Chapter 3

Wei Yanzhi slammed the door and left.

He was furious and did not return for several days.

That evening, my maid brought my medicine as usual. She seemed to have something to say but held her tongue.

Only after I finished drinking did she finally speak.

“Madam, although Master hasn’t come back, he sends someone every day to remind me to make sure you take your medicine. He said Miss Shen’s poison is vicious and that you cannot miss the antidote for even one day. He told me I must keep watch over you.”

My maid looked conflicted. “Madam, Master still cares about you.”

The corner of my mouth twitched.

So he was that afraid I might die.

I wondered what expression he would wear when he learned that the prescription he had written with his own hand was what poisoned me to death.

Cough, cough!

I tried to laugh, but coughed up a mouthful of blood instead.

Crimson splashed across the wooden table. My maid started in alarm.

My vision went black, and I lost consciousness.

Of course. With several poisons mingling inside me, my body was deteriorating faster. I feared I would not even last the month.

It was already dark when I awoke.

In the candlelight, Wei Yanzhi’s face was taut with anxiety as he reached for my wrist to take my pulse.

Dust clung to his travel-worn clothes. He looked as if he had just rushed back.

Our eyes met the instant mine opened. He froze, then quickly pressed his lips together and withdrew his hand, his expression hardening.

“Huo Yunqiao, when did you learn to play tricks like this?”

“I knew there was no way my antidote could fail to cure you. If you wanted me back, you could have simply said so. Why pretend to faint?”

I tucked my wrist beneath the covers and turned my back to him, answering without heat.

“If you don’t want to be here, go back.”

That had been close. A moment more and he would have discovered the truth.

He choked on his reply, but his expression softened instead.

One hand settled on my shoulder, and his voice became gentle.

“All right. You’re still sulking over such a small matter? If you don’t like it, I simply won’t ask her to come again.”

“Haven’t you always talked about going to Jiangzhou? In a few days, I’ll take you back. How does that sound?”

My heart stirred, and I nodded.

My adoptive parents lived in Jiangzhou. Before returning to my own world, I had to visit them one last time.

Having him escort me would be convenient too.

Unfortunately, he still failed to accompany me.

On the day of our departure, a plague broke out in Liangcheng. Someone stopped Wei Yanzhi beside the carriage.

He looked at me guiltily. “Ah Qiao—”

I smiled in understanding. “It’s all right. Go.”

Several townspeople bowed to me. “Madam, your selflessness does you honor!”

I boarded the carriage without looking back.

Wei Yanzhi was a divine physician. Things like this happened often.

Lives were at stake. I had never resented him for it.

Of course matters of life and death should come before me.

What I had never imagined was that everything could come before me, while Shen Ke came before everything.

Wei Yanzhi went to Jiangzhou after all.

When I arrived, he was in a frantic rush to formulate an antidote.

He looked embarrassed to see me and sighed helplessly.

“That foolish girl Ah Ke caused trouble again. She tested poison on several local families, and they dragged the case before the magistrate. I have to make the antidote quickly.”

“What about the plague?” I stared into his eyes.

Wei Yanzhi hesitated. “There are other physicians…”

Then I knew. He had never gone to Liangcheng at all.

Shen Ke using commoners to test poison was nothing new.

She poisoned them and Wei Yanzhi cured them. Back and forth, it had become their idea of flirtation.

It was not that I had never tried to persuade him to stop her. Wei Yanzhi had only smiled with helpless indulgence. “What can I do? She is my own junior sister. I can only spoil her.”

That day, I finally understood that Divine Physician Wei, who claimed compassion for all living souls, could value human lives less than weeds for her sake.

I found Shen Ke leisurely feeding fish beside a pond.

She cast me a provocative glance and lifted her chin.

“I told you long ago, Sister. Whenever I want him, Senior Brother will come straight to my side. Do you believe me now?”

I closed my eyes. “Those were human lives.”

She arched a brow. “So what? Senior Brother promised that no matter what mess I make, he will clean it up for me.”

“Besides, they’re only ants. Being treated by Senior Brother is a blessing they should be grateful for.”

I said nothing.

Sooner or later, she would learn that those ants would make her pay.

I had already preserved evidence of everything she had done. Before I left, I would present it before the throne.