Gu Qingqiu was gently laid down on the bed by Chu Yunhan, and then a flurry of delicate kisses came over her. Gu Qingqiu tilted her head back, feeling Chu Yunhan's breath, and reached out to touch his face. "Your Highness is so handsome. It's a pity that I won't be able to see him again. But it's okay. I will always remember Your Highness at his most handsome."
Chu Yunhan angrily covered Gu Qingqiu's mouth, not wanting to hear any more hurtful words from her.
Gu Qingqiu had never experienced Chu Yunhan being so gentle before, and she felt a little uncomfortable. "Your Highness, you can use a little more force..."
"Didn't you want to experience what I have to offer?" Chu Yunhan deliberately slowed his movements. "Now you can savor it slowly, can't you? Remember that?"
Gu Qingqiu felt a familiar tingling sensation throughout her body and sighed, "It's been so long since I've felt so vividly alive."
Chu Yunhan paused, "Do you like it?"
"Of course," Gu Qingqiu said with a smile, "I enjoy being close to Your Highness like this."
Chu Yunhan kept a close eye on Gu Qingqiu's health, so he couldn't fully enjoy himself in the end. Gu Qingqiu succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep shortly afterward.
Seeing this, Chu Yunhan got out of bed, took a handkerchief, and wiped Gu Qingqiu's body. He also helped her tie her clothes so she wouldn't catch a cold.
Gu Qingqiu pestered Chu Yunhan for several nights in a row, and Chu Yunhan agreed each time.
That night, Chu Yunhan was kissing Gu Qingqiu, but Gu Qingqiu seemed to be dodging him for some reason.
Chu Yunhan angrily held Gu Qingqiu's head still. "Why are you hiding?"
Gu Qingqiu's tone was somewhat flustered, "Your Highness, have you come in?"
Chu Yunhan paused, then immediately got out of bed and dressed Gu Qingqiu. "You wait here and don't move!"
A few minutes later, Chu Yunhan returned with the imperial physician.
After examining him, the imperial physician sighed. Upon seeing this, Chu Yunhan immediately pulled the physician outside the room.
"Your Highness, the lady should have lost all sense of touch by now," the imperial physician whispered.
Chu Yunhan's expression was desolate. "Have you found a way to cure the poison?"
The imperial physician looked ashamed and said, "My skills are not good enough; I'm afraid I have no way to cure this strange poison."
"I understand." Even though he was mentally prepared, Chu Yunhan was still disappointed.
Back in her room, Gu Qingqiu's face appeared even more gentle in the warm candlelight. She smiled and said, "Your Highness, you see, I was right, wasn't I? We should enjoy life while we can!"
Chu Yunhan said with some sorrow, "How can you still have the mind to joke?"
Gu Qingqiu's smile faded. "Your Highness, do you love me?"
Looking at Gu Qingqiu's expectant face, how could Chu Yunhan possibly utter the word "love"?
If he loved Gu Qingqiu, how could he have let him become so miserable? All the suffering Gu Qingqiu is enduring now is thanks to him.
He couldn't bring himself to express this kind of love.
After waiting for a while without receiving a reply from Chu Yunhan, a hint of disappointment flashed across Gu Qingqiu's face. "Forget it, let's go to sleep."
The two were sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams.
Spring arrived, and Gu Qingqiu's health suddenly improved, and her appetite returned. Although she could no longer taste anything, she was able to finish two bowls of rice porridge.
The imperial physician took Gu Qingqiu's pulse and said, "The tonics have been effective for you. Your health has really improved recently. You should continue to take the medicine and get more sun exposure. I believe that with a few more years of rest, your health will be fully recovered."
"Thank you, Imperial Physician." Gu Qingqiu's face showed a surprised and delighted expression upon hearing this.
Chu Yunhan, standing to the side, had a complicated expression. This was clearly a sign of a final burst of energy before death, but he could only conspire with the imperial physician to deceive her.
After she was able to get out of bed, Gu Qingqiu stopped fussing about going out and instead stayed with Chu Yunhan every day, as if she wanted to be attached to him.
Chu Yunhan was willing to grant Gu Qingqiu's every request at this moment, and would never ask her to leave.
In fact, Gu Qingqiu knew that she was dying. She and Chu Yunhan had reached a tacit agreement on pretending to be stupid. She hoped to max out her experience bar in her last moments—although she didn't know what progress the experience bar had made.
That night, Gu Qingqiu rolled over and lay on top of Chu Yunhan, pressing her ear close to his heart.
"What's wrong?" Chu Yunhan gently stroked Gu Qingqiu's back.
Gu Qingqiu murmured, "I want to hear your heartbeat."
Chu Yunhan suddenly seemed to realize something and stood up while holding Gu Qingqiu. "Qingqiu? Can you hear me?"
Gu Qingqiu was taken aback, then burst out laughing. "Your Highness, you don't need to alert them like this, do you? The doctor said my health is improving, I feel much better lately, and even my eyesight has recovered somewhat. I can vaguely see the outlines of some objects!" Although it's like the vision of someone with severe myopia, it's still better than being completely blind!
Chu Yunhan opened his mouth, but could only say in the end, "...Yes, I was too nervous."
However, Chu Yunhan couldn't help but toss and turn at night, constantly thinking about whether or not to tell Gu Qingqiu the truth. But this might break the peace between the two of them, and might even make Gu Qingqiu hate him.
Chu Yunhan felt a wave of regret and fear at the thought of being stared at by Gu Qingqiu with hatred in her eyes.
If Gu Qingqiu had known about this from the beginning, she probably wouldn't have been willing to take the Gelsemium elegans to save him. In the end, he still owes Gu Qingqiu a lot.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
