I add points to Indian martial arts.

Shaking his head, Li Wei felt he needed to go home and see what was going on. He was still a little unaccustomed to not having Suleisa waiting for him outside. Indeed, humans are creatures of habit.

In just a few days, he found it hard to get used to the absence of the figure carrying the copper kettle outside the courtyard gate.

"Where did your young lady go?"

Back home, at the corner leading into the corridor, Li Wei stopped a maid carrying clean clothes and asked her a question.

The maid immediately retreated to the wall, bowing deeply until her forehead almost touched the clothes in her hands: "Report to Salma, Suleisadevi is not feeling well today and is resting in her room."

Devi is an ancient Indian honorific for women; Suleisha Devi can be understood as Miss Suleisha.

"Is she sick?" Li Wei hadn't expected Suleisa to be sick. She was perfectly fine when he saw her leave yesterday. How could she have gotten sick overnight?

……

The room was dimly lit, with only a small ceramic lamp in front of the shrine and a copper saucer lamp by the bedside providing light.

Suleisa lay listlessly in bed, her face pale and she looked extremely weak, her lips having lost their usual rosy hue.

She was wrapped in a soft, old sari as a cover-up, her hair loosely draped over her shoulders, and her thin shoulders trembled slightly with the occasional suppressed cough.

She didn't sleep a wink last night, and prayed for peace in front of the shrine wearing only a thin layer of clothing. Perhaps due to lack of rest, wearing too little clothing, and catching a chill, she found herself with a bit of a cold this morning.

Earlier, her mother touched her forehead and then instructed the maid to brew "kadah"—an Ayurvedic medicine commonly kept at home to treat colds and fevers.

Normally, this illness would have been a godsend; she could have easily dressed up pitifully, but instead, she insisted on waiting for him at the door, letting him see her weakness and perseverance, and deeply imprinting her tender care for him despite her illness into his eyes.

But for some reason, she just didn't want to see Li Wei. She felt that seeing Li Wei made her feel irritable, so she decided to stay away from him for a day while she was sick, so that she could have some peace and quiet. She stayed in bed like that for a whole day.

"Am I afraid to contact Levi?" Suleisa lay in bed, her mind wandering. Her behavior today was definitely not like her.

"Miss, the khata is ready. Please drink some while it's hot."

The door was gently pushed open, and a maid came in carrying a heavy copper bowl. The strong smell of medicine immediately wafted out—the aroma of toluci leaves, turmeric, cinnamon, pepper, and cloves simmered together for a long time, both spicy and bitter, a smell she had disliked since childhood.

Surisa propped herself up and took the warm copper bowl. A few golden ghee glints floated on the surface of the deep amber-colored medicine. She frowned her delicate brows, held her breath, and took a small sip. The astringent taste of the toluci leaves and the earthy aroma of the turmeric hit her nostrils, followed by the sharp bitterness of the black pepper, making her shiver slightly. Hmm, it was indeed the kind of bitterness she didn't like. She decided to drink two or three more sips and then stop.

"Has Livisalma been practicing martial arts all day?" Suleisa took another sip of her medicine and then casually asked the maid.

The maid thought for a moment: "Salma is very diligent. It seems she has been practicing martial arts in the next courtyard all day. Also, I think I just saw Salma return and talking with Pushri in the east corridor."

"Really?" Suleza's expression didn't change much, but she suddenly lost all interest in drinking the medicine. She had originally planned to drink two or three more sips.

She put down the medicine bowl and lay down on the bed, staring silently at the ceiling. The maid quietly withdrew, and for a short time, only Suleisa was left in the room, with a few dim ceramic lamps illuminating her hazy, beautiful face.

She suddenly got a little angry. She felt that she shouldn't be angry, there was no reason to be angry, and there was no need to be angry, but she just wanted to be angry.

"Is that Pu Shili pretty?" Suleza lay on the bed expressionlessly. She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. Pu Shili was a maid her family had bought. She had never thought Pu Shili was anything special. Her appearance was ordinary, not as fair as Suleza's, and her figure was not as good as Suleza's.

What's there to talk about with her?

She was angry with Li Wei; she couldn't quite control her anger towards him.

She suddenly remembered how good Li Wei's words were that day, saying that he would treat her as the foundation of the world, saying that he would make her the center of the world. But today she was sick and hadn't come to see her all day. Moreover, after finishing her martial arts practice, she didn't come to see her, but instead talked to that Pu Shili.

"Ha!" Suleisa turned to the side, looking down expressionlessly. The sari at her chest was stretched taut, unlike the pudding that Pu Shili wore, which never looked full or rounded.

Suddenly, Suleisa sighed and stared blankly at the side wall. What was she angry about?

She's becoming less and less like herself.

"Crunch—"

The door to the room was gently pushed open. Suleisa turned her head and, upon seeing the figure entering, her gaze turned almost imperceptibly cold. It was the maid named Pushley.

She actually dared to come into my room to find me!?

"Miss." Pu Shili entered and respectfully put her hands together in a gesture of respect. She was wearing a faded coarse cloth sari, a dull earthy yellow color, which covered her thin frame. Her dark brown skin appeared dull in the dim light.

She came intending to tell Livsalma that she was waiting in the outer room and wanted to come in to see the young lady, but for some reason, she suddenly felt that the young lady's gaze was very cold.

Suleisa didn't reply immediately. She stared at Pushili expressionlessly, looked her up and down, and then said coldly, "What are you doing here?"

Heaven help me, actually Suleisa used to treat her servants and maids quite well.

but……

"Miss." Pu Shili was a little flustered. In her memory, the young lady had always been quite nice to them. She thought it might be because the young lady was sick. She said carefully, "I came to let you know that Li Weisalma is waiting outside the room. He said he wants to come in and see you."

He's here?

Suleza's eyes lit up uncontrollably for a moment, but the next instant, she suppressed her emotions and pressed her lips tightly together.

She hated herself like this, hated that her emotions were swayed by others, and even loathed this uncontrollable physiological reaction. She loathed that her expectations were so cheap, so easily evoked by a name.

To suppress the emotions that had just welled up in her heart, and to quell the inappropriate, almost jubilant feeling that had arisen within her, she forced herself to draw her attention back to the maid, Pu Shili, in front of her.

That's her. She was the person Li Wei was chatting happily with in the corridor just now. His arrival might just be a routine courtesy, or perhaps... she's no different from the person in front of him.

Thinking of this, Suleisa's eyes grew even colder. There was nothing to care about, much less to be happy about.