After saying this, an almost imperceptible trace of tenderness flickered in his eyes.
Yet even so, Xiao Che caught it. His first reaction was not to agree with the statement, but to curl the corner of his mouth into a playful, knowing smile.
“Smitten?” he asked deliberately.
Song Jiuchen’s eyes flashed briefly. Then, picking up his chopsticks, he said, “I admire her temperament—a bit brave, grateful for kindness, unwilling to abandon her principles out of fear of death.”
With that, he began to eat.
Xiao Che watched him and asked with a smile, “Isn’t that just being smitten?”
Song Jiuchen neither confirmed nor denied it.
Xiao Che’s eyes shifted, and he deliberately provoked him for fun, “But what if she’d rather die than become your woman? As a prince, you can’t just disregard the laws you’ve established and resort to force, can you?”
Song Jiuchen paused his chopsticks, then looked up at him. “Why not? At worst, I’ll just frame you for it. After all, she entered your residence that day.”
“…” This guy.
Xiao Che rolled his eyes and said nothing more, turning back to his meal.
Song Jiuchen smirked triumphantly, taking a bite of rice. His thoughts drifted back to the woman again—had she eaten yet?
At the Punishment Mansion, Mo Sen held a bowl of rice, eating while keeping a watchful eye on the unconscious Shen Qingyao, not missing any sign that she might wake up at any moment.
On the chair beside him lay clean clothes, ready for her to change into once she awoke.
On the bed, Shen Qingyao’s complexion had improved slightly after taking the medicine three times, but she still hadn’t woken up. It seemed it would truly take three days.
Mo Sen sighed between bites. Ah!
With each passing day of concealment, his guilt grew heavier.
Everyone knew that when it came to concealment, the prince cared not for appearances but for the nature of the act.
Concealing out of fear of responsibility was a grave offense.
So, dear lady, please wake up soon?
He pinned all his hopes on Shen Qingyao. If she recovered and pleaded for leniency on his behalf, perhaps the prince would show mercy.
Perhaps the heavens heard him and took pity on his heavy guilt. That afternoon, as he sat slumped by the bedside in despair, Li Shun came in to check on him. Suddenly, he let out a loud cry.
“She’s awake, she’s awake…”
Hearing this, Mo Sen first looked at him, then immediately followed his gaze to Shen Qingyao.
Her head was moving ever so slightly—a sure sign of awakening.
Overjoyed, Mo Sen exclaimed, “Quick, go fetch Physician Hua. Don’t alert anyone else.”
“Yes,” Li Shun replied, turning and running off immediately.
“Miss Shen?” Mo Sen crouched by the bedside, calling out to Shen Qingyao.
Shen Qingyao’s eyelashes fluttered, and her brow furrowed unconsciously, as if resisting a nightmare.
“Miss Shen?”
Mo Sen continued calling her.
“Miss Shen, wake up?”
“Wake up…”
Perhaps due to his persistent calls, Shen Qingyao’s eyes moved rapidly beneath her eyelids a few times before slowly opening.
Her eyes, fresh from slumber, were somewhat hazy, half-closed, and her flickering gaze lacked focus, her mind a blank slate.
But then, her memories came flooding back—the dark Punishment Mansion, the twisted statues, the hellish prison cells, and the terrifying ghostly figures and eerie laughter in that quiet room!
Her pupils contracted sharply, and the haze in her eyes cleared instantly.
“Miss Shen, you’re awake?”
Someone was calling her. She slowly turned her head from the unfamiliar bed canopy to look at Mo Sen.
Him?
Her first instinct was to quickly scan the room.
It was not the quiet room she had been in.
She once again met Mo Sen’s relieved gaze and felt puzzled!
Yesterday he had been so stern with her, yet today he was showing such concern?
“Are you hungry? I’ve prepared some rice porridge for you, or would you like some water?” Mo Sen asked with an ingratiating expression.
Shen Qingyao blinked. If she couldn’t figure this out now, she would have wasted her two lifetimes.
For the head of this place to personally care for a prisoner and act so subserviently—what else could it mean but that he knew how much that man valued her?
No wonder Ye Zhao had signaled him to step aside for a talk yesterday.
Understanding Song Jiuchen’s intentions, Shen Qingyao’s eyes flickered slightly before she smiled and asked, “Could I trouble you for a cup of water, please?”
Her mouth felt terribly bitter.
“Of course, of course.” Mo Sen nodded eagerly like pounding garlic and immediately went to fetch water.
Oh heavens, she’s finally awake.
He brought the water over to hand it to her but realized she was lying down and it would be inconvenient. He set the water aside.
Shen Qingyao was just trying to sit up. She wasn’t injured, and her mental state had recovered, so getting up wasn’t a problem.
Mo Sen stepped forward to support her.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
“Not at all, it’s my duty.”
Mo Sen handed her the water, and she drank it down in a few gulps. After returning the cup to Mo Sen, she politely thanked him again, “Thank you for your care.”
“No, no, no…”
Mo Sen quickly shook his head, then explained somewhat sheepishly, “It was my negligence that caused you to faint from fright during the Yin Descent. Actually, His Highness had instructed us to give you special treatment.”
Shen Qingyao smiled, her eyes instinctively flickering away briefly before she replied with a light laugh, “Is that so? Then this commoner thanks His Highness.”
“Heh heh!” Mo Sen chuckled awkwardly.
Scratching his head, he hurriedly added, “From now on, before the Yin Descent each night, I will come to accompany you, or I’ll send a subordinate. We carry heavy killing aura—those things won’t dare appear.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingyao thought it was perfect timing, as she had wanted to bring this up. “Sir, the reason I was so frightened last night was mainly because I had just woken from a faint. In the dim light of the cell, suddenly seeing such a scene without any mental preparation is what scared me. Now, I’m not afraid anymore.”
If her estimation was correct, the terrifying spectacle last night was merely a physical phenomenon, not something supernatural.
The Punishment Mansion’s dungeons were deep underground, with no sunlight year-round, so the accumulated blood and decay must produce toxic gases and chaotic magnetic fields, especially during the Zi hour when geomagnetic activity was most intense.
However, Mo Sen shook his head firmly upon hearing this. “No, no, we must still accompany you.”
He couldn’t afford any more mishaps.
But would he even have the chance?
The problem he now faced was that he had to go confess his fault—hiding the incident was not an option.
At the entrance of the Imperial Physician’s Office, Li Shun was about to enter when someone suddenly called out to him.
“Halt.”
??
Li Shun turned around and saw that it was Ye Se, one of the prince’s personal guards. His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly forced a smile. “Deputy Commander Ye.”
Ye Se, holding his wrist, walked up to him and gave him a scrutinizing look, his expression serious. “What is it? Did another prisoner commit suicide in the Punishment Mansion?”
Such incidents were common in the underground dungeons of the Punishment Mansion.
Li Shun’s eyes flickered, then he quickly nodded in agreement. “Yes, so my superior sent me to request an imperial physician to take a look.”
Ye Se stared at him, fell silent for a moment, and then, without further questions, walked past him into the Imperial Physician’s Office.
Li Shun’s back turned cold with sweat. He almost stumbled as he followed inside, not daring to seek out Physician Hua immediately. Instead, he first found a place to hide.
He would make the request after this lord had left.
Not long after, he saw Ye Se leave the Imperial Physician’s Hall with her wrist seemingly fine, and he quickly invited Physician Hua to the Punishment Mansion.
Little did he know, Ye Se, who had originally left, had not gone far and had been waiting in the shadows for him to come out. Now, she had quietly followed him.
Earlier, Li Shun had not deceived him; he simply hadn’t been in a hurry to expose it.
If he were that easy to fool, he wouldn’t be worthy of being the prince’s personal guard.
For now, he would follow and see, to determine exactly what was going on.