After the female physician finished bandaging Mu Yunjin’s wound, she left the room to brew medicine.
“Your Highness, since this matter was caused by the Fifth Princess, should we make the first move?” Ding Xian quietly asked from the side.
Chu Li glanced at Mu Yunjin lying on the bed, then gave Ding Xian a casual look. “Wait for Mu Yunjin to resolve it herself.”
Upon hearing this, Ding Xian immediately understood.
“Don’t alert anyone else in the residence about this matter,” Chu Li instructed.
Ding Xian nodded.
…
Mu Yunjin felt she must have offended the stars recently. How unfortunate—she hadn’t drowned the previous two times, and now she had nearly been hacked to death and poisoned.
When she hazily opened her eyes, an unfamiliar scene appeared before her. The room was dimly lit, yet filled with a refreshing fragrance.
…
Mu Yunjin wanted to move her body to get up, but a sharp pain shot through her left arm, and scenes from before she lost consciousness flashed through her mind.
She cursed under her breath, “That damned Thousand Leaf assassin, quite tenacious, aren’t they?”
“If you have the energy to curse, it seems you’re fine,” a cool voice sounded from above her.
Mu Yunjin looked toward the voice. Chu Li stood beside her bed dressed in purple robes, hands behind his back, his hair immaculately arranged, his entire person emanating a splendid, noble aura.
Seeing Chu Li, Mu Yunjin looked around at her surroundings and, observing the furnishings, realized this seemed to be Chu Li’s room!
“Why did you bring me here? Where’s my room?” Mu Yunjin asked curiously.
Chu Li smiled faintly, looking at her. “Do you want everyone in Butterfly Flower City to know you’re injured?”
“No!” Mu Yunjin instinctively replied, then gave Chu Li a strange glance. “I’ve taken your room, so where will you sleep?”
Before Chu Li could answer, Mu Yunjin added, “I’m asking unnecessarily. Naturally, the Sixth Prince wouldn’t lack for places to stay.”
Seeing her speak with such vigor, nothing like her haggard appearance the previous night when she was coughing up black blood, Chu Li’s tense heart began to relax somewhat.
“Heartless,” Chu Li looked at Mu Yunjin, his expression displeased but his tone unusually gentle.
Hearing this, Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow. “Is that how you speak to someone who saved your life?”
“…” Chu Li’s mouth twitched slightly, caught between laughter and exasperation. “Then how does this Prince make it up to you? My life-saving benefactor?”
“We’ll discuss that after I’ve recovered,” Mu Yunjin replied cheerfully, then suddenly changed the subject. “By the way, I remember before I passed out, my arm was bleeding black blood. Was I poisoned?”
Chu Li nodded. “It’s been detoxified already.”
Hearing this, Mu Yunjin pursed her lips slightly. Judging by Chu Li’s relaxed tone, it probably wasn’t a difficult poison to neutralize.
“Don’t step outside this room until your wound has healed,” Chu Li said, looking down at Mu Yunjin.
Mu Yunjin slightly furrowed her brow and glanced at her bandaged arm. “How long will that take? It probably won’t heal in less than a month…”
“So many unnecessary words.” Chu Li reached out and poked her forehead, seemingly impatient, though his movement was exceptionally gentle.
Mu Yunjin covered her head with her hand and glared at Chu Li. “You think I talk too much? If I hadn’t taken that hit for you, wouldn’t you be the one unable to leave the room for a month?”
“Chu Li, you’re so heartless!”
Chu Li was amused by Mu Yunjin, a slight curve forming at the corner of his lips. “Alright, alright, this Prince is heartless. Since you say so, then this Prince won’t take care of you anymore.”
“You wouldn’t dare?!”
…
When Chu Li walked out of the room, a faint smile still lingered on his face, and his eyes were exceptionally gentle, unable to conceal his excellent mood at the moment.
Ding Xian looked at this scene as if he’d seen a ghost, but thinking about the person in the room being Mu Yunjin, it didn’t seem so strange after all.
After all, his Highness only showed some human emotion when interacting with the Prince’s Consort.
Chu Li gave Ding Xian a casual glance, noticed his curious gaze, and instantly resumed his usual expression, walking toward Mu Yunjin’s room diagonally opposite.
Opening the door, he found Zixiang inside arranging Mu Yunjin’s clothes.
Hearing someone enter, she assumed it was her mistress, but turned to see Chu Li, and was momentarily startled, then nervously bowed to him.
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
Chu Li nodded slightly, glancing around.
Ding Xian looked at Zixiang and said with a smile, “Zixiang, the Prince’s Consort has gone to the palace to accompany Empress Qin for a few days and isn’t in the residence. You can wander around on your own, or chat with Mamma Shen if you like.”
Hearing this, Zixiang nodded woodenly, smiling awkwardly. “No wonder I haven’t seen my mistress since morning. So she went to the palace.”
Zixiang finished arranging the clothes. “Then this servant will take her leave.”
After Zixiang left, Ding Xian went to the door to confirm she had left Li Quan Pavilion, then took out a paper packet from his bosom and poured a pile of yellow powder on the ground.
“Hiss—”
After a while, a faint sound came from under the bed, and a thin silver snake crawled out.
Chu Li narrowed his eyes, watching the silver snake slowly crawl toward the pile of yellow powder.
“This silver snake also comes from the border, called a throat-sealing snake, containing deadly poison,” Ding Xian explained.
After speaking, Ding Xian glanced at the low-pressure aura emanating from the person beside him and said quietly, “The insect mother gu comes from the border, and this throat-sealing snake is also from the border. In theory, the Fifth Princess shouldn’t have…”
Ding Xian stopped halfway through his sentence.
“Dispose of it,” Chu Li glanced at the silver snake and turned to leave Mu Yunjin’s room.
…
Meanwhile, Mu Yunjin was alone in Chu Li’s room. Since Chu Li had left earlier, she had supported herself to sit up, leaning against the headboard, quietly pondering the current situation.
Last night’s attacker was indeed Chu Qingchang—that woman truly forgot pain once her wound healed.
She had given Chu Qingchang several chances, saying they should each mind their own business, but the other woman seemed to pay no attention at all.
If that was the case, then she did not need to mind her own business anymore either.
Just as she was thinking, the door was opened by someone.
Mu Yunjin startled and lay back down, looking at the ceiling with open eyes.
Chu Li entered carrying food, having already seen her sitting up while he was away, but did not expose her, placing the food on a nearby table.
“Get up and eat,” Chu Li said.
Mu Yunjin pouted, intending to retort that she wouldn’t eat, but as the aroma of food wafted over, she lacked the willpower and sat up.
As she sat up, she noticed Chu Li watching her, so she lay back down, pouting and looking pitifully at Chu Li. “I’m too weak, I have no strength.”
Chu Li sighed helplessly, bent down to support her shoulders, gently lifted her, added two soft cushions at the headboard, and only then placed Mu Yunjin down.
Mu Yunjin comfortably leaned against the headboard, pursing her lips in a smile, seemingly finding it particularly enjoyable to order Chu Li around.
“Bring the food to me,” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow at Chu Li.
Chu Li did as told.
When Chu Li brought the food, he showed no intention of giving it to Mu Yunjin, instead scooping up a spoonful and bringing it to her lips.
Mu Yunjin’s face reddened as she pursed her lips and reached out to take the bowl. “I’ll eat by myself.”
“How will you eat with a broken arm?” Chu Li maintained his feeding position.
Mu Yunjin flared up again. “Your arm is broken! My injured arm is the left one, I can eat with my right hand!”
“Fine, here you go…” Chu Li put the spoon back in the bowl and held it out to Mu Yunjin.
Mu Yunjin snorted, reaching for the bowl, instinctively wanting to hold it with her left hand and the spoon with her right. But as soon as her left hand moved, a tearing pain shot through her wound, causing her to cry out.
Immediately, she felt embarrassed, not even daring to raise her head.
“Eat,” Chu Li took the bowl from Mu Yunjin’s hand again.
Mu Yunjin looked at the food held to her lips, feeling strangely embarrassed, but having been hungry for so long, she couldn’t care about other things now and opened her mouth to eat.
For the time that followed, Chu Li sat at the bedside, feeding Mu Yunjin one spoonful at a time.
Mu Yunjin’s cheeks were flushed red as she ate mouthful after mouthful.
After the meal, Chu Li handed her a silk handkerchief. “Wipe your mouth.”
“Mmm.” Mu Yunjin took the handkerchief, wiped her mouth, and pointed to the water pot on the table. “I want water.”
Chu Li looked at Mu Yunjin, then got up to pour water for her.
Behind him, Mu Yunjin covered her mouth and smiled, watching Chu Li’s back, the smile on her lips gradually widening.
Suddenly, she felt that this injury was worth it.
“Knock, knock, knock.” Someone gently knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Chu Li said.
The door was gently pushed open, and the female physician entered carrying a medicine box.
After entering, she first bowed to Chu Li, then seeing Mu Yunjin sitting on the bed, smiled slightly and bowed to her before approaching.
“Prince’s Consort, this servant has come to change your dressing.” The female physician came to the bedside and opened her medicine box.
Mu Yunjin examined this female physician, whom she had never seen before, a middle-aged woman. Could she be another one of Chu Li’s subordinates?
The female physician looked at Mu Yunjin, then lowered her eyes and pulled up her sleeve a little.
“Ah, Prince’s Consort, your sleeve seems to be in the way and might get herb stains. Would it be convenient for you to remove your outer garment? It would make applying medicine easier,” the female physician said.
Mu Yunjin nodded and moved to undo her clothes. After unbuttoning halfway, she seemed to remember something and looked over at Chu Li.
“Aren’t you going to look away?” Mu Yunjin tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Hearing this, the female physician’s eyes showed a hint of surprise, and she smiled. “Prince’s Consort, you and His Highness have been married for so long, why are you still concerned about such details?”
Chu Li stood to one side, and hearing the female physician’s words, his lips curved in an extremely faint arc. His eyes showed appreciation as he looked at the female physician, his brow tinged with interest, his gaze falling leisurely on Mu Yunjin’s somewhat frantic face.
Mu Yunjin was stunned, looked at the female physician, and her mouth twitched slightly. She still hadn’t figured out this female physician’s identity, and if she was just some random doctor from outside who learned that she and Chu Li were fake-married, it seemed likely to cause more trouble.
After some thought, Mu Yunjin brainwashed herself a bit—it was just removing an outer garment, she still had undergarments on, and wasn’t exposing any important areas, so it seemed fine.
Thinking this, Mu Yunjin unfastened her outer clothing and took it off, revealing a patch of pristine, fair skin. Underneath, she wore only a thin pink undershirt; her black hair falling to her waist added several degrees of allure.
“Please apply the medicine for me,” Mu Yunjin extended her left arm for the female physician to change the dressing.
The female physician nodded, but with Mu Yunjin’s right arm near herself and her left arm at the other side of the bed, applying medicine was somewhat inconvenient. She spoke again, somewhat awkwardly.
“Prince’s Consort, could you move your body over a bit?”