Chapter 43: Master Yu Has Met with Misfortune

When Ning Qian slowly came to, dawn was already breaking. She rubbed her eyes and couldn’t help but groan, “My head hurts so much.” Such was the consequence of a hangover.

“You’re awake?” Yu Ziqi placed a hand on her forehead, pressing gently at her brow. “I won’t let you drink so much again. Rest a while longer, I’ll have them prepare some soup to help with the hangover.”

Ning Qian nodded, let out a wide yawn, turned her head, and drifted back to sleep. Watching her sleep so peacefully, like a kitten, he couldn’t help but smile indulgently. He tucked the blanket around her and rose to leave the bed.

Just as he reached the doorway, Nianyu’s voice sounded from outside. “Young Master, Madam, are you awake?”

Yu Ziqi quickly lifted the door curtain and stepped out, making a gesture for silence. He lowered his voice, “Nianyu, Madam is still sleeping, don’t wake her. Keep the food warm, let her eat when she wakes. Tell Madam I have business today and won’t be home for lunch.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

But just as Yu Ziqi was about to leave, Xiaoliu came rushing in, breathless and alarmed. “Young Master, Young Master, something terrible has happened. Master is in trouble, something’s happened to him!”

“What are you saying? Calm down, catch your breath and tell me—what exactly happened?”

Panting, Xiaoliu was clearly out of breath from running. “Young Master, it’s terrible, Master—he’s in trouble. He… he seems to be dying.”

Yu Ziqi slapped him sharply. “What nonsense is this? How could Master be dying? Wasn’t he perfectly fine yesterday?”

Clutching his cheek, Xiaoliu replied, aggrieved, “Young Master, I don’t know either. Just now, I heard Liu’er, the maid by Old Madam Chen’s side, say something had happened to Master. I panicked and ran straight here to tell you.”

“All right, let’s go see.” Yu Ziqi turned to Nianyu, “Wake Madam immediately and tell her to go to Old Madam Chen’s quarters at once—tell her something has happened to Master.”

Nianyu could see the gravity of the situation and nodded hastily. After Yu Ziqi left, she rushed to Ning Qian’s bedside, calling urgently, “Madam, wake up, wake up! Madam, please wake up!”

Ning Qian pulled the blanket over her head to muffle the noise, rolled over, and tried to go back to sleep. After all, she’d been exhausted all night and drank so much—how could she not be tired?

Seeing this, Nianyu grew anxious. She stepped forward, lifted the blanket, and whispered in Ning Qian’s ear, “Madam, please wake up, hurry!”

“Ugh, you’re so noisy, what’s going on? I’m so tired, just let me sleep a bit longer.” Ning Qian waved her hand impatiently and tried to doze off again.

“Oh no, Madam, you mustn’t sleep. Something terrible has happened! Master is in trouble!”

“Who’s in trouble?” Ning Qian finally roused herself a little. “Nianyu, who did you say is in trouble?”

“Madam, it’s Master. Young Master has already gone over. He told me to tell you to hurry over as well. Please, Madam, get up quickly.”

“Quick, hurry up!” Ning Qian, now alarmed, threw on a robe, got out of bed, quickly washed, dressed, and, taking Nianyu and Shuni with her, hurried toward Old Madam Chen’s courtyard.

All along the way, people were everywhere—servants rushing about, panic written on every face. Ning Qian felt a growing sense of unease. Could it be that Lord Yu was really dying? Only yesterday had been his grand birthday, and today something happened—what a cruel twist.

Reaching the courtyard, she was met by Jiao Ran, the old lady’s attendant. “Jiao Ran, what’s happened?”

“Third Madam? Oh, Master is in trouble. You’d best go in quickly, the First and Second Madams are already inside, as is Third Young Master.”

“All right, go on with your tasks.” Ning Qian wasted no time and hurried inside.

The room was filled with people—likely the entire household had come. After all, Lord Yu was the master of the house. If anything happened to him, the whole Yu family would be thrown into upheaval. At such a time, even if they had to crawl, everyone would show up.

From afar, Ning Qian saw Yu Ziqi and his two brothers, as well as the old lady, standing by the bed. An elderly man who looked like a physician was checking Lord Yu’s pulse. Ning Qian approached the First Madam and lowered her voice, “Sister-in-law, what happened? I came as soon as I heard.”

The First Madam, her face drawn with worry, only managed to collect herself after a long moment. “I’m not sure myself. They say Father suddenly fell ill. No one knows what illness it is—it happened so suddenly, it’s frightening. The doctor has been taking his pulse for ages without saying a word, and we’re all beside ourselves.”

“Don’t worry too much, Sister-in-law, I’m sure everything will be all right.”

“How can you be so sure? Do you know something?” The Second Madam interjected, her tone sharp and mocking.

Ning Qian’s heart skipped a beat—this woman was always looking for trouble. Why turn on her? She had only just arrived. “Sister-in-law, I was only trying to comfort you. Besides, Father is a good man—surely heaven will watch over him.”

“Third Sister-in-law, you really do have a silver tongue, no wonder Third Master is so fond of you.”

Ning Qian fell silent, knowing that with someone like the Second Madam, the less said the better. The three of them waited for a long while before the physician finally stood up.

The old lady anxiously asked, “Doctor Chen, how is he?”

“Lord Yu has been poisoned. The toxin is highly unusual, and I haven’t yet determined what kind it is. For now, I’ve used gold needles to seal his heart meridian, which will prevent the poison from attacking his vital organs—but only for five days or so. If an antidote isn’t found within that time, his life will be in grave danger.”

“What are we to do? Doctor Chen, you must save him!” The old lady was so distraught she could barely speak. Lord Yu was her world—if anything happened to him, it would be as if the sky had fallen.

“Rest assured, Madam, I will do my utmost. I’ll prescribe some detoxifying medicine for now, and I’ll go back and consult the ancient medical texts to see if I can identify the poison. Once we know what it is, we can treat it properly.”