Chapter 37: Awakening

  Cao's hand touched the scratch on her cheek, "hiss" sound, pretending to be in pain. She was about to open her mouth to complain when Shen Jinglin ordered Shen Zhihua: "In addition to the medical expenses and medicine fees, take 50 taels of silver from the account and buy two bottles of external wound medicine for them."

  Shen Zhihua nodded in agreement, watching Shen Jinglun leave. He turned back to see Cao's face filled with joy, and immediately understood that Cao had been reluctant to leave because of the few dozen taels of silver. He felt a sense of disdain, but thinking about it again, if not for Cao's "cooperation", how would they have had such a good show today?

  Thinking so, Shen Zhihua couldn't help but glance in the direction where Shen Jinglun had left, then loudly instructed the maidservants kneeling on the steps: "The master won't pursue this further, get up now and quickly attend to Miss He's medicine, serve Madame Cao with her ablutions, don't be slow, do you understand?"

  The two maids chimed in unison, "Yes." Cao's wife suppressed her delight and said to Shen Zhihua, "Don't worry, Shen. They're very suitable, all of them are good, really good."

  Shen Zhihua exchanged a few pleasantries with her, and just as she was about to make an excuse to leave, Cao Yiniang remembered the purpose of this trip and asked: "Housekeeper Shen, do you know about Mr. Nianxi's illness..."

  "The doctor is treating the young master." Shen Zhihua casually said, then continued: "Aunt Cao, please take good care of Miss He, I'll be leaving first." After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for Aunt Cao to respond and turned around to leave.

  He Huan lay on the soft couch, feeling as if she had just had a very long dream. In the dream, she learned that she was pregnant and was overjoyed; she stroked her belly, day and night, eagerly awaiting the birth of her son; in order to have a smooth delivery, every day, Zilan supported her, taking a walk under the corridor, regardless of wind or rain; for the sake of her son's healthy growth, no matter how severe the vomiting was, she still swallowed food mouthful by mouthful, eating and vomiting, vomiting and eating again...

  In the darkness, He Huan only felt tired. Since losing her father, she had to comfort her mother, take care of her younger brother, and be constantly on guard against her uncle's family. After marrying into the Shen family, she carefully responded to Shen Jinglun. She always told herself that everything would get better in the future.

  In the future, this is her goal for herself. Without this goal, she probably wouldn't be able to smile again. She always smiled at every day, even if suddenly transformed into He Huan, she quickly accepted the fact and strived for "the future". But who knows how tired she was behind her smiling face.

  By the bedside, Bai Shu was just about to help her mistress sit up when she saw two rows of clear tears sliding down He Huan's eyes. "Miss, what's wrong?" Bai Shu hurriedly used a handkerchief to wipe away her tears and softly called out: "Miss, wake up, it's time for your medicine."

  He Huan heard Bai Rou's voice, but she didn't want to open her eyes. Her son was dying soon, what "future" did she have? If her son died, even if she remarried Shen Jing Lun, what would be the point?

  "Miss, why are you crying all the time? Wake up!" Bai Mou also started crying.

  Cao changed her clothes, washed her face, and took some silver from Shen Zhihua. She entered the room with a happy expression, only to see Bai Miao crying and sitting on the bed. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" she scolded in an unhappy tone. In the past, one of the reasons she had chased away He Huan's servants was that they always looked so gloomy, as if they had lost their parents.

  Bai Mianxin anxiously said: "Aunt Cao, the young lady has been crying and can't be woken up no matter what. Why don't you invite Manager Shen over..."

  "It's just this matter, no need to trouble the Shen family." Cao walked to the bedside, rolled up her sleeves, sat down on the bed with a thud, grabbed He Huan's shoulders and helped her sit up, letting her lean against herself. She looked up at Bai Zhi and asked: "Where is the medicine?"

  On the side, a maid sent by the Shen family picked up the medicine on the small table and pinched He Huan's chin, forcing her to open her mouth. The maid saw that she had scooped up a spoonful of thick black liquid, brought it to He Huan's mouth, and slowly fed in the medicine. As soon as the spoon was empty, the medicine dripped from the corner of He Huan's mouth.

  "What a nuisance!" Cao grumbled, still pinching He Huan's chin with one hand, while taking the medicine bowl from the maid's hands with the other and slowly pouring it into He Huan's mouth.

  He Huan could hear the sounds around her and feel Cao's movements, but she just felt a headache and heart fatigue, not wanting to open her eyes.

  As the warm liquid poured into He Huan's mouth, she was reluctant to swallow it down, but the thick and bitter medicinal liquid continued to flow in incessantly.

  "Cough! Cough!"

  In a coughing fit, He Huan couldn't help but open her eyes. She wanted to push Cao Shi away, but she was too weak all over and couldn't exert any strength.

  "Awake? Good that you're awake." Cao didn't think much of it, stretched out her hand to put the medicine bowl in front of He Huan, urging: "Now that you're awake, hurry up and drink the medicine. Shen Da Ye has prepared a horse carriage, after drinking the medicine we'll head back home..."

  "Boom!"

  He Huan waved his hand and knocked over the medicine bowl in Cao's hand, saying word by word: "I want to see Mr. Shen."

  "Grandpa Shen is busy right now. Let's hurry back, your aunt and Jing Ge are waiting."

  "I want to see Shen Jinglun." He Huan repeated. Her body trembled slightly, her whole body feeling both cold and hot.

  She suddenly remembered what happened before she fainted. When she was still Lin Xiyuan, Shen Jinglun promised to protect her and their child. Why did he break his promise? He said that she only needed to think of him, look at him, and not worry about other things, why didn't he do it?!

  The maid of the Shen family bowed to He Huan and said respectfully, "Miss Biao, at this moment, the doctor is taking Mr. Nian Xi's pulse, and Master is accompanying Mr. Nian Xi."

  As soon as she heard the two words "Nian Xi", He Xuan's face instantly withered like a fresh flower, and she felt herself suffocating. "Nian Xi, how is he?" Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of hearing an unfavorable answer.

  "Right, how is Young Master Nian Xi doing? We heard the news and rushed over in a hurry." She let out a deep sigh and said with emotion: "Elder Madam and our family's eldest young miss are cousins, Elder Madam just left, and then the young master fell ill, could it be that they have a heart connection between mother and son..."

  "Don't talk nonsense!" He Huan interrupted her unpleasantly, and softly told the maid standing beside Gong Li: "Are they in Weilan Courtyard? Can you tell Mr. Shen for me that I just want to take a look from afar, I just want to know if he's doing well."

  "Miss Bai, it's not that the servant is intentionally making things difficult for you, but Master has given orders early this morning to close the door and refuse all visitors from today on, no one is allowed to see anyone."

  "Closed door, no guests." He Huan smiled bleakly. She thought everything was still in time, so she quickly accepted He Huan's identity and wholeheartedly returned to her father and son. She told herself that what she wanted wasn't just a day or two, but a lifetime. In fact, she was wrong. Shen Nianxi was her son, and she didn't want to delay for a moment; she wanted to be by his side every hour of every day.

  He Xuan weakly closed his eyes and asked again: "What illness did Young Master Shen contract?"

  The maid replied according to Shen Zhihua's instructions: "The doctor is still treating the young master."

  He Huan didn't ask again. She wanted to see her son, she was eager to fly to his side, but last night's words were too impulsive. When she publicly claimed to be Lin Xiyue, not only could she not help herself return to her son's side, but she would also get into trouble. And what she said in front of the Shen family gate was also wrong.

  Her son was ill, she didn't want to wait any longer, she wanted to have a showdown with Shen Jinglu, but the basis of this matter, she had to see him, in order to prove to him that she was Lin Xiyuan.

  He Xuan opened his eyes and calmly asked: "Has the doctor prescribed medicine? Which doctor wrote the prescription?"

  The maid shook her head and said: "This slave servant doesn't know."

  He Huan glanced at her. She was the second-class maid of the Shen family, named Xiangcao. Although she wasn't as favored as Zilan or Sizhu, she still had some prestige among the lower servants. Probably because of her previous actions, Shen Zhihua suspected something and sent her to keep watch here.

  "The medicine was accidentally knocked over by me, I'm really sorry." He Huan forced a smile. Xuan Cao hurriedly said that she would go prepare again. He Huan said "thank you" and took the opportunity to dismiss her.

  When they were alone in the house, she asked Cao Shi and Bai Shao: "About Mr. Shen's illness, have you heard anything?" Before she finished speaking, she couldn't help but smile bitterly. Mr. Shen disliked it the most when servants talked too much, what could Cao Shi and Bai Shao hear? At this moment, she was in the Shen family, only a door away from her son, yet it felt like they were worlds apart.

  "Rural Bride" by Hua Wushuang. Book number: 2314993. A powerful businesswoman is reborn as a poor rural girl, and see how she quietly cultivates flowers and vegetables in the countryside, leading her whole family to prosperity. [bookid=2314993，bookname="Rural Bride"]