The Attendant Student arrived at Yang Ming’s room, knocking on the door as he spoke, "Yang Ming, your wife is here. She said she’s looking for you urgently."
After waiting a moment and receiving no response, the Attendant Student found it odd. Could it be that Yang Ming hadn’t come back?
He called out several more times.
"Yang Ming, your wife is looking for you."
Seeing that Yang Ming hadn’t responded at all and that his wife was waiting anxiously at the door, he had no choice but to push the door open to try, and to his surprise, the door swung open—it hadn’t been bolted from the inside.
As soon as the door opened, a pungent smell assaulted him. Covering his nose with his hand, he quickly went inside and found Yang Ming lying there. He pushed at Yang Ming’s body, urging as he did so, "Yang Ming, get up quickly, your wife is looking for you."
But Yang Ming remained motionless, as if dead. The Attendant Student became frightened and reached out to check Yang Ming’s breathing.
With that check, the Attendant Student stumbled backward a few steps and collapsed right there, screaming in shock, "Someone come quick—something’s wrong, there’s a dead person, someone come quick."
The people in the Academy were all woken by the Attendant Student’s screams. Hearing that someone was dead, they quickly put on their clothes and came out to see what was happening.
A swarm of people crammed into Yang Ming’s room, all choked by the stench. At that moment, someone yelled, "Quick, get Yang Ming out of here, he’s been smoked by the fumes of burning corn cobs."
Hearing this, everyone hastily carried Yang Ming out with his blanket, laying him down in the courtyard.
After carrying the man out, someone stepped forward and patted Yang Ming’s body, "Wake up, wake up."
At this time, the shivering Attendant Student emerged from the room, "Just now, when I checked his breathing, it seemed like he had no breath."
"What?" Having heard this, everyone was surprised.
The scholar who had been slapping Yang Ming immediately went to check his breathing, "Not good, it really seems like he’s not breathing. Someone hurry to notify the teacher."
Since the teacher’s residence was far from theirs and he hadn’t arrived yet, someone immediately went to fetch the teacher as such a big issue could only be handled by him.
It was only then that the Attendant Student remembered Yang Ming’s wife waiting at the door. Being so scared that he could barely walk, he turned to the other Attendant Students and said, "Quick, one of you, go to the gate. Yang Ming’s wife has come. Someone inform her."
"I’ll go." One of them said.
Xiaoxiao had been waiting at the door all this time, pacing back and forth waiting for the Attendant Student.
She had never felt such unease before. Her chest was aching, and her eyelids were twitching uncontrollably as if some major event was about to unfold.
Suddenly, she felt a strong premonition of losing Yang Ming. This feeling intensified to the point where she almost had trouble breathing. Unable to contain her emotions, she wished to see Yang Ming immediately.
She waited left and right but the Attendant Student did not return, and fear gripped her.
Finally, the Academy’s door opened. Xiaoxiao quickly stepped forward, but the person who opened the door was not the Attendant Student she was expecting. Just as she felt disappointed, she heard what the newcomer had to say.
"Are you Yang Ming’s wife?"
"I am, I am Yang Ming’s wife. Where is Yang Ming?" Xiaoxiao asked anxiously as she approached.
The person who arrived was also very anxious, "You better go inside and see for yourself. It seems like Yang Ming is not breathing."
On hearing this, Xiaoxiao felt her heart lurch, and her vision darkened slightly. She strove to keep herself composed as she followed the person inside, with tears starting to well up in her eyes.
Seeing the state of Yang Ming’s wife, the person felt some compassion and said, "You should grieve with restraint. There’s nothing that can be done about this."