Chapter 190 – The marquis has become infected (1)
Wen Wan was sent to Marquis Moyu’s other estate. Although that place was stately enough for a noble family, with pavilions and other buildings, there were very few people living there. It inevitably gave off a feeling of eeriness. In addition, after Mu Shuiqing was sent here, the servants said they would hear endlessly wailing every night.
Holding their bags, Tanxiang was pushed into a courtyard with Wen Wan.
There was a senior servant that was assigned to watch over them. She looked apathetically looked at them, then she looked at the nearby courtyard. “That insane Mistress Qing lives in that courtyard. If you don’t have a good reason, don’t come out of this courtyard.”
Wen Wan was very scared by her words. No matter how you looked at it, she had a connection with Mu Shuiqing suffering a miscarriage back then. After that, there had been a fake haunting that had caused herself to lose her fetus too. She felt she was destined to not get along with Mu Shuiqing. And now, they would be confined in the same place together.
Tanxiang clutched Wen Wan’s hand and said, “Master, don’t be afraid. As soon as the marquis finds out that they locked you here, he’ll definitely come here to save you.” Who knows if she was trying to comfort Wen Wan, or if she was trying to comfort herself?
Suddenly, they heard a woman loudly laughing from the nearby courtyard.
Tanxiang screamed in alarmed, and Wen Wan felt utterly terrified.
In the deserted courtyard, they heard Mu Shuiqing’s hysterical laughing as she said, “Wen Wan, who could have predicted that this would be your outcome? You also have this outcome! Aren’t you his beloved? But now you’ve fallen to this state. This is karma! Karma, ah!”
Although Mu Shuqing’s laughter sounded crazy, she said her words clearly.
Wen Wan pursed her lips and pretended to be brave. “Yuxuan will come save me. Nothing bad will happen to me. I wasn’t the one that harmed your child!”
“It wasn’t you?” Mu Shuiqing loudly laughed. “Weren’t you the one that had your servant girl push me? Weren’t you the one that had the doctor prescribe me the wrong medicine so that I would lose my baby? Wen Wan, how dare you say that it wasn’t you?! Do you dare to swear to the heavens that you’ve never harmed anyone’s baby?”
Wen Wan trembled and a trace of dread flashed through her eyes. She mumbled, “She’s crazy. She’s a lunatic.”
“Master…”
Wen Wan desperately grabbed Tanxiang’s hand and said, “Hurry and think of a way to send a message to Yuxuan. I want to get out of here. I don’t want to stay here for even a moment.” Wen Wan’s nails dug into Tanxiang’s flesh as she said, “Hurry, think of a way!”
Tanxiang was shocked by Wen Wan’s sudden ferociousness. Her lips trembled, and she ran out of the courtyard to crouch outside at the entrance.
Wen Wan pulled at her own hair. After shuddering for a bit, she went inside and hid under the blankets. She covered her ears and tried to block out Mu Shuiqing’s laugher.
She wanted to leave here! She wanted to quickly leave this place!
—
The smallpox was wreaking havoc in the capital. Many people had fallen ill, and the streets had become deserted. The emperor had issue an order that anyone infected with smallpox would be transferred and confined to a relay station outside of the capital. If anyone found out that someone near them had become infected with smallpox, he or she had to notify the authorities promptly.
There was no way that Nie Qingyun would send Errong to be confined with the other sick people. Instead, he moved with her to a residence that was at the outskirts of the city and near that relay station. Imperial Physician Qian went with them, as well as Baizhi.
Ji Man had originally been worried about Errong, but when she heard that Qingyun was willing to personally take care of Errong, she started worrying about her older brother.
In this era, if your body wasn’t strong enough to endure while smallpox ran its course, then it would take your life.
Unfortunately, she was pregnant right now, and it would be difficult for her to go outside. Moreover, everyone was feeling unsafe in the capital. Even the capital’s gates were only half-open. Even though she wanted to go outside to check on those two, no one would be willing to accompany her.
—
When Ning Yuxuan returned from the palace today and came to Feiwan Courtyard, his complexion didn’t look good. He only briefly looked around before going straight to Nie Sangyu’s bed to sleep.
Ji Man was at a loss. It was rare to see him looking so exhausted.
Guibai whispered, “The crown prince is showing minor symptoms of smallpox, so the marquis went to the palace to look for an imperial physician. Then, the empress summoned him because she wanted to talk to him. After all that running around today, it’s only to be expected that he’ll be tired.”
Ji Man nodded. She went to her bed and dutifully massaged Ning Yuxuan’s head for a while. Then, she took off his shoes and outer robe from him, so that he would be able to sleep more comfortably.
Ning Yuxuan half-open his eyes to look at her, but he didn’t say anything.
Ji Man faintly smiled. “My lord, go to sleep. This servant will watch over you.”
After making some inaudibly sounds, Ning Yuxuan quickly fell asleep while lying in her arms.
Ji Man was lost in her thoughts as she looked at the side of his face.
Wen Wan and Tanxiang didn’t have smallpox. She had just given them a concoction from Imperial Physician Lin that would give them red dots. The dots would fade in a few days, but right now, the capital was in an emergency state. Even if those dots faded, for the safety of this entire household, Marquis Moyu wouldn’t bring them back yet. This little punishment could be considered a lesson to Wen Wan.
But, she had a strange feeling. Marquis Moyu had been too indulgent towards her lately. Not only had he not tried to harm her fetus, he had allowed her to manipulate and order Wen Wan.
Why was he acting like this? Ji Man supported her chin and thought about this for a while. She remembered Guiabi’s recent words of, “The crown prince is showing minor symptoms of smallpox”. Could it be that Ning Yuxuan was planning on jumping ship to the third prince’s faction? No matter how she looked at it, the crown prince’s ship wasn’t very stable.
However, looking at how hard he was working for the crown prince, this guess didn’t seem right either. What was Ning Yuxuan plotting?