“I’ll go in and take a look.”
Qinglan and Qingdai exchanged a glance before bowing and replying, “Yes.”
Shen Tinghe pushed open the door and walked to the bedside. She lifted the gauze curtain and saw Ji Yunzhan lying unconscious on the bed.
Her fine ruqun had been torn into a terrible state and was scattered carelessly beside the bed. Only a water-red duLady Dou barely covered her body, leaving her snow-white skin and delicate collarbones exposed.
Du Yixian had certainly been ruthless.
Shen Tinghe casually pulled a robe that had been placed nearby and gently covered Ji Yunzhan with it.
She sat down beside the bed and placed her fingers on Ji Yunzhan’s wrist. Her pulse was slow, deep, and weak the clear signs of having been drugged with a sleeping agent.
Shen Tinghe was no stranger to this.
In her previous life, she had been frail and frequently ill. Her family had abandoned her, and she had spent twenty years alone in the hospital.
After years of illness, she had become something of a doctor herself. Through sheer perseverance, she had taught herself superb medical skills, to the point that she was even more capable than many formally trained physicians.
After transmigrating into this world, she had also read extensively through the medical texts treasured by her family. Combining that knowledge with what she had learned in her previous life, her medical skills were now comparable to those of the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Academy.
She took the seemingly ordinary silk sachet hanging from her waist and gently waved it beneath Ji Yunzhan’s nose.
She had prepared this sachet herself. It contained various medicinal herbs that could refresh the mind, counteract poisons, and calm the nerves. It was something she always carried when going outside.
Sure enough, after only a short while, Ji Yunzhan’s eyelashes began to tremble lightly. A faint moan escaped her throat, and she slowly opened her eyes.
The moment her consciousness returned, Ji Yunzhan first looked around in confusion. Then she lowered her head and saw the disordered state of her clothing.
She suddenly screamed.
“Ah !”
Ji Yunzhan struggled to sit up, only to discover that her entire body was weak and powerless. She did not even have enough strength to raise her hand.
She could only twist helplessly on the bed, her eyes filled with terror and humiliation.
Shen Tinghe did not look at her. Instead, she turned and walked to the table, pouring some of the medicinal herbs from the sachet into a teacup.
Her voice was cool and calm.
“You were drugged with a sleeping agent. Its effects haven’t worn off yet, so naturally your body is weak and you can’t get up.”
Lying on the bed, Ji Yunzhan stared fixedly at Shen Tinghe’s back. Her eyes were filled with venom and resentment, burning with almost unbearable intensity.
Of course, she knew Shen Tinghe was not the one who had harmed her.
She even knew very clearly that Shen Tinghe was the one who had saved her.
But the more she realized this, the more violently the hatred in Ji Yunzhan’s heart surged.
Why?
Why was Shen Tinghe able to have everything?
A prestigious family background, breathtaking beauty and even the Crown Prince, whom Ji Yunzhan herself had secretly loved and cherished in her heart for so many years, had become Shen Tinghe’s fiancé.
Ji Yunzhan believed that she was no worse than Shen Tinghe.
Yet somehow, she could never obtain anything.
Meanwhile, Shen Tinghe could effortlessly possess everything she had dreamed of.
Now, after falling into such a humiliating and wretched state, the person who had ultimately saved her was actually Shen Tinghe.
An indescribable mixture of jealousy and madness instantly seized Ji Yunzhan’s mind.
She felt as though every drop of blood in her body had begun to boil, burning away what little reason she had left.
If only Shen Tinghe disappeared…
If only Shen Tinghe were no longer here…
Then she, Ji Yunzhan, would become the foremost young lady of the capital.
By then, everything Shen Tinghe possessed including the Crown Prince might become hers.
Once this thought arose, it grew wildly like weeds.
She did not even know where she found the strength. Driven by sheer vicious determination, she forced herself up from the bed and picked up whatever object was within reach before walking toward Shen Tinghe from behind.
Shen Tinghe had just prepared a cup of warm water to help ease the effects of the drug. She turned around, intending to hand it to Ji Yunzhan.
At that very moment, a ruthless look flashed through Ji Yunzhan’s eyes.
She grabbed the heavy brass candlestick and brought it crashing down toward the back of Shen Tinghe’s head.
But because she did not have enough strength, the blow landed on the back of Shen Tinghe’s neck instead.
“Thud!”
Shen Tinghe did not even have time to react. A sharp pain exploded through the back of her neck, and everything went black as she collapsed limply to the floor.
The teacup in her hand crashed to the ground, splashing warm water across the hem of her skirt.
Qinglan and Qingdai, who had been standing guard outside the door, had been paying close attention to the sounds inside.
Hearing the dull impact and the sound of the cup shattering, their expressions changed drastically. Almost simultaneously, they burst through the door.
At a glance, they saw their young mistress lying unconscious on the floor.
Meanwhile, Ji Yunzhan, who was supposed to be unconscious herself, was standing nearby in a daze, holding a brass candlestick in her hand. The murderous intent still lingering in her eyes was unmistakable.
Qinglan felt a surge of fury shoot straight to her head.
She delivered a fierce side kick directly into Ji Yunzhan’s chest.
“Ugh!”
Ji Yunzhan let out a scream and was sent flying like a rag doll. She slammed heavily into the bedpost and immediately passed out as well. The candlestick fell from her hand with a loud clang.
“Miss!”
Qingdai hurriedly crouched down and carefully lifted Shen Tinghe’s upper body. She placed her fingers beneath Shen Tinghe’s nose to check her breathing, then quickly pressed the philtrum beneath her nose.
After quite some time, Shen Tinghe’s eyelids finally opened a narrow slit. Her consciousness remained hazy.
Instinctively, she raised a hand and touched the back of her neck, where the pain was splitting through her skull. She sucked in a sharp breath.
“Hiss ”
Her vision slowly focused, finally landing on Ji Yunzhan, who was unconscious not far away.
Shen Tinghe’s expression instantly turned cold.
There was no trace of pity left in her eyes, only an icy chill.
Sure enough, she should never have shown kindness to someone like this.
Toward anyone who harmed her or her family, Shen Tinghe would never show mercy again.
A sharp glint flashed in her eyes. Supporting her dizzy head, she instructed Qinglan,
“Strip Ji Yunzhan of her clothes and put her back on the bed.”
“Qinglan, stay here. Wait for Li Ke to come in. Then go find Mother and tell her everything that happened. Let Mother handle it.”
Qinglan and Qingdai exchanged a glance, immediately understanding their young mistress’s intention.
They moved quickly, dragging Ji Yunzhan back onto the bed.
Qinglan remained behind while Qingdai carefully supported Shen Tinghe.
“Miss, let’s leave through the back door.”
Shen Tinghe nodded. With Qingdai’s support, she staggered out through the rear door of the room.
The moment she sat down in the carriage waiting outside, the dizziness and pain caused by the heavy blow surged over her.
She leaned against the soft carriage wall.
Her vision went black, and she fainted once again.
Qinglan remained outside the room.
Before long, a staggering set of footsteps approached from the distance.
Li Ke, reeking of alcohol, stumbled over. He swayed as he pushed open the half-closed door.
Through his hazy vision, he could only vaguely make out a figure lying on the bed.
But his mind was too clouded to think. He did not even make it to the bedside before collapsing onto the floor.
Expressionless, Qinglan dragged and half-carried the heavily intoxicated Li Ke onto the bed. She pulled a thin quilt over him and covered him carelessly.
She carefully examined the scene for a moment, confirming that nothing looked suspicious. Only then did she quietly close the door and turn to hurry toward the main hall.
In the warm chamber of the main hall, Madam Shen was chatting with several noblewomen. A string of East Sea pearl prayer beads rested between her fingers, and her expression was calm and composed.
Qinglan explained everything that had happened to Madam Shen’s personal maidservant, Yanshu.
Yanshu’s expression changed slightly, but she quickly returned to normal. She bent her knees and leaned toward Madam Shen’s ear to report the matter.
Upon hearing this, Madam Shen’s expression did not change, revealing nothing unusual to those around her.
But a sharp glint briefly flashed through her normally gentle eyes.