Chapter 137

Chapter 137 – The Little Boy In Distress

The little boy was lying on the ground, shaking uncontrollably. He looked to be only five or six years old. His cheeks were red, he seemed to be in pain; his whole body convulsed pitifully while his mouth foamed.

Is this seizure?

Thoroughly startled by the sight that greeted her, Ye Zhen quickly knelt beside him and lifted his head, leaning it to the side. She let him spit the foam from his mouth. Then, she pulled a silver handkerchief and she shoved it into his mouth gently, untied his collar to let him breathe with ease.

What should I do? 

Ye Zhen was a little anxious. Her medical skills were still lacking!

Now, she would have to rely on her sister’s memory—her sister who had not really treated anyone before!

“Third Miss, what should I do?” Dai Mei, who was then kneeling beside her, whispered.

Hearing the unmistakable murmurs around her, Ye Zhen looked up from the little boy and gazed at the people who continually gathered around them. Some pointed at her and seemed to have recognized her. It was then that she realized that her face was not hidden by her veiled hat!

But there was no time to worry about this. Training her attention solely on the child, she found that the boy had gradually calmed down.

“First, let us help him to the carriage, maybe his family will come soon.” She instructed.

Someone nearby said, “That child seems to be Imperial Physician Qi’s grandson.”

The words were loud enough for her to hear but Ye Zhen ignored what the man’s words as she had grown worried about the child who was currently burning with fever. She remembered what she had seen in Empress Qi Yanling’s medical books. His fever could have caused convulsions. If he doesn’t cool down in time, it might not be good for his brain.

“Is there any wine in the carriage?” Ye Zhen asked Dai Mei in an almost frantic voice.

Dai Mei nodded. “Yes!”

The wine could help ward off the cold.

Ye Zhen asked Quan Fu to hold the child in his arms and they went back to the carriage. There, she took a wine previously warmed by the carriage’s burner.

Then, she rubbed the little boy’s neck and thigh with the liquor. These were things she read recently in Empress Qi’s book. It seemed baffling though for even if she only read them once, she was able to recall the procedures quite perfectly.

From this, she found that after her rebirth, besides the gift of the lingquan in her palm, she was also given a sharp mind which was of great help to her.

It was not until the temperature of the little boy had lowered that she asked Dai Mei to wrap him fully again with his clothes.

Ye Zhen’s forehead was already dripping with sweat by the time she had finished, and the voices around the carriage were still buzzing—people asking who she was, if she was even a physician and if she would dare carry a stranger’s child to her carriage.

“Third Miss, he is waking up!” Dai Mei saw the little boy’s eyelids move and cried happily.

“Kindly pour me a glass of water.” Ye Zhen’s mouth turned up, clearly elated and relieved. “Then ask around about this child’s parents.”

Dai Mei handed the cup to Ye Zhen and got off the carriage with a triumphant smile. The child probably didn’t live too far away. He had probably just run out of his house to play.

Ye Zhen took a sip of the water and watched the little boy move uncomfortably a few times.

He must still be hurting…

She took a deep breath and not long after, a drop of lingquan oozed from her palm which she carefully mixed with her cup of water.

The little boy finally came to consciousness and Ye Zhen was quick to place the cup near his mouth, assisting his upper body to a sitting position. He was probably thirsty for as soon as the water slipped to his mouth, he gulped desperately, draining the contents in a go.

Only then did he open his eyes.

“Finally awake?” Ye Zhen asked with a smile, “Do you want more?”

The little boy opened a pair of good-looking dark eyes, looked at Ye Zhen with some doubts, and gently nodded his head.

Ye Zhen poured him another glass of water. Again, he drank it all in one breath.

“What’s your name and where do you live?” Ye Zhen asked in a tiny voice, coaxing the child to speak to her comfortably.

The little boy just puckered his lips and looked unwilling to speak.

Ye Zhen felt strange, the boy won’t just speak!

Taking his silence as a sure sign of discomfort around strangers such as her, she smiled at him softly and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll have someone take you home.”

To her bewilderment, the little boy shook his head vigorously without saying a word, and his dark eyes began to shed tears. His tears poured but not a sound came from his lips.

Ye Zhen was surprised. Is this little boy mute?

Amidst her musings, Dai Mei came back with news. “Third Miss, we have found his family!”

*

Ye Zhen lifted the curtain and saw that standing behind Dai Mei was a woman in her fifties. She was dressed in simple and clean clothes. She looked like a commoner, but she bore a noble air.

If the person in front of her was of noble birth, she should have known her, but Ye Zhen was clueless as to who she was. Presumably, she came from other places, or perhaps, she had been in the capital for long but rarely showed up at banquets held at the Ye Mansion.

“Thank you for saving my grandson. Qi Family will certainly remember this.” The woman looked at Ye Zhen and then to her grandson who was sitting inside the carriage, rubbing his puffed eyes.

Seeing him well, the former tension in her eyes eased and she thanked Ye Zhen, sincerely grateful.

Qi? 

Ye Zhen’s heart skipped a beat but she managed to smile calmly. “It was nothing. I just helped him cool down. Madam should pay more attention next time.”

Qi Jin looked at Ye Zhen in amazement. “Does the miss know medicine?”

“Only a little.” Ye Zhen answered.

In her mind, she had already guessed the identity of the person she was talking to—it seems that the other party was proficient in medicine!

In the capital, those who bore the surname Qi were most likely medical practitioners. Although the Qi Clan, which rose to the peak of nobility in the previous dynasty and lost their luster when the new one arrived, their medical skills had always been the most exquisite.

Because of this, Ye Zhen was a little excited. After the change of dynasty, almost all the members of the Qi Family as well as the Huangfu Family disappeared from the sight of the social circles of the capital. Emperor Tai Zong¹ ordered people to find them for a long time, but they could not be found.

Nonetheless, the woman and the child were relatives of the woman she looked up to—Empress Duanhui, Qi Yanling!

Qi Jin gave Ye Zhen a grateful look and held out her hand towards the little boy inside. “Xi-er, come to Grandmother.”

The little boy put down his cup, climbed out of the carriage, and tightly hugged Qi Jin’s neck.

“Today, because my grandson is still ill, I cannot thank you enough. I will personally find you another day to offer my token of gratitude for saving his life.”

Qi Jin was skilled in medicine so she naturally knew how dangerous her grandson’s disease was. If it weren’t for Ye Zhen, he must have been dead already.

Ye Zhen said with a smile, “It’s really nothing. Anyone who knows some medical skills will try to save him.”

Qi Jin glanced at the inscription on the carriage. She probably guessed the identity of the other party because her face slowly conformed into shock. “You are Third Miss of the Lu Family.”

“How did you guess?” Ye Zhen asked in surprise, but she didn’t say a word further.

Qi Jin smiled faintly. “Miss will know in two days.”

Third Miss Lu had become famous in the Academy for Women, thus it was impossible for Qi Jin, who taught in the academy, to not hear of it! Since this Lu Miss knew some medicine, who else would she be rather than the famous Third Miss Lu?

Ye Zhen was utterly baffled, the woman spoke vaguely but when she wanted to clear her confusion, Qi Jin was already leaving with her grandson without even dropping her full name.

“Farewell, Third Miss Lu.”