Lord Yuan was startled for a moment as memories suddenly flooded his mind. The day before Brother Huo's accident, the original owner had berated and beaten him, demanding that he hurry to cover the boards on the thatched shed tightly. He must have fallen off the roof of the shed and been stabbed by the nails.
And this work wasn't supposed to be his responsibility at all.
Not only that, but because the original owner's serving girl brought with her had been sold off, the original owner had taken out her anger on the people sent here by King Chu, frequently beating or yelling at those around her. She had even smashed a cup against her amah's head, causing her to bleed profusely.
No wonder the original owner had such poor relationships with others.
"Could you ask her amah if I can go see Brother Huo?" Yuan Qing Ling said.
"With the way the queen treats others, it's no wonder she's in her current circumstances. There's no need to pretend, neither her amah nor Brother Huo want to see the queen," Lü Ye said before turning and leaving.
The great doors closed again.
Yuan Qing Ling sighed softly. Was the child nearing death?
She didn't know the extent of Brother Huo's injuries, nor did she know the skills of the doctors here in treating wounds. If treated improperly, the cornea was likely to detach and the eyeball rupture, accompanied by infection.
To her, human life was more important than anything. She still couldn't bring herself to eat, instead taking some antibiotic pills from the medicine box before heading out.
Qi Amah had been sold to serve the prince's residence, while Brother Huo was a homeborn slave living in the low houses behind the Phoenix Ceremonies Pavilion.
Yuan Qing Ling wandered around for a while before finally finding it.
"What are you doing here?" Qi Amah's bloodshot eyes stared at Yuan Qing Ling, her face full of resentment, when she saw her.
"I want to see Brother Huo," Yuan Qing Ling said.
"Leave. We servants can't handle you!" Qi Amah said coldly.
Yuan Qing Ling tried to apologize. "I'm sorry, I didn't know he would have such an accident when I asked him to repair the thatched roof..."
"An accident? He's only nine years old and can only do some cleaning work. But you specifically told him to repair the roof when there are people in the residence whose job is repairs. You deliberately wanted to make things difficult for him. He's only nine! How can you be so vicious?" Qi Amah angrily demanded.
Facing Qi Amah's furious questioning, Yuan Qing Ling didn't know how to defend herself.
She had never been good with words.
She could only hand the antibiotic pills to Qi Amah. "Give these medicines to him, three times a day, two pills each time..."
Qi Amah slapped the pills out of her hand to the ground, then viciously ground them under her foot. "No need. Queen, please go back. This servant doesn't want to curse others and instead wants to accumulate virtue for my grandson."
Yuan Qing Ling watched the medicine become powder, distressed. There weren't many antibiotics left in the medicine box.
Seeing Qi Amah's angry and heartbroken face, she knew there was nothing she could say. She could only turn around and leave.
That night, Brother Huo's condition became critical.
Qi Amah still held King Chu's favor. When King Chu learned of the situation, he specifically had his retainers invite the famous imperial doctor Li Daifu from the capital. After examining the situation, Li Daifu shook his head without writing a prescription, only saying to prepare funeral arrangements.
Qi Amah wailed with gut-wrenching sobs. Her cries reached Yuan Qing Ling's ears. Yuan Qing Ling hurried out and grabbed Lü Ye who was also rushing over. "What's happened?"
"Brother Huo is nearing death," Lü Ye said in her urgency, momentarily forgetting her hatred.
Yuan Qing Ling hurried back to her room to grab the medicine box and rushed over with it.
