Half a month passed, and the Fourth Master had not visited Lady Wuya's residence once. She hadn't seen him for half a month. Everyone thought that this new Lady Wuya was nothing special, and assumed she was some important relative, but apart from bestowing gifts on her twice, the Fourth Master had never once visited her room.

"Master, it's time for dinner!" Cuiyun returned carrying Wuya's food box. She slipped a good amount of silver to the eunuch Huang in the kitchen, and the meals were finally a little better than in the first few days after she arrived, but they still didn't exceed four dishes and a soup; the variety was just a bit better.

At this moment, Wuya was completely confused about the Fourth Master's attitude towards her. He clearly still had feelings for her, so why hadn't he come even once in the half month since she entered the household?

Seeing that Lady Wuya was sitting absentmindedly in the high-backed chair by the window, Cuiyun knew that she was saddened by the Fourth Prince's continued absence. In truth, she was also disappointed. She had thought that by following Lady Wuya into the Fourth Prince's residence, she could immediately live a life of luxury with her, but the Fourth Prince hadn't even shown his face once!

“Master, it’s time for lunch! If you don’t eat, you’ll definitely feel unwell. If the master comes and sees that you’re not feeling well, wouldn’t that be a waste of an opportunity?” Cuiyun had no choice but to say this.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Wuya came to her senses and said, "Cuiyun, we must think of a way to lure him here. Once he comes, I will have a way to remind him of our past relationship!"

Cuiyun said, "Master, why don't you pretend to be sick! Only if you are sick might you attract the master's attention!"

Uya nodded and said, "Alright, this is the only way. Cuiyun, bring out all the food; I want to eat my fill first."

Cuiyun immediately brought out the dishes one by one and placed them on the round table in the main room. The four dishes were braised duck with radish, steamed pork ribs with rice flour, stir-fried eggs with mushrooms, and braised eel with lettuce, as well as a vegetable and vermicelli soup.

“These are much better than before. Did you pay for them?” Uya asked as soon as she saw the dishes.

"Yes, those people are all opportunists. Once they're paid, their attitude changes, and they even give you different dishes." Cuiyun said as she served rice and chopsticks to Wuya.

“But if we keep using money to bribe people like this, we’ll eventually run out of it. My monthly allowance is only ten taels of silver. How can I afford to keep giving it to them like this?” said Uya.

“Yes, Master, if we don’t bribe them, the things they give us will become increasingly outrageous,” Cuiyun said.

After listening silently, Uya sat down, picked up her rice bowl, and began to eat.

That evening, Lady Uya specifically asked Cuiyun to fetch water for her, and then insisted on waiting until the water was completely cold before taking off her clothes to bathe. However, even in March, the nights were still quite chilly. In order to fall ill quickly, Lady Uya had Cuiyun open the window directly opposite the bathtub. When the cold wind blew in, Lady Uya sat in the icy bathtub, shivering from the cold!

"My lady, please get up. If this continues, I'm afraid you'll really fall ill!" Cuiyun was genuinely surprised by the ruthlessness Wuya showed her.

“How can a fake illness lure him here? If you’re going to be sick, you have to be really sick for him to come,” Uya said through gritted teeth. Her eyes revealed an almost obsessive determination, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Sure enough, after getting out of the bathtub, Uya fell ill with a fever in the middle of the night. She had literally made herself sick from the cold.

Seeing that Wuya was burning up with fever, Cuiyun was also frightened and quickly said to her, "Master, I will go and fetch you right now. Please bear with it."

Uya nodded, her eyes already burning with fever. Cuiyun quickly dressed, took the flaming lamp, and went to the south courtyard to ask Lanqin to fetch a doctor for her. Concubines or princesses were not allowed to go to the doctor on their own when they were sick; they had to obtain permission from the secondary consort, the primary consort, or the master before they could go to fetch a doctor.

There wasn't a single star in the sky, and the moon was fuzzy, as if it were wearing a sweater. A cool breeze swept over Cuiyun, but she paid no attention to it, carrying the gas lamp all the way to the south courtyard.

Meanwhile, Fourth Master and Lanqin had already gone to bed. After a short while of masturbation, Fourth Master had fallen asleep contentedly beside Lanqin. Lanqin, however, couldn't sleep because she had slept too much during the day. She lay beside Fourth Master, her eyes open, lost in thought.

"Master! Master!" Cui Niang had no choice but to call out twice through the door from outside the house.

"What's wrong, Aunt Cui!" Lanqin asked, pulling her hair up.

"Madam Wuya in the west courtyard has a high fever and wants to ask a doctor to come and take a look!" Cui Niang said. She didn't want to disturb Lanqin and Fourth Master at this time, but someone was sick, so she had no choice but to come in and announce it.

Lanqin was taken aback, thinking to herself, "How could she have fallen ill so quickly? What a beauty!" Fourth Master hadn't been home for half a month, spending most of his time resting at her place. Lanqin understood that Wuya must be feeling extremely uncomfortable right now, like an ant on a hot pan.

"Take my message immediately and have Doctor Lin examine her! Report back immediately if anything happens! Send a maid to go and keep an eye on her," Lanqin said hastily.

"Yes!" Cui Niang replied from outside, without saying anything more.

Lanqin lay down again. She knew that even when a concubine was ill, she had to report it before a doctor could be summoned, and now she herself controlled the health of the women in the inner quarters. Under normal circumstances, Lanqin never made things difficult for anyone. But now that this Lady Wuya was also ill, Lanqin felt a little suspicious.

"Master!" Lanqin called out to the Fourth Master's face.

Fourth Master remained motionless, clearly fast asleep. Lanqin felt a sense of relief; no matter how much the women outside tried to cause trouble or gain favor with Fourth Master, it seemed they couldn't harm her.

After half an hour, Lanqin couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep beside Fourth Master.

Because Lady Wuya had taken a cold bath and been exposed to cold wind, she contracted typhoid fever. Therefore, she wasn't worried at all. If she could welcome the Fourth Prince, then her illness would have been worthwhile.

That night, Wuya was destined to be disappointed. Fourth Master was already asleep, and there was no way to wake him. Not only did Fourth Master not come, but those who did come were all acquaintances of Lanqin. It wasn't until midnight that Doctor Lin finally prepared the medicine for Wuya, instructed someone to administer it, and then covered her with three layers of quilts to induce sweating.

After Doctor Lin left, Uya threw what she was holding on the ground angrily and said, "Didn't you say that faking illness would lure him here?"

Cuiyun was so tired after working all night that she could barely stand.