"Is it okay? Won't you go?"
Caiyu stood in the meditation room. The setting sun behind Song Yinghuai was gradually sinking, and darkness was slowly devouring the land and mountains, engulfing Caiyu's sad and tired face.
Song Yinghuai felt a slight twinge in his heart, and his eyes also felt a bit sore.
He knew that he had been busy with his plans and the fight against the plague recently, neglecting her.
But... could she wait a bit longer?
Please don't be angry for now.
When everything settles down, he would let her do whatever she liked under her own name across the land.
"No, it's not okay."
The one who spoke was Xu Buyue.
Xu Buyue didn't recognize Caiyu in men's clothing. But even if she did, given the conversation she heard outside just now, this straightforward princess would still say the same thing:
"You're a soldier. A soldier's duty is to protect the country and its people. Although Lady Lü is of noble status, she is still a citizen of Great Ye that needs protection... Now that the people are suffering, you should step forward, not argue about who is a servant or whose body is unwell."
"Moreover, since you're a soldier who came up the mountain with General Sheng, you should know that the mission this time is to take care of the patients and quell this plague as soon as possible to welcome the Tartar envoys!"
"Therefore, no excuse is good enough for you to refuse to carry out the order, unless you can't even stand up!"
Xu Buyue turned to look at Song Yinghuai and asked righteously, "Fourth Brother, am I right?"
Song Yinghuai's eyebrows twitched.
He had to admit that Xu Buyue's words made sense. It's just that she didn't know the whole story and didn't understand the relationship between the two people in front of her...
He took a deep breath, looked at Caiyu's gradually pale face, and finally nodded, saying to Caiyu:
"Did you hear the princess's instruction? Hurry up and go."
Song Yinghuai's words were like cold icicles, filling Caiyu's chest and making it almost impossible for her to breathe. The heavy sadness tightly wound around her, almost crushing her back.
Okay, she understood.
Completely understood.
She had expected too much these days.
Once a man changes his heart, even eight horses can't pull him back.
Why should she keep looking forward to something here?
In the past, not to mention when she was feeling unwell.
Even if she stood barefoot on the ground, this man would pick her up and put her back on the bed, scolding her for not knowing to put on shoes.
But now?
Caiyu silently rubbed the new blisters on her fingertips from chopping wood and making a fire. The burning pain reminded her.
This man couldn't see anything now.
He couldn't see that she was hungry, couldn't see that she was being teased, couldn't see that she had lost weight, couldn't see that she was sad. He had been here for so long and still couldn't tell that Lü Baiwei's symptoms were different from those of the plague...
Caiyu took a deep breath.
When she looked at them again, the woman's face became resolute again, resolute and extremely cold. Her words were clear and mechanical:
"This subordinate thanks the prince and the princess for their instruction. This subordinate knows her mistake. This subordinate will go to the kitchen to make arrangements now."
Song Yinghuai's breath caught in his throat. He moved his lips as if to say something, but Caiyu brushed past his shoulder without mercy.
All that was left for him was a determined back.
Xu Buyue looked at Caiyu's back and frowned in confusion. "Fourth Brother, this little soldier looks a bit familiar..."
Lü Baiwei and Maid Mei exchanged glances, their eyes filled with the ecstasy of victory.
After Song Yinghuai withdrew his gaze and turned around, his pair of dark and sharp eyes swept over Lü Baiwei.
The cold look in his eyes made Lü Baiwei start to tremble all over, feeling uneasy in her heart.
Why did Song Yinghuai look at her like this?
Did he see through the scheme she had just set up?
Lü Baiwei's ten fingers hidden under the quilt nervously twisted together. Her face behind the veil changed colors, and she stammered, "Xuanyao... What, what's wrong?"
Song Yinghuai calmly looked at Lü Baiwei.
Although he didn't pay much attention to Lü Baiwei, he had been in contact with so many patients on the mountain these days and gradually understood the symptoms of this plague.
All the patients had experienced fever, cough, chest tightness, and shortness of breath... In severe cases, they developed vomiting blood and died of suffocation.
No patient was like Lü Baiwei, seemingly ill but not getting worse.
Except for coughing, she didn't seem to have any other symptoms.
Song Yinghuai looked at her for a long time before opening his mouth. "Junior Sister, your condition has stabilized these days?"
Lü Baiwei's heart pounded. She forced a smile and said:
"Thanks to the two brothers sent by Xuanyao. With their care, I didn't get worse. I'm really lucky!"
Song Yinghuai nodded. "That's good... But whether Junior Sister has really recovered or not still needs the imperial physician to give you a good diagnosis. After dinner later, I'll ask Imperial Physician Liu to feel your pulse."
Come to think of it, because he had neglected Lü Baiwei, he only took a hasty look when he came up the mountain and then left. He hadn't remembered this matter again.
He had actually forgotten that Lü Baiwei loved to act. Maybe she was faking her illness.
If so, the smart Caiyu must have seen it long ago, which was why she had dared to scold Maid Mei.
Thinking of this, Song Yinghuai's expression became even colder.
He was cooperating with Lü Baiwei, exchanging information, always trying to find the handle of the Crown Prince's faction and replace his own people in the court.
But everything he did was also for Caiyu.
If he hurt Caiyu's heart because of this, wouldn't all his efforts be in vain?
Lü Baiwei's breath stopped for a moment.
After a while, she reluctantly nodded. "...Okay, then I'll trouble Xuanyao. I'm not feeling well, so I won't chat with you all anymore."
Song Yinghuai and Xu Buyue didn't want to have much interaction with Lü Baiwei in the first place. Seeing that she had issued the order to evict guests, they naturally left immediately.
As soon as they left, Lü Baiwei panicked and stood up from the bed, anxiously pacing around on the ground.
"What should I do? If Imperial Physician Liu comes for a diagnosis later, I'll be exposed!"
Maid Mei was also flustered. "At that time, Your Ladyship soaked in the stream behind the mountain for an hour, which caused a cold. The symptoms of cough and fever were similar to those at the beginning of the plague. In the panic, everyone treated you as if you had caught the plague."
"But now that you've recovered most of the way, and the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Bureau are highly skilled. If they come for a diagnosis, they will definitely notice something wrong... Your Ladyship, why don't you just say that you don't know if you have a cold?"
"No!" Lü Baiwei flatly refused. "If I had confessed before Xuanyao became suspicious, he naturally wouldn't have minded. But now that he's already suspicious... If I confess now, he'll immediately know that I'm guilty and deliberately faked my illness to make things difficult for Caiyu."
"Will Xuanyao show mercy to those who make things difficult for Caiyu?"
"He might even tear up his cooperation with me. Absolutely not!"
"Then, then what should we do..." Maid Mei was at a loss.
Suddenly, Lü Baiwei stopped walking. She gritted her teeth, and her beautiful eyes were filled with determination:
"Maid Mei, you and Qingqing do this..."
"Then, do this again..."
After Maid Mei listened to her instructions in her ear, she was shocked. "Your Ladyship, no! What if it backfires and we can't save you..."
"We can save her!" Lü Baiwei said firmly. "This plague was man - made. The Crown Prince will come up the mountain in a few days. He brought the antidote just to take credit. How could he not be able to save me?"
Seeing her so determined, Maid Mei had no choice but to agree and went to find Qingqing.
An hour later, just as Caiyu had finally served the vegetarian dishes, she heard the news that Qingqing had pushed Maid Mei into the water.
Just then, Imperial Physician Sun had come at Song Yinghuai's order to diagnose Lü Baiwei.
Hearing this news, Lü Baiwei immediately fainted, and the diagnosis was interrupted.
Caiyu put the food on the table and rushed to the back mountain with Imperial Physician Sun to save the person.
When Caiyu arrived, Song Yinghuai, Sheng Jiangli, Xu Buyue and others were all at the scene.
Maid Mei was lying wet on the riverbed, her eyes tightly closed and her face purple.
Qingqing looked stubborn, glaring with fierce eyes like a little beast.