chapter 5
chapter 5
Two days later, Pei Yi departed under orders to suppress a bandit stronghold.
The moment he was gone, the writing in the air erupted.
“What happened? The second female lead really didn’t drug him! The male lead left on time!”
“What the hell happens now? The heroine is still waiting for him!”
“Calm down. There must be another plot development. The main story can’t change that much.”
“But the drugging scene! That was my favorite part. They haven’t really cut it, have they? If this keeps up, I’m dropping the story!”
I laughed coldly to myself.
They enjoyed watching other people suffer. Why did they not volunteer to suffer in my place?
If Chun Tang wanted Pei Yi to marry her, why did she have to trample on me to achieve it?
If this was the fate they had arranged for me, I would make certain they never got their wish.
Ten days later, Pei Yi completed his assignment—but he returned on a stretcher, gravely wounded.
The bandits had ambushed him, and he had narrowly escaped with his life.
As I looked at his bloodless face and the blood seeping through his bandages, a strange thought came to me. If I had obeyed Grand Madam and drugged him, he would have missed the expedition. The very act that doomed me in their story would have saved his life.
And after that, he would have repaid me with cruelty.
Was his condition now not a kind of retribution?
Pei Yi remained at home to recover. The physician said the wounds were perilous. Had Pei Yi not been young and strong, he might not have survived.
Madam Pei and Grand Madam wept until they nearly collapsed. They ordered me to tend him with the utmost care.
I understood the danger perfectly well. If Pei Yi died, none of us servants would escape the consequences.
So I devoted myself to caring for him.
During the worst days, I remained at his bedside without even removing my outer clothes. Feverish and racked with pain, he sometimes gripped my hand until it was mottled with purple bruises. Even the servant boys winced when they saw it.
At last he began to recover. I continued brewing his medicine, feeding it to him, and watching over him closely.
But whenever it was time to wash his body, I left his private areas untouched and called a servant boy to finish the task.
One boy gave me a helpless look.
“Sister Xia Zhi, Madam Pei said our hands are too rough to care for him properly. Please do it yourself.”
I shook my head honestly.
“The Young Master dislikes my touch. If I take advantage of his illness and he blames me when he wakes, someone as insignificant as I am cannot bear the consequences.”
Then I walked out, leaving the boy staring after me.
The comments had been silent for several days. Now they appeared again.
“I finally understand. The second female lead’s survival instincts are incredible!”
“Hahahaha! The male lead is actually awake. He’s so angry the veins are standing out on his forehead!”
“He can’t believe she finds his little brother so repulsive she won’t even touch it. She acts as if it were filthy! Hahahaha!”