Chapter 846 - 848 Someone Took the Wrong Medicine_1
Once the group had left the Restaurant, Bai Ruozhu instructed Jianqi to investigate the background of that bully. Even though they were about to leave, it was still good to have a clear understanding.
Jianqi was about to depart when Bai Ruozhu thought for a moment and stopped him. She handed him ten taels of silver and said, "Take this to Xiaoru, and tell her to stop singing in this area, or to leave Jiuzi City and seek out other relatives. This money should be enough for her to hire a horse carriage and cover her expenses for a while."
Tu Ying’s eyes lit up next to her. She had wanted to help Xiaoru but knew the rules, so she hadn’t dared to speak up. Bai Ruozhu’s approach was good—it provided the needed help, and from then on, Xiaoru’s fate was in her own hands.
Having received his orders, Jianqi left, and Bai Ruozhu and her companions then left the City and boarded the horse carriage. The group reorganized briefly and then continued on their journey.
The team didn’t travel too slowly as they planned to reach the next Town and find lodging before nightfall, so along the way they intended to allow only one break for everyone to rest and relieve themselves. However, before it was even time for the first break, Dang Youshen lifted the carriage’s curtain and began to violently vomit.
The others in the carriage were startled by his condition and quickly alerted a nearby soldier, who relayed the message. Jiang Yichun had no choice but to order the team to stop for a moment’s rest.
Dang Youshen almost crawled out of the carriage, vomiting terribly at the roadside and kneeling on the ground, his entire body trembling slightly.
Looking worried, Mr. Zhang hurriedly said to the Headmaster, "Something’s wrong with Dang Youshen. He hasn’t eaten something bad, has he?"
The Headmaster frowned. "Everyone had the same meal earlier, and there didn’t seem to be any problems. I’ll swallow my pride and go ask Mrs. Jiang."
"Thank you for your hard work, Headmaster," Mr. Zhang sighed. If Dang Youshen hadn’t consistently offended Mrs. Jiang, the Headmaster wouldn’t have such a difficult task now.
When the Headmaster approached Bai Ruozhu’s horse carriage, he was prepared to be turned away. But as soon as he finished explaining, Bai Ruozhu handed Dengdeng to Tu Ying to hold and said to the Headmaster, "Alright, I’ll take a look."
After she spoke, she noticed the Headmaster’s surprise and couldn’t help but laugh. "I’m doing this for the Headmaster’s sake, and if he really is ill, I couldn’t disregard him entirely."
"Mrs. Jiang is kind-hearted indeed, thank you for your effort," the Headmaster said gratefully.
Bai Ruozhu chuckled to herself, thinking about how kind-hearted she really wasn’t—she had administered medicine to make Dang Youshen mute, so he would stop babbling on. Now, she was only treating his illness so as not to delay the group’s journey.
Dang Youshen was vomiting so much that the odor was unbearable, and the other students kept their distance, wishing they could pinch their noses shut. Those who shared the carriage with him felt particularly unlucky but couldn’t show too much revulsion, for fear of seeming uncompassionate to a sick person.
Liu Jianzhou typically stayed close to Dang Youshen, but now he thought it over and decided to stand aside.
Everyone then saw Bai Ruozhu briskly walk over to him. She didn’t seem too put off and simply grabbed his wrist to check his pulse.
Dang Youshen was shaking all over, his face turning a ghastly shade of green, and he looked on the verge of collapsing.
Bai Ruozhu quickly withdrew her hand and said, "He’s taken the wrong medicine."
"What?" The Headmaster, following behind Bai Ruozhu, asked in shock.
"Had he gone to buy medicine somewhere before? But the medicine was not quite right for his condition, and he drank alcohol during the meal, which has caused a severe reaction," Bai Ruozhu explained, shaking her head. "It’s good that he vomited; otherwise, it could harm his body. We can’t brew medicine while on the road, so we can only use a medicine pill for now. If the Headmaster trusts me, let him take this one."
As she spoke, she poured out a medicine pill from a bottle and handed it to the Headmaster.
She could not afford to administer the medicine herself, having trusted her Bai Ruozhu could feed it to Dang Youshen, and it did not matter if she was trusted or not, for it was not her fault if Dang Youshen died.
Without a second thought, the Academy Master fed the medicine to Dang Youshen, who hesitated a moment, but the Academy Master shouted sternly, "If you don’t want to die, eat it!"
Dang Youshen was startled and, almost instinctively, swallowed the medicine pill.
Bai Ruozhu nodded silently; the Academy Master of Beiyu Study Palace truly had nerve.
She then had someone fetch water for Dang Youshen to rinse his mouth and said, "All right, get some good sleep in the carriage later. Once we arrive at our lodging, I will have someone brew you more medicine and send it to you."
Dang Youshen no longer felt so nauseous, but he was still shivering, distrusting Bai Ruozhu in his heart, so he did not speak. The Academy Master slapped him on the back, angrily saying, "Have the manners taught at the Academy been in vain? Can’t even say thank you?"
Dang Youshen hurriedly bowed to Bai Ruozhu, "Many thanks, Lady Jiang."
Bai Ruozhu hummed indifferently and turned to pick up Little Dengdeng.
When she walked over, she saw Tu Ying standing stiffly, not daring to move at all, looking very strange.
"What happened?" Bai Ruozhu asked as she approached, but before Tu Ying could answer, Bai Ruozhu herself laughed.
Her nose was quite sensitive; as she got closer, she naturally smelt the stink of Dengdeng’s feces. Tu Ying, after all, was a young lady, and with the baby having defecated, the heat under her buttocks made her too scared to move, fearing she might squeeze out the feces if she handled it wrong.
Bai Ruozhu chuckled as she took Dengdeng, then spread out a small blanket on the ground next to her and started changing Dengdeng’s diaper on it.
Tu Ying approached somewhat embarrassedly and said, "It just came out. I didn’t know how to change it."
"Haven’t you looked after your cousin before? Never changed a diaper, huh?" Bai Ruozhu teased her on purpose.
Tu Ying’s face grew even redder, "I find it stinky, never changed one."
Bai Ruozhu pursed her lips in a smile. She didn’t find Tu Ying pretentious or heartless. Before she had a child herself, Bai Ruozhu also thought it stank and didn’t really like children. But having her own child changed everything. The smell of her child’s feces no longer bothered her, and she would even inspect them closely each time, checking what they contained and how well her baby digested that day’s food.
Tu Ying watched as Bai Ruozhu cleaned Little Dengdeng, then helped with pouring water from a canteen so she could simply wash Dengdeng’s little bottom before putting on a fresh diaper. During this, Tu Ying naturally caught sight of Little Dengdeng’s private area and turned her face away, blushing.
Bai Ruozhu almost burst out laughing. What was there to be embarrassed about in seeing a child less than a year old?
Soon after, the messenger soldier gave the order for everyone to get back on the carriages and continue moving forward.
On the road that followed, Dengdeng quickly fell asleep, and Bai Ruozhu also took a short nap. In the afternoon, when someone needed to clean their hands, they rested again, but due to the delay caused by Dang Youshen’s situation, the convoy had not yet reached the planned town by dusk.
"Be careful!" Bai Ruozhu suddenly cried out from within the carriage. Holding Dengdeng, she quickly lay down flat, and Tu Ying reacted quickly, following suit. Arrows then whistled through the air and the sound of them striking the carriage could be heard.