Falling from the watchtower
"Why is Miss Du here?"
Looking at Du Lanxin basking in the sun in the backyard, Cheng Yayin asked in surprise.
The dean quickly explained, "Lan Xin caught a cold a few days ago. There's a shortage of doctors and medicine in the countryside, so my nephew was worried about delaying her treatment, so he sent her back here. I wanted to inform Madam, but the Pei Mansion was closed during this time, so no news could be passed in, so I didn't tell Madam. It wasn't intentional to conceal it, so please don't blame me."
How could Cheng Yayin have any intention of blaming others? She asked with concern, "Is Miss Du feeling better?"
"Much better. He'll be able to return home in two days. Madam, don't worry. My nephew knows his limits and is very discreet in his comings and goings. He hasn't been seen by anyone except those in the academy."
Cheng Yayin saw that Du Lanxin looked a little depressed, but since she looked fine, she felt relieved. She told the dean that if they needed help, they could come to her. She would explain it to the people in the mansion and would not stop them.
Cheng Yayin hadn't been to the academy for a while, and there was a backlog of repair work waiting for her to take care of. After she finished, she walked out of the courtyard and saw a woman working odd jobs at the academy leading Du Lanxin into the house. She said to a nanny, "This girl is not thinking straight. You have to keep an eye on her. I just saw her running out into the street. What if she gets lost? It's so dangerous!"
The director and several nannies hurried over. It was lunchtime, and they were all busy looking after the children, leaving Du Lanxin unable to attend. They thanked the woman profusely, and the director reprimanded the nannies for their carelessness.
Cheng Yayin felt that Du Lan was much more irritable than before, and kept trying to run out, but was held back by several people, who were shouting something incoherently.
Cheng Yayin went closer to listen carefully and found that she was calling "husband".
Cheng Yayin's mind buzzed, and she stepped forward and asked, "Miss Du, have you seen your husband?"
Du Lanxin's empty eyes swept over her, then looked towards the door, the anxiety in her voice growing stronger: "Husband, I'm going to find my husband. He's gone upstairs, I want to find him."
Several nannies looked at each other in surprise: "This..."
Cheng Yayin turned to ask the woman who brought Du Lanxin back: "Where did you bring Miss Du back?"
The old woman, not knowing the true situation, said, "It's near the old watchtower on the next street. It's hard for this girl to run so far in such a daze."
Cheng Yayin immediately took Jian Zhu and a group of servants to the watchtower. This watchtower had stood in Shengjing for a hundred years. Although it had been abandoned during the Qing Dynasty, it was usually unmanned. However, some locals and tourists would climb here to enjoy the view.
Cheng Yayin led the group to the foot of the watchtower and looked up. The bright sunlight pierced her eyes, and she couldn't see clearly what was happening above.
She immediately divided the people she brought out into three groups. One group, led by Jian Zhu, surrounded the base of the watchtower, not allowing anyone to enter or leave; one group went up quietly and made sure to arrest everyone they saw above; and another group immediately went to the Dali Temple and the Censorate to deliver a message.
The subordinates acted in an orderly manner according to her instructions. Cheng Yayin was extremely anxious. She was worried that this was a misunderstanding and all her efforts were in vain. She was also worried that the murderer she had been pursuing for a long time was really up there, and there was a loophole in her arrangement, allowing him to take advantage of the opportunity to escape.
This watchtower occupies a large area, and the number of people brought today is limited. They cannot cordon off the outside completely for fear that someone will find a chance to sneak out. They arranged Jian Zhu to patrol around, but they were still not at ease. Cheng Yayin herself paced back and forth anxiously.
The people who had gone in were about halfway up, and Cheng Yayin was already feeling the passage of time was unbearable. She kept looking up, and suddenly she felt a shadow looming over her head, soaring through the air like a fluttering bird, then plummeting downwards, as if a bird had broken its wings.
"Miss!"
Cheng Yayin only heard the screams of Lanyue and Yixing, and then her body was thrown to the side with great force.
She fell to the ground. Lan Yue and Yi Xing each protected half of her body, but she didn't feel much pain. Perhaps the scene before her was too horrifying, making her completely forget the pain in her body.
Where she had just stood, a person fell to the ground in a twisted posture, raising a cloud of dust. A horrible creaking sound burst through the dust. It was the sound of a person's bones breaking in an instant.
The man twitched violently only for a moment after landing, like a fish struggling to death in a dry pond. After that, there was no movement. His eyes were wide open, staring straight at the sky. The surprise and unwillingness in them gradually cooled down and turned into a dead ashes. Blood gushed out of his body, flowing like a stream to Cheng Yayin's feet.
A chaotic cacophony of sounds echoed around Cheng Yayin, as if someone were screaming and running. Someone was shaking her, shouting something, trying to bring her back to consciousness, while someone else struggled to pull her to her feet. But her limbs were limp, and everything around her was a phantom blur. She couldn't see clearly, and she couldn't hear clearly.
Her gaze was fixed on the hair of the man who fell from the building. There was a broken hairpin stuck there, the head of which had been smashed to pieces. The white jade material was stained with blood and gleamed coldly in the strong sunlight.
As she watched, Cheng Yayin's vision was gradually covered by a blood-red color, which grew thicker and thicker until it became a black barrier that obscured the sunlight...
*
Pei Songsheng jumped off his horse and strode towards the door. Jian Zhu had been waiting at the door. When he saw him, he knelt down and kowtowed several times, saying in a choked voice, "I failed to protect the lady. Please punish me, sir!"
Pei Songsheng walked past him without stopping, his face chillingly cold, mixed with an unconcealable anxiety.
Just as he received a message from Cheng Yayin at the Censorate saying that the murderer might appear in the watchtower, Jian Zhu sent someone to report that someone had fallen from the watchtower and that the lady was frightened and thought she had fainted.
Pei Songsheng rushed into the inner courtyard at great speed, pushed open the door and walked into the inner room, where he saw Cheng Yayin lying unconscious on the bed with her eyes closed. Her face was shockingly pale, but her cheekbones were abnormally flushed. Her weak appearance broke his heart at first sight.
Lan Yue and Yi Xing were serving by the bed. Both maids were in tears and at a loss. When they saw Pei Songsheng, they bowed hurriedly.
Pei Songsheng rushed to the bedside and took Cheng Yayin's hand, which was resting on the edge of the bed as she struggled in her nightmare, and held it in his palm. The cold temperature made his heart tremble. He said in a hoarse voice, "Have you asked a doctor to take a look?"
"Yes, the doctor said that the young lady was too frightened and needed to take medicine to calm her nerves." Lan Yue held the medicine bowl in her hand and shed tears, "But the young lady is unconscious, and I can't feed her the medicine."
"I'll do it."
Pei Songsheng sat on the bed, carefully supported Cheng Yayin's shoulders, let her sit up and lean on him, reached out to take the medicine bowl handed to her by Lan Yue, filled a spoonful of black bitter medicine juice, and fed it to her lips.
Cheng Yayin's hands were cold, but her body was burning hot. She seemed trapped in a horrible nightmare, unable to wake up. As soon as the porcelain spoon touched her lips, she frowned and dodged as if frightened. Her eyes moved nervously under her thin eyelids, but she kept them closed. A few faint mutterings escaped through clenched teeth.
Pei Songsheng steadied his wrist and brought the medicine to her lips again, but she closed her lips tighter and turned her head away in resistance.
Pei Songsheng was in great pain and begged, "A Zheng, drink the medicine." He tightened his arms, hugged Cheng Yayin tighter in his arms, lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "I'm here, don't be afraid. Just drink some medicine, you will be fine after drinking it."
These words really worked. Cheng Yayin heard the familiar voice in her nightmare and seemed to feel much more at ease. Her tightly furrowed brows relaxed a little and her teeth unconsciously loosened.
Pei Songsheng seized the opportunity, ruthlessly pried open her teeth, and pushed the medicine in. The bitter, sour liquid choked Cheng Yayin, causing her to cough and gasp uncontrollably, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes. Two maids tearfully wiped away her tears and the medicine stains from the corners of her mouth. Pei Songsheng patted her quilt to soothe her breathing, then repeated the same procedure, feeding her another half bowl of medicine.
The bowl of medicine was half fed and half vomited out. Pei Songsheng took the handkerchief and wiped Cheng Yayin's face, then gently put her back on the bed.
After drinking the medicine, Cheng Yayin calmed down a lot. The gloom between her brows still lingered, but her breathing gradually became steady and even, but she still did not wake up.
Pei Songsheng raised his hand and touched Cheng Yayin's forehead. It was still burning hot, as if a fire was burning in her body, burning her life bit by bit.
This appearance made Pei Songsheng feel as if she had returned to three years ago, when she was also lying unconscious on the sickbed, so pale that she seemed as if she would turn into a wisp of smoke and disappear from the world at any time.
Pei Songsheng was filled with boundless panic. He hurriedly clenched Cheng Yayin's hand and murmured, "How could this happen..."
Lan Yue, standing by, wiped her tears and explained, "Your Excellency may not know, but the person who fell from the building today was Madam Qu from Fanle Tower. Although our young lady didn't know her well, they were very close. A few days ago, she came to our house to comfort her. When we heard that she was leaving Shengjing, we planned to see her off in person, but we never expected to see her today... We are horrified and heartbroken. This blow is truly too great."
The more Lan Yue thought about it, the more distressed she felt. Even for an outsider like her, seeing a friend who had been so cheerful and cheerful with her just a few days ago tragically die before her eyes, how could she possibly bear it? The young lady had always been so devoted to her friends, and after this devastating blow, she didn't know when she would ever recover.
Cheng Yayin's fever persisted until nightfall, and she remained unconscious. Pei Songsheng was so anxious that he had no idea what to do. He summoned Doctor Wang overnight with a candle.
Doctor Wang had just come out of the palace and had just set foot inside when Jian Zhu hurriedly dragged him to the Pei Mansion. As soon as he entered the door, he sighed, "You two are really troublesome, one more than the other."
After checking Cheng Yayin's pulse, he said to Pei Songsheng, "She's definitely been frightened. It would be the same no matter which doctor comes to see her. You don't have to worry too much. The most important thing right now is to get her fever down, otherwise it could be dangerous. I'll prescribe a fever-reducing prescription first. Once her fever subsides, I'll use some nourishing medicine to soothe her spirit. Once she's in good spirits, she'll wake up."
Pei Songsheng felt much more at ease after hearing his words. He personally prepared the writing materials and asked Imperial Physician Wang to write a prescription. Jian Zhu hurriedly took the prescription and braved the dark night to go out to get the medicine. When Imperial Physician Wang finished, Pei Songsheng escorted him to the door and thanked him repeatedly.
"No need to see me off. Go back and take care of your wife." Doctor Wang patted Pei Songsheng's shoulder affectionately. He saw that he only reluctantly raised the corner of his mouth in response, but there was still a gloomy look between his brows.
Doctor Wang looked behind him to make sure there was no one around. He leaned in close and whispered, "I know what you're worried about. Don't worry, the poison was already cured three years ago, and she's fine now. She's just a little frightened right now. She'll recover after a while of rest."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
