Hongshi's fever lasted for two days, fluctuating between highs and lows. After taking medicine, his temperature would drop, but it would always rise again within an hour. Lanqin stayed by Hongshi's side all day the next day, constantly monitoring his temperature. Since there were no thermometers in this era, Lanqin didn't know Hongshi's exact fever level, so she had to touch his forehead repeatedly, checking her own. Whenever his forehead was too hot, she had the maids constantly try to cool it down, even applying ice packs and the medicine prescribed by Doctor Lin. This generally kept his temperature from rising too high.
"Master, you should go back and rest. I'll take care of the Fourth Prince for you!" Nianxue said, seeing that Lanqin had been guarding the place all day.
“No, if I don’t stay here, they won’t know how to cool the Fourth Prince down. It’s so pitiful. I hope the Fourth Prince can go back today. If he keeps burning up like this, I’m really worried about whether his small body can withstand it!” Lanqin said. When she saw the Fourth Prince place the lampshade by his bedside, her heart softened. It was clear that the Fourth Prince was still just a child, and his mature demeanor was just an act.
“My lord, I will stay here and do my best to lower the Fourth Prince’s fever according to your instructions. You can rest assured and go to rest. We don’t even know if the master will be able to come back! If you collapse from exhaustion, the whole mansion will be in chaos.” Cui Niang stepped forward and said.
"No, I'm so worried about this child with such a high fever. I don't know what happened to him, how he got so high?" Lanqin looked at Hongshi, who was only three years old, lying there silently. She was silently amazed by the child's resilience, and felt a pang of pity. It was truly rare for someone so young to be so sensible and quiet.
"Your Highness, please don't worry too much. Doctor Lin said that it's possible that the Fourth Prince has come into contact with something bad, which is why he has a fever. As long as the Fourth Prince can get through this period, he might be fine," Cui Niang comforted him.
“My lady, you don’t look well. You should go back and rest,” Nianxue said again.
"It's alright, go back and bring me a blanket, I'll lean against it here. Hongshi is so young, someone has to watch over him, and the person serving him should be attentive," Lanqin said worriedly. She hadn't even taken care of her own two daughters like this before, and Lanqin genuinely felt sorry for the child, and also didn't want people to gossip that she was in charge of the household and didn't care about Fourth Master's offspring.
Cui Niang had no choice but to ask Nianxue to go back and get Lanqin a blanket. Now, several ice basins were placed in Hongshi's room, all of which Lanqin had moved from her own room.
The Fourth Prince hadn't planned to return, but Su Peisheng brought a message from Lanqin saying that the Fourth Prince, Hongshi, was ill with a persistent high fever. He was worried about Hongshi and also worried that Lanqin wouldn't be able to manage him. Hongshi's temperament was indeed somewhat like that of the Fujin (Prince's wife); he was always busy and hadn't spent much energy disciplining Hongjun and Hongshi.
As soon as Fourth Master entered, he went straight to Hongshi's room. Because Lanqin didn't want the maids to disturb Hongshi, she sent them all out to guard outside. In the inner room, only Lanqin, Cui Niang, and Xia Shi were watching over Hongshi.
As Fourth Master entered Hongshi's room, he was greeted by a refreshing coolness, followed by the smell of medicine. Perhaps it was because Hongshi had just taken medicine.
Fourth Master entered Hongshi's bedroom and saw Lanqin sleeping on a chair next to Hongshi's bed, with Cui Niang and Xia Shi watching over her.
When Cui Niang and Xia Shi saw that the Fourth Master had arrived, they wanted to pay their respects, but the Fourth Master stopped them with a look. He walked to Hong Shi's bedside and saw that Hong Shi's arms, legs, and forehead were covered with towels. He then reached out and touched Hong Shi's little face and felt that it was not too hot anymore, so he was relieved.
Fourth Master turned and walked over to Lanqin. He looked at the young woman and saw that she was already asleep, with dark circles under her eyes, clearly caused by not getting enough sleep. Fourth Master knew that the young woman was usually a heavy sleeper, so it seemed she hadn't been sleeping well these past few days.
He personally tucked the blanket around Lanqin's neck before turning around and waving to Cui Niang and Xia Shi, signaling them to come with him to ask questions.
After they followed Fourth Master out of Hongshi's bedroom and into the outer room, Fourth Master inquired about when Hongshi had developed a fever and the entire treatment process. Seeing Fourth Master personally tucking the blanket around Lanqin, Xia Shi felt a lump in her throat and dared not say anything rash, recounting Hongshi's fever in detail. Cui Niang, finding Xia Shi's account largely accurate, remained silent.
Xia recounted to the Fourth Prince all the measures Lanqin had taken to reduce Hongshi's fever. The Fourth Prince listened quietly without saying anything. After Xia finished speaking, the Fourth Prince instructed her to personally invite Doctor Lin over for questioning.
After Xia left, Fourth Master said to Cui Niang, "Your mistress is here, why don't you persuade her to go back and rest? Aren't you taking care of Ushiha and Bechuk?"
Cui Niang was taken aback. She had been worried that the Fourth Master would be angry after hearing Lan Qin's strange actions, but judging from his tone, he was clearly worried that Lan Qin was tired.
"Yes, it's all our fault. Master is devoted to the Fourth Prince, and we tried to persuade him several times, but to no avail. Please punish us, Master." Cui Niang was pleased, but her words were very polite.
Upon hearing this, the Fourth Master immediately understood. He knew that it was Lanqin who insisted on staying at Hongshi's place and taking care of him day and night. The maids had tried to persuade her, but Lanqin insisted on staying, so naturally there was nothing wrong with it.
"Has Consort Cui finished her dinner?" The Fourth Prince naturally wouldn't really blame Cui Niang and the others for not urging her to have dinner.
“It has been used, and it was used at the Fourth Prince’s place,” said Cui Niang.
"Go and tell Niu Baoquan to prepare some good food for the concubine. The master and the concubine will eat together later. Go on," said the Fourth Prince.
When Cui Niang returned to the south courtyard to give instructions, Doctor Lin also arrived with Madam Xia. After several days of repeated treatments, Doctor Lin had figured out Hongshi's condition; it was likely due to contact with something unclean. Therefore, in addition to prescribing antipyretics, Doctor Lin also prescribed some detoxifying and stomach-cleansing medicine. The Fourth Prince's temperature began to gradually stabilize.
When Lanqin woke up, she saw Fourth Master sitting next to her and asked excitedly, "Master, why are you back?"
The Fourth Prince walked over and grabbed Lanqin's arm, saying, "If I don't go back, are you planning to stay here indefinitely? Just have the maids take turns keeping watch."
When Lanqin saw that Fourth Master didn't ask about Hongshi's illness but was worried about her being tired, she was naturally happy and quickly said, "Have you seen Hongshi? He doesn't have such a high fever today as he did yesterday."
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