After that day's commotion, Cen Xi behaved herself quite well, leaving no trace of her former dissolute behavior. For five days in a row, she and Xiao Yu embroidered sachets in the courtyard, and she would take Xiao Yu for a stroll on the mountain, occasionally giving her pointers on martial arts moves.

She would either stay in her small kitchen in the courtyard, cooking for Xiaoyu, ignoring everyone, including Jun Xiaoqiao, Zhu Yanniang, Shen Jinchen, and Jun Jianchou. In fact, she never even said a word to them, let alone met them.

The day after that, Shen Jinchen sent people to the Jun family to present betrothal gifts in a grand manner. Cen Xi knew about it, but she ignored it, as if Shen Jinchen had not proposed to her.

She seemed to be holding a grudge, but no one could tell from her face. She always wore a smile and laughed with Xiaoyu in the yard. Whenever Jun Xiaoqiao and Zhu Yanniang got close, she would subtly lead Xiaoyu away.

Jun Xiaoqiao was speechless at Cen Xi's antics and wanted to confront her, but she ignored her completely. No matter what Jun Xiaoqiao said, Cen Xi didn't interrupt or answer. Jun Xiaoqiao felt like she was punching cotton.

She just couldn't understand it. What was wrong with this woman? Didn't they have a proper talk before going to bed that night?

He had endured it for five days, but today he finally couldn't take it anymore. Seeing her and Xiaoyu embroidering sachets together again, he forcefully snatched the ugly-looking sachet from her and said:

"Cen Xi, if you don't reply today, I'm not going to take care of your Zhenxiu Restaurant anymore. I haven't offended you, so why are you resorting to this passive-aggressive behavior?"

"Never mind, let's just leave it at that and return the token to Shen Jinchen."

Cen Xi lay indifferently on the couch, looking completely unconcerned. She seemed to have suffered some kind of blow and had lost all interest in life.

"Don't you love money? Have you thought this through? Even if you marry Prime Minister Shen, it won't be yours."

"It doesn't matter. If you're alright, go down the mountain. Just tell Jun Jianchou not to waste his time going to the capital. Even if I die, I won't appreciate it."

Cen Xi's voice was languid, as if all her energy had been drained.

"Is this the result of your promise to think it over carefully? What exactly do you want?"

Jun Xiaoqiao felt like she had swallowed a fly. What did Cen Xi mean by that?

"Yes, I'm tired. I don't want to deal with this exhausting situation. I don't want to please anyone. If someone wants me or has done me a favor, I'm sorry, I can't give it to them. That's just my personality. Call me heartless or call me cold-blooded if you want, but I just don't want to serve anyone anymore. I wish that Yan Taizu would just kill me with one blow. I don't want to live anymore. That's what living means."

Cen Xi sighed, thinking about how she had been forced to do many things she didn't like since she woke up in this world, and how others always wanted to take from her, but no one ever asked her if she wanted them or not. She was truly tired and didn't want to be forced to work anymore.

"What do you mean? Why are you so negative?"

Jun Xiaoqiao was startled by her last few words. How could she think like that? She couldn't find a trace of her former vitality in her.

"Jun Xiaoqiao, no one is forcing you to do things you don't like, so you're happy, and that's why you can't understand me at all. Go down the mountain and live your own life, and don't worry about me anymore."

Cen Xi closed her eyes briefly, ignoring Xiao Yu's worried gaze standing to the side, and sighed softly. She didn't care anymore, she didn't care about anything anymore, so why was she still living such a tiring life?

“Cen Xi, what’s wrong with you? Jun Jianchou’s words that day were a bit harsh, but you can’t let a few words of criticism from him make you lose the will to live. He just cares about you, and we just care about you.”

Seeing her like this, Jun Xiaoqiao stopped questioning her and panicked a little. She was so lifeless. Was this still the Cen Xi she knew?

"Thank you. Please tell Jun Jianchou that I don't need his concern, nor do I need yours. Go on your way, no need to see me off."

After saying these words indifferently, Cen Xi pulled Xiao Yu and walked out.

"Cen Xi! When are you going to stop?"

Jun Xiaoqiao stomped her foot and caught up with Cen Xi to ask, but this time Cen Xi became like a gourd with its mouth sawed off, keeping silent and ignoring her as she walked away.

She originally planned to talk to her again the next day, but to her surprise, Xiaoyu woke up early the next morning and ran to her yard in a panic, banging on the door frantically.

"Auntie, Auntie, Mother has a fever, she has a fever! Please find someone to take a look at her quickly."

"What? How come you have a fever?"

Jun Xiaoqiao looked on in disbelief. "Cen Xi, does she really not want to live anymore?"

"Little Fish doesn't know either, Auntie, come with me quickly to take a look."

Tears streamed down Xiaoyu's face; she looked truly heartbroken.

Jun Xiaoqiao also knew the seriousness of the matter, so she quickly got dressed and went to Cen Xi's room, calling out to Cen Xi's maid:

"Qingyi, Chunlan, and Axiang, one of you go find Prime Minister Chen, one of you go find Young Master Jun, and one of you go ask Zhu Yanniang next door to come and treat your master as soon as possible."

“Our sect leader is right next door. I’ll wake her up now.”

Qingyi reacted the fastest; she had just stepped into the room when she turned around and stepped out again to knock on the door of the next room.

"You two hurry up and go find Prime Minister Shen and Young Master Jun. Let them deal with the trouble they caused themselves. I'm really not going to be a peacemaker anymore. I'm going down the mountain right now."

Looking at Cen Xihong's flushed cheeks, Jun Xiaoqiao really couldn't help but want to get angry. This woman had really made herself sick. It seemed that she really wanted to see the King of Hell. There was no point in saying anything more. She should just do as she wanted and get out.

But when Jun Xiaoqiao met Xiaoyu's panicked and frightened eyes, she couldn't move away. The child was too young and was extremely attached to her parents. She must really think of Cen Xi as her mother.

Upon hearing that Cen Xi had a persistent high fever, Shen Jinchen and Jun Jianchou rushed to the courtyard and grabbed Cen Xi's wrists from both sides.

A moment later, they simultaneously concluded that she was determined to die, and every pulse in her body was sluggish.

The two of them froze for a moment, really not understanding why Cen Xi would do this.

After that day, Shen Jinchen realized that he had been pushing her too hard, and that she wasn't really happy about marrying him. So he deliberately didn't appear in front of her these past few days, hoping that she would come to her senses.

But he never imagined that she would be in a dead end. In the current situation, it seems that unless the knot in her heart is untied, she will hardly wake up again.

Similarly, Jun Jianchou also noticed this. His body trembled violently, and his face turned as pale as paper.

Just as Jun Xiaoqiao was about to lament that she had acquired two useless statues, Shen Jinchen suddenly moved, sat down on the edge of the bed, helped Cen Xi sit up, and while applying a handkerchief to her forehead, coaxed her in her ear:

"Ah-Xi, please wake up. I won't force you to do anything anymore. If you don't want to get married, I won't force you. You can do whatever you want from now on. I'll do whatever you want, okay?"