Lin Ruzhen gasped, covering her mouth while inwardly grumbling: What’s happening? I just drank the physician’s fever-reducing tonic and was feeling much better. Why has this sudden, sharp pain returned?
“Zhen’er, what’s wrong?”
Lin Ruzhen shook her head, mumbling indistinctly: “My mouth hurts, probably some inflammation.”
Dongfang Yan said: “My residence has imperial-bestowed snow lotus, an excellent remedy for clearing heat and reducing inflammation. I’ll have someone deliver it to you later.”
Lin Ruzhen nodded.
Dongfang Yan concernedly said: “Zhen’er, your face looks pale. If you’re still uncomfortable, you should return to your room.”
“I’m not uncomfortable…” Lin Ruzhen wanted to spend more time with Dongfang Yan and take the opportunity to sow discord about Lin Qingyue, but before she could finish her sentence, another wave of needle-sharp, fire-like pain struck.
“Not uncomfortable” was also a lie.
Lin Ruzhen trembled from the pain, leaning into Dongfang Yan’s embrace.
“How could inflammation be this severe?” Dongfang Yan grew increasingly anxious.
Just as Lin Ruzhen wanted to say more, a foul odor escaped her mouth as she opened it.
Dongfang Yan instinctively held his breath, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Lin Ruzhen’s mouth filled with sores of varying sizes, layered upon each other, some oozing pus.
Despite his extensive experience, Dongfang Yan was horrified, his scalp tingling and spine stiffening.
“Where are your maids? Someone, take good care of Second Miss!” Suppressing his disgust, Dongfang Yan pushed the beauty away from his embrace.
“Since you’re unwell today, rest properly. I’ll visit you another day.”
With that, he turned and left, his steps as hurried as when he arrived.
Lin Ruzhen couldn’t understand why Prince Jin’s attitude had changed so abruptly.
She never imagined that Lin Qingyue had cast a spell named “Honesty” upon her.
For liars, the best solution is to have their lies turn against them.
One lie, one sore—the more lies, the more festering sores. When it worsens, opening the mouth releases a foul stench.
The only cure is “Honesty” itself.
Unfortunately, for someone like Lin Ruzhen, accustomed to reaping the benefits of lies, she had long forgotten what “Honesty” meant.
As Dongfang Yan hurriedly reached the rock garden, he saw Lin Qingyue leaning idly against a tree trunk with a dog’s tail grass between her lips. The corners of her mouth were curved in a smile, though it was unclear what she found amusing.
“What are you doing here?” For some reason, her smile made Dongfang Yan uneasy.
Lin Qingyue said cheerfully: “This concubine is keeping watch for Your Highness, lest someone see Prince Jin meeting privately with his sister-in-law and damage your reputation.”
She had originally thought Dongfang Yan was deeply devoted to Lin Ruzhen, but now it seemed otherwise.
Dongfang Yan hadn’t felt there was anything inappropriate initially, but after Lin Qingyue’s retort, he felt his pride wounded and defensively explained: “We happened to meet by chance—how could that be considered a private meeting? Let’s return to the residence!”
When Lin Ruzhen returned to her room and looked in the mirror, she was startled: when had so many new sores appeared?
Moreover, the newly formed ones were larger than before, nearly covering half her tongue, making speech painful.
Fortunately, Dongfang Yan still held Lin Ruzhen in some regard. Though he had left, he didn’t forget to summon an imperial physician for her.
The attending physician was the head of the Imperial Medical Institute, a peerless healer who typically treated only the emperor. Without Prince Jin’s influence, he would have been impossible to engage.
After reading the situation, Imperial Physician Li also found it strange. Sores in the mouth were not uncommon, but such a sudden outbreak with such rapid growth was truly unheard of!
“Physician, can it be treated?” This was Lin Xiao’s greatest concern.
Imperial Physician Li said, “I will first prescribe a remedy for mouth sores. Let the Second Young Lady try the decoction for three days. If she recovers, all will be well. If not, we must seek alternative methods.”
Lin Xiao asked, “What do you mean by alternative methods?”
Imperial Physician Li stroked his graying long beard and said, “It could be poisoning, or perhaps she has fallen victim to some unusual method. However, these are not my areas of expertise, so I dare not make rash judgments.”
With that, he wrote the prescription and took his leave with his medicine apprentice.
Lin Xiao naturally followed behind, diligently escorting him out of the residence.
When he turned back, he saw his son charging out with a murderous expression.
“Feng’er, where are you going?”
“Ruzhen’s condition must be related to Lin Qingyue. Perhaps during lunch, she secretly poisoned Ruzhen! That vicious woman shouldn’t have been allowed to return home!”
“I’m going to Prince Jin’s residence! Prince Jin cares so much for Ruzhen, he will surely help her seek justice!” Lin Rufeng said, storming off impulsively toward Prince Jin’s residence.
“Stop right there!” Lin Xiao, being more rational, stopped his son. “Do not jump to conclusions before the matter is clarified.”
He doted on Lin Ruzhen, but only if this daughter remained valuable. If the mouth sores persisted, emitting a foul stench with every opening of her mouth, forget marrying Prince Jin—even ordinary noble sons would likely refuse to wed her!
“I will send someone to investigate this matter thoroughly. If it truly involves Yue’er, then she must also have a way to cure it. If it has nothing to do with her, even if you beat her to death, it won’t relieve Ruzhen’s suffering and will only earn Yue’er’s resentment. After all, we are family. Our relationship should not become too strained.”
Previously, Lin Xiao had paid little attention to Lin Qingyue, subconsciously assuming that as a returnee from the countryside, she was unrefined.
But today, he realized her entire aura was completely different, and her relationship with Prince Jin did not seem as hostile as expected.
“In short, you are not allowed to cause trouble at Prince Jin’s residence, or I will not spare you! If you have nothing better to do, go to the Liu family and bring your wife back. Always running back to her maternal home—if word gets out, it will make our Marquis residence appear harsh to our daughter-in-law.”
Mentioning his wife, Liu Shi, only made Lin Rufeng more irritable.
A woman who couldn’t bear children—he was already showing her face by not divorcing her.
Today, he had merely slapped her in public, and she actually ran back to her parents’ home.
She even refused to drink the fertility medicine his mother had painstakingly sought for her.
And now he had to humble himself to beg her to return? Did she think she was some delicate noble flower?
It seemed he hadn’t hit her hard enough before.
Damn it!
As Lin Rufeng left the Marquis residence, the setting sun cast its golden rays, heralding the approach of evening.
Riding his horse, he passed by Shuangyan Lane. When he heard the faint, alluring strains of music and strings from within, his heart began to itch.
Recently, Lin Xiao had been keeping a tight rein on him, and he hadn’t indulged in pleasure here for a long time.
Yesterday, he heard that many new courtesans had arrived. Not only were there delicate, soft-bodied youths of thirteen or fourteen, but also burly men who could wield spears and dance with swords.
—Compared to the former, he preferred the latter.
“Never mind, I’ll go enjoy myself first, then head to the Liu residence to fetch her.”
After all, his father-in-law and mother-in-law, conscious of their daughter’s infertility, felt indebted to Lin Rufeng. Every time they met, they fawned over him obsequiously.
Whenever the young couple had conflicts, regardless of who was at fault, Lin Rufeng’s parents would force their daughter to apologize first, fearing he might divorce Liu Shi on grounds of the “seven offenses.”
By the time Lin Rufeng had enjoyed his pleasure, supporting his sore buttocks and emerging from Shuangyan Lane with a satisfied expression, the night had grown deep and quiet.
In the distance, the sound of night watchmen’s clappers faintly reached his ears.
Lin Rufeng frowned: “It’s already midnight? I must hurry to the Liu residence. If I don’t return tonight, it will be hard to explain to my father.”
Just as he was about to mount his horse, the animal suddenly spooked, let out a long whinny, and galloped away, leaving its master behind.
“Damned beast, come back!”
After chasing it for a while without success, Lin Rufeng found himself in an even more secluded alley without realizing it.
“Damn it! When I return and have someone capture you, I’ll definitely have you dismembered and skinned, cut into eight pieces!”
“Whoosh—” A cold wind swept through, causing the temperature around him to plummet.
Lin Rufeng shivered, inexplicably feeling as if something had been following him all along.
His gaze drifted downward, where he saw his own shadow slowly splitting to form another shadow beside it.
At first, the new shadow appeared thin and elongated, serpent-like in shape. But soon, it began to swell, even extending what looked like arms, legs, and a head…
“Ah—”
A desolate scream echoed through the night sky.