515 Breaking Off The Engagement
Without a warning, Chu Yan let go of her hand and said, “Rest early.”
It was already night. Liu Sanniang returned to her room, cleaned up, and went to bed.
…
Zhang Shuangshuang was lying on the bed with a pale face. Her maid, Qing Mei, kept crying in front of the bed. She kept wringing the handkerchief and placing it on Zhang Shuangshuang’s forehead. From time to time, she would check Zhang Shuangshuang’s body temperature.
“Miss, you must hold on. I’ll go get a doctor for you now.”
Qing Mei got up and rummaged through the cabinet. There was not a single dime left in the empty drawer. Qing Mei bit her lower lip as tears fell silently.
Who would have thought that the daughter of the Left Censor-in-chief would not have any money?
Zhang Shuangshuang almost passed out. She shivered. “Cold…”
Qing Mei covered her tightly with the blanket. Zhang Shuangshuang’s face was already red and her body was burning. However, she still shivered uncontrollably. Without money, she could not invite a doctor.
Qing Mei closed the door and went out.
She found the butler and begged. “Butler Zhang, Second Miss has a high fever and is in life-threatening danger. Please find a doctor for the Second Miss.”
Butler Zhang glanced at Qing Mei indifferently. “Don’t worry, I’ll report it to Madam. You can leave.”
Qing Mei sobbed. “But Second Miss can’t wait much longer.”
Butler Zhang was a little impatient. “Miss Qing Mei, the Li family has just come to break off the engagement. If word gets out that Second Miss fell seriously ill at this moment, it won’t be good. Go back and get Second Miss to drink more water.”
Butler Zhang glanced at Qing Mei. He didn’t even want to brush her off properly and simply left.
Second Miss lost her mother when she was young and her father did not dote on her. Her existence was an eyesore to almost everyone at home. Although Second Madam did not say it explicitly, she definitely hoped that Second Miss would die as soon as possible.
The servants were fence-sitters and would try to show pity to Second Miss.
Qing Mei returned empty-handed. She could only keep wiping Zhang Shuangshuang’s face and hands. She cried silently. “First Madam, if you can see it up there, please help Second Miss recover.”
Zhang Shuangshuang shivered uncontrollably.
Qing Mei poured cold tea for Zhang Shuangshuang and cried as she fed her.
In a daze, Zhang Shuangshuang opened her heavy eyelids. “Don’t cry.”
Qing Mei didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t stop her tears at all. She wiped her tears and said, “Miss, I won’t cry. You have to hold on. You have to live well.”
Zhang Shuangshuang shivered and her teeth clattered. Qing Mei cried again. She was anxious and worried. “What should I do? What should I do? Second Madam instructed the butler not to give us money, and Master has turned a blind eye to your matters. Now, we can’t even afford to invite a doctor. I know they are all looking forward to your death. Miss, you must hold on… Boohoo…”
How could she hold on when the fever was practically killing her?
Zhang Shuangshuang wanted to raise her hand to wipe Qing Mei’s tears, but she did not have the strength. She said weakly, “Qing Mei, stop crying…”
Qing Mei sobbed. “Boohoo…”
Zhang Shuangshuang closed her eyes. “I must live. I must tear through all the darkness and see the light.”
An idea suddenly struck Qing Mei. She immediately wiped her tears. “I have an idea. Miss, hang in there. I’ll invite Miss Liu over to save you.”
Qing Mei quickly wiped Zhang Shuangshuang’s face and placed the cold handkerchief over Zhang Shuangshuang’s forehead before rushing out.
Liu Sanniang had saved Zhang Shuangshuang once at the palace banquet more than a month ago. She was different from the others. Qing Mei did not know if Liu Sanniang would save Zhang Shuangshuang again, but she had to give it a try.
Qing Mei left the mansion through the back door. Soon, a servant who saw it reported to Second Madam.
You Xuerou yawned. “Let her be. That girl doesn’t have money anyway. Even if she begs for help, she’ll only be rejected. If Zhang Shuangshuang is smart, she should just give up on her life. Living is simply a torture to her.”
Before she needed to do anything to deal with her, Zhang Shuangshuang was already dying.
In her opinion, death was a good thing for Zhang Shuangshuang. Living would only bring her endless pain and humiliation.
If the engagement was broken off, who else would marry her in the future?
If Zhang Shuangshuang died of illness this time, she would not have to face the embarrassment when the Li family came over to officially break off the engagement. Otherwise, if she did not die, she would have to live to face all of this.
The servant lowered his head. “Madam, are we going to ignore it?”
You Xuerou waved her hand. “Don’t worry. Let her be.”
Anyway, Zhang Shuangshuang was not a threat to her. Everything in the mansion was hers now. In her eyes, Zhang Shuangshuang was no different from being dead.
“You can leave.”
You Xuerou waved her hand. It was in the middle of the night and she couldn’t be bothered to listen to something so trivial.
The servant left.
You Xuerou went back to her room to sleep. Zhang Heng hugged her. “Who was it?”
You Xuerou leaned against Zhang Heng gently. “Master, it’s someone from Second Miss. They said that she has a fever and needs a doctor.”
Zhang Heng frowned. “Ignore her. A fever is not going to kill her anyway. It just so happened that I wanted to punish her for talking back to me. Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
You Xuerou curled her lips. “Okay.”
In this family, Zhang Shuangshuang could only rely on her father, Zhang Heng. However, Zhang Heng’s attitude was obviously indifferent.
It didn’t matter to him whether Zhang Shuangshuang was there or not. Having Zhang Yufei was enough.
…
Qing Mei finally found the place. She knocked on the door anxiously and said in a sobbing voice, “Miss Liu, please save my Miss.”
Chu Yan got up first. He opened the door and responded in a deep voice. “Shut up.”
Qing Mei immediately fell silent, her eyes filled with anxiety. “Isn’t this Miss Liu’s residence?”
At the palace banquet, Qing Mei did not notice Chu Yan at all. She came to look for Liu Sanniang, but the person who opened the door was a man with a cold expression. Qing Mei was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes.
Liu Sanniang woke up and came out too. She rubbed her eyes and smiled at Qing Mei. “Miss Qing Mei.”
Qing Mei looked at Liu Sanniang and immediately knelt down. “Miss Liu, my Miss has a high fever and is dying. She’s almost unconscious. Please save her.”