Clouds Drunk, Moon Slightly Sleeping - Chapter 80
"Are you trying to starve me to death by not feeding me?! Deliver three meals a day plus a midnight snack, just enough for one person." The little brat looked at me like I was a monster and yelled.
"Send only one serving? You want to starve my brother to death?!" I yelled back at him. Whether this brat's medical skills are reliable is another matter, but he certainly knows how to scam people. If Yunfeng didn't eat or drink for seven days, wouldn't he be dead by now?
"How can he eat after I've detoxified him? You don't know anything about medicine, why are you worrying?" The little brat glared at me, frowning and looking very unhappy with my talkativeness.
I pursed my lips and turned to find Zhang De. Sigh, when you need someone's help, you have no choice but to put up with their attitude. As long as Yun Feng's poison can be cured, I'd be happy to give him a back massage, let alone glare at him.
After carefully instructing Zhang De on the little brat's instructions, I ate something to fill my stomach before returning to my room to calmly think things through. The crumpled letter on the floor was nowhere to be found; Cui'er must have cleaned it up. Anyway, it didn't contain anything particularly important, so I didn't bother to investigate further.
I barely slept a wink last night, and only caught a breath from court this morning. In just a few hours, my world seemed to have undergone a complete transformation. Xi Lan, Yun Mansion, the fox—thinking about these things, I drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
"Xi Lan!" I woke up with a start, sat up, and found myself lying in bed, still in my room at Xifeng Garden.
My vision gradually blurred again. I had just dreamt of Xi Lan. On the city wall, he stood in front of me, taking a blow from the enemy. He turned around and smiled at me, but a trace of bright red blood slowly trickled down from the corner of his mouth.
"I just don't want Qianqian to feel guilty every time she's with me. I don't want Qianqian to shed tears because of me anymore."
A familiar voice rang in my ears, and I jumped out of bed, shouting happily, "Xi Lan!"
There's no one here, no Xi Lan. That was just a voice from my memory, just my hallucination. Xi Lan's fate is unknown, how could she possibly be here? If the scene of Xi Lan being injured on the city wall becomes eternal, I will never, ever forgive myself.
The sky outside seemed to have darkened. I opened the door and was surprised to see Ye Feng standing quietly outside, his head slightly lowered. He seemed to have been waiting for a long time, or perhaps he was lost in thought. Hearing the door open, he looked up at me, bowed, and called out, "Young Master."
"Come with me to Qianzui Residence."
As I walked, I told Cui'er to stay at the Yun residence, mainly to keep a close eye on Ruochen and Yunfeng. If Ruochen needed anything, she had to be prepared properly, and we absolutely couldn't let the matter of the antidote be misunderstood. If anything happened, she should go to Zhang De. If Zhang De couldn't solve it either, she should come to Qianzui Residence to find me.
Cui'er nodded solemnly, and Ye Feng and I hurried towards Qianzui Residence.
Sure enough, the fox was already at Qianzui Residence, arriving even before me. I entered the room called "Qianzui Rest" and saw him standing by my bed, playing with the octagonal lamp Qinglin had given me on the bedside table. The night breeze had long since subsided, and the fox, hearing the sound, turned to look at me.
I looked at him, wanting to ask him about Xi Lan, whether he had lied to me before, whether Xi Lan had received my letter, and whether Xi Lan had replied to me. But for a moment, I didn't know how to start, and I was also afraid of hearing the answer I didn't want to hear.
"Qianqian." He approached and reached out his hand, but I instinctively dodged. He paused slightly, lowered his hand, half-closed his eyes, and called my name in an inscrutable tone.
"Mmm." I answered, holding my breath, and stared intently at my toes.
The next second, my body seemed to be lifted into the air, and before I could react, I was already tightly encircled by the fox's arms. I struggled, but to no avail; he only held me tighter.
"Let me go!" I finally couldn't help but shout at him. There was a knot in my heart that needed to be untied. Even if the answer wasn't what I wanted, it was still better than keeping it bottled up inside and letting myself overthink.
"What is Qianqian doing?"
"Why did you lie to me and say that Xilan was alright?" I stopped struggling, looked up at him, and asked directly.
"I also received the message this morning, how could I lie to you?" His hand loosened a little, his deep black eyes staring intently at me, frank and without a trace of remorse.
"What about before? You and Ye Feng both said Xi Lan was fine. If Xi Lan was always alright, why would she suddenly faint?" I said, becoming increasingly agitated. The thought of the fox lying to me made me feel incredibly jealous.
"Qianqian, do you not trust your older brother anymore?" His peach blossom eyes narrowed again, and he lowered his head to get closer to me, exuding a dangerous aura that seemed to be brewing a storm.
"Don't believe me? Don't believe me? Qianqian has never doubted Big Brother, never disbelieved Big Brother, but why? Why do Big Brother and Yefeng both say that Xilan is fine, but Xilan's life or death is unknown? Big Brother, tell me why? That day when Xilan went to the city gate to save me, was it really just a minor injury that wasn't serious? Didn't Big Brother tell Yefeng to tell me that Xilan was alright when he went to the palace to save people?" I forcefully pulled away, and before he could react, I was out of his embrace. I asked him loudly, and when I thought of Xilan, my eyes couldn't help but sting.
"Tian Xilan is injured, so Qianqian doesn't plan to leave him? Wangzhou will only become more and more dangerous. If Wangyue Sect would rather kidnap you from Tianqing Army Camp, you can no longer stay on the battlefield." He stepped forward and grabbed my hand, but there was a suppressed anger in his eyes.
"Even if you want me to leave, you can't lie and say that Xilan is fine. If anything happens to Xilan, I will never forgive myself, and I will never forgive you." I tried to shake off his hand, but even though he wasn't holding it very tightly, I couldn't shake it off no matter what I did.
"Qianqian really doesn't even trust her older brother anymore?"
I lowered my head, silent, my heart filled with bitterness and resentment. How could I not believe it? If I didn't believe it, why would I have gone to Tianqing Kingdom to persuade them? If I didn't believe it, why didn't I have any suspicion when he and Yefeng said that Xilan was alright? If I didn't believe it, I would have already abandoned everything here and rushed to see Xilan. But now, it's true that I have doubts in my heart. I learned from Old Man Yun that Xilan's fate was unknown, and this was like a thorn stuck in my heart, causing me unbearable pain.
"Qianqian?" He stood there, still holding my hand. I could feel his burning gaze fixed on me, and I could feel the unfathomable danger emanating from his entire body.
I looked up at him, bit my lip, unconsciously held my breath, and asked softly, "Did Xilan receive my letter?"
A sharp pain shot through my hand, and a flicker of pain crossed his deep, dark eyes, which were as still as a pool. He looked at me with a face full of anger and disbelief, without saying a word. After staring at me for a long while, he turned around, let go of my hand, and strode away.
I couldn't help but squat down, hugging my knees tightly with both hands, looking down as I watched my tears fall to the ground, one by one, as if falling into someone's heart. I could hear the "plop" and "plop" sounds. The tiny teardrops blurred into small circles, seeping into the ground in an instant and disappearing, leaving only a faint, damp trace.
I stayed in my room the whole time, not touching the dinner that Ye Feng brought me. Exhausted, I lay down on the bed fully clothed. Ye Feng woke me up early in the morning, and after washing up and getting ready, I went to court. I don't know if the fox was at Qianzui Residence last night, or if he angrily returned to the palace. I didn't ask, and Ye Feng never said much either.
I ran into Bai Xuyang outside the palace gate. After exchanging greetings, I walked with him toward the Qianqing Hall.
"I heard that Shen An went to Ye Cang Kingdom a few days ago?" I casually asked. Yesterday, I specifically looked through their work reports for the past three months. The others were all normal, but Shen An hadn't been in Longzhou for almost a month. He only wrote that he was on official business, but didn't mention why. But if it really was a marriage alliance, that would be a big deal. Besides, the preparation of gifts and the accompanying personnel would not have been done so smoothly that I couldn't find any trace of it.
"Prime Minister Yun, this is just a rumor," he replied with a slight smile and a bowed head.
Rumors? Now I'm a bit confused. The marriage alliance is just a rumor? But I heard it from the soldiers of Longyao, and on the way back, the common people were also saying the same thing. If it's a rumor, who started it? What's their purpose?
I didn't want to ask him in detail where he went or what he did during the month he was missing. After exchanging only a few words, we ran into Liu Yu and Gu Mozhi again, and soon arrived at the Qianqing Palace.
I didn't utter a single word during the entire morning court session, nor did I look at the fox, but I knew its gaze lingered on me from time to time. After court, I thought the fox would try to keep me, but it didn't, so I returned to the Yun residence.
I went straight to Nanzhu Garden and saw that everything needed for the antidote had been prepared. The little brat seemed to be preparing for the antidote as well. I sat on the edge of Yunfeng's bed, intending to say a few words of comfort to him, but before I could speak, he spoke first.
"Don't worry, Yue'er, I'm fine. Once I'm better, you won't have to work so hard every day." He propped himself up, reached out and touched my head, looked at my face, and said with heartache.
"Don't worry, brother. Once you get through these seven days, you'll be fine. Hehe, I'll cook a feast to celebrate with you." I grinned at him. If Yunfeng's poison is cured in seven days, that would be a really good thing.
He smiled and nodded. Then I walked out of the room, closed the door, lingered outside for a while, told Cui'er and Cheng'er to wait outside carefully, and then returned to Xifeng Garden.
Clouds Drunk, Moon Slightly Asleep (Revised Edition) Volume Three: If Life Were Only Like Our First Meeting, Life Hangs by a Thread (Part Two)
Chapter word count: 4058 Update time: 08-12-23 14:40
Life Hangs by a Thread (Part Two)