!

Even as the two were talking, the sounds of the soldiers' armor colliding and their boots stomping on the ground outside were already clear as if they were hearing!

Jia Huan rolled his eyes and pretended, "Okay! I hope Grandpa Zhang doesn't abandon me!"

As expected, he loosened his grip.

Taoist Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, and a murderous look flashed in his eyes!

But before he could react, Jia Huan snatched the letter from his hand and threw it into the incense burner next to him with a huge candle burning!

Taoist Zhang was stunned!

Jia Huan laughed grimly and ran out, shouting, "Hurry up! Grandpa Zhang has fainted! Help him!"

The door slammed open!

A group of soldiers in shining helmets and armor rushed in with long swords in hand!

Jia Huan was filled with shock and astonishment. He turned around to look at Taoist Zhang, who had a gloomy face, and blurted out:

"Hey? Grandpa Zhang, are you okay? Didn't you faint? How did you get up by yourself?"

A man stepped in from outside, stopped, looked at Jia Huan, and said, "Brother Huan, long time no see."

Jia Huan looked up, pleasantly surprised: "Brother Feng!"

Feng Ziying glanced at him and blatantly said, "I heard that your grandmother is seriously ill. Are you here to pray for her?"

When Jia Huan heard this reason, he was very pleased, and his face was so smiling that it looked like a flower: "That's right! I came here with my aunt. She is kneeling in the side hall to pray, and Grandpa Zhang is leading me to burn incense everywhere."

Feng Ziying nodded nonchalantly: "Then go back early, it's chaotic outside."

Unexpectedly, a soldier fished out a piece of unburned envelope from the incense burner and said, "Wait!"