Chapter 179 Subtle Changes
On the carriage.
Qingqiu and Ningdong, who had barely slept all night, sat side by side, dozing off.
Meng Jinyao was recovering from her illness and felt dizzy and listless. She leaned against the carriage wall and closed her eyes to rest.
Suddenly, the carriage jolted, and she bumped the back of her head. She quickly sat up straight to avoid bumping her head again.
Seeing the little girl frowning, Gu Jingxi forced himself to sit up straight, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pulled her into his arms, letting her lean against his chest. Meeting her surprised gaze, he said gently, "If Madam is tired, lean against me and sleep."
Meng Jinyao was feeling weak all over and her head was still foggy, so she didn't stand on ceremony with him and leaned against him without any hesitation.
Despite his small stature, Gu Jingxi had a broad chest. Leaning against him was warm and comfortable, and the faint orchid scent emanating from him made me feel inexplicably at ease, but I was wide awake.
Perhaps she was a little uncomfortable being held in a man's arms like this.
Or perhaps it was the pounding of his heartbeat that was bothering me, and all my attention was focused on his heartbeat.
Gu Jingxi looked down and saw the little girl's petite body nestled in his arms, motionless, seemingly having fallen asleep again, clearly extremely tired.
Qingqiu and Ningdong had already woken up from the bumpy carriage ride. They glanced at their two masters without making a sound and saw that the lady was leaning against the Marquis's chest with her eyes closed, as if she had fallen asleep.
They didn't know if it was just their imagination, but they felt that something had changed between their mistress and the Marquis after last night, yet nothing had changed at the same time. That subtle feeling was hard to fathom.
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The Changxing Marquis's Residence.
Upon returning to the Marquis's residence, Gu Jingxi immediately instructed Ningdong to fetch the family physician.
On her way back to Wei Rui Xuan, Meng Jinyao ran into Zhang Shi and Chen Shi. The two women were smiling and saying hurtful things to each other. It seemed that these two sisters-in-law were born to be incompatible, and they were bound to have a quarrel whenever they met.
Zhang was the first to see the couple and greeted them with a smile: "Third brother, third sister-in-law."
As soon as she finished speaking, Chen turned her head and saw the third son and his wife walking side by side.
Gu Jingxi nodded slightly to his two sisters-in-law.
Meng Jinyao greeted them with a smile: "Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law."
Seeing that Meng Jinyao's complexion was not good, Madam Chen asked, "I think Third Sister-in-law doesn't look well. Are you feeling unwell?"
Meng Jinyao answered evasively, "Thank you for your concern, Second Sister-in-law. I'm fine. I just had a high fever last night, but it's gone now. I'm just a little sleepy."
Madam Chen nodded: "That's good. Although it's summer, don't be greedy for coolness. If cold air enters the body, you will catch a cold and develop a high fever."
Zhang echoed, "Yes, Third Sister-in-law, you must take care of yourself." As she spoke, she noticed that Meng Jinyao's hands were bandaged with gauze and asked in surprise, "Third Sister-in-law, what happened to your hands? Are you injured? They look quite badly hurt."
Meng Jinyao replied gently, "I accidentally fell last night and scraped my skin. It just looks serious, but it's nothing serious."
Upon hearing this, Zhang and Chen didn't think much of it, assuming that she had fallen because she had a high fever the night before and was not feeling well. They told her to rest well and take good care of herself.
Meng Jinyao and Gu Jingxi returned to Weirui Pavilion. They had just sat down for a short while when Ningdong brought the family physician to treat Meng Jinyao.
On the way, the physician had already heard Ningdong's account of the situation, but Ningdong omitted some important details, only saying that she suddenly developed a high fever last night, but the fever had subsided, and now her head was feeling dizzy.
Meng Jinyao asked softly, "Doctor, how is he?"
The physician withdrew the three fingers from Meng Jinyao's wrist and replied, "Madam, you have depression and have been overly frightened, which is why you suddenly developed a high fever. A dose of calming medicine will suffice."
Meng Jinyao nodded: "Thank you for your help, doctor."
"No trouble at all." The physician quickly shook his head and added, "However, the lady is in poor health and should take good care of herself while she is still young."
Meng Jinyao was not surprised at all after hearing this. She had always known that she was weak and prone to illness, especially when the weather was cold. She could easily catch a cold if she was not careful. In the past, she did not have the means to take care of her health at her parents' home. Now that she was at her husband's home, she paid great attention to her diet and drank nourishing soups every few days. These days, she felt much better and her complexion had improved a lot.
She said gently, "I usually take care of my health, so I would appreciate it if you could prescribe me some calming medicine."
After hearing this, the physician prescribed her a calming medicine as instructed and sent a maid with him to fetch the medicine and prepare it.
After the physician left, Gu Jingxi frowned and asked, "Is Madam weak?"
Meng Jinyao nodded frankly: "My body is a bit weak, but I get sick more easily than Qingqiu and Ningdong. It's not a big deal. I've been drinking nourishing soups to help me recover lately."
Upon hearing this, Gu Jingxi remembered that she often drank soup. He had previously thought she just liked drinking soup, but he hadn't expected there to be another reason. So he said, "Then let the kitchen stew more nourishing soups to help her get better."
As he spoke, he looked the young girl up and down. She was pale and haggard as she recovered from her illness, but she looked quite normal when she was healthy. She was a little thin when she first married into the family, but not very thin. She just looked frail. She had gained some weight in the past few months and her complexion had improved a lot.
It seems the Meng family has been neglecting the young girl's diet, otherwise she wouldn't be so weak.
Meng Jinyao nodded again and said, "Husband, why don't you rest for a while? Ningdong said you didn't sleep much last night."
"No rush, I have another question for you." Gu Jingxi stared at her, then continued, "Why did you injure your hand yesterday? What happened?"
Meng Jinyao paused, recalling the truth she had heard yesterday afternoon. A sinister glint flashed in her eyes as she replied, "Nothing happened. I just suddenly learned some things."
Looking into those eyes filled with hatred, Gu Jingxi guessed, "Is it related to the Meng family?"
Meng Jinyao looked bewildered: "How did you know, husband?"
"Besides the Meng family, I really can't think of anyone else a sheltered young lady like you would have such a deep hatred for," Gu Jingxi said gently, seemingly coaxing her, "Tell your husband what happened."
Meng Jinyao's eyes welled up with tears as she thought of her mother, whom she had never met. She choked up and said, "My mother didn't just die in childbirth. It was because Sun Shi had an affair with my father, which my mother caught. Enraged, Sun Shi pushed my mother, causing her to go into premature labor, which ultimately led to her death in childbirth. My good father knew the truth, but he coldly watched as my grandmother called me a jinx for over ten years."
Upon hearing this, Gu Jingxi was shocked and his mind was shaken. He hadn't expected that there were any suspicious circumstances surrounding his mother-in-law's death. No wonder the young girl was so emotionally volatile and had even injured herself. He then asked, "How did Madam find out about this?"
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