"Yes, how could I have gotten on his ship?" Mo Zhizhang murmured, his smile growing even brighter.
"Maybe I like to hear others scold me for being heartless."
"The unhappier others are, the happier I feel."
Li Zhao watched silently. After Mo Zhizhang stopped, he pushed over the paper he had just written on, the ink already dry.
"I know you must have a way to contact Xiao Tianchi. Deliver this letter to him."
Mo Zhizhang raised his eyebrows slightly. So that's what he had been writing just now.
"Aren't you afraid I'll peek?"
Li Zhao said indifferently, "There's nothing important in it. It doesn't matter if you read it. I just need it to reach Xiao Tianchi smoothly."
Mo Zhizhang said no more. Instead, he folded the letter and put it close to his body.
Li Zhao got up to rest. Suddenly, his body trembled violently. He steadied himself against the table, his face instantly turning ashen. His right hand pressed tightly against his chest.
An indescribable stabbing pain came from there. It was as if he was surrounded by ice. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and the blood in his body churned. "Ugh," he vomited a mouthful of thick, black, and stinky blood to the side.
Mo Zhizhang immediately stood up, grabbed his wrist, and pushed him onto the bed. Then he quickly tapped on various acupoints on his body with both hands. At the same time, he stuffed a pill into his mouth and ordered him to hold it under his tongue.
The bitter and fishy taste of the medicine spread from under his tongue. Li Zhao felt hot and cold alternately on his body, and his heart ached constantly.
Fortunately, as Mo Zhizhang's actions continued, or perhaps the pill under his tongue took effect, the pain and discomfort in his body gradually subsided, and Li Zhao finally recovered.
However, his body felt as if he had suffered a serious illness, and the sense of emptiness was extremely obvious.
Li Zhao looked at Mo Zhizhang, his eyes full of questions.
Mo Zhizhang was also sweating from his efforts. As if he knew what Li Zhao wanted to ask, he said, "It's the poison in your body that has flared up."
"I forgot to tell you. Although I used poison to fight poison to let you live for three more years, it will flare up once every half - month. At this time, you must take another kind of poison to suppress it."
So that's how it was. Li Zhao was in a daze.
The journey so far had been quite smooth. Sometimes, he would have the illusion that he was just having a dream and wasn't actually poisoned.
This flare - up instantly brought him back to reality, reminding him that his life was on the countdown.
He couldn't help but be glad that he was sharing a room with Mo Zhizhang and that Mo Zhizhang was the only one around when the flare - up happened.
If Jiang Zhiqing or Jiang Mian saw him in this state, how sad they would be.
"Will it flare up once every half - month?" he asked.
Mo Zhizhang replied, "That's right, neither a day more nor a day less. If you, Lord Li, don't want this to be known by Jiang Mian or Lady Jiang, you'd better keep an eye on the time."
Li Zhao said, "Thank you for the reminder."
Mo Zhizhang looked at his weak - looking appearance, paused for a moment, and then said,
"Jiang Mian asked me to do something for her today."
Li Zhao looked at him.
"She said that although you and her mother have a deep and unwavering affection for each other, the two of you never got married."
"As your daughter, she wants to hold a wedding for you two here. She asked me to ask for your opinion privately."
Mo Zhizhang restrained his smile and became seriously solemn for once.
"Lord Li, life is short and your days are numbered. Jiang Mian is truly thinking about you two."
Li Zhao's eyes welled up with tears, and his heart softened.
The reason he and Yingniang separated back then was that the Li family wanted to arrange a marriage for him, and Yingniang was wronged because of it. He knew that over the years, he really owed Jiang Zhiqing a grand wedding.
If Jiang Mian had brought this up to him yesterday, he might have agreed. But the poison in his body had just flared up. At this moment, he had a few more things to consider.
In his heart, his wife had always been only Jiang Zhiqing.
He didn't want to wrong Jiang Zhiqing. He wanted to be a better support for his wife and daughter.
"Thank you," Li Zhao said. "I will explain this to Mujuan."
Seeing his attitude, Mo Zhizhang said no more.
After all, this was a matter of the Li family. He was an outsider, and there was still the deep - seated hatred of the Li family's extermination between them. Even though it had nothing to do with him, he couldn't ignore it.
Compared to this, he was more concerned about Xiao Jingcheng.
He originally thought that the man would keep sleeping like this, and it would take a lot of effort to wake him up after returning to the capital.
It was said that there were no filial sons in front of a long - term sickbed, let alone two unrelated people. As time went on, Jiang Mian would surely get tired of taking care of this man.
But unexpectedly, he woke up suddenly today, which made Jiang Mian even more concerned and worried.
Lying on the bed, Mo Zhizhang closed his eyes and tried hard to suppress the surging jealousy, unwillingness, and the almost uncontrollable killing intent in his heart.
He probably really inherited his father's madness. No one knew that every time he massaged Xiao Jingcheng's limbs, how much he wanted to grab the man's neck and send him straight to hell.
What the one carrying the purple aura, what the chosen one by destiny, he had plenty of ways to make him die.
But he knew he couldn't.
Not only because of Xiao Tianchi, but also because of Jiang Mian.
If this man died here now, it would surely leave an indelible mark on him in Jiang Mian's heart.
The best way...
Of course, was to make Jiang Mian take the initiative to stay away from him and dislike him. Only then would he have a chance.
Some things really couldn't be rushed.
...
On the other side, Jiang Mian and Jiang Zhiqing were lying in the same bed, also talking about the wedding.
"Mother, although you and father are reunited now, you separated so suddenly back then without having a wedding. Don't you want to wear a wedding dress and really marry father once?"
Jiang Mian lay on the pillow, looking at Jiang Zhiqing beside her with eager eyes.
There was only one oil lamp burning in the room, and the light was a bit dim, so it covered the blush on Jiang Zhiqing's face.
She pinched Jiang Mian's cheek and said coquettishly, "So this is the trick you had in mind when you asked me and your father to stay in Guangdu County for a few more days."
Jiang Mian shook her arm and pleaded, "Mother, just tell me."
"Actually, so many years have passed. Whether I get married or not doesn't matter to me anymore. As long as your father has me in his heart and our family can always be together, I'll be satisfied."
"That won't do," Jiang Mian said anxiously. "There's still a difference between getting married and not getting married."
Jiang Zhiqing deliberately said, "Don't you trust your father's character?"
"I..." Jiang Mian paused. "I naturally trust him. I can see father's feelings for you. It's just..."
She just didn't know why, but there was always a sense of uneasiness in her heart.
She always felt as if she had missed something, as if something big was about to happen.