Chapter 6: Young Master Li arrived first, and Lord Lu kissed him first.
Li Yu did not visit her mother, but went straight to Qin Song's residence.
As soon as he arrived at Qin Song's courtyard, he saw two young maids dressed in the attire of the Duke's mansion sitting at the door, smiling broadly and whispering to each other, showing no concern whatsoever for the safety of the patient inside.
Li Yu walked over with a dark face, and just one glance at them was enough to make the two girls kneel down and tremble with fear.
They had never seen their usually amiable young master with such an expression. Kneeling on the ground, they dared not raise their heads, and whispered their greetings:
"This servant is Chen Xing, this servant is Jiang Yue, greetings to the young master."
Li Yu glanced down at them, not intending to pursue the matter in someone else's courtyard. He was about to step into the house, but his leg hovered over the threshold for a moment before he pulled it back, ultimately unable to overcome the hurdle of etiquette.
Li Yu straightened up, glanced at the two people on the ground out of the corner of her eye, and randomly pointed to a maid: "You, go in and see how Miss Qin is doing."
Chen Xing scrambled to his feet, rushed into the room, checked on her, and then quickly came out to report, "Reporting to Young Master, Miss Qin... Miss Qin is burning up, confused, and her clothes and hair are all wet."
Li Yu's face darkened further. This was a matter of life and death. The doctor in the manor often said that a persistent high fever was extremely dangerous. If treatment was delayed, the patient could easily develop mental illness or even die. How could they be so negligent?
He couldn't help but glance inside again, then snapped, "What are you all standing there for? Are you waiting for me to fetch water?"
"We'll go right away." The two bowed and hurried towards the kitchen.
They had only taken two steps when Li Yu called them back, her voice even colder: "Stop! What will happen to the patient if you all go?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Xing stopped on her own initiative, but she stood like a wooden stake behind Li Yu, stunned and not daring to breathe.
Li Yu frowned in displeasure. "Are you waiting for me to go in and serve you?"
Shen Xing knelt down with a thud and said nervously, "Young...Young Master, this servant...this servant is just a cleaning maid and has never taken care of my master. I really...don't know what to do."
Li Yu stared at her rough hands for a moment, and the question that had puzzled him when he saw two of his own maids on the way here was finally answered. Given his mother's shrewdness, she would never easily send servants over to take care of him. She had only sent two rough maids over to make it look like a formality.
He laughed in anger, controlling his temper and trying to keep his voice calm: "Even if you've never taken care of your master, haven't you ever encountered someone with a headache or fever?"
Shen Xing scratched his head. "Young Master, to be honest, we servants are thick-skinned and tough. We never need to pay special attention to headaches and fevers. We just need a good night's sleep. If it's not serious, we can still go back to work. We don't need to rest at all."
She chuckled twice as she spoke.
Li Yu rarely lost his temper, and now he was even more at a loss for words. He sighed, thinking that taking care of the patient was the most important thing.
"Get up, go in and help her uncover the blanket, change her sweaty clothes, and remember to dry her body before changing her."
"Yes." Chen Xing immediately rushed in.
Before half an incense stick had burned, the maid came out again, looking flustered. "Miss Qin is soaked through, inside and out. Should she change her undergarments too?"
Upon hearing this, Li Yu instantly thought of Qin Song's fair, slender shoulders, her Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily, and her breathing becoming erratic.
Shameless! How could they even think of such things at a time like this!
Feeling ashamed of herself, Li Yu composed herself before replying in a steady voice, "Yes, change all the wet clothes, inside and out."
"yes."
After Chen Xing returned to her room, Jiang Yue, who had prepared the water, finally came back. It was clear she was a maidservant with rough work. Upon seeing her, Li Yu immediately instructed, "Quickly, take it inside. If she's not dressed yet, first use a warm, damp towel to wipe her neck and armpits..."
She only wanted to instruct them on the procedures, but when it came to the specific details, Li Yu's face flushed and her palms became hot.
He spent a long time convincing himself before calmly continuing to instruct, "Wipe your armpits, back, thighs... groin, palms, soles, and forehead several times, then change into clean clothes. Remember, don't cover your chest; keep it cool."
"Oh, okay." Jiang Yue didn't expect that her young master knew how to take care of people even better than she did. After keeping his words in mind, she quickly went into the house.
The two of them were busy and flustered, and after finishing all this, they were exhausted and covered in sweat. Just as they were about to sit down and rest, their master spoke up from outside the door, "How is it? Have you changed your clothes?"
The two men had barely caught their breath when they crouched down and came to the door again. “Reporting to Young Master, we’ve changed them all.”
"She is unconscious now, but she has a fever and is sweating, so her body will be dehydrated. Give her more water, and add some salt and sugar to the water."
The two obeyed and returned, but this time, even though they were sweating profusely, things didn't go smoothly. Jiang Yue rushed out, "Young Master, Miss Qin won't open her mouth and can't drink any water. Instead, she's gotten her new clothes wet again. What should we do?"
Seeing their clumsy movements, Li Yu became a little anxious. "Give them water first, and change it if it gets wet."
Two maids, one helping the patient up and the other pouring water into her mouth, tried to get her to drink. However, Qin Song was already in a daze, and in their haste, they poured the water down her throat too quickly, causing her to choke and cough.
Li Yu listened outside the door, and his anxiety finally broke through his adherence to etiquette, so he stepped inside.
He stepped forward and saw Qin Song, her chest soaked with water, her wet clothes clinging tightly to her skin. Li Yu glanced at her briefly before averting his gaze, which fell on her pale, dry lips, her ears turning bright red as if they were about to bleed.
"Don't force it down her throat; make sure she can swallow it first. Give it to me."
Li Yu took over from the maid and sat down by Qin Song's bedside, helping Qin Song to lean gently against his shoulder.
Qin Song was in a daze and struggled and shook her head unconsciously because she had choked on water. She looked extremely uncomfortable, so Li Yu had to raise her hand to support her shoulder and comfort her.
The girl's unique fragrance wafted into his nostrils, and the burning heat from her shoulder against his chest made his hands tremble, and his palms, which were resting on his chin, began to sweat slightly.
He spooned water over her, but she still couldn't get it into her mouth.
After several attempts, he gave up decisively, gently put her down, and stood up: "Change her wet clothes first, and make sure she can cool down. If she has convulsions, do not restrain her, just remove any sharp objects around her."
He left those words behind and then slipped out of the house, leaving behind two inexperienced girls who had just fought a tough battle and were now panicking.
The weather turned cold quickly, so Li Yu put on a thick cloak and went straight to the bamboo forest. The faint moonlight outlined the shape of the branches and leaves, and the cold wind rustled through the forest, but it made him unable to calm down at all.
He had never done any work of caring for others before. Everything was done according to the procedure that his wet nurse had followed when he was sick as a child. He never realized that taking care of a patient required so much effort and involved solving so many problems.
He used the dagger he carried to cut off a thin bamboo stalk, hollowed it out, and shaved it into a bamboo tube about the length of his palm in a few strokes. After polishing it with fine sand, he hurried back.
He was focused on saving lives and didn't notice a figure quietly following behind him.
Having crossed that barrier of etiquette, he returned without hesitation and naturally stepped into the house. The tall figure that had been quietly following behind him stood at the door for a moment after he entered the house before silently disappearing into the window of the side room.
Inside the room, two maids had already changed Qin Song's wet clothes. After several wipings and changes of clothes, Qin Song's body temperature dropped slightly, and his spirits stabilized considerably.
Li Yu took two dry towels, folded them, and placed them under her chin. He then carefully inserted the cleaned bamboo tube into her lips and teeth, and then carefully poured water into the bamboo tube with a spoon.
However, the nozzle was too narrow, and the spoon couldn't pour the contents precisely. After several attempts, most of the effort was in vain, and the contents ended up soaking Qin Song's cheeks and behind his ears.
"No, the fever hasn't subsided; this is too slow." Li Yu calmed down and looked at the two maids who were craning their necks to watch their master's new trick. "Have you cleaned your mouths?"
"Huh?" Both maids looked bewildered at the same time.
"Young Master wants us to feed Miss Qin water mouth-to-mouth?" Jiang Yue remembered a scene like this in the play, but she immediately waved her hand, "No, no, I have cavities, I dare not defile Miss Qin."
Chen Xing shook her head, "I can't either, I ate garlic for dinner."
"You guys!" Li Yu was annoyed for a moment, then gave up on her plan to have them feed her water.
He picked up the bowl of water, lowered his head and took a sip. He turned back and looked down at Qin Song. After hesitating for a moment, he carefully put one end of the bamboo tube into his mouth and slowly fed the water into Qin Song's mouth.
Fortunately, Qin Song was only drowsy and not completely unconscious. When water entered her mouth, she would instinctively swallow. After several attempts, she finally managed to get the remaining half bowl of water into her mouth.
"I'm sorry for the offense." Li Yu removed the bamboo tube from Qin Song's mouth and realized that her heart was beating erratically. She had just moistened her mouth, but now she felt parched and dared not look at her for long.
He forced himself to remain calm and got up, about to help her change the padding under her chin, when two women strode in through the door.
They were dressed in luxurious clothes and had beautiful hair, but their faces were extremely ugly. From outside the courtyard to the side room, their eyes were firm and their purpose was clear. They entered without saying a word, grabbed Li Yu, and dragged him out with grim faces.
Li Yu initially resisted, until the elegant and noble woman lowered her voice and said, "Aren't you leaving? Do you want to be discovered and ruin your future, or destroy her reputation?"
Her reputation...
The string that Li Yu had broken, now replaced by the "separation of men and women," suddenly tightened again. His resistance weakened, and he glanced back at Qin Song, who was no longer sweating, before letting his mother drag him out of the room.
Granny Liu glanced at the thinly dressed girl on the sickbed, then glared angrily at the two maids kneeling on the ground, barely daring to breathe. "You two remember this: the young master is the hope of our Duke's Mansion. If you don't want to be sold off, you must take the long-term survival of the Duke's Mansion as your mission. You know what to say and what not to say, right?"
Chen Xing and Jiang Yue were almost buried in the ground, and they just kept nodding in agreement.
After Liu Mama's footsteps faded into the distance, Chen Xingjiangyue finally breathed a sigh of relief. The two exchanged a glance and then went about their business.
Shen Xing consciously stayed by Qin Song's side, while Jiang Yue took the dirty clothes and wet towels to the kitchen.
Just as she passed the corner of the side room, a pebble of unknown origin suddenly struck Jiang Yue's ankle. With a cry of "Ah!", she dropped her basin and towel, splashing water all over herself.
Hearing the commotion, Chen Xing rushed over. Seeing her companion soaking wet, she didn't have time to worry about where the pebbles came from. She quickly told her to go back and change her clothes, and then cleaned up the mess herself and went to the kitchen.
After the two footsteps faded into the distance, the tall figure who had been leaning against the back window with his arms crossed threw away the remaining pebble in his hand and finally raised his head.
The candlelight shone through the window paper, casting a dim yellow shadow on his profile. His deep, sharp face was half-lit and half-shadowed, like a venomous snake lurking in the darkness, finally getting its chance to strike.
Lu Youchuan walked through the darkness to the door, and without hesitation stepped into Qin Song's room. He reached out and touched Qin Song's forehead, then coldly called out twice, "Qin Song. Qin Song."
The chattering little demon girl had her eyes tightly closed, her lips dull, and she showed no reaction whatsoever.
He glanced at the empty bowl next to him. There was only a little water left at the bottom of the bowl. How could such a serious case not have been treated with medicine?
Lu Youchuan then took out a bottle of high-quality antipyretics from his waist, poured out a pill into his palm, turned around, picked up the kettle on the table, poured water into a cup, and took the water into his mouth in one smooth motion.
Returning to the bedside, he paused to look at the weak Qin Song for a while, then glanced sideways at the bamboo tube on the table and let out a cold laugh for no apparent reason.
He turned his head again, deftly pinched Qin Song's chin, put the pill into her mouth, leaned down, and their lips met.
A note from the author:
----------------------
The author is particularly fond of this kind of gentle and meticulous male lead. I wonder if everyone else will find the pacing slow?
But... in the next chapter, Lu's pace quickens a bit; he quickly becomes deeply engrossed and can't contain his emotions [covering face and peeking].
——
Update at 9 PM as usual~ I've revised the chapter summaries that didn't meet the requirements. [Heart emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
