Chapter One Hundred and Eleven: Entering the Fragrant Chamber at Night

  This night must be a sleepless night for all the Chen family members.

  Zhao Shi stood in front of Xi Mei's bed and no matter how Chen Tianfa tried to persuade him, he wouldn't leave a single step.

  A few small ones, although they didn't know what had happened, but from the doctor's expression just now and his hurried departure, they probably guessed something.

  "Sister, you said that Xi Mei will be fine, right?" As if to comfort herself, Xi He tightly grasped Xi Ju's sleeve, her eyes full of expectation and anxious gaze.

  It was several years older than her, and from her parents' anxiety and not allowing her siblings to enter, Jihui had already guessed something.

  Wiping away the tears from her eyes, Xi Ju comforted, "It's okay, Xi Mei is so resilient, she'll be fine." She hugged her sister tightly, worried.

  Just then, several hurried footsteps were heard outside the gate, followed by the gate being slapped loudly.

  "Sister, open the door, I'm Ruihao." A familiar voice came from outside the door.

  Xi Ju looked around and didn't find Rui Hao's figure, it turned out that this guy took advantage of everyone being busy to sneak away to the Zhang family.

  At this time, it was not only Zhang Zishang who followed him, but also Zheng's couple, who rushed over behind him.

  As the gate opened, Zhang Zhongquan was seen helping Zheng Shi down from the carriage, his anxious expression evident. Seeing her, he hastily asked, "What's going on? I heard Ruihao say that Jiemie is ill?"

  Just then, the girl in front of her was about to burst into tears again. Zheng's heart ached and she hastily stepped forward to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here."

  Looking at their expressions, Zheng's anxiety turned into even greater panic. She wiped away the tears on her face and asked urgently, "Where is Xi Mei now? Take me there quickly."

  Xi Ju led her outside Xi Mei's house, sobbing and pointing inside, indicating that someone was inside.

  Just as Zheng was about to step inside, the door opened from within. Chen Tianfa looked at the children waiting outside and said to Zheng with an unpleasant expression, "Excuse me, I'd like to have a word with you."

  Zheng looked around the room uneasily, then at Chen Tianfa blocking the door, and nodded suspiciously.

  Following him to a deserted place, Zheng looked at his unpleasant face and opened her mouth. "What's the matter, speak quickly."

  Chen Tianfa gazed at the bare tree branches, his face filled with pain and helplessness under the reflection of the white snow.

  "What's going on, can't you just say it quickly? Are you trying to drive me mad?" Zheng was so anxious that she stomped her foot.

  What a hurry. The little girl doesn't even know what's wrong with herself, let's go in and take a look, but this person is blocking the door and won't let us in. Ask him, and he's being evasive and hesitant to speak.

  Suddenly, as if thinking of something, Zheng looked at him incredulously and said, "Xi Mei won't have contracted some kind of acute illness, let's go, let's go?"

  Just thinking about it made Zheng's legs so weak that he could hardly stand up.

  Chen Tianfa saw her battered appearance and hastily opened his mouth to explain, "No, Xi Mei is still sleeping soundly in the house."

  So, Zheng's family finally relaxed and patted his own chest, blaming him with a look, "Why didn't you say it earlier, really wanting to scare people to death before being satisfied."

  Then, looking at Chen Tian's worried face, he asked tentatively, "What's wrong? Don't worry about the money, the Zhang family has all kinds of precious medicine, just say what you need, Jixia is the most important."

  Look at Xi Mei, this girl is so lucky, having a wealthy and generous godmother who dotes on her.

  But this time it's not something that can be cured with some precious medicine.

  Chen Tianfa looked at her, finally unable to hold back the emotions he had been suppressing for a long time. He squatted down, buried his head between his legs and sobbed, "Xǐmei, the doctor said you've contracted smallpox, it's incurable."

  A man, unable to contain his emotions, squatted on the ground and began to sob like a child.

  Little did she know, this sentence was a bombshell to Zheng. She took two steps back in shock and exclaimed, "Smallpox? How could it be smallpox?! Are you sure?!"

  Perhaps the children don't know, but for people of their generation, the word "smallpox" is all too familiar. In their childhood, they experienced a disaster and those who contracted smallpox did not survive!

  Sister Xi, how could Sister Xi have contracted smallpox?!

  Zheng's legs went soft and she fell flat on the ground, unable to care about the snowflakes covering the ground.

  Muttering to herself, how could this be? Just the day before yesterday, her younger sister was still wearing the new clothes she had made for her and brought a lunchbox of Laba congee to send to her.

  Still remember her using icy small hands to cover her own eyes, mischievously saying "Guess who I am?"

  What was I doing at that time? Oh, I deliberately didn't guess, which made Xi Mei unhappy and pouted at me.

  The silvery laughter still seems to be echoing in my ears, how did I suddenly contract this illness?

  "I don't believe it, is it, did the doctor make a mistake?" Zheng asked with her last bit of hope.

  Chen Tianfa had somewhat calmed down by then, wiping away the tears on his face with his large palm. "No matter what," he said, "we won't just leave Xi Mei unattended like this. Even if it costs a lot of money and takes a lot of effort, I'll do whatever it takes to cure her."

  Zheng nodded, "I'll move over for a few days too, it's more convenient to take care of Xi Mei."

  It has to be said that Zheng's family treated Xi Mei like their own daughter, otherwise, if it were someone else who knew she had contracted such a severe infectious disease, they wouldn't even dare to come near her.

  Chen Tian took a deep breath and calmed down before saying, "That's not necessary, there's another thing I need to trouble you with."

  Zheng wiped away her tears and frowned, saying, "Don't mention whether it's troublesome or not, just say what you need to say."

  Chen Tianfa finally said, "Xi Mei suddenly got into this trouble, and there are still a few younger ones at home that we can't take care of. Can you...?"

  Know what he means, afraid of leaving a few children infected with the disease.

  Zheng was displeased, "Need you remind me? I'll have someone come over and tidy them up, move them to my place, Xi Mei will..."

  Chen Tianfa shook his head. "Then don't bother you anymore, it's almost New Year's Eve, and you must be even busier then."

  It's no use saying anything to him, so Zheng Shi had to put that thought out of her mind. However, she made up her mind that after settling down with Xi Ju and the others, she would definitely come back to take care of Xi Mei.

  Looking at the children reluctantly looking at the house where Xi Mei was, Chen Tianfa's eyes couldn't help but turn sour. He composed himself and said: "Let's go quickly, when we get there, remember to listen to Zheng Bao Niang's words."

  Patted Ruihao's head and swallowed the reluctant words. Pretending to be relaxed, he said: "Let's go."

  The carter whipped the horse, and the horse felt pain. The whip opened and moved forward, this scene made people feel a kind of unspeakable sorrow in their hearts.

  "Dad, you must take good care of mom, we'll be back soon." Ruihao shouted loudly as he stuck his head out.

  Chen Tian waved his hand, indicating that he should quickly get into the carriage. He didn't put down his raised hand until the carriage's shadow had completely disappeared around the street corner. With heavy footsteps, he walked into the courtyard.

  Looking at the empty house, Chen Tian took a deep breath and encouraged himself not to fall down, for the sake of several children he had to persevere.

  At the same time, in the ironwork shop just one street away from Chen's house, Xu Peifeng was pacing back and forth inside.

  From time to time, he would stick his head out and take a look to see if the master of the house had returned. Next to him, Gu Zhi let out a sigh and couldn't help but speak up: "I'm saying, can you not keep wandering around here? You're making my head ache."

  Xu Peifeng's footsteps didn't stop, continuing his own 'great cause underfoot'.

  Gu Zhiyan couldn't bear it anymore and stepped forward, blocking his way. "If you're anxious, go tell the master about it. What's the point of turning around in front of me?"

  Xu Peifeng scratched his head and said anxiously, "You think I don't want to? But this girl has smallpox, not something else. If not, I wouldn't be so worried."

  After this incident, he was also very upset. To say nothing of others, just talking about Xi Mei, it's not an exaggeration to say that she grew up under his care. When something happened, emotionally and rationally, she should have told the master about it.

  But if the master finds out, he'll definitely go see her, and if he's not careful, he'll catch smallpox too. If that happens, losing ten lives won't be enough to make up for it.

  Just as he was about to continue speaking, he was suddenly pulled by someone and frowned, saying: "Don't pull me, can't you see I'm busy?"

  A cold voice came from behind, "What's wrong with you?"

  "Didn't I tell you? I'm worried sick about my sister, she's got smallpox and her life is in danger! You're not unaware of this!" The tone was so annoying, it was as if he wanted to roll around on the ground in frustration.

  What happened to the calm and decisive manner you had when we just met that unscrupulous doctor on the street?

  "Sshh", looking at his big brother who kept winking at him, Xu Peifeng curiously asked: "What's wrong with your eyes? Are you okay?"

  What's the point of winking at yourself all the time? You're not a girl, do you need to flirt with yourself?

  Suddenly, as if remembering something, he stiffly turned his head back to look behind him and stuttered, "Master, Master."

  Xuanyuan Lie didn't say anything, he just gave him a light glance, and in an instant, Xu Peifeng felt his body freeze up.

  The young master is so nervous that he's stuttering.

  He looked at him emotionlessly and turned around to walk away.

  Knowing what he wanted to do, they looked at each other and rushed out in a hurry. "Young master, you can't go over there."

  Unfortunately, Xuan Yuan Lie passed by them as if no one was there.

  "When the young master...the master's fierce gaze shot over, the two of them shrank back again, closing their mouths and not daring to make a sound."

  Treading on the thick snow, the three masters and servants walked towards each other, looked up at the deep courtyard wall, Xuan Yuan Lie took a deep breath, and jumped over.

  Two people followed suit, and fortunately, the streets were empty on a cold winter's day. The Chen family was also sent away, otherwise, it would have been lively if others had seen these three people openly jumping over the wall.

  Gently fell in the yard, Xuan Yuan Lie walked into his own home as usual, towards the house where Chao Xi Mei was, familiar with the road as if he were in his own home.

  Xu Peifeng shook his head and stepped forward to block his path, gesturing for him to wait a moment. Then he quietly walked out of the house.

  He pulled out a thin tube and blew air into the house.

  For a moment, looking at the two people in the house who were already dazed, he gestured for his master to enter.

  Xuan Yuan Lie kicked open the door and stepped inside. Just as the two of them were about to follow, the door slammed shut in front of them with a loud "bang".

  Walking up to the bed, Xuan Yuan Lie looked down at Xi Mei who was sleeping restlessly.

  At noon, Mingming was still a lively and energetic little girl, how did she become so lethargic and lie in bed like this?

  He himself didn't notice that his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and then he sat down on the edge of the bed, helped Xi Mei up, and pulled her clothes back down.

  This person is really something, without any regard for male or female modesty, stripping people's clothes off as if they were eating a meal, not even batting an eyelid.

  However, looking at Xi Mei's back with more red spots, Xuan Yuan Lie's straight black eyebrows suddenly furrowed deeply again...