Secrets of the Blossom

Chapter 6

Jin Xiao Bao pauses outside the residence Huai En is staying at. He considers if he should go back and find out why the alpha had been so cold to him this morning. Xiao Bao has thick skin; he can ignore the alpha's scowls and tease him until he smiles. He has just decided to do that when he hears a woman calling him. He looks up and sees it's one of Xiao Yu's maids.

He crosses the courtyard to where she is and asks, "What's wrong?"

"Young Master," she says a little desperately, "the young mistress is ill."

"What happened?" Xiao Bao asks her.

"She refused to eat her breakfast this morning. We thought she was still upset about not being able to go with master and mistress to the temple, but then she said she didn't feel well and was going back to bed. When we checked she was running a fever." The maid says.

"Go get the doctor. I will check on her." Xiao Bao tells her.

Xiao Yu is sleeping fitfully when Xiao Bao enters her rooms. She looks too pale and is indeed hot to the touch. Occasionally, she breaks out in coughing fits without waking. There have been reports of plague coming in from some of the distant villages, so Xiao Bao is naturally extremely worried about the little girl. He paces anxiously until the doctor arrives.

When the doctor arrives, he begins by raising Xiao Yu's wrist and checking her spiritual energy. He nods and hums to himself as he lays a hand on her face then he has Xiao Bao hold her into a sitting position while he presses a hand flat against her back. Xiao Bao is just about to demand what is wrong with his sister when the doctor stands and smiles.

"It's only a minor imbalance in her yin and yang energies, these sorts of things are common among children and can be from something as small as catching a chill." The doctor says. It can be easily treated with an herbal concoction. I will leave the instructions with your servants. I recommend you have your kitchen brew extra; these sorts of imbalances usually spread from one person to another. Although they are seldom dangerous except for young infants and the elderly.

Xiao Bao thanks the doctor and has one of the maid servants pay him. After the doctor leaves, Xiao Bao calls Zhao Cai to send a message to his parents to stay away for a few more days. His father already has a breathing abnormality, one that he has had his whole life, and it has only gotten worse in the last few years. His life could be put in danger by catching even a minor imbalance like this.

Seeing Xiao Yu look so pale and helpless reminds Xiao Bao of when he had first brought her back. The girl had also had a fever for several days at that time. Then the doctor had said it was the shock of losing her parents suddenly in an accident and moving to a new place. Xiao Bao knew it probably had really been shock, but what the child had suffered had been so much worse than what the doctor was aware. Then he had set by her bed just like he was doing now.

On the third day after he had brought Xiao Yu home, his mother had come in and sat down beside him. She had tentatively broached the subject of sending the girl away somewhere when she recovered. However, Xiao Bao had stood his ground on this, saying he owed it to Lianyu to take care of his sister. Besides, Xiao Yu needed to know she was somewhere safe to recover properly. Eventually his parents had given in and agreed to adopt her. His mother and Xiao Yu have become close since then, but it's Xiao Bao she clings to the tightest. Whenever he is home, she wants to be near her gege whenever possible.

It was a long and sleepless night for Xiao Bao. Xiao Yu woke up often in the night crying or coughing. Xiao Bao also made sure she took the herbal concoction every two hours as instructed by the doctor. By the morning, she looked much better and was sleeping peacefully. An exhausted Xiao Bao instructed her nurses to let her sleep and to have some congee ready to feed her when she woke. He knew he needed to rest. He was feeling faint and feverish himself and suspected he had caught the illness from Xiao Yu. However, he still instructed the maids to send word if Xiao Yu took a turn for the worse.