Zhang Xiue nodded without saying anything.
Half an hour later, Li Qiang's wife's medicine was ready. When she brought it in, the unpleasant-smelling medicine was very pungent.
Qin Xiaoniang first scooped a spoonful into her own mouth, and after a long pause, seeing that she had no adverse reaction, she fed Song He'er the drink.
Looking at her cautious manner, Zhang Xiue couldn't help but laugh and said, "You're overthinking it. There's definitely no poison in the medicine. If a prince wanted to kill someone, he would have done so already. Why would he need to be sneaky?"
"You shouldn't have the heart to harm others, but you can't be without the heart to guard against them. Even if he didn't have that intention, what about everyone else? Along this journey, I haven't trusted anyone except our own people..."
"Well, that's true. Sigh, I don't know how much longer it will take to get over this snow-capped mountain. I'm hoping to reach Xinzhou soon so everyone can finally breathe a sigh of relief!"
Qin Xiaoniang didn't say anything, but very carefully fed Song He'er all the medicine.
As the sun was rising high overhead, and the weather was unusually nice today, the children could play outside without getting cold. Li Qiang's wife made a simple soup with vegetables she bought in Luancheng, and everyone shared it.
Having already benefited from others' kindness in the morning, it was inappropriate to accept anything else from them at noon. Whatever they still had in their hands, they would stuff it into their stomachs to fill their hunger.
Chunrao seemed to notice that Song He'er was sick and was a little worried, so she stopped dwelling on what happened last night and took the initiative to jump off the carriage to help Li Qiang's wife take care of the young children.
When Li Qiang's wife saw her come out, she quickly and cautiously went over and asked, "Miss Chunrao...you..."
Chunrao forced a smile and tried to cheer herself up. "Madam Tian, I'm fine. I was just frightened last night and made you worry. I'm so sorry. I'm so old and you still have to worry about me. I'm really not as good as He'er, who is so young."
Li Qiang's wife breathed a sigh of relief, straightened her clothes, and looked at her tenderly with a smile on her lips.
"Good child, although you are He'er's aunt, you are not much older than her. This is already very good. Listen to me, just throw those unhappy things out like dog poop! Why keep them in your heart and make yourself sick, right?"
Li Qiang's wife's words, though rough, are true. She always gets straight to the point, which is much better than that soft and gentle Su Yu's wife!
Hearing this, Chunrao felt much better and didn't continue the topic. Instead, she took Huan Ge'er to play under the birch trees nearby.
About an hour later, Song He'er gradually woke up...
She opened her eyes, looked at the carriage that was now completely sealed off, and then looked down at her own body, which was wrapped up like a dumpling. She was speechless.
"Mother, what are you doing?"
Qin Xiaoniang was startled by Song He'er's sudden words and quickly looked away from the carriage. She looked at her with a beaming smile and said, "He'er, you're finally awake? How are you? Is there anything else that's bothering you?"
It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned it, but once it was brought up, Song He'er did feel a bit tired and even a little sore.
"Mother, what's wrong with me?"
"And you're one to talk! You scared me half to death. Last night you stood outside in so few clothes and didn't sleep all night. Then you went to talk to that little prince early this morning. You must have caught a cold!"
Song He'er felt a tickle in her throat and couldn't speak for a moment. She just wanted to drink some water to moisten her throat.
Qin Xiaoniang understood her meaning, took the bowl of water from the side, and held it to Song He'er's lips, slowly feeding her the water.
"How are you feeling now?"
"I'm fine...cough cough cough!"
"You're still alright! Look how badly you're coughing... How about... how about I go and call that imperial physician over again, get him some medicine, and I'll just pay for it!"
As she spoke, Qin Xiaoniang was about to get out of the carriage again.
Song He'er quickly grabbed her arm, then asked in surprise, "Imperial physician? Where did this imperial physician come from?"
Qin Xiaoniang hesitated for a moment, then spoke softly, "It was that young prince who sent someone to treat you. Logically, we shouldn't accept it, but we have no choice right now. Your health is the most important thing, and we can't worry about etiquette."
Song He'er was slightly taken aback, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. He actually brought the imperial physician with him? Wasn't he prepared?
“Mother, Jiang Huaifu shouldn’t be a bad person, but once we cross this snow mountain, we’ll never see him again, so I don’t want to owe him any favors before then.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiaoniang nodded. "The Jiang Huaifu you mentioned, is that the young prince's name?"
"Um."
"How could you call someone by their first name?"
"Hehe, there's only my mother and me in this house, and no outsiders, so he won't hear us."
Qin Xiaoniang breathed a sigh of relief, but then she remembered there was still something she didn't understand, so she asked again:
"When you saw him yesterday, did you ask about Su Yu's wife? She's been alone in the palace with the child; I wonder how she's doing?"
Song He'er rolled her eyes. "Why should we care what she does? She won't die anyway. We shouldn't interfere in her and Madam's affairs. Let them do whatever they want. As long as we are safe and sound, that's all that matters."
“Oh, that’s true… By the way, that young prince just came to give me some personal hand warmer again. Although I accepted it on the surface, we still have to return it to him in private. Don’t blame your mother for meddling. I’ve already spoken up for you in front of him and explained the whole story. If he were smart, he wouldn’t have tried to take advantage of you.”
Song He'er stared wide-eyed at Qin Xiaoniang in disbelief. "You just said that to him? And he didn't get angry?"
Qin Xiaoniang shook her head.
"No, he didn't say anything, his face was expressionless, and he just turned around and left!"
"Mother, do you know how strange his personality is? If you say something that offends him, have you thought about the consequences? I can talk to him myself, you don't need to take this risk!"
Although Qin Xiaoniang didn't understand Jiang Huaifu's character, she still knew the proper etiquette between ruler and subject and knew how to speak to someone who stood at the pinnacle of power.
But if it weren't for her daughter, she wouldn't bother saying another word.
"That's enough! I've already said it. I'm not afraid of death, I'm just worried about you. If you get dragged into this mess, I'd be ready to die!"
........
My darlings, I'm exhausted today and can't write anymore. See you tomorrow, bye-bye!
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