Chapter 41

The yard was covered with snow. It had an old tree, four main rooms, and Second Mistress Surin kept frowning. “My lord, the Ji family arranged such a pitiful yard for our daughter to live in. They really look down on us!”

They had heard that Ji Manor had arranged a yard and thinking that it was another luxurious space with pavilions and gardens they went into Shengjing without arranging an inn. Now, when they saw this narrow courtyard, they were naturally very disappointed.

Su Wenqian coughed lightly, knowing that it was the Su family who first went back on the marriage, and sighed. “We can’t blame this on the Ji Family!”

Second Mistress Surin frowned but said nothing.

After entering the hall, they found that it was clean. They were seated, and Nanny made tea.

Su Di and Su Yan sat and looked around, their gaze full of uncontrolled contempt, like spoiled and entitled young masters.

Surin looked around and asked, “Why are you alone? Where are the others?”

“Madame, after we entered Shengjing, seeing that Ji Manor arranged this yard, I thought it was inconvenient to live together in the yard,” Nanny hurriedly replied. “So I sent out all the attendants who came together!”

It made sense, as the escort attendants were all men, and it was not appropriate to live with the young lady.

“Where’s Yuejiu?” Su Wenqian asked.

Nanny’s face froze, and she knelt down. “The Young Lady was already delicate, and she was sick as soon as she got to Shengjing,” she apologized. “These past few days have been so cold, we’ve had snow, and her illness is getting worse. She is lying in bed, so she didn’t come out to meet you. I have not taken good care of her, please punish me, my lord and madame!”

Surin stood up suddenly. “What did you say?” she exclaimed. “Yuejiu is ill? Is it serious? Bring me to see her!”

“Why did she suddenly fall sick?” Su Wenqian asked anxiously.

Nanny got up and said, “I’ll bring Second Mistress to see the Young Lady!”

Several people went out of the hall together, along the porch to the west room. Because it was a woman’s boudoir, Su Wenqian and the two brothers could not go in. Only Second Mistress followed Nanny into the room.

It was already dark, and there was only an oil lamp in the room. It was dark and unknown, and as soon as they went in, they smelled a strong smell of herbs and medicine.

“Yue’er?”

Surin exclaimed and walked quickly to the bed.

Opening the bed’s drapes, they saw a woman lying in shadows. Her face was covered with thick white gauze towels, her eyes half-closed. A weak voice called, “Mother!”

It seemed that she was going to get up, but upon moving at all she fell into a coughing fit.

“My child!” Surin sat by the bed, reached across the quilt to caress the woman’s chest, and said with heartache, “Lie down quickly, why is your illness so serious?”

Cough! Cough! Cough!

The lady on the bed coughed to the point where she was unable to speak.

“Go get a glass of water!” Surin ordered Nanny.

“Miss has just taken her medicine,” Nanny said. “The physician said not to drink water yet!”

“What happened to my child’s face?” Surin asked.

Su Jiu lay on the bed with only her eyes revealed. She faced inwards, and the light was dim. Surin only saw the gauze on the woman’s face.

“Second Mistress, Young Lady has been ill for nearly a month,” Nanny whispered. “The physician said it may be tuberculosis, so she is afraid of infecting others, thus the gauze towels.”

“What?” Surin looked up in dismay and her eyes widened. “Tuberculosis? It couldn’t be. My child was fine before. How could she get tuberculosis?”

Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!

The woman in bed coughed violently again, and the white gauze scarf was spotted with red stains as if the woman had coughed up blood.

Surin’s face turned pale and stood up a little away from the bed.

“Mistress, there is no need to worry so much, this is only the physician’s doubts. It has not been diagnosed!” Nanny comforted.

However, looking at the blood on Su Jiu’s scarf, Nanny’s words did not seem to be very convincing. Surin looked at the woman in bed with a complicated gaze, containing remorse, heartache, and pity. Her eyebrows were knitted together tightly, her expression dark.

Surin’s eyes turned towards her as she asked in a low voice, “Does Ji Manor know about Yue’er’s illness?”

“The Second Mistress of the Ji family came once, and the Young Lady was ill then. The Second Mistress just asked our Young Lady to take care of herself and get well soon,” Nanny replied truthfully.

Surin nodded. “Don’t tell anyone about her condition!”

“Yes, yes, I understand!”

“What about Chunhong?” Surin asked, “Why are you the only one serving Young Lady?”

Chunhong was Su Yuejiu’s favorite servant girl. Because of the long journey and inconveniences, she only brought Chunhong and Nanny to serve her when she left for Shengjing.

“To be honest with you, Second Mistress, this disease was spread by Chunhong to our Young Lady,” Nanny hurriedly said. “As soon as we came to Shengjing, I drove Chunhong out and bought a new servant girl who is now boiling water in the kitchen!”

“So it was that wretched girl! I had long wanted to get rid of her because she looked so sickly! I hurt Yue’er because of my soft-heartedness!” Surin said in a low voice as she began to cry.

“When the weather becomes warmer, our Young Lady’s illness will certainly get better. Oh, Second Mistress, don’t be too sad!” Nanny coaxed.

Surin cried a little longer and sobbed, “Don’t tell your lord about our daughter’s serious illness, lest he becomes sad, too. If you take good care of the young lady, things will go easier on you!”

“Yes, I will do my best, rest assured, Second Mistress!”

Surin nodded and went to bed, whispering, “Yue’er, take care, I will come to see you some other day!”

The woman squinted and reached out as if she wanted to pull Surin’s hand. Her arm had just risen and fell feebly back against the bed, leaving her laying panting for a while.

“Don’t worry Yue’er, your father and I are in Shengjing, we will find the best physician with the best medicine…we will certainly cure you!” Surin’s soft voice comforted her.

The woman on the bed nodded.

After two more words of comfort, Surin wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief and turned to the door.

Outside, Su Wenqian and the two sons have been a little impatient after waiting for this time. Seeing Surin come out, he immediately asked, “How is Yuejiu?” Surin smiled forcefully and replied, “It’s nothing, just infected with a cold, she’ll be fine after resting for a day or two!”

Su Wenqian relaxed visibly. “That’s good to hear!”

The big day of the wedding was fast approaching: hopefully, nothing would go wrong.

“Nanny, come here!” Surin called.

“Yes, Second Mistress!” Nanny bowed respectfully.

“The yard is small. Let’s go find an inn to stay in. I’ll leave Young Lady to you! Tell her that there is no need to worry about anything. It is up to me and my lord to take care of the matter of marriage so that she can recover from illness at ease!” Surin explained.

“Yes, I will tell Young Lady what you said!”

It was already dark, and the Su family had to go find an inn and left in a hurry.

Nanny sent them off and saw them get into the carriage and leave the alley before turning back. She closed the door tightly and walked quickly into the house.

Pushing the door, Su Jiu was sitting on the bed munching on melon seeds, the picture of energy, completely unlike her sickly act before.

“Are they gone?” Su Jiu looked up and asked.

Nanny heaved a sigh and patted her chest, “We passed the first round!”

The window was suddenly pushed open, and Chang Huan, wearing a dress came in. “Chief, the Su family is gone.” he said. “I’ll call Master An back.”

Su Jiu shook her head. “No, let the three of them stay in the tavern for a few days, lest the Su family come back.”

“She is right!” Nanny said. “Let’s wait until you are married!”