Shen Zhili took the opportunity to repay He Chengyuan for the damage to the shop. While waiting for the medicine, an acquaintance arrived at the pharmacy.
His voice was as gentle as a breeze, "Old He, is today's medicine ready?"
Xie Gubai, dressed in a snow-white robe, looked slightly surprised to see Shen Zhili, but his eyes soon sparkled like stars.
"Why is A'Li here?"
Shen Zhili glanced at the curtain of the side room and didn’t mention the poison. "The Slayer I bought has too many injuries. I brought him here to get some medicine."
"Is the money enough?" Xie Gubai said, taking out silver and handing it to the physician, returning the money she had paid.
Shen Zhili pushed it away, "No, no need. Ningxiang caught the assassin with a bounty from the Yu family last night…"
Xie Gubai interrupted her, "Since A'Li is here, it’s my responsibility to take care of you. You never refused before. What’s different now?"
Shen Zhili hesitated, afraid her identity might arouse suspicion, so she silently accepted.
"By the way, why are you here? Weren’t you accompanying… the bride back to her family home?"
Only then did she realize she didn’t know the bride’s name.
Xie Gubai’s eyes turned sorrowful as he looked away. "I found a house in Yujiang for Wan’er’s family, so they don’t have to travel back and forth. So… one day is enough."
"I came to the pharmacy to get medicine for Wan’er. She’s frail… and can’t travel far."
From his words, it was clear that Xie Gubai had been moved by the bride’s unwavering devotion over the years. That’s why he was willing to marry her to give her a proper place and spend half his fortune to buy a house in Yujiang for her family, sparing them the pain of longing.
It was said that Xie Gubai was a few years older than her, now twenty-three, while Wan’er was the same age as her, twenty. According to Ningxiang, they had known each other since childhood. Although she didn’t like Wan’er, Xie Gubai treated them both like younger sisters.
The two fell silent, the atmosphere growing stiff. The physician handed Shen Zhili a full bag of prepared medicine, then went into the inner room to fetch Xie Gubai’s medicine. As he handed it over, he advised, "Same as before, be careful. This Miss Wan’er has been with you for so many years and taken so much medicine from me. How is her health still…"
Xie Gubai smiled, "Old He, are you losing confidence in your own medicine? Wan’er’s health has improved. It’s just that it worsens a bit during seasonal changes."
He picked up a brush and began writing carefully.
Old He sorted through the medicine cabinet as he spoke, "Will you still go away to avoid the cold this year?"
Xie Gubai paused his brush, looked up, and smiled. "Yes, Wan’er can’t bear the winter cold. If I don’t take her somewhere warmer, she won’t survive. Please prepare these medicines for me as well."
Old He took the prescription, his smile freezing. Shen Zhili glanced over curiously. Xie Gubai asked, "What’s wrong?"
Old He chuckled twice and tucked the paper away. "This medicine… it’s too expensive. It’s only available in Medicine Valley. I… don’t have it here. But… if I happen to come across it, I’ll definitely save it for you."
Xie Gubai replied, "That’s good enough."
"A'Li, are you heading back to the manor?"
Shen Zhili nodded, "Yes."
The curtain of the side room was lifted, and He Chengyuan tapped his cane on the ground a few times, a faint, elusive smile on his lips.
Xie Gubai was not particularly friendly toward He Chengyuan. He always felt that keeping a Slayer by one’s side was a hidden danger. Unfortunately, Shen Zhili was stubbornly insistent on keeping him.
He had been helpless against her stubbornness since childhood, only able to instruct Ningxiang to keep a closer watch.
As soon as they arrived at the residence, Ye Wan came out to greet them, bundled tightly in a fox fur coat. She ran a few hurried steps and coughed until specks of blood appeared.
Xie Gubai helped her inside, lit charcoal for warmth, draped a blanket over her, and even personally brewed tea, cooling it before placing it by her hand—his care was meticulous in every detail.
After settling her, he rushed without delay to the imperial kitchen to prepare her medicine.
"A'Li, rest here for a while. I’ll go brew some medicine for Wan'er."
He personally oversaw the medicine, not letting anyone else handle it.
Shen Zhili sat opposite Ye Wan and took a sip of tea.
She was planning to leave as soon as possible, not wanting to impose, and she also felt uncomfortable.
Ye Wan’s watery almond eyes, after Xie Gubai left, immediately turned toward Shen Zhili filled with disgust.
She skimmed the tea foam and said, "Shen Zhili, you’re still the same—everything I want, you have to compete for."
Shen Zhili: "…"
"Young Master Xie is already mine. Why must you reappear?" Overwhelmed by anger, she spoke in one breath and coughed for a long while. "When the Xie family was wiped out, your Princess Manor also played a part! How dare you show your face here!"
Ye Wan wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. "It was I who exhausted every effort to rescue him! I helped him settle down. Without me, he would have been killed by you long ago."
Shen Zhili listened in confusion. Ningxiang had said that the Xie family incident was related to Ye Wan, but now Ye Wan claimed it involved the Princess Manor.
Ye Wan continued, "Young Master Xie now loves me deeply, caring for me attentively and tenderly!"
"The two of you were young and naive in the past. I no longer care about what happened then, as long as Miss Shen retains some dignity and doesn’t shamelessly cling to him."
She sneered, "Even as a concubine, it wouldn’t be your turn."
He Chengyuan finished chewing his medicine, his tone calm yet mocking. "Don’t care? Then why are you so worked up?"
Ye Wan sprang to her feet, pointing at him and cursing, "And what lowly creature are you!"
He Chengyuan’s expression turned cold. "What did you say?"
Shen Zhili pressed down on his wrist, standing up to shield him. "I have no feelings whatsoever for Young Master Xie. I am grateful for his rescue and naturally won’t argue right or wrong with you. But He Chengyuan is my person. It is highly improper and unacceptable for you to insult him like this!"
"You accuse my Princess Manor of causing the Xie family’s downfall—such a grave accusation! Do you have any evidence? Making baseless accusations against my Princess Manor—can your Ye family bear the consequences!"
Ye Wan’s face turned pale with rage. "You!"
"If you can’t bear it, then apologize to my person!"
"Or perhaps it was your Ye family who meddled back then, resorting to any means to obtain Xie Gubai and causing the Xie family’s downfall!"
In her agitation, Ye Wan’s face twisted fiercely. She grabbed the teapot filled with boiling water from the table and hurled it at Shen Zhili.
A shattering sound echoed.
Just as the boiling water was about to hit Shen Zhili, He Chengyuan struck it away with a stick, smashing it to the ground. The scalding water still steamed with heat.
Shen Zhili was startled, water splashing onto her skirt.
Ye Wan hardly seemed frail and delicate; she was more like someone desperate and cornered.
The system had just transmitted some memories related to the original host into her mind.
The Xie family’s downfall and the Ye family’s timely rescue seemed far too coincidental.
Still shaken, Shen Zhili continued, "Given your chronic illness, I won’t argue with you. I will have someone repay the expenses incurred at the Xie residence. Since we are not welcome here, and we don’t wish to stay long, we will leave today to find an inn."
Ye Wan: "Shen Zhili, what are you pretending for? Wasn't it you who taught me back then that for these lowly creatures, interrupting should be met with a slap? What? Could it be that the proud Miss Shen has taken a liking to lowly things?"
Shen Zhili frowned.
Why was Ye Wan so relentless? Her eyes were already bloodshot, her face contorted, her eyeballs bulging as if about to pop out, glaring fiercely at her. Without another word, she picked up a shard from the ground and lunged at Shen Zhili's neck.
The frail woman seemed controlled by something, not like herself, muttering vicious curses under her breath. The shard cut her fingers, and blood dripped onto the floor.
The maid beside her tried to stop her but ended up wounded on the wrist, bright red blood continuously flowing onto the ground.
Ye Wan: "You deserve to die! You deserve to die!"
She raised the sharp shard and stabbed toward Shen Zhili, who was frozen and unable to react.
He Chengyuan struck Ye Wan in the abdomen with a stick, sending her flying.
"Thud!" Ye Wan crashed onto the table, her brows furrowed in pain. Her once beautiful eyes now looked terrifyingly fierce. Then, as if feeling no pain, she got up and tried to charge at Shen Zhili again.
"Wan'er!!"
Xie Gubai stepped into the room, first pulling Shen Zhili aside, then embracing Ye Wan to comfort her.
"Wan'er, stop this!"
Ye Wan exclaimed in shock, "I'm causing trouble? If you hadn't agreed to announce that I was the bride from the start, letting her know, this wedding probably wouldn't happen!"
A mouthful of blood surged up, and she clutched her chest, still refusing to relent.
The maid following Xie Gubai brought medicine and fed it to Ye Wan, which finally calmed her down. Her emotions settled as she sat back in the chair.
Two streams of tears pitifully fell. Xie Gubai comforted her, wiping her tears, then draped the blanket back over her legs and tidied the room.
"I'll arrange another place for them to stay. Wan'er, rest well at home."
Before leaving, he leaned down and kissed her forehead, instructing the maid, "Take good care of Madame. I'll be back soon."
Shen Zhili politely declined, "Young Master Xie should stay home and accompany your wife. We'll find lodging ourselves."
She took all the remaining money from her pocket and handed it to Xie Gubai, clearly cutting ties.
With such daily commotion, she had no intention of ruining their marital relationship. What was past was past.
"A'Li…"
"Thank you for your care these past few days. There's no need to see us off." Shen Zhili's tone was firm as she strode out of the Xie residence with He Chengyuan.
He Chengyuan: "What a fine show."
Shen Zhili: "What do you mean?"
He Chengyuan: "How should I know? I'm just commenting."
"…….." Shen Zhili: "But why does Ye Wan seem so strange? Isn't she chronically ill?"
Xie Gubai had said at the pharmacy that Ye Wan was frail and could barely walk a few steps, so how could she have fought with her just now?
Even if she were pretending, she couldn't have feigned illness for so many years.
Shen Zhili couldn't be bothered with their affairs. What mattered now was finding a place to stay.
He Chengyuan: "Miss Shen is penniless again."
"…….." Shen Zhili: "Let's find lodging."
To save money, the two settled in a remote inn. Shen Zhili stood by the second-floor window, watching the few people bustling on the street.
"I forgot to leave a message for Ningxiang."
He Chengyuan took a sip of tea. "She'll find you."
"How do you know?"
He Chengyuan lifted his gaze from the steam of the tea. "Don't you know your own servant?"
"I…"
She truly didn't. In this place, aside from barely understanding the madman drinking tea, she knew nothing about anyone else.
"She managed to find you in the West Suburbs Desolate Village, so how could a mere inn possibly stop her?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"You understand your servant, don't you? I'm saying she's quite capable."
"………"
With both overt sarcasm and veiled mockery, the Great Demon had taken note of Ningxiang's sharp tongue.
As he predicted, not long after, Ningxiang emerged from the street and headed straight toward this inn.
She rushed upstairs and sat opposite them, panting heavily as she gulped down tea.
Shen Zhili: "Drink slowly."
Ningxiang complained: "Miss! There are so many good inns, why did you come to this one?"
Shen Zhili's lips twitched: "You didn't… search every inn in Yujiang, did you?"
Ningxiang gulped down a cup of water, slammed it on the table, and said, "What else could I do? How could you stay in such a place? It's dilapidated outside, and the wooden pillars are moldy."
"Because… I have no money left."
"Huh?"
"I returned all the money to Xie Gubai, barely covering the expenses over these days."
"So this inn?"
"He Chengyuan paid for it."
Ningxiang pointed at He Chengyuan and scolded: "You heartless man! You let the miss stay in such a place!"
He Chengyuan glanced at her dismissively, "Your noble miss insisted on staying here. What could I do?"
Shen Zhili: ""
Ningxiang: "I told you! We shouldn't have spent so much silver to buy him back!"
She then pulled out a bag of money from her pocket and handed it to Shen Zhili, "Luckily, I still have this bag."
Shen Zhili: "This isn't… money he gave you to send you away again, is it?"
Ningxiang angrily replied: "They interrogated me for half a day without any results, then got annoyed and sent me away."
She earnestly advised: "Miss, don't give this money to him again."