Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1723: 1723 Chapter Midnight Illness

Zhang Liliang and the others were almost discovered several times, but they finally made it to Luohe City, where they could take a waterway. Once on the boat, they could quickly leave the dangerous Capital City.

However, Bai Ruolan ran away when everyone was busy loading things onto the boat. Zhang Liliang and his group searched for five days but couldn’t find her, and their identities were discovered by the officers in Luohe City. They had to hide until they finally got on a boat and left.

Zhang Liliang’s letter was filled with self-blame and guilt, feeling that he hadn’t taken good care of Bai Ruolan, letting down the Bai Family who had always cared for them.

Bai Ruozhu gently folded the letter paper. She felt worried and sad but didn’t blame anyone.

She knew Zhang Liliang’s character and that he would never neglect Ruolan, even if she had lost her mind. He would give Ruolan more care and attention. But the situation was very dangerous back then; he had to take care of a group of people fleeing and even helped Bai Ruozhu bring Bai Zhi’s family out of the Capital. The burden on his shoulders was too heavy.

In such a tense situation, who could keep an eye on Bai Ruolan without blinking? Besides, Bai Ruolan running away wasn’t the first time. Her parents had taken her with a group of maids and guards, yet Ruolan still managed to escape twice. How could Zhang Liliang be blamed for that?

”Ruolan is just too stubborn. Why does she always run off on her own?” Bai Zehao’s tone was not reproachful, just annoyed and worried for Bai Ruolan.

”Yes, why is she so fixated on that yard in the Capital?” Bai Yihong sighed heavily.

Bai Ruozhu suddenly felt something was off. It was understandable that Zhang Liliang lost track of her this time amidst chaos and insufficient manpower, but earlier her parents had many guards and servants. How did Ruolan, who was dumb, manage to escape so often?

If Bai Ruozhu hadn’t lived with Ruolan for so long and known her condition well, she would suspect something was wrong with Ruolan. But considering this, wasn’t it possible that there was an expert secretly helping her escape?

”Perhaps someone is helping Ruolan leave,” Bai Ruozhu voiced her thoughts. ”Though I can’t guess who, I believe they don’t mean any malice towards her. If they did, they wouldn’t have let you find her the previous two times. This time, maybe they thought Uncle Zhang and the others couldn’t even protect themselves, so they took Ruolan away.”

”How could such a person exist? Why don’t they just come forward and say something? It’s making us anxious,” Lin Ping’er said unhappily.

”Perhaps it’s inconvenient for them,” Bai Ruozhu thought optimistically, ”or maybe this is an opportunity for Ruolan, and perhaps they can even cure her illness.”

”If you can’t cure her, who can?” Bai Zehao said incredulously.

Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh. Her eldest brother just thought she was the best, and although it was a bit embarrassing, it made her happy.

”There are always people greater than others, stronger doctors out there,” she said with a smile.

No matter how true or false these speculations were, they at least comforted everyone a little.

But that night, Bai Ruozhu fell ill.

Huang Qin, who was on night watch, heard soft groaning from the room. She called Bai Ruozhu twice but got no response, so she tiptoed inside to check. She found Bai Ruozhu’s cheeks flushed and her forehead burning hot.

Startled, she quickly withdrew her hand and hurried to wake up Rendong, telling her to quickly report the situation to the front yard.

”You keep an eye on the master; I’ll fetch the doctor,” Jianqi’s cold voice sounded. As soon as he heard the commotion, he knew what was happening.

”Yes, sir,” Huang Qin replied, trembling. She found the man beside the young mistress quite terrifying, as if his words carried a chill.

Jianqi didn’t wake Bai Yihong and Lin Ping’er, thinking even if they were awake, they wouldn’t be able to help and might fall ill from worry, which the master would never forgive him for.

He went directly to find Guoguo. Upon hearing the situation, Guoguo was so nervous that he didn’t even put on his outer garment properly and ran to Bai Ruozhu’s yard.

Upon seeing Bai Ruozhu’s condition, he didn’t know what to do.

”I haven’t learned how to reduce fever for pregnant women. Medicating might harm the master’s fetus,” Guoguo said anxiously.

Jianqi frowned, ”Then apply cold water to her forehead to cool her down. We’ll see when she wakes up.”

”Okay, okay,” Guoguo answered.

Huang Qin and Rendong promptly fetched water from the well to cool Bai Ruozhu down, and everyone in the room was worried sick. Fortunately, Bai Ruozhu’s temperature gradually decreased.

”Why are you all here?” Bai Ruozhu mumbled as she woke up. As soon as she opened her mouth, she found her throat terribly dry and quickly reached out, ”Water!”

Huang Qin hurriedly offered the prepared warm water, helped Bai Ruozhu sit up, and held the cup for her to sip slowly.

After a few sips of water to moisten her throat, Bai Ruozhu was fully awake and quickly realized she was ill, and her sudden illness had frightened them.

She gestured to indicate she had enough water, then reached to check her pulse and quickly realized it was a cold she contracted, coupled with lowered resistance due to pregnancy, which resulted in the fever.

”Master, why did you suddenly have a fever?” Jianqi asked worriedly.

”Caught a cold, probably because I caught a breeze when returning to my room last night,” Bai Ruozhu smiled, ”but it’s nothing serious, just keep using physical cooling methods, drink some ginger sugar water, and medication wouldn’t be good for the child anyway.”

Since she said so, Jianqi and the others also breathed a sigh of relief.

She had sweated a little earlier, leaving her back sticky, so she instructed Rendong to fetch some hot water to wipe it off. Jianqi sensibly stepped outside. But his brow was deeply furrowed, knowing Bai Ruozhu’s sudden illness wasn’t just due to a cold, but more to do with the emotional turmoil caused by Bai Ruolan going missing.

He retreated into the shadows and summoned a dark guard, instructing softly, ”Send a message to the Commerce Association and Lin Lao, asking them to look into any news of Bai Ruolan.”

”Yes,” the dark guard responded, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye.

Early the next morning, Bai Yihong and Lin Ping’er found out about Bai Ruozhu’s fever. They anxiously came to see her, and afterward, Lin Ping’er insisted on taking Dengdeng to stay with her, saying she would help look after him so Bai Ruozhu wouldn’t tire herself out.

Little Dengdeng looked unwilling, ”I am very good; mother isn’t tired.”

Lin Ping’er shot him a glare, ”Are you disliking your grandmother now, not willing to stay with me?”

Little Dengdeng promptly went over to hug Lin Ping’er’s arm, coyly saying, ”I like grandmother and grandfather too, but mother has a little brother now, and I need to stay and look after mother and the little brother. I’ll visit grandmother and grandfather later, okay?”

Lin Ping’er grit her teeth, ”It’s a little sister!”

Dengdeng pouted, ”I want a brother, I want a brother!”

Beside them, Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh. These two, old and young, were just like children. Whether it would be a brother or a sister wasn’t up for them to decide.