The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 77: Changes in Rongguo Mansion 2
Outside Rongqing Hall
Jia Zheng had lost his usual gentle and refined demeanor. He paced back and forth in front of the door impatiently, stopping from time to time to look at the moon gate of the courtyard.

Suddenly, a woman's voice came from outside: "Here he comes! The doctor is here!"

Before he finished speaking, Jia She came in person, accompanied by the director of the Imperial Hospital.

Jia Zhen, carrying the medical bag, followed closely behind with Jia Lian and Jia Rong.

Jia Zheng hurried down the steps and went to meet him.

Jia Zheng bowed deeply to Li Yuanzheng and said, "Thank you for your help, Li Yuanzheng."

Li Yuanzheng saw Jia Zheng and immediately showed mixed emotions, but he didn't know what to say. He sighed and said, "Thanks to the Empress, the Emperor sent me personally."

"Yes, yes, please come in, Mr. Li!" Jia Zheng didn't have time to think about it.

Two maids had already opened the curtain in front of the door and were inviting people to come in. At this time, Jia Baoyu came out from the inner room to greet them.

Seeing Jia Zheng following in, Jia She said unhappily: "What are you doing in here? Do you want to piss off the old lady to death?" Then he walked towards the inner room.

Jia Zheng's eyes became moist, he was absent-minded for a while, then turned and walked out.

In the bedroom, Grandmother Jia was still lying on the bed, with her eyes closed, her teeth clenched, and her face as yellow as wax.

Yuanyang wiped her tears and wrung out a hot towel to wipe the sweat from Lady Jia's forehead.

Except for Qin Keqing who was bedridden, all the women from the Ning and Rong mansions were there. Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai also came, and they all wiped their eyes and blew their noses with handkerchiefs.

Zhou Ruijia came in: "The imperial physician is here."

Madam Xing and Madam Wang led everyone to hide behind a screen.

There was a sound of footsteps, and Jia She, Jia Zhen, Jia Lian, Jia Rong and Jia Baoyu led Li Yuanzheng in.

No one cared about etiquette at this moment. Li Yuanzheng sat down on the stool beside the bed and placed three fingers on Lady Jia's wrist.

Jia Baoyu stood beside the bed, wiping his tears.

Jia She, Jia Zhen and others also had worried looks on their faces, staring closely at Li Yuanzheng taking Lady Jia's pulse.

Li Yuanzheng loosened his hand and said, "Don't worry." He took out a small cloth bag filled with silver needles from his medical bag and said, "Fire!"

Jia She shouted loudly: "Fire!"

Yuanyang hurriedly brought a candlestick from the table under the windowsill, and Zhou Rui's wife brought a flint and tinder from the outside, but they couldn't light it with both hands.

Jia Zhen: "Give it to me!" He snatched the flint and tinder from Zhou Rui's hand and lit it immediately, then lit the candle on the candlestick and handed it to Li Yuanzheng.

Jia She glanced at Zhou Ruijia and blurted out two words: "Get out."

Zhou Ruijia was confused, but had to go out.

Li Yuanzheng took out a silver needle and burned it over the candle flame. He then took out a cotton ball dipped in white medicine from his medical bag, wiped the silver needle, and inserted the needle into Lady Jia's philtrum.

Grandmother Jia's eyelids twitched.

Li Yuanzheng took Lady Jia's pulse again, and after a while, he said to Yuanyang, "Take out the hairpin from the lady's bun, push aside the hair on the top of her head, and expose the Baihui acupoint." As he spoke, he stood up and took out a roll of moxa from his medical bag, lit it over the candlelight, aimed it at the Baihui acupoint, and then quickly retracted the moxa.

Everyone gasped and looked at Lady Jia's face.

Grandmother Jia's teeth loosened and she slowly let out a long breath, which was accompanied by a deep sigh!
"Mother!" Jia She stepped forward and held Grandmother Jia's hand.

Grandmother Jia opened her eyes and looked at him with a sad look on her face. Her first words were: "I am too ashamed to go to the underworld to see your father."

"My son is unfilial and selfish." Jia She's voice choked and tears flowed down.

Grandmother Jia held his hand tightly and said, "I don't blame you, I don't blame you. I have wronged you for so many years."

Jia She knelt down with a thud, and said with tears in his eyes: "If my son had not caused such a terrible disaster, my father would not have died with hatred, and the Jia family would not have been forced into a desperate situation."

"Lord En!" Li Yuanzheng interrupted him with a shout.

The bedroom immediately fell silent.

Li Yuanzheng took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was a close call. He almost exposed the scandal of the royal family. He didn't know what happened to the daughter of the deposed crown prince and that woman. Was she still alive?
Only then did Jia Mu see Li Yuanzheng standing beside her: "Doctor Li."

"Madam." Doctor Li smiled and slowly pulled out the silver needle from Jia's philtrum. He said, "Madam has already caught a cold, and now she is suffering from a heart attack due to anxiety. She needs to be taken care of. First, take a few pills of Eight Treasures Ink, and then take a decoction to replenish her health."

Grandmother Jia: "Thank you for your hard work." Then she said to Jia Zhen: "Zhen'er, please ask Doctor Li to come out for tea."

Jia Zhen replied, "Yes." He stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation: "I'm sorry to trouble you, Dean Li. Please come to the living room." Dean Li had already noticed that there were many women dressed in red and green and wearing precious hairpins and pearls behind the screen. After giving a few more instructions, he followed Jia Zhen and others out.

Grandmother Jia looked at Jia She and asked, "Why is he here?"

Jia She: "Li Yuan came here on orders from the emperor."

"Oh?" There was a little light in Grandmother Jia's eyes.

Jia She: "My son was worried about his mother, so he went to the palace to ask for an imperial decree. He wanted to ask a chief physician to check his mother's pulse. The emperor was in Kunning Palace at the time, and it was the queen who spoke for him."

Grandmother Jia nodded, and the Queen did it for Li Hu's sake.

Jia She hesitated for a moment and whispered, "I didn't expect it to get to this point. I thought my second brother would go and ask me for advice. I didn't mean to embarrass him. Really, I can swear!"

Grandmother Jia gently closed her eyes.

Jia She was silent for a moment, then he kowtowed heavily on the ground and said, "I will not disturb you, my mother, as you are about to rest."

Grandmother Jia opened her eyes again and asked, "Do you think the emperor still remembers what happened back then?"

Jia She was startled at first, then he smiled bitterly. Who could have thought that the cowardly prince who was beaten to tears by him would usurp the throne. If he hadn't killed the prince, his plan would have succeeded, and he wouldn't have taken the blame for the prince in vain!

Grandmother Jia understood: "Okay, you can go down."

Jia She: "Yes." He kowtowed again, then stood up and walked out.

Grandmother Jia: "Wait a moment."

Jia She walked to the door and stopped.

Grandmother Jia paused and said, "Let the second son come in."

Jia She was silent for a moment, then replied, "Yes," and walked out quickly.

Grandmother Jia sighed and looked at the screen: "You all go back."

Mrs. Xing and Mrs. Wang led the crowd out from behind the screen. Knowing that Lady Jia had something to discuss with Jia Zheng, they said a few words and then left the bedroom through the back door.

On the other side, Jia Zheng saw Jia She coming out and went to greet him.

Jia Zheng: "How is it?"

Jia She: "The old lady is calling you, come in." Then he was about to leave.

Jia Zheng: "Brother, I..."

Jia She looked at him and said, "You! Alas~" and walked straight to the front yard.

Jia Zheng sighed softly, turned and walked into Rongqing Hall.

In the front hall, Li Yuanzheng handed the prepared prescription to Jia Zhen, saying, "Don't get angry anymore, don't be anxious anymore!"

Jia Zhen replied, "Yes." He held the prescription and approached Jia Lian, and they both looked at it.

Jia Baoyu and Jia Rong both leaned forward.

At this time, Jia She came in, bowed deeply to Li Yuanzheng, and said, "Thank you for your concern, Li Yuanzheng!"

Li Yuanzheng stood up and said, "Our two families are old friends, there's no need for that."

Jia She said to Jia Lian, "Make a bowl of my Longjing tea for Li Yuanzheng."

Li Yuanzheng waved his hand and said, "I have to go back to the palace to report to the emperor, so I won't have any tea."

Jia She nodded: "Okay, I'll take Li Yuanzheng away."

Li Yuanzheng interrupted him and said, "Hurry up and pick the medicine, boil it and send it to the lady." After saying that, he walked out with the medical bag.

Jia She: "Zhen'er, send Li Yuanzheng away for me."

Jia Zhen: "Yes." He hurriedly handed the prescription to Jia She and quickly chased after him.

Jia Lian, Jia Baoyu and Jia Rong also followed him out.

As they walked out, Lai Da, the chief steward of Rongguo Mansion, came in hurriedly and reported to Jia She, "Master, General Li and Miss Lin are here."

(End of this chapter)