"Li Yunxiang, don't pretend with me. Wake up! You're usually as strong as an ox, how come you can't get up after just soaking in water?"
When Li Yunxiang was carried back, Granny Fang was startled. She didn't expect her to dare to attempt suicide and to be watched by everyone. She felt a little guilty and could only tell Li Yunxiang to wake up quickly and that she was fine.
"Get out of my way, don't touch my mother."
Li Erya never expected that she would hear the news of her mother jumping into the river when she returned from just running around outside the village. If she had known this would happen, she would never have run away. When she saw Granny Fang still insulting her mother, she pushed her away.
Granny Fang wanted to retaliate, but the village head stopped her.
"Old woman Fang, she's already like this, what else do you want to say? If Li Yunxiang dies, you can expect to go to the yamen."
He was shocked to hear that Li Yunxiang had jumped into the river. He had only known that Granny Fang was a cunning and treacherous person, but he never expected that she would do something that would drive someone to their death.
As the village head, he had more to consider. If Li Yunxiang really died, their village would definitely be known for mistreating his wife. Their honor and their loss were intertwined, and this was a major matter concerning the village's reputation.
Before long, Granny Fang's house was packed with people. Some of them were worried about Li Yunxiang, since Li Yunxiang was always hardworking and had never offended anyone. They were all from the same village, and it was a living person; no one wanted her to really die.
Although Li Yunxiang hadn't offended anyone, Granny Fang had offended quite a few people. Li Yunxiang's jumping into the river must be related to Granny Fang, and many of the onlookers were probably just looking to see Granny Fang make a fool of herself.
"The doctor is here! The doctor is here! Make way!" Just as everyone was worrying, Shen Yun returned with the doctor.
Li Shize, carrying his medicine kit, squeezed into the room and saw Li Yunxiang lying on the bed. Observing her pale face and slight trembling, he knew that she was really sick and had not asked him to lie.
"You all go out. The patient's condition is serious. I need to take his pulse and examine him carefully before I can understand the situation."
Upon hearing this, Granny Fang felt even more uneasy. She forced a defense and said, "What do you mean by serious? It's not the dead of winter. The river isn't deep. He just soaked in a little water. What could be so serious? You're such a young man. Are you just a half-baked fool?"
Li Shize was anxious to treat the patient but was still questioned and doubted, which made him very unhappy. "I am a doctor from Huichuntang. If you don't believe me, you can go to Huichuntang to ask. Now, get out immediately."
Someone nearby, who had also seen Li Shize, chimed in, "I saw him last time I went to Huichuntang to get medicine for my mother. He really is a doctor at Huichuntang."
Granny Fang had nothing to say, so she could only come out of the house. The village head also led the weeping Li Erya out of the house.
Upon seeing Shen Yun, the village head asked curiously, "Shen Yun, you went to the county to fetch a doctor, how come you're back so soon?"
Following Meng Zhao's instructions, Shen Yun said, "When I was calling for a doctor, I happened to run into Sister Meng Zhao who was moving, so I rode in her donkey cart, which made things a bit faster."
Li Zheng knew that Meng Zhao was moving, but he didn't know it was today. Seeing that the doctor had already arrived, he realized he couldn't help much here, so he turned around and went to the Shen family.
As soon as Meng Zhao arrived home, Gu Shi pulled her over. "Zhao Zhao, have you heard? Li Yunxiang jumped into the river. Sigh, it's really not easy for her. She had such a mother-in-law, and Er Ya is still so young. How could she be so foolish?"
Meng Zhao didn't want to say too much to Gu Shi, as the fewer people who knew about this, the better. She simply offered a few words of reassurance, telling her not to worry too much, and then continued packing her things for the move.
The village headman walked in from the courtyard gate and asked, "Meng Zhao, are you moving out today?"
Meng Zhao nodded. "Yes, the shops in the county need to be opened as soon as possible. We still need to trouble the village head to keep an eye on the workshop. As for the pig farm, after my father passes away, Shitou and Shun'er are still quite young. I'm not often in the village, so if anything happens, I hope the village head can lend a hand."
"Don't worry about that. Just tell them at the pig farm that if anything happens, they can come to me directly."
"Alright, thank you very much, village head."
After the two agreed, the village head returned to Granny Fang's house to check on the situation.
Li Shize had already taken the pulse and concluded, "The patient's pulse is floating and tight, which indicates that cold air has entered the body, which may cause symptoms such as fever, headache, and weakness. After taking the medicine I prescribed, he should rest well for a while until the fever subsides."
Remembering what Meng Zhao had said before, she added, "However, his body is severely depleted. If he doesn't take some good medicine to replenish it, he probably won't be able to do heavy work in the future."
"Good medicinal herbs, but where would we get that much money?" Whenever it came to something that required spending money, Granny Fang would be on high alert.
Upon hearing the doctor's words, the village head immediately said, "Li Yunxiang works for Meng Zhao and just received her wages. Where is the money? Quickly take it out to buy medicine."
Granny Fang dared not say that her son had taken all the money to drink, so she reluctantly returned to her room, took out a handful of copper coins from the stove hole, and handed them to Li Shize to get medicine.
***
In the Shen family courtyard, everything except the things that couldn't be moved had been packed up. There were too many things to move in one trip, so they could only bring the sleeping and eating things first, and move the rest slowly later.
They originally thought that they would have to clean the yard again when they got to the county, since they had hired someone to build several stoves and hadn't cleaned them up yet. But when they opened the door, there wasn't a single fallen leaf in the yard, and the house was spotless.
Shen Qinghe came out of the side room carrying a broom and said with a smile, "You've arrived."
Shen Qingze and Shen Qingyu were very surprised and rushed over, "Second brother, why are you here? Isn't today a day off?"
Shen Qinghe reached out and patted their heads. "Knowing that we were moving today, I asked the academy for leave early this morning. I figured it would take a while to get back to the village, so I came here directly to tidy up the house first. Once you arrive, you can move in right away."
Gu Shi valued Shen Qinghe's studies the most and said worriedly, "Take leave? How can that be? Qinghe, you should focus on your studies right now."
Shen Qinghe looked helpless and stepped forward to take the bundles from Gu Shi and Meng Zhao. "It's alright, Mother. Today's lessons aren't heavy. I'll study more later."
He studied hard and passed the imperial examinations with the intention of making his family's life better. If he only focused on his studies all day long, ignoring everything else and the hardships his family had endured, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?
Meng Zhao thought this was a good idea. "Mother, my second brother has his own plans, so you don't need to worry about it. I was originally thinking of just having a simple meal after we finished cleaning up, but now that we're free, let's make something nice and I'll go call my parents over so we can have a family reunion dinner together."
One of the reasons we rented this courtyard was because it was quite close to Meng's butcher shop, so if anyone didn't feel like cooking, they could share a meal.
Upon hearing that her in-laws were coming, Madam Gu disregarded everything else and hurriedly got up. "Then I must hurry and buy some good food. This first meal in our new home must be prepared properly."
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