Hearing the summons, which was clearly laced with suppressed anger, Xiahou Ling cleared her throat, gave her a soft smile, and started walking towards the stone steps.
Luo Cuiwei was completely unmoved by her slightly guilty, apologetic smile and slammed the window shut.
****
Luo Cuiwei leaned back lazily in her chair, a cold smile on her lips, her right hand holding up the abacus and shaking it up and down.
The abacus beads clattered rapidly, carrying a sense of pressure and warning.
"How...did you realize something was wrong later?" Xiahou Ling asked cautiously, standing in front of the table.
Luo Cuiwei gently slapped the abacus on the table, a half-smile on her face. "What do you think?"
At first, because she had just experienced morning sickness, her mind was foggy. Although she felt that something was strange, she didn't have the energy to think about it deeply. She was only annoyed that "the person only used ordinary sleeping pills to hit her".
She's been like this lately, occasionally going off on strange tangents, and when she looks back on it afterwards, she doesn't even understand why she had those inexplicable reactions.
On the way back with Xiahou Ling, she slowly came to her senses and finally noticed something was amiss.
Given Xiahou Ling's years of protection of her, it's highly unusual that she watched someone attempt to harm her without uttering a single word of righteous indignation afterward.
Furthermore, regardless of whether the man with the folding fan was truly a kidnapper, since Xiahou Ling had sensed his intentions and blocked the drug, instead of trampling him to the ground and beating him before handing him over to the authorities, she let him go. This was even more inconsistent with Xiahou Ling's usual style.
"Tell me, what's that person's identity?"
Seeing that Luo Cuiwei's expression was cold and indifferent, and although she was unhappy, she did not seem to be furious, Xiahou Ling felt a little relieved and told her in detail, "I was not sure about his identity. I just saw that his approach to you was strange, and there seemed to be something strange about his fan, so I rushed over to stop him."
Luo Cuiwei lowered her eyes, picked up the soup bowl in front of her, and her fingers holding the small silver spoon trembled slightly without being noticed.
Recalling the scene at that moment, she remembered that Xiahou Ling rushed over in the blink of an eye, clearly with her back to that person, shielding her completely with her body.
In other words, if the "Heaven and Earth" on that person's fan was a deadly move, Xiahou Ling was risking her life to protect her.
"Was that sleeping potion something you originally carried with you, or was it on his fan?" Luo Cuiwei had only taken a sip of hot soup when her throat tightened to the point of being slightly hoarse.
“I have both,” Xiahou Ling said, lowering her head and lifting her wide sleeves. “I took the small bamboo tube containing the medicine in my hand when I ran towards you.”
The way she waved her sleeve in front of the man's fan not only threw the sleeping potion in her hand at him, but also deflected the sleeping potion off his fan and returned it to him.
Luo Cuiwei put down the soup bowl in her hand, pressed her hands firmly on the table, and leaned forward slightly.
“Xiahou Ling, I told you this when you first came to my side,” she gritted her teeth, her eyes reddening, her gaze sharp and ruthless, “my life is my life, and your life is your life too. It seems you didn’t listen.”
In Luo Cuiwei's heart, whether it was Xiahou Ling, Luo Rui who was now by Luo Fengming's side, or even the young, inexperienced girls and boys in the family who had not yet been put to use, they were all partners and family. Even if their duty was to protect and help her, they should never risk their lives for her.
She always understood and accepted their intention to protect her, but she never allowed them to have the idea that "Luo Cuiwei's life is more precious than ours."
Seeing that she was truly angry, Xiahou Ling opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a raised finger and a stern voice—
"If you ever dare to be so reckless as to try to save my life again, I will not be grateful at all; if you dare to die in my place, I will hang your body on the city gate tower and leave it to rot. You dare to try!"
Despite her ruthless expression and reckless words, large tears rolled down her reddened eyes.
Xiahou Ling stared blankly at her, her eyes suddenly stinging and heavy with tears, as if a cotton ball soaked with water was stuck in her throat, and her temples throbbed with pain.
After staring at Luo Cuiwei's red and fierce tearful eyes for a long time, Xiahou Ling swallowed the suffocating pain and nodded lightly but solemnly, "Xiahou Ling obeys."
At this moment, she finally understood that Luo Cuiwei would never accept anyone risking their life to protect her.
What she wants is to be with all those she loves and those who love her, to go through the hardships and joys of this life together, to share happiness and sorrow, honor and disgrace, and to be able to gather together again when they are old and gray.
What she wants is for everyone to be there and for everyone to be well by then.
With tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, Xiahou Ling said softly, "From now on, I will definitely protect you and myself. It may be difficult, but I will do my best."
May we all be well and grow old together.
****
At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), Yun Lie returned under the cover of night and was somewhat surprised to see that the side hall seemed to be brightly lit with candles.
The side hall had been converted into a study, and usually only he and Luo Cuiwei would go in there.
Because Luo Cuiwei's energy was not as good as before during her pregnancy, she had entrusted many trivial matters to Xiahou Ling since Xiahou Ling arrived more than ten days ago. She only needed to check on the progress during the day and there was no need for her to stay in the side hall at night with a candle burning.
Yun Lie's heart tightened, and he rushed into the courtyard as if the wind were blowing.
He slowed his pace and immediately sensed that the atmosphere at home was unusual tonight.
Tao Yin stood anxiously by the pillars outside the east wing, looking helplessly toward the side hall.
Under the eaves at the entrance of the side hall, Xiahou Ling stood stiffly, exposed to the cold wind.
Behind her, Luo Cuiwei seemed to be holding a plate of snacks in front of her, leaning against the door frame, her pretty face hidden in the shadows, her expression unreadable.
Seeing him return, Xiahou Ling cleared her throat quietly.
Yun Lie felt that she was giving him a meaningful look, but he couldn't quite decipher the message in her eyes.
"Are you planning to tip off your allies in distress?" Luo Cuiwei stepped forward and shoved the plate of pastries into Xiahou Ling's hands. "I've made up my mind. I'll punish you by making you carve a hundred 'crystal cups' in the kitchen."
The so-called "crystal bowl" is made by peeling a pear, hollowing out the flesh, and leaving the bowl-shaped pear body as a container so that some nourishing medicinal herbs or ingredients can be added and steamed together.
Carving a "crystal cup" sounds simple, but it is actually a laborious task that requires meticulous handwork. If you are not calm and careful enough, you will accidentally ruin the pear and fail to create a complete and beautiful cup shape.
Even the two chefs sent by the Luo family wouldn't dare boast that they could carve a hundred "crystal cups" from a hundred pears.
Xiahou Ling's scalp tightened, and she turned back with a faint smile: "Pears are cooling to the stomach, how can you eat so many?"