—

Throughout the night, lights remained on in one of the courtyards of the Prime Minister's residence.

The physicians from the prefecture went in and out of Qingyin's courtyard, and soon came out shaking their heads.

The newly arrived physician from the Lin family, after taking the pulse, shook his head at Liu Zhi, who was standing guard beside him: "The lady has been exposed to cold, which has penetrated deep into her bones, and her vital energy has been depleted..."

The doctor's words finally brought Liu Zhicong back to his senses after he was summoned by the servants and learned that Qingyin was unwell and her life might be in danger.

"You mean..."

When it came to the last few words, Liu Zhi knew perfectly well the physician's repeated hesitation. Suddenly, he felt dizzy, as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest.

Song Qingqing is going to die because he deliberately caused someone to fall into the water and injure themselves.

The man's hands clenched tightly in his sleeves. In fact, he had deliberately let her fall into the water that day just to teach her a lesson; he had never intended for her to die.

Upon mentioning this thought, Liu Zhi suddenly felt dizzy, as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest.

Liu Zhi inexplicably felt a slight stabbing pain in his heart. Could it be that the pretty little sister who always followed him around in his childhood was... dying because of him?

This feeling compelled him to glance at the woman lying in the inner bedroom, separated by a curtain, as if he were seeing the bright and lively little girl who always followed him around, chattering away.

"Mother, Mother! I want my mother!"

"Miss, Miss, please wait! Madam cannot be seen for the time being. We can meet again later, okay?"

...

A little girl's voice came from outside.

The piercing scream, like noise, made Liu Zhi respond instinctively, "Who's that outside?"

Upon hearing this, all the servants in the mistress's room were plunged into a bizarre and absurd state.

Qinghe, who had been patiently yielding to the master for the sake of her young mistress's medical treatment, couldn't help but raise her head, revealing a hint of incredulous anger: "Master, that's the young mistress. Even if you don't like the young mistress, you should at least remember her, right?"

Upon hearing this, and facing the angry gaze of Song Qingqing's personal maid, as well as the incredulous looks from the surrounding servants, Liu Zhi's face paled slightly.

He wanted to explain that he knew about his and Song Qingqing's daughter, Liu Niannian, but he was too nervous to remember.

But when he reached for the reason on his lips, and saw the anger and resentment in Qinghe's eyes, he suddenly stopped himself.

He hurriedly turned his head to avoid Qinghe's gaze, and mumbled, "Go and coax Nian, Nian Nian, don't let her come over now."

Liu Zhi couldn't bear to imagine how painful it would be for a child to witness his mother's death.

Because of some emotion, Liu Zhi did not go out to see the poor little girl in person.

Qinghe nodded, wiped away her tears, and prepared to go out to comfort the young lady with red eyes.

It wasn't that she didn't want to stay by her young mistress's side, but the young mistress was so panicked that only she could coax her into listening. She couldn't let the young mistress get into trouble after the young mistress's accident.

Not long after Qinghe went out, the child's crying gradually subsided, and after a few minutes, the little girl's voice outside completely disappeared.

Liu Zhi also inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

He raised his eyebrows and looked at the physician Lin, who had been standing guard to the side. For the first time, the sharpness he displayed, which he only showed in official circles, appeared in front of the physician.

"No matter what method you use, you must save Madam's life. Don't worry about the medicine or anything else!"

The gentle man suddenly displayed an imposing aura, a sharp and intimidating presence like a newly drawn sword, which made the physician tremble.

"Yes, sir."

Seeing the doctor's frightened expression, Liu Zhi shook his head. "Alright, you can go and prepare."

He walked to the door of the inner bedroom, paused, wanted to step in, but then retreated timidly.

Liu Zhi closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again.

This time he went inside.

I also saw the woman lying on the bed with a familiar face.

Song Qingqing...

He couldn't help but be stunned, staring intently at the girl on the bed.

He hadn't looked at Song Qingqing so intently in a long time.

The last time I really looked at her was probably at the Song family's house. She enthusiastically moved a stool to the corner, and with great skill and daring, stood on the stool, leaned against the wall, waved her hand, and smiled as she said to him, "Brother Liu, I like you!"

...

Compared to then... Liu Zhi now realized that the little girl who once claimed to like him had lost a lot of weight after marrying him. Her delicate face had lost all its flesh, her skin clung tightly to her bones, her skin was pale and bloodless, and her chest was so weak that its rise and fall were almost invisible... all of these signs indicated that she was a terminally ill woman who was about to die.

Liu Zhi clutched her chest.

He left Qingyin's courtyard almost in a panicked escape.

—

The bad news about Song Qingqing was quickly delivered to the Song family by Qinghe's people.

The Song family.

As usual, Song Anhuai returned home after court, intending to chat with his wife about the bad habits of his mortal enemies in court. However, when he returned home, he saw his wife's face was as white as a wall, and a bad premonition suddenly rose in his heart.

That is indeed the case.

Madam Song looked at him in despair and cried, "My lord, something bad has happened to our Qingqing!"

Song Anhuai's body suddenly went limp. If the butler hadn't caught him in time, he probably would have collapsed to the ground right now.

"I...I told you long ago, she can't marry that boy from the Liu family—"

"Come on, pack your things quickly and come with me to the Prime Minister's residence. My woman, Song Anhuai's woman, if that brat Liu Zhi doesn't behave himself, my Song family can afford to support her!"

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