“Qiao, I’m Yang Sheng, the master’s personal bodyguard.” Yang Sheng stood, a smile still on his face.

“It doesn’t matter that you don’t recognize me, but I will never forget you for the rest of my life.”

“This life of mine was given back to me by you. From now on, whatever you ask of me, I won’t hesitate.”

Qiaomu had no idea when she’d ever saved anyone—was it that night?

She didn’t want to dwell on it; all she wanted was to go back and sleep.

Just having woken up, with the breeze blowing on her, she felt drowsy again.

“Oh.” Qiaomu glanced at Yang Sheng and nodded, continuing on her way.

“If there’s something you need, we can talk about it later. I need to rest.”

“Qiao, take care.” Yang Sheng watched her retreating figure and gave a slight nod.

Qiaomu headed back, and Feng Jiang fell into step behind her as well.

Yang Sheng caught up to Feng Jiang and asked in a low voice, “My lord, Qiao—what’s wrong with her?”

Feng Jiang stopped and turned to look at him. “Doctor Long said the poison in her system may have affected her mind.”

“She might just be temporarily unable to remember things. It’s nothing to worry about, Yang Sheng. Go back and rest—there’s no need to keep watch tonight.”

Yang Sheng looked at Qiaomu and let out a faint sigh.

If it hadn’t been for Qiaomu, the one suffering from memory loss right now would be him. The thought weighed on him more and more.

“My lord, let me keep watch. I’m fine.” He withdrew his gaze, turned, and walked away.

Feng Jiang said nothing more and followed after Qiaomu.

Qiaomu had never imagined that simply saying she didn’t recognize someone named Yang Sheng would lead Feng Jiang to believe she’d actually lost her memory.

Memory loss or not, she had nothing she particularly wanted to say to him right now—not a single word.

Just as Qiaomu was about to turn and close the door, Feng Jiang spoke from behind her: “I’ll go find Xiao Yingtao to prepare your bathwater. Go rest inside for a while first.”

The wounds on Qiaomu’s body certainly couldn’t be bathed with ordinary water.

Feng Jiang left those words behind, watched Qiaomu go inside, then turned and headed toward Xiao Yingtao’s side room.

When Xiao Yingtao learned that Qiaomu had woken up, her mood improved as well.

Feng Jiang hadn’t told Xiao Yingtao about Qiaomu’s apparent memory loss—he didn’t want to say it, and he hoped it wasn’t true.

Xiao Yingtao handed Feng Jiang the herbal prescription for Qiaomu’s medicinal bath, then walked into Qiaomu’s room, pushed open the inner door, and went in.

“So you’ve finally woken up?” Qiaomu was sitting at the edge of the bed when she entered.

Qiaomu had both hands braced on the bed, her head bowed low, lost in thought.

Once Xiao Yingtao came in, Qiaomu finally lifted her head.

She glanced at Xiao Yingtao and beckoned her over.

“What’s wrong?” Xiao Yingtao frowned and sat down beside her.

“Does something feel off? Your head? Or the wound on your arm?”

Before Xiao Yingtao could even touch Qiaomu’s arm, Qiaomu twisted around and, with her free hand, gripped Xiao Yingtao’s neck, pressing her down onto the bed.

“What are you doing?” Xiao Yingtao’s eyes went wide as she stared at the patient who was clearly full of vigor.

“I should be the one asking—what are all of you doing?” Qiaomu gave her a sidelong glance, released her, and lay back down on her side.

“You knew I was unconscious, and you still left me alone with him. What were you all thinking?”

“That can’t be right.” Xiao Yingtao turned her head to look at her.

“Didn’t we leave you with the best one of the bunch? Mr. Bao? Did he leave too?”

“No, that’s not right—when I left, he was still sitting right there, still as a stone, not moving an inch.”

“Why would you leave him there?” Qiaomu stared at the roof beam, narrowing her eyes slightly. “I’m a woman, you know!”

Suddenly, she turned her head and glared at Xiao Yingtao.

Xiao Yingtao blinked, still not understanding.

She mulled it over for a moment, and her already-large eyes grew wider and wider.

“You don’t mean—while you were asleep, did Mister Bao take advantage of you?”

“Where?” Xiao Yingtao sat up, pulled at Qiaomu’s collar, and looked left and right.

Qiaomu shoved her away with one hand.

“Nothing happened!”

“Then what exactly happened?” Xiao Yingtao propped her chin on her hand, looking at the woman beside her.

“He really didn’t take liberties with you? Oh, wait! The two of you already kissed, though—”

“What?” Qiaomu sat bolt upright.

If Xiao Yingtao hadn’t dodged in time, the two of them would have knocked heads.

“Xiao Yingtao.” Qiaomu glared at the person behind her. “What did you just say? Confess everything!”

Xiao Yingtao pushed at the arm Qiaomu had grabbed her clothes with, but couldn’t pull free, her crescent brows knitting together.

“It’s nothing much. You were unconscious the whole time and couldn’t swallow your medicine, so I had Mister Bao… feed it to you.”

“This was all arranged by Jiu’er, so don’t blame me! Besides, isn’t this what you wanted? If you like someone, just say so—there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Qiaomu looked at Xiao Yingtao for a moment, then flopped back down with an air of utter resignation, as if life had lost all meaning.

Seeing her like that, Xiao Yingtao was a little baffled.

“Qiaomu, what’s really going on? Mister Bao cares about you so much—the whole time you were unconscious, he never left your side, worried sick the entire time.”

“He even said he’d take care of you for the rest of your life—really, I heard it with my own ears. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Jiu’er.”

Qiaomu let out a sigh, and the furrow between her brows finally smoothed out.

“At this point, it doesn’t really matter anymore.”

She turned her head to meet Xiao Yingtao’s eyes and said in a low voice, “From now on, whatever happens between him and me, none of you need to help.”

“I think all your pressuring is putting weight on him, and that’s not a good thing—it’s not what I want.”

Who did she, Qiaomu, think she was? If she gave her sincerity, she wanted his sincerity in return.

If they couldn’t trade sincerity for sincerity, she’d rather have nothing at all.

“Qiaomu, what exactly are you talking about?” Xiao Yingtao turned to her side and began smoothing Qiaomu’s long hair.

“I’m fine.” Qiaomu shook her head. “Someone thinks I’ve lost my memory—well, let him think that. I don’t feel like explaining.”

“As for what’s between us, we’ll deal with it later. Right now there’s still plenty to handle.”

Xiao Yingtao pressed her lips together and nodded.

She leaned in close to Qiaomu and said quietly, “Lei Shenbao has a mission for Jiu’er.”

Qiaomu’s brow creased as she turned to look at Xiao Yingtao.

Xiao Yingtao nodded and nearly pressed her head right against Qiaomu’s ear.

She briefly told Qiaomu about Lei Shenbao’s plan, and Feng Jiu’er’s own plan as well. The two of them then heard footsteps approaching from outside.

“Qiaomu, are you all right?” Xiao Yingtao sat up and got off the bed.

Qiaomu turned and lay back across the bed, her back to whoever was at the bedside.

“What’s wrong with you? It’s me, Xiao Yingtao.” Xiao Yingtao’s voice rang out again.

“I need to rest!” Qiaomu tossed out a few flat words, saying nothing further.

“All right.” Xiao Yingtao nodded. “Get up and wash first—this is the medicinal soup Jiu’er prepared for you, it’s very good for your wounds.”

Qiaomu turned, swung her legs off the bed, and stood up.

“Now that’s more like it. I called you so many times and you wouldn’t say a word—I really thought your brain had been damaged.” Xiao Yingtao supported her, and they took a few steps toward the door.

“Mister Bao, is the bathwater ready?”

“They’re bringing it in now.”

No sooner had Feng Jiang spoken than several maidservants came in, carrying the bathwater in, bucket by bucket.

The bathwater had been prepared in advance; the prescription Xiao Yingtao had given Feng Jiang afterward was just some medicinal powder to add on top.

Before long, the bathtub was filled to the brim with the medicinal water.