If he didn't remember, the name Jingyi... was that heartless man who drove Qu Surou to madness with heartbreak.
"Is it him? Is it this Jingyi who hurt Senior Sister?" Lu Pianpian sensed the little book in her sea of consciousness.
Xiao Shu answered weakly, "It's him."
"Why is this happening? Hasn't the ten-year period already passed?"
"Pianpian is because of you..."
Xiao Shu's voice suddenly disappeared, and Lu Pianpian immediately felt a burning sensation in his arms. He quickly took Xiao Shu out and found that Xiao Shu had started to self-immolate again, just like last time.
"Xiao Shu, stop talking!" Lu Pianpian used her sleeve to brush the fire off the booklet. She knew he had asked something he shouldn't have and hurt Xiao Shu again. "I won't ask anymore, I'll never ask again, just don't die!"
"How did it suddenly catch fire?" Qu Surou stared in disbelief. "Pianpian, are you alright? You weren't burned."
The fire burned strangely; it didn't harm people, only burn books.
No matter how hard Lu Pianpian tried to extinguish it, she couldn't. In the end, it went out on its own, and Lu Pianpian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, a group of people walked across the bridge opposite them, attracting their attention.
Several palace servants held a woman bound by ropes down by the bridge. Behind them, a woman in splendid clothes ordered, "Push her down!"
They pushed the woman off the bridge together, and Qu Surou shouted, "Murder!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt a gust of wind suddenly blow past her, and in the blink of an eye, Lu Pianpian's figure was already on the lake.
Before being pushed in, Huan Changming held his breath and closed his eyes, but the heavy feeling of falling into the water did not come as expected. Instead, a warm body temperature enveloped him.
He opened his eyes in confusion, and a question that was hard to decipher immediately reached his ears: "Is this what you meant by being a thousand times better, ten thousand times better?"
A note from the author:
I've finally had time to write since I'm on vacation, so I've started stockpiling drafts. I'll be updating every other day this week for now, so please bear with me. Orz
Chapter 18
After Huan Changming returned to the palace, Huan Mi began to torment him in various ways.
A while ago, winter arrived, and the capital became much colder. Huan Mi was tired of using punishments like kneeling and whipping on Huan Changming, so today she wanted to throw Huan Changming into the palace pool for a soak and see if she could come up with something else.
But then someone suddenly appeared and ruined her mood.
Huan Mi looked across the bridge at the person who had rescued Huan Changming, "Who are you, daring to ruin this princess's plans!"
Lu Pianpian put Huan Changming down on the ground, and Qu Surou tilted her head to greet Huan Changming, "Junior Sister, what a coincidence."
"Senior Sister Qu, what are you doing here? Cough cough cough..." Huan Changming covered his mouth and coughed.
Lu Pianpian discreetly observed her junior sister from the side. She noticed that he looked sickly, and his lips were an unnatural purplish-black. Lu Pianpian touched the fabric of his sleeve; it was even thinner than the material used in the summer.
Lu Pianpian frowned, pulled Huan Changming's hand, and transferred her spiritual power to him.
A warm breath entered Huan Changming's body from where their palms were touching. Huan Changming lowered his eyelashes and looked at their clasped hands, pulling his fingers back slightly, but Lu Pianpian caught them, saying, "Don't move."
Huan Mi led a group of palace servants across the bridge in a flurry of activity. She took a whip from a maid and lashed it out at Lu Pianpian and Huan Changming, shouting, "Dare to oppose this princess? You'll regret this!"
Qu Surou stepped in front of Lu Pianpian and Huan Changming, grabbing Huan Mi's whip with her bare hands. "Where did you come from, you crazy woman?"
"How dare you call this princess a madwoman?" Huan Mi had never been insulted to her face before. Enraged, she tried to pull back her whip, but Qu Surou held it firmly. "You madwoman, let go! Guards, seize this madwoman!"
"Yes, Princess!"
A sword suddenly flew out of the air, severing Huan Mi's whip and blocking the palace servants' path.
Huan Mi was thrown backward by the force of the whip, and the palace servants immediately supported her from behind. With the swords floating in mid-air, the display was so impressive that Huan Mi dared not step forward for a moment. "Who exactly are you people? Why are you protecting that vile woman Huan Changming!"
Lu Pianpian walked up to Qu Surou, raised her hand and summoned the sword back to his hand. "Who are you cursing?"
"Who else could it be but that vile woman you're protecting?" Huan Mi said arrogantly. "I advise you to mind your own business and get lost before my guards arrive!"
Huan Changming stepped forward and grabbed Lu Pianpian's sleeve, "Senior brother, you should take Senior Sister Qu and leave quickly, this is not a place for you..."
"You're smart enough to know your place, you slut." Huan Mi ordered, "Men, bring this slut back to me!"
"Who dares?" Lu Pianpian stared coldly ahead, the sword in her hand emitting several sharp clangs.
"No one can threaten me, this princess! Attack!"
"stop!"
Huan Juntian suddenly appeared, and the palace servants immediately retreated upon seeing him, kneeling and saying, "Greetings, Your Highness."
When Huan Changming saw him arrive, he hid behind Lu Pianpian.
Huan Mi stepped forward and grabbed Huan Juntian, "Brother, you've come at the right time! These two people who appeared out of nowhere are ganging up on me because they have some martial arts skills!"
Although she and Huan Juntian were not born of the same mother and their sibling relationship was not close, they were still related as siblings, and she firmly believed that Huan Juntian would help her deal with these two bad people.
"Oh, so you're playing the victim now?" Qu Surou was too lazy to maintain her saintly demeanor anymore. She put one hand on her hip and looked at Huan Juntian. "If you don't discipline your sister, she'll be ruined sooner or later."
"Who are you calling useless? I think you're the one who doesn't know what's good for you!"
Huan Mi was furious and wanted to beg Huan Juntian for help, but Huan Juntian gave her a cold look, which made her lose all her momentum.
This elder brother of the emperor had practiced immortal arts and was currently favored by their father, making him someone she couldn't afford to offend.
Since she is Huan Juntian's sister, Lu Pianpian will no longer harm her.
He sheathed his sword, and Huan Changming behind him suddenly collapsed to the ground. "Junior Sister? Junior Sister?"
Lu Pianpian immediately picked Huan Changming up from the ground. Huan Changming tightly gripped the clothes on Lu Pianpian's chest. "Senior Brother Pianpian, I'm fine... Let's go back to the room, I'll be fine once we're back in the room."
"Okay, where is your room?"
Huan Changming whispered his location to her. Lu Pianpian didn't dare to delay. After nodding to Qu Surou and Huan Juntian, she quickly left with Huan Changming in her arms.
Huan Mi stomped her foot in anger at letting Huan Changming go, but with Huan Juntian around, she dared not show her anger. She could only turn and leave with her palace servants, saying, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty! I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now!"
After everyone left, Qu Surou walked over to Huan Juntian's side and asked, "Have you found out about that junior sister's identity?"
Huan Juntian nodded. "Mm."
Lu Pianpian hurriedly carried Huan Changming to the bed in the hall. As soon as Huan Changming touched the bed, he draped the thin quilt over himself and said, "This way I won't be cold."
"You said going back to your room was fine, but it's all because of this quilt?" Lu Pianpian couldn't help but raise her voice to question him.
He stared at Lu Pianpian with a silly smile, "Yeah, once it's covered, you cough cough cough..."
He started coughing violently again, and Lu Pianpian hurriedly went to close the window next to her. But when she closed it, she realized that the window paper was broken and could not block the cold wind at all.
Lu Pianpian wanted to find charcoal again, but Huan Changming's palace had a view of everything at a glance because it was too empty. Apart from an old wooden bed, there was only a chair, a small dressing table, and a bronze mirror on it.
There was nothing else besides that.
It was not a place fit for human habitation; everywhere was filled with a desolate and decaying deathly atmosphere.
Lu Pianpian didn't know how she felt at that moment. When she walked back to Huan Changming's bedside, she saw his sickly face, red from coughing, which was both pitiful and heartbreaking.
Lu Pianpian suppressed all the questions in his heart for the time being. He reached out his palm to touch Huan Changming's forehead, which was unusually hot.
He sighed, "I'll go find you a doctor."
Huan Changming reached out from under the covers and grabbed him, "No need, no one in this palace will be willing to treat me."
"Why?"
Huan Changming's eyes were somewhat unfocused due to his illness. He stared at Lu Pianpian with a forced smile, "Because I... am the child born to a disgraced concubine."
After saying that, he collapsed onto the bed, exhausted.
Lu Pianpian snapped out of her shock and realized that he was in this state because of a fever. She first poured some spiritual energy into him, then covered him with the blanket, and then hurriedly left to find Qu Surou.
In no time, he was surprised to find that his senior sister was no longer in the place where they had been. He asked several palace servants along the way before he finally found out where his senior sister was now living.
"Senior sister, come with me to see Changming! She has typhoid fever!"
Qu Surou was sitting on the couch reading a storybook about the Li Kingdom when she heard this. Without even looking up, she took out a bottle of pills from her bosom and gave it to him, saying, "Take this. It will cure all diseases."
"Senior sister, you should come with me!" Lu Pianpian pulled her senior sister up from the couch. "I won't feel at ease if you don't go and check on her."
Qu Surou rolled her eyes at him. "You don't even know who she is, yet you're so eager to be nice to her. Are you out of your mind?"
Lu Pianpian pursed her lips and remained silent. Qu Surou couldn't stand Lu Pianpian's pitiful little expression. "Go, go, go! Hurry up! Don't keep me from getting back to read the storybook!"
"Um!"
Lu Pianpian rushed back with Qu Surou, and they had only just reached the door when they heard voices coming from inside the room.
"Princess, you will recover quickly after drinking this medicine..."
Qu Surou also heard the somewhat familiar male voice. Seeing that Lu Pianpian did not push the door open, she spontaneously opened the door a crack.
The two looked inside and saw Jing Yi sitting by the bed, with Huan Changming leaning against him. He sat behind Huan Changming, encircling him, and fed him the medicine spoonful by spoonful. "Come, Princess."
Qu Surou glanced at her junior brother's expression, crossed her arms, and said, "It seems we're a step too late."
"Senior sister."
"What's wrong? Do you want me to rush in and rescue them?" Qu Surou rubbed her hands together, eager to get started.
"Stay away from that Jingyi from now on. Don't believe a single word he says or does. If he dares to get close to you, beat him as far away as possible."
Why?
"Don't ask anymore, just listen to me." Lu Pianpian closed the half-closed door. "Don't you trust me?"
"It's not a matter of belief, it's just that what you're saying is too sudden..."
Qu Surou was completely confused. When she looked up and saw that Lu Pianpian's expression was serious and she wasn't joking with her at all, she couldn't help but straighten up as well. "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you, alright? What are we going to do now? I'm not going to stay here with you."
She was still preoccupied with what would happen next in the storybook. After taking a few steps back, she suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Lu Pianpian. "Jun Tian has thoroughly investigated your junior sister's identity. So, not a single word she told us in the sect was true. You didn't know that, did you? Let me tell you..."
"Senior sister, I want to hear these words from her own words."
Qu Surou was taken aback, then turned around with her arms crossed and replied, "I understand."
Huan Changming awoke from his coma and saw Jing Yi by his bedside; there was no one else there. "Who else has been here besides you?"
Jing Yi was taken aback. "Only me."
Huan Changming frowned. He had clearly seen Lu Pianpian before he lost consciousness, but now Lu Pianpian was nowhere to be seen. Was he having a nightmare?
He quickly dismissed the idea; even in his dreams, he couldn't possibly dream of Lu Pianpian, someone so unimportant to him.