Second Young Master?

Shen Qing felt that these maids were talking incoherently.

When Cheng Zhiwen came over just now, they clearly called him "Young Master", but now they call him "Second Young Master".

However, she has no time to correct them right now.

Her mind was a complete mess.

Although she hasn't died yet, what's the situation with the rest of the Gao family, how long will she have to hide here, and... what about Qi Zhenheng, who went to the capital to meet the emperor for her...?

These were all factors that upset her.

Shen Qing ate some porridge and drank some Chinese medicine, but still felt weak, so she didn't get out of bed to wash up and stayed in bed to rest.

As night deepened, the maids all left, and the room became eerily quiet, reminding Shen Qing once again of the more than one month he had spent imprisoned in the provincial judicial office.

She lay on her side on the bed, wrapped tightly in the blanket, clutching the hairpin knife in her palm.

"Young Master, Second Madam is asleep, so perhaps you shouldn't go in..."

Outside, Ziyan was whispering something to persuade someone.

Shen Qing opened her eyes and listened carefully.

"Get out of here, all of you!" the man said calmly.

"Young Master, what if the Second Young Master..."

"go out!"

Then came several hurried, chaotic footsteps, as if someone was pushing Ziyan away.

Why are there both eldest and second young masters? Are there other men here besides Cheng Zhiwen?

Shen Qingxin became suspicious, loosened the blanket, and was about to turn over when the door was suddenly pushed open.

She reacted quickly, lay down, closed her eyes, and pretended to be fast asleep.

The door opened and then closed gently, and steady footsteps gradually approached.

Shen Qing's ears twitched.

These aren't Cheng Zhiwen's footsteps!

Shen Qing gripped the hairpin knife in her hand even tighter.

The footsteps stopped by the bedside, neither advancing nor making any further movement, silently observing her.

Shen Qing opened one eye slightly without making a sound, and saw in the reflection on the wall that a man's hand was reaching out to her...

She was certain that this person was not Cheng Zhiwen. Fear spread through her body with her blood, and she felt cold all over. She gripped the hairpin knife tightly in her hand, ready to use it to defend herself if the person attacked her.

The hand reached further and further over, finally landing on the blanket.

Shen Qing gritted her teeth and was about to turn over when she heard the door being pushed open forcefully.

"Big brother, what are you doing?"

It was Cheng Zhiwen's voice.

At that moment, Shen Qing suddenly felt at ease.

His tense body relaxed, and the pressure on his hand slowly eased.

She remained motionless, pretending to be fast asleep, secretly observing everything.

Cheng Zhiwen entered the room, his steady and powerful footsteps slowly approaching. He walked to the bedside, but no one heard him say anything.

In the darkness, the rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other was exceptionally clear.

Shen Qing quietly opened her eyes and looked at the wall, only to see that the man standing by the bed had already been led out by Cheng Zhiwen.

The door closed again, and silence returned.

Shen Qing quietly turned over and, through the white paper of the carved window, saw two tall figures standing outside.

She suddenly realized that Cheng Zhiwen still had short hair.

So the man with the Qing-style shaved head who appeared at the door earlier wasn't Cheng Zhiwen?

But he looks so much like Cheng Zhiwen...

Two figures stood outside the window for a while, then quickly left, and the voices of Ziyan and the other maids appeared one after another.

Everything returned to normal.

It was as if everything that had just happened was just a dream that Shen Qing had.

Once the crisis was over and my nerves relaxed, drowsiness quickly set in.

Shen Qing continued to sleep soundly, clutching the blanket.

Half-asleep, she seemed to hear the door open again, and she opened her tired eyelids.

A man entered the house.

He had short hair and a tall, thin figure. Against the light in the courtyard, he walked towards the bed. His outline gradually emerged from the light, and Shen Qing could see his face clearly.

It was Cheng Zhiwen.

He still had short hair and wore a suit and leather shoes.

The only change is that he is much thinner than he was six months ago.

Six months ago, when she and Qi Zhenheng went to see the imperial envoy, Cheng Zhiwen was also present.

Back then, he wasn't as thin as he is now.

What happened to him that caused him to lose so much weight suddenly?

Shen Qing sat up and stared at him intently.

He walked towards her, his gaze as focused and deep as ever.

Shen Qing asked softly, "Why have you become so thin?"

He didn't answer, but instead asked, "How do you feel?"

"It's alright. Weren't I being taken to be beheaded? You saved me!"

She looked up at him, her large eyes misted over, filled with fear and trepidation. Her face, emaciated from hunger during her imprisonment, was only the size of a palm.

She lacked her usual confidence and courage, resembling a wounded little animal, which broke Cheng Zhiwen's heart.

He wanted to pull her into his arms and cherish her, but the thought that she only wanted to distance herself from him and marry Qi Zhenheng made him suppress this impulse.

"The Qing court has issued an execution order against you, and you have been directly imprisoned in the provincial prison, which means there is no possibility of overturning the verdict. Qi Zhenheng went to Beijing to beg the Qing court to release you, but he was trapped in the capital instead. I will find a way to replace you with another death row inmate."

Shen Qing was taken aback: "Qi Zhenheng is trapped in the capital? Is he still safe?"

Cheng Zhiwen's eyes flashed with displeasure: "He's safe. His father is the Governor-General of Zhili. The Qing court will not do anything to him because of his father's influence. You can rest assured."

Relieved, Shen Qing asked, "What about the Gao family? They were taken away with me the day I was arrested."

"Although Qi Zhenheng couldn't save you, at least he got the Qing government to release the Gao family. More than a dozen members of the Gao family have been released."

"Did Chunju and Sulan go back too?"

Cheng Zhiwen nodded, her tone softening slightly: "They've all safely returned to the Gao family."

Shen Qing's heart, which had been hanging in her throat, finally settled down.

As long as Chunju Sulan and the dozen or so members of the Gao family are not implicated, she has nothing to fear.

Even though she is still in danger.

After calming herself down, she looked up at Cheng Zhiwen and said earnestly, "Thank you for saving me again."

She couldn't count how many times Cheng Zhiwen had saved her.

Remembering her promise to him that she would tell him the whereabouts of the original body after the artificial silk was successfully made, she later chose to keep it a secret again for various reasons.

It wasn't until she was arrested and imprisoned in the provincial prison, nearly losing her head, that she thought that if they met again in the next life, she would definitely tell him the whereabouts of the original owner of this body.

Although she hated him for being a traitor, he had the right to know the whereabouts of his ex-fiancée.

Now that she's "back" to him, she has to tell him the truth.

“I’m not the Shen Qing you were engaged to…” She looked down at her hands outside the blanket, her nervousness causing her to keep picking at the dead skin on the edges of her nails.