Chapter Text
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It has been six months, and Jiang Cheng's illness has only gotten progressively worse.
Jiang Yanli seemed calm on the outside, but was paler than usual. Her hands do not trembling, even as she replaces the wet cloth kept on Jiang Cheng's forehead to help him maintain his body temperature. The cloth does little to help her baby brother, but it atleast gives her an excuse to stay by his side and not with their parents who continue arguing even as their child struggles to keep his eyes open.
Wei WuXian has been sent over to Gusu by Jiang FengMian and while Jiang YanLi misses the boy's absence, he's less likely to get whipped to death by her mother while he's there.
She does her best not to cry, for she doesn't want the first thing her brother sees upon waking up to be her tears. Still, seeing her baby brother like this, even her best is inadequate. With another cloth, she gently wipes her tears away.
The door opens, and a group of healers walk in, followed by Yu ZiYuan. There's a new face among them, one that she recognises as Mu QingFang - known for curing all sorts of ailments, from the most common to the most strange, even those that are one of a kind.
It is very likely that he is their last hope.
Jiang YanLi immediately stands up, stepping to the side to allow the healers to look at Jiang Cheng's condition once more.
She has lost count of how many times they have checked up on him, but he's sure they're doing their best.
She glances at her mother.
Yu ZiYuan's posture is as immaculate as ever. Her attire is as usual, not a hair out of place.
That is what any stranger would say about her mother.
Jiang YanLi, though, is no stranger. She sees how her mother fidgets with ZiDian, not to threaten but out of anxiety. The most obvious sign of her anxiety, to Jiang YanLi, is the fact that she's wearing scent blockers.
Scent blockers, that will not allow anyone to assess how she feels; even if it is family.
Last time she had worn scent blockers was the week after Jiang Cheng had presented as an omega. Her brother had assumed that their mother had done so, to hide her disgust, and his mother had said nothing to refute the accussation.
Faced with a mirror of herself, her mother too, turns into a version of their father.
She refocuses her attention on the healer tending to Jiang Cheng.
"Mu-qianbei, how is he?"
Mu QingFang does not speak for a few seconds, eyes trained on Jiang Cheng. He ignores Jiang YanLi and he turns to Yu ZiYuan, lips pursed into a thin line.
"So?" Yu ZiYuan asks, after a few beats of silence.
"I suggest you start looking for a new heir, Madam Yu."
***