Being a second wife is difficult

It's 3 AM.

Jiang Wan had just fallen asleep when there was a rapid knocking on the door.

"Madam! Madam!"

Qinghe woke up first in the outer room and went out to open the door.

Outside the door was the young maid Chuncao, and inside Aunt Zhou's room, her voice trembled: "Hui-ge'er has a high fever, and Aunt Zhou sent me to beg Madam to fetch a doctor!"

Qinghe glanced back at the inner room.

Jiang Wan had already put on her clothes and come out.

"How long has it been burning?"

"I had a fever in the afternoon, and my aunt gave me ginger soup and covered me up to make me sweat, thinking it would bring it down. But it got hotter and hotter as night fell, and now I'm delirious and can't be called." Chuncao cried as she spoke.

After listening, Jiang Wan didn't hesitate: "Qinghe, go get the token and tell the gatekeeper to quickly fetch a doctor."

Qinghe paused for a moment, then leaned closer and whispered, "Madam, the pair of tiles is with the old lady; we don't have them."

Jiang Wan paused in her movements.

Two days after I married into the family, my mother-in-law didn't mention anything about managing the household at all. She didn't touch the storeroom keys, the tally tags, or the account books.

"Then go knock on the doorman's door and have them take the correct token to the person next to the old lady."

Qinghe turned and ran.

Chuncao was still kneeling there, crying.

"Don't cry. Go back and tell your aunt that the doctor will be here soon. Tell her to take off Hui-ge's clothes, but not to cover him up too tightly, and to wipe his forehead, hands and feet with warm water."

Chuncao wiped her face and stumbled away.

Jiang Wan went back to her room to change her clothes, then called Qinghe and hurried to Aunt Zhou's courtyard.

It was windy at night, and the yard was dark because there were no lights on.

Aunt Zhou lived in the east wing, not far from the main courtyard, but the road was difficult to walk, requiring two turns and a narrow alley.

Jiang Wan was walking in a hurry when she stepped on a loose stone slab, causing her to sway.

Qinghe helped her up, saying, "Madam, please slow down."

"fine."

When we arrived at the east courtyard, all the lights in the house were on.

Aunt Zhou sat on the edge of the bed, holding Lu Hui, tears streaming down her face.

Lu Hui lay on the bed, his cheeks burning red, his lips dry, and he mumbled something incoherently, which no one could understand.

When Aunt Zhou saw Jiang Wan enter, she looked up, her eyes red-rimmed: "Madam, Hui-ge'er, he..."

"let me see."

Jiang Wan walked over and reached out to touch Lu Hui's forehead.

It's too hot to handle.

I flipped his eyelids over again and looked at his tongue.

She doesn't know anything about medicine, but her younger brother had a fever when he was little, so she knows that a fever this high shouldn't be delayed.

"Have you prepared warm water?"

The maid brought over a basin of warm water.

Jiang Wan soaked a handkerchief, wrung it out, and placed it on Lu Hui's forehead.

"Change it every other cup of tea," she told Aunt Zhou. "This is how we lower the fever before the doctor comes."

Aunt Zhou nodded, her hands still trembling.

Jiang Wan glanced at her.

Aunt Zhou, who was always so tactful and measured in her speech during the day, was now just crying while holding her child, completely losing her composure.

No matter what methods or schemes you use, they won't work in front of a child.

I waited for who knows how long.

There was finally some movement outside.

Qinghe pushed open the door and came in, panting, "Madam, the doctor has arrived."

The doorman was quite capable; he managed to knock on the door of Huichuntang in the middle of the night and drag the resident doctor out of bed.

The doctor's surname was Tian, ​​and he was in his fifties. He was still panting when he came in carrying his medicine box.

He walked to the bedside, took Lu Hui's pulse, and examined his tongue and the area under his eyes, his brows furrowing.

"How long did it burn?"

"It started in the afternoon," Aunt Zhou said, her voice trembling.

Doctor Tian stopped, took out silver needles from his medicine box, and inserted one needle into Lu Hui's tiger's mouth and one into his philtrum.

The child did not respond.

"His fever is too high; he's already showing signs of convulsions," Dr. Tian said. "If this drags on for another hour or two, something serious might happen."

Aunt Zhou's face turned pale instantly.

"Fortunately, Madam was called in time," Dr. Tian added.

Jiang Wan didn't respond, waiting for Doctor Tian to prescribe a medicine.

The prescription was for two doses, one for internal use and one for external application.

Dr. Tian instructed: "Take one dose first. If the fever doesn't subside after two hours, take a second dose. I'll come back for a follow-up appointment tomorrow morning."

Qinghe followed to get the medicine.

Jiang Wan asked the maid in Aunt Zhou's room to prepare the medicine.

After the medicine was prepared and fed to him, Lu Hui vomited half of it.

Aunt Zhou cried again.

"Don't rush, it's good if you can feed him halfway," Jiang Wan said. "Let's see in an hour."

Late at night.

The room was filled with the smell of medicine, mixed with the scent of burning candles.

Lu Hui drifted off to sleep, changing the handkerchief on his forehead again and again.

Aunt Zhou stood guard by the bedside, her eyes fixed on her son.

Jiang Wan remained seated in the chair, not leaving.

Qinghe leaned closer and whispered, "Madam, should we wait until the old lady wakes up tomorrow before calling the doctor? If we call the doctor in from outside in the middle of the night, what if the old lady gets angry..."

"The child's fever is so high, he won't live to see tomorrow."

"But you've only been here two days, and you called the doctor without getting the correct card. Won't the old lady think you're..."

"What do you think of me? Overstepping my bounds?" Jiang Wan said calmly. "So be it. If the child is burned, no one can bear the responsibility."

Qinghe fell silent.

An hour later, Lu Hui's fever subsided somewhat. Although he was still burning up, he was at least no longer talking nonsense.

Before Dr. Tian left, he instructed that if the fever subsided, everything would be fine.

Aunt Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Jiang Wan.

"Madam, thank you so much for tonight."

His voice was hoarse, and trembling with tears.

"Hui-ge'er is also my child."

Jiang Wan didn't dwell on the topic any longer and stood up, saying, "You stay here, I'll come back tomorrow morning."

Aunt Zhou nodded, her eyes reddening again.

On the way back, Qinghe walked ahead carrying a lantern.

Jiang Wan walked very slowly.

"Madam, do you think Grandma will scold you tomorrow?"

"meeting."

"Then you should—"

"Fine, blame me then," Jiang Wan said. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Qinghe opened her mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

Jiang Wan didn't sleep much that night.

I lay there in a daze for a while, and then it got light.

Qinghe brought in water for washing her face: "Madam, the old lady wants you to come over."

Jiang Wan didn't ask any more questions. She dressed, combed her hair, and headed to Songhe Hall.

He greeted the emperor more than half an hour earlier than usual.

Granny Gui was waiting at the door. When she saw Jiang Wan arrive, she nodded slightly and said, "Madam has arrived. The old lady has been waiting for you."

Inside the house, the mother-in-law sat on the tatami mat, her face looking rather pale.

We've already drunk half of the tea; we've been waiting for quite a while.

"I heard about what happened last night," the mother-in-law said, her voice neither warm nor cold. "Knocking on the door in the middle of the night to call for a doctor—this hasn't happened in years."

"It's all my fault," Jiang Wan said, her head bowed.

"You've only been here two days, and we haven't even given you your identification card yet, and you dare to call a doctor on your own. If word gets out, people will think that our Earl's mansion can't even take care of a child properly, causing such a commotion in the middle of the night."

The mother-in-law's tone grew increasingly harsh.

Jiang Wan didn't argue and stood quietly.

"Grandma, Hui-ge'er had a high fever last night. The doctor said that if he had stayed in the hospital for another hour or two, something serious would have happened."

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear: "In an emergency, one must act expediently. I didn't have time to ask for instructions. It's my fault. If the old lady wants to punish me, I will accept the punishment."

The room was quiet for a few moments.

Her mother-in-law stared at her for a long time.

"Alright, I've already invited them all." The mother-in-law picked up her teacup and took a sip. "If anything like this happens again, just let me know first before you take care of it."

"Yes."

"Let's go back."

Jiang Wan bowed and withdrew.

Granny Gui followed her out and saw her to the door, saying in a low voice, "Take care, Madam."

His tone was much gentler than when he arrived.

Inside the Songhe Hall, the mother-in-law leaned against a pillow.

When Granny Gui returned to serve, she poured tea and said, "Old Madam, although Madam is new here, she knows what's important."

"What do you know about the severity of a situation? You dare to call a doctor without even knowing the proper diagnosis."

"But if she doesn't invite him, and Hui-ge'er really gets seriously ill from the fever, what will people outside say? They'll say that the Earl's family is stingy with their illegitimate son, not even letting him invite a doctor."

Granny Gui handed over the tea. "Besides, she didn't shirk responsibility. She admitted her mistakes quickly and accepted the punishment without hesitation. She's not the kind of person who makes excuses when something goes wrong."

The mother-in-law didn't respond.

He took a sip of tea and said, "Let's see."

Lu Huaijin did not go to the yamen that day.

In the morning, I went to the ancestral hall first, offered incense to the ancestors, and stayed inside for a while.

As they emerged from the ancestral hall, Lu An, a close attendant, followed behind.

Lu An recounted what happened last night.

Lu Huaijin listened without stopping.

"What did your wife do?"

"The lady asked Qinghe to go to the gatekeeper to get the token and ask the doctor to let her go. The gatekeeper didn't dare to move without the token. The lady said that life and death were at stake and told the gatekeeper to go to the old lady's side to get the token first, and she would take responsibility later."

Lu Huaijin remained silent.

He spoke only after reaching the study door: "She should have known the seriousness of last night's urgent matter."

He paused for a moment.

"But to stand by and watch someone die, to be cold and indifferent, is not something a daughter-in-law of the Lu family should do."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and went into the study.

Lu An stood outside the door, pondering the sentence for a long time, but couldn't figure it out.

After leaving Songhe Hall, Jiang Wan did not return to her own courtyard but went to the east wing first.

Lu Hui's fever had subsided considerably, and he was leaning against the bed drinking porridge.

Aunt Zhou sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes still red, but her expression was much better than last night.

Upon seeing Jiang Wan enter, Aunt Zhou stood up and gave a proper bow.

"Madam, I thank you on behalf of Hui-ge for what happened last night."

This ceremony was even more profound than the one yesterday afternoon.

"Is Hui-ge'er feeling better?"

"I'm much better. Dr. Tian came for a follow-up visit this morning and said that I'll be fine after taking two more doses of medicine."

Jiang Wan nodded, didn't linger, and turned to leave.

Back in her room, Qinghe was tidying up the trunks and baskets that had been messed up the night before.

"Madam, did the old lady punish you?"

No penalty.

"Are you still worried?"

Jiang Wan sat down by the window and brought the pot of orchids over to take a look.

After the soil was changed, the leaves were still a bit yellow, but the roots had stabilized.

"I'm not worried," she said. "I've done what I needed to do, and I've admitted my mistakes. The rest is beyond my control."

Qinghe seemed to understand but not quite, and continued tidying up.

Jiang Wan put the orchid back, her gaze lingering on the lush green leaves.

She took a gamble last night.

The bet is that doing things right is more important than following the rules.

So far, it seems like the gamble paid off.

But she also knew that this was only the first hurdle.

There's a long road ahead.