After spending a night in the dilapidated temple, Song Jiaren caught a cold as expected. In ancient times when there were no anti-inflammatory drugs or cold medicines, she endured the torture of headaches, runny noses and sneezing, shivering until she started to have a fever and felt dizzy. She could not hold on any longer and leaned against the carriage, closed her eyes, trying to stop the dizziness.
Gu Zhen also vaguely felt that there was an abnormal blush on the pale face of the woman leaning against the carriage next to him. He reached out and touched her forehead and cheeks, which were a little hot.
"You are sick."
Song Jiaren felt a little dizzy, and her whole body was uncomfortable and weak. She was not in a good mood. She frowned and said in an impatient tone, "You know it, why are you asking?"
Gu Zhen knew that she was feeling uncomfortable and it didn't matter that she had a bad temper. He understood that she was feeling bad because of her illness and that's why she got angry. He just shook his head and pulled the corner of his mouth without saying anything. He lifted the door curtain and got up to go out.
Song Jiaren thought that she had angered the Crown Prince and made him run away, and she felt a little regretful.
After being together for a long time, she let herself go and acted unruly in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. She really couldn't stand up to appease him now. She would apologize when she calmed down.
It’s so sad to think about it. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the only person she knows here and the only person she can rely on.
Song Jiaren had a weak expression, tears in her eyes, and stared at a certain place with empty eyes.
When Gu Zhen returned to the carriage with the medicine bowl, he saw this scene. He quickly sat next to her, hugged her in his arms, and sighed deeply, "What's wrong? Are you missing home?"
Song Jiaren sniffed and said sullenly, "I'm sorry for what happened just now. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you."
"Are you crying because of this? I know you feel bad. You have suffered a lot instead of enjoying any happiness with me. It's normal for you to lose your temper. I'm not angry." Gu Zhen handed the bowl to her mouth.
"Drink the medicine and be obedient."
Song Jiaren asked, "Did you just go to boil medicine for me?"
Didn’t you run away in anger?
It was all in vain that she worried.
"Of course, it took some time to build the fire outside and then boil the medicine. I didn't expect you to have such wild thoughts."
Song Jiaren looked at the black Chinese medicine in the Crown Prince's hand and smelled the bitter taste. "Can you add some sugar?"
She is afraid of suffering.
Gu Zhen gently patted Song Jiaren's thin back and comforted her, "There's no sugar in this medicine. How can you add sugar to it? It's not very bitter. Just drink it in one gulp and you'll be well soon."
It was rare for Song Jiaren to hear His Royal Highness the Crown Prince say so many words to comfort her. She held her breath and drank a large bowl of medicine in one breath, and then he stuffed a candied fruit in her mouth.
"Hmm...candied fruit?" His Royal Highness brought snacks with him? Why didn't he give them to her before?
Gu Zhen saw the doubt in her eyes and laughed, "I just asked the guards for it. Shitou happened to have a bag of candied fruit on him."
"...Anything else?" Song Jiaren said sarcastically, feeling that one candied fruit might not be enough.
Gu Zhen shouted out of the car, "Shi Tou, come here."
Shitou ran over and bowed, "Your Highness."
"Bring in all the preserves."
Shi Tou really wanted to say, can you not take it out?
It must be His Highness's concubine who wants to eat it. His Highness doesn't like sweet food.
I just saw His Highness personally making medicine for her!
Song Jiaren took the only remaining bag of candied fruit from Shitou under his reluctant gaze.
Gu Zhen asked Thor for a blanket, wrapped Song Jiaren in the blanket, hugged her, and let her sleep on his shoulder for a while. When she woke up, she was sweating and her condition had indeed improved.
But unexpectedly, after noon, she suddenly developed a fever and vomited. Song Jiaren felt embarrassed and vomited in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Although she vomited on the foot mat, which she could just throw away, she still felt bad.
Seeing her pale face, Gu Zhen basically guessed what she was thinking, "Why do you care about your face when you are like this? Get well soon."
"I miss it myself..." But the disease keeps recurring. It improved obviously after taking the medicine, but it happened again in the afternoon. I felt the fever was even worse and I vomited. Could it be the plague?
She was just passing by the small village, but the book didn't say when the plague broke out. What if?
"Your Highness, let's go back to that small village!" Song Jiaren instinctively thought it was a plague. Woo woo woo, she could be infected just by passing by!
Gu Zhen asked in confusion, "Why?"
Did something fall?
Song Jiaren said restlessly, "I fell ill as soon as I left that small village. It must have been infected from that village, and the medicine I took made it even worse. I don't know how far away there is to a village or town. I might as well go back and rest. Maybe there are some herbs in the mountains that can cure the disease. What if I fall ill on the way and it delays me? I don't want to die yet~ I haven't eaten delicious food and drank spicy drinks~ I haven't enjoyed happiness~"
Gu Zhen also thought of the possibility that she might become seriously ill. He felt as if his chest was being squeezed and he couldn't breathe. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. It wouldn't come to that. He tightened his arm around her shoulders slightly and said, "Don't overthink it. It's okay. I'll have someone turn around right away."
Gu Zhen sighed deeply, helped Song Jiaren lean back against the carriage, lifted the door curtain and called Changfeng.
"Return immediately to the small village we were in last night."
Shitou was riding beside them. When he heard they were about to return, he casually asked, "Your Highness, did you drop anything? I'll go get it."
"No." Gu Zhen didn't want to say more.
The people of Luosha Country looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what was going on. Thor rode his horse and waited for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. "Why do you want to go back?"
Gu Zhen sighed, "My concubine's condition has worsened, so I'm going back to rest and recuperate. You don't have to go back with me. Let's go our separate ways."
Thor frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Okay then."
Then he took out a pill from his lapel and handed it to her, "This is the medicine from our country, you can give it a try."
Then he rode his horse and led his men forward, separating from Gu Zhen's group.
Back in the village, Shitou went to find the man, Amu, who led them into the village.
"Brother, our wife suddenly had a fever. We had already set out on our journey, but we had no choice but to come back to recuperate. We'll leave after we recover, but the environment of that dilapidated temple is really..."
Amu was a little dazed. After a moment's pause, he said, "My house only has one room... How about I take you to the village chief's house? The village chief's house has a big yard and several rooms."
Shitou thanked him gratefully, "Sorry for the trouble, please lead the way."
Gu Zhen only let Shitou follow him, while Changfeng and the guards stayed in the ruined temple. There probably wasn't enough space in the village to accommodate them.
The village chief heard the purpose of Amu and Shitou's visit and led them into the courtyard. "This room on the west side is unoccupied. It can be lived in after a little cleaning. I will also make a bed for you with your gifts."
Shitou thanked him, and Gu Zhen hugged Song Jiaren and nodded in gratitude. "I wonder if there is a doctor in the village?"
Amu said, "There are no doctors, but every family in our village knows about herbal medicine. When we are sick, we go up the mountain to collect herbs for treatment. But strangely enough, there are so many people going up the mountain to collect herbs recently."
The village chief leaned on his cane and pondered for a while, then sighed and said, "The weather is changing, and it's cold day and night. You'd better pay more attention to keeping warm." After that, he slowly returned to the east room.
Shitou tidied up the room briefly, opened the window to let in some fresh air, and then went to the village headman's house to get a quilt to spread on the floor. After a lot of hustle and bustle, he finally finished tidying up. Song Jiaren lay on the couch in a daze, covered with the quilt, and said to Shitou from the bottom of her heart, "Shitou, thank you."
She suddenly became sentimental, and Shitou was not used to it. He stammered, "...No...No."
The woman lying on the couch had a gray face and pale lips, but her cheeks were abnormally flushed, making her look a little pitiful.
Shitou felt a little regretful that he had always been picky with her. But now he thought that she was just a weak woman who had suffered a lot along the way and now she finally couldn't bear it and fell ill. He decided not to bother with her in the future.
It's not easy for her either.
Song Jiaren didn't know what Shi Tou was thinking. If she knew, she would definitely say: How dare you treat me like a weakling who can only whimper! You're courting death!
A lot of villagers had gathered in the yard at some point, and Amu had gone out. Shitou said, "Sir, I'll go out and see what's going on."
"Go ahead."
Although Song Jiaren was dizzy from the burns, she knew in her heart that perhaps a plague had broken out and the villagers who went up the mountain to collect herbs to treat the disease had made their condition worse. She must be in the same situation.
"Your Highness, please cover your face with a veil and stay away from me."
Gu Zhen also felt that her illness was a little strange. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and covered his mouth and nose with it to hide his face. "Don't worry, she will definitely get better."
Song Jiaren struggled to open her hazy eyes and nodded, saying with difficulty, "I know."
If the heroine arrives sooner, she will definitely be fine. If she can't make it in time for her arrival, maybe she will die and be able to travel back to the modern era, which is not bad either. It's just that she is a little reluctant to leave such a noble and cold prince.
"Your Highness, if I were to die, would you remember me?"
Gu Zhen frowned, somewhat unhappy that she cursed him like that, but he couldn't scold her when she was sick, so he could only endure the heavy feeling in his heart as if it was being pressed down by a huge rock, and said in a deep voice, "Believe me, you will be fine."
He found that apart from these two dry words of comfort, he could do nothing but wait anxiously.
Suddenly remembering the medicine from Luosha Kingdom that he received when he parted with the third prince of Luosha Kingdom, Gu Zhen took it in his hand and observed it, not daring to let Song Jiaren try it easily.
Song Jiaren looked at the pill that His Royal Highness took out, her eyes lit up, and she excitedly grabbed the hand holding the pill and asked, "Where did this come from?"
Gu Zhen's hand was tightly grasped. The woman who had been lying sickly on the couch now half sat up, looking at the medicine in his hand with sparkling eyes. "Do you know what this is?"
"Nonsense, this is a fever-reducing medicine!" Song Jiaren blurted out excitedly, and then she remembered that this person was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
There probably wasn't any Western medicine in ancient times at that time.
Gu Zhen didn’t even know what this medicine was, but she knew?
Could a concubine's daughter of a lowly official in the capital be so knowledgeable?
"Well, I have been well-read since I was a child, and I love travelogues from various countries, so I know some strange things." Song Jiaren said calmly, suppressing her guilty conscience.
Gu Zhen raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you sure?"
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