Before the house was raided, the maidservant of the Prime Minister's residence absconded with t

Xu suddenly raised her head, her swollen red eyes staring at Liu Tianbao: "Fourth brother, what are you saying?"

Erniu is your own brother!

When you were a child, if you fell into the river, who jumped in to save you?

When you contracted malaria and had a high fever, who carried you for twenty miles to town to find a doctor?

You've forgotten all of this?

Now that your brother is sick, are you the first one to jump out and kick him out?

Liu Tianbao was momentarily speechless after being rebuked like this. His face flushed red and then turned pale. His lips moved a few times, but he couldn't say anything in rebuttal.

But the expression on his face became even more gloomy, his eyes darting around as if he were plotting something.

"Second sister-in-law, it's not that we're heartless, it's just... this disease is too frightening."

Father is getting old, what if something happens to him... Besides, we don't have enough money to hire a doctor.

My second brother is my own brother, and of course I don't want anything to happen to him, but he was just unlucky enough to get such an infectious disease!

Stop pressuring your father!

That is unfilial.

Liu Jiaojiao peeked out from behind a pillar, her voice soft and weak.

Just then, Village Head Grandpa Chen pushed through the crowd.

"Peach Girl, let's go inside quickly!"

Chen Shuigen couldn't stand it anymore, so he pulled Tao'er in and squeezed in without saying a word.

He cleared his throat and said in a loud voice, "Grandpa, please don't be in such a hurry."

I brought Peach Girl with me; you all know how capable she is.

She cured Da Niu's wife's eyes, and she also healed Da Niu's leg.

Why not let her see Erniu? Whether he is right or wrong, we can decide after we see.

It's still a life, isn't it?

The noise in the courtyard suddenly subsided, and dozens of eyes fell on Tao'er.

Tao'er remained calm. She gave a slight bow to Grandpa Liu, neither humble nor arrogant: "Grandpa Chen is right."

Grandpa, let me see my second uncle. It's better than doing nothing.

Maybe it's not the plague.

"Old Liu, why don't you let Tao Yatou take a look at Er Niu?"

"He's still your own son!"

"That's right, if you can't even bear to part with a dog, how can you bear to part with a human life!"

How can we just abandon them like that!

"Old Liu, Tao'er is willing to risk her life to treat Erniu, what are you still hesitating about?"

"Exactly, they're not charging you for the consultation!"

Old Master Liu's white eyebrows furrowed, his lips were tightly closed, and his gaze shifted from Madam Xu to the villagers watching the commotion in the courtyard.

With so many people watching, if he were to refuse outright, word would spread that he, the old man of the Liu family, was heartless and didn't care about the life of his own son.

Besides, the village head will be there too; what will he think of the Liu family then?

The Liu family's reputation is terrible now; they can't be so obvious anymore.

He looked at Tao'er again.

This girl did indeed cure Zhang's eyes and Da Niu's leg ailment.

If I had known she was so capable, we should have separated from the family in the first place.

Well, let this girl take a look. If she can cure him, that's fate; if she can't... well, that's just the second son's destiny.

"The second son is in the woodshed."

Grandpa Liu pointed to the low, small house in the corner of the yard, his voice hoarse.

He then added, "The old doctor said he was afraid of infection, so he let us move over there."

Tao'er sneered inwardly. This wasn't the old doctor's instruction at all; it was clearly because he was afraid her second uncle would infect everyone.

That room was a waste.

Tao'er nodded and turned to look at Madam Xu.

Mrs. Xu was wiping away tears with her sleeve, sobbing uncontrollably, and she really did seem to be in the situation.

But Tao'er caught a fleeting glimmer of light through the gaps in her lowered eyelashes—a sense of relief that things were going according to plan.

Their eyes met briefly before they looked away.

"Second Aunt, why is Second Uncle in the woodshed?"

Peach asked the question knowing the answer already.

Sobbing, Madam Xu replied, "Fourth brother said... said that since the old doctor said it might be the plague, he told us to move to the woodshed immediately, to prevent it from spreading to the family..."

She started crying again as she spoke, "That woodshed is damp and cold, there isn't even a decent quilt, and your second uncle has a high fever..."

Tao'er said "Oh" and didn't ask any more questions.

She put on her coarse cloth gloves and walked towards the woodshed.

Whispers came from behind her. Some praised the girl for her courage, some said she was not afraid of death, and others muttered that a little girl like her could not possibly understand anything.

Tao'er ignored him, pushed open the creaking wooden door of the woodshed, and slipped inside.

The others didn't dare to go in; they just waited outside out of curiosity.

The woodshed was small, half full of chopped firewood, with an old mattress temporarily laid out in the corner where my second uncle lay down.

The room was dimly lit, and a musty smell mixed with the aroma of firewood filled the air.

Tao bent down and leaned closer, carefully examining the object by the light filtering through the crack in the door.

Even though she knew what was going on, she still gasped slightly when she saw her second uncle's appearance.

Liu Erniu was originally a strong farmer, with broad shoulders and a thick waist, and his skin was tanned dark and shiny.

But now, lying in bed, she felt like she had shrunk, her cheeks were sunken, and her lips were dry and cracked.

What's even more alarming are the red rashes all over his body, densely packed, spreading from his neck all the way to his hands and feet, even his face, patches of red spots, some places already covered with tiny blisters, it really looks horrifying.

Tao'er reached out and touched her second uncle's forehead through her cloth gloves; it was frighteningly hot.

Liu Erniu seemed to sense someone's arrival. He twitched his eyelids, opened them a crack, and his cloudy gaze wandered aimlessly. He mumbled something indistinctly before closing them again.

Tao'er knew this was a reaction to the medicine. The medicine she had prepared would trigger a violent "false plague" in her body, with symptoms almost identical to those of a real plague.

High fever, rash, and confusion are all symptoms, but they are essentially just a strong immune response. After taking the antidote, the pain and discomfort will disappear quickly.

The symptoms will disappear completely within two or three days, and the body will return to its previous state.

She squatted down next to Liu Erniu, pretending to examine him, and fussed over him for a quarter of an hour.

She secretly fed her second uncle a painkiller and whispered, "Second Uncle, the pain will subside soon after you take the medicine. Just bear with it a little longer; everything is going according to plan."

My second uncle seemed to have heard me and nodded.

During this time, there was a constant buzzing sound in the courtyard outside, intermittently accompanied by Xu's crying and Liu Tianbao's impatient scolding.

Peach ignored him and carried out the entire act with utmost seriousness.

When she pushed open the door to the woodshed and walked out, everyone's eyes in the courtyard were once again drawn to her.

Grandpa Liu looked at her, hoping for a satisfactory result.

Xu got up from the ground and staggered over. Liu Sanniu and Liu Tianbao exchanged glances, and even Liu Jiaojiao emerged from behind a pillar.

Tao'er removed her veil and sighed deeply. Her voice wasn't loud, but the courtyard was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Uncle's condition..."

It's probably a plague.

The old doctor's judgment was correct!

He probably got it while working in town.

These words caused an uproar in the courtyard.