Chapter One: Seeking Medicine

  The snow had just stopped, and the pear garden was piled up with a thick layer of snow. The maidservants were rushing in and out with anxious faces, trampling on the snow and making crunching sounds.

  "Come on, hurry up, the second mistress is about to give birth, everyone must be careful, hot water should be prepared, and the midwife has arrived?" The housekeeper asked anxiously.

  "Not yet, someone has already been sent to invite him! Second Master will also be back soon."

  As the housekeeper's words came out, the atmosphere in the courtyard became even more tense, and the maid who was carrying hot water hurried forward with quick steps.

  Just then, a young girl with a thin cotton jacket, looking pale and wan, with two flat buns on her head, no more than ten years old, timidly approached the housekeeper: "Auntie Li, my...my mother is ill, can you help me invite a doctor...or...give some ephedra?"

  In the end, it was a voice that grew smaller and smaller, almost inaudible, with only those big watery eyes staring timidly at Mrs. Li.

  "Quickly go back, now the second wife is about to give birth, no one has time to bother with your affairs. If you delay things here, neither the first wife nor the madam will spare you."

  As soon as she finished speaking, she glanced over and saw a little maid accidentally drop the cotton cloth that Second Madam was going to use to wipe herself during childbirth.

  "Mom Li hurried forward: 'How can you be so careless, hurry up and go upstairs to fetch some more, don't delay, these are all things that will be used later.'"

  "We were already short-handed, and now this happens. We have to hurry up and borrow some people from other departments..."

  Li's mother turned around and left, without even looking at the girl who was standing still beside her.

  Before long, the midwife arrived and was hastily welcomed into the house. She didn't come out again until the delivery began, continuing to supervise from outside.

  When she saw the scene in the courtyard clearly, she was stunned for a moment. The girl who should have left was naturally following those maidservants back and forth to help with the replacement.

  When she came out, he froze for a moment, revealing an awkward and uneasy expression: "I... I just wanted to help..."

  Mrs. Li couldn't help but feel a pang in her eyes, this child was originally the legitimate daughter... If it weren't for the Zhong family getting entangled with that kind of lawsuit, it wouldn't have ended up like this...

  In the end, it was Master Liu who was heartless, doting on Madame Liu and seeing the Zhong family decline, he actually promoted Madame Liu to be a grandmother, not even caring about his own biological daughter. This good eldest daughter became an existence that no one cared about, with an awkward identity.

  Mrs. Li sighed and finally called out to Liu Rong, "Rong, you're a sensible child, I couldn't help you invite the doctor, but I remember you said earlier that some Ephedra would also work, right?"

  Liu Rong hastily nodded, her small face looking up, full of expectation.

  Mrs. Li's heart ached again, and she quickly turned her head to instruct the second-class maid beside her: "Xiao Cui, take Rong'er to my room and get some medicine I prepared for my husband. I remember there's Ephedra in it."

  After a slight hesitation, he added: "There are also some tonic medicines inside, you can also take some for Rong sister."

  Xiao Cui's eyebrows furrowed: "If this gets out and Big Madam finds out, it'll be..."

  "It's nothing, Master Da is currently worried about Ninth Miss's selection of a husband and has no time to bother with the Second House."

  Rong Jie hurriedly nodded gratefully to Li Mama, until Li Mama turned around and continued to be busy, then followed Cui Er to the wing room where the maids lived.

  Although they walked further and further away, Cui'er's footsteps became slower and slower. Rong jie's eyebrows furrowed slightly, but she continued to follow quietly.

  When they finally reached a secluded spot, Cui'er stopped and looked at Liu Rong with disgust: "Rong Jie, let me say something unpleasant. Please don't go to the second house again in the future. Not only will it cause discord between the two houses, but it will also make it difficult for Li Mama to do her job."

  "Nowadays, who in this mansion doesn't know that the old lady dotes on Liu Dàniáng? You yourself are also aware of it. Because your mother is here, she has humbled herself and allowed her own granddaughter to be a concubine for many years. Even if you don't consider the second house and Li Māma, please don't harm us servants anymore!" Cuìér's words became increasingly sharp, and the disgust on her face was no longer concealed.

  Still thinking of herself as the legitimate daughter, but actually just an awkward concubine-born daughter. And who knows if she's causing trouble, Li Mama is also like this, doing things in such a way that if Rong Jie'er were to blame her, and then offend the Grand Madame, would they still be able to stay in the Hou Mansion? It seems she needs to quickly think of a solution to distance herself, lest she get implicated later on.

  "I understand, this is the last time."

  Just as Cui'er was thinking about it, she heard Rong Jie, who had been silent all along, speak up seriously.

  Cui'er couldn't help but lower her head, and met the previous pair of eyes that were slightly mocking yet sparkling bright. Under this gaze, she felt as if she had been seen through, and involuntarily turned away with a guilty conscience. For a moment, even Liu Rong's tone was exceptionally calm, and it wasn't until then that they realized they hadn't noticed the change in her demeanor.

  Cui'er was taken aback after turning her head, what's wrong with her, she was actually left at a loss by the gaze of a timid and cowardly concubine-born daughter. But how could Rong sister possibly have such a gaze!

  Cui'er hastily looked at Rong Jie again, and saw that her almond-shaped eyes were still weak, without the sharpness of a moment ago. It turned out to be a mistake, if San Gu Niang wasn't raised by Dà Nǎi Niáng and had a similar gentle temperament, Liu Yí Niáng wouldn't have been so easily lifted up.

  Thinking of this, Cui'er became even more disdainful of the third young lady in front of her and didn't say anything else, leading Liu Rong to continue walking forward.

  Looking at Cui'er's back, Liu Rong's beautiful eyebrows furrowed.

  It's really a case of everyone pushing when the wall falls. If it were still Madame Zhong, who would dare to treat her like this? However, although Cui'er is annoying, some things she says are reasonable. After all, Li Mama is just a housekeeper, and if she gets involved just because she's kind and wants to help, that wouldn't be good. It seems we need to think of another way to get the medicine!

  She had only been in this world for a few days, and even with her medical skills, or rather, her surgical skills, they were of little use in a world where even basic sanitation and defense were lacking.

  Who dares to let a surgeon operate in this era?

  She can't even use her own abilities to help the mother who is seriously ill for her sake. In the end, she had to rely on traditional Chinese medicine that she didn't pay much attention to in daily life to treat her ailing mother.

  Still pretending to be stupid and taking medicine!

  It seems that even this can't continue now.

  She was worried that others would notice the flaws, and she didn't dare to ask about many things in detail. She couldn't find a better way. And her mother, who truly cared for her, had caught a cold when her body was slightly better, and with a weak body, she could only lie in bed, and she also didn't want to let the other person worry again.

  But even so, I still learned some things from other people's gossip.

  Her mother, Zhong Shi, was the legitimate wife of Liu Fu's grandfather, but because her natal family participated in a struggle for the throne and lost, leading to their downfall and extinction, the Liu family abandoned Zhong Shi to avoid being implicated, and instead elevated the original concubine, Liu Niangniang, who was also the paternal grandmother's niece, as the new legitimate wife.

  Without the support of her natal family, her husband's family treated her like a snake and scorpion, so Zhong Shi's days were extremely difficult. The roof leaked on a rainy night, and this body had fallen into the lotus pond for some unknown reason a few days ago. On this cold day, she almost lost her life, but fortunately, there was a house servant passing by who rescued her.

  It was like that, and it took three days and three nights to wake up. Only outsiders don't know that the owner of this body has long been gone, and now it's just a phoenix occupying a magpie's nest.

  It's ridiculous that she fell into the water and didn't even bother to rescue her properly, but instead shifted the blame for her falling into the water onto Zhong Shi, and had Zhong Shi and her, who was on her last breath, moved out of the beautiful Mei Garden together, forcing them to move to a remote house not far from the woodshed.

  The person who did this is so vicious, it's clear they want her dead.

  Luckily, there was Zhong Shi around. If it weren't for Zhong Shi guarding her day and night without leaving her side, she probably wouldn't have made it to this point either. Now that she's awake, however, Zhong Shi has collapsed from exhaustion.

  A mother's love is like that, even if it wasn't for her, the one who benefited was still her, she had to cure this body of hers no matter what.

  The more she compared, the more she couldn't help but grit her teeth at those ruthless people. And even more so towards the master of this mansion, whom she had never seen before and referred to as her father, with extreme disgust.

  "This is Ephedra, hurry up and take it back." Cui'er took the medicine, her face cold and hard, not mentioning at all what Li's mother said, nor did she mention the tonic that was supposed to be given to her.

  Liu Rong's faintly discernible frown was imperceptible, but the corner of her eye caught a glimpse of Cui'er holding a medicine package behind her back.

  "Hurry back, isn't Mahuang going to want it either?" Cuier saw Liu Rong looking behind her and frowned.

  Liu Rong silently took over the Ephedra, just as a hint of a smile appeared on Cui Er's mouth. However, she suddenly lifted her head and gave Cui Er a sweet smile, innocently pointing at the medicine package that was peeking out from beside Cui Er: "Li Mama is so nice, Second Madam doesn't have enough people around her, and she's worried I'm too small to carry the medicine, so she let Cui Er sister help me carry it."

  "What did you say?"

  Liu Rong completely ignored Cui Er's words, and with a serious expression, continued in a childish tone: "I can't be so disobedient, I'll go back with Sister Cui Er and help Li Mama."

  As she spoke, she picked up her things and headed in the direction she came from. Cui'er was taken aback for a moment, then shocked. If Li Mama found out that she had been holding back on the medicine, this would be disastrous. She quickly caught up to Liu Rong.

  "Your mother doesn't need your help, she has her own maids to assist her."

  "No, Li Mama has been so good to me and even let you, Cui Er, help me carry the medicine and send me back. How can I just leave? I must go and help Li Mama with her troubles." She said, disregarding Cui Er's attempts to stop her, and continued walking forward.

  Cui'er saw that she couldn't stop Liu Rong, and the composure on her face finally couldn't hold up. She hastily stuffed the medicine package in Liu Rong's hand: "Zhong Yiniang is ill after all, her body is heavy, and she needs someone to take care of her. You should take the medicine and hurry back to take care of her first. I'll be with Li Mama, so I won't see you off personally."

  Liu Rong's mouth slightly curved up: "How can this be good, the second madam is about to give birth, it's a busy time, and Li Mama will probably be too busy to handle it alone."

  "I'll go back and help, it's getting busy, you hurry back too." With that said, without waiting for Liu Rong to continue speaking, he quickly turned around and walked back hastily, as if a big bug was chasing after him.

  "Then thank you, Sister Cui. I'll also trouble you to help me thank Li Mama."

  Cui'er quickened her pace with a smile on her face, carrying the medicine back with satisfaction as she heard her own voice echoing in the distance.

  But as the two of them left, a young man in white brocade clothes with a five-clawed golden dragon jade pendant on his waist suddenly walked out from behind the plum tree. He was seen looking at the direction where Liu Rong had left with a playful expression on his face.