Chapter 2951 - 2952: Dengdeng Disappears

Chapter 2951: Chapter 2952: Dengdeng Disappears

That night, Little Dengdeng slept hugging Snowball, and since then, he no longer needed an adult to sleep with him at night.

This fact somewhat relieved Jiang Yichun, at least Little Dengdeng wouldn’t squeeze between him and his wife anymore.

So calling it Snowball was just fine.

Two days later, Bai Ruozhu and her group boarded the official ship, ready to head west.

Unexpectedly, after boarding the ship, Xue Wenhui escorted Xue Zhi, who arrived with red rims around her eyes, indicating she had just cried. It was unclear what had happened.

Xue Wenhui approached to pay his respects and said, "Lord Jiang, Lord Bai, my niece’s family has encountered some issues and she needs to return west. She also needs to travel by waterway, but I have duties and cannot leave, so I kindly ask you to look after her a little."

"What happened? Do you need assistance?" Bai Ruozhu asked.

Xue Wenhui, also feeling a bit down, said, "Just now, I received news from my second brother’s family that his wife, who is Xue Zhi’s mother, is gravely ill. It is said she might not make it, so they called the girl to hurry back and see her mother."

Suddenly, he looked at Bai Ruozhu, "My second brother’s family lives in Linchuan City, east of Beiyu City. If it’s convenient for Lord Bai, please stop by and take a look at my sister-in-law’s condition."

Since he asked, Bai Ruozhu couldn’t refuse. After all, years ago, Xue Wenhui had impartially handled a corruption case that greatly helped her family, so she owed him a bit of repayment.

"Alright, when the time comes, my father and I will go see." Bai Ruozhu thought of inquiring about the illness, but figured Xue Wenhui probably couldn’t describe it clearly, it would be better to see for themselves once they reached Linjiang City.

Xue Wenhui formally thanked her with a bow, and Xue Zhi also expressed her gratitude, then Bai Ruozhu consoled them with a few words. Only then did Xue Wenhui bid farewell and disembark from the ship.

Soon, the ship set sail westward, and Bai Ruozhu arranged rooms for everyone, choosing a slightly more spacious room for Xue Zhi. Since Xue Wenhui entrusted them to look after her a bit, they should prioritize taking care of the young lady.

After expressing her thanks, Xue Zhi returned to her room and didn’t come out the rest of the afternoon, evidently in a very poor mood.

Soon it was nearing dinner time, and Bai Ruozhu sent someone to invite Xue Zhi to eat, but Xue Zhi said she had no appetite, so Bai Ruozhu had no choice but to have the meal delivered to her room.

For three consecutive days, Xue Zhi refused to leave her room, eating her meals inside, with only a maidservant attending to her, occasionally coming out to fetch water. The sent meals were hardly touched.

On the third night, it suddenly began to rain on the river, and with the rising wind, the ship became somewhat unstable.

Bai Ruozhu and her group, having sailed through gales and waves before, found the slight rocking to be nothing significant, but for Xue Zhi, it was different; seasickness hit her hard, making her vomit violently.

"Lord Bai, I apologize for disturbing your rest, I am terribly sorry, but my lady is seasick and vomiting badly, her complexion is very poor. I am truly afraid something might happen," Xue Zhi’s maidservant said at Bai Ruozhu’s door.

Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun had just gone to bed. She quickly got up, "I’ll go take a look."

She swiftly put on her outer robe, opened the door, and said to the maid, "Let’s go, I’ll take a look at her. Didn’t she have no seasickness before?"

"She didn’t use to get seasick, but probably due to her bad mood, she hasn’t been eating or drinking properly, even after I urged her, it’s all to no avail. In just these few days, her face has become gaunt," the maid said choked with emotion.

Bai Ruozhu sighed. Although she had agreed to treat Xue Zhi’s mother, she wasn’t sure if they could make it in time, a concern Xue Zhi surely harbored too, which is why she was exceptionally anxious.

"I shall try to persuade her."

Soon they reached near Xue Zhi’s room, and even before entering, the sound of violent retching was heard, though it seemed to be a dry heave, probably unable to expel anything substantial.

Dry heaving is even more uncomfortable. Bai Ruozhu pushed the door open and handed her a seasickness pill.

"Take this first, and let me check your pulse."

Xue Zhi obediently took the seasickness pill, and Bai Ruozhu pressed on a few acupoints, which genuinely improved her dry heaving situation.

She looked at Bai Ruozhu in surprise, "Is it okay now? I don’t feel like vomiting anymore!"

Probably realizing that Bai Ruozhu’s medical skills were better than she had imagined, she saw a glimmer of hope for saving her mother, and her eyes finally brightened.

Bai Ruozhu checked her pulse, discovering that due to her improper diet, combined with her already thin body, she suffered from anemia and weakness, leading to stress-induced seasickness.

"In such a state, you’ll fall ill even before reaching home, and then your father will have to worry about both you and your mother, wouldn’t that just add trouble to the family?" Bai Ruozhu said.

Xue Wenhui had urged them to look after Xue Zhi a little, and Bai Ruozhu couldn’t just let her fall sick like this, besides, the young girl had once warned her, which was rather decent of her.

Xue Zhi suddenly started crying and said between sobs, "It’s all my fault for going to the Capital City to arrange a marriage. If I hadn’t left home, I would be by my mother’s side to care for her illness, maybe she would have gotten better by now. I’ve been an unfilial daughter, staying away from home and not attending to my parents."

"Your parents probably hoped you could settle in the Capital City, so you could take care of your grandmother for them, fulfilling some filial duties. It’s not your fault that you didn’t know your mother would fall ill, so don’t overthink it. When we get to your home, I’ll go ashore with you to check on your mother’s condition, maybe we can find a way," Bai Ruozhu said.

After crying, Xue Zhi felt much better mentally. She wiped away her tears and pulled herself together, with Bai Ruozhu and the medical sage in action, her mother would surely be alright.

"Thank you, Lord Bai," Xue Zhi said with genuine gratitude.

Bai Ruozhu smiled at her, "I’m only a few years older than you, why not just call me sister? My official title is but a nominal one, you don’t need to use it outside the court."

Xue Zhi happily called out, "Alright, Sister Bai."

From that day on, Xue Zhi’s mood improved significantly, and she was willing to leave her room and eat with everyone.

In the blink of an eye, on the fifth day, in the deep of night, Jiang Yichun suddenly opened his eyes, and Bai Ruozhu was instantly awakened, hurriedly asking, "Something’s wrong, is something happening outside?"

The two of them quickly put on outerwear and ran up to the deck, only to hear the sloshing sound of water—someone had fallen into the water.

No, it wasn’t someone falling in, but someone proficient in swimming slipping away through the water.

"Who’s missing? Quickly check!" Jiang Yichun shouted loudly.

The crew on the deck checked among themselves, finding no one missing.

Jianqi began checking inside the ship cabin among their group, and shortly, his voice echoed from within, "Master, young Dengdeng is missing!"

"What!" Bai Ruozhu was greatly alarmed. Ever since Dengdeng started sleeping alone, at first, they would check on him once or twice at night to see if he had kicked off his blanket, was scared, or wet the bed, but after a few days of observation, Dengdeng slept quite soundly by himself at night.

In fact, once, Bai Ruozhu even saw Snowball dragging a corner of the blanket to cover Dengdeng.