I went to see Heng'er this morning. He was still sleeping because he was feeling unwell, but he was no longer running a fever. However, after a whole day, his body started to feel hot again in the evening. This is a characteristic of fever in children, with symptoms getting better and worse, and coming back repeatedly, and at the same time, it's like returning to the starting point.
Madam Zheng and Madam He were pinching Heng'er's nose and forcing him to take medicine. Heng'er was crying and making a fuss, waving his hands and kicking his legs, resisting like a little bull. Madam He was careless and kicked the medicine bowl, spilling the black soup all over Madam Zheng. Madam Zheng didn't even look at her ruined autumn-scented jacket with gold-threaded floral patterns on her body. She hugged Heng'er tightly and told Xia Lian:
"Bring me more medicine, and give me more! How can I get better without taking medicine? My body is burning like a burning coal!"
Seeing Xu Junying and Mei Niang come in, Mrs. Zheng frowned, hugged Heng'er tightly, and said nothing.
Heng'er stretched out his hand towards Mei Niang, babbling and crying, his face full of tears. His pitiful appearance made Mei Niang feel distressed.
If she brought Heng'er directly over, Madam Zheng would definitely resent her, and she might even drive her away. Mei Niang sat next to Madam Zheng, holding Heng'er's hand, coaxing him slowly and softly, and said to Madam Zheng in a kind way:
"Thank you for your hard work, mother! Heng'er is so naughty that he messed up grandma's clothes like this... Mother, why don't you give him to your daughter-in-law, and your daughter-in-law will coax him to take the medicine. This medicine must be taken, otherwise how can he get better?"
Madam Zheng glanced at her and said, "He is very strong now. He has already kicked over two bowls of medicine. I don't think you can coax him!"
Mei Niang said, "Daughter-in-law, give it a try."
Mrs. Zheng said, "He already had a bath before dark. You can't give him another bath. It's cold at night and the child can't stand it!"
Mei Niang nodded: "My daughter-in-law knows!"
Mrs. Zheng reluctantly let go of her hand, and Heng'er immediately rushed to Mei Niang. Mei Niang hugged him, let him hug her neck, leaned on her shoulder to calm down for a while, then turned him over, took the hot handkerchief handed to him by Chunyue, and carefully wiped Heng'er's face.
Although Heng'er was still running a fever, he seemed to be in good spirits, much better than last night. Mei Niang put her face against his and felt hot, but the breath coming out of her nose was not very hot.
While Xu Junying was talking to Madam Zheng, Mei Niang asked Chunyue, "Did Heng'er drink water just now?"
Chunyue said: "During dinner, Heng ate half a bowl of porridge. He didn't drink any water because he had to take medicine."
Xia Lian brought the medicine, and Heng Er shut his mouth tightly when he saw it, and turned his head to hide in Mei Niang's arms. Mei Niang gently patted him and asked, "Then let's drink some water, okay?"
Heng'er nodded vigorously, but Madam Zheng stopped him: "You need to drink the decoction, but drinking water will dilute the medicinal properties, right?"
Mei Niang said, "Just drink a sip or two, it should be fine."
She asked Chunyue to bring half a bowl of warm water and feed it to Heng'er with a spoon. Heng'er was probably thirsty, and he drank it sweetly sip by sip. After a while, half a bowl of warm water was finished, but Heng'er was still not satisfied. He smacked his lips, which made Mei Niang and Chunyue laugh.
Mrs. Zheng saw that the medicine had cooled down, but she didn't move. She said angrily, "How can you get better just by drinking water without taking medicine?"
Mei Niang hurriedly said, "Don't worry, mother. People with fever are prone to thirst. You should give him water after a while... Feed him the medicine after half an hour!"
Zheng Meiyu came in. She had changed into a pink straight-collared jacket and a moon-white long skirt. She walked in front of Mei Niang, bent over to look at Heng'er, touched his face, and said softly, "It's so hot. Drink a bowl of cold water. Maybe you'll feel better soon!"
Mei Niang raised her eyes and glared at her. She also looked at Mei Niang, and there was a glimmer of provocation in her eyes.
Mei Niang remembered how she had tricked her into drinking cold water last night, smiled, and said, "It's indeed a good idea, but it's only suitable for Cousin Yu. Mother personally takes care of Heng'er's diet, how could she let him drink cold water!"
Mrs. Zheng turned around and asked, "Who wants some cold water?"
Zheng Meiyu said hurriedly: "No one wants to drink."
Mei Niang said, "Yes, Cousin Yu drank some cold water last night, and today she wanted to give Heng Er a bowl too!"
Madam Zheng glanced at Zheng Meiyu and said, "How can you give cold water to a sick person? If you don't understand, just follow and learn from me!"
Zheng Meiyu and Mei Niang looked at each other. Her sudden change made Mei Niang feel a little inexplicably uneasy.
Zheng Meiyu and Zhuang Yulan are different. If Zheng Meiyu wants to do something bad, she is definitely more ruthless than Zhuang Yulan.
Wang Mama and Cui Xi said that she had also tried to curry favor with Qin Mei Niang at first, just like she was currying favor with Zhuang Yulan now. What happened afterwards? Mei Niang had a secret meeting with Xu Junjie in the study room of the East Courtyard, and she was involved. Xu Junjie and she were close cousins, but she still sold them out. She wanted to replace Mei Niang as the mistress of Tsinghua Courtyard. She was outshined by Zhuang Yulan, and she was even willing to be a concubine. This was not a good person. She was definitely a paranoid girl with a bit of neurosis, a leper woman. If you mess with her, you have to have the upper hand, otherwise she will trample you to death.
Xia Lian heated up the medicine again, and Mei Niang coaxed Heng'er to feed him the medicine. Zheng Meiyu was too lazy to watch the mother and son chattering, so she walked to the table and sat with Xu Junying to drink tea and find topics to chat.
Mei Niang scooped up a spoonful of medicine with a spoon and put it to Heng'er's lips. Heng'er closed his lips tightly, his eyes were round and he stared at the spoonful of medicine without saying a word. Mei Niang didn't want to give him such a bitter medicine, so she asked tentatively:
"Mother, Heng'er doesn't want to drink..."
Madam Zheng said, "You have to drink it even if you don't want to. If you can't, just gulp it down. It's good if you can gulp it down a few times!"
When Zheng Meiyu heard this, she came over excitedly and said, "I'll hold his hands for you, Xia Lian will hold his feet, and then you can pour the water!"
Mei Niang rolled her eyes at her and said, "My Heng'er, you don't need to be fed. When you give birth to a son, you can do it like this!"
Mrs. Zheng said, "Which child likes to take medicine? There is no way to treat illness, you have to take medicine. Ying'er didn't get sick often when she was young, so she seldom took medicine. Juan'er and... took medicine by force!"
Her voice lowered: "Drink it! You will only cry for a while. The right thing to do is to cure the disease."
Madam Zheng stood up and went to the inner room while talking. Mei Niang looked at Heng'er in her arms and said, "We don't need to force-feed, okay, Heng'er?"
Heng'er snuggled in her arms, blinking his big eyes, without saying a word.
Zheng Meiyu moved Zhang Xiu's stool over, and with her back to Xu Junying, she sat opposite Mei Niang, kneeling close to each other, looking extremely intimate, with a half-smile on her face, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear:
"You just gave birth to him, but you don't know how to raise him. Aunt is the one who really knows how to raise him!"
Mei Niang looked at her indifferently and whispered, "Your aunt knows how to raise you. She raised you so well!"
Zheng Meiyu's face changed: "You, what did you say?"
"I'm talking, can't you hear me? I don't mind saying it again!"
"You! I meant well, but you were so... so...!"
"So I am the one who doesn't know how to be kind? Cousin Yu is sitting too close to me, and Heng'er is uncomfortable. What do you want to tell me? I actually want to have a good talk with Cousin Yu too. How about we find a time and place another day?"
"I just want to talk to my cousin's wife... No need to find a place, Tsinghua Court is great, I'll come to see you someday!"
Zheng Meiyu sneered: If she had forgotten everything, she could have continued to be the wife of the marquis, but she, who was full of secrets, was left alone. How long would she have to wait for her to come out? God is so unfair, so she has to fight for it herself! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)