Yuan Xi was carried all the way to sit on the bed. She looked at his malicious smile getting closer and closer, shrunk her neck and stammered, "You...you haven't washed your hands yet..."

Xiao Du frowned, looked at the dirt on his hands, and said reluctantly: "Then you sit here and don't move."

After saying that, he immediately went outside to wash his hands. When he came in, he found Yuan Xi sitting on the edge of the bed, at a loss. Seeing him approaching and putting his hand into her clothes, Yuan Xi's face immediately flushed. Although the two of them had been intimate many times, it was still in broad daylight. Yuan Xi couldn't get away from it. Her heart was beating so fast that it was about to jump out of her chest. So she covered her cheeks with her hands and said pitifully, "Wait until night, okay?"

Seeing that she was like a frightened little animal, Xiao Du couldn't help but laugh. He kissed her fingers tenderly, took something out of his pocket, and said with a smile, "But I can't wait until tonight to give it to you."

Yuan Xi moved his hand away in a daze, then realized that he had been tricked again, so he glared at him again with a puffy face, then looked over and found that he was holding a lifelike wooden figurine with many lines and dots painted on it, so he asked in surprise, "What is this?"

Xiao Du smiled and said, "This is a wood-carved portrait. When I was in the army, an old soldier taught me how to carve it. The acupuncture points and meridians are marked on it. I know you love looking at meridian maps, but looking at them on paper is not as clear as the real thing. And..." He coughed lightly and said, "This portrait is made completely according to my body proportions."

Yuan Xi was surprised and delighted. She quickly took the little man and played with it. Suddenly, she found a protrusion between the crotch of the little man. She was observing it with doubt. When she looked up, she saw Xiao Du's face was slightly red. She immediately understood what it was. She blushed with shame and said, "You are so shameless... Why do you do this!"

Xiao Du straightened his neck and said, "All the pictures you have seen before are like this. Instead of looking at other people's pictures, you might as well look at mine."

Yuan Xi felt angry and amused, but in the end, the feeling was sweeter. She also felt that this little guy was in a dilemma, so she glared at him angrily and said, "Are you jealous of the person in the picture now?"

Xiao Du seemed a little aggrieved and said, "Who told my wife to always look like she has seen a lot? Who wouldn't feel jealous if she puts it on me?"

Yuan Xi didn't expect that he was still upset about what happened on the first night, so she leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Yours is different, yours is more..." She bit the last word very lightly, but it was the boldest thing she had ever said in her life. After she finished speaking, she immediately lowered her head, and was so embarrassed that she didn't dare to look at him.

Xiao Du heard it clearly, and his mouth curled up unconsciously, revealing a proud smile. He approached with a sly look and said, "How about we compete again now?"

Yuan Xi didn't expect him to bring this up again. She was about to protest but was blocked by his lips. She tried to struggle with her hands but he grabbed them. In the end, she just put her hands around his neck weakly. After a long time, he leaned into her ear and whispered softly, "Don't move. Let me hug you tightly."

His gentle tone made Yuan Xi's heart tremble, and she leaned on him obediently, letting him hold her tightly in his arms, as if she were a rare treasure in his life.

Xiao Du held her and pointed out the window, saying, "Let's go down and plant that yellow peony. Next spring, a large field of yellow peonies will bloom in front of your window." He paused and said, "If one day I'm not by your side, let this flower and this little man accompany you on my behalf. As long as you see them, it will be as if I'm still by your side."

Yun Xi felt panic inexplicably in her heart, turned around and covered his mouth, saying: "I want you to accompany me every day, but you are not allowed to leave me casually."

Xiao Du stared at her intently, with something in his eyes that she couldn't understand. After a long while, he sighed and said, "If one day I make you sad because of something I have to do, will you hate me?"

Yuan Xi was stunned for a moment, and seemed to think about it seriously, and said: "If that's the case, I won't talk to you anymore."

Before she finished speaking, she felt the hand on her waist suddenly tighten, almost choking her to the point of suffocating her. He bit her earlobe and said sarcastically, "Don't ignore me. You can hit me, scold me, punish me in any way you want, but don't ignore me."

Yuan Xi had never heard him speak in such a tone before, and a wave of tenderness suddenly surged in her heart, so she responded softly: "Okay, then you are not allowed to abandon me casually, and you are not allowed to lie to me casually, otherwise I will punish you severely."

Xiao Du reached out his hand and held her fingers together, then lowered his head and kissed her lips...

At that time, I thought everything was normal and it was just a joke between my children. But no one thought that day would come so soon.

On this day, Yuan Xi was doing needlework in her room. The two twin lilies were almost finished. She looked at the bright stamens half-opened and half-closed on the embroidery, and she raised the corners of her lips with some satisfaction. At this moment, the needle suddenly slipped and pierced her finger. The blood dripped onto the petals that were almost finished. Yuan Xi hurriedly pressed her fingertips, and for some reason, she felt uneasy.

At this moment, Nanny Li suddenly pushed the door open and shouted anxiously, "Madam, something bad has happened. Something has happened to the Marquis!" Yuan Xi stood up abruptly, and the half-embroidered lily fell to the ground. The pain on her fingertips gradually became clear and penetrated into her heart.

When Yuan Xi hurried away, he found that the room was already crowded with people. An old man with a white beard was giving an injection to the person on the bed. The princess was sitting in front of the bed, holding a handkerchief and crying. Nanny Yu and Aunt Cai were beside her, crying with her and saying soothing words.

The old marquis stood aside and said to Zhou Jingyuan in a serious tone, "All news must be blocked from the outside. No one can know that something happened to the marquis. From today on, no one in the mansion is allowed to contact anyone. All the materials transported into the mansion must be received by you in person. No news can leak out at all."

Zhou Jingyuan immediately took the order and went to do it. When he passed by Yuan Xi, he bowed to her. He wanted to speak but in the end he only let out a long sigh and hurried out.

Yuan Xi felt a little weak under her feet. She tightly grasped the handkerchief in her hand and tried to move to the bed. She saw that the man who had been talking and laughing with her yesterday was now lying on the bed lifelessly, with his eyes tightly closed, his lips dark blue, his face pale, and a golden needle stuck in his head. She choked in her throat, but she didn't know why she couldn't cry. She just asked in a trembling voice: "What happened to him?" But the voice seemed to float in the air, and even she couldn't hear it clearly.

The princess was still crying so hard that she couldn't speak. The old marquis sighed, his eyes reddened, and said to Xiaochun, who was already crying, "Tell the lady what happened today."

Xiaochun fell to his knees and cried, "I don't know what happened. As soon as I returned home today, the Marquis suddenly collapsed. I don't know what happened. He looked like he was poisoned. But he has always been very careful. I don't know what went wrong!" He was worried that his master would not wake up, and he was also worried that if he was held accountable, his own life would be in danger. He couldn't help but feel grief-stricken and burst into tears with his face covered with his sleeves.

At this time, the old man with white beard finally finished the diagnosis and stood up with a solemn expression. The old man's name was Zuo Qiao. He was once a very famous imperial physician in the palace and had a good personal relationship with the old marquis. After the death of the previous emperor, he resigned from his post and never went out to see patients again. Today, the old marquis had to go in person to invite him out of retirement.

Seeing Zuo Qiao frowning and sighing, the princess wiped her tears quickly, grabbed his arm and said, "Doctor Zuo, what happened to Du'er? When will he wake up?"

Zuo Qiao shook his head and said with great difficulty: "In my opinion, the Marquis should have been poisoned by a chronic poison, but we need to wait a few more days to see what kind of poison it is. However, this poison invades the body for a long time, and it will not be noticed at first, but now once the poison takes effect, I am afraid it will be..." He looked at the expressions of the people and could not continue, but the implication was clear. The princess showed despair, took a few steps back, then rolled her eyes and fainted. Nanny Yu and the others hurriedly shouted to help her, and the room was suddenly in chaos.

The old marquis's hands were also trembling, but he still suppressed his grief and said to Nanny Yu and Aunt Cai, "Take the princess back to her room first. We can't let any more people get into trouble." Then he walked to Zuo Qiao and said in a trembling voice, "Doctor Zuo, please do whatever you can to save Du'er." He paused, lowered his head and said with some shame, "The situation is urgent. Please stay at home for a few more days. Thank you for your patience."

Zuo Qiao sighed, and understood what the old marquis was worried about, so he didn't mind that he was actually under house arrest, and said: "At this point, I can only do my best."

Yuan Xi felt her head buzzing and she couldn't hear many words clearly. She sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the man lying on the bed, and couldn't believe that he would fall asleep like this. Maybe this was all just a joke, and he would jump up in the next second and make fun of her for being so easily fooled.

She sat there in a daze for a long time, and suddenly whispered, "The Marquis' face is dirty. Give me a handkerchief and I'll wipe it." Everyone in the room was stunned. Nanny Li quickly wiped the tears from her face, ran out to soak a handkerchief and handed it to Yuan Xi. Yuan Xi lowered her head and carefully wiped Xiao Du, saying as she wiped, "You usually love to be clean. How can you fall asleep like this? Wipe it clean and get up." As she was wiping, her hands suddenly shook and the handkerchief slipped off. She could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

Everyone in the room had never seen the lady cry like this before, and they felt sorry for her for a moment. The old marquis sighed and said, "You should also take care of yourself. Du'er is being taken care of by the imperial physician Zuo. You should go back and rest."

Yuan Xi shook her head and said, "Master, you go back first. I will stay with him until he wakes up." She wiped the tears from her face, showed a stubborn smile, and said, "Don't worry, he will wake up." Because he promised not to abandon me.

The old marquis shook his head helplessly and wanted to say something else, but seeing Yuan Xi's determined look, he had to let her stay here. Thinking that there were still many things to deal with in the mansion, he had to give a few instructions and left in a hurry.

Yuan Xi turned around and gently held Xiao Du's hand, then stood up to tidy up his clothes. Suddenly, her hand paused and she found that the sachet she had made herself and had been hanging on his waist was missing. She was startled and immediately had some bad premonitions.