"The second young lady is crying and insisting on seeing the young master," a servant reported.
Pei Zhaolin turned around, a hint of irritation showing in his eyes and eyebrows. "I won't see her," he said flatly.
All he wanted to do now was stay by Cui Jintang's side.
---
Daylight dawned.
Cui Jintang slowly opened her eyes.
The last moment flashed through her mind. She remembered looking at Qi Xutao's chattering mouth. Finally, overwhelmed by the dizziness and nausea, her legs gave way and she lost consciousness.
Just as she was losing consciousness, she seemed to be caught by someone.
The feeling that person gave her was very familiar.
Cui Jintang tried to move her fingers, but found herself weak all over, with a burning pain.
She turned her head with difficulty and saw a very familiar face.
Pei Zhaolin?
He was leaning against the bedside, eyes closed and eyebrows knitted.
His back was straight as a pine, and his handsome face was full of exhaustion, with a distinct dark circle under his eyes.
Her throat was dry. She coughed twice, weakly and intermittently.
"You're awake!"
Pei Zhaolin suddenly opened his eyes. His deep, ink - like eyes lit up instantly when he saw Cui Jintang.
It was like a dying man seeing the hope of life.
He gently rolled up her sleeve to check the rashes on her skin.
The rashes were slowly subsiding.
"The imperial doctor said that as long as they start to fade, you'll be fine," he said hoarsely, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.
"Does the wound still itch? You've been in a coma for two days. Are you hungry? You coughed just now. Do you want to drink some water first?"
Cui Jintang's mind was working sluggishly.
Only then did she notice that his clothes were in disarray, the collar slightly open, revealing a fresh scratch on his collarbone.
Cui Jintang slowly reached out her hand and touched the scratch, looking confused. "Did I do this?"
She looked up and suddenly found that Pei Zhaolin's eyes were bloodshot.
Pei Zhaolin hooked his lips into a smile and grabbed her hand. "I'm fine."
The look in Pei Zhaolin's eyes when he looked at her was a bit doting.
This feeling was all too familiar to her.
Cui Jintang's heart skipped a beat. She opened her mouth, her speech a bit slurred. "You... Have you remembered me?"
The hope in her eyes was burning hot.
The smile in Pei Zhaolin's eyes froze for a moment. He shook his head slightly. "No."
Cui Jintang let out an "oh". The hope in her eyes faded, and her mood dimmed.
This scene stabbed Pei Zhaolin like a sharp thorn.
He firmly grabbed her drooping hand.
Pei Zhaolin blurted out, "You said you wanted me!"
Cui Jintang slowly showed a confused expression.
When she turned her head, her face touched the soft pillow.
Logically, it was just an ordinary movement.
The pillow was very soft.
But why did she feel a burning pain on her face when she touched it?
Cui Jintang's expression changed. She groped with both hands and held her face.
It was round and swollen...
Oh no!
"Get me a bronze mirror," she suddenly said.
Pei Zhaolin quickly said, "It's just a temporary symptom caused by the poison. It will fade away soon."
Cui Jintang was panicking. She pushed Pei Zhaolin's face away. "Get the mirror. I want to see for myself!"
Pei Zhaolin tried to comfort her.
Cui Jintang gave him a glare.
He quickly got up and fetched the bronze mirror.
The woman in the mirror was pale - faced, with no color on her lips.
This made the bright red rashes on her face even more obvious.
More importantly, her face was swollen like a pig's head!!
Cui Jintang went crazy.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"
Pei Zhaolin was in a hurry to comfort her. Finally, he could only pull her into his arms. "I'm here. It's okay, Tangtang - "
Before he could finish his sentence, somehow Cui Jintang found an infinite amount of strength and pushed Pei Zhaolin away.
She covered her face with both hands and then sadly found that she couldn't cover it all.
So she twisted her body and hid under the brocade quilt.
A dull voice came through the quilt. "I don't want to see anyone right now."
Pei Zhaolin pulled at the corner of the quilt with a smile. His tone became even softer. "I could never dislike you."
"Then you leave too!"
Cui Jintang firmly drove him away.
Pei Zhaolin still remembered the answer he was waiting for to his question just now.
But it seemed that he wouldn't get it for a while.
Pei Zhaolin looked back three times at every step, carefully giving instructions.
He only left when Cui Jintang got annoyed.
As he walked out of the door, Pei Zhaolin looked up and saw Pei Ying standing there pale - faced and weakly waiting. His face instantly turned cold.
Pei Ying lowered her head and whispered, "Brother."
He grunted and walked straight away.
Pei Ying stood there for a moment, hesitated, looked at the closed door, and then at Pei Zhaolin's departing back.
After much hesitation, she still followed Pei Zhaolin.
---
Cui Jintang put down the bed curtain and shouted into the air, "Zhu Er!"
Zhu Er was originally a secret guard, good at hiding in the dark and observing secretly.
As soon as she called, Zhu Er appeared from his hiding place.
He had replaced the imperial doctor's medicine with the one prepared by Zhu San and handed it to Cui Jintang. "Miss, you'd better drink the medicine first."
Even though she was the young lady, Zhu Er always wanted to laugh when he saw her face swollen like a pig's head.
Cui Jintang stared at him directly and angrily took the bowl and drank it in five or six gulps.
She asked casually, "Was it Pei Ying who poisoned me?"
Zhu Er's hand paused as he was taking the bowl. He didn't know how to answer for a moment. "Miss, you... You've already guessed?"
Cui Jintang didn't say a word, which was a tacit agreement.
This made Zhu Er even more confused.
"How does the young lady want to settle this matter?"
To be honest, Cui Jintang was also at a loss.
Lady Pei had a massive hemorrhage when giving birth to Pei Ying and died after giving birth.
Pei Ying had been raised by the old lady since childhood, and the old lady was extremely important to Pei Ying.
When she asked Zhu San to revive the old lady back then, Pei Ying directly kowtowed three times to her.
The eleven - year - old girl had blood all over her forehead from the kowtows. She cried and said to her, "Sister, you're my benefactor for life!"
So when Cui Jintang knew that Pei Ying couldn't find her when the old lady had a heart - palpitating and was on the verge of death, she thought that Pei Ying must have hated her to the core at that moment.
Cui Jintang closed her eyes. "What happened in the palace when I was poisoned?"
Zhu Er said, "The eldest princess volunteered to supervise the punishment. Miss Pei was given thirty strokes of the cane."
Thirty strokes of the cane was not a light punishment for a fourteen - year - old girl.
Since it was Qi Xutao who took action, it could be considered as avenging her.
Cui Jintang waved her hand and lay down tiredly.
Zhu Er carried the medicine bowl and retreated.
---
At Qingyun Academy.
A Xun looked up at the man standing in front of her.
He seemed to be a student from Qinghe who came for the autumn - learning debate.
What was his name... Chu Yingfeng?
A Xun looked confused after listening to what he said.
She wrote her question on paper.
"How come I didn't know my sister had a fiancé?"