I'm just pregnant
Qingzhu knelt on the ground in fear, like a frightened quail, with his forehead pressed against the cold stone slab, not daring to raise his head at all.
Fu Xuechen's face was gloomy, and he snorted coldly, "You useless slave, considering that you still know how to protect your master, I will punish you by asking you to take good care of the lady first, and then you can receive the punishment later."
"Thank you, Prime Minister, for your mercy. I am willing to accept the punishment." Su Qingli fell ill, and Qingzhu felt very guilty. After all, it was she who stayed by Su Qingli's side to take care of her.
Fu Xuechen ordered someone to invite the imperial physician from the palace to come to the house immediately.
Qingzhu boiled some medicine for Su Qingli to drink. She had just been staying by Su Qingli's side, her eyes red from crying.
She didn't know when she fell asleep leaning on the edge of Su Qingli's bed, or whether Su Qingli gently woke her up.
Su Qingli rubbed her eyes and saw Qingzhu sleeping soundly beside her bed. "Qingzhu, why did you fall asleep here with me? Go to bed quickly."
Qingzhu cut to the chase. Last night's situation was incredibly dangerous. Fortunately, the Prime Minister didn't stand by and watch me die. Although his words were unpleasant to the ear, he said, "Miss, you fainted in the carriage on your way back yesterday. I was so scared. I was so afraid you'd never wake up again..."
"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm just tired. You'll wake up after a good sleep, right?" Su Qingli interrupted Qingzhu unhappily. She still wanted to go to Wanhe Building to play the pipa.
She slept well this time and felt a little more comfortable than yesterday.
"I've given you medicine, and the imperial physician said it's caused by overwork. Any further overwork is bad for your health, and I'm afraid you'll develop a more serious illness."
Seeing that she was still trying to hold on, Qingzhu reminded Su Qingli weakly that she had kept the imperial physician's words in mind.
"What the imperial physician said is too serious. I know my own body very well."
Su Qingli disagreed. She had secretly vowed to pay back the money and leave the Prime Minister's Mansion as soon as possible. How could she get sick at this critical moment?
Before Qingzhu could persuade him, Fu Xuechen entered Su Qingli's room without anyone noticing, like a gust of wind that was hard to stop. "Miss Su, if you really knew your physical condition, you wouldn't collapse at the door of my house and ask a maid to come and ask for help!"
Su Qingli stared at Qingzhu, but Qingzhu lowered his head and said nothing.
"Miss Su, without a maid like you protecting you along the way, you would have died out there. I, the concubine of the Prime Minister's Mansion, am so poor that I'm dying trying to make a little money. Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me?"
Fu Xuechen spoke harshly, each word as fine as a needle tip.
Su Qingli barely propped herself up against the headboard, staring at Fu Xuechen with a scorching gaze, her eyes filled with determination. "That's not true, Prime Minister. I went out to earn money to pay off my father's gambling debts. I can't rest easy if I don't pay it back."
"Su Huaihai's gambling debt has nothing to do with you. He brought this upon himself. He's been gambling his whole life. Do you have to pay off his debts for the rest of his life?"
Fu Xuechen frowned. He had ordered people to forbid Su Huaihai from entering the casinos of all sizes in the capital. Even if Su Huaihai wanted to gamble, he couldn't enter, which also relieved Su Qingli of any worries.
However, he could not tell Su Qingli that she did not need to run around for such an incompetent father and ignore her own health to do business to make money.
"But he is my father after all!" Su Qingli still couldn't let go of the father-daughter relationship. When the Marquis' Mansion was still standing, it was Su Huaihai who supported the family and allowed them to live a luxurious life.
Only then could she and her brother live a carefree life in a magnificent mansion, enjoying all the splendor and wealth. She did not want to ask Fu Xuechen for money anymore. She had not paid back a single cent of the three thousand taels of silver, and she could not continue to owe him any more.
"Miss Su, please don't use him as an excuse. I think you want to rekindle your old relationship with General Xie so that you can marry into the general's mansion. Didn't General Xie pay off your father's gambling debts?"
Fu Xuechen didn't believe what Su Qingli said. She must be very touched that a caring ex-lover like Xie Linyuan would take the initiative to help her pay back the money, right?
"You are worrying too much, Your Excellency. How could General Xie marry someone like me? He also lent me the money to pay off my father's gambling debts. Anyway, I must go out and do business to make money. Please don't stop me, Your Excellency. I will pay you back as soon as possible."
Su Qingli didn't explain everything clearly, because it was true that Xie Linyuan was pursuing her, but she didn't need to confess these insignificant things in front of Fu Xuechen.
"Miss Su, I don't care what you want to do. You are nominally my concubine in the Prime Minister's Mansion. Not to mention dying outside, you shouldn't go out and show your face even to make a living. Besides, your current health is not enough to support you in business!"
Fu Xuechen was determined not to let Su Qingli go out to do the sachet business. The imperial physician said that her body needed to be taken good care of, and the consequences would be disastrous if she continued.
"Master Prime Minister, if I must go out to do the sachet business, will you trap me like last time?"
There was a hint of stubborn determination in Su Qingli's eyes. She still wanted to go out and sell sachets. She didn't want to be unable to do anything in the Prime Minister's Mansion, so she wanted to go out and explore the world.
"If the Prime Minister is still like last time, I will still choose to go on a hunger strike. I would rather die than be manipulated by others."
Fu Xuechen said nothing as he turned and left Su Qingli's room. He ordered Qian Jue to stay in Xiaoxiang Garden and not let Su Qingli take a single step out. "Qian Jue, stay with Madam Gu. She is weak. Going out will only cause trouble for me. People will think that I, the Prime Minister's Mansion, have abused her, which is why she is so weak."
After saying this, Fu Xuechen strode out of the threshold of Xiaoxiang Garden.
Su Qingli was confined to Xiaoxiang Garden, and her health was getting worse and worse. Qingzhu advised her to eat something every day, saying that as long as there is life, there is hope.
She couldn't bear to see Qingzhu embarrassed and criticized by Fu Xuechen, so she tasted a few bites of the food Qingzhu brought her with difficulty.
However, he vomited repeatedly.
Qingzhu was frightened. She didn't care much about vomiting once, but Su Qingli vomited every time, so she had to pay attention. "Miss, what's wrong with you?"
"Qingzhu, I'm fine. The food just doesn't suit my taste. How can I eat if I can't go out and do the sachet business?"
Su Qingli smiled bitterly. She knew the reason for her vomiting. These meals usually tasted delicious, but now they tasted like chewing wax. She felt nauseous after taking a bite.
"Miss, you said you were fine. You were already thin, and now you are even thinner. If you continue like this, what should I do? No, I have to find someone to save you."
Before Qingzhu ran out of Xiaoxiangyuan to ask for help, he saw Liu Meishuang enter the house.
Liu Meishuang said aggressively, "That's great! Miss Su is about to die of illness."
Su Qingli was already in a bad mood, and after hearing this, she suddenly developed a bit of rebellious psychology, and retorted to Liu Meishuang unwillingly, "I'm just pregnant, who said I'm going to die of illness?"
When Qian Jue heard this, he hurried to report to Fu Xuechen.
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