Ch 21: Delicate

Shen Yunheng lifted Meng Tingyue into his arms and only then realized how light she was; a casual toss made him feel she would fly away.

Shen Yunheng strode toward the outside of the Village.

Halfway there, he remembered that he had left the Carriage in the city; he only had a horse.

Shen Yunheng’s gaze swept over Meng Tingyue’s flushed cheeks, his brow furrowing into a frown.

This delicate Miss would probably just collapse.

Considering this, he turned around and found a clean Courtyard.

“Ling Xiao, go find a Carriage, and also find a Physician.”

He gently placed Meng Tingyue on the bed, his large hand falling on her forehead; the temperature was alarmingly high.

His brow furrowed even more deeply.

“His Highness, the Physician has arrived.” Ling Xiao entered the Room.

The Physician only then learned that the man in black, radiating a murderous aura, was the son of the current Emperor, and he trembled, about to kneel in greeting.

The Crown Prince directly interrupted his kneeling movement, “Quickly treat her.”

“Yes, yes.”

The Physician, frightened by the Crown Prince’s stern expression and tone, directly knelt down, trembling as he examined Meng Tingyue.

After a while, he withdrew his hand.

“His Highness, this Miss’s constitution is inherently weak, and she also caught a chill last night, developing a high fever. Acupuncture combined with medication will cure her, but there is no fever-reducing medicine here…”

The Crown Prince’s brow relaxed slightly, “Then give her acupuncture first.”

“Yes.” The Physician opened his cloth bag, heated the Silver Needles over a fire, and then inserted them into Meng Tingyue’s acupuncture points.

“It hurts… Mother, it hurts so much…” Meng Tingyue murmured unconsciously, and bright tears slid down her eyes, leaving a faint trace of water.

The Physician, undistracted, picked up the next Silver Needle and searched for an acupuncture point.

The Crown Prince’s brows were tightly knit, he found the tears at the corner of her eyes extremely unpleasant to look at; even his gaze towards the Physician was extremely cold.

“Be gentler.”

Hearing this, the Physician’s fingertips trembled, tears welling up, “Your Highness, I’m already being very gentle, but this Miss is more sensitive to pain than ordinary people.”

Seeing the faint chill emanating from the Crown Prince, and the Physician trembling so badly he could barely stand, Ling Xiao sighed inwardly.

“Your Highness, you’re scaring the Physician so much he can barely hold the needles steady. Miss Meng is perhaps truly more sensitive to pain than ordinary people.”

Hearing this, the Crown Prince remained expressionless, “Are there any other soothing methods besides acupuncture?”

The Physician’s mind was muddled with fright, unable to speak for a moment.

“Also… also, Cold Water can be used to wipe her face, but medication is still needed in the end…”

“Get Cold Water.”

A Guard at the Gate brought the water.

“Your Highness, this Subordinate has already ordered someone to hurry to the city to buy medicine.” Ling Xiao reported.

“Go wipe her face.” The Crown Prince lifted his eyes, pointing to the porcelain basin of water by the bed.

Ling Xiao’s eyes flickered, he chuckled dryly, “Your Highness should do it yourself. Miss Meng likes Your Highness so much, if she knew Your Highness was so worried about her and personally wiped her face, her illness might heal faster.”

Hearing this, the Crown Prince glanced at Ling Xiao indifferently, and Ling Xiao retreated with a chuckle.

Only he and the unconscious person on the bed remained in the Room.

He resigned himself to his fate and went to the bedside, wrung out the cloth, and gently wiped the flushed, hot cheek.

The skin, as delicate as peeled fruit, seemed to have a touch of rouge, looking extremely beautiful.

Where the wet cloth passed, the soft flesh quivered slightly, and the skin flushed; Shen Yunheng furrowed his brow, extremely puzzled.

He just casually wiped it, why did it redden even more?

He sighed with extreme displeasure, lightening his touch.

The effect of the wet cloth was evident; when the medicine was ready, Meng Tingyue could open her eyes drowsily and drink the medicine.

When drinking the medicine, she resisted it, finding the medicine bitter and making a fuss about not drinking it.

It angered the Crown Prince to the point where the veins on his forehead bulged; he felt that she had become extremely capricious since falling ill.

If it weren’t for the fact that she had saved many Soldiers, and that she fell ill because of him, Shen Yunheng would have directly thrown her aside, instead of patiently coaxing her.

—

Qinglan and Qingdian were guarding the Room, Qin Mama kept reaching out to check Meng Tingyue’s temperature, and the worry in her brows finally lessened.

“The temperature is going down, the temperature is going down, thank goodness, it’s finally going down.” Qin Mama patted her chest, her eyes filled with excited tears.

Qinglan and Qingdian were overjoyed.

Meng Tingyue only felt that she had slept for a long time; her dream was hazy, she seemed to have had a dream, it seemed to be something from her childhood in Jiangnan, but she forgot it upon waking.

The first thing she saw were three pairs of worried eyes.

“Qin Mama, Qinglan, Qingdian.”

As soon as she opened her lips, she felt the dryness in her throat.

“Miss, you’re finally awake! Oh, Miss, your body isn’t well yet, rest for a while.” Qin Mama pressed Meng Tingyue down to make her lie back.

Meng Tingyue shook her head, tightly grasping her hand, “I’ll sit up for a while.”

Qin Mama then put a soft pillow behind her waist.

“Miss, drink some water.” Qinglan poured a cup of warm water and brought it to Meng Tingyue’s lips.

Meng Tingyue drank the water from her hand.

The strong taste of medicine was somewhat diluted, and the dryness in her throat was also relieved.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Miss has been asleep for half a day, it was the Crown Prince who sent you back.” Qinglan pouted, her expression somewhat resentful.

“That Crown Prince really, taking the Miss out overnight and not returning is one thing, but not even sending the Miss back completely well, causing the Miss to develop a fever, and even getting bitten by mosquitoes, leaving many wounds, what if it leaves scars?”

Perhaps because only the four of them were in the Room, Qinglan’s words were bolder, and she was less reserved.

Before Qingdian could speak, Qin Mama immediately pinched Qinglan, scolding, “The Miss is kind to you, and you forget your place. What is the Crown Prince’s status? How dare you speak ill of him? If outsiders hear this, it will harm the Miss, and I will be the first to tear your mouth apart.”

Qinglan winced in pain, her lips quivering, “I’m just worried about the Miss. The Crown Prince clearly doesn’t care about the Miss. Before marriage, he took the Miss out and didn’t return all night; if this gets out, what will become of the Miss’s Reputation?”

“The Miss’s body is delicate, how long has it been since she had a high fever? After going out with the Crown Prince once, she not only fell ill but was also injured. If His Highness the Crown Prince truly cared about the Miss, he wouldn’t treat her like this.”

Qinglan directly knelt on the ground, her tears falling uncontrollably.

She lowered her voice, speaking earnestly and sincerely from the heart. Qin Mama’s hand was raised in anger, trembling uncontrollably in mid-air, but it did not fall.

It shows that although she was angry at Qinglan’s outspoken words, she also truly agreed with what she said.

Meng Tingyue reached out to pull down Qin Mama’s raised hand, her eyes clear, showing no affection for the Crown Prince.

“Alright, stop crying. People who don’t know would think something bad happened to me.”

Qin Mama immediately expressed dissatisfaction, “Pah pah pah (This should be translated as: ‘Pah pah pah’ (pèi pèi pèi), a sound expressing disgust and wishing away bad luck.), these words are inauspicious, Miss, don’t say that again.”

Meng Tingyue looked at her Clothes that had slipped from her wrist, and the many mosquito bites on her fair arms; it was her first time being so badly bitten.

She looked away, “These bites will disappear after applying medicine, it’s nothing. As for this illness, I accidentally caught a chill last night.”

“I trust the Crown Prince’s character. The Crown Prince is not that irresponsible.”

Rather than trusting the Crown Prince, it was more like trusting the Emperor and Empress; the Emperor and Empress doted on the Crown Prince so much, they certainly wouldn’t allow any news detrimental to the Crown Prince’s Reputation to get out.

Meng Tingyue was about to tell Qin Mama and the others what had happened last night when she suddenly heard a voice from the Outer Courtyard.

“Meng Tingyue, you unfilial daughter…”