Chi Yan never expected that Xiao Yu would poison him.
Despite having an innocent yet beautiful and alluring face, this child, only thirteen or fourteen years old, managed to poison him right under his nose on their first meeting. Moreover, this poison was colorless, odorless, and extremely rare, so even Amu, who was quite knowledgeable about poisons, did not notice it.
Chi Yan listed two possibilities in his mind: either the poison was given to him by Wen Yanche for self-defense, or the poison was concocted by Sang Yu himself.
At Sang Yu's age, it's highly unlikely he could concoct such a rare poison.
Chi Yan asked Leng Qingning seemingly casually, "A young boy has come to the Lord's courtyard. I heard that you brought him back. May I ask where Young Master Sang comes from?"
"You've seen Sang Yu?" Leng Qingning asked in surprise. Sang Yu had been studying hard lately and had hardly gone out. Why was Chi Yan asking this now?
"Yes, it's an honor to meet you. Young Master Sang is quite handsome and unforgettable."
Leng Qingning: "He is from the vicinity of the Jin Kingdom."
Near the Jin Kingdom? There are many tribes there, Chi Yan instantly understood.
Leng Qingning felt something was very strange, and Chi Yan suddenly changed the subject and asked Sang Yu why.
A peculiar poison, I've seen it on Sangyu Island...
Unbelievable! I remembered the last time Sang Yu cured me of the poison.
Sang Yu was indeed an expert in poison making...
Looking down again, I saw that Chi Yan had already fainted from exhaustion.
That evening, news that Leng Qingning had entered Tingfeng Pavilion and had not come out again quickly reached the ears of her husbands.
Cang Yuan was somewhat annoyed; they had clearly agreed that it was all about using him.
Why...?
Meng Xu smashed the entire set of teacups in anger.
The husbands were sullen, worried that Chi Yan would regain favor, and harbored resentment towards him.
The following evening, after finishing her chores and returning home, Leng Qingning went to Tingfeng Pavilion to visit Chi Yan again.
Chi Yan has awakened.
"My lord, how are you feeling today?"
Chi Yan leaned against the couch and nodded gently, looking much better.
"It's alright, Ning'er."
Yuanshan looked distressed: "Your Highness, you must do justice for our master! Catch the poisoner as soon as possible! Our master was perfectly fine yesterday, his first day out of the courtyard, and we don't even know when he was poisoned."
Leng Qingning nodded. "I understand. You may leave now."
After sending Zhao Yuanshan away, Leng Qingning asked frankly, "Regarding the matter of poisoning, I presume Your Excellency is aware of it, right?"
Chi Yan raised his eyes: "Ning'er, what do you want to say?"
"You met with Sang Yu yesterday?"
Chi Yan's face remained expressionless. "You knew everything?"
"You fainted yesterday, and I haven't had a chance to ask you anything yet."
Although he didn't intend to demand an explanation or pursue the matter further, Chi Yan still wanted to know Leng Qingning's attitude towards him, so he asked her, "Since you also know who poisoned you, what do you plan to do?"
"Let's leave it at that, shall we?"
Although it was a question, there was no room for negotiation in his tone, and Chi Yan fell silent.
Leng Qingning continued, "He's still a child, don't hold it against him. I will make it up to you about the poisoning, and I apologize to you on his behalf."
Hearing this, Chi Yan felt incredibly disappointed. "Okay, I agree to everything you said. I never intended to pursue this matter in the first place." He paused and asked, "Then how are you going to make it up to me?"
"Name your price, Your Majesty."
Chi Yan sighed softly, "Ning'er, you know I'm not short of money."
Leng Qingning naturally knew this, but apart from gold and silver treasures, she couldn't think of anything else that could compensate him.
"Then what do you want?"
Chi Yan sat up slightly, looking at Leng Qingning with tenderness in his eyes, "You know what I want, don't you?"
Of course, it was a ruthless rejection: "I can't do it. Whether it's forgiving you or accepting you, I can't do it. Don't you know that?"
It is precisely because they cannot do that they intend to compensate with money and gifts.
"Ning'er, do you have to be so heartless?"
Leng Qing Ning remained silent.
Chi Yan was utterly disappointed; he had anticipated this reaction. So he brought it up again, "Alright, I know you're unwilling. I'm willing to wait for you until the day you accept me again. As for compensation, I only hope you'll visit me more often and stop being so cold to me, okay?"
"Okay, I'll come to see you more often." Leng Qingning smiled brightly at him, as long as he didn't hold the matter of Sang Yu poisoning her.
"Ning'er, could we switch back to how we addressed her yesterday?" Chi Yan asked casually.
Reminded by the reminder, Leng Qingning recalled the scene from yesterday, in which she had blurted out "Ayan" in her haste, and still refused: "It's just a name, what's so important about it?"
“It’s very important to me,” Chi Yan said earnestly.
His words came out somewhat urgently, "Ning'er, you just promised me that you wouldn't be cold to me anymore. You used to call me Ayan, but now you keep calling me Lord. Do we really have to be so distant?"
Leng Qingning sighed softly, "Your Majesty, times have changed."
Upon hearing this, Chi Yan was suddenly overcome with sadness, and his eyes dimmed instantly. "Do you know how much it hurts me every time you look at me with that cold gaze? You keep calling me 'Lord,' and every time you say it, it's like rubbing salt into my heart, reminding me of the scene when you left."
Do you know that I was also heartbroken that day?
"After that day, I had nightmares every night, dreaming again and again of you disappearing before my eyes..."
"If I could, I would rather be the one who dies."
As Chi Yan spoke, her face was streaked with tears and her voice trembled uncontrollably: "Do you really think I've been sentenced to death in your heart, with absolutely no chance of survival?"
"Ning'er, my heart is really aching, it's almost riddled with holes."
"Ning'er, can you feel it?"
"What do I have to do for you to forgive me?"
Leng Qingning: "..."
Hearing the sobs, Leng Qingning really wanted to snap at him.
His already thin and handsome face looked extremely pitiful due to his grief and weeping. His eyes were filled with endless streams of tears, and his dark eyelashes were wet with tears. His dark pupils seemed to contain a thousand words and countless emotions.
It seemed as if he would collapse the moment he uttered even half a word of no.
It seems like it's been over a year since I last saw him like this.
Snapping out of her daze, she deliberately looked away from him, feeling inexplicably irritated, yet a sense of heartache arose within her.
I felt sorry for him, but there was no way to comfort him, so I made up my mind to let him cry.
Yuanshan and Amu were eavesdropping on the conversation between the two inside the room while they were lying at the door. Before they knew it, Yuanshan was moved to tears by Chi Yan's words.
Thinking of his master's increasingly frail body and his recent days of being depressed and silent, afraid of displeasing His Highness and not daring to even leave the courtyard, Yuanshan felt aggrieved on Chi Yan's behalf.
She couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "Master, you're really having a tough time..."
"Your Highness, you are completely unmoved by your master's behavior. My poor master..."
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