"How could I possibly teach him all this? He told me all of this himself," Lanqin said, rolling her eyes.
"This child's eloquence is far superior to mine," Fourth Master said.
"Of course, look who gave birth to his son!" Lanqin laughed.
Fourth Master put his arm around Lanqin and supported Su Peisheng with his other arm, and the group walked towards Jiuzhou Qingyan.
Back in the main hall, the Fourth Prince was already exhausted. In fact, he had been shuttling between the palace and the Yuanmingyuan Garden these past few days, rushing back after finishing his business in the palace. He was already very tired, and then he had stood in the cold wind outside the Hanjin Hall for more than an hour, and then knelt inside for almost half an hour.
Even the Fourth Master, whose body was as strong as iron, couldn't hold on any longer. He immediately developed a fever and even started talking nonsense.
"Expose his limbs and use ice packs to cool him down!" Lanqin instructed Su Peisheng and the maids to place the Fourth Master on the bed, and then skillfully prepared to cool him down.
"Master, should we call a doctor over to prescribe medicine for the master?" Si Hua asked.
"No, Master's illness is caused by a chill entering his body. We just need to expel the chill. We can't make a big fuss right now, or Father Emperor will have a worse impression of Master," Lanqin said. What if they call doctors and prepare medicine, and Kangxi finds out? He'll definitely think the Fourth Prince is too delicate, that he's sick so easily?
Under Lanqin's direction, the maids busied themselves wiping the Fourth Master's legs and arms, and placing ice packs on his hands. Lanqin also had someone prepare a strong chicken soup with ginger, which she then fed to the Fourth Master. She was worried that if he was hungry, he wouldn't have the strength to fight the cold. So, the ginger-infused chicken soup would both treat his cold and boost his energy.
After a flurry of activity, Fourth Master's temperature finally went down a little, and he wasn't burning up as much anymore.
It was already dark outside. Lanqin remembered the time to pick up Hongli and hurriedly told Lanqi to go and fetch him. She herself had been busy all afternoon and hadn't even had a bite to eat yet.
"Master, it's time for your dinner!" Si Hua asked as she walked over to Lan Qin, who was sitting by the Fourth Master's bedside.
"Hmm. He's a little hungry. Go to the kitchen and tell Chef Niu to cook some more chicken porridge with ginger. Feed him some later. He might have a high fever again tonight," Lanqin said.
"Yes, Master, please come and have some. Everything has been laid out for you," Si Hua said.
Lanqin turned to look at Fourth Master again, tucked the blanket around him, and then stood up, walked to the dining table outside, and sat down.
"You all go ahead and eat, you don't need to wait on me. I've been busy all afternoon, I'm starving," Lanqin said to the maids.
“How can that be? Master hasn’t eaten yet!” Si Hua said. They usually cleared away the leftovers after Fourth Master and Lan Qin finished eating, and then they ate. Lan Qin had once asked the kitchen to prepare separate meals for her maids, but the amount of food she ate was far too much for her to finish, so Si Hua and the others had to eat it. Moreover, they refused to have the kitchen prepare separate meals anymore, as it was against the rules.
"Fourth Master might need to serve you later. If you don't eat something, you won't have the strength later. Divide this food among yourselves; I can't eat this much by myself." Lanqin looked at the table full of delicious dishes and, for the first time, had little appetite. Over the years, Fourth Master seemed to be an iron man, never having fallen ill.
When Lanqin saw the Fourth Master's weakened state, she was somewhat unable to accept that he was so frail. He was like a child who had been scolded by his father, simple and kind-hearted.
When the maids heard Lanqin say this, they all came to the table, silently distributed some dishes, and then went to eat their own meals.
After eating some, Lanqin lost her appetite and asked the maid to clear away the bowls and chopsticks. She went to the Fourth Master's bedside, reached out and touched his forehead, and sure enough, he had started to burn a fever again.
Lanqin had no choice but to direct the maids to begin a second round of cooling measures. Lanqin even personally wiped the Fourth Master's body, because he had developed a high fever and his inner clothes were soaked with sweat, so she had to wipe his body. Although the maids usually served the Fourth Master by helping him change clothes and wash up, they had never wiped his body like this before.
Lanqin asked Su Peisheng to come in and help, and she wiped it herself while the maids went out.
It must be said that Fourth Master was very heavy, especially when he was covered in sweat. Lanqin tried to turn him over, but despite her great effort, she couldn't.
"Consort, this servant will gently push the master's back over there, and you can wipe him clean," Su Peisheng said.
“Okay, push him over there as hard as you can, but be careful not to make him uncomfortable. His back is all wet, he needs to change his clothes.” Lanqin said as she wiped Fourth Master’s back.
“If the master knew that the concubine was taking such good care of him, he would definitely be very grateful to her,” Su Peisheng said.
“He is my husband. He is sick, and it is my duty to take care of him. There is no need for gratitude!” Lanqin said.
"Indeed, this servant is so clumsy with words, how could I possibly express gratitude?" Su Peisheng quickly made a slapping motion in his hand as he spoke.
"Alright, Father-in-law, quickly turn over the other side too. We need to wipe him down and put him in dry clothes, otherwise he'll catch a cold," Lanqin said.
It took the two of them a great deal of effort to wipe the Fourth Master's body, change his clothes, and then continue to cool him down.
The Fourth Prince's temperature went down and then rose again, only to be brought down by Lanqin and the others. This went on until 9 PM, and they had already done six rounds of cooling down the Fourth Prince.
Fourth Master's body temperature finally stabilized at a level of around 38 degrees Celsius. Lanqin deeply felt the inconvenience of not having a thermometer; she could only check Fourth Master's temperature again and again.
It means comparing the temperature of one's own forehead with that of the Fourth Prince's forehead.
"Alright, you can all go to sleep. Si Hua and Shui Ling, stay here to keep watch and help me change. I'll stay by his side." Lan Qin planned to share a bed with the Fourth Master so she could touch his forehead whenever she wanted.
After the maids had helped Lanqin wash up and tidied their bedding, they all withdrew to rest. Lanqin lay next to the Fourth Master, watching his slightly heavy breathing, and fell asleep nestled against his shoulder.
Fourth Master had been running a high fever, so he was a little delirious, but he could sense what Lanqin had been doing for him. The sense of security he felt when he felt the little woman lying beside him deepened.
As Lanqin's breathing became steady beside him, Fourth Master smelled a faint fragrance emanating from the young woman. He tried to open his eyes to look at Lanqin.
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