Just as Feng Qingyin’s lips were about to brush Jian Yi’s, Jian Yi’s eyes suddenly darkened and he pushed her away.

Feng Qingyin nearly fell to the ground. Jian Yi steadied her and finally guided her back into the chair.

“Jian Yi?” Feng Qingyin looked at him in astonishment. They had been this close — and he could still push her away.

The incense burning in the room — had it truly not stirred any desire in him at all? The fragrance was so heavy!

Jian Yi stepped back two paces. It took considerable effort before his head cleared somewhat.

He did not know what had come over him tonight. Just a moment ago, there had seemed to be a stretch of time when his consciousness grew a little muddled.

“Until I find a way to free you from Emperor Qiwen’s control, I will not touch you.”

Jian Yi reined in his breath, channeled his inner energy to steady his mind, and his consciousness became clear again.

He let out a quiet sigh and said, “Qingyin, you saved my life. I will never fail you in this lifetime. But I cannot take you rashly — that would be a dishonor to you.”

“Jian Yi, I…” She did not need his honor. What she needed right now was simply a man.

Jian Yi looked at her once more, then turned and walked away — just like that.

“Linlong, Linlong!” Feng Qingyin was so furious she could have screamed. That block of wood — couldn’t he see she was already beyond endurance?

What was all this talk of dishonor? What woman ever needed a man’s honor? What they needed was the strength of his body! Infuriating! This was unbearable!

Linlong, keeping guard outside, heard the call and immediately rushed in.

Beyond the inner chamber, the Noble Consort was alone — there was no sign of Jian Yi anywhere.

Linlong was baffled. She went and closed the windows. “My Lady, what happened? Where is Jian Yi?”

“That wretch! That wretch walked out!” Feng Qingyin ground her teeth. She had already drunk the drugged wine, and before Jian Yi had arrived, she had also lit aphrodisiac incense in the inner chamber.

Now, with the effects of two different substances bearing down on her at once, how was she to hold on?

Jian Yi was clearly fond of her, was he not? Since he was fond of her, why would he not take her? She had even burned aphrodisiac incense, and it still could not bring him down — this was simply too humiliating!

“My Lady, how are you?” Linlong saw her swaying in the chair and immediately went over to steady her.

The moment she made contact with her body, Linlong gave a low cry. “My Lady, you are burning up!”

“I feel terrible…” Feng Qingyin’s forehead was drenched in cold sweat. She exhaled in shallow pants. “Go — fetch two of the good-looking young eunuchs.”

“My Lady, young eunuchs… young eunuchs don’t have… don’t have…” Linlong naturally understood what state her mistress was in.

But young eunuchs — how could they possibly help her?

“Then can you find this Lady a man anywhere in this rear palace?” Feng Qingyin’s words were nearly a shout.

Linlong was frightened and said hurriedly, “My Lady, such words — you must not speak them so loudly…”

Watching her complexion grow more flushed by the moment, the sweat on her brow increasing without cease, Linlong could do nothing but nod. “My Lady, your servant knows what to do. Afterward, your servant will see to everything cleanly.”

“Be quick!”

“Yes!”

Without realizing how, Yanu had already been at Tianjitang for more than half a month. In recent days, the hall had been remarkably quiet.

The palace, too, was very quiet. Feng Jiu’er, aside from making her regular visits into the palace to treat the Veiled Lady’s legs, spent her days going out on house calls to treat patients. Life was busy, yet also fulfilling.

That day, after Yanu had served Feng Jiu’er her midday meal, Jiu’er pulled him into the bedchamber.

“This bowl of medicine has additional medicinal catalyst added to it. Taste it.” Jiu’er pushed a bowl of freshly brewed medicine in front of him.

“Mmph, mmph…” Yanu’s meaning was — if she needed medicine brewed, why had she not let him do it himself?

Having spent more than half a month together, the wordless understanding between Jiu’er and Yanu had grown even greater than before. Now, with just two low sounds from him, she could more or less understand what he meant — like two ordinary people holding a conversation.

“This formula is one I have developed myself most recently. I had to do it with my own hands; even the timing of the heat had to be precisely controlled. I could not leave it to anyone else.”

Yanu only looked at her once and said nothing more. He picked up the bowl, asked not a single question, and drank it straight down.

Yet the moment the medicine went down, his brows instinctively contracted. Though the bandaging across his face made his expression impossible to see clearly, in his eyes one could see the pain he was suppressing.

“Is it very uncomfortable? Is your throat in agony?” Feng Jiu’er stared at his eyes and asked.

The wrappings on his face had been applied by her own hands. Having treated him for more than half a month, the toxins in Yanu’s body were nearly entirely expelled.

But because the poison had ravaged his face for years, in order to allow his true features to be restored as quickly as possible, Feng Jiu’er had applied her own specially formulated medicine directly to his face and wrapped it in gauze.

Yanu said nothing. After setting down the bowl, all ten of his fingers pressed tightly into his palms. Cold sweat seeped from his temples, dampening even the gauze — yet still he would not utter a single sound.

“If you feel the pain, call out. What does it matter? When I’m in pain, I cry out too.”

Crying out might ease the suffering, but men of this era all seemed to possess this excessive pride — even Yanu was the same. Clearly the pain was driving cold sweat from his body in streams, yet still he refused to cry out.

Did face truly matter that much?

Yanu still said nothing. In the end, he simply reached out and gripped the armrest of the old wooden chair beside him.

It was fortunate that the armrest was solid enough. Otherwise, given the force with which he was gripping it now, he might well have snapped it clean off.

“If you can hold on, there is also one more vial of medicine here. Drink this one too.” Feng Jiu’er had no desire to watch him suffer, but this medicine had not been easy to prepare. It had the function of stimulating cellular regeneration. If he drank it, he would recover.

Yanu exhaled two shallow pants, then reached out a sweat-drenched hand to take the medicine vial. He tilted his head back and drank it in one go.

As the medicine slid down his throat, the pain made his entire body tremble faintly. Yet still he only gripped the armrest of the chair, never making a single sound.

Feng Jiu’er stood at his side and kept watch over him.

Yanu’s trust in her was genuine. The first bowl had already brought him to that state of torment, yet he had still drunk this vial without a moment’s hesitation.

A Yanu like this — how could anyone not feel tenderness toward him?

No one knew how much time passed. Yanu clenched his teeth with force and at last straightened the body that had been bent slightly inward, and looked at Feng Jiu’er.

His throat was still in agony. Before, he had been able to produce simple, monotone sounds. Now, he could not produce even the faintest noise.

Yet he harbored not a single doubt. The medicines Jiu’er had him drink were absolutely good for his body. There was nothing that warranted suspicion.

“Good. It should not hurt as badly now.” Jiu’er let out a long breath. Watching him suffer was hard for her too.

Yanu nodded. Jiu’er said again, “Come, sit down. I need to change the medicine on your face.”

Yanu, as always, did whatever Jiu’er told him to do — even knowing that each time she changed the medicine on his face, it would leave him rigid with pain from head to toe, drenched in cold sweat…