Chapter 353 High Fever
Before she even opened her eyes, she could hear rapid breathing and feel the scalding heat around her.
Qi Yuxuan looked at the rough wooden beams above her head, feeling somewhat dazed.
Where is this? Even the Ye family wouldn't have such a shabby house, would they?
She followed the scalding heat and turned her eyes to see Qi Jun lying next to her.
"Cousin?" she asked softly, but was startled by her own voice as soon as she spoke. It was so hoarse and strange, as if she hadn't spoken in a long time.
Her thoughts slowly returned, and she finally remembered.
She was originally going back to the capital, but she was ambushed on the way, and both the Crown Prince and she were knocked off a cliff... She glanced at the coarse cloth clothes she was wearing, which seemed to fit her poorly.
They must have been rescued by now, but judging from the decor, it seems that some villager rescued them.
Qi Yuxuan felt pain throughout her limbs and tried to move her arms and legs, but unfortunately, she was in so much pain that she couldn't move at all, let alone stand up.
"Cousin? Cousin?" She swallowed hard, her throat dry and aching, and called out twice more, "Qi Jun?!"
Her voice wasn't quiet, and at such a close distance, even the soundest sleeper would have been woken up.
However, the man sleeping next to her still had his eyes closed and his brows furrowed, looking very uneasy even in his dreams.
Suddenly, there seemed to be footsteps outside the door. Qi Yuxuan quickly mustered her strength and shouted, "Is anyone there? Is anyone there?! Someone come quick!"
Upon hearing this, the footsteps outside the door stopped.
Qi Yuxuan was so anxious that she was almost sweating.
"Squeak—" The door opened a crack, and a skinny, dark-skinned boy, as dark as a monkey, poked his head out with a grin: "Wife, were you looking for me?"
She quickly hummed in agreement: "Yes, young man, did you save us? My cousin seems to be ill. Could you please go and fetch a doctor for us?"
The dark-skinned, thin boy's eyes darted around: "Doctors? None of those doctors want to come to Widow's Village, and I don't have any money, so I can't hire one."
Widow Village? Qi Yuxuan pondered the strange village name, and upon hearing that he had no money, she was immediately perplexed.
Her clothes had been changed, and presumably her jewelry had been removed. At this point, she was neither strong enough to take out any money, nor would she have a single penny on her.
She thought for a moment and tentatively said, "Could you tell that our family is very wealthy, and that we will reward him handsomely if he comes to treat us?"
The dark-skinned, thin boy shook his head again: "No, no, those doctors only want cash. They don't want any credit or payment on credit. They only want ready-made, solid silver! They won't even take a penny!"
After saying that, he seemed bored and pulled his head back in: "This is really boring. You don't even have any money, and you still want to make me go find a doctor? Let's go."
"Hey, young master, young master, wait a minute!" Qi Yuxuan called out several times, but the dark-skinned, thin boy ran so fast that he didn't stop for even a second.
She lay in bed and sighed.
Unexpectedly, Qi Jun was woken up by her at this moment.
He moved his eyelashes and opened his eyes.
"Cousin, you're awake? Are you injured too? You fell from such a height, why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?" Qi Yuxuan asked anxiously.
However, Qi Jun's first reaction upon hearing that Qi Yuxuan was hot was to reach out and touch her forehead in a daze.
He felt a slight sense of relief when his fingertips touched the girl's forehead, which was at a normal temperature.
"It's not getting hot, thank goodness."
Qi Yuxuan's eyes immediately reddened: "I'm talking about you, cousin! You're feverish! Your face is frighteningly red..."
Qi Jun suddenly realized, blinked, and indeed felt his eyes burning and painfully dry.
"I'm fine. I used to exercise every day, so even if I fell, I recovered faster than you. Don't worry, just focus on recovering. Are you thirsty? I'll go get you some water."
As he spoke, he got up to go find water.
However, after sleeping curled up on the edge of the bed all night, his legs had long since gone numb and lost all feeling. As soon as he got up, he fell back down with a contorted face.
"Take a break, don't move." Qi Yuxuan bit her lip. "Were the people who saved us the boy's family? Are they all out now?"
Qi Jun: "It's a mother and son. The woman probably wasn't here during the day. I can get up after a while. It's nothing."
"Don't worry, the village isn't too far from the cliff. The guards will find us soon."
As they were speaking, two clear "cooing" sounds suddenly rang out in the air.
The two looked at each other, both of them hungry.
Now, even if Qi Yuxuan didn't want Qi Jun to go out, there was nothing she could do.
They hadn't eaten any dry rations for almost two days in a row. Both of them were in their prime and were starving.
Qi Jun dragged his feet out, and no one knew where he got the money from. Less than fifteen minutes later, he brought in a plate of four coarse steamed buns, and a little while later, he brought in a bowl of water.
Qi Yuxuan's gaze followed his unnaturally drooping right arm, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
His right hand hasn't fully healed yet, and now it's injured again. What if it never fully recovers...?
"What are you thinking about?" Qi Jun walked over casually and flicked her forehead.
"There's no wheat flour here, so please make do with this. I'll go out and ask someone for some other food later."
Qi Yuxuan certainly didn't mind. At a time like this, having something to eat was good enough, so why would she complain about this or that?
The two of them barely managed to finish the food, and only then did the empty feeling in their stomachs ease a little.
"You stay here and get some sleep. I'll go outside and find someone." Qi Jun picked up the plates and bowls and prepared to leave.
"Qi Jun, you're still injured. Where are you going? Didn't you say that kind mother and son would come back tonight? Come back!" Qi Yuxuan called out to him, but out of the corner of her eye, she only caught the door closing again.
It wasn't until nightfall, when she heard voices outside, that Qi Yuxuan was suddenly awakened.
She instinctively tried to sit up, only to realize she couldn't. She could only concentrate even more intently on the sounds outside, trying to hear if Qi Jun had returned.
However, a long time passed, and the voices did not approach, the footsteps gradually faded away, and the surroundings returned to silence.
A sense of fear welled up in Qi Yuxuan's heart.
She was afraid that something might happen to Qi Jun, and she was also afraid that she would never be able to return to the capital. Her mother was still waiting for her to come back.
Feeling anxious and uneasy, suddenly, a middle-aged man's voice rang out from outside:
"Ouch, how did you get so badly injured? Your fever won't go down. If I had arrived an hour later, you might have been driven crazy by the fever!"
"Quickly, quickly, go and soak a towel in water to apply it—"
Upon hearing this, Qi Yuxuan's heart clenched.
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