Under the moonlight shining through the window gap, Su Mi looked towards the woman beside her. She saw that the woman’s face was flushed, and she was murmuring something with her eyes closed. The back of her hand was pressed against her forehead, and it was burning hot. Looking down, Su Mi also noticed red spots on her neck and chest. It was somewhat eerie to see in the darkness.
Su Mi quickly got out of bed and put on her coat. She remembered those red spots, as she had them before as a child in Jiaozhou. They were called “water blisters” by the locals.
At first, the people in the room grumbled at Su Mi for suddenly lighting a candle. But as they followed her gaze to the woman in the innermost part of the room, who was sweating profusely and constantly scratching at the red spots on her neck, they were frightened and recoiled towards the door.
In such a critical moment, even a common cold could get someone sent back home. Besides, Su Mi couldn’t be sure if it was really “water blisters.”
No one dared to approach the sick woman. Su Mi wasn’t as timid, but she didn’t want to approach recklessly either, especially since she couldn’t be sure if it was really “water blisters”.
The women in the room were wailing and crying, and the sick woman on the bed seemed to be in great pain. She struggled as if she wanted to get up, which drew frightened cries from the women by the door.
“Yu’er, come with me to the next room and find Cao Gonggong. Let the official doctor who’s travelling with us take a look.” Su Mi suggested as this stalemate couldn’t continue, and it was clear that the sick woman was in great distress. One life was at stake, and they couldn’t just leave her alone.
“Okay, Sister Su, I’ll go with you.” Zhang Yue’er looked sympathetically at the beautiful woman on the bunk.
Shortly after, Su Mi and Zhang Yue’er brought Cao Gonggong and Chen Gonggong, along with a doctor carrying a medicine box. The doctor covered his nose and mouth with a white cloth and walked alone towards the bunk.
“How is it? What kind of illness is it?” Cao Gonggong asked anxiously. When Su Mi mentioned that a candidate was sick, he became worried. If it was an epidemic…
“Cao Gonggong, I’ve examined her, and she has symptoms of water blister disease. It’s a mild wind-heat disease that affects the defensive and qi systems but doesn’t harm the essence or blood too much. With proper care, it won’t affect her fundamentally. However, if we want to reduce her fever, it will take a few days,” the doctor said cautiously, peering at the candidate’s collar through a white cloth and turning to the onlookers who were standing far away.
“It’s not an epidemic; that’s good.” Cao Gonggong breathed a sigh of relief.
“However, this disease is also prone to spreading, so I ask Cao Gonggong to arrange for this beautiful woman to be separated from the others.”
“Okay, let’s send her back.” Cao Gonggong turned to Chen Gonggong and said, “Chen En, we will apologise to the prison warden when we arrive at the Yingtian Government Office.”
“Okay.” Visit g.com for the full chapter.
As soon as this was said, all the beautiful women present understood that she would be sent back. Su Zhen also realized this and immediately put on a concerned expression, asking Su Mi in a low voice,
“Sister, did you sleep with her and touch her?” “The symptoms of this disease are not immediately apparent; what should we do?”
Others heard this and quickly moved away from Su Mi.
Su Mi coldly glanced at Su Zhen and said, “I did not touch her rash, and I had it when I was a child. The doctor said that once you have it, you won’t get it again.”
The accompanying doctor nodded and looked at Su Mi in agreement. “She is right. Generally speaking, once you have had a water blister, you won’t get it again. Also, I can see that this young lady’s complexion is rosy, and there is no sign of sweating, which indicates that she has not contracted the disease.”
“Can you guarantee that?” a bold young lady asked.
“How can I guarantee that? What if she didn’t have a water blister before and I didn’t see it?” The doctor frowned. He couldn’t make a rash promise, especially since the symptoms of this disease were difficult to diagnose at first.
After hearing the doctor’s words, the women were not willing to share a room or a carriage with Su Mi anymore, except for Zhang Yue’er, who believed in Su Mi. However, she alone couldn’t do much.
It was almost dawn after all the fuss, and they couldn’t stay overnight anymore, but what about the more than ten people inside the mule cart?
“Cao gonggong, I don’t want to ride with her anyway!” said the woman who spoke, while glancing at Su Mi.
Cao gonggong and Chen gonggong looked at Su Mi. If only one young lady had contracted the disease and was sent back, that would be one thing. But if they all got sick, how could they explain it?
Although they didn’t think Su Mi looked like she had the disease, they still had to be extremely careful about the young ladies. These young ladies would become imperial concubines in the future, and the inner court would have to interact with them. How could they not take care of their feelings at this time?
There are extra carriages at the post station, but there are no drivers available. The drivers of the mule carts are all government officials, and they cannot allow a court lady to casually ride with just any countryside driver. If anything were to happen, they would not be able to take responsibility.
Cao Gonggong’s eyelids drooped, and he led Chen Gonggong to the wooden corridor outside the door. “The chief’s carriage is also outside. I suggest we ask him to make the decision.”
Chen Gonggong had worked with Qin Yan before and frowned. “But …if we bother the Chief with such a matter, what if he blames us?”
Cao Gonggong gave Chen Gonggong a white eye and poked his chest with a finger. “Then what’s your solution? Besides, on that afternoon, the chief personally examined Su Mi’s body. Can we not tell him about Su Mi’s situation?”
“Really? Okay, I’ll go ask Feng Bao then.”
Before the dawn, Su Mi sat alone in the room while the other candidates crowded into another room, as if she were a monster or a flood. Even though she didn’t have a fever or a rash, how could they all believe Su Zhen’s instigation so easily? How was she going to go to the capital later? What if even Cao Gonggong didn’t believe her and sent her back?
A knocking sound interrupted Su Mi’s thoughts.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“It’s me, Feng Bao, the little palace eunuch by the side of the lord.”
Su Mi opened the door and said, “Hello, little palace eunuch. Is there something you need?”
Feng Bao smiled and said, “Our lord requests that Miss Su ride in our carriage to the capital.”