Lu Jingxing looked at her with a ghostly expression on his face.

He had rushed over, fearing that she might encounter trouble with Ziyang Jun again. After all, it was Ziyang Jun who had personally delivered the poisoned wine to her earlier. The two had a vendetta, and with Dan Yang’s vengeful nature, he would certainly not let Jiang Xuanjin off the hook.

But what was the outcome? Not only was she acting as if nothing had happened, but she was also feeding him medicine.

Lu Jingxing began to doubt whether he was dreaming.

Jiang Xuanjin glanced at the pill in front of her and said calmly, “If there is anyone in this world who wants me dead, it must be the one standing over there. You’re going to feed me the medicine he gave you?”

Li Huaiyu raised an eyebrow. “Are you overthinking this? Even if he wanted you dead, he wouldn’t be so direct as to send poison, would he? What about the people in his household?”

Jiang Xuanjin fell silent, her face dark and radiating a sense of resistance.

Huaiyu found it amusing and turned to Lu Jingxing, saying, “Look, our illustrious Ziyang Jun now resembles a petulant child refusing to take his medicine.”

Lu Jingxing looked at her with a complex expression, thought for a moment, and nodded.

“Didn’t you just regain your senses?” Jiang Xuanjin fixed her gaze on Huaiyu, her eyes deep. “How could you be acquainted with him?”

Moreover, they seemed quite familiar with each other.

Huaiyu smiled confidently, having already concocted a lie when she wrote that note. She spoke effortlessly, “The Lu residence is next to the Bai family. I’ve known him since childhood. What’s so strange about that?”

Known since childhood? Jiang Xuanjin scoffed. Who in the capital didn’t know that Lu Jingxing was a rebellious character? Aside from his closeness to the Dan Yang Princess, he had no regard for anyone else. What right did a concubine of the Bai family have to be acquainted with him?

“You truly don’t speak a word of truth.”

“Oh, you don’t believe me?” Huaiyu pouted, glancing at the pill in her hand. She smiled again, “Regardless of whether you believe me or not, I won’t harm you. Just take the medicine, or else your condition might worsen, and Bai Yushi will surely come looking for me.”

“Miss Bai, this…” the nearby Cheng Xu couldn’t help but whisper, “To enter the Emperor’s mouth, the medicine must be tested.”

Test the medicine? Huaiyu raised an eyebrow. “How do you test it?”

“If you’re afraid to eat it, then don’t,” Lu Jingxing said, adjusting his attire with disdain. “Why force him?”

Li Huaiyu thought about it and realized he had a point, so she began to retract her hand holding the pill.

However, halfway through, her wrist was grabbed.

Jiang Xuanjin’s palm was hot, gripping her wrist like a branding iron. With his other hand, he slowly reached out and pinched the pill at her fingertips.

“Hmm?” Huaiyu looked at him in confusion.

The man in front of her seemed to be in a bad mood, his expression dark. His half-closed eyes glimmered with a hidden light as he paused with the pill, then pressed it directly against her lips, his thumb gently grinding it.

Li Huaiyu stared wide-eyed, feeling the round pill rub against her lips, releasing a fragrant medicinal aroma.

Instinctively, she wanted to open her mouth.

However, as she did, Jiang Xuanjin pulled the pill back, looked at her for a moment, and calmly placed it in his mouth, swallowing it down.

Huaiyu: “…”

Cheng Xu: “…”

Lu Jingxing: “…”

Everyone in the room was stunned. Li Huaiyu gaped at him, her usually thick skin turning red.

“What… what are you doing?”

After swallowing the pill, Jiang Xuanjin seemed to be in a better mood and replied seriously, “Testing the medicine. Since you’re familiar with Lu Zhanggui, if this medicine is problematic, you’ll die with me.”

Oh… She touched her lips and then extended her tongue to lick them. Huaiyu turned to Lu Jingxing and asked, “It’s fine, right?”

Lu Jingxing took a couple of steps closer and pulled her up from the edge of the bed. “If there’s a problem, I’ll just detoxify you and let him die. Isn’t that the same?”

Cheng Xu suddenly tightened his grip on the sword sheath.

“Hey, don’t get agitated. He just likes to joke around,” Huaiyu quickly reassured Cheng Xu, pointing at Lu Jingxing. “You can see he’s tough on the outside but soft on the inside. This medicine is fine!”

Lu Jingxing glanced at her, still holding her arm tightly. “Is there anything else here?”

“Hmm.” Huaiyu nodded. She knew Lu Jingxing had many questions for her, and she had things to discuss with him as well. She turned to Jiang Xuanjin and said, “Your Majesty, please rest well. I’ll take my leave now.”

Jiang Xuanjin remained silent, not looking at them, his eyes half-closed as he quietly leaned against the head of the bed.

Lu Jingxing pulled Huaiyu out of the guest room.

“Let go of me first.” Once outside, Huaiyu whispered, “This is the Bai residence.”

Lu Jingxing frowned and slowly released his grip, finding a quiet corner to turn back and look at her intently.

“I have something to say, and I’ll go first.” Huaiyu leaned against the wall, looking at him incredulously. “How could you be so sure it was me just from a note?”

Her body had already been buried; Lu Jingxing should know best that she was dead.

With a light laugh, Lu Jingxing pulled out the Nanyang jade fan from his waist, opened it with a flick, and waved it. “Only you could write such ugly characters, and the ink isn’t even dry.”

Huaiyu raised an eyebrow. “Just based on this, you believe I’m still alive? Look at me now; do you still dare to recognize me?”

He glanced at her, then reached out to gently stroke her brow and eyes. “No matter how you change, I’ll always recognize you.”

“Hey, you are Lu Zhanggui!” Huaiyu couldn’t help but applaud him. “This bizarre thing of borrowing a corpse to return to life took me a long time to accept. Yet you, right from the start, believed it without a doubt.”

Lu Jingxing smiled slightly, the four characters “Gao Shan Yang Zhi” on the fan swaying gently, adding to his elegance.

She shot him a glance and said, “Stop pretending. It’s just the two of us here. Who are you trying to impress with this elegant demeanor?”

She and Lu Jingxing had known each other for four or five years, fully aware of each other’s backgrounds. In front of outsiders, she was the Princess, and he was the foremost merchant in the capital. But when it was just the two of them, they were merely friends. No one understood Li Huaiyu better than Lu Jingxing, and no one understood Lu Jingxing better than Li Huaiyu.

With a snap, Lu Jingxing closed the fan and squinted. “You think I’m elegant? Come closer! Do you see the bloodshot in my eyes? I haven’t slept well for half a month!”

Why he hadn’t slept well was a question that didn’t need to be asked; Huaiyu knew it all too well and laughed nervously.

“When did you come back to life?” Lu Jingxing asked irritably.

“Just in the past couple of days,” Huaiyu replied. “Given my current identity, I couldn’t just come to inform you, so I used Cheng Xu’s hand to send you a note.”

“At least you have a conscience,” Lu Jingxing sighed. “What do you plan to do next? With your identity… it seems life won’t be easy.”

“Let’s talk about living life later.” With a serious expression, Li Huaiyu looked at him and said, “I do have something I need your help with.”