Chapter 435: Boundless (Part 2)

Ever since Xu Sizhen kicked her, Shiyi Niang began to keep a certain distance from others. When Tao Mama rushed towards her like a fierce ghost, she was stunned for a moment, but she reacted quickly. The few steps away bought her some time. Thinking of the armchair behind her, she immediately squatted down.

Mother Tao missed the target.

Eleventh Lady subconsciously wanted to turn around and run away, but she forgot that she was pregnant and was not like before, so she couldn't stand up for a while.

Mother Tao bent down and pinched her shoulders.

Eleventh Lady secretly cried out in dismay and raised her leg, ready to kick Mother Tao hard.

Who knew that there would be a loud "clang" and porcelain powder flew all over Mother Tao's head. Mother Tao's eyes rolled back and she slowly paralyzed.

Eleventh Lady saw the Second Lady holding a vase with half the mouth left, looking at a loss.

She was shocked.

The second wife hurriedly dropped the mouth of the vase and murmured, "This is my first time..."

In ancient times, ladies of noble families never left their front door or went out of their back door, and had experienced even less. The second wife grew up in a scholarly family, and believed in "gentlemen use their words, villains use their hands". She was probably like herself, and had never encountered such a situation.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but say "Me too".

For a moment, the two looked at each other, and for some reason, they felt as if they were in a mysterious place, as if they saw a little bit of each other's true nature that they usually couldn't see.

The room became quiet.

The lady came over in a panic.

"Eleventh Lady, Eleventh Lady, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?" The old lady's face was pale. As she spoke, she squatted down to help her.

Eleventh Lady came back to her senses and sat quietly for a while. She didn't feel anything unusual, so she stood up with the help of her body: "It seems nothing happened?"

"Let's get a doctor to take a look!" As she spoke, the Second Lady had regained her calm demeanor and gently rebuked the dumbfounded nurse, "What are you still doing standing there? Mother Tao fainted from grief, and why don't you call Jiexiang and Zhuxiang in so that there will be someone to serve her."

The wet nurse came to her senses with a start. She nodded and turned to call Jiexiang and Zhuxiang over. She was afraid that she would be implicated if this matter got out, so she entered the inner room before Jiexiang and Zhuxiang without stopping. She saw Shiyi Niang and the Dowager sitting side by side on the armchair, with the Second Lady standing beside her. The Dowager was patting her chest and saying, "...I'm so old, but this is the first time I've met someone who dared to take action in front of me." She hurriedly poured a cup of tea for the Dowager.

The lady took the teacup and handed it to Eleventh Lady: "Come, have a sip of tea and calm yourself down." She then asked caringly, "Are you frightened just now?"

Eleventh Lady nodded, drank a sip of tea, and felt much better.

Jiexiang and Zhuxiang came in.

The two of them looked at each other in bewilderment at the scene before them.

Although one was her personal attendant and the other was Shiyi Niang's personal attendant, the Second Madam chose not to explain anything. She ordered Jiexiang to clean up the scene and asked Zhuxiang to go to Shiyi Niang's room to call a few capable people to carry her away: "...she fainted from crying. Tell the steward of the outer courtyard to invite a doctor to take a look. And as for the Fourth Young Master, why hasn't Doctor Liu come for a follow-up consultation yet!"

Excuses and what to do were all arranged.

Fortunately, Zhu Xiang was smart and immediately understood what the Second Madam meant.

She looked at Shiyi Niang, and after she told her to "go ahead", she hurried out of the inner room.

The Second Madam looked at her and nodded slightly, thinking that this maid was not bad.

Jiexiang and the wet nurse hurriedly picked up things to clean up the broken porcelain on the ground.

The second wife instructed the nurse, "You don't have to pack the things. Just help look after Madam Tao."

The wet nurse did not dare to disobey, and hurried to stand guard beside Mother Tao.

Xu Sizhen, who was lying on the kang, groaned uneasily.

When the Taifu, the Second Madam, and the Eleventh Lady heard this, they immediately gathered around. The Taifu even hugged Xu Sizhen in her arms and said, "Zhe'er! Zhe'er! Grandmother is here!"

Xu Sizhen opened his eyes.

His originally clear eyes were now cloudy, and he looked at everyone slowly with a strange expression.

The lady's heart sank.

It looks like he hasn't woken up yet.

The nurse was very worried after hearing what happened. She wanted to go over and take a look but she didn't dare to go, so she stood on tiptoe and looked around.

Mother Tao, who was lying on the ground, suddenly moaned twice in a voice as soft as a mosquito.

The nurse was shocked and said hurriedly, "Madam, Madam Tao has woken up."

The lady and others all looked over.

Seeing that one was holding Xu Sizhen and the other was pregnant, the Second Lady had no choice but to say, "It's okay, I'm here!" As she spoke, her eyes looked around and fell on a square blue and white flower vase about a foot tall beside the kang.

She made up her mind a little and took the flower pot hesitantly.

Xu Sizhen shouted "Mom Tao" in a daze, mumbling: "...There's a ghost! There's a ghost!"

The old lady and the second lady looked at each other after hearing this. The old lady hurriedly comforted Xu Sizhen: "It's okay, it's okay!"

The second wife stepped forward without hesitation, closed her eyes and attacked Mother Tao.

Mother Tao moved her fingers and calmed down.

Jiexiang was busy cleaning up the mess.

Xu Sizhen was startled by the sound of broken porcelain. His body twitched twice, and his eyes began to gradually regain focus.

"Zhe'er..." The lady who discovered the abnormality was overjoyed and hurriedly said to the Second Lady and the Eleventh Lady, "Come here quickly! Is Zhe'er awake?"

The two of them walked over and saw this scene, and they couldn't help but feel a little bit of anticipation in their hearts.

Zhu Xiang's voice rang out through the curtains: "Madam Tai, Madam Four, Madam Two, Madam Song is here."

Xu Sizhen's joy at waking up suddenly faded a little.

Eleventh Lady raised her voice and asked Mother Song to come in. Mother Song and the two servants they brought with them helped Mother Tao to the side of the lady's bed. The doctor invited by Chief Steward Bai also came, took her pulse, and prescribed some calming medicine. Mother Song sent a servant to go and get the medicine, and she stayed by Mother Tao's side.

Over there, Xu Sizhen burst into tears and hugged the lady tightly: "Grandma, mother, I'm so scared. I've met a ghost!"

"Nonsense!" The old lady was surprised and delighted. She hugged Xu Si and said angrily, "It was Aunt Yi. She couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and was wandering around the yard. Where is the ghost? The gatekeeper saw it!"

Xu Sizhen looked at the lady with tearful eyes: "Really, is it true?" He looked confused, "But I, but I have a long tongue..."

"You!" The lady's kind smile was mixed with helplessness. "You ran away secretly without telling grandma and Madam Du. You were scared and timid. You panicked at the slightest movement. Do you know how many days you were unconscious? Two whole days and nights. Grandma, your father, your mother, your second aunt, your fifth uncle, and your fifth aunt were all scared!"

Xu Sizhen was still a little frightened, thinking that what he saw at that time was not like this. Hearing this, he was a little bit unconvinced, but he couldn't question it, so he whispered: "Then, the tea fragrance..."

"You still care about the tea fragrance!" The lady's face darkened, "In the middle of the night, she took you out for a stroll. I punished her by sending her to the laundry room."

In Xu Sizhen's impression, the Grand Madam never punished anyone. He knew that his grandmother was angry this time, and thought that he would have to find a chance to plead for Chaxiang in the future. He lowered his head and dared not mention it again.

The Second Madam watched and tried to smooth things over: "Zhe'er has just woken up. Mother will say whatever she wants to say later." She then added, "Zhe'er, lie down quickly. Be careful not to catch a cold. This one hasn't healed yet, and you've added another one. You've made Madam worry about you until her hair turns white."

After all, Xu Sizhen had not eaten for two days and two nights, so he was just trying to hold on. After hearing what the second wife said, he felt completely exhausted and lay down obediently.

The lady helped to tuck in the corners of the quilt and hurriedly told Jiexiang to bring a bowl of white porridge.

The nurse came over, looked at Xu Sizhen and smiled with tears in her eyes: "Fourth Young Master!"

Xu Sizhen was somewhat speechless.

In his dream, he saw his mother, Mother Tao, the wet nurse, and Xiao Shao with her hair combed in pigtails... Unexpectedly, the wet nurse really returned home.

"Nurse," he said with some excitement on his face, "I saw you hugging me in my dream. Was it not a dream? You really hugged me?"

As he spoke, he stretched his neck to look behind her, "Is Mother Tao here too? She will definitely come to see me when she heard that I'm sick!"

The nurse looked a little unnatural, and was thinking about how to answer, when the lady laughed and said, "You really were confused in your sleep! It takes a whole day to go back and forth from Daxing. How could Madam Tao know that you were unconscious for two days and two nights!"

Xu Sizhen's expression darkened, and he whispered, "It turns out that I remembered it wrongly."

As she spoke, Jiexiang brought in some white porridge.

The lady made room for the wet nurse to serve porridge to Xu Sizhen, and then asked the little maid to report to Xu Lingyi in the outer courtyard.

After a while, Xu Lingyi came with Doctor Liu.

This time, the Lady Dowager, Eleventh Lady and Second Lady took refuge in the warm pavilion.

"Mother Tao's behavior is erratic, while Brother Zhe has a gentle personality. The two are too close." The old lady looked at Shiyi Niang with a sharp gaze as she stepped into the warm pavilion. "Brother Zhe will be the one who controls the Yongping Marquis' Mansion in the future. How can he be controlled by a mother?"

Eleventh Lady was dejected.

The dead are frozen in time, and they always look particularly perfect. At that time, I spent a lot of effort to keep Tao's mother, hoping that when Xu Sizhen grew up and had the ability to distinguish right from wrong, he would decide whether Tao's mother should stay or go. But now...

She sighed secretly in her heart.

There was no guarantee that there would not be someone who would gossip about Xu Sizhen for his own benefit. It was fine when he was young, but when he grew up, there would probably be more trouble.

Eleventh Lady pondered and replied in a low voice, "Yes."

The lady stopped talking.

The maid had got the medicine and was discussing with Mother Song about going to the kitchen to borrow a small stove to boil the medicine. When Mother Du came to visit, the maid hurriedly reported to Mother Du. Mother Du asked a little maid beside her to go and borrow the small stove. After the medicine was boiled, Mother Du helped Mother Song to drink the medicine, and then returned to the lady.

At night, when Mother Tao woke up, there was no one by her side, only an oil lamp with a tiny flame to keep her company.

She felt confused as she thought about what happened today.

I thought of asking someone to ask Xu Sizhen about his condition, and suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my stomach.

I rushed to the toilet behind the bedside curtain and squatted for a long time. I felt better. But as soon as I lay down, my stomach started to hurt again. This happened several times. In the morning, I felt as if I had been boiled in water and was limp.

Mother Du brought over the breakfast with her maid.

"You were once a capable mother to the fourth lady. I won't say more. Eat this breakfast and go back to the farm! Don't come again!" Then she gave the medicine to Mother Tao, "This is for promoting blood circulation and unblocking meridians."

Mother Tao looked at Mother Du coldly. She did not take the medicine or eat breakfast. She turned around and left Xu's house, hired a carriage and returned to the farm.

On the way, I had diarrhea several times, and when I got home in the evening, I started to have bloody diarrhea.

Tao Cheng was shocked and asked his mother what happened. His mother thought it was related to his stay in Yongping Marquis's mansion, but she couldn't explain why. She invited a doctor to see him, who said it was dysentery. He took several doses of medicine and changed several doctors, but his condition did not improve. Tao Cheng even went to the mansion to ask the chief steward Bai to find a doctor to see him, but his condition did not improve. He died in mid-June.

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