"Fourth Madam!" She turned around and straightened up, looking very happy. Her gaze shifted, and she saw Ruan Jingliu beside Xiqiu, blurting out: "Jingliu?"

Ruan Jingliu nodded slightly as a greeting, and Xiqiu walked over with a smile: "Seeing you in good spirits, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief." She went up and said, "Please, don’t get up!"

"Really, I’m being rude." Madam Zhou, following the words, did not get up again, leaned back, and pointed to Nanny Zhou: "Quick, pour tea for Fourth Madam and Jingliu." She then turned to Xiqiu with a smile: "Please, have a seat."

Xiqiu and Ruan Jingliu sat side by side, Xiqiu looking at Madam Zhou said: "Yesterday, Nanny Zhou told me that you had the Imperial Physician look at you. What exactly is the illness? It made my heart race even now." She turned to Ruan Jingliu and said: "As soon as Nanny Zhou left yesterday, I invited Sister Jingliu back to the mansion and told her about your situation. She decided to come with me to see you."

Madam Zhou glanced gratefully at Xiqiu, then looked towards Ruan Jingliu: "It’s an old ailment, something that lingered after I gave birth to Bohan. It’s been on and off over the years, and I didn’t pay much attention to it. Now, as I grow older, it’s gotten worse." She looked at Ruan Jingliu: "... I didn’t expect you to come." She sighed a little. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Ruan Jingliu continued the conversation: "Let me feel your pulse." She got up and went over, Madam Zhou was a bit hesitant, and Xiqiu smiled and nodded, "Let Sister Jingliu take a look, her medical skills are trustworthy."

"Of course, it’s just too much trouble for her." She extended her right hand onto the kang table, Ruan Jingliu felt her pulse, her brows furrowing tighter and tighter, after a long time she opened her mouth to ask: "Was your delivery very difficult?"

Madam Zhou immediately nodded, "Yes, it was a difficult birth for two days, almost lost my life." After pondering for a while, Ruan Jingliu concluded: "This kind of illness requires careful nurturing, but it’s already past the best period."

It seemed to be a gynecological problem. At this time, without targeted Western medicine, using traditional Chinese medicine to nurse it would be slower, and if there were any delays, it would be even harder to recover.

Xiqiu felt a chill in her heart as she looked at Madam Zhou, only to see Madam Zhou’s face was calm without any disappointment or surprise, while Nanny Zhou at the door had begun to sob quietly.

"Is there any other way?" Xiqiu knew that in traditional Chinese medicine, diagnosis in gynecology cannot be as specific as identifying a particular organ. Sometimes the medicine’s effect is insufficient, and sometimes it doesn’t fit the symptoms, with many possibilities... However, gynecology wasn’t Ruan Jingliu’s specialty, so she looked at her somewhat uncertain.

Ruan Jingliu also furrowed her brows, thought for a moment, and replied: "I can’t make a diagnosis, just a general assumption." She then looked at Madam Zhou: "It’s not as serious as you think, avoid fatigue, avoid stress, and with medication, it’s not impossible to cure." She went to the table, took out pen and ink from the medicine box, wrote a prescription, and handed it to the tearfully joyous Nanny Zhou who had come in: "Follow this prescription to get the medicine, the instructions are on it."

"Is it really treatable?" Nanny Zhou trembled with excitement, reaching out to take the prescription, then looked at Madam Zhou: "Madam..." Tears fell in torrents.

Madam Zhou also breathed a sigh of relief, and laughed lightly: "Listen to Jingliu, go quickly."

"Okay, okay!" Nanny Zhou was incoherent: "I will go right away." She then hurriedly left the room.

Ruan Jingliu packed up the medicine box with an expressionless face, then returned to sit beside Xiqiu, who looked at her somewhat surprised, feelings of doubt arising slightly in her heart.

"Jingliu, thank you so much." Everyone has an instinct to survive when facing life, Madam Zhou was also very happy: "If I can really recover, it’s something I wouldn’t dare to imagine."

Ruan Jingliu bowed her head to drink tea, while Xiqiu laughed and said: "You all are like family, no need to be so polite. As long as your health improves, both Sister Jingliu and we would be happy."

Madam Zhou nodded repeatedly.

Xiqiu also took a sip of tea, glancing at Ruan Jingliu, who was drinking her tea without any extra expression, causing her to slightly furrow her brows.

"Fourth Madam." Madam Zhou said with a smile: "I invited you over specially because I want to ask for your help with something."

Xiqiu hesitated, put down the tea cup in her hand, and said solemnly: "Madam, please speak."

"I’ll go for a walk." Ruan Jingliu stood up, glanced at Xiqiu and then at Madam Zhou, and without waiting for their response, turned and lifted the curtain to leave, Xiqiu smiled at Madam Zhou... Ruan Jingliu was just that kind of temperament, she never concealed her emotions, and when she didn’t want to listen, she just got up and left. It seemed like she didn’t take others’ opinions into account, but in reality, she was very considerate of others.

Madam Zhou also chuckled: "She still has that temperament!" Evidently, she was familiar with Ruan Jingliu.

"Here’s the situation." Madam Zhou straightened up: "My health is hanging by a thread, a day longer or shorter, eventually I cannot escape death." She paused and sighed: "In this life, I actually have nothing to worry about. If I die, I die, but I can’t put my mind at ease about Bohan. He’s still young, and once I close my eyes and let go, he’ll be all alone in the world, with no one to know whether he’s hot or cold. Every time I think about it..." She pressed a handkerchief to the corner of her eyes and began to cry softly.

Xiqiu sighed, got up, and sat next to Madam Zhou, speaking gently: "Sister Jingliu just told you not to overthink... As long as you focus on recovering, once you regain your health, there won’t be any problems, you should ease your mind a little."

Madam Zhou cried a bit, wiped away her tears, took a break, and sighed heavily, looking at Xiqiu: "Please don’t laugh at me." Xiqiu shook her head gently, Madam Zhou paused for a moment: "Seeing you just makes me feel close, I don’t know why..."

"I feel the same." Xiqiu smiled and said: "Perhaps it’s fate."

Madam Zhou smiled faintly and nodded: "But every time I see you, I feel a sense of guilt in my heart." Xiqiu was puzzled, not knowing where her guilt came from. Madam Zhou continued: "At first, when Bohan was betrothed to the Fourth Miss, I was genuinely happy and inquired from many sides. I’m not going to lie to you, I even sneaked a look at her once. Later, I saw you: virtuous and dignified, I knew that the daughters raised in the Tong Mansion were all excellent, and my anticipation grew. I thought that when the Fourth Miss marries in, I would get along well with her, and as her mother-in-law, I would not interfere in their affairs."

Xiqiu said nothing and quietly listened, Madam Zhou continued: "But who would have thought that Lord Chen and Madam Chen would leave so suddenly, leaving Zhi’er alone in the world. Lord Chen had a kindness toward Bohan, and we couldn’t just let Zhi’er suffer alone, so we brought her into the mansion... But who could imagine..." She showed an embarrassed expression: "Zhi’er was clever since childhood, and I was very fond of her, but if she were to marry as my daughter-in-law, I would feel a bit... But who knew, she and Bohan developed feelings for each other over time, and Bohan would..." She seemed unable to continue: "That rascal was momentarily besotted, not knowing that girl already had other intentions..."