Xia Lian fell ill less than fifteen minutes after taking the medicine. The illness came on rapidly, and she was terrified when she looked at her own face in the bronze mirror.
[Shaohua: Host, Xia Lian has taken her medicine.]
Xu Zifan sat in his study and glanced at the sky outside the window. [It's almost dinnertime. What is Lin Ruoshan doing?]
[Shaohua: The Empress Dowager hasn't had much of an appetite these past few days, and Lin Ruoshan is about to go to the small kitchen to prepare some refreshing side dishes for her. Yesterday, the Empress Dowager praised her for the dishes she made, and the Emperor has asked her to prepare some every day, saying that he will be having dinner with the Empress Dowager today.]
Xu Zifan smiled, "[The timing is perfect, Changsheng. Come back after you get the spiritual spring.]"
[Chang Sheng: Yes, Master! I'll go back to you right away!]
Changsheng had been away for a long time and missed its master dearly. It circled the spring with its body, chanting incantations. As a divine beast of heaven and earth, its fortunes had become even more unpredictable since following Xu Zifan, and the spring had long wanted to acknowledge it as its master. The moment it made a move, the spring immediately entered its Sumeru Mustard Seed, and the spiritual energy in the stream was completely lost, turning it into just an ordinary mountain spring.
Changsheng let out a satisfied roar, transformed into a tiny emerald snake the length of an index finger, and swiftly vanished from the spot, heading towards the capital.
Lin Ruoshan reclined on the soft couch in the small kitchen, directing two maids to cook, gently waving a round fan in her hand, her gaze filled with arrogance.
The two palace maids dared not make a single mistake and carefully prepared the four refreshing side dishes. They then served some out and knelt down to invite Lin Ruoshan to taste them.
Lin Ruoshan frowned in dissatisfaction. "Why is it still the same old story? You can't even handle this small thing. What use are you to me?"
The two young palace maids were so frightened that they hurriedly kowtowed, "Please forgive us, Your Majesty. We will definitely study hard and practice diligently to make even better dishes. We hope Your Majesty will calm down."
Lin Ruoshan looked at them for a while, then smiled and waved her hand, "Alright, all of you go out. Call Xia Lian to serve you."
"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty." The two palace maids hurriedly took their leave as if fleeing.
Seeing that no one was outside, Lin Ruoshan waved her hand and revealed Xiaoxi. She wasn't disappointed that she didn't see Qinglong. She believed that once she gave birth to the dragon prince, Qinglong would definitely recognize her and might even help her son ascend the throne. Then she would be the Empress Dowager!
Lin Ruoshan smiled unconsciously, gently stroking her slightly protruding belly. This was her lucky star, the one she could truly rely on.
She scooped up a small bowl of stream water, poured it into four plates, stirred it slightly, and rearranged the plates. She relied on and trusted the spiritual spring very much; after stirring, she didn't even taste it before calling someone to collect it.
"My lord, Xia Lian is suffering from severe abdominal pain, her face is pale and she is sweating profusely, she can't even walk!" The little palace maid who went to fetch her rushed back to report.
Lin Ruoshan frowned. "What bad luck! How could I suddenly fall ill? Hurry up and help me change my clothes. Qiuye, come with me."
She couldn't delay her visit to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. She was just a palace maid and not worth her concern. Anyway, she could treat Xia Lian to some soup with spiritual spring water later, and she would be fine.
When Lin Ruoshan arrived at the Empress Dowager's palace, she wore her usual charming smile and witty remarks, making both the Empress Dowager and the Emperor smile. After the side dishes were served and tested for poison, she personally served them to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, awaiting their praise. Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager took a bite and immediately spat it out, her brows furrowing deeply.
"Consort Lin, you didn't cook this today, so why does it taste so bad?"
Lin Ruoshan was taken aback. "Your Majesty, it was this servant who did it."
The emperor glanced at him, tasted another dish, and also frowned. The two of them ate delicacies every day, the result of the imperial chefs' meticulous craftsmanship. How could they possibly stomach this dish made by a palace maid, diluted with water? Both found it utterly unpalatable.
Lin Ruoshan dared not speak carelessly this time, and hurriedly took a small plate to taste the four dishes one by one. She had been somewhat dissatisfied with the cooking skills of the two palace maids earlier, and now that the flavors were bland, they were naturally even less delicious, not as good as the home-cooked dishes that Wang Shi used to make.
How could this be? No matter how ordinary the food was, adding the spiritual spring made it incredibly delicious. That's why she let the palace maid cook whatever she wanted. How come the spiritual spring suddenly stopped working?!
Lin Ruoshan had a bad feeling, but now was not the time to think about it. There were still two mountains waiting for her to explain.
She immediately knelt down and begged for forgiveness, saying that she was feeling unwell today, perhaps because the seasoning was not used properly.
This incident spoiled the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's enjoyment of the meal, but since she was pregnant, they couldn't scold her too much, so the Empress Dowager waved her hand and dismissed her.
Cold sweat beaded on Lin Ruoshan's forehead. She gripped Qiu Ye's wrist tightly, hurried back to her palace, and locked herself in her room. She conjured a stream, scooped up some water, and took a sip. The water was sweet, but it was just ordinary spring water, not a spiritual spring!
Lin Ruoshan panicked. She scooped up water and tasted it more than ten times, but it was all spring water, no spiritual spring at all. She called out to the Azure Dragon and even knelt down to plead, but the Azure Dragon did not appear, and the spiritual spring did not return.
Lin Ruoshan thought of Xia Lian, went straight to Xia Lian's room, told the others to leave, and scooped a cup of spiritual spring water for Xia Lian to drink.
Xia Lian drank the water with trepidation, and Lin Ruoshan asked anxiously, "How are you? Are you feeling better?"
Xia Lian was confused. "Reporting to my mistress, this servant... this servant, ouch..."
Xia Lian experienced another bout of abdominal cramps and hurriedly apologized before going to the latrine. Lin Ruoshan paced anxiously back and forth, waiting for half an hour. Xia Lian was so ill that she couldn't even get out of bed, and her condition had worsened instead of improving.
She staggered back to her room and collapsed to the ground, her face even paler than Xia Lian's. Qiu Ye was terrified and quickly called for someone to help her up. "Master, Master, what's wrong? Someone, quickly fetch the imperial physician!"
Lin Ruoshan had never seen a royal physician since entering the palace. She possessed the Spirit Spring, making her immune to even poison; instead, she feared the physicians would notice something amiss. But at this moment, she couldn't hear Qiu Ye's words. She was consumed by the panic of losing the Spirit Spring. She only wanted to know why. Had the Azure Dragon finally given up and taken the Spirit Spring away? Would that mean taking back her reborn life? She hadn't given birth to a prince, hadn't been made a concubine, hadn't enjoyed enough wealth and honor—she couldn't die!
When the imperial physician arrived, he was startled to see Lin Ruoshan looking somewhat dazed and hurriedly took her pulse. After a while, the physician frowned in confusion, "Consort Lin... is perfectly fine, and the young prince is also well."
Qiu Ye became anxious, "Then why is Master like this?"
"This... Consort Lin seems a bit agitated, probably due to excessive worry. A few days of rest and quiet will suffice. If you're still concerned, I'll prescribe some medicine to help with the pregnancy."
"Imperial Physician Wang, Xia Lian, the palace maid who usually serves the master, is very ill. She only became like this after the master examined her just now. Could you please take a look and see what is wrong with Xia Lian?"
Ordinary palace maids had no chance to see a doctor when they were sick; unless they were someone their master valued, their lives were left to fate. This matter concerned Lin Ruoshan and the young prince, so Imperial Physician Wang went with Qiu Ye to examine Xia Lian without hesitation. Upon examining her, his expression changed. "This is dysentery. If it is not treated properly, it may be contagious."
"What? That master..."
"Consort Lin is alright; perhaps she was frightened by Xia Lian's illness. Xia Lian cannot stay in the palace; you must make arrangements quickly and without delay."
"Yes, Physician Wang, please prescribe some medicine to save us servants. If we recover from our illness, we won't be able to serve our master properly."
Physician Wang didn't refuse the small favor, prescribing some preventative medicine for them to brew a bowl for each person, and then reported the matter upon his return. Qiu Ye also quickly informed Lin Ruoshan, and then reported the matter to the head maid. Lin Ruoshan was in no mood to care about Xia Lian's situation. Seeing this, the head maid arranged for Xia Lian to be sent out of the palace and taken home by her family.
If a palace maid falls ill, the palace will not bother to treat her; some will die directly from the illness, while others will be taken home by their families.
Dysentery causes severe abdominal pain and diarrhea, but it can be cured with careful treatment by the imperial physicians. It is not a terminal illness. However, dysentery can be contagious if one is not careful, so the palace will naturally not keep her.
At most, she will only infect her family members when she returns home, and it won't spread further. As for whether the doctors outside can cure her, that's nobody's concern.
Liu Hong was overjoyed to receive Xia Lian and wept with tears streaming down his face. To the people in the palace, it looked as if he was mourning Xia Lian because he was powerless to save her. They offered a few words of sympathetic comfort and then left.
Li and her children hid in a small village outside the city, preparing to flee to seek refuge with relatives if things went wrong. After settling Xia Lian in, Liu Hong hurriedly brought them home, but to be on the safe side, he didn't tell the two children the truth, which made them cry in distress.
Liu Hong and Li packed their valuables one last time, and as night fell, they had Xia Lian feign death. The Liu family's wailing was deafening. Fearing they would catch the wailing, the neighbors only sent some gifts to comfort them and did not enter the Liu family's house. Liu Hong used this as an excuse to hastily carry out the funeral, sending Xia Lian outside the city. Naturally, no one else thought anything of it.
Upon arriving at a dilapidated temple outside the city, Liu Hong hurriedly gave Xia Lian the antidote, and Xia Lian recovered in no time.
Xia Lian buried her face in Li Shi's arms and wept bitterly. It took her a while to be able to speak. "Father, what should we do next? Consort Lin was not feeling well today, which is why she ignored me. If she recovers and finds out that you didn't deal with Xu Zifan, she won't let you off the hook."
Liu Hong said in a deep voice, "Don't be afraid. We will leave the capital tomorrow and go far away. Master Xu is right. Consort Lin has a shallow foundation and she doesn't have that much power. She can't possibly hunt us down. We will be safe as long as we leave the capital. Master Xu's family is in Anyang Prefecture. When we go there, the Xu family will help us settle down."
"Father, is Master Xu reliable? We almost harmed him before..."
Liu Hong was silent for a moment and then said, "Father trusts Master Xu. This is an opportunity. We may not be able to live as peacefully and comfortably as before if we go to other places, but we may be able to live better in Anyang Prefecture. I can tell that Master Xu is very satisfied that we have not harmed anyone. The Xu family is also a family that has accumulated good deeds. He is willing to help us this time, probably because he thinks we are of good character. Father wants to give it a try."
"Father, you're right, we'll go to Anyang Prefecture." Xia Lian had never met Xu Zifan, but she trusted her father's judgment. Besides, she always felt that someone whom Lin Ruoshan hated so much was either a hundred times more vicious than Lin Ruoshan, or someone completely opposite to Lin Ruoshan. Her intuition told her it was the latter, and going to Anyang Prefecture was the most suitable choice.
Liu Hong's family spent the night in a dilapidated temple, barely sleeping a wink. They hurriedly set off at dawn the next day. The two children were still in shock, but they were overjoyed that their sister was alive and had been reunited with them after leaving the palace. The family, filled with the joy of surviving a calamity, left the capital far behind. Meanwhile, Lin Ruoshan in the palace hadn't yet thought of Xia Lian; she was now feigning illness to avoid cooking and brewing wine.