Gu Shaoyu saw that her cheeks were burning red, and she looked like a little furnace.

He was extremely anxious, so he took the ice, smashed it, wrapped it in a cloth, and placed ice packs on his forehead, armpits, and sides.

The high fever wouldn't go down, and he kept muttering something.

He leaned in close, but couldn't understand what she was saying.

Call Manman over: "Manman, listen to what she's saying?"

Manman listened attentively for a while, then suddenly burst into tears: "Madam is having a nightmare, dreaming that she was being punished."

What did she say?

“Mother, Zhao Zhao is cold…” Manman said, crying. “When she was little, Madam Xie often punished her by making her kneel in the freezing cold. If she misbehaved, she would be locked in a dark room…”

"Does my father-in-law know?"

"Madam Xie said this is to teach etiquette, and it's for the good of the lady. She is the lady's aunt, and no one thinks she's doing anything wrong."

The lady cried several times, and later became very strict with herself, saying that if her discipline was so good that no one could find fault with her, then no one could punish her.

"Isn't anyone going to take care of these things?" Gu Shaoyu, having spent so much time in the imperial court, was not one to show his emotions.

"Madam was kneeling in the freezing snow. I was afraid that her knees would get frostbite, so I went to the master to complain. The master then transferred Madam to the old lady's side to be cared for."

As the old lady grew old, Xie Anfeng was worried that she would get tired, so he begged Consort Xi to let Xie Zhaozhao stay by Consort Xi's side.

Gu Shaoyu understood and said to Manman, "You can go now, I understand."

Xie Zhaozhao was sleeping restlessly. Gu Shaoyu was about to pick her up when he suddenly heard her whisper, "Consort Gu, kneel..."

Consort Gu? Where did this Consort Gu come from?

Is it also called Zhaozhao Kneeling?

He placed the ice packs around her body again, and she seemed to catch a chill, shivering and murmuring, "Brother, Father..."

She suddenly sobbed, and tears fell from the corners of her eyes.

Gu Shaoyu had no idea what kind of dream she had, or why this was happening.

He picked her up without a second thought, brushed the hair from her forehead to one side, and said in a deep voice, "My little darling, from now on we won't kneel to anyone. I'll ask His Majesty for a favor, and give you a golden token that exempts you from kneeling. You won't kneel to anyone!"

"Whoever made you kneel for a moment, I'll make her kneel until she dies."

"No one can bully you. Your brother, your father, your grandmother, we will protect you together."

He spoke to her in a low voice for a long time.

Manman was waiting at the door. She vaguely heard what Grand Secretary Gu said and remembered that she, Yuanyuan and Xie Zhaozhao had been punished by Xu Yingrong (stepmother Xu) when they were young. She couldn't help but sob softly.

Gu Shaoyu ignored her and just held Xie Zhaozhao, patting her back gently again and again.

Everyone says that the eldest daughter of the Xie family is the most noble lady in the entire country, with good manners, good looks, good talent, and a good family background.

Perhaps because there are too many "good" things, some bad things come along with them, such as losing one's mother at a young age, and these accompanying bad things are so heartbreaking.

“Zhaozhao, we’re the same…” he said in an almost inaudible voice, “From now on, we’ll make up for each other’s shortcomings.”

Gu Shaoyu tried to feed her water with a spoon, but she shook her head groggily.

"Sweetie, drink some water. It will help your fever go down."

He held her in his arms and clumsily fed her water.

They fed her one spoonful at a time, coaxing and calling out softly, one "good boy" after another, while tears streamed down their faces at the door.

Gu Shaoyu persisted in feeding him, giving him about half a bowl of warm water.

Unexpectedly, he vomited up all the water he had just drunk.

Manman and Aunt Cui quickly came in, cleaned the floor, and changed the sheets and clothes.

"Headache," Xie Zhaozhao muttered softly, then started vomiting again, vomiting violently.

Seeing that she was vomiting terribly, Gu Shaoyu told Manman to watch over her while he rode out of the mansion again to fetch the imperial physician.

The imperial physician said along the way, "High fever tends to recur, Your Excellency, don't worry. It will definitely get better in a day or two, or at most three to five days."

Gu Shaoyu said, "She also vomited."

"It's easy to vomit when you have a fever." The imperial physician wanted to say that vomiting was nothing to worry about, but seeing how anxious Gu Shaoyu was, he kept quiet.

The Third Madam fell ill, and the Grand Secretary personally went to invite the Imperial Physician. Zhang Qing woke up early and informed Madam Tu.

Even the old lady was alarmed.

Gu Shaoyu ordered everyone to be kept outside.

If only there were imperial physicians, there would be no trouble with too many people.

The imperial physician took Xie Zhaozhao's pulse and asked in surprise, "What did you feed the lady?"

Is there a problem with the food?

Gu Shaoyu then reminisced with Manman about what they had eaten.

The imperial physician heard that the stone frog had been eaten, and then he heard that the tea had been drunk and the tea leaves had been eaten.

Then he exclaimed, "Stone frogs cannot be eaten with tea. These two foods are incompatible. Even a healthy person will feel dizzy, have a headache, or even faint after eating them. My wife is already ill and weak, so her condition has worsened."

After the imperial physician performed acupuncture on Xie Zhaozhao, he also gave her an emetic. Xie Zhaozhao became dazed and vomited violently by the bedside, emptying her stomach of the stone frog and other food.

The imperial physician gave her other pills, and Gu Shaoyu coaxed her to drink half a bowl of millet porridge before she finally fell asleep again.

Gu Shaoyu summoned the imperial physician and handed him the remaining stone frogs, asking, "Take a look, is there anything wrong with these stone frogs?"

The imperial physician examined it, smelled it, poked it with a silver needle, and shook his head: "It should be non-toxic."

That's the concept of food pairings and their interactions.

The more prestigious the clan or family, the more rules they have. In the Xie family, there is a cup of tea before meals, a mouthwash tea after meals, and a formal cup of tea after that, only then is the meal considered finished.

Even if Xie Zhaozhao comes to the Marquis's residence, this habit she developed since childhood will not change.

Xie Xiangxiang was fully aware of this habit.

However, whether she was aware that stone frogs and tea are incompatible is unknown.

This time, I can only suffer in silence; it's all my fault for being careless.

Gu Shaoyu didn't make a fuss. He told Aunt Cui, "From now on, no matter who brings you anything, keep it separately. Don't give the Madam anything that she should eat or use. Give away other people's things, reward them, or find a time to return them to the original owner."

Aunt Cui was filled with regret; she was the one who cooked the stone frog. She never imagined that the Crown Prince's wife would turn on her own sister.

This time, the illness was serious, and Consort Xi heard about it. Unable to leave the palace, she sent her head maid, Liuli, to visit her.

Liuli brought many nourishing foods and words of comfort. Xie Zhaozhao spoke to her through the curtain: "Go back and tell the Imperial Concubine that I am fully recovered and will go to the palace to express my gratitude."

Liuli had just left when more people from the Xie family arrived, including Grandmother and Madam Xie.

Fearing that her grandmother was too old to bear the illness, Xie Zhaozhao thanked her through the curtain, saying that she would send someone to report to the mansion as soon as she recovered.

Many people who couldn't get into the Marquis's residence sent their tonics to the courtyard.

An illness alarmed all the prominent figures in Kyoto, who came to offer gifts.

Xie Xiangxiang was so angry that she smashed things in Fanghua Garden.

"Pah, it's just a minor illness! Is it going to kill you?" she gritted her teeth angrily. "What a waste of so many precious stone frogs..."