Chapter 44 The Prince's Illness and Awkward Sweet Talk
With the widespread use of face masks and Jiang Mianmian's stringent isolation measures, the epidemic in the south of the city was finally brought under control.
For three consecutive days, the number of new patients has dropped to single digits.
The shadow of death gradually dissipated, and the long-awaited sunlight pierced through the thick clouds, shining on the dilapidated yet vibrant streets of the south of the city. The liberated people knelt by the roadside, kowtowing and expressing their gratitude to the regent and queen who were on their inspection tour, their cheers deafening.
"We won! We won!"
Jiang Mianmian rode on her horse, watching this scene. Although she was exhausted, she felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
[That wasn't easy! It was incredibly difficult! This was practically a dungeon run on hellish difficulty!]
Looks like my life's saved, and my hot pot restaurant's saved too. Once I get home, I'm going to sleep for three days and three nights! Anyone who dares challenge me will be furious!
She turned her head to look at Chen Jin beside her.
These past few days, the regent has been working even harder than she has. Not only does he have to oversee the overall situation and allocate resources, but he also has to suppress the unruly voices in the court, and even personally inspect the intensive care unit every day to appease the people.
At this moment, Shen Jin was still dressed in a black brocade robe, his posture as upright as a pine tree, wearing that somewhat comical white mask, revealing only a pair of deep and cold eyes.
Everything seemed normal.
But Jiang Mianmian keenly noticed that his hand holding the reins seemed to be trembling slightly.
Moreover, those eyes, which were usually so bright and piercing, now had an unnatural flush and a dazed look.
"Calm and cautious?"
Jiang Mianmian's heart skipped a beat. "Are you alright?"
Shen Jin turned his head and looked at her, his gaze somewhat slow.
"It's nothing."
His voice was terribly hoarse, as if he had a mouthful of sand in it, "I'm just... a little tired."
Before he could finish speaking, his tall and straight body suddenly swayed without warning, and he fell straight off the horse like a building that had lost its support!
"Calm and cautious—!!"
Jiang Mianmian let out a shrill scream and almost fell off her horse. Just before she hit the ground, she grabbed his collar and became his human cushion.
"Bang!"
The two of them fell heavily into the dust.
Ignoring the pain in her back, Jiang Mianmian ripped off Shen Jin's mask.
His once fair and handsome face was now flushed a strange purplish-red, and his breath was burning hot. And when she trembled as she pulled open his collar, her pupils instantly contracted sharply—
Several dark red spots, about the size of copper coins, were clearly visible on his collarbone.
That's... a sign of the epidemic!
[Boom—!]
Jiang Mianmian felt as if something had exploded in her mind, leaving her completely blank.
How could this be? How is this possible?!
[Didn't he always wear a mask? Wasn't he highly skilled in martial arts and possessed profound inner strength? Why did he get sick?!]
This is not scientific! This is absolutely not scientific!
The surrounding guards and imperial physicians were terrified and rushed forward.
"Your Highness! Your Highness has fallen ill!"
"Quickly! Carry it back to the main tent!"
The scene was in complete chaos.
Jiang Mianmian stared intently at the few red spots, and tears welled up unexpectedly.
Yes.
In the past few days, to appease the public, he's been to many places and come into contact with a wide variety of people. While masks can prevent droplet transmission, they can't prevent all contact transmission. Coupled with his tireless work day and night, his body is exhausted, and his immunity is weakened…
He sacrificed himself for the country and for the people here.
"Get out of my way!"
Jiang Mianmian suddenly roared, like a lioness protecting her food, pushing away everyone who tried to approach her.
"No one is allowed to touch him!"
[Contagious! This disease is extremely contagious! You bunch of weaklings, you'll die if you even touch it!]
She hoisted the unconscious Shen Jin onto her back—thanks to the lie about the "power pill," she could now openly use her superhuman strength.
"Return to camp! Immediately! Now! Seal off the news! Anyone who dares to leak a single word will be executed without mercy!"
...
The command tent in the south of the city has now become the most dangerous forbidden area in the entire Da Gan region.
Jiang Mianmian drove all the imperial physicians out, leaving only Ying Yi to guard outside the tent.
Inside the tent, the floor was burning hot.
Shen Jin lay on his cot, his high fever persisting, and he had fallen into a deep coma. The red spots were spreading rapidly, having already climbed from his collarbone up to his neck.
Jiang Mianmian sat on the edge of the bed, holding a bowl of medicinal soup that had just been diluted with highly concentrated spiritual spring water. Her hands trembled like a leaf.
Drink! Drink up!
She tried to feed it to him, but Chen Jin clenched his teeth, and the medicine dripped down the corner of his mouth.
"Smack!"
Jiang Mianmian got impatient and slapped him across the face, though not hard.
"Chen Jin! Open your mouth!"
She yelled, her voice trembling with tears, "Aren't you the Regent? Aren't you all high and mighty? This little virus has brought you down? Aren't you ashamed?!"
If you dare to die... if you dare to die...
I'll spend all the money in your secret stash! I won't leave you a single penny! I'll buy the most expensive coffin, nail you inside, and make sure you never get up again!
Open your mouth, you bastard!
Perhaps it was the phrase "spent all his savings" that triggered Shen Jin's subconscious will to survive, or perhaps it was the familiar cursing that awakened a sliver of his sanity.
His firm jaw loosened slightly.
Jiang Mianmian seized the opportunity, grabbed his chin, and forced the bowl of life-saving medicine down his throat, mouth to mouth.
"Gulp."
The medicine has been administered.
Jiang Mianmian collapsed by the bed, panting heavily, tears streaming down her face like beads from a broken string.
She had never been so afraid in her life.
Even when facing hordes of zombies in the apocalypse, she had never been this afraid.
Because she was all alone at that time, she could die without any ties.
But now...
Looking at the man on the bed, so fragile he seemed about to break at any moment, Jiang Mianmian felt as if her heart was being squeezed tightly, the pain making it hard to breathe.
[Chen Jin...please don't die, okay?]
I'm not running away anymore, I'm not going to Jiangnan, and I'm not keeping male concubines anymore. I'll just stay in your mansion and be your parasite for the rest of my life.
Wake up... even just wake up and yell at me a couple of times...
She held Chen Jin's burning hot hand and pressed it against her cheek, using her supernatural abilities to help him regulate his meridians again and again, even though her energy was already depleted and her head was throbbing as if it were about to split open.
I don't know how much time passed.
The sky outside gradually darkened.
Chen Jin's high fever finally showed signs of subsiding, and his breathing became more stable.
He opened his eyes groggily, feeling as if his whole body had been run over by a wheel, and he was in so much pain that his body felt like it was falling apart.
In my ear, I heard that familiar voice, yet tinged with a nasal tone:
[That bastard... he's really tough. His fever's gone down already?]
[Hmph, you're smart to be sensible. If you really dare to die, I'll remarry right now! And I'll marry your mortal enemy! I'll make you jump out of your coffin in anger!]
I'll beat your son until he screams! I'll squander your entire fortune! I'll make sure you can't rest in peace even in your deathbed!
Shen Jin: "..."
He weakly turned his head and looked at the woman who was lying by the bed, her eyes red and swollen like peaches, saying the harshest words, but constantly changing the cold towels for him.
Remarry?
Marrying your mortal enemy?
Squander the family fortune?
Oh.
This woman is just as...hypocritical as ever.
If he hadn't heard her suppressed sobs and felt her hand trembling violently as she held his, he would have almost believed her lies.
"princess……"
Shen Jin opened his mouth, but his voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.
Jiang Mianmian suddenly looked up at him, surprised and delighted: "You're awake? You're awake?!"
[Great! He's alive! I knew the wicked live a long life!]
Shen Jin looked at her face, which was clearly overjoyed but pretended to be disgusted, and managed a weak smile.
"If I were to die..."
He took a breath, his eyes so tender they could melt water, "Does the Princess really intend to... remarry?"
Jiang Mianmian was stunned for a moment, then became furious and embarrassed:
"Of course! You think I'd stay a widow for you? Dream on! Three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged men are everywhere!"
As she spoke, she slapped the towel hard on his forehead, "So you better stay alive! Don't give me the chance to remarry!"
Waaaaah... You scared me to death... What would I do if you died...?
Shen Jin closed his eyes briefly, concealing the tears welling up within them.
He struggled to raise his hand and grabbed the little hand that was messing with his face.
"No."
He said in a low voice, "This opportunity... I will never give it to you in my lifetime."
"Jiang Mianmian, you belong to me."
"To live in the same quilt, to die in the same grave."
Jiang Mianmian was somewhat dizzy from the sudden sweet talk.
[To share the same bed in life, and the same grave in death?]
[This...this is way too heavy, isn't it? But...it sounds pretty good?]
[Fine, I'll let it slide since you're a patient.]
"Okay, okay, it's yours," Jiang Mianmian coaxed perfunctorily. "Hurry up and shut up and rest, save your energy."
Shen Jin did not shut up.
He looked at her, a hint of guilt in his eyes: "I'm sorry... I made you worry."
"Who's worried about you?" Jiang Mianmian stubbornly insisted, "I'm worried about losing my long-term meal ticket!"
“And…” Shen Jin’s gaze fell on her face, which was not wearing a mask, “Stay away from me. This illness… is extraordinary.”
He tried to push her away, but Jiang Mianmian held him down.
"Dribble past someone my ass!"
Jiang Mianmian rolled her eyes. "I have antibodies! You forgot I'm immune to all poisons? I'm the one who cured all your poisons, why would I be afraid of this?"
[Fool. I've been feeding you the spiritual spring water; I drink it myself every day, I'm immune to it now.]
Besides, if you really infect me, then we'll become a pair of star-crossed lovers, at least we can keep each other company on the road to the underworld, so you won't get lured away by other female ghosts.
My usually cautious heart melted completely into a puddle of water.
A pair of doomed lovers.
This was probably the most beautiful, yet also the most awkward, love confession he had ever heard.
"good."
Shen Jin stopped pushing her away and instead moved over to make room for her. "Come on up."
"what?"
"I'm cold." Shen Jin switched to his coquettish mode (though his expression was still stiff), "I need... a human hand warmer."
Jiang Mianmian blushed.
[Tsk, pushing their luck!]
However, considering how terribly ill you are...
She took off her shoes, crawled into bed, carefully avoiding the red spots on his body, and held him in her arms.
"Just this once! And don't let it happen again!"
As Shen Jin smelled her familiar fragrance and felt her warm body temperature, his tense nerves finally relaxed completely.
"Okay. This won't happen again."
He silently added in his mind: Next time, it's my turn to hug you.
That night, in the tent where death lurked, the two slept in each other's arms. Although there were no grand vows or earth-shattering declarations, the bond of life and death was more profound than ever before.
Outside the tent, Yingyi, hearing the sounds inside gradually subside, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, turned around, and made a gesture to the imperial guards behind her:
"Guard it! Don't let a single fly in!"
The prince and princess are both working hard to achieve great things.
All they can do is hold this last line of defense.
Three days later.
The red spots on Shen Jin's body began to fade, and his fever completely subsided.
This not only means that the Regent survived, but also that Jiang Mianmian's "dream prescription" and spiritual spring water therapy were completely effective!
The news of the Regent's recovery caused a sensation throughout the capital.
"A goddess! She really is a goddess!"
"If even the prince can be saved, we're saved!"
The will of the people is there, and the overall situation is settled.
This raging plague finally saw a true glimmer of hope thanks to the combined efforts of this "awkward couple."
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