Chapter 6: 006 安排，找不出痛根

Hearing the commotion, Qiaoyu hurried out to meet her. Her eyes were red and swollen like walnuts; one look was enough to tell she had been crying for a long time. "Miss, you're finally back." As soon as the words left her mouth, tears rolled down her cheeks.

Although Mu Qi possessed a cold and solitary temperament, it did not mean she was devoid of emotion; she could still be moved if someone treated her sincerely. Stepping forward, she patted Qiaoyu's head and said, "If you keep crying like this, your Miss is truly going to die. I'm so frozen right now that I've lost all sensation in my body. Go prepare a bucket of warm water and a bowl of ginger soup for me. Be quick."

Hearing her Miss speak this way, Qiaoyu no longer had the heart to cry. She responded quickly, "This servant will go prepare them immediately."

As Mu Qi returned to the warm interior, the ice on her body began to melt, causing water to drip from time to time until a small puddle had formed on the floor. "Mu Sang." Just as Mu Qi was about to enter the inner room, she suddenly remembered there were matters yet to be handled, so she turned back to call for Mu Sang.

Mu Sang had been waiting outside the door. Hearing his Miss call, he hurriedly slipped inside. "This old servant is here. What are your orders, Miss?"

"Go and capture Leng Shaocai. Lock him up first." Mu Qi had not forgotten this running dog of Leng Rumei. Thinking of what she had to do next, Mu Qi asked with a solemn expression, "Mu Sang, how many people did my father leave behind in this Marquis Mansion?" To accomplish a great task, she had to have her own people. The Marquis Mansion had been under the control of Mu Mingchong for over a decade; who knew if the current guards were friends or foes?

Upon hearing his Miss's words, the excitement could not be hidden behind Mu Sang's weathered face, and his cloudy eyes flashed with a sharp light. "Could it be that Miss intends to..." Mu Sang did not finish his sentence. He had hoped for this for over a decade; he realized his Miss's intention now, but he did not dare speak it aloud, fearing he might be disappointed again.

In the past, he had often told the Miss these things, telling her to maintain the posture of the Eldest Miss of the Anding Marquis Mansion. Only if she became powerful would she not be bullied. But the Miss would always just smile and not take it to heart. Today, when he arrived at the gates of the Marquis Mansion and saw her standing on the platform with an unyielding and composed demeanor, he was moved to tears. Only now did she truly look like a descendant of a military family—the dignified Eldest Miss of the Anding Marquis Mansion should not allow others to manipulate her at will.

Mu Qi appreciated Mu Sang's intelligence. "It is exactly what you are thinking."

Mu Sang was overjoyed upon hearing this and hurriedly knelt on the ground. "As long as Miss has this resolve, this old servant will certainly handle everything perfectly for you. You rest well; this old servant will go find the men immediately."

A soldier was, after all, a soldier. Although he had not been on the battlefield killing enemies for over a decade, he still retained that bloodlust. Mu Sang felt his blood boiling; the sensation was no different from when he fought alongside the General on the battlefield.

Once the instructions were given, Qiaoyu had also prepared the water. Mu Qi unfastened her cloak and touched the black, lustrous fur. If not for this cloak today, she likely wouldn't have lasted this long. When she eventually met the owner of this cloak, she would have to thank them properly.

The white inner garment was now soaked again as the ice had melted, but Mu Qi could not feel the cold, which was a very bad sign. After removing her shoes and socks, Mu Qi saw that her feet had turned black, and her toes were swollen to the size of steamed buns—a sign of severe frostbite.

Mu Qi felt a wave of lingering fear. She remembered a mission in her previous life where she had gone to an extremely cold region with her comrades. Because the opposing force was very strong, they could only lie in ambush on the periphery while waiting for an opportunity. It was minus ten-plus degrees Celsius back then; they had lain motionless in the snow for a whole day and night, using ice as a bed and snow as a quilt. One could only imagine how cold it was. In the end, although the mission was completed, two of her comrades' feet had been so badly frostbitten that they had died; they had to have their legs amputated from the upper thigh down.

Mu Qi had seen those severed legs with her own eyes; they were as thick as an adult's waist and had turned a purplish-black. Her own calves were now as thick as her thighs; if another half hour passed, Mu Qi herself dared not imagine what the consequences would be.

With severe frostbite, one could only warm up bit by bit. The warm water Mu Qi had instructed Qiaoyu to prepare was insufficient; when she soaked herself in it, she couldn't feel even a hint of warmth. Instead, her mental defenses relaxed, and her body continued to shiver, her teeth chattering loudly.

"Qiaoyu, prepare another bucket of hot water for me. It would be best if you also chopped me a bowl of chili peppers."

Although Qiaoyu did not know why her Miss wanted chili peppers, she still briskly brought over a large bowl of bright red bird's eye chilies.

"Pour them in, and add more hot water. Keep it at a warm temperature." Since there were no complete anti-cold devices in ancient times, Mu Qi could only use the most brutal method to rapidly restore her body temperature.

Qiaoyu's hand paused. She knew how spicy these chilies were; even her own hands, which had touched them, were still stinging with pain. For her Miss, with such delicate skin, to soak in a chili bath—how uncomfortable would that be? "Miss, these chilies are very spicy, you absolutely must not. This servant will go out and fetch a doctor for you instead."

"Do you think if you go out to fetch a doctor now, Leng Rumei and the others will realize I am ill and intentionally cause trouble? Pour them in. I know what I'm doing; a little pain won't kill me." Whether it was the little Qi of her previous life or the Mu Qi of this life, she cherished her life dearly.

Just as the mistress and servant were trying everything to dispel the cold, the Plum Courtyard was also in a state of chaos.

"My hand! My hand! It hurts so much! Quick, quick, fetch a doctor!" Leng Rumei had not been unconscious for long before she was awakened by the pain in her wrist.

Mu Xiaoqing was attending to her on both sides. Hearing her mother wailing and screaming in pain, she felt both anxious and helpless. "Mother, where does it hurt? Qing'er will help you massage it. The doctor just came and said... said your hand is fine, and that applying some ointment will make it better in a couple of days."

Regarding Leng Rumei's injury, Mu Xiaoqing was also very puzzled. Clearly, her mother's hand had no strength at all, and she appeared to be in great pain. However, when the doctor examined her, he found no wounds whatsoever. Even after the examination, the doctor had a meaningful look on his face, implying that he thought her mother was faking the hand pain.

This was the same logic behind Mu Qi using subtle strength to crush Leng Rumei's wrist. In ancient medicine, one emphasized looking, listening, questioning, and feeling the pulse. Leng Rumei's hand injury would not manifest for another two days; "looking" would reveal nothing at all. For the next two days, even if she felt like she was dying of pain, no cause could be found.

The body belonged to herself; how could Leng Rumei believe the nonsense that her hand was fine? Her mind was currently filled with the terrifying image of her hand being ruined, and her temper was extremely violent. "Quack! Find... find me the best doctor in the capital!"

After throwing a tantrum at the servants, Leng Rumei turned to grab her daughter's hand, her face covered in tears. "Qing'er, Mother isn't faking. Mother's hand truly hurts; Mother is dying of pain." Her expression of grievance was incredibly pitiful.

Mu Xiaoqing felt nothing but heartache. "Mother, don't cry, don't cry. Qing'er will help you massage it. Once it's massaged, it won't hurt anymore."

As Mu Xiaoqing spoke, she reached out to help massage Leng Rumei's injured wrist. But the moment her hand touched the wrist, Leng Rumei let out a scream like a slaughtered pig: "Pain! Pain! It hurts to death!"

Mu Xiaoqing had no choice but to pull her hand back, her face filled with resentment. "Mother, I'll go settle accounts with that wench Mu Qi. I'll beat that little slut to death to avenge you!" As Mu Xiaoqing spoke, she started walking toward the door.