Chapter 61: The Temperature of the Heart

  Her face was knotted with worry and slightly heavy.

  "What's going on?" Liu Rong was somewhat perplexed.

  The young lady clenched her teeth and looked at Liu Rong, saying: "I just went out to report the good news, but unexpectedly Old Lady Liu said that Third Miss must be telling a lie, how could Tian Hua and Shui Chui make a mistake, she...she said you are definitely afraid of death, so you made up such a lie."

  The wet nurse paused slightly: "You said that the residence of Sixth Miss should be sealed off immediately, just as you previously stated. Isolate this area and do not allow anyone to enter or exit. Only deliver food from outside to prevent the spread of illness within the house."

  "Unless we're all fine in a month's time, no one is allowed to step out of this courtyard!"

  Liu Rong furrowed her brow, secretly indignant in her heart. She hadn't expected that Liu Dà Niáng would react this way. The first thing she did wasn't to find a familiar doctor to confirm the illness, but instead wanted to directly seal off the house. And Tàifūrén surprisingly completely supported her.

  This is indeed a family that has been plagued by illness!

  Patients' families misdiagnosed their illnesses, with at least 10 cases occurring every month in modern times, and sometimes as many as eight. In an era when smallpox has already been eradicated, people still come to inquire about whether they have contracted the disease, let alone in ancient times when information dissemination was not well developed.

  She didn't believe that such a thing had never happened before, but Liu Dainai and Tai Furen were so decisive, not even inviting the doctor who could be trusted by the Wen Dinghou Mansion to make a judgment.

  They don't care about the life of a concubine's daughter at all. If it were the first and second young ladies of the manor who encountered such a thing, would they still be treated like this?

  Liu Rong felt sick about this bias.

  "I'm sorry, Third Miss, I'm sorry. It's all my fault for being too nervous and causing this trouble, and now you have to stay here with me. Even the lessons at Chang's place can't be continued." The wet nurse kept apologizing to Liu Rong, her face filled with remorse and self-blame.

  Liu Rong smiled and shook her head at the wet nurse: "It's not a big deal, it just so happens that Liu Si also needs someone to take care of her. As a doctor, I can take better care of her than you, who don't know anything about medicine." Although this doctor was not a pediatrician, but a surgeon.

  Liu Rong smiled wryly to herself.

  It was clear from the letter that the Hou Mansion knew that Liu Jie had contracted smallpox, but instead of calling a doctor to treat her, they wanted to drive them out of the mansion and let them fend for themselves. Yu Rong then understood why the wet nurse had acted in such a way.

  At least in the government office, there is good food and a good place to live. If nothing else, one can be supported like this. The situation outside is not so optimistic.

  "Water..." A faint and weak voice came from the bed.

  Liu Rong didn't continue speaking, but quickly walked over to the table, poured a glass of water and helped Liu Jie'er up to drink.

  "Third Miss, I can handle this. Although chickenpox isn't fatal, it's still contagious." The wet nurse said, looking at Liu Rong.

  Liu Rong didn't speak until the sixth sister finished drinking water and lay down again, then she looked up at the wet nurse: "Your words reminded me of something. Whether it's smallpox or chickenpox, there must be a source of infection. What has the sixth sister been doing recently? Has she come into contact with anything?"

  The milkmaid's face changed greatly: "Miss means to say, this smallpox..."

  "This isn't it. This kind of thing generally won't take lives, others won't use this to harm people for no reason, I'm just worried that there's still a source of infection in the mansion. Let's hope no one else gets infected."

  Liu Rong looked at the wet nurse and couldn't help but remind her again: "Chickenpox is something that everyone will only get once in their lifetime, but it's always better not to get it. So you must remember that it's transmitted through the respiratory tract, which means don't talk when you're close to a sick person, lest droplets transmit..."

  The sixth miss, who was dazed after drinking water, vaguely heard someone talking beside her bed. Her headache was a bit painful, but she seemed to hear a familiar voice that made her want to lean on and feel at ease.

  After a long wait, her eyes finally opened completely. When she saw Liu Rong's profile, she couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart and burst into tears: "Third sister... third sister my head hurts, I'm uncomfortable..."

  She had been locked in the house for several days, and although she was being taken care of by her wet nurse and maidservant, they were all mysterious and evasive. Children are most sensitive and timid, how could she not be afraid? At this moment, seeing Liu Rong finally couldn't help but burst out.

  Liu Rong hastily stopped talking to the wet nurse and turned around to gently pat Liu Jie's small hand that didn't have a blister: "Good girl, don't cry, our Liu Jie is the strongest, it's just a minor illness, it'll be fine in a few days. Moreover, with your third sister being such an awesome doctor, nothing will happen, don't be afraid, good girl..."

  Liu Rong's soft voice slowly narrowed her eyes, as if she was about to fall asleep. Liu Rong asked the wet nurse beside her, "Has Sixth Sister had lunch?"

  The milkmaid shook her head.

  "Sixth sister isn't sleeping, how about eating something first and then sleep? Soon the maid will bring over some delicious egg custard..."

  After feeding Liu Jie'er until she was full, and letting her drink some more water, Liu Rong finally let out a sigh of relief. Liu Jie'er's complexion at this moment was much better than before.

  Liu Rong didn't realize she had relaxed, but the little person on the bed was staring at her intently, also seemingly lost in thought. He just kept looking and gradually broke into a faint smile, even when he fell asleep, there was still a hint of a smile on his face.

  Sixth Sister can sleep peacefully, but Liu Rong cannot calm down, instructing to open the window again for ventilation, letting them put some water in the room to increase humidity before leaving Sixth Sister's room.

  As soon as he came out, he saw that the courtyard was indeed surrounded by strips of cloth connected to each other, and the only human touch was that a maid was still called to wait outside, waiting for orders from inside the house at any moment.

  Liu Rong didn't know that this wasn't ordered by Old Lady Liu, but rather by Second Madam, who was feeling a bit better and couldn't leave the house.

  Liu Rong stretched her body to relax a bit, but was stunned when she saw the two people standing in front of the courtyard.

  Only then did Dong Er support Zhong Yi Niang standing in the snowy and icy ground, staring at this courtyard, also didn't know how long she stood there, even when Liu Rong came out, they two didn't notice.

  The two of them just stood there, not making a sound to call out to the people inside the house to let Liu Rong come out and see them. It was as if they were waiting for a child who had gone out, feeling anxious in their hearts but also worried that the child would be restricted by their own anxiety, so they didn't say anything. They just quietly waited at the door, watching, until the child came back, and could see them with the first glance.

  Liu Rong couldn't help but well up with hot tears, but she quickly wiped them away, just like how Aunt Zhong didn't want her to be worried about it, she also didn't want Aunt Zhong to see such a small detail and worry about it again.

  After calming down, she loudly called out to the two of them, waving at them with a big smile on her face. She chattered away, asking Aunt Zhong how she came, and then mentioned that before entering the house, she was worried about Liu's illness, but it turned out to be just a misunderstanding, not smallpox at all.

  Actually, there aren't many words, just the meaning that comes through. They're all things she didn't say to reassure Clock Mother not to worry, not to stay in this place, and not to catch a chill.

  Aunt Zhong smiled and looked at Liu Rong as she spoke, listening quietly.

  The world was quiet, as if it had narrowed down to just the three of them.

  ps：

  This world is like that, when someone calls you desperate, there's always someone who calls you to emerge with infinite hope. In the end, it all boils down to one sentence: as long as you work hard at living, things will get better and better.