Chapter 248 – An upright official that fell from the sky (1)
Ji Man turned her head and saw the soft-spoken and timid wet nurse fidgeting her hands.
The wet nurse somewhat helplessly said, “Madam, why did you come over here? Were you worried about Young Master Xi?”
An older servant had recommended this dependable wet nurse. She had recently given birth to a baby and had an ample supple of milk. She always attentively kept close to Xi-er, and Ji Man felt very reassured by her.
“I was just feeling restless tonight, so I came over to look,” Ji Man said, “This child usually always cries in the middle of the night. It’s surprising that he hasn’t fussed at all tonight.”
The wet nurse paused, then she walked over and stroked Xi-er‘s cheeks. She frowned and said, “Young Master Xi is feeling feverish again. This servant had only briefly gone out to use the bathroom. How come… Oh, this servant will go fetch a doctor.”
Hearing these words, Ji Man felt alarmed and checked Xi-er‘s temperature too. He was only a young child. Why was he being punished like this?
By the time Doctor Li came over, Marquis Moyu had already been awakened by the noise. The group of people waited by the cradle to hear Doctor Li’s diagnosis.
Li Zixue frowned and said, “Has Young Master eaten something unclean recently? This warm room is at a good temperature. If he’s being properly taken care of, he shouldn’t be sick.”
Ning Yuxuan glanced at Nie Sangyu, and she looked at the wet nurse in turn.
The wet nurse hurriedly shook her head and said, “This servant only feeds Young Master Xi milk every day. He shouldn’t have eaten anything else.”
“It’s true. Xi-er normally only drinks the wet nurse’s milk. He hasn’t been exposed to other food.” Frowning, Ji Man said, “Could it just be a problem from the changing of seasons… I mean did he just catch a cold?”
“It doesn’t seem like he’s feverish from catching a cold.” Doctor Li shook his head.
Ning Yuxuan took the child into his arms and touched Xi-er‘s face that was as red as an apple. He didn’t say a word.
Dengxin rushed inside and reported, “Master, Miss Wen Wan is outside. She’s requesting to see you.”
Right now, the moon was at the tip of the willow branch. It was very late at night. Why would Wen Wan come over? Ji Man raised her eyebrow, glanced at Ning Yuxuan, and said in a low voice, “Let her come in.”
With disheveled hair, Wen Wan ran into the room. She only had a cloak over her sleeping garments. It seemed that she wasn’t scared of the cold either. As soon as she entered the room, she took the baby from Marquis Moyu. With tears in her eyes, “I woke up in the middle of the night because I dreamed that Xi-er was crying. What’s wrong with him? Why is his face so hot?”
On the side, Doctor Li said in a neutral tone, “Young Master has a fever. Miss Wan, you should put him back in his cradle. It won’t be good if you hold him so unsteadily.”
The tears immediately fell from Wen Wan’s eyes. She clearly wasn’t listening to Li Zixiu’s words. Holding the baby, she fell to the floor on her knees with a loud sound. “My lord, Xi-er is Wan-er‘s flesh and blood. How can you be so heartless as to allow Wan-er‘s flesh and blood to be kept in someone else’s place and suffer such rough hardship?”
Her cries sounded very miserable. Really, it sounded quite genuine. Looking at this sight, even Ji Man felt slightly moved by her tears. Moreover, Marquis Moyu had always had Wen Wan in his heart.
“Stand up first. It’s unavoidable for children to get sick. You’re making such a scene by crying and fussing like this.”
Holding back her tears, Wen Wan pitifully said, “Yuxuan, the child is already like this. Don’t you feel bad for him at all? I’m his biological mother. I would never harm him. Why won’t you let me raise him?”
If Ning Yuxuan answered that her status wasn’t high enough, then Wen Wan would definitely respond by asking, why won’t you raise my status? Old Madame was already gone. He was in charge of this household!
But Marquis Moyu, this skillful fox, wouldn’t answer her question that way. He only gently tried to help Wen Wan stand up, wiped away her tears, and said, “I’m doing this for Xi-er‘s benefit. He wouldn’t suffer any grievances while he’s with Sangyu.”
“He’s already sick to this point, and you’re saying that he’s not suffering?” With reddened eyes, Wen Wan held the baby tighter. She wouldn’t let him go. Xi-er was probably feeling too uncomfortable, so he finally started crying even though he was feeling feverish.
It immediately became a scene of Nie Sangyu and Marquis Moyu trying to separate a mother from her flesh and blood.
Ji Man stepped forward, sighed, and pulled back Marquis Moyu’s hand that was pulling Wen Wan up. She gently said, “My lord, younger sister Wen Wan’s crying truly looks quite pitiful. How about just giving Xi-er to her? This way, she’ll stop resenting this servant for taking her child.”
Wen Wan’s gaze was venomous and hateful when she looked at Nie Sangyu.
Ning Yuxuan paused before shaking his head and saying, “Dengxin, leave first. Go and prepare medicine. Doctor Li, follow her and watch her prepare the medicinal herbs. After Young Master Xi has drunk the medicine, the wet nurse will stay here to take care of him.
“Yuxuan!” Wen Wan widened her eyes to stare at him. “I’ve already knelt down and begged you. You still won’t return my child to me?”
Marquis Moyu had a slight headache. Feeling frustrated, he finally pulled Wen Wan to a standing position and handed the baby over to Nie Sangyu, then he led Wen Wan to the side of the room and whispered, “Why are you so stupid?”
Wen Wan looked at him with reddened eyes.
Ning Yuxuan deeply looked at her and asked, “Don’t you know that your child is this household’s third young master? How can there be any disadvantage to him being raised by the matriarch of the family?”
Wen Wan was stumped for words. Looking at Ning Yuxuan’s gaze, she seemed to have suddenly understood something
He still loved her, right? He was just planning out Xi-er‘s future prospects, so he wanted to Xi-er to stay with the main wife, right?
But, she still felt unwilling to accept this. It hadn’t been easy to get this child, and now she had to submissively hand him over to Nie Sangyu…
Marquis Moyu patted her shoulder. Wen Wan sighed; she felt that she understood Yuxuan’s good intentions now. She shouldn’t continue to fuss. It wasn’t that Yuxuan didn’t love her. He was just showing his care for her in a different way…
Translator Ramblings: Opps, I realized that it’s not explicitly said that Wen Wan is behind Xi-er’s sickness. That was just my assumption because we’re told the empress gave Wen Wan something at the birthday banquet, and then Wen Wan suddenly appears in Feiwan Courtyard in the middle of the night. If she didn’t poison Xi-er, how could she have known he would be sick right now?
