The clingy concubine ran away, and the sickly prince lost control.

In her panic, Luo Qingyan tried her best to calm herself down: "Your Highness, what are you saying? I've already drunk half a pot of this tea, and I'm fine!"

She added the drug and the antidote by mixing them into the teacup while pouring water, making it very difficult to detect.

"Let me fan you."

Luo Qingyan busied herself fanning the air, and Pei Shiyuan frowned. Sure enough, it wasn't hot anymore, and the irritability subsided.

"Your Highness, your irritability must be because you are worried about your illness. Also, you usually eat very little, but tonight you ate a whole bowl of rice. It's normal to feel unwell."

Luo Qingyan rambled on and on.

Pei Shiyuan still had a furrowed brow, lowered eyelids, and a tense expression.

Luo Qingyan's heart skipped a beat. Had he noticed something amiss?

The surroundings were so quiet that only the wind could be heard. The wind brushed against her cheek, lifting a strand of hair from her side. The end of the hair brushed against the spot where Pei Shiyuan had just kissed her, and the warm feeling of his lips was still there.

"sorry."

Three words broke the silence.

"Phew~"

Luo Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief, her heart finally at ease. It turned out that she was annoyed because she had kissed her, not because she had discovered anything.

"Your Highness, I am your concubine, there is no need for apologies."

"You're not a concubine. When that day comes, I'll make arrangements for you. Remember, all you need to do now is stay by my side; you don't need to do anything else."

Pei Shiyuan even omitted the word "serve," he only wanted Luo Qingyan to stay in the Duke's mansion until the day he died, so that his mother would not have to find another woman to carry on the family line.

"Your Highness, don't say discouraging things. You will definitely get better. The moon is beautiful tonight. Why don't you compose a poem for me?" Luo Qingyan changed the subject. If they could get through another month, there would be hope of finding a miracle doctor.

The moonlight shone on her upturned face, making it appear exceptionally bright.

"I'm not in the mood," Pei Shiyuan said, then rolled his wheelchair back.

After passing the imperial examination, he fell ill, always feeling that it was related to these events. He felt aversion to even reading articles, let alone writing poetry.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

She was unhappy again, so Luo Qingyan chased after her.

In the shadows not far away stood the old lady and Granny Zheng.

"Aunt Luo, you have angered the young master."

Luo Qingyan caught up with Pei Shiyuan, but was stopped by Cui Rou who suddenly appeared.

"Miss Cui, did you see that I angered the young master?" Luo Qingyan asked back. Pei Shiyuan was inexplicably angry. It would be easy for him, a top scholar in the imperial examination, to write a poem. Why was he angry?

"Brother Yuan, let's go, let's try the walnut shortbread I made myself."

Cui Rou pushed hard and snatched the wheelchair from Luo Qingyan's hands.

Luo Qingyan lost her balance and staggered backward, only managing to stand firmly by grabbing the fence of the flower wall.

A sharp pain shot through her; she guessed her hand had been cut by the fence.

"Yuanqing, it's getting late. Take your cousin home."

Pei Shiyuan called out, and Yuan Qing stepped out from the side. "Miss Cui, it's dark and windy. I'll escort you home."

"I'm not leaving, Brother Yuan. What did you call me? Don't you always call me Rou'er?"

Cui Rou's high-pitched voice echoed in the night; her brother Yuan was still angry with her.

She personally made walnut cookies to please him, but that wasn't enough.

"Brother Yuan, I know you love me deeply, which is why you kept Luo Qingyan around to make me angry. My feelings for you are no less. Let's not be angry anymore, okay?"

"Cousin, I am now a dying man. In the future, you will still have to get married. Don't say these things anymore. If others hear them, it may hinder your future marriage. Now break off the engagement and find a good man as soon as possible."

When he was a child, he met Cui Rou at the Cui family. More than ten years later, they met again more than a year ago when he returned from the battlefield and saw her at his residence. He then took the imperial examination and fell ill.

Cui Rou distanced herself from him.

He didn't have deep romantic feelings for his wife, and I believe Cui Rou didn't either.

Cui Rou simply couldn't see her own heart clearly, or perhaps she was bewitched by her possessiveness.

"I will never break off the engagement." Cui Rou gritted her teeth, her thin lips opening and closing.

"Then you can wait until I die!" Pei Shiyuan rolled away in his wheelchair.

Luo Qingyan and Yuan Qing followed closely behind.

A few leaves drifted down, landing on Cui Rou's dejected figure. Pei Shiyuan had hurt her deeply. Even when she was sick, she hadn't broken off the engagement. What more did he want? Did he really expect her to marry him? She wasn't some lowly Luo Qingyan who would even climb into a patient's bed.

Cui Rou headed towards her courtyard, muttering curses at Luo Qingyan all the way.

Linfeng Residence.

"Young Master, why are you angry?" Luo Qingyan asked directly. She didn't want to guess, it was so annoying, but all she got in return was Pei Shiyuan's cold look.

"Throw away the walnut cookies."

He didn't give Luo Qingyan any hope, and he did the same to Cui Rou. Even if Cui Rou was being insincere, he still told her to stay away from him so that she could marry someone better in the future.

Pei Shiyuan exuded a chilling aura, which startled Luo Qingyan. She quickly and deftly placed the food box containing walnut pastries outside the door, just in case a stray cat came to eat them.

"Your hand is cut. Go rest and get it bandaged. I'll call Yuanqing over."

Pei Shiyuan's aloof demeanor made Luo Qingyan obediently return to the side room.

Clean the half-inch-long wound on your hand.

"hiss"

It was throbbing slightly. This Cui Rou was quite strong. She was a delicate young lady, but when she got into a fight, she was just as strong as a rough old woman.

He cares so much about Pei Shiyuan.

He kept calling out, "Brother Yuan, Brother Yuan."

Luo Qingyan whispered, mimicking Cui Rou's voice.

"What are you yelling about?"

Pei Shiyuan's voice came through, and he heard it.

Luo Qingyan shut up for a moment, blinked, and readily admitted, "I'll call you Yuan-ge, just like Miss Cui."

"Shut up," Pei Shiyuan commanded.

Luo Qingyan finally shut up and shrugged, feeling a bit nauseous.

She had a good day; Pei Shiyuan kissed her cheek, showing improvement.

Night falls and the sun rises.

The next morning.

"Aunt Luo, the old lady wants you to kneel in the ancestral hall," said Granny Zheng.

Luo Qingyan was startled for a moment, and had no choice but to follow Granny Zheng.

She didn't do anything wrong!

Yesterday, she coaxed Pei Shiyuan to eat quite a lot of food. Shouldn't the old lady reward her?

Eating gives you strength to fight off illness—that's a great achievement!

Luo Qingyan entered the ancestral hall and saw that in the light and shadow, the old lady's figure was stretched long and slender, still dignified and solemn.

"Greetings, Madam."

"Kneel down."

The old lady scolded.

Luo Qingyan didn't understand what had happened, so she could only kneel down. Yesterday was fine all day. She ate plum cakes, had a meal in the pavilion, and enjoyed the moon. Could it be related to Cui Rou?

How Pei Shiyuan treats Cui Rou is his business, what does it have to do with her? Her hand is cut.

"How dare you use my name to deceive the Crown Prince."

The old lady said.

So that's what it was about.

"Please forgive me, Madam, I just wanted the young master to have something to eat."

Pei Shiyuan wouldn't eat her if she didn't use the old lady's name.

"You gave that plum and almond cake to the young master without having it examined by the imperial physician. Do you think you should be punished?" The old lady turned around, her imposing aura striking Luo Qingyan's head.

Luo Qingyan remained silent. She had indeed been negligent; she usually didn't think much about what she ate and had been careless.

"The old lady is right."

"When you prepare new food for the young master in the future, remember to have the royal physician check it first to make sure there are no problems before feeding it to the young master."

"Yes," Luo Qingyan replied, bowing her head.

"Madam, Yinxing has come to report that Miss Cui is seriously ill," said Granny Zheng.