Pei Xiao was indeed changing, his breathing growing increasingly rapid.
“Yu’er, I won’t sleep in the study tonight. Let me stay with you, alright?”
Jiang Yu bit her lip, nervously stepping backward.
But in her panic, her hand still clutched the scented sachet at Pei Xiao’s waist. As she pulled back, Pei Xiao was forced to bend forward.
Pei Xiao’s bones seemed to have softened as his tall frame pressed down on her like a cage confining her.
“Then I’ll take that as Yu’er’s agreement?”
Pei Xiao chuckled softly while unwinding the Jade Bodhi Beads from his wrist, wrapping them around Jiang Yu’s wrist in loose coils.
When they were together, he would often interlace their fingers like this, loosely binding their wrists with the beads.
Jiang Yu had always thought it was just a minor quirk of his and never paid it much mind. But today she discovered these beads were stained with blood!
The image of the blood-soaked white fox remained vivid in her mind, making Pei Xiao appear more like a hunting leopard. She began trembling uncontrollably.
Mistaking her fear for the usual pain aversion, Pei Xiao coaxed gently, “Relax, Yu’er. I won’t hurt you.”
Then his lingering kiss covered her lips, soothing her fears like gentle spring rain.
Even in his loss of control, Pei Xiao remained restrained, patiently waiting for Jiang Yu’s response.
He always considered Jiang Yu’s feelings.
Even in their private life, he was an exceptionally qualified husband that left Jiang Yu nothing to criticize.
Unfortunately, perhaps all perfection was merely a mask…
Jiang Yu’s heart turned cold as she secretly reached for the porcelain container on the dressing table.
It contained freshly ground flower pollen intended for making rouge, but now it would serve a greater purpose.
Pei Xiao’s emotions were already stirred. If the pollen were to “accidentally” scatter into the air, he would surely collapse tonight.
With trembling fingertips, Jiang Yu quietly pushed the porcelain container to the edge of the dressing table.
The pollen teetered precariously with the table’s movement…
Everything would be an “accident” that couldn’t be blamed on Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu took a deep breath.
Suddenly, another cold large hand slithered up her arm like a snake, pressing down on her outstretched hand.
“Yu’er, distracted again?”
Pei Xiao’s lazy voice murmured.
Jiang Yu’s heartbeat accelerated, her breath catching momentarily. When she glanced back, Pei Xiao remained buried in the crook of her neck.
He constantly sensed her emotions, as if invisible eyes were watching her.
Knowing she had drifted away again, Pei Xiao slowly raised his head.
From the corner of her eye, Jiang Yu glanced at the porcelain container beside her hand. If he just slightly turned his head, he would catch her red-handed…
And now, those abyssal eyes of his were slowly opening.
“Husband!Jiang Yu quickly wrapped her arms around her legs, her delicate body just blocking Pei Xiao’s line of sight.
A soft grunt made Jiang Yu realize her reaction was too exaggerated. Her porcelain face instantly flushed crimson, her fluttering eyelashes resembling butterflies preparing for flight.
Pei Xiao seemed pleasantly surprised by her sudden initiative. Lifting her chin, he asked, “Yu’er, are you feeling… unwell?”
Jiang Yu wished she could vanish into the ground!
But since she had called out to him, she needed to divert his attention. “I was thinking… thinking…”
“Husband, shouldn’t we consider having a child?”
After their wedding night, she had been using contraception methods. Pei Xiao had only said her body was too weak and he didn’t want her to suffer.
Jiang Yu was merely making things up in this moment.
But she never expected all emotion to instantly freeze on Pei Xiao’s face, as if plunged into deep frost.A shadow of emotion Jiang Yu couldn’t decipher flickered across his gloomy face, but it certainly wasn’t joy.
If they were truly a loving couple, wasn’t bearing children a natural course of life?
In the cramped room, silence hung thick, broken only by their interwoven breaths as they faced each other.
After a long pause, Pei Xiao finally plastered on his usual smile and embraced her. “Yu’er, your health is frail. Let’s not discuss this matter for now.”
His calloused hand gently stroked her back, yet his touch felt piercingly cold.
Jiang Yu smoothly slipped off the icy Buddhist beads, pushed him away, and prepared to leap down from the dressing table.
“Yu’er!” Pei Xiao quickly trapped her with both arms, his lips parting as if words lingered on the tip of his tongue before he swallowed them back.
Jiang Yu stared at him in silent stillness, her almond-shaped eyes tinged with red, tears glistening at the corners yet refusing to fall.
Like petals washed by spring rain, tender and dewy, she evoked an unwillingness to cause her distress.
Pei Xiao sighed inwardly, kissing away the tear stains at the corner of her eye. “Don’t cry, alright? Hasn’t Yu’er always wanted to visit the temple fair outside the city? I’ll take leave tomorrow to accompany you.”
He attended to every detail with care, yet deliberately skirted around this sensitive topic.
Jiang Yu furrowed her brows, struggling desperately with both hands and feet. “Who needs your company?”
“If not me, then who do you want?” Pei Xiao refused to yield, pressing closer against her.
Back and forth they went, until the dressing table shook with increasing violence.
Finally, a white porcelain cup crashed to the floor with a sharp clatter.
Pale pink pollen scattered like mist, blurring their vision.
“Cough! Cough!” Pei Xiao’s chest heaved uncontrollably as he broke into a fit of heavy coughing.
“Husband! Are you alright?” Jiang Yu hastily jumped down from the dressing table, steadying his stumbling form.
By the time they retreated from the bedchamber, Pei Xiao was pale as a ghost, his lips tinged purple, leaning heavily on Jiang Yu just to move.
“My lord!” Qian Ren rushed forward to meet them.
Together, they helped Pei Xiao to the bed in the study and fed him specially formulated pills before he gradually regained his composure.
However, due to the recent exertion and exposure to pollen, Pei Xiao soon fell unconscious.
By then, the first watch of the night had arrived.
Qian Ren paced the courtyard like an ant on a hot griddle. “Madam, we’re running low on medicine. Should we go knock on the doctor’s door?”
Sitting beside Pei Xiao, Jiang Yu wiped his face, her heart unavoidably flustered.
She had seen him fall ill several times before, but he had never lost consciousness so quickly.
“Qian Ren!” Jiang Yu arched her delicate eyebrows, her gaze flickering. “I see my husband is suffering greatly. I should go find Doctor Wang to prescribe more medicine.”
“This subordinate will go!”
“I’ll go. I can’t bear to leave my husband’s side.” Jiang Yu raised a hand to stop Qian Ren.
Pei Xiao’s health had always been managed by Doctor Wang, whose medicine proved most effective.
However, Doctor Wang, formerly the chief imperial physician, carried an air of aloof pride and had previously clashed with Qian Ren.
Knowing he might not succeed in persuading the doctor, Qian Ren didn’t argue further. “This subordinate will prepare a carriage for Madam.”
“Qingdai will accompany me!” Jiang Yu gestured for her to follow.
Qingdai was Jiang Yu’s personal maid who had accompanied her as part of her dowry, someone Jiang Yu naturally trusted completely.
With Pei Xiao ill and Qian Ren needed to guard his master, this was Jiang Yu’s best chance to slip away.
The two set out in the carriage under cover of night, though Jiang Yu frequently glanced back toward the residence.
Years of marriage had inevitably fostered a sense of reluctance in her heart.
Meanwhile, no sooner had Jiang Yu departed…
Pei Xiao, lying on the sickbed, slowly opened his eyes.
His complexion was frost-pale, his pupils fixed on the bed curtains with a desolate emptiness akin to a desert. His cold, pale skin, flushed from the violent coughing, appeared even more sickly…