"Could it be that the man Miss Luo fancied when talking to the empress the other day was none other than Lord Pei?"
Pei Zhaolin's expression changed instantly. His eyes, as sharp as unsheathed cold blades, swept across everyone's faces and finally landed on Cui Jintang.
Cui Jintang met his gaze and raised an eyebrow.
Unexpectedly, Pei Zhaolin didn't utter a single word of interrogation. Instead, he turned around and strode away.
Even though the Hundred - Flower Alley was bustling with noise at this moment, Pei Zhaolin's anxious voice still reached Cui Jintang's ears.
"I'll go to the palace immediately to request the imperial physician. You go back to the mansion to see Pei Su. Tell her it's my order to fetch the Fuling Pills and then send them to Willow - Garment Alley for Luo Xiang to take."
The servant was worried. "But the young lady is longing for you, my lord!"
Pei Zhaolin yanked hard on the reins. Immediately, spots of blood seeped through the white cloth on his left shoulder.
He said urgently, "I'll go back to see her!"
With that, he whipped the horse. The horse neighed in pain. In a short while, it was just a blurry shadow in the distance.
Cui Ying approached Cui Jintang carefully, afraid of upsetting her. "Sister Jintang, don't be angry! Brother has lost his memory. He'll be fine once he remembers everything from the past!"
Cui Jintang blinked.
She averted her gaze and touched Cui Ying's face with a smile. "I know."
Cui Ying still wasn't at ease. She even forgot about the hairpin she had been longing for and followed Cui Jintang every step of the way.
Cui Jintang also lost the mood to continue strolling. With a grand wave of her hand, she said boldly,
"Pack all the jewelry we just saw and send them to Lord Pei's mansion."
The shopkeeper's eyes lit up and he said happily, "Miss, then the silver..."
Cui Jintang waved her hand without looking back. "Charge it to Lord Pei's account.
It's just a compensation gift for the glare Lord Pei gave me just now."
"Sure thing!"
The shopkeeper couldn't stop smiling.
---
At the Pei Mansion in Willow - Garment Alley.
People were coming and going in the side courtyard. Many doctors were wiping the sweat off their foreheads while hurrying inside.
After a short while, they walked out of the room with worried looks on their faces.
Shaking their heads, they said, "Miss Luo has a knot in her heart. The long - term depression has given rise to a mental demon. She'll have a hysterical fit whenever she sees blood."
"The heart disease needs a heart - medicine to cure. I can only prescribe two prescriptions for calming the nerves for now."
Just as they finished speaking, they looked up and saw Pei Zhaolin. They quickly bowed their heads and said, "Your humble servant..."
Before they could finish their words, Pei Zhaolin, with a cold face, rushed away in a hurry.
The leading servant was very observant and explained, "Our lord has always been extremely concerned about Miss Luo's affairs. When he heard that the young lady had a hysterical fit, he was just a bit too eager for a moment."
The doctor understood.
Suddenly, he changed his tune. "Miss Luo's illness is very serious! I need to go back and study it carefully."
The servant then led the way for him again.
---
After taking a dose of the calming medicine, Luo Xiang, who had been crazy just now, finally fell asleep quietly.
Pei Zhaolin stood beside the bed and quietly looked at Luo Xiang who was sleeping soundly.
The burning candle suddenly flickered, making his eyes blur.
There was a knock on the door. Outside, the voice of his attendant servant, Fu Li, came, "My lord, Eunuch Wang, who serves beside Consort Rong, is still waiting in the main hall."
It was quite strange. When he entered the palace with his lord just now, they happened to meet this Eunuch Wang.
As soon as he heard it was about Miss Luo, he immediately invited the Chief Judge Zhang from the Imperial Medical Academy!
But they had never heard before that Miss Luo had any connection with Consort Rong!
"Creak—"
The red - painted door opened from the inside, revealing Pei Zhaolin's handsome face.
He walked through the winding corridor and bypassed the half - moon gate covered with moss, and then he arrived.
Eunuch Wang was holding a hexagonal gilded silver cage. A cat like a snowball was curled up inside.
There was a blush on his forehead, as if someone had gently dotted it with crabapple juice with their fingertips.
Hearing the sound, the cat half - squinted its green eyes. Its tail wrapped around its front paws, and the tip of its tail trembled, making the small bells on the cage wall jingle.
Suddenly, it stretched its body, showing its pink paw pads, which were like newly - opened small lotus pods. It softly pressed on the silver wires and meowed at Pei Zhaolin rather aggrievedly.
"Meow~"
Pei Zhaolin felt his heart suddenly explode. It seemed as if countless emotions were vying to climb out.
He unconsciously stretched out his hand. "Eunuch Wang, what's this?"
Eunuch Wang was a shrewd person. He blinked his turbid eyes and guessed most of it from Pei Zhaolin's expression.
He smiled and handed the cage in his hand to him.
"This cat was specially sent into the palace by Miss Luo for the empress to take care of the day before the Luo Mansion was demoted. We originally thought it would never return to Miss Luo's side again. But unexpectedly, things have taken a turn, and it's really a fate!"
"Judging from Lord Pei's expression, do you also recognize this cat?"
After saying that, Eunuch Wang showed a look of sudden realization. "Could it be that the man Miss Luo fancied when talking to the empress the other day was none other than Lord Pei?"
As he was speaking, Pei Zhaolin had already opened the cage and held the snow - white cat in his arms.
Hearing this, Pei Zhaolin remained silent. He just gently rubbed the soft fur behind the cat's ear with the back of his finger.
Once, twice—the cat's ear suddenly twitched, and the tip of its tail silently swept across his wrist bone.
It seemed to be protesting.
But he felt it was very familiar.
"My lord Pei?" Eunuch Wang had been chattering for a long time, but Pei Zhaolin didn't respond at all.
Eunuch Wang couldn't figure out what Lord Pei meant for a moment.
Pei Zhaolin handed the cat to Fu Li, and his eyes always stayed on the cat. "What's this cat's name?"
"I... Miss Luo never said."
Only then did Pei Zhaolin take back his gaze. Along with the previous words, he had many doubts about what Eunuch Wang had done today.
Eunuch Wang was so stared at that he started to sweat on his forehead.
Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and quickly said, "The empress is still concerned about Miss Luo's illness in the palace. I'll go back to the palace to report now."
Pei Zhaolin said softly, "I'll always remember Consort Rong's help today. Please convey my gratitude to her on my behalf, Eunuch."
Eunuch Wang quickly agreed. "Of course, of course!"
With that, he waved his whisk and rushed away quickly.
Pei Zhaolin held the cat back in his arms again, still seemingly struggling with the cat's name.
Just as he turned his head and met Fu Li's gaze, the latter quickly waved his hand.
"My lord, have you forgotten? I was bought by you in the south of the Yangtze River. I really don't know anything about the things before you lost your memory!"
That's right.
Pei Zhaolin lowered his eyes and watched the cat in his arms fluff up its fur because of his teasing. Then he smiled slightly.
---Maybe he should go and ask Luo Xiang.
Inside the room.
Pei Zhaolin was sitting on the edge of the couch. He had just changed his clothes.
The cat refused to let him hold it anymore and jumped down.
He quietly looked at the woman on the couch—her face was pale, and she still frowned uneasily in her sleep, looking so fragile that she seemed to break at a touch.
Suddenly, Luo Xiang's eyelashes fluttered.
The next moment, her eyes suddenly opened. There was still a trace of panic in her clear eyes.
When her gaze met Pei Zhaolin's, her pupils suddenly shrank, and she subconsciously tightened the corner of the quilt.
He was just sitting there, and his gaze on her face made her feel as if she was being scrutinized in the prison.
"...Zhaolin?"
Her voice was hoarse, and the end of her voice trembled slightly, as if she was testing Pei Zhaolin's mood.