Volume One, Chapter 18: Revenge, Departure, Return Home

Gu Nanxiao knew that even if his mother were not truly ill, he would not seize the estate physician for himself. For no other reason than that if he had done so, Yunxi would have been placed in an even more precarious position.

He ordered Moyu to send men outside the estate to summon a doctor. Within an hour, three separate doctors had arrived, but after feeling Yunxi’s pulse, they all shook their heads, signaling they were helpless. Before leaving, they all warned that if the patient’s high fever continued, her life would be at risk by nightfall. Even if she survived, she would likely wake up with her mind impaired.

Gu Nanxiao had never imagined matters would become so grave. He immediately commanded Moyu, "You must saddle the carriage yourself and go to the Su family’s villa outside the city to fetch Su Mingyan. You must return before the city gates close tonight."

Moyu bowed in compliance and departed the manor without a moment’s delay.

Watching Yunxi, whose face was flushed crimson with fever, still lying unconscious, Gu Nanxiao rubbed his temples in agitation. He waved away the servants in the room, leaving only Zisu to attend to her.

When Zisu dampened a cloth in a basin of cold water, preparing to change it for Yunxi, Gu Nanxiao reached out and took it from her. He walked to the bedside, lifted Yunxi into his arms, and personally wiped her forehead to lower her temperature. It was only then that he realized how burning hot she was; in his memory, he had never experienced such a high fever himself.

Gu Nanxiao patiently wiped her brow for a long time, yet her temperature only climbed higher. She began to drift into a delirious stupor, murmuring incessantly: "Revenge... leave... go home..."

Listening to her words, Gu Nanxiao felt a complex mix of emotions. He knew how much Yunxi resented her status as his concubine. Yet he could not understand, now that she had already given herself to him, where she thought she could go.

Before the curfew, Moyu finally arrived with the physician. As soon as Su Mingyan entered the room, he prepared to tease Gu Nanxiao, but was immediately pulled to the bedside and urged to check her pulse. Seeing the urgency in his friend’s expression, Su Mingyan set aside his jesting, carefully examined both of Yunxi’s wrists, and inquired about the events leading up to her illness.

He then sat at a nearby table, picked up a brush, and wrote out three prescriptions, handing them to Gu Nanxiao. "Have your servants boil these. Administer one bowl of each medicine in the marked order, every hour. If she does not improve after all three, you may as well prepare for her funeral."

Seeing the flicker of genuine pain in his friend’s eyes after he spoke, Su Mingyan asked with curiosity, "Have you truly lost your heart to this maid?"

Gu Nanxiao met his friend’s playful gaze and replied sternly, "What talk of heart is this? She is but a maid. I simply feel that since it is a human life, I cannot stand by and watch her die."

Su Mingyan looked at his stubborn expression, then glanced back at the beauty’s exquisite face on the bed, testing him: "If you do not care for her, why not give her to me once she recovers?"

A concubine was merely a plaything, and among the young masters of noble families, gifting one’s maids to one another was quite common—some even considered it an elegant pastime.

Hearing this, Gu Nanxiao’s expression darkened instantly, and his tone turned sharp. "The two medicinal herbs you asked me to source for you? I shall destroy them right now. How about that?"

Su Mingyan’s face changed as if he were being strangled. He immediately dropped his mocking smile and waved his hands in protest. "No, no, don't! Please, don't destroy them. I will never covet your little treasure again."

Gu Nanxiao frowned and retorted, "What treasure? I told you, she is just a maid. I refuse to give her away because she is my property; even if she were to be destroyed, I would not allow others to harbor designs on her!"

Seeing him stubbornly refuse to yield, Su Mingyan shook his head with a laugh. "Fine, fine, whatever you say. But on another note, this little girl is quite remarkable. She looks so soft and fragile, yet she has a heart of iron. To be driven to such a state of internal illness simply because of some insults—it is the first time I have ever seen such a thing."

Upon hearing the cause, Gu Nanxiao asked in disbelief, "You mean to say her condition is not from catching a chill in the icy water, but from an overwhelming surge of rage?"

Su Mingyan nodded gravely. "Indeed. Judging by her pulse, she has long suffered from suppressed internal distress. Today, this surge of anger was so swift and violent that it triggered all her latent ailments, which is why it has struck so fiercely. What puzzles me is why, based on what you said happened this afternoon, would she be so infuriated? Either this woman has an exceptionally rigid temperament, or there is something you and I do not know."

Gu Nanxiao pondered this, feeling the latter was more likely. He did not know why Yunxi was so fixated on not being his concubine, nor how that could have become common knowledge.

As they spoke, the first bowl of medicine was brought in, but Zisu could not get her to drink it.

Seeing this, Gu Nanxiao stepped to the bed, sat Yunxi up, took the bowl from Zisu, held the medicine in his own mouth, and transferred it to hers, sip by sip. Zisu turned away in embarrassment, while Su Mingyan watched them with a playful glint in his eyes.

Two quarters of an hour after the first dose, Yunxi’s temperature dropped significantly, and a faint moisture of sweat appeared on her nose.

Seeing this, Su Mingyan stated, "She will be fine. Once she finishes the remaining two doses, I will change the prescription tomorrow morning." He paused, then added, "When this girl wakes up, you should advise her. She is so young; why is she so prone to such fits of temper?"

Relieved to hear Yunxi was out of danger, Gu Nanxiao secretly exhaled and ordered Moyu to escort Su Mingyan to the guest wing to rest.

Once they were gone, Gu Nanxiao felt a wave of exhaustion. He walked to the table, poured himself a bowl of cold tea, and drained it in one gulp, finally soothing his parched throat. He remained in the bedroom until he had fed her the remaining medicine and her temperature had completely subsided, only then retreating to his own room to rest.

Early the next morning, Gu Nanxiao administered the new medicine prescribed by Su Mingyan in the same manner before heading to court. When he returned, Yunxi had already awakened and was half-propped up in bed, busily scribbling in her business proposal.

Seeing that she was so ill she could barely sit, yet was rushing to revise her proposal the moment she regained consciousness, he recalled her murmuring about leaving the night before. An inexplicable surge of irritation rose in his chest.

He reached out and snatched the booklet from her, asking coldly, "Are you in such a hurry to take your revenge so that you can leave as soon as it is done?"