Chapter 142 - Big Crisis in Prefectural Princess Mansion!

Zhao Ruyun entered the Palace with a prescription and was not sent out until it was dark.

When Shen Ninghua heard the news, she smiled slightly and waited for the subsequent news from the Palace.

In the middle of the night, Bai Ruo gently woke up Shen Ninghua. “Miss, are you awake?”

Shen Ninghua opened her eyes. There was a trace of sleepiness in her eyes. She gently got up from the bed. Her black hair drifted down from behind her shoulders with a curl of tenderness under the light, which almost dazzled Bai Ruo’s eyes. Bai Ruo was stunned for a moment before she hurriedly lowered her head and said, “Miss, Madam Zhang has come.”

“Madam Zhang?” Why would she come so late at night? “Invite her in.”

Shen Ninghua put on her outer garment and quickly tied her hair together before she walked to the living room.

In the living room, Madam Zhang was walking back and forth nonstop. Seeing Shen Ninghua come out, she hurriedly greeted her. “Your Highness…”

Shen Ninghua ignored her anxiety and sat down at the side. She waited for Bai Ruo to serve tea before she said, “Madam Zhang, what brought you here so late in the night?”

Seeing Shen Ninghua’s unhurried movements, Madam Zhang eased off her anxiety. “Your Highness, today Ruyun went alone into the Palace and stayed there all day. After she finally came back at night, she was escorted by four nurses who directly locked her in her courtyard. Then some people guarded the entire courtyard. I didn’t know what to do, so I came to ask you. Didn’t you say that there was no danger when you gave her the prescription? Why did Ruyun even lose personal freedom now?”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes, and a harsh expression flashed in her eyes. “Madam Zhang, take care with your words. The prescription was given by the Zhao family, so it belongs to the Zhao family. It wasn’t given by me.”

Madam Zhang’s heart paused. She gritted her teeth and nodded. “Yes, I said the wrong thing.”

Shen Ninghua’s expression relaxed down. “If something bad really happened, Miss Zhao would probably not be able to leave the Palace today. Since she has come back with the accompany of nurses, her marriage with the Fifth Prince is sixty percent done. You just wait for the remaining forty percent.”

“Really?” Madam Zhang was excited. Ruyun’s body had recovered, but her character was much gloomier. Only when she talked about marrying Baili Jinze would her emotions fluctuate. That was why she humbly came to ask Shen Ninghua. “Your Highness, I hope you can help Ruyun. As long as she can marry Baili Jinze, I am willing to give you 10,000 taels of gold as a thank-you gift.”

Shen Ninghua smiled and said, “Madam Zhang, you are welcome. I will enter the Palace tomorrow. You can teach Miss Zhao the rules in advance.”

“Alright!” Madam Zhang tightly gripped the hem of her dress and her eyes lit up a lot. After she thanked Shen Ninghua, she hurriedly left.

As soon as she left, the smile on Shen Ninghua’s face disappeared without a single trace. Her beautiful eyebrows slightly knitted. “Bai Ruo, let Hong Ling investigate to find who have frequent interactions with Madam Zhang.” After helping others, she liked to receive gold as the payment. Although this matter was not too big a secret, Madam Zhang was definitely not among the people who knew about it.

“Yes, Miss.”

Today she was destined to have a sleepless night. Just as Shen Ninghua was about to go to rest after giving the order, Shen Xuanlin’s maid hurriedly ran in. “Your Highness, bad news. Young Master Xuanlin suddenly had a fever and is unconscious now.”

Xuanlin?

Shen Ninghua suddenly stood up and strode towards Yingyue Courtyard.

Inside Yingyue Courtyard, the maids were all trembling with fear. They lowered their heads and remained silent, not daring to say anything.

As soon as Shen Ninghua entered, she noticed a faint smell of medicine. In an instant, her gaze swept across the maidservants who were kneeling on the ground. “Why is there a smell of medicine?”

“We don’t know.”

Shen Xuanlin’s head was covered in sweat and his face was red all over due to high fever. Even when he was asleep, he tightly frowned and constantly twitched slightly. He looked extremely uneasy.

Shen Ninghua’s gaze swept across his neck and she stepped forward to lift his clothes. To her astonishment, he had small red bulges on his body. Although she had a strong mind, she couldn’t help but be shocked. “It’s chickenpox!”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s faces turned deathly pale with shock. Chickenpox was a serious illness. People avoided it just like they would avoid snakes and scorpions. As long as one of the family members had chickenpox, the whole family and even the neighbors would be imprisoned to prevent infection. Once the news of Shen Xuanlin’s chickenpox was known, Prefectural Princess Shen Ninghua would be fine, but the servants in the mansion would not be so lucky.

Many timid servants had already cried out.

Shen Ninghua’s gaze swept over them fiercely. “All of you shut up! I know what you’re thinking, but listen carefully. If Xuanlin is fine, you will have a chance to survive. I will also think of a way to protect you. If anything happens to Xuanlin, I will have all of you buried with my brother!”

“Your Highness, please calm down.” Hearing this, everyone immediately quieted down, afraid that they would annoy her.

Shen Ninghua’s gaze was cold. “I just asked, who fed Xuanlin medicine?”

The maids knelt on the ground and remained silent.

“If any of you know, you’d better tell me. If no one says anything, I can only think that you are plotting together against your master. Someone, drag these people out and club them to death!”

“No, no, Your Highness, it’s Nurse Gui. I saw it. It was Nurse Gui who fed the medicine to Youngest Master. She said that it was to relieve the fever.”

Without Shen Ninghua’s instructions, Qing Que had already grabbed Nurse Gui out of the crowd.

Shen Ninghua walked to her, bent down and shook her sleeve. A paper bag fell out. Shen Ninghua’s deep eyes were filled with a trace of coldness. “Nurse Gui, you’ve been serving Xuanlin for a long time. I never thought that you would harm him!”

The pale-faced Nurse Gui raised her head and respectfully kowtowed to Shen Ninghua. Her voice was filled with despair. “Sorry, Your Highness and Young Master Xuanlin.” As soon as she finished speaking, she spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground dead.

Bai Ruo hurriedly went forward to wipe Shen Ninghua’s bloodstained dress. “Miss, are you alright?”

Shen Ninghua shook her head and used her hand to test Nurse Gui’s breath. She frowned slightly. “Qing Que, ask someone to carry her down and bury her. Also, lock down all the maids who are kneeling here. I will thoroughly investigate this matter.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Bai Ruo, send a letter to the Palace and ask His Majesty to send people to guard my mansion. No one is allowed to enter or leave. Hong Ling, go and see Yun Chuan. He and Xuanlin are together day and night. He might also be in danger now. Bi Zhu, go collect medical materials. The medicines to be used will be extremely complicated.”

“Yes, Miss.”

When Chu Junyi arrived, Shen Ninghua had already fed Shen Xuanlin medicine and was wiping his body with strong liquor. Seeing this scene, his heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly stepped forward and pulled her up.

“Ninghua, you could just order someone to do it. Do you know that chickenpox is extremely dangerous?”

Shen Ninghua raised her hand to prevent him from touching the cloth in her hand. “It’s ok. I’ve got chickenpox before. Don’t worry.”

“When did you get that?”

“When I was recuperating in the country villa.”

Shen Ninghua said plainly, but Chu Junyi’s eyes trembled. During that period of time? He had investigated. Although he couldn’t find out what she had gone through, he knew that she never cultivated in the country villa. What exactly happened to her during that period of time?

“Ninghua, did you discover anything? How did Xuanlin get chickenpox all of a sudden?”

Shen Ninghua frowned and her expression was solemn. “I was also wondering. The things he usually ate were made in the kitchen. Everything was meticulously prepared. I also personally selected the maids and servants to serve him. Even when they were fetching food from the kitchen, there were two people supervising each other along the way. The problem shouldn’t be with the food, so it would be with his articles for daily use…”

As she spoke, she carefully searched the room with her gaze. Suddenly, she stared at the quilt on Shen Xuanlin. Her pupils contracted abruptly, and she pulled out a sharp golden hairpin from her head and slashed down on the quilt.

The quilt was sliced open and snow-white cotton gushed out. After searching for a long time, she finally found two pieces of cloth with pus blood and some scattered acne scabs in the cotton.

Seeing these things, she trembled from extreme anger. “Who was responsible for the quilt?”

“Miss, it’s Nurse Gui.”

“Nurse Gui…Hong Ling, go investigate!”

Chu Junyi stepped forward to hold her hand and half-embraced her in his arms to comfort her. “Ninghua, don’t worry too much. With the best medicinal ingredients, Xuanlin will be fine. I have already sent people to search for the Tianshan Snow Lotus. I will definitely not let anything happen to him.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. The worry and anxiety in her heart subsided slightly. She hurriedly raised her head and said, “Hurry up and leave. Chickenpox is extremely contagious. If you catch it, you will be in danger.”

“It’s ok. I had chickenpox when I was three years old.” Chu Junyi hurriedly comforted her to dissipate her nervousness.

Only then did Shen Ninghua feel relieved. Knowing that it was not the time to ask more questions, she temporarily put aside this matter and stood at the side to watch Bai Ruo carry out the quilt and burn it.

Chu Junyi held her hand slightly and put her entire fist in his palm. The two of them stood together without saying a word, but there was a speechless tacit understanding flowing between them, carrying a warm aura that no one could interfere with.

As soon as news of chickenpox appearing in Shen Ninghua’s mansion was reported to the Palace, the officials and various forces that had been quiet for a long time jointly requested the emperor to seal off the Prefectural Princess Mansion. If it wasn’t for Shen Ninghua’s identity, these people would probably request to execute everyone in the mansion.

Some clever officials did not say anything and just watched the situation quietly.

At this time, although Baili Qingcang doted on Shen Ninghua, he would not risk the safety of the citizens of the capital. Once chickenpox spread out, the consequences would be unimaginable. He ordered the Prefectural Princess Mansion to be sealed off, and then sent ten imperial doctors from the Imperial Health Institute to help.

The moment Baili Jinze woke up, he heard this news and immediately felt extremely happy. He secretly instructed his subordinates to keep an eye on the person who was responsible for delivering medicinal ingredients to the Prefectural Princess Mansion. He ordered them to think of ways to cut the supply of medicinal ingredients or do something to the medicinal ingredients.

Baili Anning wanted to help, but she could not find any way to offer help. She could only place her hopes on Baili Jinchuan. However, this time, Baili Jinchuan was also unable to help.