At the end of the year, the weather is cold, with heavy snow and strong wind. Wine is simmering in a red stove under a tile, and goose feathers are blowing outside a threshold.
The entire Huailiu Lane was so quiet that only the rustling sound of snow could be heard. Xu Jiang propped up her chin and watched Yue Nu playing with the snow in front of the door.
Kittens are curious and active, and can play all day long by themselves.
The three-day deadline has arrived, but Jiang Gu has not come, and there is no written or oral message.
I guess he regretted it.
Well, the difficulty of ambition lies not in defeating others, but in defeating oneself. If one cannot break through or cut off the enemy, it will be of no use letting others talk until their mouths ache.
It’s just a pity, she sighed and poured herself a glass of wine.
The wine was Xuemei, which Yuan Yanyan had sent yesterday. She also brought a letter saying that Mr. Yuan would not let her leave the house for the time being because it was cold, and would come back for a visit when the weather was clear and warm, and told Xu Jiang to wait for her.
This snow plum wine was made by Yuan Yanyan herself. It has a light and mild taste, imbued with the cool fragrance of plum blossoms, and seems to have a ethereal and ethereal charm.
That's quite a thought.
As soon as Xu Jiang drinks a cup of tea, he feels a warm and refreshing fragrance, and his depressed mood disappears, and he feels relaxed.
It’s a pity that the little girl Hongchu didn’t come, otherwise this small jar would most likely have gone into her stomach.
Warming up from the drink, Xu Jiang thought of the Yaoxian County Chronicles that Zhong Lu had sent her. Having sat for so long, it was time to start revising and re-annotating them. She sighed, thinking it would have to be done sooner or later. Rather than putting it off until later and rushing to meet the deadline, it would be better to finish it sooner rather than later, thus avoiding the constant worry and discomfort.
There is nothing to do around.
She got up and went to the bedroom in the backyard to move out the box of county annals, boiled pulp, cut paper, cleaned the utensils, and then prepared pen, ink, and inkstone to copy the repaired contents, arrange the sequence, and organize the pages to avoid confusion or loss.
At this time, Xu Jiang missed Hu Xu very much. She missed his skillful hands and wished they could grow on her own body.
After everything was ready, she opened the box, carefully picked out the damaged county annals, picked out a volume in order and began to unpack the pages.
This set of Yaoxian County Chronicles is bound in scroll format, not the butterfly binding method popular today. Instead, several inner pages are glued together in sequence, and a wooden axis is attached to the end of the long scroll, around which the scroll is rolled. A piece of thick, blank paper, known as "piao," is usually mounted at the beginning of the scroll to protect the inner pages from damage.
This set of county annals had been around for a hundred years, and many of the pages were damaged and damp. She removed them one by one, applied a thin layer of starch, and carefully pasted them onto freshly cut rice paper to prevent loss and to facilitate repairing any missing pages when copying.
This is a slow and meticulous process.
The days on the desk seemed like years, while outside the door, time flew by like a shuttle. Half a day had passed since Xu Jiang finished unpacking a scroll. She set down her tea tongs, feeling her fingers stiff, her back numb, and her eyes aching.
"It's really not an easy job." She supported her waist and slowly stood up. She walked back and forth in the store a few times before she felt a little relieved.
"Is Madam Xu here?" A carriage stopped in front of the shop. The driver lifted his hat and shouted into the shop, startling Yue Nu, who was covered in snow particles, and she ran into the house.
"Yes," Xu Jiang answered, holding the door open. Then he turned to the groom and asked, "What can I do for you, sir?"
The groom took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to her. "Mr. Jiang Gu asked me to take a letter to Madam Xu. Please take it."
Jiang Gu?
Xu Jiang hurried forward to take the letter and asked casually, "Is he okay?"
The groom shook his head. "Not very good."
Xu Jiang was surprised and asked, "What happened?"
"I ate something bad a few days ago and vomited blood. My throat was damaged from vomiting. Right now I'm lying in the restaurant and can't get out of bed."
"Did she eat something bad?" Could it be the porridge she ate that day? No wonder there had been no news for the past few days. "Have you asked a doctor to see her?"
"I did, but it didn't help. So they asked me to ask Doctor Chen from Qianjinfang. He said I took his medicine the other day, and I don't know if it's what caused the problem."
How could this happen? Xu Jiang's heart tightened.
"By the way, the young master was worried that Doctor Chen would not go, so he asked Madam Xu to accompany me to invite someone."
"Let me go and ask Doctor Chen?" Xu Jiang had doubts in her heart, but did not dare to delay.
She asked the coachman to wait for a moment, then went into the shop to collect the scrolls and turn off the stove. She put on her cloak, took the silver and umbrella, and hung a sign indicating that she was going out for something.
Before leaving, she opened the letter and read it. In it, Jiang Gu told her that he had decided to go to Furong City. He also described his physical symptoms and finally suspected that he was poisoned because he had seen Feng Miao that day and drank a glass of apology wine from him.
Xu Jiang thought for a moment, threw the letter into the stove, and let the embers burn it. Then she locked the door, got in the carriage, and went to Qianjinfang with the coachman to find Doctor Chen.
Qianjinfang was also quiet today. When Doctor Chen saw Xu Jiang coming to invite him, he got on the carriage with her without saying a word and went to Pingkangfang.
Pingkangfang is located between Wubenfang and East Market. The carriage moved slowly in the snow. It took about an hour and a half for Xu Jiang and Doctor Chen to arrive at the restaurant where Jiang Gu was staying.
Although it was snowing, there were quite a few customers in the restaurant. Some sat in groups of three or four, and some sat in groups of four or five. They were all dressed as scholars. Xu Jiang took a quick look and saw that almost every seat was attended by beautiful women.
Doctor Chen's brows have been furrowed since he stepped into the restaurant, and his face is colder than the snow outside.
The waiter came forward to greet them, and when he heard that the two were there to treat Jiang Gu, he quickly took them to the guest rooms upstairs.
"This is it." The waiter led the two of them to a guest room and knocked on the door. "Thank you, Madam. The doctor is here to see Mr. Jiang."
There was a sound of light footsteps in the house, and the door opened, revealing a pretty face. It must be the Madam Xie that the waiter had mentioned.
Madam Xie glanced at the waiter, then looked at Doctor Chen and Xu Jiang, then said coldly, "Come in."
After the two entered the house, they slammed the door shut, blocking out the waiter who wanted to come in to watch the fun.
After the waiter left, she changed her expression and said to Doctor Chen anxiously, "Doctor, please take a look at Xiaoping. He is dying."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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