Madam Qiu was helpless. She had taken Shui Ling's bribes and the money from the Fujin's side, and it was too late for regrets now. After much deliberation, she decided to go to the Fujin and plead for help.

News also reached the Fujin's side, and Lingxiu suggested that the Fujin go and check on her herself that evening. Just as they finished their dinner, a maid came to report that Qiu Mama from Juyuan had arrived.

The Fujin and Lingxiu knew it must be about Shuiling, so they sent a maid to deliver the message.

Aunt Qiu walked into the main courtyard with her hands and feet tucked in. This was her first time here. Although the main courtyard was no longer what it used to be, it still held a great deal of authority for a lowly gatekeeper like her.

"This servant greets the Fujin!" When Qiu Mama saw the Fujin sitting in the main seat, she quickly lowered her head and dared not look directly at her.

"Aunt Qiu, how is Madam Ji? I heard she was punished by Consort Wu?" The Fujin (principal wife) had noticeably more wrinkles than before, but her dignified demeanor remained. Although she had been disliked by the Fourth Prince for many years, he had not skimped on her expenses; he had sent her everything she was entitled to.

"Reporting to Your Highness, I've come to inform you that Madam Ji has developed a high fever. It's alarming, and I felt unwell, so I came to report it," said Mama Qiu.

The princess frowned, exchanged a glance with Lingxiu, and then said, "Lingxiu, go and invite Doctor Lin to take a look. It's a human life at stake, and the Lunar New Year is almost here. We can't let something happen at this time."

Seeing this, Qiu's mother looked to Lingxiu for help. Lingxiu then took Qiu's mother to the place where Doctor Lin lived. After conveying the Princess's message, Doctor Lin had no choice but to carry his medicine chest to the Chrysanthemum Garden.

When the group arrived at Shui Ling's room, they saw that Shui Ling on the bed looked like a shrimp that was about to be roasted, her face was so red that it was frightening, and she started talking nonsense.

After taking her pulse, Dr. Lin immediately took out some medicine from his medicine box. He had heard from Qiu's mother that she had a fever, so he had put some cooling medicine into the medicine box before he left.

"Aunt Qiu, hurry up and prepare this medicine, it has to be quick," Doctor Lin immediately instructed. "Madam Ji thinks she has caught a bad cold, and if this heat isn't suppressed, I'm afraid things will get worse."

Lingxiu was shocked. She hadn't expected Shuiling to be in such a serious condition. She didn't dare to delay and immediately asked Zhang Mama, who was standing nearby, about the whole incident. Zhang Mama then told Lingxiu everything about Wu Shi's visit.

As soon as Qiu's mother finished brewing the medicine, she quickly brought it over. Lingxiu stayed by her side the whole time, watching as Qiu's mother fed the medicine to her.

"I'm afraid it will be a recurring problem. This medicine needs to be decocted and fed to her every hour. Repeat this three times. If the fever doesn't go down, then we'll have to use other methods," said Doctor Lin.

Lingxiu personally escorted Doctor Lin out of the Chrysanthemum Garden, then turned back to Shuiling's room and said to Zhang Mama and Qiu Mama, "You two, stay here and watch over her tonight. I'll have someone bring some more charcoal over later to warm up the room."

The two old women dared not refuse, as this was essentially a matter personally instructed by the Fujin (princess's wife), so they had no choice but to agree.

That night, Shui Ling's fever subsided several times, only to suddenly return. The two old women were tormented by her all night, but they dared not ignore it. It wasn't until the latter half of the night that her fever finally broke and she fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, news of Shui Ling burning all night spread far and wide, and even some people underground began to say that Lan Qin had instructed Wu Shi to treat a concubine like this. This news reached Lan Qin's ears, but it had no effect whatsoever.

Shui Ling's fever worsened her already improving leg, and coupled with her weakened state, she missed the opportunity to participate in the tomb-sweeping ceremony on the eve of the Lunar New Year. Because of this, Shui Ling hid under the covers and cried and cried.

She finally had a chance to see the Fourth Master, but her illness caused him to die. She was extremely unwilling, but there was nothing she could do.

This day was the day before the Little New Year. Lanqin had already made arrangements for everyone and was just waiting for the next day to gather all the masters of the mansion to hold a tomb-sweeping ceremony with the Fourth Master in the front yard, followed by a New Year's Eve dinner for everyone in the mansion.

Shui Ling was almost fully recovered, so she struggled to get out of bed, changed her clothes, put on a cotton cloak, and headed towards the South Courtyard. She had walked this path countless times before, never finding it long, but this day, she walked very slowly, each step seemingly difficult. She hadn't been to the South Courtyard for almost a year. Shui Ling vividly remembered how she had left the South Courtyard. Cui Niang had her belongings thrown out of the door one by one, then began to berate her.

What shamed her even more was that the Fourth Prince showed her no pity whatsoever. The man to whom she had given her virginity almost had her beaten to death. In the end, it was Lanqin who intervened and expelled her from the manor. After leaving the manor, Shuiling had nowhere to go and was almost abducted to a brothel. Fortunately, she had saved some money over the years, otherwise she really didn't know how she would have survived. From that moment on, Shuiling's desire to become the Fourth Prince's woman not only didn't fade, but it became even stronger. In just half a month, she discovered that she was incredibly lucky and was pregnant. Heaven knows how happy she was when she learned that she was carrying the Fourth Prince's child. She immediately went to the manor and slipped several taels of silver to the gatekeeper, asking them to tell Lanqin that she was pregnant. She knew Lanqin's weakness, which was that she was too sentimental. Although she had betrayed her, if she told Lanqin that she was pregnant, Lanqin would definitely not be able to get over her soft spot. Sure enough, Lanqin had someone summon her to the manor again. As expected, the Fourth Prince complied with her arrangement and made her a concubine. So, could she perhaps move her again this time, begging her to stop making things difficult for her and spare her life?

Thinking about all this, Shui Ling had already reached the entrance of the South Courtyard. The courtyard gate, which was once so familiar, now seemed completely unfamiliar.

"Oh, who do we have here? It's Madam Ji!" Yu Xiao's voice rang out from behind Shui Ling.

Yu Xiao and Yue Lan returned with some fruit and happened to see Shui Ling standing at the door, so she said sarcastically.

"I've come to see the concubine; I have something to say to her," Shui Ling said coldly when she saw that it was Yu Xiao.

"I'm not here to serve concubines. If you're so capable, go ahead and say it yourself." Yu Xiao glared at Shui Ling, then, with Yue Lan in tow, she walked past her carrying a fruit basket.

"I have important business to discuss with the concubine," Shui Ling said, still unwilling to give up.