Chapter 24 Invited to the Mansion

Nanny Zhang was desperate and grasping at straws. The Old Lady had been coughing for a long time, and every time she had an attack, she would cough endlessly.

She had consulted the family doctor, and even invited doctors from outside clinics to the mansion, but there had been no improvement.

“Alright, you’re an old woman, look at you, all flustered. Don’t scare the little girl, I’m fine now, you see?”

The Old Lady, who had recovered, gently patted Nanny Zhang’s hand, then beckoned to Qin Ruo kindly.

“Child, come forward.”

Qin Ruo stepped forward as instructed, smiled slightly at the Old Lady, and spoke politely.

“I was a little presumptuous just now, please forgive me, Old Lady. What can I do for you?”

“It’s alright, child. You pressed on me just now, and I feel much better, thank you.”

“I heard you say just now that you know some medicine? What do you think about my cough, how should it be treated?”

The Old Lady carefully examined Qin Ruo, who was standing in front of her.

The little girl was dressed plainly, even a little shabby, clearly from a poor family in the countryside.

At such a young age, she didn’t show any flattery or fear when facing her, which piqued the Old Lady’s interest.

The Old Lady looked at Qin Ruo with interest, waiting for her answer.

Qin Ruo’s lips curled into a smile.

Connections, here they come?

“I see that the lemon leaves in your courtyard are quite good. A little fresh lemon leaves with rock sugar boiled in water, Old Lady, you might try that.”

Qin Ruo pointed to a lemon tree behind the Old Lady, whose top could be faintly seen through the wall, and answered calmly.

People from wealthy families are all shrewd, each with eight hundred tricks up their sleeve.

Playing mind games with old foxes, you can’t follow the rules.

So Qin Ruo didn’t play coy, she simply and directly expressed her meaning.

She could tell at a glance that the Old Lady’s body was simply over-nourished.

Over-nourishment would inevitably lead to increased heat, aggravating the cough, further disrupting the mind, and causing insomnia.

When she approached the Old Lady, Qin Ruo smelled a faint scent of tonic on her.

Good heavens! Angelica, Paeonia lactiflora, ginseng, Rhodiola rosea…

Such a strong tonic, how many people could withstand it? Let alone an old lady.

“You mean the lemon leaves? This thing can be used as medicine? What is rock sugar, is it sugar frost?”

The Old Lady followed Qin Ruo’s finger and looked at the tree in the courtyard, her eyes filled with surprise.

Even Nanny Zhang was puzzled, the mansion had many precious medicinal herbs.

This little girl, however, said that the most inconspicuous thing could cure the Old Lady’s cough.

“Lemon leaves are the same as the lemon leaves you mentioned, rock sugar is the same as sugar frost, we call it that in the countryside.”

Qin Ruo realized that the lemon tree here was called lemon leaves.

As for rock sugar, it wasn’t called rock sugar, but sugar frost.

Qin Ruo heard the Old Lady’s question and added kindly. Then she stood aside, smiling silently.

The Xie Mansion’s doctor might not be incompetent, but he was too cautious, accustomed to solving problems with his established thinking.

For example, the Old Lady was weak, and between weakness and coughing, they chose the lesser of two evils.

Weakness required tonics to support her, and once she took tonics, the heat caused by the tonics would aggravate the cough.

This created a vicious cycle.

As for boiling lemon leaves in water, they might not be unaware of it.

It’s just that the Xie Mansion was used to using good things, and they overlooked the simplest things.

“Qionghua, I feel quite connected to this child, invite them into the mansion to rest.”

The Old Lady’s smile didn’t fade, she gave instructions to Nanny Zhang, then kindly pulled Qin Ruo towards the house.

Zhou Dazhu and Qin Zimu didn’t say a word the whole time, each one more nervous than the other.

Especially when Nanny Zhang reprimanded Qin Ruo, “You’re out of line,” their hearts were in their throats.

At this moment, their palms and foreheads, even in this cold winter, were covered in a thin layer of sweat.

People in the village often said that those high officials and nobles, each one treated human life like grass.

Killing a powerless and penniless poor person was as easy as stepping on an ant.

Once you offended a noble, there was absolutely no good outcome.

It wasn’t until they saw Qin Ruo calmly talking to the Old Lady and being invited into the mansion that Qin Zimu and Zhou Dazhu breathed a sigh of relief.

Qin Zimu watched from the side for a while, feeling both excited and a little unbelievable.

He didn’t know when his sister suddenly knew all this.

But looking at the Old Lady’s expression, it was clear that she trusted his sister.

He didn’t dare ask Zhou Dazhu, he cautiously followed behind and entered the Xie Mansion.

The Xie Mansion was a three-courtyard layout, the first thing that caught the eye was the pavilions, towers, bridges, flowing water, eaves, and blue tiles…

Servants shuttled back and forth, each performing their duties, working in an orderly manner.

Qin Zimu and Zhou Dazhu quietly tugged at their clothes, feeling out of place in the entire Xie Mansion.

They even breathed more lightly, their eyes didn’t dare to look around, they followed forward obediently.

After a while, Nanny Zhang led Zhou Dazhu and Qin Zimu to a side hall in the Xie Mansion to wait, and then asked the maids in the mansion to bring tea and snacks.

The maids, who had received Nanny Zhang’s instructions, brought tea and snacks, then left the room to avoid making Qin Zimu and Zhou Dazhu uncomfortable.

Nanny Zhang herself followed the Old Lady and Qin Ruo into the backyard, after the Old Lady and Qin Ruo were seated and served tea, Nanny Zhang didn’t beat around the bush.

After asking Qin Ruo about the method of boiling lemon leaves with rock sugar, she immediately instructed Qiu Yue, the senior maid, to pick some fresh lemon leaves.

The Old Lady looked at Qin Ruo, the more she looked, the more she liked her.

This child, perhaps because of long-term malnutrition, was a little thin.

But if you looked closely, you would find that her features were very good.

She spoke clearly and calmly.

Since arriving in Taihe County, the Old Lady had preferred quiet and rarely went out.

In the winter, Nanny Zhang was worried about her health, she wanted to keep her in bed all day.

Recently, her nephew had also come to Taihe County, but he was always with Cang Jiu, and she was very bored in the mansion.

Suddenly, she met such an interesting little girl, Qin Ruo, and the Old Lady was happy from the bottom of her heart.

She suddenly felt that her ailments were a little better.

During the conversation, when she learned that Qin Ruo was only fifteen years old this year, she couldn’t help but show a look of pity.

She saw Qin Ruo’s thin and small appearance, and the Old Lady thought she was only thirteen at most.

Especially when she learned that the game she had delivered to the mansion today was all hunted by herself in the mountains, she was even more moved.

Poor children grow up early, life is not easy in this world, and it is even harder for poor girls.

She repeatedly grabbed Qin Ruo’s thin wrists, like a loving elder to a younger generation, patting them again and again.

As they talked more, she and Qin Ruo became more and more congenial.

When a servant came to announce that the doctor had arrived, the Old Lady waved her hand and dismissed him directly.