Ning Yin shook his head slightly, with the stubbornness of a young man, “I have no home to return to. I cannot let it suffer wandering with me.”
Even knowing Ning Yin would wield overwhelming power in the future, Yu Lingxi still felt uncomfortable.
She hadn’t done anything wrong, yet she felt a faint sense of guilt.
“I’m leaving. Take care, Miss.”
Ning Yin coughed, enduring the pain as he insisted on bowing deeply. When he straightened up, his entire face had gone white.
Clutching the wound on his chest, he turned and walked toward the opposite side door. Although he tried to keep his back straight, his steps were extremely unsteady, looking very weak and pitiful.
For some reason, even though he was following her wishes, Yu Lingxi didn’t feel as relieved as she had imagined.
She watched Ning Yin’s lonely, desolate figure retreating, her eyes showing signs of wavering. It was only for a moment before she suppressed it.
After all, he would have to leave once healed; a few days earlier or later made no difference.
There was no sound behind her for a while.
Yu Lingxi hesitated, wondering if he had left, when suddenly she heard a “thud” as someone collapsed.
Then came the maid’s cry: “Miss, he seems to have fainted!”
Yu Lingxi turned back in shock.
Was the Ning Yin of this life so fragile?!
…
Ning Yin lay on the bed, his complexion as terrible as a dead man’s.
The old doctor felt his pulse for a long time, frowning, “His pulse is weak and floating. Even an iron body couldn’t withstand such strain.”
If the old doctor wasn’t trustworthy and his expression wasn’t so serious, Yu Lingxi would have suspected that Ning Yin was faking his unconsciousness.
She asked, “He has been carefully recovering in the mansion for half a month, with continuous medicine. Why haven’t his injuries shown any improvement?”
“To be honest, this pulse is extremely ominous. I’ve never seen anything like it,” the old doctor frowned. “It seems the external injuries may have healed, but the internal ones have not. Injuries to tendons and bones take a hundred days to heal!”
A hundred days? Wouldn’t that mean he could only recover after spring began?
Just as she was worrying, Ning Yin slowly regained consciousness.
His eyelashes fluttered lightly, his black eyes meeting Yu Lingxi’s complex gaze.
Then, as if remembering something, he clutched his chest and sat up unsteadily, coughing hoarsely, “Miss, I’ll leave right away…”
“Hey, don’t move!” Yu Lingxi quickly pressed him down, frowning, “Do you not want to live?”
Ning Yin pressed his lips together, his pale, handsome face showing a hint of embarrassment: “I cannot… trouble Miss any further.”
“If you die at the mansion gate, that would be even more trouble.”
Yu Lingxi was so angry she tapped his forehead, saying irritably, “After taking so much medicine, where did it all go? Why aren’t you at all like your previous life…”
Realizing she had almost let something slip, Yu Lingxi bit her full lower lip.
Ning Yin didn’t understand, but still lowered his eyes and obediently said, “I’m sorry.”
Seeing his pitiful appearance, Yu Lingxi couldn’t vent her anger.
She was tired and didn’t want to struggle anymore.
After a while, she sighed and said helplessly, “Lie down. It must be that I owed you in a previous life.”
So Ning Yin lay down, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on her.
Weak as he was, his eyes were very bright, probably happy that he could stay again.
Like a stray dog, persistent and pitiful.
His Adam’s apple moved as he said hoarsely, “From now on, this life of mine belongs to Miss.”
Yu Lingxi looked away, snorting lightly, “Save these pretty words until you’ve recovered.”
Soon, Hutao, who had gone to fetch medicine, came running back.
Her face radiant with joy, she curtseyed hurriedly before even entering the door, smiling, “Miss, the Elder Miss has returned from her official duty!”
Like a long-disused mechanism starting to work again, a bright light flashed in Yu Lingxi’s eyes as she rose and repeated, “Sister?”
“Yes, yes, the Elder Miss!”
Hutao, slightly out of breath, her cheeks flushed with excitement, winked at Yu Lingxi, “Second Young Master Xue also came along. They’re chatting in the front hall right now!”
“Second Young Master Xue?” It had been too long since she’d heard this title, and Yu Lingxi didn’t react immediately.
“It’s the Second Young Master from the Prime Minister’s mansion! Miss, have you forgotten in your happiness?” Hutao laughed.
“Indeed, I should be happy.” A light smile spread in Yu Lingxi’s eyes as she walked a couple of steps toward the door.
Remembering something, she paused and glanced back at the bed.
“Rest well,” she said, then without further lingering, she walked quickly toward the exit.
The front courtyard was lively.
Yu Lingxi stood in the corridor, hearing from a distance her brother Yu Huanchen teasing their sister, slyly saying, “Not seeing you for two months, Yu Xinyi, you’ve grown even more burly! With such a mannish appearance, which family would dare take you as a bride?”
Yu Huanchen and Yu Xinyi were twins, the same age and both stubborn, having quarreled since childhood.
Behind the plum tree, a tall female general stood with her hand on her sword, the blade partially drawn, shouting delicately, “Yu Huanchen, are you looking to die?”
Yu Xinyi’s appearance wasn’t stunningly beautiful, but with bright eyes and red lips, a heroic and spirited demeanor, her voice clear like falling pearls, she possessed a unique beauty that blurred the line between masculine and feminine.
In her previous life, Sister had journeyed a thousand miles alone to the northern frontier to uncover the truth about their father’s and brother’s deaths, only to fall into an abyss on her way back, evidence and all, leaving not even her remains…
Thinking of this, Yu Lingxi’s nose reddened.
“Suisui!”
Yu Xinyi spotted the gentle and beautiful young woman in the corridor, sheathed her sword, and opened her arms, “Come, let Sister hug you!”
It had been so many years since Yu Lingxi had seen that spirited smile. She could no longer hold back, lifting her skirt and running all the way to fall into Yu Xinyi’s cold armored embrace.
“Sister!” Her eyes reddened as she smiled, “I’ve missed you so much.”
“You little crybaby,” Yu Xinyi patted her sister’s shoulder, then set her down steadily on the ground. “By the way, there’s someone who wants to see you. He insisted on coming to the mansion with me.”
With that, she stepped aside with a mischievous smile, revealing the elegant figure in moon-white behind her.
Xue Cen looked younger than in her memory, and even more gentle and refined. As the wind blew, the jade ornaments at his waist made a tinkling sound, like the music of a gentleman.
Looking at Yu Lingxi, his eyes held a barely concealed, restrained joy. His voice, clear as spring water washing over jade, came to her as he called, his ears reddening, “Second Sister, have you been well lately?”
In the back courtyard, in the outer quarters.
The medicinal pot boiled on the stove, a bitter herbal fragrance filling the room.
Ning Yin lay on the bed, the light in his eyes gradually dimming and growing cold.
Expressionless, he raised his hand, pressed his fingers to the back of his tongue, then “umph” — spat out a half-dissolved, blood-stained poison pill.
This pill was still in the experimental stage; though it could deceive doctors by creating symptoms of extreme weakness, it was extremely harmful to the body.
The young man suppressed the burning pain in his stomach, crushed the pill to destroy the evidence, and tapped his fingers on the edge of the bed.
Prime Minister’s mansion… Second Young Master Xue?
The direct grandson of the old fox Xue family… this game was becoming more and more interesting.