Chapter 20: Want to Get Sick for My Brother

After Prince Qing and Liu Dafu returned, they carefully cleaned up the two children, then let them go to sleep.

The adults simply tidied up, then had the servants clean up the messy inn as well.

Prince Qing still needed to deal with the bandits' affairs, so he couldn't sleep for the time being.

Liu Dafu still had to watch over the two children, fearing they would catch a chill and develop a fever again.

In short, aside from the two children sleeping soundly, nobody else could rest for the time being.

The Qingzhou Prefect, upon hearing the news, got up from bed in the middle of the night, scrambling, and rode over on horseback to inquire about the situation.

Prefect Sun was not incompetent either; it was just that there was nothing he could do about the rampant bandits, so he reported it to the court.

Prince Qing would handle these matters; Liu Dafu didn't need to worry.

He now feared that the two children would fall ill!

Whether frightened or chilled, it was all too easy to get sick.

So he repeatedly instructed Di Jiao and Di Yu: "Be sure to watch them well, and feel their foreheads from time to time."

After they were done, the sky was almost bright.

When everything finally settled, the horizon already showed fish-belly white.

Liu Dafu stretched his old arms and legs, was about to go rest a bit, when he heard Di Yu call out anxiously: "Master, the Sixth Prince has a fever!"

Upon hearing that, Liu Dafu hurried over, felt Feng Xuanrui's forehead, and indeed it was somewhat hot.

He was uneasy, so he also felt Sui Sui's forehead, found the little girl's temperature normal, and then relaxed.

Liu Dafu quickly had Qing Shan carry Feng Xuanrui back to his room, lay him on the soft bed, then had Di Jiao go decoct medicine, and had Di Yu stay there to occasionally change the cloth for physical cooling.

When Sui Sui woke up, it was already approaching noon.

Upon rising, she still felt a bit dazed.

Di Yu was attending to her; seeing the little girl awake, he hurriedly smiled and asked: "Sui Sui, are you awake? Hungry?"

Hearing his question, Sui Sui instinctively touched her belly, and indeed it was empty.

But Sui Sui didn't rush to mention eating; she looked around, didn't see her brother on the small couch, and anxiously asked: "Di Yu, where is my brother?"

Di Yu, while dressing Sui Sui, softly replied: "The Sixth Prince is ill; Master and the others are taking care of him."

Upon hearing that Feng Xuanrui was ill, Sui Sui panicked, about to dash off barefoot: "I'll go see!"

Di Yu was startled, reacted, and grabbed the child back: "Oh dear, quickly put on your shoes; if you get sick too, we'll really be in trouble!"

Sui Sui also knew she couldn't get sick, couldn't hold others back, couldn't cause trouble.

So she hurriedly put on her shoes and trotted off to find her brother.

Being small with short legs, she stumbled along for a while before reaching Feng Xuanrui's room.

Feng Xuanrui had a fever that morning, then after taking medicine it went down, but later fluctuated again.

This morning, he would be hot for a moment, then cool down.

They had Liu Dafu and the others worn out.

Qing Shan was still helping with physical cooling, because the temperature had risen again.

Feng Xuanrui woke up in the middle, whimpering from discomfort, unable to eat anything.

But if he didn't eat and was just given medicine directly, Liu Dafu feared he would suffer.

After coaxing and tricking him, he finally managed to drink a few mouthfuls of porridge.

Having been given medicine in the morning, he couldn't be given more now, lest his body couldn't take it; only physical cooling could be done for now.

When Sui Sui arrived, what she saw was Feng Xuanrui with his little face flushed red from fever.

The young lad was half-asleep, half-awake, groaning uncomfortably.

Seeing this, Sui Sui's eye rims turned red directly.

She trotted over, came to Feng Xuanrui's bedside, and tears kept pattering down.

She didn't speak, just stood there staring at her brother.

Liu Dafu, busy at the side, called out reassuringly: "It's fine, just a slight fever; after the medicine and some food he'll be okay, Sui Sui, don't worry."

Last night, the two children's conditions were similar; Sui Sui had previously been ill and not yet fully recovered.

But in the end, it was Feng Xuanrui who fell ill.

At first Liu Dafu felt surprised; then, thinking back to Sui Sui's past experiences, he vaguely understood a bit.

If Sui Sui's constitution were poor, if her fate weren't tough enough, she would likely have died hundreds of times already.

Thinking this, he didn't know whether to admire the child or feel pity for her.

After hearing Liu Dafu's words, Sui Sui turned her head, pursed her small lips tightly, afraid that if she cried out she would frighten her brother.

After pursing her lips for a while, holding back tears, Sui Sui's voice trembled as she asked: "Grandfather Liu, is my brother feeling very uncomfortable?"

After asking, she withdrew her gaze, lowered her head, and whispered softly: "I don't want my brother to suffer; if I could bear his discomfort for him, that would be good."

Feng Xuanrui, half-asleep just waking, hearing this, his first reaction was to refuse: "How could that work? I'm the older brother; any pain has to be mine to bear!"

Hearing her brother's voice, Sui Sui's eyes instantly lit up; she wanted to lunge forward, but afraid of pressing on him, she restrained her movement and exclaimed delightedly: "Brother! You're awake!"

Feng Xuanrui's feverish body had no strength, plus his leg still hurt, so he really lacked energy at the moment.

But unable to bear seeing his sister upset, he mustered strength to lift his hand, touched Sui Sui's bald head, and said: "Don't worry, my body is as strong as an ox, I'm doing great!"

Probably the medicine given in the morning was finally beginning to take effect.

Liu Dafu examined carefully, then felt his pulse, and gestured to Qing Shan: "Prepare some porridge for the Sixth Prince, a nourishing millet porridge."

White rice porridge is slightly cooling, but millet porridge is warm and more nourishing.

Qing Shan responded and went off to busy himself, while Di Jiao changed the cloth on Feng Xuanrui's head.

Feng Xuanrui, lacking strength, touched Sui Sui's head, then honestly lay back down.

Sui Sui, uneasy, obediently sat at the edge of his bed, her grape‑dark, shiny eyes fixed unwaveringly on Feng Xuanrui, afraid that if she looked away even a second, her brother would suffer again.

Feng Xuanrui felt his sister's gaze; he lay there with little strength, thinking: Having a sister is truly wonderful!

If he fell ill at the Residence, his stinky younger brother would just act like a monkey, farting in front of him—where would he come to show any concern?

After Feng Xuanrui drank the porridge, he fell into a drowsy sleep again.

Sui Sui kept watch anxiously for a long time; hearing Doctor Liu say the fever had subsided, what needed to be done now was to keep a close watch—if it didn't fluctuate again, everything would be fine.

When a child falls ill with a fever, the fear is that it will recur, which can easily damage other parts of the body.

Hearing Doctor Liu say it was fine, Sui Sui actually still wasn't entirely reassured and wanted to keep watching.

But, thinking of what her brother had said before—that releasing river lanterns was for praying for blessings—Sui Sui very much wanted to paste a river lantern for her brother.

Thinking of these, she lifted her head and cautiously asked Doctor Liu: "Liu Ye Ye, I want to paste a river lantern for my brother—may I?"