Chapter 7

Qingwu took a deep breath, exhaled, rearranged the expression on her face, and smiled at Li He. "Can it be cured?"

In those eyes that no one could refuse, there was a hazy mist of tears, as if she were the one poisoned, more anxious than Pei Muci himself.

Qingwu pinched the corner of her sleeve, her index finger rubbing back and forth against the stiffer hem of her dress to distract herself.

Seeing her sitting there, restless and anxious, Li He could not bear to tell her the truth.

Of course, it could be cured, but the poisoned person would need to have their entire blood supply replaced and endure the agony of having their skin peeled and tendons pulled.

Li He’s silence kicked Qingwu’s heart, which had been suspended in mid-air, back down to the ground, where it was crushed and kneaded into the dirt.

"Forget it, Your Highness." Pei Muci was calm and fearless, retracting his hand as if nothing were wrong.

He knew his own body, of course.

This poison was like being caught between ice and fire; when it flared up, it could freeze his entire body until it was as fragile as an ice sculpture, ready to shatter at a touch, while his head and heart burned as if they were being roasted over a fire.

Yet, every time the poison flared, he had to remain conscious, bearing the agony raw.

Because once his consciousness faltered, the two toxins would lose their suppression and instantly surge through his entire body, turning his internal organs and bones into powder in a split second, leaving no trace behind.

As for the antidote...

When his mother fed him this poison, he was only a child; how could he remember where the antidote was kept?

As Pei Muci thought this, his hand clenched almost unconsciously, only to immediately loosen.

What was he still unreconciled about?

This pain, this humiliation—he was already used to it.

Moreover, those people had paid a price a hundred times more miserable than his own.

There was still one left... just one remained...

He needed to be patient, to wait a little longer...

"Knock, knock."

After two polite knocks, Du Jin pushed open the door, his plain robes still dusted with the remnants of sunlight filtering through the leaves.

He walked in without the slightest hint of discomfort at having eavesdropped.

"May I try?"

Pei Muci sat quietly, his peripheral vision drifting toward Qingwu, landing on the movement of her wrists.

Thinking herself unobserved, Qingwu was focused on adjusting her waistband.

She always felt the clothes she had changed into after the bath were ill-fitting; the fabric rubbed against her waist and smooth skin, causing a sense of irritation to rise within her.

Standing facing the door, her fingers, white as scallions, quietly loosened the belt and tucked the ends into her inner garment where they would be hidden.

Pei Muci withdrew his gaze without a sound, smiling as gently as a spring breeze.

Li He examined the newcomer, finding his face very familiar, yet unable to recall who he was for a moment.

Finally, when the two exchanged bows, he saw the man’s face clearly and stood up abruptly. "Du Lingyu?"

Who didn't know that the only son of the Great General of the State had superb medical skills, but because he was implicated by his father, although his life was spared, he had been branded a traitor...

"After the general amnesty, I searched everywhere for news of you, but I never expected to meet you in the Princess's Manor." Li He was somewhat emotional, holding Du Jin’s hands and patting the back of them repeatedly. "There is no better time than the present. Lingyu, come and work at the Medical Bureau. With me there, no one will dare to look down on you or make things difficult for you."

He had always cherished talent and felt a sincere, elder-like concern for Du Jin.

Du Jin felt a bit awkward and sent a silent plea for help toward the person behind Li He.

"He is my person; he won't be going to any Medical Bureau." Qingwu only wanted to break the tension, but she hadn't expected that as soon as these words left her lips, all three men in the room froze.

Pei Muci quickly returned to his usual state, averting his gaze to look elsewhere. Du Jin stared at Qingwu, as if trying to judge the truth of her words, but eventually shook his head in self-deprecation.

Li He’s clouded eyes gradually focused, scanning Du Jin with a probing gaze.

Du Lingyu’s character was beyond doubt; he trusted him completely.

But this fair-skinned, handsome, and refined appearance—wasn't this exactly the type the Princess favored?

A commoner, how could he stand up against the most favored Princess of the current dynasty?

Li He sighed with regret and frowned heavily. "Your Highness, you have once again turned a deaf ear to my words. Your body, above all, must avoid overexertion—"

He did not finish his sentence, because Qingwu, disregarding her status as a princess, covered his mouth with her silk handkerchief.

But he still conveyed his full meaning to the Princess with a solemn look: Keep away from men, and take care of your health.

Qingwu was nearly jumping with frustration!

Wasn't it said that things shouldn't be repeated more than three times? Why did he keep harping on such a trivial matter?

Heaven knows, standing between Pei Muci and Du Jin and hearing the first half of Li He's words, she knew it wasn't anything good!

She had been so flustered that she didn't know whether to cover Pei Muci's ears or block Li He's mouth.

As for Du Jin, he was her most capable "accomplice," and she could just bribe him well later.

So, she acted decisively and silenced Li He on the spot.

Qingwu let go, and the soft, thin silk handkerchief drifted slowly in the air before landing on the floor.

Pei Muci bent down to pick it up. Thinking he was about to return to the inner chamber, Qingwu immediately pressed his shoulder, signaling him to sit back down.

The handkerchief, embroidered with orchids, lay alone on the floor.

"Get to business." Qingwu turned to look at Du Jin, even rising to give up her seat, which showed how much importance she placed on this matter.

Du Jin stared blankly at the delicate hand resting on the man’s shoulder, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions. But when Qingwu spoke, he hid his feelings well, sat down opposite Pei Muci as if nothing had happened, and looked back at her politely.

"I must trouble Your Highness to step aside."

Qingwu pointed at herself, incredulous. "Me? Step aside?"

As she spoke, she gave Du Jin a wink, her eyes filled with unspoken resentment.

Du Jin didn't even look up, as if this were a perfectly normal matter of common sense. "Master Pei has not yet served the Princess in the bedchamber; it is only proper for the Princess to avoid suspicion."

Hearing him say this, Qingwu understood.

Du Jin was doing this for Li He’s benefit. With a single sentence, he had both distanced his relationship with the Princess and prevented Li He from gossiping to the Emperor about Pei Muci back at the palace.

It was killing two birds with one stone; truly brilliant!

She cooperated by waving her hand at Li He, signaling that she and Du Jin were not in the kind of relationship Li He imagined, and then retreated behind the screen.

At the corner, she still felt uneasy and looked back at Pei Muci.

Perhaps she didn't even notice that her gaze was so lingering it was almost palpable.

But Li He and Du Jin were completely focused on the poison in Pei Muci’s system, and Pei Muci was staring blankly at a spot, lost in thought. None of the three living people responded to her.

Qingwu walked away reluctantly, entering the partition without a door.

The screen was embroidered with a landscape of mountains and clear springs. Although the large blank space in the middle was more translucent than silk, it still blocked part of her view.

Qingwu could only see a blurred, solemn back, head bowed, sitting quietly there, which added a scene she particularly loved to the landscape painting on the screen.

With nothing to do, she turned the tea bowls on the tea tray upside down and then back again. After a while, she began to touch the armrests of the chair.

There was no sound of speaking or movement from within; the three of them were so quiet, she had no idea what they were doing.

Forget it.

Qingwu really had nothing to do now. Since she had promised Li He she would go to the palace to see her father, she decided to go find Ningchun and prepare the palanquin and court attire for entering the palace in advance.

"Click."

Qingwu left, and the door closed behind her.

Only then did Pei Muci, who had been silent all along, raise his head. With a slight upward curve of his lips, he asked Li He, "Master Li, is there a medicine that can keep a wound from ever healing?"

Li He, bewildered, turned his head toward Du Lingyu, feeling quite lost.

How could anyone make such a strange request?

Du Jin assumed Pei Muci was using such means to gain Qingwu’s pity and sympathy, and he averted his eyes with a hint of disdain, only to suddenly collide with a pair of extremely indifferent eyes.

Inside them, it was quiet and desolate, like the ancient city of Loulan, ravaged by wind and sand for years, devoid of any vitality.

Du Jin felt his blood freeze the moment he saw them.

"Never mind, then." Pei Muci spoke again.

At worst, he would just slice it open again; he would only need to find a sharper knife.

The deeper the scar, the longer it would remain.

His expression was languid, as if he didn't take it to heart at all. His gaze slowly moved up from his wrist, stopping at the two fingers Du Jin had placed on his pulse.

Du Jin felt a sudden, numbing pain, as if he had been bitten by a venomous snake and the toxin was spreading through his body.

His scalp tingling, he pulled his hand back instinctively.

Both men looked at each other simultaneously. As their eyes met, Pei Muci’s pupils contracted slightly, and a cold light flashed beneath his lowered eyelashes. His icy gaze cut through all pretenses like a sharp dagger, leaving only a deep, dark abyss.

Staring into Pei Muci’s pupils, which seemed a shade darker than anyone else’s, Du Jin felt as if he were being controlled, unable to help but reply, "I will prepare the medicine in a few days and send someone to Qingsong Garden."

"Thank you." Pei Muci’s voice was calm and waveless, like a still lake under the moonlight.

The cold, sharp intensity from just a moment ago vanished instantly, as if it were a mere illusion of the eyes. His thin clothing made his complexion appear even paler.

The two had spoken in very soft tones, and Qingwu, holding her breath at the door, heard nothing.

"Squeak—" The door was pulled open from the inside. Li He, stroking his long, white beard, stepped out with a relaxed stride, not at all like a man in his seventies.

Qingwu let out a sigh of relief, her heart, which had been hoisted up, finally returning to its place, thumping with relief.

She had Zhixue arrange for a carriage to take Li He away, then stepped past the old physician, pushed the door wide open, and stood on her tiptoes to wave inside.

"Let’s go, I’m taking you to the palace."

She was radiant, her smile shining with a dazzling light, filled with the scorching heat of the sun, falling directly into the bottomless, cold-pool eyes of Pei Muci, illuminating the gloom within.

Du Jin was packing up his medicine pillow, his movements coming to a sudden halt, his joints stiff as if nailed to the spot.

He wanted to imprint the woman’s smile onto his mind, but his vision suddenly became hazy, as if covered by a layer of gray mist, obscuring most of his sight.

Clearly, the person his heart longed for was standing right there, yet she was gradually drifting further and further away from him. He couldn't even see the hem of her dress, let alone reach out to touch even a fragment of it.

Seeing her serious tone, not like she was joking, Pei Muci helplessly lowered his hands and sighed lightly. "I won't run away."

His wide sleeves fell with his movement, covering his trembling fingertips.

Qingwu smiled and shook her head, looking for all the world like she wouldn't believe a word he said.

Wouldn't run away?

That was only because there wasn't an opportunity to run yet.

She had to keep him tied to her side to be completely at ease.

Du Jin had always come and gone from the Princess’s Manor as he pleased; he could go wherever he liked when he was done, and with the Princess’s Manor token she had given him, no one would dare to suppress him.

Naturally, Qingwu hadn't thought to ask him to do anything else.

Her gaze remained locked on Pei Muci, and without allowing for refusal, she gestured toward the palanquin with a "please."

Pei Muci frowned and pondered for a moment, then compromised, walking toward Qingwu with a bitter smile.

The two moved toward each other like magnets. The man’s handsome, slender figure slowly obscured the light spilling in from the wooden door, dissolving the woman's petite shadow into his own until they gradually became one.

Time suddenly became very, very slow. The light from the window, carrying tiny floating particles, swirled in the air and scattered onto Du Jin.

Hidden in the dark, shaded side, he sat in the corner, covered in dust.