Chapter 54 Official Match Appears
Lu family.
No wonder Tong Huaqiong felt so familiar.
It turned out to be the imperial merchant Lu family.
This girl with a pair of cold star-like eyes was Lu Zhaozhao, Gu Jingzhe's official partner in his previous life.
In their previous life, it was also in this forest that Tong Da Jiao and Gu Jingzhe met the siblings Lu Zhaozhao and Lu Zhaoyang.
At that time, Lu Zhaoyang was also seriously ill and could not continue on his journey.
The young genius Gu Jingzhe guessed the other's family background from the way they were dressed, so he persuaded Tong Dajiao to bring the Lu brothers and sisters home, and lent money to hire a doctor for Lu Zhaoyang.
After Lu Zhaoyang's condition stabilized after recuperating for a few days at the Gu family, Gu Jingzhe personally escorted the brother and sister to the Lu family in the provincial capital, and thus became a guest of honor at the Lu family as the Lu family's benefactor and Lu Zhaoyang's confidant.
The Lu brothers and sisters were very unfortunate. Their parents died early, and they lived with their grandfather, a great imperial merchant.
Lu Zhaoyang was a gifted man and was the most outstanding student in Wanliu Academy. However, he had been in poor health since childhood and died three years after being rescued by the Gu family.
Lu Zhaozhao is a typical love-brained person. She was bewitched by Gu Jingzhe's face. It can be said that she was ruined for life once she met Gu Jingzhe.
After Lu Zhaoyang passed away, the old man of the Lu family fell ill and could not get up. At that time, Gu Jingzhe was busy taking care of the Lu family and moved the old man Lu. Before his death, the old man Lu decided to marry Lu Zhaozhao to Gu Jingzhe.
After Gu Jingzhe passed the imperial examination, they got married.
After Gu Jingzhe became the son-in-law of the Lu family, Lu Zhaozhao used half of his fortune to support Gu Jingzhe to go to Beijing to seek fame.
Gu Jingzhe lived up to everyone's expectations and won the third place.
What follows is the clichéd but disastrous Chen Shimei drama. Gu Jingzhe is favored by a princess from a noble family, but for the sake of fame and fortune in officialdom, Gu Jingzhe chooses to marry the princess, hiding the fact that he is married.
Tong Da Jiao was so happy that her son could marry the princess. She led the whole family to marry Gu Jingzhe without telling Lu Zhaozhao, and kept Lu Zhaozhao tied to the Gu family just to spend Lu Zhaozhao's money with a clear conscience.
Lu Zhaozhao didn't know about Gu Jingzhe's betrayal until the princess came to her door. Deeply shocked, Lu Zhaozhao hanged herself with her unborn child.
After Lu Zhaozhao's death, Gu Jingzhe did not regret his betrayal, but was obsessed with taking concubines. The concubines he took in had one thing in common: they all looked like Lu Zhaozhao.
Just like the Fourth Master in the famous Qing palace drama, he plays the role of a nobleman all day long.
Later, he even took in a prostitute who looked like a replica of Lu Zhaozhao, and favored his concubine over his wife.
It's a whole psychotic plot where a person is immersed in self-affection and has no choice but to do so.
孽 孽!
Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but curse Gu Jingzhe to death in her heart.
"...Brother, don't scare me."
Lu Zhaoyang almost couldn't breathe.
When Lu Zhaozhao saw her brother's heavy breathing, tears rolled down her cheeks.
When Lu Zhaozhao saw Tong Huaqiong lifting the curtain, he thought it was a doctor. But when he saw clearly that it was a country woman, he couldn't help feeling disappointed.
Tong Huaqiong looked towards Lu Zhaoyang in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Lu Zhaoyang was half lying down, his face was pale and his breathing was rapid.
"Girl, the space in this carriage is too narrow. Your brother needs ventilation. Please carry him out." Tong Huaqiong said to Lu Zhaozhao.
Tong Huaqiong didn't know what disease Lu Zhaoyang had, but it was obvious that he couldn't stay in a confined space.
Lu Zhaozhao was just crying and had already lost her mind. When she heard Tong Huaqiong say this, she nodded.
Tong Huaqiong leaned her head out of the carriage and called Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe to help carry the people.
Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe got into the carriage, carried Lu Zhaoyang out as Tong Huaqiong requested, and then placed him steadily on the grass.
Lu Zhaozhao got off the carriage, staggered, and was supported by Gu Jingzhe.
Tong Huaqiong took a fan from the carriage and fanned herself. Without bothering to greet Gu Dahan, she ordered Gu Dahan to feed Lu Zhaoyang some water.
"Master, how do you feel?" Gu Dahan asked.
Lu Zhaoyang was lying in an open space. His breathing was obviously much smoother than in the carriage. He coughed a few times without saying anything.
"Aunt, thank you."
When Lu Zhaozhao saw that his brother's breathing gradually stabilized, he felt grateful to Tong Huaqiong.
Her brother had a seizure and there was no elderly person around to take care of him, so she was terrified.
Tong Huaqiong's sudden appearance made Lu Zhaozhao feel inexplicably at ease.
"Your brother will be fine." Tong Huaqiong said.
Tong Huaqiong said this for a reason. In Tong Dajiao's memory, although she did not see what disease Lu Zhaoyang had, she saw that Lu Zhaoyang survived this illness.
It is still three years since Lu Zhaoyang passed away in the previous life.
With Tong Huaqiong's comfort, Lu Zhaozhao gradually stopped crying.
Gu Dahan introduced the identities of Tong Huaqiong, Gu Dashu and others to Lu Zhaoyang and his sister.
Gu Dahan was quite surprised to meet his stepmother and his younger brothers and sisters in the forest, especially the kind attitude shown by his stepmother, which was beyond his expectations.
He felt that his stepmother seemed a little different from before.
It’s not a good idea to let Lu Zhaoyang lie here all the time. It’s so late, either send him to see a doctor or take him home.
If he were to take her home... Tong Huaqiong glanced at Gu Jingzhe. He didn't want Gu Jingzhe to continue to bully Lu Zhaozhao in his life.
"Why don't we go to town to see a doctor?" Tong Huaqiong suggested when she saw that Lu Zhaoyang's breathing had become smoother.
"Not going to see a doctor..." Lu Zhaoyang smiled bitterly.
He didn't dare to see a strange doctor casually. Once, he fell ill in Wanliu Academy and his classmates helped him to invite a doctor. The more the doctor treated him, the worse his condition became.
This disease was inherited from his mother, and every doctor who saw him gave him a different answer, which led to him not daring to see any doctor except the retired doctor from the Imperial Hospital who was paid a high price by his grandfather.
Since Lu Zhaoyang didn't want to see a doctor, Tong Huaqiong couldn't force him to do so.
"......What kind of illness does Mr. Lu have?" Tong Huaqiong was a little curious.
Lu Zhaozhao shook his head and said, "I don't know. I've been like this since I was a child. Sometimes it gets better, sometimes it gets worse. No matter how many famous doctors I consulted, it's useless."
Lu Zhaozhao started to cry as she spoke.
"He was fine before, but my brother said he was hungry and ate a sesame cake, then he became like this... wuwuwu... it's all my fault that I gave my brother the sesame cake." Lu Zhaozhao said crying.
Sesame cake. Tong Huaqiong's heart moved. She turned her head and observed Lu Zhaoyang carefully. She couldn't help but said to Lu Zhaoyang: "Miss Lu, do you still have sesame cake? Can you show me the sesame cake?"
Lu Zhaozhao nodded and ran to the carriage to take out the sesame cake.
Tong Huaqiong took it and looked at it. It was just an ordinary white flour cake with a layer of sesame seeds sprinkled on it. The food of the rich family was just so-so, not as tempting as the sesame cake she made.
Tong Huaqiong observed the sesame cake and Lu Zhaoyang at the same time, and suddenly a light of excitement flashed in her eyes.
This sesame cake confirmed Tong Huaqiong's guess that Lu Zhaoyang's symptoms were obviously gluten intolerance, that is, chronic allergy to wheat gluten protein.
In her previous life, Tong Huaqiong first learned about someone being allergic to wheat products when she was in college. Her roommate who lived across from her was in the same situation.
Gluten intolerance is not a serious disease, just like nut allergy. It is fine as long as you don't eat wheat products. However, if you eat wheat products, you will show obvious allergic symptoms such as weakness, fatigue, and shortness of breath. In severe cases, it may be fatal.
Tong Huaqiong suspected that Lu Zhaoyang died in his previous life because of severe allergies.
After all, gluten intolerance was not yet known in that era, and whether it was meals or snacks, foods made with flour were the mainstream, and they were unavoidable unless you tried to avoid them.
Gu Dashu and others looked at Tong Huaqiong nervously, not knowing what she was up to.
Lu Zhaozhao asked: "Aunt, can you see anything?"
Tong Huaqiong thought for a moment and said, "Actually, your brother's illness is both simple and serious."
Gu Dashu and others had question marks in their minds. What was wrong with their mother? Why was she still seeking medical treatment?
Gu Dahan was even more surprised. He was afraid that his stepmother was harboring something bad and would harm the brother and sister.
Lu Zhaozhao, however, looked excited and asked expectantly, "Aunt, what do you mean?"
Not only Lu Zhaozhao became energetic, but even Lu Zhaoyang who was lying on the ground became energetic and looked at Tong Huaqiong with anticipation.
"Mr. Lu is gluten intolerant," said Tong Huaqiong.
What?
Gluten intolerance, what a fresh word.
"No, mother, what do you mean?"
Gu Dashu asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.