Chapter 153 Fever

By daybreak, Chang Zhiyuan and He Sheng had already arrived in town. The sky was already bright. Chang Zhiyuan slightly moved his arm, which was sore and numb from being pressed down by the sleeping He Sheng, and hissed.

The two of them huddled together and got warmer. They wrapped their cloaks around themselves and put raincoats over them to keep out the rain. The road was bumpy, and they didn't know when the rain stopped. Before they knew it, they had fallen asleep.

Uncle Chen led the convoy into the town and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the inn there; the bandits from last night had not caught up with them.

Uncle Chen waved his hand, signaling the convoy to stop at the inn. There were still two young ladies in the carriage; dropping them off here would allow them to continue their journey. He Sheng, startled by Zhiyuan's gesture, rubbed his eyes and asked, "Have we arrived?"

Chang Zhiyuan lifted the cloaks off the two of them, turned his numb arm, and nodded: "Yes, we've arrived."

The two men jumped off the carriage and were about to put the two young ladies down when they suddenly heard a woman's voice exclaim, "Sister Zhou? Sister Zhou?"

Chang Zhiyuan led He Sheng to the front of the caravan. Seeing the two of them with their clothes soaked through, he consciously looked away. The two of them looked really disheveled. The one called Sister Zhou must have been caught in the rain and frightened last night. Her face was flushed, and she probably had a fever.

Chang Zhiyuan glanced at He Sheng: "Let's take them to the clinic, and then we'll leave."

Mr. He nodded: "Miss, let us take you to the clinic first, and then we will leave once we arrive."

Su Mingshu glanced at He Sheng hesitantly: "Thank you, sir, for your trouble."

Seeing Su Mingshu's hesitant gaze, He Sheng took out a silver note from his pocket: "This is fifty taels of silver. Consider it as pawning Miss's jewelry. It should be enough for medical treatment."

Su Mingshu really didn't have much money left. They had always been accompanied by maids and servants when they went out before, and they had never been in such a predicament. However, this was not the time to worry about saving face. Su Mingshu accepted the silver notes handed to her by He Sheng with gratitude and said, "Thank you, sir."

After He Sheng and Chang Zhiyuan got back into the caravan, Uncle Chen went into the inn to inquire about the location of the clinic and then drove the caravan to the clinic. Everyone had been caught in the rain last night, but these people who had been running caravans for many years were in good health and were not prone to getting sick.

To be on the safe side, it's best to go to a clinic and spend a little money to get some medicine for treating colds.

As the group arrived at the clinic, Su Mingshu staggered and helped Zhou Wanning out of the car. Her legs gave way and she was about to fall to the ground when Chang Zhi, who was nearby, reached out and grabbed her shoulder to help her stand up. Su Mingshu, a delicate young lady, struggled to help Zhou Wanning into the clinic.

He Sheng frowned and was about to ask someone to lend a hand when Chang Zhiyuan stopped him: "It's only a few steps, it should be fine. We are all men, we should avoid suspicion. There are doctors in the clinic."

As soon as she finished speaking, a woman from the clinic came out to greet her and helped Zhou Wanning inside: "Oh dear, you have a fever, don't you? Quick, quick, come in quickly, why are you all wet? Ah Niu, come out quickly!!"

The woman called for help and helped Zhou Wanning to the hospital bed. Touching Zhou Wanning's feverish body, she looked at Su Mingshu and said, "Oh dear, you're all soaking wet. You two wait a moment, I'll go find you some clothes so you can change out of your wet clothes first."

As he spoke, he turned and went into the backyard to find clothes for the two of them. A man of about forty years old lifted the curtain and came out of the door. He was stunned when he saw a group of people blocking the door. Then, when he saw the girl on the sickbed, he suddenly frowned and quickly stepped forward. After taking her pulse, he looked at Su Mingshu for a while. Although the two of them looked disheveled, their clothes were the style of wealthy people: "Are you a relative of this young lady?"

Su Mingshu nodded: "Yes, sir. How is my sister?"

The doctor stroked his beard and said, "Your sister has caught a cold. After you change into clean clothes, I will administer acupuncture to reduce the fever by stimulating the acupoints. I will also get some medicine for you to take home and decoct later."

Chang Zhiyuan stepped forward: "Sir, most of us got caught in the rain. Could you prescribe some medicine for us to drink as a precaution?"

The doctor nodded: "Of course, don't stand there, come in and change your clothes. The two ladies, please go to the backyard to wash and change later. I'll prescribe some medicine for everyone now."

Mr. He bowed and said, "Thank you for your trouble, sir."

As they were talking, the woman came out again, helping Zhou Wanning and leading Su Mingshu into the inner courtyard. The doctor at the clinic closed the door halfway: "Change here. I'll go and get the medicine and brew it for you. It will take about an hour. After you're done, go outside and eat something to warm up. There are food vendors on the street corner."

He Sheng nodded. He and Chang Zhiyuan were not very wet, so they didn't change. Hearing this, he pulled Chang Zhiyuan and said, "Let's go and buy some food. We're really hungry after the bumpy ride."

Chang Zhiyuan was pulled out of the clinic. The two walked along the somewhat deserted street. When they reached the street corner, they saw breakfast stalls with what looked like steamed meat buns on them. The aroma made He Sheng's stomach rumble.

He Sheng sat in front of the stall and waved his hand: "Shopkeeper, give me four big meat buns first, then thirty more meat buns. Can you deliver the soup here to the clinic? I'd like twelve bowls."

The stall owners, a husband and wife, laughed upon hearing this: "Of course, sir, we'll bring it up in a moment. Here are the four meat buns you ordered. Take them, be careful they're hot."

He Sheng took the meat buns and divided them between two for Chang Zhiyuan. He took a big bite, and the meat juices splattered everywhere. It was so delicious that He Sheng almost bit his tongue off. After finishing, he tossed a loose silver coin to the ground: "Sigh, it smells so good. Shopkeeper, here's the money. Just take it to the clinic over there later."

The shopkeeper replied, "Alright, sir, that'll be 114 coins in total. I don't have change, so please wait a moment while I go and get some more."

Mr. He waved his hand: "No need to trouble yourself. Look how many meat buns you have. Pack them all up and send them over. We can eat them on the way."

The shopkeeper beamed with joy: "Yes, sir, I'll pack it up for you right away."

After the two finished eating the meat buns, they returned to the clinic. Su Mingshu had already changed her clothes and was sitting in front of the sickbed. She looked at the two of them curiously when they returned.

These two people didn't seem like bad people; they helped them a lot along the way. It's just that we don't know why they want to go to Daxing. The rebels have already captured four cities, and the entire border region has fallen into the hands of Prince Sheng. The imperial army of 200,000 has also suffered a defeat on the border. Going there now would be tantamount to courting death.

After hesitating for a moment, Su Mingshu asked, "Do you two gentlemen have some urgent business that requires you to go to the frontier?"

He Sheng sat on the sickbed beside him, unable to hold back a burp, and patted his belly, saying, "Ah, it's urgent. Zhiyuan's younger brother is a commander in Daxing, and we need to go there to find him, so..."

Su Mingshu hesitated for a moment before introducing herself: "My lord, my father is from the Marquis's mansion. If it were Daxing, we could not go there at this time."

Chang Zhiyuan suddenly looked up: "What do you mean?"