Chapter 154 Smallpox (First Update)
Early in the morning, Gu Jiao went to the clinic.
A few patients came in the morning, but business was slow in the afternoon, so Gu Jiao rested in her small courtyard.
Separated from her by a wall was the girls' school's small garden.
There is a gazebo in the small garden.
Usually, not many people come here, but at this moment, a girl is playing music there.
She played with great difficulty; her playing was not only intermittent, but the notes were also wrong.
Gu Jiao lay on the rattan chair with her eyes closed, trying to rest, but the girl's deadly piano music tormented her to no end.
She pushed open the door and came out, looking towards the courtyard wall, and said, "Wrong."
The girl was clearly not expecting anyone to hear her playing the piano, and in fright, she flicked her fingertips, producing another jarring sound.
Gu Jiao felt her hair stand on end!
"Who?" the girl asked.
She looked around but didn't see anyone nearby.
“Your piano playing is off,” Gu Jiao said.
The girl then realized that the people talking were from behind the courtyard wall.
She was taken aback and asked, "Is it not allowed? I just bought a guqin."
The quality of this guqin is not very good. A typical young lady from a prominent family would probably not buy such an inferior guqin. Gu Jiao could roughly guess that the other party's status was not high, otherwise she would not have secretly practiced the guqin in a corner.
"Bring it here," Gu Jiao said.
"How...how do I take it?" the girl asked.
Gu Jiao glanced at the courtyard wall, which was taller than a person, and dismissed the urge to climb over and scare people to death. She asked calmly, "Can you find Qin Zhen?"
After a while, someone on the other end said, "Found it."
Gu Jiao said, "I said, you tune it. Play the sanxian."
"Hmm?" The girl was clearly a novice.
The earliest guqin had only five strings. Later, King Wen added one string, and King Wu added another string, thus making it a seven-stringed guqin, also known as the seven-stringed guqin.
The seven strings also have their own names: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, Yu, Wen, and Wu.
Gu Jiao said, "The third string is the horn string."
"Oh!" The girl raised her fingertip and beckoned.
Gu Jiao said, "The pitch is too high. Loosen the tuning pegs."
After loosening the tuning pegs, the girl plucked the string again: "How about this?"
Gu Jiao said, "It's too loose, the sound is too low, tighten it a little."
"Oh." The girl carefully turned the tuning pegs.
This time it finally came true.
Afterwards, under Gu Jiao's guidance, she adjusted the remaining six strings one by one.
She played the piece she had learned in class and exclaimed happily, "It sounds so much better!"
Gu Jiao's face darkened.
Is this what you call pleasant to listen to?
Do you have some misunderstanding about what "pleasant to listen to" means?
"Thank you, young lady! I was so discouraged and was planning to give up after a few casual practices, but now I've changed my mind! I'm not going anywhere this afternoon; I'm just going to practice here!"
Gu Jiao: ...Is it too late for me to regret this now?
Gu Jiao, who had been tormented by the deadly piano music next door all afternoon, came out with a dark expression on her face.
In the music hall of the girls' school, Gu Jinyu had just finished practicing the zither.
Whenever she practices the piano, a large number of people come to admire her.
Her music was so beautiful that it could linger in one's ears for three days.
"Princess Hui, how can you play so well? The teacher only taught you this morning, and you were able to master it by this afternoon. Do you practice a lot of hard work every day?"
"Yes, yes, Princess Hui, please share your experience with us!"
The two daughters of prominent families looked at Gu Jinyu with envy.
Gu Jinyu held the Moon Shadow Fuxi Qin in her hands and smiled slightly: "Everyone, you don't need to be so polite, just call me by my name. Actually, I haven't practiced the qin for a long time, I'm so sorry you don't mind."
Qianjinjia: "My goodness, has this level been going on for a long time? If you practiced, how amazing would you be?"
Qianjin Yi: "Miss Gu, is this the Moon Shadow Fuxi Qin in your hand? It was made by Moon Shadow, the number one qin player in Chen Kingdom, and it is the only one of its kind among the six kingdoms!"
Everyone was so envious they were practically drooling.
Heiress C: "Miss Gu, could we borrow it for a look?"
“Of course.” Gu Jinyu handed over the zither.
The crowd gathered around, carefully admiring the legendary Moon Shadow Fuxi Qin.
As expected of the best zither in the six kingdoms, its soundboard, strings, frets, headstock, and tailstock are all nearly perfect.
Why is it considered near perfect? Because only the true Fuxi Qin is truly perfect.
However, the Fuxi Qin is long gone, so the Moon Shadow naturally became the number one Qin of the six kingdoms.
Among the girls' school, two are the most popular: Gu Jinyu, the daughter of a marquis, and Zhuang Yuexi, the granddaughter of Grand Tutor Zhuang.
Zhuang Yuexi's poetry and prose were more outstanding, while Gu Jinyu's zither playing was more exceptional; the two were evenly matched and equally matched.
However, when it comes to popularity, Zhuang Yuexi, who is aloof and disdains making friends, is far less popular than the approachable Gu Jinyu.
At this moment, Zhuang Yuexi came out of another music room, holding a guqin in her hands.
Zhuang Mengdie, who was also carrying a guqin, followed behind her.
Zhuang Mengdie's piano playing was just to make up the numbers; she started dozing off as soon as she entered the music room and only perked up at the end.
The two passed by Gu Jinyu's music room and saw her surrounded by a group of wealthy young ladies asking her for advice on playing the zither.
Zhuang Mengdie rolled her eyes dismissively: "Tch, what's so great about her? A country bumpkin, pretending to be something she's not, stealing someone else's identity and still acting all smug, really thinking she's a real heiress!"
Zhuang Yuexi glanced at her good-for-nothing younger sister: "How much better are you than her?"
Zhuang Mengdie's lips twitched: "How can you talk about your own sister like that? No matter how bad I am, I'm still Father's biological daughter! I come from a noble family! I'm a legitimate daughter of a prominent family!"
Zhuang Yuexi said coldly, "If a legitimate daughter of a noble family can't even recite a few poems, don't go outside and say you're a young lady of the Zhuang family. The Zhuang family can't afford to lose face like that!"
"You..." Zhuang Mengdie was so angry that her teeth itched.
Zhuang Yuexi disliked Gu Jinyu, and she also disliked Zhuang Mengdie. Having such a good-for-nothing younger sister made her feel embarrassed all the time.
The two sisters went downstairs.
Zhuang Mengdie was initially furious with her sister, but when she saw Prince An's carriage parked on the street, all her troubles vanished instantly.
"Brother!" She threw the guqin into the hands of the servants and ran towards Prince An.
Prince An stepped down from the carriage.
It snowed last night, and the streets and rooftops were a vast expanse of white. Yet he stood amidst this silver-clad world, like a radiant glow that even the snow could not steal away.
Zhuang Yuexi's face also showed a look of joy.
Zhuang Mengdie took Prince An's arm: "Brother! What brings you here?"
Prince An said gently, "I was just passing by and thought I'd drop by to see you all. Have you finished your studies today?"
"I've finished learning," Zhuang Yuexi said as she walked over.
She didn't give the guqin to the maid. When Prince An saw that she was tired from carrying it, he reached out his hand and said, "Give it to me."
Zhuang Yuexi smiled slightly and handed the guqin to her brother.
Because he needed to take the guqin, Prince An pulled his arm away from Zhuang Mengdie's grasp.
Zhuang Yuexi was very satisfied with this.
After receiving the guqin, Prince An did not rush to get his two younger sisters into the carriage. Instead, he looked around as if he was waiting for someone.
Zhuang Yuexi asked, "Brother, who are you looking for?"
Prince An said in a normal tone, "I heard that Miss Gu has also come to the girls' school."
Zhuang Mengdie immediately pouted: "You mean that Gu Jinyu? I hate her so much! Why does brother care about her?"
Zhuang Yuexi looked at Prince An with suspicion.
Prince An looked at Zhuang Mengdie and smiled gently: "Isn't she your friend? I was just asking."
Zhuang Mengdie scoffed, "I don't have a friend like her!"
"Did only she come from the Gu family?" Prince An asked.
Zhuang Mengdie scoffed, "Otherwise what? How could that country bumpkin possibly get an admission notice?"
Zhuang Yuexi asked, "And how did you get it?"
Zhuang Mengdie choked, "Can this older sister please stop undermining me all the time?"
Prince An seemed to be deep in thought. Could it be... that she sold the admission notice he gave her to Zhuang Mengdie?
What Prince An didn't know was that his admission letter was sold to Du Xiaoyun by Gu Jiao, and Zhuang Mengdie's admission letter was later obtained by Marquis Gu from Consort Shu.
On the second floor of the music hall, Gu Jinyu pushed open the door of a private room and inadvertently saw Prince An, who had come to pick up his two younger sisters from school.
Gu Jinyu's heart pounded wildly.
After not seeing him for many days, Prince An seemed even more handsome and had a stronger aura.
Who was he looking for as he glanced around?
Me?
Gu Jinyu's heart pounded even harder.
Then I vaguely heard Zhuang Mengdie say, "You mean that Gu Jinyu? I hate her so much. Why does brother care about her?"
Gu Jinyu's breathing became erratic.
Prince An is concerned about her.
He didn't come to pick up his sister; he came specifically to see her!
Gu Jinyu quickly put away her zither, went to the tea room to touch up her rouge, tidied her hair, and then went downstairs to see Prince An.
Unexpectedly, Prince An was no longer alive.
It turned out that Zhuang Mengdie had casually mentioned, "That girl works as a pharmacy apprentice at the clinic next door. I saw her the other day," which led Prince An to go to the clinic.
However, Prince An also missed his target.
Gu Jiao couldn't stand the piano music behind the courtyard wall, so she left work early!
The four men in the family hadn't come home from school yet, so Gu Jiao went to the kitchen to stew soup. Halfway through, Granny Fang arrived.
"Miss, something terrible has happened! Madam has developed some very strange growths on her body! You must go and take a look!"
Gu Jiao turned down the fire in the stove to keep the soup in the pot warm, and then she and Granny Fang got into the carriage and went to the Marquis's residence.
When Yao saw Gu Jiao, she scolded Granny Fang again: "I told you I'm fine, don't go looking for Jiao Jiao for everything."
"It's always good to be careful." Gu Jiao said as she stepped forward and showed the rash to Yao Shi. "It's eczema, it's nothing serious, just apply some medicine."
Madam Yao looked at Granny Fang: "I told you everything was fine, didn't I? Why are you making such a fuss?"
Granny Fang breathed a sigh of relief: "Isn't this just a case of being bitten by a snake once and being afraid of a well rope for ten years?"
Since being stripped of her power, Aunt Ling has become somewhat restless, frequently visiting Gu Chengfeng and Gu Chenglin's courtyards to curry favor with the two brothers, making them now wish they could drive Yao Shi out of the mansion.
She didn't want to do it herself; she planned to use someone else to do the dirty work.
Granny Fang has been keeping a close watch on Aunt Ling, but she's afraid that she might not be able to guard against her at all.
Gu Jiao took a box of eczema cream from her small medicine box and gave it to Yao Shi: "If you have any more problems in the future, please tell me immediately."
Better safe than sorry.
She doesn't mind making a few more trips.
Granny Fang helped Gu Jiao onto the carriage.
Gu Jiao returned to Bishui Hutong.
The old lady asked, "Is your mother alright?"
Gu Jiao said, "She's fine."
What Gu Jiao didn't expect was that while Yao was indeed fine, the little man in the family had an accident.
The first to show symptoms was Xiao Jingkong.
Xiao Jingkong didn't have much of an appetite at dinner. Gu Jiao touched him and, finding he didn't have a fever, told him to go to bed early.
In the middle of the night, he suddenly shook Xiao Liulang awake.
Xiao Liulang looked at him strangely: "What's wrong?"
He sat on the bed, looking very serious, and said, "I'm so itchy."
Xiao Liulang lit an oil lamp, lifted his clothes to take a look, and found that several transparent blisters had appeared on his arms and stomach.
Xiao Liulang covered him with the blanket and called Gu Jiao over.
After examining the chickenpox, Gu Jiao immediately diagnosed it as "chickenpox".
Xiao Liulang frowned: "You mean... smallpox?"
Gu Jiao nodded: "Well, you could say that."
Xiao Jingkong was in good health and had never been sick since he came down from the mountain. But unexpectedly, he fell ill with smallpox.
Although smallpox is not as terrible as smallpox, it is not easy to treat.
“Pox is contagious. Did you have pox when you were a child?” Gu Jiao asked Xiao Liulang.
“Yes, it has,” Xiao Liulang said.
Around the same time as Xiao Jingkong, I got a smallpox rash.
"And you?" Xiao Liulang asked Gu Jiao.
"I think I had it too." Gu Jiao searched through the original owner's memories and found that she had smallpox before Gu Sanlang and his wife passed away. Because she received good care, she eventually recovered.
"It seems like Xiao Shun has never won one," she said.
Smallpox is contagious, so it's best for people who have never had smallpox to avoid contact with them.
"Has your aunt ever had one?" she asked Xiao Liulang.
That's an interesting question.
The old lady was just a leprosy patient he rescued on a whim. How could Xiao Liulang know whether she had ever had smallpox?
Unless, in her heart, she was already certain that Xiao Liulang had known her all along.
Xiao Liulang didn't ask her if she knew anything, nor did he deliberately change the subject. He simply said calmly, "I don't know."
I really don't know.
Gu Jiao thought about it and realized it was normal; for example, she didn't know what illnesses Old Master Gu had suffered from in the past.
She said, "Well, just to be on the safe side, let's have Auntie be careful."
This outbreak of smallpox came on fiercely, and the next morning, Gu Xiaoshun and Gu Yan were also infected.
(End of this chapter)
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