Chapter 524 Awakening

Taiyuan Lin Mansion

Lin's mother sat quietly in the main courtyard, holding Yue'er in her arms. The princess had been extremely busy these past few days. A few days ago, Commander Sun passed away in the middle of the night due to his advanced age. Outside the city, the Prince of Xiang and the imperial army of 40,000 were blocking the area around Taiyuan, and the siege had been going on for five days.

The two commanders who remained in Taiyuan were also injured to varying degrees. Every day before dawn, there were sounds of fighting outside the city. The princess was in charge of coordinating food and medicine in the rear, while the prince was busy leading his men into battle.

Even the young princess of the manor was in the wounded soldiers' camp with the palace maids and servants, helping the palace doctor treat the wounded soldiers.

Poor Shu'er, she has been in a coma for many days, only regaining consciousness for a short while yesterday. A few days ago, he went to the Prince's Mansion to visit Shu'er. Seeing that everyone in the mansion was so busy that they didn't have time to rest, he discussed with the Princess about taking Shu'er home to recuperate.

She was just an ordinary woman who didn't understand national affairs, but she had no problem taking good care of her daughter-in-law.

Lin's mother held Yue'er in her arms and patted her gently. Wang's sister-in-law was now in charge of the affairs of the embroidery workshop. In the past few days, she had also taken the girls from the embroidery workshop to the Wang Mansion to help out and assist the doctors in the army.

Niu Er's sister-in-law stayed at home with Lin's mother, taking care of Li Mingshu and her daughter Yue'er.

The medicine is currently being warmed on the stove. Recently, the Liu family physician has not only been busy treating the wounded soldiers, but also comes to the Lin residence every day to take Li Mingshu's pulse.

Seeing that the time for the day was almost up, Lin's mother, holding the sleeping Yue'er in her arms, handed her to the maid and said softly, "Take Yue'er away first."

The maid took her young mistress from Lin's mother's arms, bowed respectfully while holding the child, and then turned and left the courtyard.

As soon as the door opened, they came face to face with Sister-in-law Niu. Behind her, a maid carrying a food box followed hurriedly toward the main courtyard of the Lin family.

When Niu Er's sister-in-law saw Yue'er sleeping soundly in the maid's arms, she casually waved her hand, signaling the maid to leave first: "No need for formalities, don't wake Yue'er."

These days, the little girl is worried about her mother and cries day and night. She hasn't had a full night's sleep in a long time. She runs out to see if her mother has woken up at the slightest sound.

The little girl is very stubborn and can't be persuaded to leave. Now that she's finally fallen asleep, let her rest for a while.

Sister-in-law Niu Er led the people into the inner room and looked at Mother Lin, who was sitting by Ming Shu's bedside with heartache in her eyes, and said, "Mother, the medicine is ready. Let's feed Ming Shu her medicine first."

Lin's mother turned to her second daughter-in-law and nodded, "You've been taking care of her these past few days, you must be tired. I'll feed her the medicine, you can go and rest for a while."

Sister-in-law Niu Er had a worried look on her face: "There were maids here this morning, so it's not hard work. Mother, you've been keeping watch for so many days. Go and rest later. I'll look after your sister-in-law here."

After learning that Li Mingshu had been assassinated and brought back to the mansion, the Lin family has been quite vigilant lately, fearing that another assassin might appear and harm Mingshu.

Niu Er's sister-in-law was in charge of decocting the medicine. She and the maid squatted in front of the stove and didn't let the medicine pot leave their eyes until it was ready and fed to Li Mingshu.

Therefore, the medicine she was given three times a day for the past few days had left Niu Er's eyes covered in dark circles. Lin's mother did not dare to let her guard down, keeping watch over Yue'er while also staying by Li Mingshu's bedside.

When he was sleepy, he would rest by the bed for a while, and when he woke up, he would hold Yue'er and quietly wait for Li Mingshu to wake up.

Chang Zhiyuan had been home for almost a month and was amazed by his older sister's hard work. He had studied hard for two years at the academy and finally achieved top marks in the city's teachers' exams. He was thinking of coming back to share the good news with his sister.

I was shocked by my sister's extravagance when I got back. Last time I came back, it was just a small courtyard with several courtyards. This time, it's been completely transformed. The huge Lin Mansion looks no different from the mansions of the officials in the prefectural city.

The most shocking thing is that the elder sister actually married a princess!

Chang Zhiyuan was so shocked by the things his elder sister had done that he didn't know what to do. When he was led back to the mansion for the first time, he thought he had gone to the wrong place.

After her mother explained the current situation to her, she was still somewhat shocked.

My second brother recently diverted most of the money from his household to purchase grain and medicine, which he then sent to the Prince's residence.

He helped with the overall planning and calculation. He Sheng also came back with him this time. No wonder the He family prospered so quickly. This time, He Sheng's father sent He Sheng to Taiyuan with tens of thousands of taels of silver. However, this time it was not for them, but to be handed over to the Prince's Mansion.

Prince Qi accepted the money, and the He family gained a powerful patron. Now everyone knows that the King of Chu has already attacked the gates of the capital, and once the city falls, the world will change.

Chang Zhiyuan stood outside the door and knocked: "Mother? I'm back. How is the Princess today?"

Sister-in-law Niu opened the door and saw Zhiyuan standing outside. She smiled at him and said, "Zhiyuan, come in. The princess hasn't woken up yet and is about to take her medicine."

Chang Zhiyuan nodded: "I recently checked the manpower in the manor again, and their backgrounds are all clean. The guards and maids are divided into three shifts. I will be there when the shifts change. Mother, and second sister-in-law, you have both worked hard these days. Let me keep watch today."

Second Brother is still helping out at the government office and should be back by tonight. Prince Qi led his men into battle early this morning and sustained some injuries. I remember we still have some medicinal herbs left in the family treasury, as the Prince's estate has bestowed upon us. Reserve the herbs the Princess needs, and send the rest back. The prices of all kinds of medicinal herbs in the city are rising too fast; even the Prince's estate can't keep up with this kind of spending.”

Lin's mother gently supported Li Mingshu, letting her lean against her chest. Niu Er's sister-in-law gently blew on the medicine in the spoon, tasted it to make sure the temperature was right, and then slowly fed it to Li Mingshu.

Lin's mother didn't even glance at her youngest son, but looked at Li Mingshu with heartache in her eyes: "The key to the storeroom is in the second hidden compartment under my bed. Go and get it yourself. Your second brother is busy now, and there are only two men in the family. You can decide for yourselves. Your mother is just a woman and doesn't know anything. You can make the decision."

Chang Zhiyuan sighed as he watched his mother slowly feeding Li Mingshu the medicine. It must be said that the princess has had a hard life. Now that things have finally gotten a little better, she has been poisoned by those people in the capital. His elder sister probably doesn't know about this yet.

Li Mingshu on the bed seemed to have choked and suddenly coughed violently, black medicine dripping down the corner of her mouth.

Sister-in-law Niu Er gently wiped Li Mingshu's mouth with a handkerchief. Lin's mother looked at the bowl of medicine, which still had a large portion left, and looked at Li Mingshu, who was slowly opening her eyes in her arms, with some worry.

"Ah Shu? Oh, she's awake! Ah Shu's awake!"