The Humble Family’s Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket!
Chapter 716 - 644, Critically Ill_1

Chapter 716: Chapter 644, Critically Ill_1

After the Dong Family left, Daohua’s spirits were low for several days, and afterward, she followed Madam Li every day, reviewing and calculating the accounts in addition to preparing for the end-of-year gift exchanges.

Once the accounts were settled and seeing the Yan Family’s wealth grow thicker, Madam Li’s smile deepened, "Before, when I found out that your father took over as the Magistrate of Ningmen Prefecture, I was rather reluctant."

"Ningmen Prefecture is vast with a sparse population, and most of the counties under its jurisdiction have barren land and impoverished people, making it difficult to manage. But now that I think about it, coming here really is the most suitable for our family."

Being sparsely populated, they could acquire more manors and farmland.

What might not be cost-effective for other families was almost certain to be profitable for theirs, as they possessed high-yield grain varieties.

Thinking of the origins of those grain varieties, Madam Li looked at Daohua with affection, "The old lady was right, a daughter is indeed a blessing to the family."

Seeing Madam Li staring at her, Daohua asked with a smile, "Mother, why are you looking at your daughter like that?"

Madam Li smiled and patted the account book on the table, "With the family’s current assets, I can now prepare a decent dowry for you."

The smile on Daohua’s face faltered.

Having witnessed her third brother and Jingwan being forced to part, and then seeing Yuanyao and Sun Changze elope, she deeply understood that in these rigorously traditional ancient times, free love was not tolerated by society.

It was their own lifelong affair, yet they didn’t have a say in it.

Xiao Yeyang... he wore even more and heavier shackles. Could there be a future for her and him?

The daily bustle made time fly, and before they knew it, it was New Year’s Eve.

Early in the morning, everyone in the Yan Family gathered in Old Madam Yan’s courtyard for breakfast.

Right after breakfast, while everyone was chatting merrily, Wang Manman hurriedly approached Daohua and said in a low voice, "Miss, Dongli has come."

At those words, Daohua was momentarily stunned. Why would Dongli come to find her at this time? Worried that her master and mother-in-law might be in trouble, she quickly excused herself from Madam Li and left the house.

Soon, she met Dongli at the Chuihua Gate.

Upon seeing Daohua, Dongli immediately said anxiously, "Miss, the old madam’s chronic ailment has relapsed."

Daohua’s expression darkened, "What happened? The mother-in-law was perfectly fine when I went to deliver the New Year’s gifts a few days ago."

Dongli hesitated for a moment before saying, "Just the day before yesterday, the Little Prince came to Taohua Temple and took the old master away. After that, the old madam fell ill."

Daohua looked surprised, "Master and Xiao Yeyang left? Where did they go?"

Dongli hung her head in silence.

Daohua frowned, "If the master has left, then who is taking care of the mother-in-law now?"

Dongli quickly said, "Caiju is taking care of her."

Daohua pondered for a moment, "Wait here; I’ll speak to my family, and then I’ll go with you to Taohua Village."

Hearing that Old Madam Gu was ill and Gu Jian had gone out, Madam Li didn’t stop Daohua, telling her to hurry over and take care of her.

...

Taohua Temple.

When Daohua arrived, Old Madam Gu was lying in bed with a high fever, and Caiju was so anxious she was almost crying. Seeing Daohua, she appeared as if she had seen her savior.

"Mother-in-law!"

Daohua leaned over the bedside and softly called, but Old Madam Gu was already delirious with fever, mumbling incoherently.

Seeing this, Daohua quickly worked to cool her down and then prepared a prescription to reduce the fever, asking Caiju to brew the medicine.

After bustling about for most of the day, Old Madam Gu’s fever finally subsided.

Daohua breathed a sigh of relief, then went to the pharmacy, found the prescription Gu Jian had previously used to treat the old illness, and followed it to prepare the medicine.

After drinking the medicine, Old Madam Gu finally settled into a stable sleep.

By this time, the moon was already high in the sky.

Daohua asked Wang Manman to stay and watch over Old Madam Gu in the room, then she went to the main house to see Caiju and Dongli.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Caiju and Dongli looked at each other, and it was Caiju who opened up, "Miss, we really don’t know. The Little Prince came in a rush the day before yesterday, and whatever he said to the old master, we didn’t hear a thing."

Daohua frowned deeply at them, observing for a long while, but she couldn’t discern anything from their faces. Finally, she asked, "Since it was Xiao Yeyang who took the master away, there probably wouldn’t be any trouble. Why then did the mother-in-law’s old illness recur? And why did it become so serious all of a sudden?"

Caiju and Dongli immediately knelt down and kowtowed, "It’s our fault for not taking good care of the old madam. Please punish us, Miss."

Watching them knock their heads in a ’thud, thud, thud,’ faces filled with guilt and self-blame, Daohua narrowed her eyes, always feeling that they were keeping something from her. But since both clenched their teeth and said nothing, she was helpless and could only return to her room to care for Granny Gu.

Early the next morning, which was the first day of the Lunar New Year, Daohua had Wang Manman go back to the Huining Sect to inquire about the situation.

By evening, Wang Manman had returned.

"Miss, Deshou said the Little Prince is back in Beijing, but no matter how I pressed him, he wouldn’t say a word more."

Daohua’s brows knit together in thought, "Back in Beijing?" And he took Master with him.

The only help Xiao Yeyang could have offered with his presence was his medical skills. Could it be that he had been taken to Beijing to treat someone?

But if that were the case, why would Granny be so anxious that her old ailments flared up again?

Clearly, Granny’s illness this time was brought on by excessive worry.

With too little information at hand, Daohua could not figure it out and focused wholeheartedly on caring for Granny Gu.

However, Granny Gu’s illness kept recurring no matter how Daohua tried to comfort her; within just half a month, she had lost a great deal of weight.

Seeing Granny Gu looking so weak and frail, Daohua was extremely anxious. She feared that if things continued this way, Granny might not hold on until Master could return.

"Manman, go back to the Huining Sect once more, have Deshou send a message to Xiao Yeyang, tell him Granny is ill and have him hurry back with Master."

Wang Manman hurried off urgently.

Caiju and Dongli saw this and silently went about their own tasks, saying nothing. In truth, they had sent word to Beijing the moment Granny Gu had fallen ill.

It had been half a month since the old master and the Little Prince had not returned; it must be that the Emperor’s condition was very critical.

This time Wang Manman brought back explosive news from her trip to the Huining Sect for Daohua.

"The Eighth Prince plotted a rebellion; during the time the Emperor went to the Imperial Mausoleum for ancestral worship, he sent assassins to attempt on the Emperor’s life."

Daohua’s face showed shock as she asked urgently, "Is the Emperor alright? And what about the Eighth Prince, was he captured?"

Wang Manman replied, "The Eighth Prince escaped, and it seems like the Emperor was injured."

Daohua’s brows furrowed as she pondered.

Xiao Yeyang must have left in a hurry with Master to go to Beijing to rescue the Emperor.

Realizing this, Daohua’s frown deepened; saving the Emperor would undoubtedly take time, which meant Master could not return quickly.

"Xiaowu..."

As Daohua was feeding Granny Gu her medicine, she once again heard the latter murmur indistinctly.

But this time, she finally understood clearly.

Xiaowu?

Master Wu?

Was Granny worried about Master Wu?

"Cough, cough~"

Granny Gu suddenly began to cough violently.

Daohua quickly patted her back, helping her to catch her breath.

"Puh~"

Suddenly, Granny Gu coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.

Caiju saw this, and the medicine bowl in her hand dropped to the floor with a ’clang.’

Daohua too was startled by Granny Gu coughing up blood. While wiping off the blood, she quickly made up a lie on the spot, "Granny, Xiao Yeyang just sent me a letter, saying that Master Wu is okay, and that Master and he will be able to come back in a few days."

Indeed, upon hearing this, Granny Gu’s dim eyes suddenly lit up, and her breathing became less difficult. Her dry hands clung tightly to Daohua, "Really?"

Seeing the eagerness and hope in Granny Gu’s eyes, Daohua swallowed hard and then nodded affirmatively, "Really." As she spoke, she supported Granny to rest on her shoulder, quickly had Wang Manman bring some clear water for her to rinse her mouth, and then quickly spooned up some medicine and brought it to her lips.

"Granny, Master will be back soon. You can’t let him see you’re ill, or he’ll surely worry again. Let’s drink up the medicine quickly."

Granny Gu managed a faint smile and nodded her head.

After hearing the lie told by Daohua, Granny Gu’s spirits improved a lot. However, every night, she would have severe coughing fits, and with each fit, she would cough up blood.

This scene weighed heavily on Daohua, as well as on Caiju and Dongli.