Chapter 13: Sudden Illness
Madam Lu suddenly fell straight down stiffly.
The people nearby timely supported Madam Lu and anxiously and urgently shouted.
Pei Qinghe’s smile froze, and she swiftly got up and went over.
Madam Lu’s vision spun, stars burst before her eyes, she couldn’t even see the figures in front of her clearly, only her mouth remained tougher than a dead duck’s: “I’m fine.”
Still fine. Her face was ghastly pale, her gaze scattered, her chest heaving dramatically. She was clearly on the verge of breathing her last.
Madam Lu had a strong spirit but a bad temper, awkward and stubborn. She had repeatedly provoked her, the clan leader, multiple times before, and each time she had ruthlessly crushed her. These past few days, Madam Lu had been sulking, and despite her age, she refused to ride in the prison cart, insisting on walking herself. In the evenings kneading dough for steamed buns, Madam Lu also followed and busied herself from start to finish.
In the end, it turned out like this.
Pei Qinghe frowned and turned her head: “Cousin Sister Yun, please call a doctor over.”
Pei Yun responded and left.
Madam Lu panted heavily, laboriously squeezing out: “I’ll be fine after resting a bit, no need for a doctor.”
“If you want to live, shut your mouth and don’t speak.” Pei Qinghe felt a nameless anger surging inside her, her expression cold: “If you’re really tired of living, tomorrow find a suitable spot yourself and dig a pit to lie down in.”
Madam Lu was so angry she rolled her eyes.
Madam Feng’s heart raced with fear, grabbing Pei Qinghe’s hand: “Qinghe, say less.”
How could Pei Qinghe not be angry?
In her previous life, Madam Lu was the same, not making trouble for long before she died. If this continued, she would inevitably retrace the old path and be buried in a foreign land.
People who didn’t value their own lives weren’t worth sympathy or pity at all.
Pei Qinghe said to everyone: “I’ll stay here and watch. You all go sleep. Get up at the fifth watch tomorrow.”
Over these past few days, Pei Qinghe had established extremely high prestige, and the clan members were very obedient, soon dispersing.
The young doctor arrived holding the medicine box, his fairly proper face three shades whiter than Madam Lu’s. When he opened the medicine box and took out the thin needles, his hands trembled slightly the whole time. He jabbed forcefully, and beads of blood welled up immediately.
The barely breathing Madam Lu cried out in pain from the prick.
The young doctor’s hand shook again.
“Wait!” Pei Qinghe furrowed her brows: “Do you even know how to treat illnesses?”
The thirteen-year-old girl had a slender figure and clear brows and bright eyes, yet she exuded a chilling dominance utterly at odds with her age and build.
Being stared at so coldly by her, the young doctor felt guilty and panicked, barely managing to respond: “Yes… of course I do. My master is the only doctor in the county town, nicknamed Sai Huatuo. I started learning medicine from my master at nine and trained for a full ten years before graduating…”
“How old are you?” Pei Qinghe suddenly asked.
The young doctor reflexively answered: “Nineteen.”
Everyone: “…”
So he was a newly graduated young physician.
Looking at his trembling like chaff, he probably had never formally treated a patient before!
Pei Qinghe asked: “How many patients have you seen?”
The young doctor had a very strong survival instinct and quickly answered: “Whenever master treated patients, I was right there beside him, so I have plenty of experience. This old madam has excessive heart fire, excessive worry and overthinking, and is too fatigued. A few doses of medicine, good food and sleep for a month or two, and she’ll be fine.”
Turns out he had never seen patients independently before. Maybe he hadn’t even graduated. He had just been “invited” by Guard Gao.
At this moment, it wasn’t the time to quibble over that.
Pei Qinghe suppressed her anger and said gravely: “Stop the acupuncture. Just prescribe and brew the medicine directly.”
The young doctor clearly let out a sigh of relief, and pulling out the needle was deft. Grasping and brewing the medicine was also proficient.
The medicine was brewed and cooled for a moment. The young doctor rubbed his hands somewhat awkwardly: “The old madam is unconscious, this medicine…”
Pei Qinghe extended her hand.
The young doctor was stunned.
Pei Yun nearby smoothly handed over the medicine bowl.
Pei Qinghe took the medicine bowl, forcefully pinched Madam Lu’s chin with her left hand, then poured the whole bowl of dark murky herbal medicine down.
Madam Lu choked on the herbal medicine, coughing violently a few times, her deathly pale face instantly flushing red.
Her groggy mind instantly cleared.
Madam Lu opened her eyes gasping for breath, angrily glaring at her granddaughter: “Are you trying to choke me to death?”
Pei Qinghe was expressionless: “With how you’re carrying on, you don’t want to live anyway. What’s the difference between closing your eyes sooner or later?”
Madam Lu’s blood surged, trembling all over in anger: “Pei Qinghe! I’m your grandmother! How dare you speak to me like this!”
“This is unfilial disobedience!”
Pei Qinghe was indifferent: “Once you go to the Yellow Springs, complain fiercely to my father and let him vent for you.”
Madam Lu: “…”
The young doctor was dumbfounded.
What an eye-opener!
Pei Yun silently got up, and before leaving, glanced at the young doctor. The young doctor finally reacted and hurriedly went out.
Madam Lu’s chest heaved unevenly, her breathing rapid.
Pei Qinghe said coldly: “If you want to keep making a fuss, no one will stop you.”
“On the road to exile, it’s not rare for anyone to die. Wrap in a straw mat, bury by the roadside, and be a lonely wild ghost after death.”
After speaking, she got up and lay down on the prepared straw nearby.
Madam Lu was furious, wanting to curse but lacking both the strength and the confidence, could only glare in impotent rage. The herbal medicine she swallowed slowly took effect, and she drowsily fell asleep again.
When she opened her eyes again, the sky was already bright.
This stretch of official road was uneven, the prison cart jolted from time to time, making Madam Lu dizzy and nauseous, waves of queasiness wanting to vomit.
Madam Chen supported Madam Lu’s head and held the water pouch to her mouth: “Drink it while it’s still warm.”
After Madam Lu drank the medicine, she wanted to vomit even more.
Madam Chen said: “Qinghe specially instructed that once the medicine is drunk, you’re not allowed to spit it out. Otherwise, we’ll directly carry you off the cart and throw you by the roadside.”
Madam Lu was so angry her eye twitched: “That damn thing!”
“Eldest sister-in-law,” Madam Chen also darkened her face: “What time is it now? All the Pei Clan men are dead, Feng Ge’er and the others are too young, the one who can take responsibility and hold up the family is Qinghe.”
“These past few days, she’s been busy worrying over a way to survive for the Pei family old and young, and even I feel heartbroken watching.”
“She’s the clan leader, she needs to discipline the clan members and establish unquestionable prestige. And you, her consanguineous grandmother, what have you done?”
“Undermining her in front of others, grumbling behind her back, jumping out everywhere to oppose her.”
“Is there a grandmother like you? With all this trouble-making, what exactly do you want?”
Madam Lu was choked speechless, nearly unable to catch her breath.
Sisters-in-law for decades, she had never won an argument with Madam Chen. Where had Pei Qinghe gotten Madam Chen to care for her? This was deliberately to anger her!
“Cousin Sister Qinghe, Grandmother won’t be angered into something serious, right!” Pei Yan whispered in Pei Qinghe’s ear.
Pei Qinghe casually said: “Hard to say. Grandmother has such a big temper, she might just be angered into closing her eyes right away.”
Pei Yan unhesitatingly sided with Cousin Sister Qinghe: “Grandmother is biased, she only has Cousin Brother Feng and Cousin Brother Yue in her eyes.”
“At her age, instead of taking good care of herself, she insists on making trouble. Getting sick is her own fault.”
It was clear that Grandmother Lu really wasn’t much of a grandmother.
Even her own granddaughter didn’t like her.
Grandmother Lu wasn’t a villain or wicked person, she was just a rigid elder with outdated conventional thinking steeped in customary rites~ The fierce clash between her and Pei Qinghe was a battle between two utterly different souls~
