Granny Lu, along with two children and several white-clad servants, was escorted back to the capital by a few guards. A few days later, Eunuch Dou, another apprentice of Chen Wufu, the chief eunuch in charge of Emperor Liang Cheng, visited the Xu residence at night with several people.
Eunuch Dou, along with several guards and a six- or seven-year-old child, was taken directly by Xu Rao to Zhang Zhaoci's courtyard in the backyard.
Several guards were injured, and the child was running a high fever. Upon seeing this, Zhang Zhaoci didn't ask any questions and immediately began to treat the child.
Of the ten girls, four were given to Xu Zhi, two to Xu Di, and one to Granny Lu. The remaining three, Bai Wei, Bai Mi, and Bai Zhi, were all taken by Zhang Zhaoci. After carefully examining them, Zhang Zhaoci wanted these three girls to learn nursing. As a doctor, after treating a patient, someone had to take care of the patient according to the correct methods so that the patient could recover quickly. Post-treatment care is a very important matter.
The guards were easy to deal with; their superficial wounds were bandaged without Zhang Zhaoci's instructions. The three girls, who had been learning from them for a while, bandaged them up immediately. The problem was the child, who was delirious with fever. Children are prone to complications when they have high fevers.
Zhang Zhaoci personally cared for the child, administering fever-reducing medication and then continuously wiping the child's armpits and groin with strong liquor until breakfast time, when the child's fever finally subsided.
Zhang Zhaoci was so tired that her whole body felt weak. She leaned against the bed and drifted off to sleep. She didn't wake up until Xu Di came over.
Grandpa Dou didn't sleep a wink all night, helping Zhang Zhaoci. When he saw that the child's fever had subsided, he burst into tears.
Xu Di recognized Grandpa Dou and quickly handed him a handkerchief, saying, "Grandpa, the child's fever has gone down, why are you still crying? Quickly wipe your tears."
Old Man Dou was not old. After hearing Xu Di's words, he grabbed a handkerchief, wiped his face haphazardly, and said, "What do you know? Do you know who this child is? The lives of several of us are tied to this child."
Upon hearing this, Xu Di asked curiously, "I really find it strange, Eunuch Dou. Why aren't you serving the Emperor properly? What are you doing bringing people all this way to our house?"
Xu Rao happened to come in and said, "Xu Di, how can you talk like that?"
When Xu Di saw Xu Rao enter, he bowed and greeted him as "Father." In front of outsiders, Xu Rao's manners were always impeccable.
Eunuch Dou quickly bowed to Xu Rao and said, "Lord Xu, thank you so much. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened to the Twelfth Prince."
Xu Di almost choked on his saliva when he heard what Grandpa Dou said. He looked at the little child lying on the kang with his eyes closed, and Zhang Zhaoci yawned and said, "The fever has gone down. If you take good care of him, he'll be fine. Grandpa Dou, if you don't have anything else to do, you should stay at my house for a few more days, so that the child doesn't get a fever again."
Eunuch Dou said, "Madam Xu, the twelfth prince will live with you and Lord Xu in Ganzhou from now on. Once the twelfth prince recovers, I will have to go back to report."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaoci looked at Eunuch Dou in surprise, while Xu Di, with a look of horror, asked, "Eunuch Dou, what's going on? Why is the Twelfth Prince staying at our house instead of staying properly in the palace?"
Eunuch Dou said, "You should ask Lord Xu about this. I am just a servant, acting on orders. I do whatever my master tells me to do. My orders are to safely deliver the Twelfth Prince to Ganzhou and hand him over to Lord Xu. I don't know anything else."
Xu Di quickly looked at Xu Rao, who said, "We'll talk about this later. Eunuch Dou, since the Twelfth Prince has nothing else to do, please go to the guest room and rest for a while."
Grandpa Dou shook his head and said, "I'll stay here and keep watch. Madam Xu, you've been busy all night, go and rest. I'll call you if anything happens."
Zhang Zhaoci nodded and said, "I'll have the kitchen make some millet porridge later. Children have weak stomachs, and it's easy for them to get hurt if they take medicine when their stomachs are empty. As long as the child's fever stops, everything will be fine."
The Xu family of three went to Xu Di's room in the backyard.
After entering the room, Xu Di closed the door and asked Xu Rao anxiously in a low voice, "Dad, what happened?"
Xu Rao took out two letters from his sleeve and said, "These are letters from the Emperor and Empress to me. You two take a look. As for what to do next, we'll have to discuss it carefully."
Xu Di snatched one of the letters. It was written by Emperor Liang Cheng to Xu Rao, not in the name of a monarch, but as a father, asking Xu Rao to help look after the twelfth prince. He also said that Xu Rao had the talent to govern the country and that the twelfth prince should learn from him. As for anything else, the letter did not mention it.
Empress Gu's letter was addressed to Xu Rao and Zhang Zhaoci. To be precise, Empress Gu could be considered somewhat related to the Zhang family, and Consort Liu, the birth mother of the twelfth prince, was even more closely related to the Zhang family.
Empress Gu was the eldest daughter of Gu Xuehong, a renowned Confucian scholar of the time, while Consort Liu was the youngest daughter of Empress Gu's maternal uncle's family. Consort Liu's family was originally a well-known wealthy household in the south. Consort Liu's mother was born into the Zhang family, a family of doctors. In other words, Empress Gu and Consort Liu were cousins on their mother's side, while Zhang Zhaoci and Consort Liu were cousins on their maternal side.
The relationships are rather complicated, but they can be figured out if you look into them carefully. After reading the two letters, Xu Di said, "So we're related to the harem after all."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "This is another palace secret. If Granny Lu were here, she might be able to tell us what happened."
Xu Rao put the letter away and said, "Even without Granny Lu here, I can explain it clearly to both of you."
The incident involving Consort Liu happened a few years ago. Empress Gu and Consort Liu were cousins, so they naturally looked after each other. Consort Liu was a very quiet person, and Emperor Liang Cheng treated her quite well. Consort Liu was able to enter the palace because the court was short of funds for military expenses in the southwest. Empress Gu stepped in and asked her maternal uncle's family to help raise funds for the military expenses, which allowed Consort Liu to enter the palace.
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