Chapter 373: Chapter 369: Chopping Off The Head_1
 

Yingbao left home, taking her two brothers to visit their second uncle’s wife and her new baby.

Yes, Yanru had given birth to a daughter who was already over two months old and incredibly adorable.

But she was quite anxious about how to raise the child.

Yingbao visited them daily to check on them and soothe Yanru’s anxieties.

“Second aunty, I’m here,” Yingbao said as she pushed aside the door curtain and walked in.

Jiang Jie and Jiang Wu followed her inside, peeking at the baby on the bed-stove.

Yanru hurriedly got up from the bed-stove to pour almond tea for her niece and nephews.

This drink was quite popular in Dongchen Village because every house there had apricot trees. The fruit they bore was either boiled into syrup to be consumed slowly or made into wine. The pits were sun-dried to make almond tea. Cooked with sheep’s milk and honey, it was fragrant and sweet, loved by both adults and children.

Yingbao picked up her two-month-old sister from the bed-stove and played with her, making the baby smile.

Yanru placed the almond tea on the table for Jiang Jie and Jiang Wu to drink, then she leaned in to look at her daughter and laughed, “She was quite fussy today, refusing her milk and crying non-stop. She just quieted down.”

On hearing this, Yingbao put her finger on the back of the baby’s neck and said, “Second aunty, you better change her clothes quickly, they are all wet inside.”

Most babies tend to get sweaty when they cry; if not changed, they could catch a cold soon.

Yanru, somewhat flustered, fetched a monk’s suit and unpinned the swaddle to change the baby’s clothes.

Fortunately, the room was not too cold, so, the baby turned her head and smiled at Yingbao.

After changing her daughter’s clothes and diaper, Yanru swaddled her again.

Just then, Yingbao said, “Second aunty, at night, you should unwrap the swaddling blanket and just let her wear a single layer of clothing to sleep in the comforter. Don’t make the bed-stove too hot. Look, her lips are chapped. Give her some lukewarm water.”

“Okay.” Yanru rushed off to fetch a bowl of water.

She fed the water to her baby with a spoon, and the little one gulped it down, clearly very thirsty.

Thinking for a bit, Yingbao said, “From now on, use the water from our well. Make sure to give the baby water at least twice a day.”

The water from her well, containing pool water and Pupil Spring, not only prevented illness when consumed by humans but also helped the vegetables grow robustly when used for irrigation.

Although Yanru was puzzled as to why Yingbao asked her to use their well water, she knew she could trust her advice because her niece was a fairy child and a divine doctor.

“Alright, from now on, I’ll have your second uncle fetch water from your house.” Yanru carefully placed her sleeping daughter into the cradle after she drank the water and covered her with a blanket.

In her house, she kept the bed-stove burning. Following Yingbao’s advice, letting an infant sleep on a hot bed-stove was not beneficial. During the day, it was okay to let her sleep in the cradle.

After checking on her sister, Yingbao took her brothers back home.

Jiang Wu, who was in a hurry, slipped out the door to go and play with Wei Zhan, Huzi, and Wen Hengyin.

Jiang Jie, who was tired that day, returned to his room to sleep.

Meanwhile, Yingbao returned to her room, laid down on the bed-stove, and, with a focused mind, entered her cave dwelling.

Her parents were now managing the cave dwelling so she didn’t need to worry and would just occasionally pop in and check or lay down in the lush fruit forest to think.

There hadn’t been any changes in the book in her mind, indicating no errors in the plot.

The relationship between the main male and female protagonists was progressing steadily.

That was good, she hoped they could go on forever, like a couple along with their dogs.

On the fifth day of the New Year, Mother Spring got up early to boil dumplings, chop sausages, braised chicken, and braised goose. She also made plates of beef and mutton. Each dish was displayed on a large table where she then added a small bowl of bean sauce spinach, a bowl of stinky tofu sprinkled with a bit of coriander, and placed them on the table.

Yingbao also fetched several fruits from her cellar and sliced them onto a large plate for everyone to enjoy.

Jiang Sanlang and Master Zhou sat together, each holding a big bowl of dumplings, while discussing the construction of the Taoist Temple.

Zhou Wuchang and his two disciples had been staying with Jiang Sanlang for a while. It seemed as if they had made his house their own.

Just as the big family was enjoying their meal, Second Niece rushed in and said to Yingbao, “Yingbao, Chen Zhao has been injured by her stepmother! You need to go and check on her right away!”

Yingbao, with a mouthful of dumplings, almost choked on the news.

“Where was he struck?”

“Here! The head! It was Chen Zhao’s head!” Erni was gesturing as she spoke.

Yingbao put down her bowl, went back into the house to grab the medicine box, and followed Erni running outside.

Before they even reached West Village, they saw people heading there continuously.

Suddenly, a young girl ran up to them, and as soon as she saw Yingbao, she started crying, “Yingbao, please save my sister! She’s not doing well!”

The newcomer was Chen Wan, her hands covered in fresh blood.

Without any hesitation, Yingbao ran quickly to the Chen’s house.

It was her first time entering Old Chen Laoshuan’s house, and she was slightly uneasy.

Chen Wan led her into a thatched cottage, it was rather dim inside, incapable of making out the condition of the person lying on the kang bed.

Chen Wan quickly lit an oil lamp to illuminate the room for Yingbao.

She saw Chen Zhao lying on the bed, her head roughly bandaged, the bandage already stained red with fresh blood.

Yingbao carefully unwrapped the cotton cloth, revealing a long gash, about the length of a finger.

From the wound, blood was continuously flowing.

Yingbao quickly took out hemostatic powder and sprinkled it on the wound.

She then instructed Chen Wan to prepare some hot water, heated the kang bed, and had Chen Zhao warmed up and take medicine.

Due to excessive blood loss, Chen Zhao was semi-conscious, her body as cold as ice, even the Five Ding Zhi couldn’t be fed to her, they had to use hot water to get it down.

Yingbao then took out a silver needle, pricked it into her Renzhong acupoint, to wake her up.

After a while, the kang bed gradually warmed up, Chen Zhao’s clenched teeth also loosened, and she finally managed to drink the boiled water with Five Ding Zhi.

Only then did Yingbao use strong liquor to clean the wound on her head, afterwards she threaded it up with sheep-gut string, and covered the wound with Five Ding Zhi and other wound medicine.

She then took out a piece of cotton cloth and wrapped it around her head.

After that, she checked Chen Zhao’s pulse, and it was already slowly stabilizing.

Seeing that her sister seemed to be alright, Chen Wan’s complexion gradually restored, no longer waxen yellow like before. She knelt down to Yingbao in gratitude and heavily kowtowed, “Thank you, Yingbao, for saving her.”

Yingbao rushed in to pull her up, considering the fact that the medicine stores at the market were still not open, she said to Chen Wan: “Go to my house to get some medicine later, then just continue to recuperate.”

Chen Wan nodded her head in agreement, and asked: “How much does it cost in total?”

Yingbao considered for a moment, and said: “Ten taels.”

Without any more words, Chen Wan, right before Yingbao, moved a brick from the corner of the wall, and took out ten silver ingots from inside, stuffing them into her hands.

From outside the door, Chu Man’s voice echoed, “Did she die? Why are you all staring at me? If she hadn’t overstepped, would I have cut her?”

“Shut your mouth!” Chen Changping slapped Chu Man so hard that she fell to the ground.

“You hit me? You actually hit me?” Chu Man suddenly scrambled up from the ground, lunging forward at Chen Changping, wildly scratching at his face and screaming: “I will fight till death with you! Old man! I’m going to wipe out your whole family!”

Chen Changping kept retreating from Chu Man’s scratching, blocking with his arms, he roared: “Shrew! Stop it!”

The villagers laughed as they watched the scene from the sidelines, someone even chuckled: “It turns out, our Scholar is henpecked after all! If my wife dared to take a knife to our child, I’ll divorce her right away, let alone argue with her.”

“Damn right.”

“Eh, she is a beautiful woman after all, who can bear to hit her?”

The crowd burst into laughter.

In a corner, a pair of ruthless eyes were glaring at Chu Man, hands tightly clenched around a sharp sickle.

Because of his rage, his small body was slightly trembling, and his teeth were chattering.