After a whole night of busyness and solving a major issue that had been weighing on her mind, Ye Wanmian was utterly exhausted.
It was already broad daylight outside, but the rain showed no sign of abating. Thinking that in such heavy rain, the Chen family wouldn't discover the incident at the cemetery anytime soon, Ye Wanmian simply pasted another sign on the door of the medical clinic saying "Closed Today Due to Personal Affairs" and then went back to her room to sleep.
Almost as soon as her head touched the pillow, Ye Wanmian fell into a deep slumber.
But perhaps because last night's experience had been too strange, she started having a dream after falling asleep.
"Did you write this love letter?"
In the dream, she was kneeling on the ground. The gravel had scraped the skin off her knees and dug into the flesh, making her tremble all over in pain. The next moment, a large hand with distinct knuckles grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up.
A pair of light amber eyes, as beautiful as two precious gemstones, came into view. The handsome man in front of her, who looked like a god, was staring at her coldly. In his other hand was a love letter that Ye Wanmian hated deeply.
She opened her mouth, trying to say something, but her throat seemed blocked, and she couldn't make a sound no matter how hard she tried.
The man tightened his grip and leaned down slightly. "I'm asking you a question. Have you gone mute?"
She tried to open her mouth wider, but all that came out was a whimper.
No, it wasn't me!
I never wrote any love letter. I never wanted to marry into the Eastern Palace and become the crown prince's woman!
I just want to find a reliable person I can trust and live a peaceful life!
The man's look at her changed slightly. The hand that had been holding her chin moved to her neck. Just when Ye Wanmian thought he was going to strangle her, his fingers gently caressed the skin on her neck. He leaned down towards her.
The man's high nose was pressed against hers. His warm breath fanned across her face. And the hand on her neck slowly moved down, hooking around her waist and pulling her into his arms.
"Since you have feelings for me, I'll grant your wish..."
What on earth was he doing?!
Ye Wanmian opened her eyes wide in shock. Her body went so stiff that she forgot to move, and thus forgot to push him away.
The next moment, the man in front of her suddenly turned into a big yellow dog. It raised its two front paws, pounced on her, and stuck out its tongue to lick her face vigorously!
"Ah!" Ye Wanmian suddenly woke up from the dream. Immediately afterwards, she found that something heavy was pressing on her, and a wet tongue was licking her face back and forth.
"Huang!" Ye Wanmian exclaimed angrily, pushing off the yellow dog that was lying on her and working hard to wash her face. "Huang, what are you doing!"
Huang fell to the ground. It stared at her with big innocent eyes, whining softly, and its tail wagging so fast that it became a blur.
It was all Huang's fault. Why did it have to lick her for no reason? It made her have such a strange dream just now! That dog of a crown prince had always despised her as a village woman. How could he possibly be interested in her? It was absolutely impossible!
Ye Wanmian angrily took out a handkerchief to wipe her face and glared at Huang.
The next moment, someone knocked on the door loudly. "Mrs. Jiang, wake up quickly. Something's wrong! Something's wrong!"
Ye Wanmian looked at the clepsydra and found that she had only slept for less than two hours. She rubbed her sore shoulders and walked over to open the door.
"What's going on? Did someone come after us?"
Qi Wen said, "No. It's that person. He... he has a high fever!"
Ye Wanmian yawned and said, "Got it. I'll go and check on him later."
By now, it was already completely bright outside. It was almost the end of Chenshi (7 - 9 a.m.). Since the medical clinic had posted a notice of closure, Ye Wanmian wasn't worried that anyone would come. She wasn't in a hurry to go and check on that person's condition. Instead, she first fetched some water and carefully washed her face, getting rid of all the saliva left by Huang.
After sleeping for a while, she felt a bit hungry. She started a fire, put a pot on it, and threw in several sweet potatoes and potatoes. Then she walked into the room where Xiao Jingcheng was being kept.
The man who had been so high - and - mighty in her dream just now was now lying quietly in bed with his eyes closed. But compared to his previous calmness, his face was now flushed, his lips were chapped, and his breathing was rapid. It was obvious that he was sick.
In comparison, both she and Qi Wen had relatively good constitutions. After getting caught in that heavy rain last night, they just felt a bit tired, but they didn't show any symptoms of a cold.
It was understandable, though. He had been missing for so long, and no one knew how long he had been in a coma. Having not eaten for a long time, his physical condition was naturally weak.
Sitting by the bedside, Ye Wanmian got angry just looking at his face.
It was bad enough that she had dreamt about him, but to have such a dream... It was really bad luck!
Because of her anger, she grabbed his hand roughly and felt his pulse.
His pulse was floating and chaotic, as if there was a qi in his body rampaging around, trying to find an exit but to no avail. In fact, it was even weaker than when they had found him in the coffin last night.
He needed immediate treatment.
Ye Wanmian frowned worriedly.
Her master wasn't around. She was the only one in the medical clinic who could treat patients. But she had only been practicing medicine for less than half a month. Although she had read a lot of medical books and memorized a great deal of knowledge, she lacked practical experience. She wasn't sure if she could cure him.
However...
Wasn't this a good opportunity to practice her medical skills? What a perfect body for practicing acupuncture!
Ye Wanmian's eyes lit up.
If she couldn't cure him and he eventually died, then it was his fate. If she managed to cure him, she would have saved his life, and she could ask him to reinvestigate what had happened back then and clear her name.
Either way, she wouldn't lose out.
"How is it, Mrs. Jiang? Is there still hope?" Seeing her frowning and silent for a long time, Qi Wen couldn't help but ask.
Ye Wanmian asked him, "Do we have any strong liquor in the medical clinic?"
Qi Wen replied, "There are two jars. They're in the master's room."
Ye Wanmian told him to go and fetch it, and Qi Wen immediately turned around and left the room.
Ye Wanmian reached out to touch the man's belt on the bed and said with a smile, "Xiao Jingcheng, Xiao Jingcheng. It's your fate to fall into my hands. Who asked you to make my life so miserable back then? You should feel honored to become my test subject."
Completely focused on untying the man's belt and taking off the clothes that had only been put on him not long ago, Ye Wanmian didn't notice at all that the man's eyelashes fluttered slightly.
Xiao Jingcheng felt as if he was trapped in an extremely narrow space. There was a big stove under his feet, and a raging fire was burning in it, scorching his body.
It hurt so much. It was so hot. He felt so uncomfortable...
But he was firmly imprisoned. He couldn't turn around, let alone move. He felt as if his whole body was about to be torn apart.
Suddenly, a faint sound faintly reached his ears.
The sound was sometimes far away and sometimes close. He seemed to hear his own name, but then he couldn't hear it clearly again.
Who... was talking?