"Was there only one person?"
"Where did you run into him?"
"How old is he? Is he exceptionally tall?"
Lanxi's face was pale, and the questions tumbled out of his mouth one after another.
His trembling hands and anxious expression all revealed that something was unusual, but he couldn't care less at this moment.
He desperately wanted an answer.
Had he been discovered?
Had Gong Linjue already found his way here?
If his identity was exposed and it implicated the Song family, what would he do?
Should he flee or fight to the death? They shouldn't have seen him that day.
Seeing his flustered state, Song Shixue was absolutely certain that Lanxi was hiding something.
His face had changed at the mention of the Shuobei diplomatic mission. Could it be related to them?
"There was only one person;"
"I ran into him not long after leaving the city, about three or four miles out;"
"He said he was in his forties, not very tall, about the same as Fushun."
"When entering the city, he was following behind the Prince of Shuobei."
Lanxi's tense nerves relaxed slightly, but his mind was a mess as he lowered his head in thought.
It wasn't Gong Linjue, but that deputy envoy?
Why would he appear alone outside the city? Was it for him or for something else?
"Lanxi, are you hiding something from me?" Song Shixue asked calmly.
Lanxi looked blankly at Song Shixue, his hands hanging by his sides as if drained of all strength and rendered numb.
He forced a stiff twitch of his lips.
"No, how could this servant dare hide anything from the Second Miss? I was just a little surprised to hear that someone was struck by lightning."
Stared at by Song Shixue's calm eyes, Lanxi guiltily averted his gaze to the door after saying this.
"The rain seems to have let up a bit. The Qu family's child is still waiting. How about the Second Miss heads over now?"
Song Shixue lowered her eyelids in disappointment, stood up, and said, "In that case, let's go now."
The pattering light rain was blown about wildly by the wind.
The maid walked on the right, holding most of the umbrella over Song Shixue's head.
On the left, Lanxi held an umbrella at an angle to prevent the rain from blowing onto Song Shixue.
The Qu family's house was built of bamboo and thatch. Because of leaks, two wooden buckets were placed on the floor to catch the water.
Seeing Song Shixue enter, the woman watching over the child by the bed hurried over to greet her.
"For the Second Miss to make this trip in such heavy rain, this common woman is shedding tears of gratitude."
Lanxi looked around the room and saw no one else besides the child on the bed.
"Where is your husband?"
Woman: "It's a bit cold with the rain, and we haven't bought charcoal for the house this year, so he went to borrow some."
Song Shixue walked to the bed.
The boy lying on the bed looked about eleven or twelve years old. His pale lips were dry and peeling, and his eyes were closed as if he was asleep.
Song Shixue reached out and felt his forehead, cheeks, and neck a few times.
He was so cold he was breaking out in a cold sweat; even his neck was chilly.
She took a tongue depressor out of her open medical box, then pinched the boy's chin to pry his mouth open a crack and inserted the tongue depressor, pressing down firmly.
Seeing this, the woman hurriedly said, "Half a month ago he started coughing and said his throat hurt. He was spitting phlegm all the time, and speaking felt like being cut with a knife. A few days later, he started running a fever."
"Manager Chen found a doctor to come take a look. He took the medicine and the fever went down, but his throat still hurt. Later on, he didn't even dare to speak."
Song Shixue nodded and removed the tongue depressor.
"His throat is severely inflamed and is already bleeding. We need to prescribe medicine to stop the cough immediately."
"Cough, cough, cough." The boy suddenly opened his eyes and began to cough violently.
Liquid surged in his throat. He tried to lean over the edge of the bed to throw up, but he didn't make it in time.
Song Shixue stood up to dodge, but she was a step too late.
Vomit containing yellow phlegm and white rice sprayed onto her cloak, and a sour smell spread through the room.
Qu Ya came through the door and saw his son had thrown up all over Song Shixue. He hurriedly put down the charcoal and walked over quickly.
"My son is gravely ill and has soiled the Second Miss's clothes. Please forgive us, Second Miss. We can pay whatever silver is needed for compensation."
The woman looked with difficulty at the cloak on Song Shixue, which obviously did not come cheap.
How much silver would it cost to pay for it?
Song Shixue untied her cloak and handed it to her maid. "It's fine. It just needs a wash when we get back. No need to compensate."
She walked over to a table with a crippled leg, which was propped up with a stone underneath.
She had known before coming that the patient had caught a chill, so she had brought a complete set of medicinal herbs.
After dividing and wrapping the herbs, she first handed Qu Ya three paper packets.
"This is the medicine for the first three days. Take one dose daily, divided into morning, noon, and night. It must be taken after meals. Pay attention to a bland diet with less oil and salt so as not to irritate the throat."
After Song Shixue finished speaking, she handed the other four packets to Qu Ya.
"Three days later, when the cough stops, the yellow phlegm turns white, and the throat pain is greatly relieved, he can then take this prescription. This is a four-day supply. Once he finishes it all, he should be just about cured."
"If he hasn't recovered, have Manager Lan send someone to let me know."
Clutching the medicine packets, Qu Ya bowed to Song Shixue in thanks. "Thank you so much, Second Miss. How much silver is the consultation fee plus the herbs in total?"
Song Shixue closed her medical box. "You are people employed by my Song family. My elder sister said that the medical expenses for internal staff and their families are all reduced by thirty percent. Calculating it, the total comes to four hundred and sixty-three copper coins."
With the Song family's current status, Song Shixue didn't need to go out and treat people to make money, but she needed practical experience to improve her medical skills and expertise. Therefore, as long as someone came to her, she generally wouldn't refuse if she had the time.
Qu Ya looked at his wife, who was rubbing the boy's back with her hand. Seeing this, she hurriedly took out the silver and handed it to Song Shixue's maid.
Fortunately, working on the estate nowadays provided wages, otherwise over four hundred copper coins might not have been so easy for them to scrape together.
After leaving the Qu family and returning to the estate, Chen Fu had already prepared the rose tea.
Song Shixue glanced at Lanxi and instructed Hehua, "Take the floral tea, we are returning to the manor."
Lanxi looked up at her with an astonished expression.
"Lunch is almost ready. Won't the Second Miss eat before leaving?"
Seeing him acting as if nothing had happened, anger surged in Song Shixue's heart.
"No need, I'll go back to eat."
Seeing Song Shixue walking out, Hehua hurriedly picked up the floral tea and followed.
Watching the carriage gradually move away, Lanxi stood there for a long time with a dim expression.
After returning to the manor, Song Shixue immediately ran into Song Jinzhao's courtyard calling for her elder sister.
Song Anhao's personal guard, Yao Ying, worried that she would wake up her master, hurriedly lowered her voice and said, "The County Princess is at the martial arts training ground."
Song Shixue quickly turned and headed for the martial arts training ground; Hehua, holding the umbrella, almost couldn't keep up.
Light rain drifted in the air, the moisture turning into a misty drizzle, and visibility was somewhat low.
Inside the martial arts training ground, Song Jinzhao was holding an enhanced crossbow, standing under the eaves and shooting arrows at the target in the courtyard.
Qingshuang, standing to the side, was quickly throwing copper coins into the air, and the sound of the arrowheads scraping against the copper coins rang out incessantly.
The bullseye was completely filled with short arrows piercing through copper coins, even more densely packed than the quills on a hedgehog.
