Chapter 25
The water splashed into the copper basin and dripped down.
Yue Qingning lowered his head and looked at the gradually calming water surface. His face was vaguely reflected at the bottom of the basin.
Her face was pure white and clean, with nothing on her delicate and smooth skin. She touched her face and smiled bitterly.
A beautiful or ugly face is just a walking shell. After death, no matter how beautiful a person is, he will turn into a pile of bones. Who can then tell the difference between this pile of bones and others?
At this critical moment of life and death, it seemed that it didn't matter whether he committed evil or repaid kindness with enmity. Perhaps he himself never expected that after planning for half his life, he would suffer the consequences of such a disaster.
She sighed, dried her hands, and headed towards the west wing.
Before she opened the door, the birds in the tree in front of the yard were startled by her arrival and flew away.
Yue Qingning stood there blankly for a long time.
In the same courtyard...she couldn't keep a single bird.
When she opened the door, there was no one guarding the room. She approached the bed and saw the man lying on the bed with a frown on his brow and sweat all over his face.
As expected, no one dared to touch his clothes.
Yue Qingning went out to get a basin of water, opened his collar, and wiped the bloodstains with a wet cloth.
Only after wiping it clean could one see clearly that there was a continuous series of intermittent scars from the arm to the back of the neck. The area near the neck was particularly bloody. A half-finger-long piece of skin was lifted up, and the throbbing scarlet flesh inside could be seen.
Seeing the growing discomfort in her heart, she took out a clean white cloth and slowly lifted his head.
She wrapped it around her neck twice and tied a knot. She didn't know how to deal with this kind of wound, and she didn't know whether she should cut off the half-exposed skin. She could only tie it up first.
She didn't have to worry about how to deal with it. Uncle Teng from the Imperial Hospital had already come and confirmed that the disease was indeed equine plague, and the epidemic would only last seven days.
After seven days, the whole house might be burned down. Who would care about this little bit of flesh and blood?
After taking a breath, she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled him up to lean on her shoulder. This action alone made her so tired that she gasped for a long time.
He usually looks thin, but now he looks quite heavy.
Yue Qingning put his arm around him with one hand and pulled the clothes hanging on his back down with the other hand. His smooth, thin back came into view, and his collar was spread out on both sides.
She tried to pull his sleeve again but suddenly felt resistance under her hand.
He put his arms around her waist in reverse.
She didn't feel anything after seeing him naked just now, but at this moment, one of his actions made her feel uncomfortable.
Yue Qingning swallowed and called out softly.
"Que Ming."
“…”
He didn't react at all, as if it was all her illusion.
Yue Qingning waited for a while and then pulled his sleeve again. Sure enough, he was still holding her waist tightly.
"let go!"
She pulled hard twice but failed to pull it open. Instead, she used up all her strength and felt heat rising from her chest.
Since she couldn't move, she simply let go and let the two of them stay in that stiff state. After a long while, the hot head resting on her shoulder finally spoke.
"Before, I dreamed of you... and I thought it would never happen again."
“…”
She didn't know how to respond after hearing this, so she waited in silence for him to finish his nonsense.
"With this moment, all the injuries are worth it."
Yue Qingning's eyes grew colder as she listened. He must have mistaken her for someone else, perhaps a handsome young man.
The thought made her feel even more uncomfortable, and she reached out to pull him again. Fortunately, this time she pulled him very quickly and he didn't react, and the two of them suddenly separated.
"Now that you're awake, take off your clothes! They might contain the plague, so burn them immediately."
He was stunned as if he didn't understand what she said. His beautiful face was flushed red, and even his eyes were red.
It looked much more serious than Qingzhe's. She reached out to open his eyelids to see the bloodshot inside.
He raised his hand suddenly and grasped her wrist again.
"This...isn't a dream?"
Yue Qingning sighed, "No! Stop pestering me and take it off quickly."
He seemed to be frozen, and after a while he slowly lowered his head.
His clothes were half taken off, and he blocked it belatedly, his face burning even redder.
"Miss, why are you here? And why would you do this for me?"
"You thought it was poisoning before, but the Imperial Hospital has come to check it out and said it's an epidemic. Now the entire palace has been quarantined."
Seeing that he was about to block it, Yue Qingning understood that he probably didn't want outsiders to see his body, so she stood up tactfully and stood with her back to the bed.
"I've stained myself with your blood, so I have to separate myself from everyone else. As for your clothes, no one dares to come in, let alone touch you. If I don't do it, no one can."
Que Ming tried hard to understand her words with his drowsy head, but he still couldn't understand them clearly. He only knew that she wanted to stay by his side.
"Miss……"
He just called her "Miss" and didn't say anything else. Yue Qingning waited for the second half of his sentence for a long time.
Looking back, she saw that the man who was shirtless just now had pulled his clothes up and was looking up at her, his mind wandering somewhere else.
There is a cool moon in his eyes, and his expression is like sinking into water. The two are intertwined as if there are fish swimming in the water.
She only glanced at him once, then looked away and urged again.
"Take off your clothes first. There are clean new clothes next to you. After taking off your old clothes, wash your hands before putting on new clothes. I'm going out now. Call me when you're dressed."
Yue Qingning had just taken a step when someone suddenly pulled her sleeve from behind.
She turned around helplessly, only to see the person on the bed lying on the edge of the bed, about to fall off, with one hand pulling her sleeve.
Seeing her looking at him, he loosened his grip a bit but did not let go.
"Will the lady come again?"
Yue Qingning thought he was saying "Come back?" and pulled his sleeve back with force.
"I have to come back. I'm afraid you can't burn the clothes yourself."
He frowned and then smiled, "I'm glad you're back."
That's a strange thing to say! Why would she take out the sick clothes if she didn't come back?
Seeing that he was in a daze and looked silly, as if he was not talking to her about the same thing at all, she just let him go.
The door was gently closed by someone outside.
Que Ming watched the figure in the moonlight being gradually obscured by the door, and gave a helpless silly smile.
Good fortune lies within the shadow of misfortune, and misfortune lies within the shadow of good fortune.
In this dire situation, he finally had a moment of happiness.
He leaned against the head of the bed and tore off his clothes, only to find that his body and neck were wrapped in clean gauze, obviously made by her.
Que Ming was surprised and happy. The eldest lady was so worried about him that she didn't even care about getting her hands dirty.
But behind his secret joy, there was more inferiority.
If we were just talking about his face, he looked passable. However, his body had always been very thin, and his teacher was worried about this. He had even given him some supplements, but he still didn't seem to be getting any stronger.
He didn't want anyone to see his skinny appearance, especially her.
It seemed that the more he cared and the more careful he was, the more he would expose his embarrassing side to her.
It was really difficult for him to show her his bad side. He wanted her to see his good side, his thriving masculinity, and he wanted her to watch him rise to prominence.
In this way, he seemed to be able to stand in front of her and think about things he had never dared to reveal.
Outside the door, Yue Qingning was getting bored waiting, looking at the full moonlight in the sky shining on her body.
The bird that had just left seemed to have come back. She looked carefully and saw a green bird squatting on a branch hidden among the vines.
The small body curled up into a ball on the branch, not noticing the person slowly approaching from below.
"The other birds have all flown away, little bird...why aren't you afraid of me?"
She seemed to be asking it, completely oblivious to how soft her voice was, how low it had dropped in volume.
Such gentleness asked it, how could a little bird know that the person below would bring danger?
"Since you don't want to leave, then don't leave forever. Stay here!"
She spoke softly, not even noticing the smile on her face the moment she spoke.
"Miss……"
Someone on the other side of the window was calling her, so Yue Qingning had to leave this pretty little guy temporarily and go somewhere else.
She opened the door, took her clothes and prepared to go out, but Que Ming called her from behind.
"Thank you."
Thinking he was talking about clothes, Yue Qingning didn't take it seriously.
"It's dangerous for others to come in. Since I've touched your blood, I'll do more. There's nothing to thank you for."
He squinted his eyes and nodded when he heard that, and gave another comforting smile. He already had a pair of beautiful eyes, and with this curved shape, they looked even more charming.
Yue Qingning didn't want to be fooled by his foxy appearance, so she added something on purpose.
"Sister Teng said that you've contracted the horse plague that's spreading across Liang Province. It's a very severe disease, and I'm afraid you won't survive more than seven days."
“…”
Hearing this, a crack finally appeared on his handsome face.
Yue Qingning finally breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the smile on his face gradually fade away.
But don't always act like you're completely unreserved and kindhearted. It would be better if you were a little more sinister and calculating.
He suppressed his smile and spoke after a while.
"Is there no cure for such a dangerous disease?"
Yue Qingning shook his head indifferently, "Lord Teng hasn't found a good way to suppress it yet. I'm afraid we can only rely on fate..."
Before she could finish her words, he suddenly intercepted her.
"Then what are you going to do? How can you still touch my bloody clothes? What if you get stained too..."
Thinking that he was about to jump out of the bed, Yue Qingning still had clothes in her hands and had no way to stop him with her dirty hands, so she shouted.
"Just lie down!"
He was so frightened by the sudden words of the usually gentle and kind young lady that he stood there in shock.
At this moment, Yue Qingning didn't care about anything else. The epidemic was serious. If he ran out of the yard with bad intentions and tried to find another scapegoat, it would be terrible!
"Now that it has come to this, stop talking nonsense! Now we just have to stay alive and let Sister Teng focus on researching the prescription. All we have to do is wait patiently for the medicine to be tested."
“But you…”
So what about her? She is just one of the countless people.
"If we can sacrifice our lives to relieve the suffering of the people of the capital and Liangzhou, you and I will be remembered as a great deed even in Heaven."
After she finished speaking, she stopped for a long time, struggling for a long time whether to leave or not before turning back.
"Que Ming...don't wander around this time, don't go out, just stay here, okay?"
A voice filled with urgent pleading came from the other end of the room through the cool night.
He looked into her eyes in the dim night light, his eyes filled with affection, but fortunately the light was dim so she couldn't see it.
"Okay! I promise."
As he said this, he laughed again.
"She worries about her country but forgets her family, sacrificing her life to help the country. Even in her lifetime, Que Ming will never be able to reach half an inch of the young lady's broad mind!"
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