Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 42: The Slave's Violence
Unexpectedly, Qu Hongxiu had a high fever at this time. Jia Cong pushed her and said, "You have a fever. Maybe your wound is inflamed. Let me see your wound."

Qu Hongxiu opened his eyes with some difficulty: "What is inflammation?"

Jia Cong explained: "The wound is corrupt and festering."

Qu Hongxiu nodded weakly, and Jia Cong helped her take off half of the clothes on her left shoulder. Seeing that the knife wound was not red, swollen or festered, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed that the black medicine was very effective.

There were no antibiotics in that era, so if the wound became inflamed and festered, whether you could survive would depend on fate.

Qu Hongxiu said, "Don't worry, it's not a fever caused by the knife wound. I was exhausted yesterday and rode in the wind all night, so I caught a cold."

Seeing her like this, Jia Cong naturally couldn't just leave.

He took down the iron incense burner from the altar in the temple, found a nearby unfrozen stream, cleaned the incense burner, and boiled hot water in the temple.

She took some accumulated snow and put it on Qu Hongxiu's forehead, and rubbed her palms and soles with it.

These past few days, Qu Hongxiu has been taking off her clothes to let Jia Cong apply medicine on her. Although it was a last resort, it was also a very private act.

She would never forget the life-and-death ordeal last night when Jia Cong, in order to help her distract her opponent, chopped with a long sword with a pale face.

Although it was a little scary, that resolute look was engraved in her heart like a knife or an axe. A young boy who seemed to be powerless became her greatest support at the critical moment of life and death.

She grew up in a hidden sect and had been living in hiding ever since she was old enough to understand. She had witnessed many life-and-death struggles and cold-blooded cruelty.

Wu Jinrong informed on the matter, and Zhou Junxing launched an attack, taking away her last few relatives in the world.

So, with the determination to die, she sneaked into Shuyun Villa to assassinate Wu Jinrong. To her, this world was sad and cruel.

Unexpectedly, I met Jia Cong unexpectedly, and even more unexpectedly, so many unexpected things happened in just a few days.

It was like a ray of gentle light suddenly leaked in from the enclosed darkness.

Now she was like a piece of hard, cold ice, which was gradually melted by the strange things that were sprouting in her heart.

In front of Jia Cong, all her defenses were unconsciously dispersed, just like when Jia Cong wanted to see her wound just now, she didn't even find it abrupt, and even she herself didn't notice anything unusual.

Although she is a woman of the world and not as reserved as the daughters of wealthy families, a girl's feet are the most private part of her body and will hardly ever be touched by anyone in her life.

Now that Jia Cong was holding her feet in his hands and rubbing and rubbing them, her heart softened. She retracted her feet with a look of anger on her face, and ignored Jia Cong no matter how he explained.

Fortunately, applying ice to the forehead and palms can also have a good physical cooling effect, so Jia Cong no longer insisted.

Qu Hongxiu was also asked to drink boiled hot water regularly to replenish water in time. After a whole day of this, her body temperature actually dropped. It might be because she was a martial artist and had a strong foundation.

……

Four days had passed since Jia Cong was kidnapped. Zhang Shouan of Zhen'an Prefecture received a letter from Jia Zheng, the deputy director of the Ministry of Works. Not daring to delay, he sent a number of yamen runners to search for Jia Cong outside the west city.

Although Jia Zheng's official position was not high, the Jia family was one of the four kings and eight dukes, and their background was quite prominent. Moreover, Jia Cong was kidnapped by thieves on his way back from the Nanxi Literary Meeting.

As the news spread, many unusual people came to Zhen'an Prefecture, all wanting to inquire about Jia Cong's disappearance.

First, Prince Jiashun specially sent the guard commander Liu Xiangyong to come and told him that if Zhen'an Prefecture found Jia Cong's whereabouts and was short of manpower, they could inform him at any time and he would do his best to assist. There was also a young Taoist priest holding a disciple's letter from Zhang Tianshi of the Zhengyi Sect who came to ask about Jia Cong's disappearance and asked Zhen'an Prefecture to find him and inform Xuantian Temple in the east of the city.

Zhang Tianshi, the leader of Taoism in the world, is a figure more noble than a king, so naturally he deserves such a grand ceremony.

However, even a sixth-rank official from the Ministry of Rites came to inquire about the matter, which made Zhang Shouan a little confused. What did the disappearance of a Jia family man have to do with the Ministry of Rites?

Upon inquiry, it was found that the current Sikong of the Ministry of Rites was an old subordinate of Emperor Wenzong Liu Yanxiu, and this person in charge was ordered by his superior to inquire about the news.

Yesterday, Zhou Junxing from Liantui Academy sent someone to inquire about this matter.

This made Zhang Shouan a little shocked. How could this Jia Cong, a member of the Jia family, have such a powerful background that he attracted so many important figures in Shenjing City to come and inquire about him?

Under such circumstances, he naturally did not dare to be negligent. He sent out all the troops that Zhen'an Prefecture could mobilize to look for people, and even pulled out a lot of white-collar workers who were patrolling the streets.

But in the end, he got nothing. These bigwigs from all sides sent people to ask him every day, which made him so worried that his beard was pulled out many times.

……

After Jia Cong was kidnapped, there has been no news since then. Jia Zheng, Tanchun, Yingchun, Daiyu and others in the Jia family were still holding out some hope, but in the end they were almost in despair.

After waiting for several days without any news, Jia She and Lady Xing concluded that the illegitimate bastard would not come back. Jia She felt a little sad, but after a few drinks with his concubine, he forgot about it.

After sobering up, he told Mrs. Xing that the room was in need of a smart person to serve. Now Zhishao in Jia Cong's room was idle, so she should be sent here early. Should a maid be kept as a deputy lady in vain?

Although Mrs. Xing felt disgusted after hearing this, she did not dare to go against the old pervert. In the end she would suffer the consequences. There were many women he had brought into the room, not just one more.

But she would not do this personally. Last time she went to lobby Zhishao, it didn't work out and she felt embarrassed.

Even though she was a maidservant of a bastard, she was naturally lower in status than the other maidservants and was not worthy of his efforts. He only needed Wang Shanbao to do the work.

Wang Shanbao knew that the master was attracted to Zhishao before Madam Xing, and he knew that this would happen.

Now that she has received Madam Xing's order, she has a legitimate reason to do so. As long as she can persuade Zhishao, she can not only satisfy the master's wish, but also take care of the madam's affairs. By pleasing both sides, she will benefit from it.

In the past two days, she went to the storehouse twice. Every time, she saw Zhishao looking silly, with her head down cleaning the furniture in the room. In just a few days, she had become extremely thin.

Wang Shanbao's wife said a lot of nice things with her clever mouth, but Zhishao was cold and didn't say a word in reply, just treating the other person as air.

Although Wang Shanbao was angry, she could not help but refrain from saying anything harsh. This damn girl was going to enter the master's room. If she pleased the master, she might be promoted to concubine.

That would be a big deal for her. Besides, she is younger and prettier than the Madam. If she is favored by the Master, it would be even more extraordinary.

She has been in the inner palace all her life, so she has some good eyesight. I wanted to hone her skills slowly a few times. The young girl has seen a lot of the world, and I can always make her fall in love with him.

Unexpectedly, he met Jia She in the yard that day after he came back from drinking. Jia She knew that Mrs. Xing had handed the matter over to Wang Shanbao, the housekeeper.

He asked her if the matter was settled. Naturally, Wang Shanbao hesitated and was scolded by Jia She who was drunk. The old women and maids passing by heard it, and Wang Shanbao was greatly embarrassed.

This made her full of resentment, so she took two maids and went to the granary again. She didn't want to accept the lukewarm answer anymore. She didn't believe that she couldn't catch a cheap girl.

(End of this chapter)