Chapter 60 Taking medication, I want to live a good life with you.

The balsam juice really could dye fingernails a purplish-red color. Untying the string, Pei Yu'an shouted excitedly.

Mingying watched her excited expression and remained silent.

The numbing and astringent taste of the Five Elements Herb juice still lingered in my mouth, refusing to leave.

The wooden windowpanes cast sparse light and shadow, casting a mottled shadow on her serene face.

Although she wore a red hairpin, dressed in fine clothes, and enjoyed exquisite service, she was like a bird trapped in a cage, completely out of place in the grand mansion.

When Pei Xiaoyun returned from court, he was carrying a rectangular box in his hand.

"Where is he?" he asked the servant.

Today the weather was fine and sunny. I thought she would come to the flower corridor to tend to the flowers and plants on such a beautiful day, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Ever since he said those words in front of his daughter that night, Mingying hasn't even given him a cold shoulder. He already knew that if he didn't personally help her back down, she would probably argue with him for the rest of her life.

"The young lady and the young mistress are chatting in their room," the servant replied.

Pei Xiaoyun gripped the long box tightly, strode across the corridor, and entered the room.

Pei Yu'an returned to his room for a short rest. Mingying leaned against the couch, using the remaining balsam flower juice to dye her nails with bamboo strips. In this rare moment of peace, she heard the beaded curtain swaying and was lifted by a slender hand.

The newcomer wore a dark blue round-necked robe, was handsome and dashing, with piercing eyes and eyebrows, and his robe was still damp with the morning dew and frost.

"Why are you back?" Mingying's fingertips trembled, and the bamboo strip in her hand fell onto her skirt, staining it with a purplish-red color.

He won't be back at this hour.

Therefore, she didn't even have time to take away the cups and saucers stained with the juice of the Five Elements Herbs.

Even though I drank it all, I don't know if he'll notice.

“This is my residence. I can come back whenever I want.” Pei Xiaoyun said nothing more, lifted his robe and sat down beside her, watching what strange thing she was doing, with her fingers wrapped in gauze. He asked her, “What are you doing?”

Realizing he was deliberately trying to start a conversation, Mingying was taken aback, her expression shifting.

Since he had come to her, she didn't need to rack her brains to find an opportunity to be insincere with him. She glanced at him and said, "What do you know? This is for dyeing your nails."

Pei Xiaoyun was naturally overjoyed that she could speak to him so calmly, and asked him, "How come I've never seen you play this before? Where did you learn it?"

Mingying suddenly looked at him and said, "Naturally, I learned it in a brothel."

Pei Xiaoyun realized that she was deliberately saying those words to provoke him and that she still held onto that matter in her heart. His brow twitched slightly, and he pulled her into his arms: "I went too far with that matter. If you were as obedient as you are now, how could I bear to send you to a place like that?"

Mingying clenched her fists as she recalled the past, suppressing the chill that welled up in her heart, and pushed him away.

Pei Xiaoyun was nudged by her elbow, her back pressed against the antique shelf, feeling a sharp pain and some displeasure.

"You're pressing on my stomach, it hurts." Mingying straightened her loose clothes.

Pei Xiaoyun smiled, took out the long box from her sleeve, and slowly pushed it open. Inside was a gleaming silver hairpin with a warm jade body and three exquisite pearls hanging from the bottom of the tassel.

As before, when she threw a tantrum, he would give her little trinkets to cheer her up.

He was originally still in the palace at this time, but the people from the Linlang Pavilion said that the hairpin was finished, so he went out of the palace to get it and wanted to give it to her.

Mingying looked at the object, but the dazzling pearl failed to ignite any sparkle in her eyes; they remained as calm and undisturbed as ever.

Pei Xiaoyun seemed oblivious, putting his arm around her shoulder and gently inserting the hairpin into her hair. He whispered in her ear, "These three pearls are spoils of war I obtained during my battles at sea. I thought they would match you, so I brought them back and had the people at Linlang Pavilion make a hairpin for me."

By saying this, he meant that he would no longer pursue her mistakes.

Let bygones be bygones, as long as she's willing to live a good life with him.

Mingying remained expressionless as he put the tassels on her earlobes, the cold tassels striking her earlobes and eliciting a long-hidden stinging sensation.

She clenched her teeth and tightened her jaw to prevent her pent-up hatred from escaping.

Yes, executioners can easily forget how many people they have killed and still sleep soundly in bed at night.

Can the person who was hurt forget? They can never forget.

She felt absurd and shameless, indignant and disgusted.

Pei Xiaoyun could only see her outward obedience and could not perceive the strangeness in her heart. Smelling the fragrance on her neck, he slowly narrowed his eyes and said, "If you don't like me mentioning those things in front of An'an, I won't mention them. Anyway, you will marry me sooner or later, and the child will be born sooner or later."

Mingying's eyes welled up with tears, which she forced back with all her might. Her fingertips were clenched so tightly that they lost their color and turned cold and white.

After a brief moment of tenderness, Pei Xiaoyun suddenly straightened up, her gaze falling on the cups and saucers on the small floral table.

There were still water stains on the rim of the cup, and he guessed that she had just used this cup to drink tea.

Suddenly, a surge of heat rose in his throat. He grabbed a cup, picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup, and pressed his lips to the water stain on the rim of the cup.

Mingying's heart stopped, her throat went dry: "You..."

Pei Xiaoyun assumed that he was annoyed because he saw her using the cup she had used to drink tea, so she ignored her and drank all the tea.

Mingying stared at his bobbing Adam's apple, her palms sweating.

If he finds out...

Sure enough, Pei Xiaoyun tasted a strange flavor in the tea and frowned: "What is this taste?"

Unaware that her voice trembled with a hint of lust, Mingying said, "Just now I used this cup to hold crushed flower petals."

Pei Xiaoyun put down her cup and looked at her with a smile: "It's alright, the poison won't kill you."

When Mingying saw that he didn't ask any more questions, she realized she had escaped a disaster, and her heart relaxed a little.

"Don't you have to go to the palace to handle affairs?" Her breathing was not smooth, and her voice became heavy.

He's elusive and unpredictable; next time, I'll have to be extra careful.

Pei Xiaoyun took her hand; of her ten rounded fingernails, two were still unpainted.

"I'll stay with you today and do nothing else."

After speaking, ignoring her slight resistance, he grabbed her wrist, picked up a bamboo stick, dipped it in some thick flower petal juice, and began to carefully color her.

In the afternoon, a gentle breeze carries the delicate fragrance of flowers.

The flowers in the courtyard are thriving, swaying gently in the breeze, a sight that soothes the soul.

After waking up from her afternoon nap, Pei Xiaoyun sent someone to summon He Lianqing to examine Mingying's pulse and see if the fetus in her womb was healthy.

Mingying finally met He Lianqing. He was still as carefree and easygoing as ever, but there was a hint of sorrow in his eyes.

She had used a lot of the juice from those five-element herbs earlier that morning. He Lianqing is a skilled doctor and will surely be able to diagnose the abnormality.

But she wasn't afraid. When she met He Lianqing's clear and gentle eyes, she trusted him completely.

"How is it?" Pei Xiaoyun stood right beside him, never leaving his side.

He trusted He Lianqing's medical skills, but what worried him was that he feared He Lianqing and Ming Ying might conspire again to cause trouble.

Therefore, he would not allow them to meet without permission when he was not around.

He valued Mingying's unborn child very much. From the moment he learned of her pregnancy, he gave her medicine to prevent miscarriage every day. He also strictly instructed the servants in the kitchen that no cold or raw foods should be included in their daily meals.

He Lianqing took the pulse pillow, his voice slightly more serious: "The fetus is healthy and the mother is fine, so there's no need to worry."

To say that he is physically unharmed is obviously a lie.

Based on his understanding of Pei Xiaoyun, he should have been extremely concerned about this unborn child and would not have allowed her to eat Five Elements Grass, a wild vegetable that is extremely harmful to pregnant women.

As he spoke, he glanced at Mingying without making a sound.

A cold light shimmered in her eyes.

He instantly understood what she wanted to do.

She didn't want to have the child.

Indeed, there was a deep-seated hatred between her and Pei Xiaoyun. Who would have a child for their enemy? Only Pei Xiaoyun had been deceiving herself.

Pei Xiaoyun glanced at her thin body, still worried, "Should I prescribe some more nourishing medicine?"

He Lianqing shook her head: "Her constitution is weak and she needs to recuperate slowly over many years. In addition, she has taken a lot of contraceptive soup and other extremely cold medicines in the past, and there is still some coldness in her body. Taking too many tonifying medicines at once will cause a conflict between the two and may have the opposite effect. She should stop taking the pregnancy-stabilizing medicine for a while."

There's nothing wrong with taking pregnancy-preserving medication; you can continue taking it without any problems.

He said this simply so that he could leave her a way out if things came to light later.

Pei Xiaoyun was well aware of his relationship with Mingying; otherwise, he wouldn't have repeatedly helped her oppose him.

He took He Lianqing's words as meaningless and that she would never harm him.

"I understand." He nodded and ushered the person out.

After hearing He Lianqing's words, Mingying knew that he had left her a way out in just a few words.

A feeling of gratitude welled up in her heart, and she truly didn't know how to repay him.

After He Lianqing left, Pei Xiaoyun sat with Mingying for a while longer.

Thinking of what He Lianqing had just said about how she had taken a lot of medicine, which caused the coldness in her body to accumulate, he looked at her smooth face and felt a little guilty.

It was because I drank too much contraceptive soup in the past, plus that abortifacient medicine.

He will make it up to her properly in the future.

She had been with him since she was fifteen. If she had known that it would be her again after all the twists and turns, there would have been no hardships in between.

He should have held on tighter to her from the moment she became his concubine.

"From now on, stop taking that medicine for a while." As always, he pressed her head against his chest, held her close, and whispered.

Mingying was held in his arms, her heart felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar, never to warm up again.

—

After that day, Pei Xiaoyun gradually lowered her guard.

To please her and make her feel better, fewer servants followed her when she walked around the courtyard.

Mingying continued to use the guise of tending flowers and plants to secretly pick the Five Elements Herb, or mix its juice into tea, hot soup, or sweet water to drink, leaving no trace.

With the wedding date approaching, Pei Xiaoyun had already summoned two female officials from the Imperial Clothing Bureau to take Mingying's measurements so that her wedding dress could be made.

She was more than three months pregnant, but her figure was slender and the pregnancy was barely noticeable, so it would not affect the normal production of her wedding dress.

Mingying repeatedly used the excuse of feeling unwell to stay on the couch and refuse to get up, thus refusing to have her clothes taken.

The two female officials came back empty-handed every time, and couldn't help but mutter to themselves: This girl is really hard to please. Although she is the sister of the Marquis of Jing'an, who doesn't know that her background is not honorable? She used to be a concubine by the Duke's side. Now the Duke wants to marry her. No noble ladies in the whole capital would kill for this opportunity. Why does this girl seem unwilling?

When Pei Xiaoyun heard that she had acted arrogantly again and driven away the two female officials, he looked depressed and didn't know how to move this big Buddha statue.

He returned to his residence, intending to question her about the reason, but she had already gone to bed to rest.

The night breeze stirred the brocade curtains, creating a soft rustling sound.

Mingying turned to the side, opened her slightly closed eyes, and knew it was him.

Pei Xiaoyun threw off the covers and lay down, taking out a ruler and placing it on her shoulder.

Mingying felt a sudden chill on her shoulder as something cold and hard pressed against her. She frowned and turned around: "What is that?"

Turning around, she met his dark, deep eyes. She was completely enveloped by his intense gaze and heard him chuckle: "Since you're putting on such a high and mighty act, then I'll have to take your measurements myself. Lie down and don't move."

“I won’t measure,” she blurted out, grabbing the half of the ruler.

"You're not going to measure?" Pei Xiaoyun pried her fingers apart one by one, his voice suddenly turning colder. "Don't you wear a wedding dress when you get married? Or are you saying you don't want to marry me at all?"

Mingying glared at him angrily, but he grabbed her wrist and she felt the cold ruler moving over her arms, waist, calves, and even ankles.

"Don't move, just lie down. I'll take the measurements right away. Be careful not to hurt the baby."

After Pei Xiaoyun memorized all her measurements, he threw the measuring tape under the bed and gently embraced her.

He imagined that she would look even more beautiful in her wedding dress than she did when she married Lin Xian.

He still harbors resentment about this matter, but thankfully he arrived in time and won her back.

She belongs to him.

With a soft, fragrant body in my arms, all my obsessions vanished, and I slept soundly through the night.

In the early morning, Pei Xiaoyun's eyelids twitched, as if she had sensed something unusual. She opened her eyes, and her heart skipped a beat.

He saw that Mingying was turned to the side with her back to him, her shoulders were trembling slightly, and her body was twitching slightly.

He propped himself up on one side, his throat tightening for a moment: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Mingying didn't answer him, her brows furrowed, she gripped the corner of the blanket tightly in her fist, and let out a soft moan or two.

Pei Xiaoyun heard her rapid and intermittent breathing, her expression changed drastically, and realizing something was wrong, she turned her over.

She was either unconscious or awake; her face was deathly pale, her lips were bluish-purple, and her forehead was covered in sweat.

On the embroidered quilt beneath her, there was a large patch of crimson blood, dripping and winding like a blood-red flower.

It was shocking and made me dizzy.

Even when facing imminent disaster and death, he had never been so tense and out of control. He rolled off the bed and shouted outside, "Quick, go and call He Lianqing!"