Cui Xi was a maid in the Shi family. Even though she was favored, she couldn't avoid running around outside. The sun's exposure made her face lack the delicate and smooth luster of Shi Lan's porcelain. Her lips were thin, and because she always smiled, there were inevitably laugh lines at the corners of her mouth, making her look several years older. Her nose wasn't high either, and there were some small spots around it. Although she was cute, it couldn't hide her petty air. Her eyes weren't big, or even very small, but because the corners of her eyes were slightly upturned, she had a touch of charm when she looked around. This could be said to be the most outstanding feature of her face.

Wang Haiqing carefully examined her, and the image of Shi Lan standing gracefully in front of him with her rosy cheeks suddenly appeared in his mind. He suddenly began to doubt his own aesthetic sense. Where did he go wrong? He had actually thought that Cui Xi was a hundred times prettier than Shi Lan.

Cui Xi noticed Wang Haiqing's gaze, and her face flushed red. However, she was very dissatisfied with Shi Lei's words.

She did come from a poor background, but she never believed she was born to be a maid. In her previous world, everyone was equal and everyone had the right to choose their lifestyle. Coming here, she felt she could do the same. With an awareness far beyond what was common knowledge, unique ideas, and a different level of openness in bed than other women of her time, she was confident she could hold onto Wang Haiqing. If she worked a little harder, becoming the future wife of the head of the Wang family wasn't impossible.

With this thought in mind, Cui Xi raised the corner of her eye seductively and looked at Wang Haiqing provocatively.

Wang Haiqing froze, inwardly cursing her for being so reckless, knowing Shi Lei was right in front of her and still daring to be so presumptuous, completely forgetting that he used to love it when she looked at him like that.

The first thing Shi Lan did upon returning to her room was to send someone to invite her mother. After the news of Wang Haiqing's secret meeting with Cui Xi broke, if Shi Lan wanted to cleanly extricate herself from the mess of the Wang family, her mother had to step in. It was true that Shi's father loved his daughter, but he also valued his reputation. The matter of breaking off the engagement was of great importance, and it was definitely not enough for Shi Lei, that hothead, to confront it head-on. Now, she was planting the seeds, and when things exploded later, she would need her mother's words of comfort.

Shi Lan's mind raced with thoughts, and perhaps because she was thinking too much, her head began to throb. By the time her mother arrived, half of her head felt numb and painful, as if it had been hit by a stone.

As soon as Shi's mother entered the room, she saw that Shi Lan's face was pale and she was swaying as if she would faint at any moment.

Mother Shi was greatly alarmed and immediately ordered someone to fetch a doctor. She herself carefully came to the bedside, tearfully stroking A-Lan's sweaty forehead, "A-Lan, what happened to you? You were perfectly fine this morning."

Shi Lan strained to lift her eyes. Although she couldn't see her mother's face, she still looked in the direction of the voice. "It's nothing. I just encountered a little trouble and overthought things. I'll be fine in a bit."

Shi Lan deliberately spoke vaguely, knowing that her mother, as the person in charge of the inner quarters, would definitely investigate the matter thoroughly. It was not a pleasant thing to talk about someone going to his fiancée's house to seduce her personal maid before marriage. Shi Lan's mother doted on her, and if she found out that this matter had made her daughter so angry that she was half-dead, she probably wouldn't care so much about this son-in-law.

The doctor was quickly dragged in by the maid. The original owner had a deep impression of this person and could tell from the light and heavy footsteps that she was Cheng Baixin, the eldest daughter of the most famous doctor in the city, Baiweitang.

Cheng Baixin is about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. She was originally good at gynecology, but a few years ago, Shi Lan developed headaches due to an accident. Over the years, she has been treating Shi Lan and has been honing her skills to become an expert in acupuncture for headaches.

Cheng Baixin didn't say much when she entered the room. She simply opened her medicine box, took out silver needles wrapped in cotton cloth, and began to insert the needles.

In the blink of an eye, Shi Lan turned into a hedgehog gleaming with silver light.

Seeing Shi Lan's expression gradually soften, Shi's mother finally felt relieved and turned to look gratefully at Cheng Baixin, whose face was cold. "Thank you for your help, Doctor Cheng."

Cheng Baixin nodded, silently calculating in her mind. When the time came, she quickly removed the silver needles, placed them in her medicine box, and prepared to leave.

Hearing the sound of the medicine box being opened and closed, and then hearing her distinctive footsteps, Shi Lan knew she was about to leave, and quickly tried to stop her, "Dr. Cheng, please wait a moment."

Cheng Baixin paused, turned her head to glance at him, and asked, "What is it?"

Cheng Baixin's tone was indifferent, but Shi Lan could still detect the dissatisfaction in it. She turned to her mother and said softly, "Mother, I have something I want to ask Doctor Cheng. You can go ahead and do what you need to do."

Having been immersed in the ways of the world for decades, Shi's mother knew perfectly well that her daughter was just trying to get rid of her because she found her in the way. "Alright, Mother will have someone make you some peach blossom soup to help improve your complexion."

Shi Lan nodded with a smile, and listened quietly until her mother's footsteps disappeared before raising her pretty face and smiling ingratiatingly, "Dr. Cheng, come and sit down."

Cheng Baixin frowned slightly, turned around and sat down. "Speak if you have something to say."

Hearing her cold tone, Shi Lan's heart began to pound, unsure whether she could agree to her request later.

Cheng Baixin saw Shi Lan staring straight at him with her dark, lifeless eyes. Although he knew she was blind, he still felt a chill in his heart. "If Miss Shi has nothing to say, then I'll be leaving now."

Shi Lan hurriedly reached out and grabbed Cheng Baixin's warm, dry palm. "Dr. Cheng, I have a request, but because it's a bit underhanded, I really can't bring myself to ask."

Cheng Baixin twitched her fingers, trying to pull her hand away, but Shi Lan was holding it too tightly. She was worried that she would hurt Shi Lan if she used too much force, so she could only let Shi Lan hold her. "Miss Shi, if you think it's underhanded, then don't say anything, lest I lose face for no reason if I refuse later."

Shi Lan listened to her cold words with her head down, a sad smile on her face. "Although I know it's insidious, it's my only hope. Please, Dr. Cheng, tell me about what happened today."

Shi Lan recounted how she had witnessed the affair that day, and at the end, she said with a look of utter despair, "I know that the marriage between the Wang and Shi families is nothing more than a transaction, but even so, I want to retain the last vestiges of my dignity. All I want is a medicine that can prevent a woman from getting pregnant for two or three years, so that she won't be exposed in such a shameful scandal before I get married."

Cheng Baixin was also a woman, and hearing these words inevitably stirred her compassion. Coupled with feeling Shi Lan's slippery, cold fingers in her palm and his lifeless, vacant eyes, the scales in her heart completely tipped. "This kind of medicine is against the natural order. Have you thought it through?"

Shi Lan gripped Cheng Baixin's hand tightly and nodded firmly, "Yes."

"Alright then, I can prepare this medicine, but it will take a while. Send someone to pick it up in ten days."

Shi Lan bowed gratefully, about to stand up to pay her respects, but Cheng Baixin raised her hand and pressed her back down. "Alright, you should rest. Every time I see you, you're sickly; you're never well. I'm leaving; no need to see me off."

Shi Lan smiled and leaned back on the soft pillow, thinking to herself that Cheng Baixin was a man of few words but a warm heart, and that he had agreed to her request so readily.