She pursed her lips and turned her head away. Then she obediently got into bed, crawled to the inner side, and pulled the thin quilt up to her neck.
Ji Junye turned off the lights, leaving only a dim one on. When he looked back, he saw her curled up in the quilt like a ball. He frowned. "Aren't you hot wrapped up like this?"
Shen Qing shook her head and replied in a muffled voice, "No."
Then she wrapped the quilt even tighter.
Ji Junye showed a mischievous smile. He directly got into bed, wrapped her up with the quilt, and pulled her into his arms.
Seeing that he didn't make any further moves and seemed to really just want to sleep, Shen Qing was a little dazed. In fact, she had also heard that when a woman served the emperor at night, she usually slept on the outer side of the bed so that she could get up easily to attend to the emperor if anything happened during the night. But every time she was with Ji Junye, she always slept on the inner side.
Ji Junye was a light sleeper. Whenever she wanted to drink water at night, she always woke him up. Although he was impatient about being woken up, he would still get out of bed to pour a glass of water and bring it to her lips.
Moreover, he actually took a cold shower on his own initiative today...
Shen Qing lowered her eyes, and an indescribable emotion welled up in her heart.
Thinking like this, she soon fell asleep.
After all, it was summer. Shen Qing was still wrapped up like a zongzi. Soon she started to kick the quilt restlessly. But soon after she kicked it off, a warm body wrapped around her again.
Shen Qing instinctively kicked out.
In the darkness, there came the sound of a man sucking in a breath of cold air.
Veins popped out on Ji Junye's forehead. He hadn't fallen asleep in the first place, and then he got hit by her kick in a very sensitive spot. Immediately, he rolled over and pinned her down. He grabbed her hands that were flailing around on him and pressed them above her head. Then he bent down and captured her alluring red lips, grinding them hard as if he wanted to devour her whole.
But Shen Qing was sleeping soundly. Such a commotion couldn't wake her up. In the end, Ji Junye had to take another cold shower.
After all this commotion, dawn was almost breaking.
When Shen Qing left the next morning, she could still see him with a gloomy face. Well, gloomy as he was, it wasn't the first time anyway.
Shen Qing left without any psychological burden. It happened to be the day of the court session, so a group of court officials were in for a hard time.
They painfully found that the emperor was in a very bad mood today. Anyone who made the slightest mistake would be called out and severely criticized.
"For such a small matter, you've taken so long and still done such a poor job. Is the court just feeding you for nothing?"
"I'll give you one more day. If you still can't come up with a solution, all of you can go home and farm!"
A large number of officials were kneeling in the Golden Hall. The officials who came to report were even more eager to bury their heads in the ground.
Farming was a small matter. Losing their heads was a big one.
Even Li Quan didn't dare to say a word. He thought to himself that the emperor had gone to see Miss Shen last night. Usually, he would always come back in a good mood. Why was it different this time...
Could it be that Miss Shen had angered the emperor?
He didn't dare to ask. He really didn't dare.
After returning to the mansion, Shen Qing was completely unaware. She tidied up a bit when a servant came to report that there was a Dr. Qin outside who said he had come to deliver a prescription for the lady.
Dr. Qin?
Shen Qing was stunned for a moment before she realized that it should be Qin Ye. She quickly asked the servant to invite him in.
"Miss Shen," Qin Ye greeted Shen Qing with a smile. Shen Qing also returned a polite smile.
"Dr. Qin."
Qin Ye waved his hand at Shen Qing. "Just call me Qin Ye. I'm used to being unrestrained. The title of doctor is just for convenience."
Actually, what he didn't say was that this title was bestowed on him by Ji Junye when he was asked to come and detoxify Shen Qing.
Ji Junye was really a jerk. He was so frustrated that he had to drag Qin Ye out of bed early in the morning and send him to the Marquis of Guangping's Mansion. This was exploitation and oppression!
Shen Qing nodded. "Dr. Qin."
Since Qin Ye asked her to call him by his first name, she couldn't really do that.
The servants in Zhuoying Courtyard were already used to the fact that Shen Qing didn't allow anyone to stay in the room when a doctor came to feel her pulse. Except for Yingxiu, they wouldn't take the risk.
"Dr. Qin, since you've seen my condition, why did you help me hide it?" Shen Qing asked.
When she was hiding it, she had already thought about how to bear Ji Junye's anger if he found out. But Qin Ye had no relation with her. Why did he help her do such a thing of deceiving the emperor?
"If I said I didn't see it, would Miss Shen believe me?"
"Ah?"
Qin Ye took out some silver needles and pricked a few needles on Shen Qing's hand. Then he said with a smile, "Now I see it."
Shen Qing was completely confused.
Fortunately, Qin Ye soon solved her confusion.
"I noticed that there were traces of someone artificially altering your pulse. This acupuncture technique is the unique skill of our school. The person who performed the acupuncture on Miss Shen is my junior brother. And this technique was originally designed to cover up a pregnancy pulse. Combined with Miss Shen's performance, I boldly guessed that Miss Shen was pregnant."
Qin Ye pulled out the needles and felt Shen Qing's wrist. "Now, my guess has been verified."
"However, I have one thing I don't understand."
Shen Qing blinked. "Please speak, Dr. Qin."
A thoughtful look appeared on Qin Ye's face. "Since Miss Shen is pregnant, why are you hiding it? Could this child not be Ji... cough, not the emperor's?"
Shen Qing almost choked on her saliva.
"Of course not!"
"Hmm?" Qin Ye began to doubt himself. He couldn't have made a mistake.
Seeing that he had misunderstood, Shen Qing quickly explained, "It's not what you think. There's a hidden story about this. I... I'm not very convenient to say."
Seeing this, Qin Ye didn't ask any further. Instead, he turned to Shen Qing seriously and brought up another issue.
"I still have to remind Miss Shen. The poison in your body is not due to anything else. It's because of this child."
"What?!" Perhaps she was too shocked. Shen Qing's mind was a bit muddled.
"You said the poison is because of the child. What do you mean?"
Qin Ye said, "This child was born with poison. As he grows, the toxin will be passed on to the mother. If there is no intervention, there may be a risk of both the mother and the child dying during childbirth."
Both the mother and the child dying...
Shen Qing's hand couldn't help but tremble.
Qin Ye sighed and continued, "To be honest with you, your emperor was poisoned when he was a child. I've been staying by his side to help him suppress the poison. I once asserted that the probability of him impregnating someone was extremely low, so he never asked me for contraceptive medicine.
"Now that this situation has occurred, I'm also responsible."
"Miss Shen, whether you want this child or not is up to you. I assure you that no matter what you decide, I won't reveal a single word to Ji Junye without your permission."
Qin Ye put himself in a very low position.
After a long time, Shen Qing asked, "... If I want this child, is there any way to ensure the safety of me and the child?"
"Yes." Qin Ye nodded. "The child is still young, so the toxin is not that strong. I've studied this kind of poison for many years. As long as we keep using medicine, there should be no problem for the mother and the child to be safe."
Qin Ye stood up. "Miss Shen, you can take your time to consider."
After Qin Ye packed up, he left with his medicine box. But he didn't expect to meet an unexpected guest when he passed by the front yard.