"If only I had known then what I know now, I would have done it in the first place. I was ruined by my own desires. If I hadn't wanted so much, would I have ended up like this?"

“But sometimes, we have no choice in the matter,” Zheng Boyuan said earnestly. “Azhi, when you’re in this kind of environment, no matter what choice you make, you will always have to pay the price for it. It’s a matter of winners and losers. When the dust settles, you can only accept the consequences of your bet. No one can say a word.”

Xu Zhi shook her head. She was actually very unwilling to become a part of this protracted power struggle, and even less willing to become a pawn on someone's chessboard. Unfortunately, she was already deeply involved and could not help but be swept along by an invisible torrent around her. Xu Zhi now deeply loathed this generation and deeply hated the sense of superiority of those so-called superiors. Their so-called sense of superiority was actually just an excuse to lord it over the lives and deaths of ordinary people whom they regarded as ants.

Xu Zhi felt like she had a fire burning inside her, making her extremely uncomfortable. She wanted to find a way to release this fire, but no matter what she did, she couldn't. She felt the fire inside her burning her skin, and her vision was becoming increasingly blurry. There were constant, indistinct sounds in her ears, and she could only hear Zheng Boyuan's voice coming from afar. However, Xu Zhi couldn't make out what Zheng Boyuan was saying. She knew in her heart that Zheng Boyuan was sitting right across from her, so why couldn't she hear him?

Xu Zhi's last memory was of Zheng Boyuan standing up in a panic, coming to her side, and pulling her into his arms. Xu Zhi vaguely saw Zheng Boyuan's mouth opening and closing, but she couldn't understand what he was saying at all.

Zheng Boyuan was shocked when Xu Zhi suddenly fainted on the bed while they were talking. Startled, Zheng Boyuan shouted for help. Bai Guo came in and saw the unconscious Xu Zhi. She quickly went to find Bai Shu. After examining her, Bai Shu said that Xu Zhi had been suppressing her anger for a long time. She hadn't been able to let it out, and she had caught a chill while lying on the bed in her clothes, which caused the anger to flare up.

Bai Zhu quickly prescribed the medicine, and Bai Guo helped to brew it. Then, she used a pickled gourd to force-feed it to Xu Zhi. Xu Zhi was burning up and delirious with fever. She tried to resist drinking the bitter medicine that made her feel nauseous, but someone pinched her nose and forced it down her throat with the pickled gourd. Xu Zhi was conscious, but for some reason, she couldn't open her mouth or speak. She could only lie there, being forced to drink the medicine and fed millet porridge.

Xu Zhi didn't wake up until midnight on the second day. She was covered in sweat, her clothes were soaked, and the bedding beneath her was damp. Her throat felt like it had been cut with a knife, and swallowing made it extremely painful.

Seeing that Xu Zhi had woken up, Bai Ying, who had been watching over her, shouted happily. People outside rushed in. Xu Zhi forced her eyelids open and looked up. Even her uncle looked at her with a worried expression.

Xu Zhi forced a smile, and Wu Muyue quickly said, "It's good that you're awake, it's good that you're awake. You've had a fever for a whole day and night. If you hadn't woken up, you would have scared your great-uncle to death."

Xu Bai squeezed through the crowd from behind, looking worried, and said, "Sister, your illness came on so suddenly, it scared me to death."

The room wasn't very brightly lit. Xu Zhi looked around for a while before spotting Zheng Boyuan standing behind the crowd. She raised her voice and said softly, "I'm awake. I'm fine now. You can all go back and rest."

After chatting for a few more minutes, Wu Muyue led everyone back to their rooms to rest.

Zheng Boyuan naturally didn't leave. He helped Bai Ying and the other two wipe Xu Zhi's body with hot water, changed the bedding on the bed, and only after everything was clean and tidy did he sit on the couch in Xu Zhi's room and breathe a sigh of relief.

Bai Ying served Xu Zhi a bowl of rice soup and rinsed her mouth before lying down on the bed. She then said, "Miss, you were really scary last night. You fainted so quickly and your fever came on so fast. After the surgery, I even invited an old doctor from the city to come and examine you. He had to give you medicine several times before your fever subsided. Your husband hasn't left this room since you fainted last night."

Xu Zhi smiled at Zheng Boyuan, who wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "The fever has gone down and you're awake now. Do you feel better? If there's anything on your mind, just tell me. If you don't want to tell me, you can talk to your brother-in-law or your other sisters. You can also write a letter to your fourth sister and other older sisters and talk to them. It'll save you from bottling things up inside and getting sick."

Zheng Boyuan's tone was filled with pity and heartache. He had no idea how much pressure his wife had been under without his knowledge. It was also his negligence that he had failed to notice Xu Zhi's feelings these past few days.

Xu Zhi waved her hand, wanting to speak, but her throat was really sore. Bai Ying quickly gave Xu Zhi two sips of honey water, and Xu Zhi felt much better. She then whispered, "Brother Boyuan, I don't blame you. It was my own fault for being so stubborn. Now that I think about it, I realized I was being unreasonable. I won't do it again in the future."

Bai Ying gave Zheng Boyuan a look of disdain. Zheng Boyuan immediately understood what that look meant, stood up and said, "Azhi, get some sleep. I'll come see you again tomorrow."

Xu Zhi was exhausted, as if her body had reached its limit. When she heard that Zheng Boyuan was leaving, she nodded. Before Zheng Boyuan had even left the room, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Bai Ying covered Xu Zhi with a blanket, and Zheng Boyuan stood at the door watching. When Bai Ying finished and was about to leave, Zheng Boyuan asked her at the door, "Has your young lady not been sleeping well these past few nights?"

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