Chapter Thirty-Three: Winter's Sneaky Behavior

  There are three natural antibiotics, namely dandelion, honeysuckle and purple flower earthworm. However, it's already gone for this season, so Liu Rong wrote down the other two to Liu Lao, asking him to boil them into a soup for Dong Huwei to drink three times a day. After finishing this task, she carefully instructed Liu Lao again: "If the medicine doesn't work after two days, you must think of a way to get me out of the Wendinghou Mansion so that I can perform surgery on Dong Huwei."

  "Also, it is forbidden to touch Dong Huo Wei's wound with water again. Even if the wound festers and discharges water, try to wipe it clean with strong liquor as much as possible, otherwise the wound will become more severe."

  After saying all this, Liu Rong finally left the residence of Shangguan Yu, and when she returned to the residence of Wending Hou, it was already late afternoon. Liu Rong first went to pay her respects to Madame, and after making up a bunch of nonsense to cover up what had happened in the afternoon, she returned to her living quarters.

  As soon as she returned home, Dong'er saw her pacing back and forth anxiously, occasionally looking outside. When she saw Liu Rong, she quickly came forward with concern and asked: "Miss, you're back, what about the situation at Ying Tian Fu? Has the government taken any disciplinary action against you?"

  "What? You actually wish something would happen to our young mistress?" Liu Rong teased.

  Then he saw Dong Er stamping her little foot and explaining, but in the end it was all unclear, and she almost cried out of anxiety.

  Liu Rong couldn't help but shake her head and laugh: "Alright, I was just teasing you, it's nothing serious, so don't worry."

  "You think, Second Aunt has nothing to do with it, the government can't possibly punish me, it's just that some things need to be inquired about, and after that, the people from Tianfu won't come looking for me again because of this matter, everything is already settled." Liu Rong said to comfort Dong'er at the end, so as not to worry Dong'er and affect Zhong Shi, making her worried too.

  Thinking of Zhong's family, Liu Rong hurriedly looked at Dong Er: "After I left, did anything else happen in the mansion? You didn't tell my mother about the incident where Ying Tian Fu summoned me for questioning, did you?"

  "No, I know you're worried about your aunt. How could we possibly tell her such a thing? It's just that when you left, you didn't even tell me, and this afternoon I've been on tenterhooks. And with the death of a young servant in the outer courtyard today, I'm even more frightened."

  Dong Er's face was full of terror, speaking with a hesitant tone, as if there was something difficult to say, wanting to tell Liu Rong but feeling it wasn't right to say, and wanting to hide it instead.

  "Is the young fellow dead?"

  Unfortunately, Liu Rong's mind was already somewhat distracted and didn't notice Dong Er's subtle expression, he just asked while quickly walking into the house.

  "Yes, it's said that the little servant who went to report the case at the yamen last time accidentally fell into a well and drowned. It's really a case of evil people getting their due retribution." Dong Er chattered on.

  Liu Rong felt a chill in her heart, thought for a moment and instructed Dong Er to be more careful when she was not around. She then climbed onto the small kang, leaning against the wall by the window. As soon as she came into contact with the temperature of the kang, she couldn't help but furrow her brow.

  In the past, there would be a fire burning under the small kang, which was somewhat warm. This time, however, it was strangely cold, without even a hint of warmth. As soon as Liu Rong sat down, she felt a chill run through her entire body, and it was even colder than her usual bed.

  Is it that the firewood and charcoal stored in the house are not enough? The mansion originally gave very little, I'm afraid Winter saw that she was not at home and worried that there would not be enough for later use, so he saved without burning and did not speak out about this.

  "Is there anything else besides this matter?" Liu Rong sat for a while, feeling more comfortable all over her body, and the initial fatigue was slightly alleviated. She then asked Dong'er, who was standing beside her, to continue.

  Dong Er's personality is very careless, and if you don't ask carefully, he will sometimes forget some things.

  Dong Er was stunned for a moment, then looked at Liu Rong and saw that her face was normal, just a bit tired. She was still talking while yawning, before responding in a low voice: "Nothing... nothing happened. It's just that after Chang Gu Gu's class ended, Liu Ya ran here and stayed for some time, waiting for you to give Miss a gift. But Miss didn't come back, so Liu Ya waited for a whole hour before having her wet nurse take her away."

  Liu Rong looked at Dong Er in doubt: "You said Liu Jie came?"

  "Yes." Dong Er said while pouring a cup of tea for Liu Rong, "Liu Jie seemed to be eagerly waiting for your return, but unfortunately, the wet nurse kept urging her, and in the end, she reluctantly left."

  Liu Rong took the tea from Dong Er and drank a mouthful, feeling much more comfortable before instructing: "I'll take a rest for a while, you go to Liu Jie's place and report back. Also, go to my mother's side and ask after her well-being, just say that I'm busy with my studies today and won't be going over."

  Liu Rong couldn't help but let out a yawn: "Hurry up and prepare the washing facilities for me, I'm exhausted, I've been busy all day without any rest time, this group of people really don't know how to take care of their doctor..."

  In the end, the voice became softer and softer, Dong Er couldn't hear what Liu Rong was muttering about anymore, and she fell asleep in a blink of an eye.

  Dong Er hastily covered Liu Rong with a quilt and wiped his face before leaving.

  Liu Rong woke up from her frozen sleep, for the first time finding that ancient winter nights were so hard to bear. However, after sleeping for so long, she had also recovered a bit, thinking of the way to tell time she learned here, confirming it was already 5 am, and leaving for Chang's class would be just an hour later, so she called out towards the outside: "Dong Er, prepare my washing things, I'm up."

  Outside was quiet and still.

  Liu Rong furrowed her brow, got down from the bed, put on a thick coat and went out. As soon as she saw that the bed in the outer room was empty, with no sign of Dong Er anywhere.

  Liu Rong's eyebrows furrowed tightly, and she suddenly heard the rustling sound outside, so she put on her shoes and ran quickly to the outside.

  The Hou Mansion, in order to save money, had already stopped lighting the main courtyard at night, let alone the side courtyards. When walking outside, only a sliver of moonlight illuminated the way. Suddenly, Liu Rong carefully placed something from her bosom against the wall, and later, still uneasy, hid it under the table.

  Finally, everything was ready, and with a satisfied pat on the small hand, the clothes were also patted, smiling and turning around, but upon seeing Liu Rong standing at the door, she froze: "Miss... Miss, how did you get up so early?"

  "Don't get up so early, how can you find out that you went out to fetch things back so early?" Liu Rong frowned and asked Dong Er: "What is this thing?"

  "No, nothing!" Dong Er replied hastily.

  Liu Rong walked angrily to the corner of the wall, about to lower her head, but was stopped by Dong Er. Liu Rong pushed Dong Er away and looked closely, only to find that it was charcoal leaning against the wall!

  "What's going on, I may not have a good memory, but I remember that the charcoal we received this month was less, but it shouldn't be finished yet? Why did you go out and bring back charcoal so early?" Liu Rong looked at Dong Er and asked quickly.

  Dong Er was fidgeting with her own hem, as if she had done something terribly wrong, and didn't dare to speak to Liu Rong.

  Liu Rong's face tensed up: "What exactly happened? You even kept it from me, don't you want to continue being with me?"

  Liu Rong's serious face and severe voice made Dong Er tremble, her eyes reddening as she finally couldn't hold back tears: "Miss, don't scold Dong Er, Dong Er knows she's the stupidest maid in the manor, Dong Er shouldn't have received Cui Er when Miss wasn't around, and was asked by Cui Er where the monthly allowance was placed, didn't think much and replied to Cui Er..."

  "As a result... As a result, Qiao'er said that the government has been tight recently, and brought over a strong and sturdy old mother. Then, they took away all the things that had not been used up yet!"