Chapter 42 The Comatose Third Young Master, at the main gate of the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence. Accompanied by…

The main gate of the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence.

As cries of surprise arose, several servants rushed out of the mansion, asking all sorts of questions.

It wasn't until Steward Li arrived after hearing the commotion and scolded them a couple of times that the chaos was brought under control. He quickly stepped forward, apologizing, and lifted the sedan curtain to peek inside. His expression suddenly changed: "Third...Third Brother!"

"Fuquan! Go quickly and fetch Physician Pan."

"Er Shun, go to Third Sister's courtyard and report..."

"Shuangrui, go to the old lady's room and inform her..."

As expected of Steward Li, he quickly regained his composure after a moment of panic. He methodically instructed everyone to go and report the search for the missing person. Then, he ordered someone to bring a bed, first moving the unconscious Third Young Master onto the bed, and then having several people lift him up and steadily carry him to the courtyard.

Su Zhihan and Granny Xu only caught a glimpse of him from afar, but their hearts trembled. They saw that the Third Young Master's face was deathly pale, and the silk ribbon tied around his head was stained crimson with blood.

It was still above his head, and he was seriously injured!

Su Zhihan's expression changed slightly, while Granny Xu was even more shocked.

You should know that her son, Ershun, had just been promoted to work under the Third Prince when this happened. She was uneasy, and after exchanging a few words with Su Zhihan, she hurriedly returned to the mansion to find her daughter-in-law.

Su Zhihan remained where she was, listening intently to the conversation between Steward Li and the officials who had escorted the Third Young Master back. She recognized these officials; they were the same street officials she had seen before.

After Steward Li had someone escort the Third Young Master into the mansion, he bowed to the street officials to apologize and invited everyone to sit down in the mansion so that his masters could express their gratitude.

However, the street officials politely declined, citing busy official duties as the reason, and left in a hurry.

Su Zhihan's heart sank suddenly, and sweat broke out on her back. The officials who escorted her back were unwilling to enter the mansion. Their attitude of avoiding her like the plague could only mean one thing... Third Young Master was seriously injured, so seriously that they were worried that if they went in, they would not only not be rewarded, but would also be blamed and implicated.

After a while, Su Zhihan calmed down. After all, it was her master's business and had little to do with her. Su Zhihan thought for a moment, then took the money and hurried to the brokerage. When the broker saw her, he took out the contract and other documents and taught her to sign and put her fingerprint on it. He then handed over the money to the master.

The other party did the same, handing over all the contracts and other documents.

The eunuch took out another contract and led Su Zhihan and the other man to the government office to complete the tax payment and contract stamping procedures. Unexpectedly, halfway through the process, the official in charge searched through the documents for a while, then looked at Su Zhihan hesitantly: "Are you a servant of the Marquis of Zhongyong's household?"

Wei Yaren knew that Su Zhihan was a servant of a wealthy family, but he never expected that she was from the Marquis of Zhongyong’s mansion. A look of surprise flashed across his face, but he remained silent.

Su Zhihan nodded: "Yes."

The seller looked surprised and stammered, "A maid from the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion? How can a maid buy a house on her own?"

Upon hearing this, the official laughed and said, "That's because you're not knowledgeable enough."

He had served as an official in the capital for many years, handling land transactions on a daily basis. There were many noble and powerful families in the capital, each with hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of servants. Such families had extraordinary servants, and it was common for them to own houses and hire maids and servants.

After a brief explanation, the official took a contract from the register and handed it to Su Zhihan: "Did your family ask you to buy this stall?"

"I'm afraid your family forgot to tell you that any property a servant wants to purchase must be registered and known to the household."

"Take this contract back and inform the master of the household. He can sign it and put his fingerprint on it, or you can stamp it."

"Then bring it back to me and save it."

"Yes, thank you for your trouble." Su Zhihan blushed, took the contract, glanced at it twice, carefully folded it, and put it into her crossbody bag.

To the three people around her, Su Zhihan seemed ashamed, trying to forget the incident. But Su Zhihan herself knew that her thoughts were as turbulent as the sea after a storm.

Foolish, foolish, foolish!

How could she have forgotten about this again?

Perhaps her predecessor knew these common-sense facts, but Su Zhihan couldn't quite remember them and often had to think for a while before she could recall them. She only saw that the shop was cheap and the size was just right, but forgot that buying was not like renting; it required going through the mansion.

Su Zhihan's heart sank, but she couldn't show any sign of distress in front of the broker and the seller. She walked out of the yamen with the broker and the seller, first apologizing to them, and then saying that she would deliver the contract to the yamen once she got permission from her master.

With the money in hand, the seller readily agreed, and the broker assumed that Su Zhihan was in such a hurry that she had forgotten about this matter, so he smiled and comforted her, saying, "Madam Su, there's no need to worry. Just send it to the government office when you have time."

After saying goodbye to the two, Su Zhihan's smile vanished the moment she turned her back, and she went home with a heavy heart.

She pushed open the door and looked up to see Jiang Zhenniang sitting in front of the mud stove, lost in thought: "Mother..."

Jiang Zhenniang frowned and looked up when she heard the sound, her eyes meeting those of Su Zhihan, whose eyes were filled with sorrow.

The mother and daughter looked at each other, speechless.

Jiang Zhenniang blurted out, "Have you also heard about the Third Young Master being attacked by thugs and falling into a coma?"

"Attacked by... thugs?"

"Huh? You didn't know?" Jiang Zhenniang was surprised and told her daughter about it. It turned out that Sanlangjun was currently serving as the Right Assistant Minister, assisting his superior in disaster relief efforts both inside and outside the capital.

Who would have thought that the unscrupulous merchants would take advantage of the snow disaster to make a fortune from the national crisis, causing the prices of firewood, charcoal and other items to multiply several times in just three days, and today it has even triggered a riot among the people of the capital.

Saburo was ordered to lead men to stop them, but was attacked by the enraged crowd. Only after the crowd dispersed did the officials nearby discover that Saburo had been beaten unconscious.

"Now, Third Master has developed a high fever..."

"When I got home from my shift, Third Sister's yard was still in complete chaos..."

"The Lunar New Year is just around the corner."

"How could this happen? How could this possibly happen?"

It turned out to be the charcoal shop she had passed by earlier!

Su Zhihan then realized the reason behind it and was immediately filled with lingering fear. She thought that next time she met that kind old woman who gave her the advice, she would definitely thank her.

"This is still the capital, yet it's so chaotic."

"I wonder what kind of chaos will ensue elsewhere." Jiang Zhenniang sighed deeply, and urged her daughter to keep a low profile recently: "With such a big incident, I'm afraid the masters and servants in the household are all unhappy, and it might be difficult for them to get through this..."

Seeing that her third son had gotten into this mess, Su Zhihan figured it would be difficult to get anything out of her third daughter. She decided not to tell Jiang Zhenniang about buying the pavilion stall for the time being, intending to observe the situation.

Meanwhile, chaos reigned in the Third Sister's courtyard.

Not to mention the Third Sister, who was in tears and couldn't believe what was happening, a large group of people suddenly rushed into the house.

The one in the lead was none other than Madam Li, the old lady of the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion. She smelled the blood in the room and saw her young son with bandages wrapped around his head. She clutched her chest and fainted. The eldest daughter-in-law and two maids standing behind her rushed forward and caught the old lady just before she fell to the ground.

"Grandma, Grandma!"

"Quick, quick, help the old lady lie down."

"Doctor, Doctor Pan—"

Madam Zhao, who had come along with her, was shocked, anxious, and angry. She led the servants to help the old lady to the soft couch in the outer room to rest.

After a long while, the old woman finally woke up. Gazing at her young son lying on the bed, she pounded her chest and stamped her feet, crying out, "My son! This is tearing my heart apart! Heaven, please open your eyes! If you have any complaints, take them out on me. I'm so old, it doesn't matter if I die..."

"Mother—what nonsense are you talking about?" Upon hearing this, the second daughter was startled and hurriedly stepped forward to persuade her. She was still worried about her second daughter's marriage and hoped that the old lady would put in some effort to find her daughter a good match.

However, despite her thoughts, she wasn't foolish enough to reveal them. Instead, she offered advice: "Tell me that Physician Pan usually treats you at home, or cures common ailments like facial sores and colds. Perhaps he doesn't understand the condition of Sanlang's head injury?"

"In my opinion, why don't we invite a few more doctors, and even have the imperial physician examine Third Young Master?"

Not only did the old lady's eyes light up, but even Third Sister Zhou seemed to have grasped a lifeline, and as if she were seeing this sister-in-law for the first time, she nodded repeatedly in agreement, saying, "Yes, yes, Second Sister-in-law is right!"

Zhou wiped away her tears repeatedly, urging Zheng Mama to leave the mansion immediately and invite all the famous doctors in the capital to treat the Third Young Master.

The old lady even sent a messenger to the Hemen Bureau, requesting an audience with the Emperor and the Empress to find a royal physician to treat her young son.

Within a few days, several imperial physicians and renowned doctors rushed to the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence to treat the Third Young Master. They prescribed medicine or used acupuncture, but all to no avail. The Third Young Master kept his eyes tightly closed, showing no sign of opening them, and his body gradually became thinner.

With the Laba Festival approaching, the Third Young Master still showed no signs of waking up. Third Madam Zhou was in tears, and everyone in the courtyard was immersed in grief.

Jiang Zhenniang's smile vanished, replaced by constant sighs. She would occasionally bring back news to Su Zhihan about what was happening in the Third Mistress's courtyard: "The imperial physician who came today has informed the household that they are preparing for the funeral..."

Apart from Zhou Shi, who still held onto hope, everyone in the household seemed to think that the Third Young Master was doomed, even the old lady who kept saying she couldn't bear to part with him.

In previous years, the eldest and third daughters were responsible for organizing the New Year's banquets and exchanging gifts. This year, however, she instructed the third daughter to take care of the third son and left everything to the second daughter.

"Isn't this normal?" Su Zhihan didn't find anything strange about it. Everyone knew that Third Madam Zhou and Third Young Master were childhood sweethearts with a deep affection for each other. With him in a coma, Zhou was busy taking care of him, so it was only natural that Second Madam should take over the trivial matters of preparing the New Year's banquet in the mansion.

“That is true, but…” Jiang Zhenniang whispered to Su Zhihan the news she had overheard in the house: “The Second Young Master has been promoted, and the position happens to be the same as the Third Young Master’s.”

Su Zhihan gasped.

When Jiang Zhenniang continued, she learned the reason: the old lady had written a letter lamenting the fate of her youngest son, and the emperor, moved by the fact that the third son had met with misfortune while on official duty, ordered the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery to be commended.

The recipient of the praise was none other than Erlangjun.

The emperor promoted him to the position of Right Assistant Minister and entrusted him with the task of disaster relief. It is said that he did a good job and was promoted by half a rank after the new year.

Jiang Zhenniang sighed, "I heard that the Third Young Master handled all the disaster relief matters... The Second Young Master got the credit, isn't he just climbing over the Third Young Master to get ahead?"

"...What's even more outrageous is that..."

"Yesterday, Second Master returned drunk, saying he had gone to celebrate a victory with someone." Jiang Zhenniang couldn't help but show her anger when she mentioned this.

The old lady, the eldest daughter-in-law, and the second daughter-in-law were all fasting and chanting Buddhist prayers for the safety of the third son, while the second son went to drink alcohol and said some unpleasant things.

Jiang Zhenniang felt disgusted just thinking about it, let alone telling her daughter.

Just by listening to these words, Su Zhihan understood the reason for Third Madam's anger. If there were no other issues, she could indeed accept the old lady's arrangement. However, the second branch of the family climbed up by stepping on the flesh and blood of the third branch, and even sat on top of them, eating and drinking lavishly, decorating with lanterns and colorful streamers. It was truly unbearable to watch.

Su Zhihan couldn't help but feel glad that she had been a step too slow and hadn't entered the Second Miss's courtyard as she had originally planned. If she was so heartless and ungrateful to her brothers, how would she treat her wife and daughters?

She chatted with Jiang Zhenniang for a few minutes, then rested. Jiang Zhenniang fell asleep quickly, but Su Zhihan stayed awake for a long time.

She originally wanted to wait until Sanlangjun woke up before asking Xu Mama for help, but Sanlangjun did not wake up for a long time. At this time, it would be difficult to ask for favors.

After thinking about it, Su Zhihan went to find someone else the next day.