The Vicious Empress's Scum Wife (GL) - Chapter 013
Lin Yanran’s heart lurched. She grabbed Qin Mingyue’s shoulders and vigorously shook her: “Qin Mingyue, wake up!”
Still no response.
She dared not delay any further, rushing out of the house.
“Doctor Liu! Doctor Liu! Open the door quickly!”
She pounded on the door seven or eight times, but there was no movement. Just then, a neighbor returning home late, carrying a lantern, passed by and called out, “Yanran, Doctor Liu left for the capital city early yesterday morning. She won’t be back for half a month.”
Lin Yanran was stunned. *Liu Zhenzhen isn’t home?*
She recognized the neighbor who lived next door to the original owner. He was a hunter from the westernmost part of Fenghuang Town, named Chi Bao.
“Brother Chi Bao, my wife has a high fever. Is there any other doctor nearby?”
Chi Bao quickly walked over and said, “There are no doctors in the nearby towns. The closest is Shimen County. Yanran, hurry and find the village fortress to get a mule cart and take your wife to the county town to see a doctor!”
*Shimen County?* She remembered that the original owner always took Zhang Zhen’s carriage to Shimen County, and even then, it took four hours for a round trip.
At night, with a bumpy road, how could Qin Mingyue endure it?
She hurriedly pulled out a handful of copper coins and thrust them into Chi Bao’s hand.
“Brother, I really can’t leave. Please help me find someone to go to Shimen County and invite a doctor. Tell them the consultation fee will be doubled.”
Chi Bao quickly said, “Yanran, since you’re so anxious, I’ll go help you invite one. This money—”
Lin Yanran pushed it into his hand: “That’s for your travel expenses. Please go and come back quickly!”
After dispatching the neighbor, she ran back home and found the original owner’s leftover stored wine. Fortunately, there was still one jar left after entertaining Zhang Zhen and the others that day.
She immediately fetched well water, dry cloths, and other items, and came to Qin Mingyue’s room.
Qin Mingyue’s cheeks and neck were crimson from the fever, and her lips were dry and pale.
She called out to her several more times, but still, there was no response. She had burned to the point of losing consciousness!
Lin Yanran realized the seriousness of the situation. Staring at Qin Mingyue’s flushed face, she said solemnly, “I’m sorry.”
With that, she picked up a dry cloth, soaked it in well water, folded it into a square, and placed it on Qin Mingyue’s forehead. Only then did she take a deep breath and pull back the quilt.
She leaned down to untie the delicate ribbons of Qin Mingyue’s inner garment, then gently lifted her arm, pulling down the sleeve. With her clothing half-open, her snow-white undergarment was immediately revealed.
Qin Mingyue was flushed all over from the fever, her skin red like a delicate flower, exhibiting an abnormal flush.
Against the snow-white small garment, the redness became even more vivid.
Lin Yanran glanced, then hurriedly looked away, helping Qin Mingyue to lie on her stomach in her arms, and then supporting her arm to pull down her inner garment.
*Clink.* A dagger fell down.
She didn’t bother to pick it up. With one hand, she fumbled for the wine jar, poured some wine into her palm, applied it to Qin Mingyue’s back, and then rubbed it into her back, using the wine as a lubricant.
Her palm quickly grew warm, and the wine began to evaporate.
The skin beneath her palm was scorching hot, yet incredibly smooth, every inch as soft and delicate as the world’s most expensive jadeite.
Lin Yanran knew she shouldn’t let her mind wander, but she couldn’t help but think, *Skin like congealed fat, delicate and easily broken—this must be what it means.*
She spread the wine all over Qin Mingyue’s back, then gently lowered her to lie down. She then lifted her arm and began applying the wine there.
She was in a hurry; a high fever could really kill someone.
If Qin Mingyue died, and her guards found her, Lin Yanran would also be dead.
But the skin under her hands was too tender. A light touch would leave a red mark. She couldn’t go fast, so she had to be patient, applying the wine with the lightest possible pressure.
After applying it to her entire back, she began to apply it to the exposed skin of her neck. A delicate, small brocade pouch hung on her slender, jade-like neck, swaying as Lin Yanran applied the wine. Next were her two arms. Finally, she looked at the small garment covering Qin Mingyue’s chest and hesitated.
*Should I take it off? Would the villain immediately kill me if she found out?*
This was her first time using alcohol rubs to save someone, so she had no experience.
Now, in her desperate state, she could only rub as much skin as possible to maximize cooling.
Lin Yanran ultimately didn’t dare to remove the chest garment, but she did pull down Qin Mingyue’s underpants. Qin Mingyue’s two snow-white, slender legs were pressed together, and her sleeping posture looked very well-behaved, not at all like a cruel villain.
She poured out more wine and rubbed it onto her two long legs, from her upper thighs all the way down to her ankles. Then, she lifted those artistic, red-toed jade feet and meticulously rubbed them all over as well.
Lin Yanran worked up a sweat.
She reached out and felt behind Qin Mingyue’s ear.
Still burning hot.
She changed the wet towel three more times. Estimating that the alcohol on Qin Mingyue’s body had mostly evaporated, she decided to rub her down with alcohol again.
Bending over to do such delicate work had made her back ache, so she simply sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Qin Mingyue into her arms.
The boneless body, soft and limp in her embrace, was too light, far too light. She couldn’t feel the weight a girl in her late teens should have.
A new, inexplicable worry arose in her heart.
The strong smell of wine, mixed with Qin Mingyue’s faint fragrance, constantly wafted into Lin Yanran’s nose.
She was sweating more and more.
This task was truly grueling, not only physically but also mentally. She was both anxious and nervous.
Every now and then, she couldn’t help but use her palm to check the temperature behind Qin Mingyue’s ear.
No temperature drop, still no temperature drop!
She gritted her teeth, poured out more wine, and rubbed it onto Qin Mingyue’s back. After finishing her back, she also rubbed her delicate neck, then her noodle-soft arms and long legs.
Qin Mingyue was delirious with fever, her whole being like a floating willow catkin in the wind, drifting, alone and helpless.
A painful burning sensation continuously radiated from her internal organs, as if it would incinerate her into ashes.
*Mother! Mother!*
She thought of her mother still suffering in the cold palace, and her heart ached beyond measure. She continuously called out, wanting to struggle out of the terrifying high fever.
*In the previous life, I mistakenly caused Mother’s death. Am I to repeat the same mistakes in this life? No!*
She floated and sank in agony. Her body was so consumed by the fever that she had no strength, yet her consciousness struggled desperately, unwilling to yield.
In a haze, she felt someone touching her. A pair of hands moved over her body, and a comforting coolness spread across her skin. This coolness absorbed the heat from within her body, yet her limbs remained soft and weak, and her eyelids were too heavy to open.
Fear, boundless fear, struck her.
*Who is it? Who is touching me?*
Suddenly, a realization burst into her mind. The coolness on her body… *my clothes have been removed?*
She suddenly opened her eyes, seeing Lin Yanran lifting one of her legs, her hand repeatedly rubbing it.
And she was naked, held in Lin Yanran’s arms, with nothing to cover her except the inner garment on her chest!
*This villain! This beast who deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces!*
Her ink-dark pupils suddenly widened. Infinite fury surged through her drowsy body, causing her fingertips to fiercely dig into Lin Yanran’s arm.
“You!!!”
Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes. She stared fixedly at Lin Yanran’s face, gritting her teeth in hatred, but because of extreme anger, she couldn’t utter a single word.
Her purity, her purity that she had painstakingly guarded for two lifetimes, had just been completely exposed by this scum!
“Lin! Yan! Ran!”
She trembled, every inch of her body shaking, her teeth chattering against each other as she squeezed out words filled with bitter hatred.
“I’m going to kill you! I must kill you!”
“You beast!”
Lin Yanran was so startled by this tangible hatred that she shivered all over.
Then she realized that the villain was weak right now; she couldn’t even lift her arm, let alone kill her.
She quickly said, “Don’t be angry. You’re delirious with high fever. If the fever doesn’t break, you’ll die. I used alcohol to rub your body to save you.”
“I didn’t do anything, really!”
But the explanation only made it worse, like a proverb about exposing guilt.
The hatred in Qin Mingyue’s eyes was like fire erupting. Tears rolled down one by one, reflecting in her shimmering eyes. The redness of her eye sockets reflected in them, as if she were crying bl00d.
Lin Yanran’s heart inexplicably trembled, feeling a strange sadness.
“I’m sorry, I really was just trying to save you.”
She placed Qin Mingyue back on the bed, then, steeling herself, covered her with the quilt. Only then did she scramble out as if her backside were on fire.
Her foot caught on something hard, and she almost stumbled.
Looking down, it was the dagger that had fallen to the floor earlier.
Seeing the dagger filled her with an inexplicable fear.
“Get out!!!”
A cold roar filled with towering hatred came from behind her. She hastily grabbed the dagger, shoved it into her sleeve, and ran without looking back.
Outside the room, she could still feel the gaze on her back, those sharp, unparalleled eyes filled with hatred still staring fixedly at her.
Lin Yanran broke out in another cold sweat from fright, secretly groaning. She quickly exited the main door. After hesitating, she quickly rushed back into the room and poured her a glass of water.
“You have a high fever; you need to drink more water. I put it by the table; you can reach it.”
After speaking, she quickly left.
*Smash!*
The cup, along with the water, shattered into pieces, and a few drops of water splashed onto her. Lin Yanran guessed that Qin Mingyue must have tried to throw the cup at her, but her arm was weak and she missed.
She remembered that Qin Mingyue had never been so distraught. Even when facing the despicable and shameless original owner, no matter how angry she was, she had never thrown things like this.
*It’s over, it’s over! The villain hates me to death now!*
She went out the main door, pacing back and forth in a state of panic.
After a while, too flustered to bear it, she went back and locked the main door.
*That way, the villain surely can’t get out, right?*
She had to admit, at that moment, she was a little scared. The inexplicable transmigration was already outrageous enough, coupled with the red words hanging over her head like a death warrant, she couldn’t help but revere these mysterious powers.
Lin Yanran guarded the corridor until dawn, constantly listening. Later, there was no sound from the room at all. She secretly slipped back in and poured another glass of water, placing it by the table.
She seized the opportunity to steal a glance. Qin Mingyue lay quietly, her eyes closed.
The redness on her face had slightly reduced, so it seemed the alcohol rub had been effective.
After coming out, she waited for a long time. This time, Qin Mingyue finally didn’t smash the cup.
She sighed in relief, then went to make a light and sweet bowl of maltose-poached eggs and placed it next to the teacup.
When the sun was high in the sky, the main door was finally knocked upon.
Her neighbor Chi Bao had returned with a doctor.
“Yanran, I searched five medical halls, and I finally managed to invite this Doctor Zeng.”