Di Lanmo woke up at noon the next day.
"Cough, cough..." Her voice was still hoarse from the smoke. She threw off the quilt and got out of bed. After pouring herself a glass of water and taking a sip, she finally felt alive again.
Qingque entered the room carrying a teapot. Seeing Di Lanmo awake, she was both laughing and crying. "Your Highness, you're finally awake! The water is cold. Drinking it will hurt your throat!"
Qingque stepped forward, took the glass from Di Lanmo's hand, poured a cup of hot water from the teapot and handed it to her before saying, "Thank goodness His Highness the Prince rushed into the burning house and rescued you yesterday. If anything had happened to you..."
"Spit, spit, spit!" Qingque quickly slapped her own mouth. "Look at this stupid servant. Why am I saying such inauspicious things!"
Di Lanmo's phoenix eyes sharpened. "It was the Prince who rescued me?"
Thinking back to the fire yesterday, there were really so many coincidences.
She had just successfully formulated a real antidote. Relaxing both mentally and physically after days of sleeplessness, she dozed off while boiling the medicine and didn't notice.
By the time she woke up, the fire had already spread halfway. Due to her weak body and excessive inhalation of smoke, she fainted.
And Chu Zhiyan...
He hadn't fully recovered from his poison wound but still risked his life to enter the burning house and carry her out. Di Lanmo didn't know whether she should thank him for saving her life or scold him for being so reckless.
"How is the Prince now?"
Qingque murmured, "He's, um, not doing well. The Prince fainted right after he carried you out. Just now I ran into Steward Qiao. He said the Prince has a fever."
"I'll go and check on him!" Di Lanmo changed her direction and headed towards Chu Zhiyan's courtyard.
Just as she reached the courtyard gate, she ran into Qiao Yan, who looked extremely anxious. Di Lanmo grabbed him. "What's going on?"
The words "You clumsy fool" that were about to come out of Qiao Yan's mouth were swallowed back when he saw it was Di Lanmo. With teary eyes, he said, "Your Highness, you're finally awake. You're so skilled in medicine. Please go and check on His Highness the Prince quickly!"
Chu Zhiyan was seriously injured. He was supposed to avoid getting angry or using force and just rest quietly. But yesterday, when he knew she was still in the burning house, his emotions fluctuated greatly. Then he used his internal energy to carry her out. The consequences were far more serious than a simple addition!
Di Lanmo felt as if there was a dull saw constantly sawing at her heart. It didn't bleed, but it was extremely uncomfortable. She took a deep breath, suppressing the inexplicable sourness in her eyes, and walked into the room.
Without looking at Chu Zhiyan lying on the bed, she walked straight to the desk, wrote down the antidote prescription, and handed it to Qiao Yan. Qiao Yan understood and left in a hurry.
She walked to the small stool beside the bed and sat down. Doctor Yang stood beside her and told her about Chu Zhiyan's condition.
Internal energy disorder, excessive blood loss, and the recurrence of the poison wound had caused a high fever and unconsciousness!
Last night, Lan Jiaoshu, the leader of the secret guards, had helped to sort out his chaotic internal energy a bit, temporarily suppressing it. The bleeding had also stopped, but the high fever wouldn't go away.
Di Lanmo wasn't too worried about this. Although Chu Zhiyan's condition seemed serious, as long as the poison was completely removed and his wounds healed, all problems would be solved!
"Okay, Doctor Yang. You've worked hard. You can go now. I'll take care of him here."
Half an hour later, Qiao Yan entered the room carrying the medicine. Di Lanmo suddenly felt that this scene was familiar...
The night she returned from the palace...
The difference was that this time Qiao Yan didn't need Di Lanmo to say anything. He respectfully presented the medicine and then rushed out as if there was a dog chasing him.
"..."
Feeding medicine was something one got used to after doing it a few times. Di Lanmo said it was just a matter of getting used to it.
When Di Lanmo leaned over, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind: He shouldn't open his eyes like last time...
Who was she kidding!
Looking into those eyes that couldn't hide the surprise, Di Lanmo's mind was filled with all kinds of swear words.
In his sleep, Chu Zhiyan felt a familiar touch on his lips. When he opened his eyes and saw Di Lanmo, he suddenly seemed to be transported back to that dreamy night. For a moment, he couldn't tell whether it was reality or a continuation of the dream.
The woman's eyes widened, and emotions like surprise and embarrassment flashed across her face. As if she had just realized what was happening, the warmth on his lips disappeared. But Chu Zhiyan, for some unknown reason, pulled Di Lanmo back down and deepened this kiss full of the bitter taste of medicine.
Di Lanmo's hand trembled, and with a "pop", the medicine bowl rolled to the ground, spilling the dark brown medicine everywhere.
It seemed like the next second, or maybe a long time had passed. Di Lanmo's mind was in a daze. She broke free from Chu Zhiyan's hand and sat up straight.
"You—" She started but then stopped. It seemed that no matter what she said, it wouldn't be appropriate.
Asking "What are you doing?" was obvious, wasn't it?
Saying "You're crazy?" Well, he was really sick and couldn't even get out of bed!
Forget it! As a top - level mercenary who had fought through all kinds of difficulties in the 21st century, she could lose her head or shed her blood, but she couldn't lose her dignity!
Chu Zhiyan wasn't any better. She might as well just think that she had taken advantage of him!
Shyness and embarrassment, those emotions that would damage her dignity, were out of the question!!
In just a short moment, a storm of thoughts raged in Di Lanmo's mind. With a numb expression, pretending to be calm and composed, she said, "The medicine is gone. I'll go and pour you another bowl."
But to Chu Zhiyan's ears, her voice trembled so much that it was almost out of tune.
After Di Lanmo floated out like a sleepwalker, Chu Zhiyan blinked his eyes. Remembering the unfinished matter of medicine - passing that Di Lanmo had mentioned that day and connecting it with the familiar touch on his lips just now, he curved his eyebrows and lips slightly. "Little liar!"
In the temporarily set - up pharmacy, Di Lanmo floated in absent - mindedly. Her fair hand reached straight for the medicine pot warming on the stove. "Ouch..."
A small blister quickly appeared on her index finger. Di Lanmo sighed, picked up a handkerchief to wrap around the handle of the pot, and continued to pour the medicine. Her thoughts uncontrollably drifted back to what had just happened.
Damn it! What was she thinking about! It was just a kiss. Was it really worth thinking about? No! It wasn't thinking about it. It was just her anger at being taken advantage of by Chu Zhiyan!
Angry Di Lanmo angrily turned around, grabbed a handful of coptis from the small drawer, and angrily threw it into the medicine pot.
Boil it for another ten minutes! Bitter enough to kill that bastard Chu Zhiyan!
Anyway, adding coptis to this medicine wouldn't affect the efficacy at all. It would just be twice as bitter!
Di Lanmo didn't realize at all that her behavior was completely unlike her usual self. If it had been any other lecher who had done this to her in the past, she would have been merciful if she didn't skin him alive. But now, all she did was make the medicine bitter, which was such a mild form of revenge.
What seemed like a mild revenge to Di Lanmo was like facing a great enemy and having a fishbone stuck in his throat to Chu Zhiyan.
If it weren't for his years of upbringing that didn't allow him to act so rudely, Chu Zhiyan would probably have vomited the medicine out as soon as he took a sip. Forcing himself to swallow a mouthful, Chu Zhiyan's face changed colors like a rainbow, and his eyelids couldn't stop twitching.
In all the time she had known him, Di Lanmo saw such a vivid and colorful expression on his face for the first time. She laughed even more brightly. "Is it really that bitter?"
Chu Zhiyan gritted his teeth, his eyes sharpened, and he said menacingly, "Why don't you try it?"