Chapter 44 Jiang Zhuoying's anger was almost gone...

Jiang Zhuoying was so angry she was about to burst out of her throat.

"Your Highness?"

"You know the mastermind behind the assassin."

Jiang Zhuoying's pupils contracted sharply, her pink lips, shaped like flower petals, parted slightly, and the man's gaze was sharp as a blade, as if he had seen through everything.

She could clearly hear her own heart pounding.

"I……"

"This servant...recognizes you?" Her voice was trembling. Was she trying to trick her again?

Why are you shaking?

How could she not be trembling?!

Perhaps due to excessive tension, the muscles in her right shoulder, along with her arm and neck, suddenly spasmed, causing her existing wound to twitch as well.

Her face turned pale in an instant.

"Ouch...it hurts..."

The strain on her muscles, along with the reopening of her knife wound, caused her excruciating pain, leaving her too weak to even lean against the pillow, and she slumped to her side.

Someone immediately stopped her body from falling uncontrollably.

The moment her right shoulder pressed against the man's warm chest, she cried out in pain, and cold sweat instantly broke out on her forehead.

"What happened?" Qi Fan stared intently at the girl's face. In just a few breaths, her complexion had deteriorated significantly.

"You... don't move, don't touch me."

Jiang Zhuoying bit her lip hard, her voice trembling as she spoke.

Qi Fan remained frozen, his arms still supporting the sickly girl in pain, unmoving.

"I'll call it for you"

"No, don't speak, let me calm down."

Jiang Zhuoying almost blocked his words with a breath. When he spoke, the vibration of his chest made her right shoulder ache.

The man pursed his lips. He originally wanted to call the doctor in, but after observing the girl's symptoms for a while, he had already made some progress.

Jiang Zhuoying endured it for a while, and when the muscle spasms subsided, her originally stiff and tense body suddenly went limp.

Qi Fan naturally sensed her change.

Are you feeling better?

"……Um."

Jiang Zhuoying murmured softly, too exhausted even to nod.

It was just a sudden muscle spasm, like when you don't sleep well and get a stiff neck.

The man carried her back to the bed, moved her pillow, and supported her shoulders as she lay down.

Looking down at the little girl whose face was covered in sweat, her temples were already wet with sweat, and her little face was a mixture of tears and sweat. Her originally pale face had even developed a few sickly blushes.

Far from being unattractive, they are actually quite delicate and pitiful.

No man could remain unmoved by such a scene, and he was no exception.

The man pursed his thin lips and silently wiped away the tears on her face and the damp sweat from her forehead.

"Should we have Yu Ji take another look?" His voice was a little hoarse.

"No need." The girl shook her head, then turned to look at the tall man beside the bed. "It was just an accident."

Qi Fan nodded slightly.

The room fell silent again. It was unclear how much time had passed, long enough for Jiang Zhuoying to have fully recovered, before the man's deep voice finally rang out.

"The assassin was sent by my third brother."

Jiang Zhuoying was slightly taken aback. Third brother?

The second prince's third brother is the third prince.

No wonder she recognized him; she had indeed met the Third Prince once before.

She vividly remembers the sinister look in his eyes at that time.

Fortunately, she had nothing to do with Wu Jiu, so she escaped a disaster.

I breathed a slight sigh of relief. There were some things I needed to take care of as soon as possible.

"...This servant understands."

Qi Fan had been watching her every move and knew that she should have recovered from the pain she had just experienced.

Upon hearing the change in address, it was clear that there was still resentment in her heart.

"Why have you changed to the old way of addressing me again?" he asked in a flat voice.

Jiang Zhuoying glanced at him with a hint of melancholy. Why did she switch to her old way of addressing him?

Of course, he wanted to use this to awaken the last bit of conscience he had left!

Let him know how devastating his sudden indifference was to a beautiful and delicate young woman like her!

It made her carefully and painstakingly extend her antennae, and then fearfully retract them.

She wanted him to admit his mistake and apologize, so that he would trust her even more from then on, and her status as a maid would continue to rise!

But the girl on the bed looked dejected and said in a weak voice, "Your Highness is tired of me. I know that."

"If it weren't for this injury, His Highness, who is so busy with state affairs, would not have come to see me."

"This servant is now free of business, Your Highness, please go and attend to your own affairs."

After saying that, the girl on the tatami carefully and slowly turned over, facing the wall.

The meaning is clear: she's throwing a tantrum!

Coax her!!

If it had happened half a month ago, she certainly wouldn't have dared to do this.

But right now, she's so pitiful, and she's injured...

In case someone actually turns around and leaves, Jiang Zhuoying turned around, hissed softly, and then secretly glanced at him again.

That glance met the other person's cool and aloof gaze.

Upon closer inspection, a hint of mischief lingers within that cool and aloof demeanor.

The girl turned her face away again in a flash.

Qi Fan cleared his throat: "You really want me to leave?"

Jiang Zhuoying pursed her lips: "If Second Prince Brother is tired of me and doesn't want to see me anymore, then leave!"

Two soft chuckles immediately came from behind her. The voices were faint and fleeting, as if she had imagined it.

The girl bit her lip and let out a soft hum.

"Since you call me brother, and you are injured now, how can I abandon you?"

In fact, ever since he brought her back, he had been waiting by her bedside until recently when he went to the outhouse...

Jiang Zhuoying turned her head slightly, gazing at the soft, thin canopy: "Really?"

"Then why didn't you see me the past two days?"

The girl's voice was soft and somewhat urgent, as if she couldn't wait to get comfort from him.

Qi Fan hesitated for a moment, then finally granted her wish.

"It's not that I deliberately avoided you; didn't I give you two days off?"

Jiang Zhuoying didn't believe his nonsense. This guy was stubborn, and it seemed she couldn't get the real reason out of him.

However, she could use this to give this fake brother a warning.

"But I get anxious when you don't see me."

As she expected, the man would definitely make some promises in accordance with her words, such as that he would never disappear from her's life again...

But she ultimately overestimated him.

The man remained silent for a few moments, then suddenly spoke: "How panicked are you?"

Jiang Zhuoying: "?"

She said in a soft, sweet voice, "My heart is pounding. I'm afraid you'll get tired of me and I'll be kicked out."

The man's cool eyes flickered slightly: "Isn't it you who always threatens to leave?"

Jiang Zhuoying: "..."

She took a deep breath and slowly looked at someone, her gaze almost perfectly controlled.

Three parts resentment, seven parts pity.

"Second Prince, do you really not understand?"

"All those words I said were just empty words."

Qi Fan had a stern face and no expression, but his heart was far from calm as he appeared.

Saying one thing and meaning another?

When did this hypocrisy begin?

Jiang Zhuoying frowned slightly and urged in a soft voice, "Hmm?"

"It will never happen again."

From an angle unknown to the girl, the eyes looking at her were a deep, dark color.

Jiang Zhuoying nodded and forced a voice: "Alright then, you've promised me so many things, you can't forget them."

"Um."

The weight that had been weighing on her heart finally lifted, and her relationship with Da Bingzhazi was able to improve. Soon, Jiang Zhuoying felt a wave of fatigue wash over her.

She must have fallen asleep, but she was woken up again not long after.

The people around her were making a lot of noise, both men and women. She could hear her fake brother seemingly getting angry, his voice cold and frightening.

She wanted to open her eyes and see who had the ability to provoke him so much that he turned pale with anger.

But my eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, and I couldn't lift them at all...

"Cough cough... Pfft..."

She was choked awake by the discomfort in her throat. She opened her eyes groggily and saw the man's dark face, filled with barely perceptible anxiety.

"Drink this medicine completely."

Before Jiang Zhuoying could react, a bowl of dark, bitter-smelling medicine was offered to her lips, pressed tightly against her lips.

Jiang Zhuoying: "..."

She shifted her gaze slightly and noticed that the man's hands, sleeves, and even chest were stained with the brownish-yellow color of the medicinal soup.

As luck would have it, he was wearing a rare moon-white robe today, which made the dark medicinal dye stand out even more.

"Oh dear, let's give Jiang a break first?"

Then the medicine bowl was taken away from Jiang Zhuoying's lips, and the bitter taste that made her feel nauseous gradually faded away, and she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Then a soft cloth was pressed against her lips, and she looked down to see a large, well-defined hand wiping away the remaining medicine from the corners of her lips.

Jiang Zhuoying slowly opened her eyes wide...

Did she vomit the medicine out?

Has she become so capable now?

If I vomit on him, will he still take care of me?

Could it be that he's trying to take this opportunity to get revenge on her...?

"Cough cough cough..."

Jiang Zhuoying frowned and coughed violently a few times. Her head was throbbing and dizzy, and her throat was dry and sore.

After coughing a few times, my mouth felt even more bitter and astringent.

In the past, her maids would have already gathered around, and her parents and younger brother would have come to her room to coax her.

But now—

The cause of her mother's death is unknown, and the whereabouts of her father and younger brother are also unknown. Beside them stands a large, icy figure with a face as cold as the bottom of a pot.

"..."

For some reason, the girl suddenly started crying, her peach blossom eyes turned red from crying, and tears seeped from the corners of her eyes one after another, quickly making her face a mess of tears.

"Why are you crying?"

The man frowned and withdrew the handkerchief he had used to wipe her mouth.

He gestured to Ah Liu, who was standing nearby, to bring over the unusually dark bowl of herbal soup.

"Drink the medicine first."

She's too delicate; the high fever tonight is caused by the wound on her shoulder, and we need to bring it down first.

But Jiang Zhuoying had no idea why she needed to take medicine. In her opinion, she only had a shoulder injury, so wouldn't it be enough to just bandage it up?

Why must we drink this foul-smelling and bitter medicine?

She kept her lips tightly closed, crying and shaking her head slightly, stubborn and obstinate.

This rabbit looks nothing like its previous docile self; where has one ever seen such a stubborn little rabbit before?

The man almost laughed in anger.

However, no matter what, the medicine still needs to be administered.

"You have a fever. If you want to recover quickly, you need to drink this medicine."

He kept a straight face, trying to persuade people with reason.

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Author's Note: Qi Gou's face is expressionless (but his heart is racing): Is he saying one thing and meaning another?