Thrown out of the house, the wet nurse enters the noble household and becomes a person of high statu

In the afternoon, the old lady leaned back in her armchair, which was covered with thick bedding, feeling a bit thirsty.

"Bring me water."

The maid standing to the side picked up the kettle from the table, intending to pour water, but instead poured out air.

"Please forgive me, Madam, the water... the water is gone, I'll go and add some right away."

The maidservant quickly apologized, picked up the empty pot, and hurriedly left.

The people inside didn't pay any attention, taking it as just a routine water refill.

Madam Pei even whispered to the old lady, "Mother, please wait a moment, the tea will be here shortly."

This wait, however, lasted a very long time.

After a long while, the maid returned.

But she was still carrying an empty kettle, and as soon as she came in, she knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"Madam, something terrible has happened! The temple well is frozen solid; we can't draw water!"

"What?"

Everyone in the room, including the old lady who had been resting with her eyes closed, opened their eyes wide.

"I just went to the kitchen to fetch water. The monks there said that the well is covered with a thick layer of ice, and they've been trying to break it for ages but haven't been able to. They're trying to figure out a solution."

First there was a shortage of charcoal, and now there's a water shortage. Will there be a food shortage next?

Besides, a shortage of charcoal can be remedied by gathering firewood, and a reduction in food can be conserved, but without water... how many days can a person survive?

The atmosphere inside suddenly turned cold, even more so than the wind and snow outside.

Everyone panicked, and even the usually composed old lady showed a solemn expression on her face.

Without water, let alone washing and eating, even the most basic survival becomes a problem.

"Water outage?! What are we going to do?"

"No water...how can we live without water?"

"God, is this going to cut off our path to survival?"

My lips are so dry and cracked...

The whispers quickly turned into exclamations and complaints.

The tension, cold, and scarcity of supplies over the past few days had already pushed everyone's nerves to the limit.

The old lady coughed heavily, and the cane she was holding tapped on the floor.

"What's the panic! There's always a way out! If we don't have well water, can't we get snow water?"

Snow water?

Yes, the mountains and fields outside are covered in snow! It's inexhaustible!

Madam Pei quickly replied, "Mother is right! Quickly, send more people to fetch clean snow, melt it in a clean pot, boil it, and drink it!"

At the order, the maids and servants sprang into action.

Before long, several basins of crystal-clear white snow were brought back, poured into clean copper kettles or earthenware jars, and placed on the lit fire to melt slowly.

The pure white snow melted into clear water, and the thirst in everyone's throats seemed to be relieved.

But Liu Wenying always felt something was wrong.

The snow may look clean, but it is not.

It fell from the sky, covered with countless dust and filth, and then covered the ground, mixing with soil, withered leaves, and even bird and animal droppings.

I'm afraid that if I were to dissolve and drink it directly, I might...

The melted snow water was put back into the kettle, and everyone felt much more at ease after drinking warm water to soothe their throats.

Wen Jingshu was about to drink when Liu Wenying tugged at her sleeve.

Liu Wenying lowered her voice, "Madam, the snow water looks clean, but it's not. Please bear with it for now and don't drink it."

Wen Jingshu, who was used to trusting her, did not drink it.

The others, however, had no such concerns. They were already extremely thirsty and couldn't wait to drink the melting snow.

Wen Jingshu declined for the time being, citing that she was not thirsty.

At first, there was nothing unusual. The thirst was relieved, but Wen Jingshu was also extremely thirsty and began to feel restless.

However, less than half an hour later, something terrible happened!

First, it was one of the maids serving Madam Pei; she had just drunk the most, guzzling it down like a cow.

Suddenly clutching his stomach, his face turned pale, and he excused himself and left.

Immediately afterward, others also showed signs of pain. Like a chain reaction, one after another, people in the meditation room began to feel abdominal cramps and nausea.

"Ouch... my stomach..."

"I can't take it anymore... I feel like throwing up..."

"Quick...quick, help me out..."

Everyone in the room who had drunk the snow water began to show symptoms.

Only Madam Wen Jingshu and Fourth Madam Pei Rongyue had not drunk it.

Seeing this scene, Wen Jingshu was filled with lingering fear, but fortunately, Liu Wenying reminded her.

The oldest woman had the most severe reaction; she clutched her chest, retching incessantly, and almost fainted.

Madam Pei herself felt unwell, but she forced herself to continue directing the servants who were in complete chaos.

"Quickly, help the old lady to lie down! Go and fetch the family physician! Go now!"

The accompanying physician was quickly dragged over.

Upon seeing this scene and inquiring about whether the people had drunk the melted snow water, he stamped his feet and sighed deeply.

"How foolish! Snow water is not drinkable! It may look clean, but it's actually incredibly filthy and can easily cause diarrhea and abdominal pain, especially for those who are weak! This, this..."

"Dr. Hu, please stop talking now and take a look at Mother and Grandmother," Wen Jingshu said, her complexion still relatively good.

Dr. Hu first took the pulse of the elderly lady, whose symptoms were the most severe, and then inquired about the conditions of the others.

"Madam, this is a case of cold pathogens entering your body, triggering a pre-existing condition, coupled with diarrhea. Your situation is not good! The others are also experiencing some degree of gastrointestinal discomfort. I will prescribe a remedy to stop the diarrhea and strengthen your body. But..."

He gave a wry smile, "We still have the medicinal herbs, but where will we get the water to boil them?"

There's a water shortage, a lack of clean water.

Using dirty snow water not only failed to quench thirst, but also caused diarrhea.

A somber mood hung over the meditation room, but a weak voice came from the direction of the First Madam.

"This servant may have a way."

Madam Pei, disregarding everything else, urged, "Tell me quickly, what method is it?"

Liu Wenying composed herself and said, "Snow water is murky and cannot be drunk directly after melting, but it might be usable if carefully filtered. I need some clean fine gauze and some burnt charcoal."

Fine gauze? Charcoal? The crowd looked at each other, puzzled.

Wen Jingshu always trusted her, and immediately instructed Zizhu, "Go to the kitchen and find the finest gauze and some thoroughly burned charcoal!"

Unburnt charcoal is hard to find, but burned charcoal is not difficult to find.

Zizhu accepted the order and hurried off, returning shortly with the items.

Liu Wenying first took a clean earthenware jar, covered the mouth of the jar with two layers of fine gauze, and secured it with a thin rope.

Then a new pile of snow is collected. The snow is taken from a high place, has not been trampled, and is relatively clean.

The earthenware pot was placed over a fire to heat it. After the snow melted, most of the grass clippings and dust were filtered out through the first layer of gauze.

The second layer of gauze filtered the water again, but the snow water was still somewhat cloudy.

Charcoal came in handy; it was crushed, placed in a new gauze, and then the gauze was soaked in snow water.

Charcoal has excellent adsorption properties. Snow water flows out through the black charcoal layer, settles again, and the charcoal ash settles at the bottom, while the clear water remains on top.

"This...is this water drinkable?" someone asked hesitantly.

When Granny Sun saw that Liu Wenying had actually produced clear, transparent water, she spoke in a strange tone.

"Who knows if what you've concocted is clean? What if it looks clean on the surface but contains some filth we don't know about? The old lady is precious and delicate; if something goes wrong, can you bear the responsibility?"

…………