18: smallpox

“How could this be? This is Mother’s wish. As her daughter, of course, I should accept it with a smile. Qingxin, please take good care of the masters and don’t mistreat them.”

“Yes.”

After saying this, Gu Yunru walked into the house with an expressionless face.

The wedding day was approaching, and Madam Gu was afraid that Gu Yunru would suddenly disappear, so she had so many people watching her. She thought everything was going smoothly until she married into the Wang Family, but she didn’t expect a problem to arise on that very night.

“What happened? How did she get smallpox?!”

Gu Junyao and her sisters followed their mother to the Pavilion Garden, wanting to watch the show.

Qingxin pulled the bed curtain and bowed to Madam Gu, saying, “Madam, this disease is contagious. You must not get too close. Miss is now running a high fever, coughing incessantly, and her nose won’t stop running. She looks terrible. We have already invited a doctor, but even the doctor doesn’t dare to get close. What should we do? The Prince’s welcoming procession will arrive tomorrow.”

“I saw her just fine during the day. How did she suddenly fall ill and get this disease? It’s really bad luck!”

Madam Gu didn’t believe it and took a step forward. Qingxin stretched out her arms to block her, looking scared, “Madam, you must not get close. The way Miss looks might scare you.”

“Get out of my way. Can’t I care for my daughter a little?”

Qingxin lowered her head and had no choice but to step aside.

The moment Madam Gu approached the bed, she was shocked and almost vomited on the spot. She saw that Gu Yunru’s face was covered in pus-filled blisters, her nose kept running, and her forehead was covered in red spots of varying sizes, which was very frightening.

“What happened? Quickly call some useful doctors to treat her properly!”

“Yes.”

Several servants went to call the doctors, and Gu Junyao’s heart tightened. She pulled Madam Gu outside and said anxiously, “At such a critical moment, why did this happen? Could this despicable person be having second thoughts and not wanting to marry into the Wang Family?”


“Don’t worry, my good daughter. She will have to marry whether she wants it or not. Even if she doesn’t want to, she will still have to. Even if she dies, she will have to die in the Wang family mansion once her illness is cured.”

Madam Gu narrowed her eyes.

She had been eagerly waiting for the doctor, but she didn’t expect to see Prince Zhao instead.

“Oh, it’s Prince Zhao. Why did you come so late, Your Highness?” Madam Gu greeted him warmly. Prince Zhao was a handsome man with outstanding talents, but unfortunately he had a violent temperament. If not for this, it wouldn’t have been a bad thing for Jun Yao to marry him.

“I received a message, so I came to check. Is she dead?” Prince Zhao asked.

Madam Gu turned pale. The prince’s temper was really unpredictable, and he could be moody.

“No…no, the doctor is treating her inside.”

“I’ll go take a look.”

Prince Zhao didn’t look directly at Madam Gu and walked straight into the room.

“I greet Your Highness,” Qingxing bowed to Prince Rong. Prince Zhao’s deep gaze fell on the bed and he asked, “How is your young lady doing?”

“In response to Your Highness, she drank the meat soup and sour jujube and longan porridge made by her nurse today, and then began to feel dizzy and nauseous. Her face is now disfigured…” Qingxing deliberately emphasized the last sentence. Prince Zhao rubbed his nose and walked to the bed. He did indeed see her face covered in pus, emitting a foul smell that made people want to stay away.

“Qingfeng, go and see if there is anything suspicious in the small kitchen.”

“Understood.”

Madam Gu stood nervously at the door and asked the servant behind her, “What’s going on? How did His Highness come here?”

“According to Madam’s words, someone secretly informed the prince, and this servant doesn’t know anything about it.”

Madam Gu was confused and didn’t know what the little maid wanted to do.

Two doctors took turns to approach and finally came to a conclusion.

“Miss Gu’s symptoms are very dangerous, like poisoning.”

“Poisoning?”

Gu Junyao stood far away at the door, afraid to get too close to her, and couldn’t help feeling a bit absurd at the word “poisoning.”

“It’s impossible. Which one of the things the mansion eats or uses has ever mistreated her?”

“Second Miss, Miss Gu’s symptoms are indeed due to poisoning.”

The doctor administered several injections, and Gu Yunru’s fever subsided.

There was a layer of coldness in Rong Zhen’s eyes as he looked at the several servants trembling at the door. Everyone was on edge, even if they had not done anything wrong, they would be scared out of their wits just by his gaze.

“Your Highness, we found this when searching.”

Qingfeng presented a small cloth bag with something inside, and when opened, it was cassava powder.

Rong Zhen looked at Su Shi with a sinister look in his eyes, and Su Shi knelt down on both knees with a thud.

“Madam, Wangye, you have to believe me. I did not do such thing…”

Su Shi was completely panicked, tears rolling in her eyes as she tried to win the trust of the others.

QingXin wiped away her tears and walked up to the wet nurse with a small bag of cassava flour. “Nanny, it was the meat soup you made that caused Miss’s condition today. Moreover, this thing was found in the kitchen, so who else could it be but you?”

“No, it’s a mistake. Madam, you have to believe me. How could I harm Miss?”

Su Shi looked to Madam Gu for help, but Madam Gu was extremely doubtful. Su Shi could not have done such a daring thing. What on earth was going on?

“It must be you. You wanted to harm Miss,” Madam Gu said, stepping two or three steps forward to Su Shi and winking at her, hoping she would admit to the crime. Perhaps she could find a way to help her escape blame. With so many people watching, she couldn’t afford to take any risks.

“Madam…” Su Shi looked at Lady Gu through her tearful eyes. At this point, she bit her lip tightly and nodded her head.

Rong Zhen was only concerned about the person lying on the bed and didn’t care about who poisoned her.

“Doctor, can her face still be cured?” Rong Zhen asked, looking at the woman whose face was already ruined, feeling inexplicably annoyed.

“It will take some time. Only when the fever subsides can there be some improvement. The red dots on her face are not smallpox and are not contagious, so please rest assured, Your Highness,” the doctor said.

Impatiently, Rong Zhen waved his sleeve, “Alright, I don’t want to hear any more nonsense. As long as she’s okay, it’s fine.”

After speaking, he looked meaningfully at the wet nurse who was kneeling on the ground.

Madam Gu walked up to Rong Zhen and smiled, revealing her teeth. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I won’t forgive this despicable servant.”

“That’s good. As for what to do, Madam, you can handle it yourself. I’m tired and need to go back to sleep.”

“What about tomorrow’s wedding?”

“It’s canceled for now. I don’t want to marry an ugly woman into the palace until her face is healed.”

Madam Gu’s eyes were desolate. She couldn’t wait for Gu Yunru to enter the palace. She had been restless all day and couldn’t sleep.

The onlookers had already dispersed, and Su Shi had been locked up in the firewood room and punished.

Qingxin sat on the edge of the bed, twisting a towel after wringing it dry in a basin of hot water. She sighed and said, “Miss, why do you do this to yourself? Are you even willing to keep this beautiful face?”