Next to the study courtyard are two guest courtyards, which contain guest rooms fully equipped with everything needed, allowing Brother Cheng to recover well.
"Old Sheng, you follow and watch over Brother Cheng, and wait for him to wake up before saying more."
Brother Cheng is not yet ten years old, and children under ten are prone to dying young. Master Ouyang is worried about Brother Cheng and has Doctor Sheng follow and watch over him. He hands a box to Doctor Sheng that he took down from the bookshelf: "The brothers have external injuries on their bodies; use alcohol to clean their wounds and then apply wound dicine."
The box contains alcohol and antiseptic dicine sent by Little Xiao Yu. The combined use of these two items is much more effective than the wound dicine from the Capital.
"Yes," Doctor Sheng responds, taking the box.
Gu Jin’an hugs Brother Cheng and thanks Master Ouyang: "Thank you, Master."
Knowing better than to delay, he hurriedly carries Brother Cheng to the guest room next door, being cautious of disturbing the wounds on Brother Cheng’s back.
Master Ouyang doesn’t follow them but sends two nannies to the guest room to assist.
Upon entering the guest room, Doctor Sheng says: "Young Master Gu, lay the young man flat on the bed, remove his clothes, and let wash his wounds before applying dicine."
Gu Jin’an quickly complies, yet Brother Cheng’s injuries are serious. His undergarnts are torn apart, with fabric embedded into the flesh of his wounds. Gu Jin’an and Doctor Sheng wet the clothes with warm water before carefully peeling them off.
Doctor Sheng washes Brother Cheng’s back wounds with clean warm water and white cotton cloth before wiping them with alcohol, then applies antiseptic dicine.
Doctor Sheng: "It’s done. Put a garnt on the young man and let him sleep in this position."
"Young Master Gu, these are clean clothes sent by the Second Old Master." A nanny hands over the new clothes: "There are no children’s clothes in the house, these are slightly big, but let the young man make do with them for now."
Gu Jin’an nods, takes the clothes, seeing they are soft Chouduan undergarnts, feeling more at ease putting them on Brother Cheng.
Brother Cheng’s wounds benefit from him wearing Chouduan undergarnts.
Gu Jin’an carefully avoids Brother Cheng’s back wounds, dresses him, and places a hand on Brother Cheng’s forehead, frowning: "Doctor Sheng, Brother Cheng is still feverish, please check his pulse to ensure he doesn’t beco muddled from the fever."
"Alright." Doctor Sheng checks Brother Cheng’s pulse and says: "Young Master Gu doesn’t need to worry. The young man has improved a lot; after taking dicine, the fever will completely subside if nothing unexpected occurs."
He already administered a round of acupuncture, significantly lowering the fever. With a few more doses of dicine, it’ll likely be enough.
Doctor Sheng looks at Gu Jin’an’s expression, seeing he’s genuinely concerned for Brother Cheng, and adds: "Young Master Gu, rest assured, the young man has a strong constitution; though he has a tendency to startle easily, he can endure this."
This Gu Family young man likely had congenital weaknesses, suffered greatly after birth, but fortunately raised a strong constitution later, thus can withstand illness.
Despite hearing this, Gu Jin’an is still uneasy, asking further: "In the village, many children have brain issues after a high fever... My Brother Cheng will be fine, right?"
Doctor Sheng: "Young Master Gu, rest assured, the young man’s high fever was suppressed soon after it started, it won’t damage his brain."
Only now does Gu Jin’an breathe a sigh of relief, knowing he couldn’t forgive himself if Brother Cheng’s fever caused permanent harm.
But just as he relaxes, he hears sobbing, rushing to check on Brother Cheng... The little fellow lies on the bed, eyes tightly shut, tears rolling down his face, his mouth convulsing with sobs, appearing incredibly aggrieved.
Gu Jin’an’s eyes redden, quickly holding Brother Cheng and gently strokes his head: "Don’t cry, don’t cry, big brother is here... It’s big brother’s fault, shouldn’t bla Brother Cheng; Cheng is a good child."
Brother Cheng, in a daze, doesn’t hear Gu Jin’an’s words and continues crying with eyes closed, tears streaming, truly appearing aggrieved.
Seeing this, Gu Jin’an is very anxious, turning to Doctor Sheng for help: "Doctor Sheng, please save Brother Cheng!"
Gu Jin’an previously saw Cheng this way, when they were back ho, when Brother Cheng faced severe beatings and scoldings from the Old Gu Family during the day and cried continuously at night without waking.
Doctor Sheng says: "He’s been possessed; I’ll perform acupuncture to let him sleep deeply."
With that, he takes out silver needles and administers several on Brother Cheng, who then sleeps soundly.
Though Brother Cheng sleeps peacefully, tears rise in Gu Jin’an’s eyes, pressed down to prevent them from falling... Ever since he grew sensible, he vowed to protect his sisters and younger brother, not allowing them to suffer the slightest hardship; yet today, Brother Cheng suffered greatly because of him.
Ah Song has returned with the dicinal herbs, currently brewing them under the eaves.
The herbal decoction takes considerable ti to brew, so it’s over an hour before Brother Cheng is able to take dicine.
Gu Jin’an doesn’t dare delay, blowing the decoction to a drinkable temperature and quickly feeding it to Brother Cheng.
Doctor Sheng: "... Young Master Gu doesn’t need to rush; you can take your ti."
Gu Jin’an would prefer not to force-feed, but: "Feeding with a spoon loses more than gets consud; forcing it down ensures more ingestion and quicker dicinal effect."
Doctor Sheng refrains from saying more, and after more than a quarter of an hour, Gu Jin’an says: "Doctor Sheng, please check Brother Cheng’s pulse."
Doctor Sheng is sowhat helpless, saying: "Young Master Gu, no need to be so anxious, the dicine takes at least an hour to take effect."
Pulse checks so soon yield little.
However, aware of Gu Jin’an’s care for his brother, he approaches Brother Cheng to check his forehead, saying: "The fever has further subsided, rest assured, Young Master Gu."
Gu Jin’an nods, anxiously waiting, asking Doctor Sheng to check the pulse as soon as an hour passes.
Doctor Sheng is resigned but understanding Gu Family brothers ca through hardship together, their significant age difference leading the older brother to care for the younger, he says nothing, promptly checking Brother Cheng’s pulse.
He carefully checks, seeing he has no other choice—carelessness isn’t an option, lest Gu Jin’an request multiple checks: "Yes, the dicine is effective, matches the symptoms well, and the young man is recovering well. Let him sleep well and he should wake at the latest by tonight."
"Tonight he’ll wake?" Gu Jin’an looks at the newly bright morning sky, furrowing his brows tightly.
Doctor Sheng: "If quickly, he could wake by morning, Young Master Gu doesn’t need to worry."
Ah Song adds: "Doctor Sheng is right; Brother An needn’t be anxious, things can’t be rushed. The Second Old Master has already instructed to visit Da Feng Village after Chen Hour to explain to your parents that you brothers need to assist him for several days. Don’t worry about the family finding out."
Originally, Brother Cheng’s illness shouldn’t be hidden from Gu Dashan and his wife, but its cause is related to Third Miss. With the marriage unsettled, the Second Old Master doesn’t want too many people knowing, hence the secrecy.
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