Mu Houchu whispered, "I’m much better."
One hour after being affected by this medicine was when its effect would begin. If one could bear it, they would be alright, but if they couldn’t bear it, the cost of its eruption in that hour would result in death.
Xin He’s nearly crushed heart finally settled down as she exhaled deeply, her body collapsing in relief, "That’s good then."
Mu Houchu gently touched her scared little face, which had turned pale. He then lifted her out of the medicine spring. Her soaked clothes didn’t seem too bad while in the water but clung to her body once she got out.
Xin He was completely soaked, her mind focused on the poison in his body, not concerning herself with anything else. Now that she could finally breathe a sigh of relief, she was drained and nestled in Mu Houchu’s arms. Her face still trembled slightly from the shock, and her wet hair somewhat stuck to her cheeks, causing droplets of water to roll down her face.
As Mu Houchu stood from the water holding her, he saw her like this and froze, gulping down the saliva that had built up in his throat.
Xin He noticed his abrupt stillness and asked, "Why are you still standing in the water? We are both soaked, hurry up and find some clean clothes to change into, watch out for catching a cold."
Only then did Mu Houchu realize what was happening and nodded. He held her as they exited the medicine spring, heading towards a small house nearby.
He often came to the medicine spring, so the little house nearby was built by him long ago. After all, one needed a place to rest and change clothes after soaking in the spring.
"There are no clean clothes in the house." Mu Houchu lied to her with a straight face.
Xin He stared at him in doubt: "None?"
"Correct, whenever I came before, I had my people bring clean clothes to change into. But this time we came in a hurry, there is nothing prepared inside. After all, it’s not safe to leave things out in the wilderness." Mu Houchu responded calmly.
"Are you afraid that a few pieces of clothing left here will be stolen?" Xin He exclaimed in disbelief.
Mu Houchu nodded, "Yes, money isn’t easy to come by, we should save when we can."
Xin He stared at him, reminded of how he used to move his marriage gifts to her house by the truckloads, with piles of gold, silver, and jewelry amassed like mini hills. She recalled how indifferently he had handed over the deeds to her previously as if they were worthless scraps of paper. Could this wealthy Prime Minister truly be so frugal?!
Mu Houchu ignored her wide-eyed stare and carried her into the house, "Let’s wipe the water off your body first. Luckily, it’s summer, so you probably won’t catch a cold."
With that, he laid her down on a soft couch in the small house, turned around, and fetched a large towel. He draped it over her damp head and carefully wiped her hair dry.
At first, Xin He didn’t notice what he was doing, her mind preoccupied with when her clothes would finally dry.
"Do you have any idea what’s going on with Imperial Concubine Shen? Although you have gotten rid of the poison and survived, the current situation in the capital is not good, and I don’t know how many people are waiting for an opportunity..."
Before Xin He could finish speaking, she found his gaze was somewhere it wasn’t supposed to be.
Mu Houchu nodded calmly, "I have arrangements for this, don’t worry."
Xin He looked down to where his gaze had settled earlier.
Her face immediately turned red and she almost jumped up, "Mu Houchu!"
Mu Houchu looked up at her, innocent and calm, "What’s up?"
Xin He really wanted to slap this thick-skinned man in the face at that moment!
No wonder he said there were no clothes! No wonder he insisted on wiping her himself! No wonder he seemed to have ignored everything she said from the moment he woke up!
Xin He grabbed a blanket to wrap around herself, her eyes wide, she shouted like a defensive kitten, "Hand me my clothes!"
Mu Houchu felt a twang of disappointment. He looked at her feeling wronged and said, "I really don’t have any clothes you could wear here."
He had never brought anyone here before, let alone a woman.
Xin He glared at him threateningly, "Then bring me your clothes!"
This man, she knew him all too well! Typical of him not to pass up an opportunity! God knows how radiant he would feel if he got one chance!
He had just escaped from the clutches of death and hadn’t even had a chance to catch his breath.
Mu Houchu suddenly turned pale and stumbled, falling onto the soft couch.
Xin He, who was just calming down, immediately felt anxiety rise again, "What happened?"
Mu Houchu was half-leaning on her.
"Cold."
Xin He was alarmed and touched his face, "Why are you cold again? I thought the medicinal effect had passed. What should we do? I’ll go fetch some clean clothes for you!"
As she spoke, she immediately tried to stand up.
But she was held back by Mu Houchu who wrapped an arm around her waist. She was unable to move, and rather than him leaning on her, it was as if she was trapped under his weight.
"Don’t go, I’m cold." Mu Houchu curled up further into her embrace.
Xin He hurriedly held him, "I won’t go, I will stay here with you, did the medicine’s effects start again? It’s been an hour, why is your condition so unpredictable? Maybe, we should go back to the medicinal spring?"
"I can bear it, can you just talk to me?" Mu Houchu whispered.
Xin He was perhaps too anxious, or it could be that she had been scared by his close call just now. She failed to notice Mu Houchu’s small movements and was more concerned about whether the remaining poison was in his body, "How can I let you bear this? What if you can’t hold on?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
