Chapter 51: Mother-in-law (1) (2/2)
Chu Lian nodded and agreed.
After sitting at Qingxi Hall for about an hour, she went to visit Countess Jing’an’s courtyard together with Madam Zou.
Even before they entered, they could hear Countess Jing’an coughing terribly.
Madam Zou frowned; it was at this moment that Countess Jing’an’s personal maidservant, Miaozhen, stepped out to retrieve some medicine.
When Miaozhen spotted the two mistresses standing at the entrance, she greeted them. “Eldest Young Madam, Third Young Madam, good morning.”
“What happened to Mother? Why does it seem like her condition has worsened since yesterday?” Madam Zou asked Miaozhen with her brows drawn together.
Grimacing, Miaozhen replied, “This servant doesn’t know either. The medicine appeared effective at first. During the past few weeks, Madam could even get out of bed and occasionally walk about. However, these days, the medicine seems to have stopped working completely. Even though Madam has been drinking it regularly, there’s been no change to her condition.”
While standing next to Madam Zou, Chu Lian dipped into her memories and tried to recall what she had read in the novel. There had been no mention of Countess Jing’an’s exact illness. However, looking at the symptoms, if it wasn’t pneumonia, then it was most likely tuberculosis. In this era, there was almost no chance of treating illnesses like those; they could only extend their lives for a bit with medicine.
“Go ahead and brew the medicine. I’ll go in to look at Mother with my sister-in-law.”
By the time they finished visiting their mother-in-law, Madam Liu had already gone to sleep from exhaustion. Her face was extremely pale. Even while sleeping, she still looked haggard from her extended illness.
They heard from Miaozhen that Madam Liu hadn’t had a proper meal in days. She couldn’t keep anything down due to her sickness.
She had been able to eat those pastries that Cook Zhou had made previously, but now that Cook Zhou had passed on, Countess Jing’an wasn’t able to stomach eating anything else.