Chapter 25: Then, do you fancy me?

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—— It was already deep into the latter half of the night. Cheng Yuan nearly staggered into the room, then hurriedly fed the pill from the jade vial into Cheng Zhi’s mouth.

When it was done, she seemed to have exhausted every last ounce of strength.

Her arm went limp, and she collapsed against the edge of the bed. The jade vial clattered to the floor and rolled noisily toward the threshold.

It came to a stop beside Huang Xuqiu’s shoes, and he bent to pick it up.

Cheng Yuan had run all the way back to the courtyard, making quite a commotion.

“Sister Yuan, this jade vial…”

He gave it a faint sniff. Candlelight flickered across his brows and eyes, but before he could finish, he had already understood what had happened.

“It’s my fault. I wasn’t thorough enough just now—I should have checked more carefully. Fortunately, Auntie is all right.”

As he spoke, boundless relief rose within him.

Cheng Yuan said nothing. She only stared fixedly at Cheng Zhi.

The pill dissolved the moment it entered the mouth, yet Cheng Zhi’s face showed not the slightest change.

Huang Xuqiu stepped forward and took her pulse. His brows relaxed as he comforted her, “Auntie’s pulse is weak, but steady. She should wake tomorrow.”

Only then did some of the anxiety leave Cheng Yuan’s face. She still kept her head lowered, lips pressed tightly together, and it was a long while before she forced two words from her throat.

“Thank you.”

A trace of delight appeared in Huang Xuqiu’s eyes. He said gently, “There’s no need to be so formal with me, Sister Yuan. You should take better care of yourself. Auntie worries about you most of all. When she wakes tomorrow, she’ll be heartbroken if she sees you with dark circles beneath your eyes.”

As he spoke, Cheng Yuan gave Cheng Zhi a troubled glance. Only then did she brace herself against the small table beside the bed and try to stand.

However, she had been kneeling for too long. The moment she rose, her vision went black, and she swayed to one side.

“Sister Yuan!”

Huang Xuqiu thrust out an arm, but stopped with it suspended in midair.

Cheng Yuan caught hold of the edge of the bed, shook her head, and waved him off.

“I’m fine.”

Her lips were pale as death, yet she forced a smile for him. Huang Xuqiu’s heart clenched, but when he opened his mouth, all the other words of concern died unspoken.

“Then I’ll ask the maids whether there’s anything left for supper. You must be hungry after going all day without eating. That’s probably why you feel faint.”

Cheng Yuan shook her head.

“Don’t go.”

Huang Xuqiu blinked, finally sensing that something was wrong.

“Sister Yuan, did you get this medicine from Cousin Miss?”

Cheng Yuan did not deny it. Huang Xuqiu tightened his grip around the jade vial.

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“This medicine for feigned death is far superior to the usual kind. There are ingredients in it that even I can’t identify by scent. Why would Cousin Miss kindly use it on Auntie?”

“It wasn’t her kindness. It was Old Madam Zhu’s. At first, Cousin Miss truly intended to have Mother buried alive in a ghost marriage. But Old Madam Zhu had spent her whole life praying and abstaining from meat. She had lost her husband in the first half of her life, and in the second, had been forced to mourn her own son. She wished only for death, yet could not bear to burden her son with the sin of killing. So she took Mother’s place and tried to deceive the heavens with this medicine for feigned death, intending to go below and accompany her son.”

“As for Cousin Miss, she probably regarded Young Master Zhu as an elder brother. She was unwilling to die for love, but she truly did wish to send a few more of us to our deaths so we could accompany him. Old Madam Zhu must have instructed her that, after her own death, she was to give the medicine to Mother and let her leave. But Cousin Miss naturally obeyed only on the surface.”

Otherwise, she would not have taken out the jade vial only when Cheng Yuan visited her that night.

Cheng Yuan did not believe for a moment that she had genuinely forgotten.

If Cheng Yuan had obediently gone to sleep and waited until morning, she might have opened her eyes only to find the King of Hell waiting for her.

Huang Xuqiu’s pupils contracted sharply. He looked incredulous, yet for a moment he could not find the words to respond.

“That’s outrageous!” he finally spat, his clear eyes blazing with fury.

“Then why would she suddenly be kind enough to give you the medicine?”

“What if it’s counterfeit?”

Cheng Yuan shook her head. “She asked me to do something for her.”

Huang Xuqiu was furious. “What did she want?”

After Huang Xuqiu left with heavy footsteps, Cheng Yuan took one last look at Cheng Zhi, extinguished the candle, and withdrew from the side room.

The light snow outside had stopped long ago. The moon hung brilliantly in the sky, casting down a gentle radiance.

Cheng Yuan drew a deep breath. The cold air flooded her lungs, clearing her mind considerably.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a black figure in the corner of the courtyard.

It stood rigidly, like a stone statue.

Even as a confirmed atheist, Cheng Yuan felt a cold sweat break out across her back. After all, Young Master Zhu’s coffin was still in the front hall, though she had no idea whether Cousin Miss had dealt with it.

She tentatively took one step forward, and the shadow moved. Moonlight slipped through the branches, revealing half a face.

“…Changzhi?”

Cheng Yuan let out a breath of relief, then looked at him in confusion.

“What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

Perhaps because she knew her mother would wake tomorrow, her spirits had lightened considerably, and she even had the heart to tease him.

“Couldn’t find the privy—”

But when Xie Changzhi approached and she saw his bloodshot eyes, the rest of her sentence caught in her throat.

“Auntie is all right. That’s wonderful,” he said hoarsely.

The moment he had heard Cheng Yuan’s commotion, he had come out. But when he was only a few steps away, he had stopped.

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He had not dared to approach, afraid he might see something else he could not bear.

Nor did he have the right to go forward.

In the end, Huang Xuqiu had beaten him to it.

Shamefully, he had crouched outside the door and eavesdropped on the entire exchange. His emotions had been like someone repeatedly leaping from a cliff, rising and plummeting again and again.

Auntie was still alive. At last, he could free himself from the depths of despair and draw a breath.

But then he heard that Cheng Yuan had been entrusted with a task, and his heart leapt into his throat.

“I’ll go with you,” he said, summoning his courage.

If they had been any closer, Cheng Yuan would have seen the trace of unease in his eyes—

and his inferiority.

She rejected him without a second thought.

The matter was clearly not simple. She could not allow anyone else close to her to be dragged into danger because of her.

“Why not? I can help you. I’m useful!”

Xie Changzhi could not stop himself from raising his voice.

Cheng Yuan looked at him seriously. “This matter requires careful consideration. I can handle it alone. Cousin Miss gave me no deadline, but I must see it done properly.”

Especially since the person involved was undoubtedly connected to this ghost marriage.

“You just think I’m useless.”

Xie Changzhi’s face turned ashen. He tilted his head slightly. The blood on his cold, jade-pale face had long since dried, while several loose strands of hair fell across his brow, concealing the fragility in his eyes.

Cheng Yuan frowned. She reached out, wanting to touch the terrible scar on his face.

“Changzhi, your face…”

Xie Changzhi took a step toward her. His eyes were like bottomless whirlpools, and he gave a bleak smile.

“I’m disfigured. Do you no longer love me?”

Cheng Yuan froze, unable for the moment to connect the two matters in his mind.

“It’s all right. Xuqiu is an excellent physician. Once we return, I’ll beg him to help you. He won’t let you keep the scar.”

“Xuqiu, Xuqiu—Cheng Yuan, if he is the one you favor, why did you take me as well?”

Xie Changzhi stood quietly beneath the tree. His exquisite features held a trace of sorrow, his eyes dull and lifeless. Every word seemed to bleed.

Cheng Yuan was utterly at a loss. She hurried two steps forward and said, “What nonsense are you talking about? I don’t like Xuqiu!”

“Really? Then, Sister Yuan, do you like me?”

His face was pale as snow, yet his dark eyes shimmered with an enchanting light—and with a humble plea so faint it was almost impossible to see.

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