The carriage flew along the road, and Qin Yining increasingly felt that the surrounding scenery was wrong.

“Isn’t this the road to Tayun Inn? Why isn’t the Prince at Yingbin Tower?”

“Yes.” Huzi smiled. “To see a doctor, it wouldn’t be convenient with so many people watching at Yingbin Tower, besides Lian the old dog is there too.”

Thinking of that lecher Lian Shengjie made Qin Yining feel disgusted, and she had to admit that Pang Xiao was thoughtful.

Before long, the carriage arrived at the back door of Tayun Inn.

Qin Yining got out of the carriage and saw two tall men waiting. Upon seeing Qin Yining, they both bowed respectfully.

Qin Yining felt these two men looked somewhat familiar—she must have seen them at Ning Garden that day—so she smiled and nodded in return.

Both men felt flattered and quickly cupped their hands, inviting Qin Yining to enter.

Bingtang followed behind Qin Yining, saying in a low voice: “I wonder if Manager Zhong is here today.”

“It’s fine. The account books have already been sent over, so it doesn’t matter if we don’t see him today.”

Bingtang nodded.

Huzi sidled up to Bingtang, chuckling in a low voice: “Hey, potato spirit, I think you’ve grown a bit taller.”

Bingtang shot him a fierce glare. “Unlike you—you’re not short, but your brain isn’t good. Following the Prince around, you haven’t learned anything else except sweet-talking and being a rogue!”

Huzi blinked, then shouted angrily: “When you’re insulting people, don’t drag our Prince into it! You can say I’m a rogue, but how is our Prince a rogue?!”

“If he’s not a rogue, would he fake being sick?” Bingtang glared at him again.

Listening to the two bickering, Qin Yining felt both annoyed and amused. She looked back and saw Bingtang angrily staring at Huzi with her round, large eyes, while Huzi was also glowering, though the laughter in his eyes couldn’t be hidden.

The two men leading the way stopped and opened the door to “Fugui Pavilion”: “Miss Qin, please enter.”

“Thank you.” Qin Yining stepped across the threshold first.

Behind them, Huzi and Bingtang glared at each other. Bingtang “hmph”ed, stomped hard on Huzi’s foot, then quickly followed Qin Yining.

Huzi looked at the small, delicate shoe print on his foot and chuckled.

The two men at the door couldn’t help but snicker at Huzi’s foolish appearance.

Qin Yining turned around the screen to enter the inner room and saw Pang Xiao wearing snow-white undergarments with a light purple outer robe, reclining against a large pillow on the arhat bed by the window, reading a book.

Looking carefully, she noticed his complexion indeed didn’t look good—his lips were somewhat pale and his hair was slightly disheveled.

“Is Your Highness feeling unwell?” Qin Yining sat down on an embroidered stool beside the Eight Immortals table.

Pang Xiao put down the book, supporting his temple with one hand, tilting his head to look at Qin Yining. “A little, which is why I asked Miss Bingtang to come examine me. Why didn’t you bring Er’Bai?”

Qin Yining gestured for Bingtang to go examine Pang Xiao. “Hearing that Your Highness was ill, since we came to see a patient, how would it be convenient to bring Er’Bai?”

Pang Xiao responded with a somewhat dejected “Oh,” but then smiled. “It doesn’t matter. Even if Er’Bai didn’t come, it’s quite nice to see you.”

What kind of talk was that! As if she wasn’t even as good as a rabbit!

Just as this thought emerged, Qin Yining felt something wasn’t quite right.

Yes, why was she competing with a rabbit?

Looking up, she met Pang Xiao’s smiling eyes. Qin Yining glared at him in annoyance. “You seem quite spirited—doesn’t look like a poison flare-up.”

Pang Xiao covered his mouth and coughed twice—whether genuinely coughing or suppressing laughter was unclear. His voice was deep and magnetic: “Indeed, I’m quite uncomfortable.”

Bingtang had already placed the pulse pillow and was taking Pang Xiao’s pulse. After carefully examining him, she stood up and sighed:

“This illness isn’t a poison flare-up, but it is dangerous. Your Highness, you should be more open-minded. Although I cannot treat your illness, perhaps in the future you might encounter someone with superior medical skills who could cure you. It’s not necessarily a terminal illness, so don’t be too sad.”

Hearing this, Pang Xiao looked calmly at Bingtang.

Huzi was shocked: “What! The Prince is really ill? Tell me quickly, what’s wrong, how do we treat it? Whatever medicine you need, I’ll find it for you!”

Bingtang said seriously: “The Prince’s lovesickness has reached a terminal stage. Forgive this humble woman’s shallow medical skills—I cannot treat it.”

Huzi was stunned.

Qin Yining’s face turned red as she glared at Bingtang.

But Pang Xiao laughed heartily: “Good girl, your medical skills are truly superb—an excellent diagnosis. However, I needn’t wait for the future or seek famous doctors, as you’ve brought me the medicine I need.” His gaze was gentle as he looked at Qin Yining. “Seeing your young miss, I’m cured of any illness.”

Qin Yining was both embarrassed and annoyed. She grabbed a tea bowl lid from the table and threw it at Pang Xiao. “You must be mad, spouting such nonsense!”

Pang Xiao easily caught the powerless blue and white porcelain lid with his large hand, laughing: “Not mad at all, just intoxicated.”

Seeing the gauze bandages on Qin Yining’s hands, his expression changed: “What happened to your hands?” Her hands had been hidden in her sleeves earlier, so he hadn’t noticed.

Bingtang took out silver needles, gesturing for Pang Xiao to sit up straight. “Miss beat up Qin Huining at the mansion. Her hands were cut by a golden hairpin in two places, and her knuckles also have some scrapes and bruises. It’s not serious, but it will hurt for a while.”

As she spoke, she skillfully inserted needles into Pang Xiao’s shoulder.

Pang Xiao paid no attention to the needling. Sitting boldly upright on the arhat bed, he could only extend one hand toward Qin Yining, saying seriously: “Come here, let me see.”

Qin Yining remained seated: “It’s just a surface wound.”

Pang Xiao’s brows furrowed tightly, creating a knot between them. His phoenix eyes filled with urgent anger, his handsome features taking on a menacing air. His voice involuntarily rose, deep and resonant, shaking one’s heart: “Come here now!”

Qin Yining was startled by his shout. Her watery eyes looked at him, then she looked elsewhere, as if she hadn’t heard anything, still refusing to move.

Huzi beside them was so frightened that his hair stood on end.

When his Prince became angry, even the longtime followers around him dared not disobey in the slightest. That beast-like chilling aura of wanting to devour people wasn’t something everyone could endure, yet Miss Qin actually dared to pretend she couldn’t hear?

Bingtang was also frightened and stopped her work, staring blankly back at Qin Yining.

Pang Xiao stood up with a dark expression, not caring that needles were still inserted in his shoulder. He grabbed Qin Yining’s injured right hand, suppressing his anger: “I told you to come over but you wouldn’t listen, forcing me to come to you myself. For your own good, you must be obedient in the future!”

“Why should I listen to you? What are you to me?” Qin Yining struggled twice but couldn’t pull her hand back. Her heart was still trembling from Pang Xiao’s shout, and her expression involuntarily revealed some grievance.

Seeing the layer of mist in her watery eyes, Pang Xiao’s anger immediately diminished by half. He deftly unwrapped her bandaged gauze and saw that her palm was indeed cut in two places. Although medicine had been applied and it was no longer bleeding, the wounds were still somewhat red and swollen, with bruising and swelling at her finger joints. He couldn’t help but feel heartbroken as he brought her hand to his lips and gently blew on it.

“Did Qin Huining bully you?”

His tone was so coldly menacing that it seemed if Qin Yining nodded, Pang Xiao would immediately take Qin Huining’s life.