Chapter 35: The Only Concern

  In the Ling Wang Fu, a few coughs occasionally came from Mo's bedroom. Rui'er carefully carried the medicine and walked in lightly, exchanging a glance with Meng'er who was standing aside, her footsteps becoming even lighter.

  Sitting silently on the edge of the bed, eyes cast down without a word. Yuan Longqiao lay half-reclined on the couch, occasionally covering his mouth to cough a few times, propping himself up with fatigue as if waiting for something.

  "Your Highness, it's time for your medicine." Rui'er half-knelt beside the footstool, holding the tray high above her head with both hands.

  Yuan Longqiao glanced at the black medicine soup in the bowl, "Cough, General Hu's mansion, cough, is there still no news?"

  "Not yet, Your Highness."

  He wrinkled his brow, secretly sighed, picked up the medicine bowl on the tray and drank it all in one breath.

  Qing Ming's eyelashes flickered, and his sitting posture became somewhat stiff.

  The sky gradually darkened, and the lights in the house were lit. Yuan Longqiao slowly slid from a sitting position to a half-reclining position, his eyes slightly closed as if he was about to fall asleep. Qing Ming quietly walked over, carefully removed the pillow that was supporting his back, and gently laid his body flat.

  "Xiao Tian... ...any news?" He asked drowsily without forgetting.

  "Shh!" Qing Ming whispered softly, "You rest first, I'll wake you up when there's news."

  He murmured a vague "uh-huh" and fell into a deep sleep.

  Groping to cover him with a thin quilt, Qing Ming finally let out a sigh of relief. Long Qiao's willpower was extremely strong, and if he hadn't relied on his trust in himself to secretly add calming Chinese angelica to his medicine, it wouldn't have been so easy to make him fall asleep.

  With a rustling sound, Meng'er let out a cry of surprise: "Director Zhou and Auntie, you've finally returned!"

  "Shh!" Qing Ming's face suddenly turned solemn, his long eyelashes lifted to reveal a pair of greyish-white eyeballs.

  Nui'er hastily pulled her back, and the two of them retreated two steps with their heads lowered, standing still with bated breath.

  The house was suddenly quiet and frightening.

  He listened for a while, and Yuan Longqiao's breathing was still very regular. Qing Ming put his mind at ease and turned around, asking in a sarcastic tone: "Weren't you told to stay at the Protector General's mansion? How did you get kicked out?"

  Zhou Song lowered his eyelids and remained silent, but Xiū Niáng was unwilling to hold back, saying with a bad tone: "It's still thanks to the first dose of medicine from Qing Ming young master!"

  "Hmph! A small punishment to serve as a warning, just giving her a little lesson. Moreover, when she returns to the General's residence, who knows what kind of medicine some quack doctor will give her? Not allowing her to vomit it all out, how can she be worthy of taking my Qingming's medicine?"

  The beauty is speechless.

  Zhou Song raised an eyebrow, seemingly unaffected and directly filtering out everything he had just heard, still remaining silent.

  Meng'er stuck out her tongue and exchanged a glance with Rui'er, both of them reading the same eight words in each other's eyes: "Qing Ming young master is indeed strange!"

  Relaxed, he sat back down on the edge of the bed and quietly grasped one of Yuan Long's hands in the quilt. Qing Ming said somewhat tiredly: "You all go down now."

  Everything around her was both familiar and strange, she lazily closed her eyes to digest the scene she had just seen. The intricate carvings, the complex canopy, the light gauze curtains, the antique furniture... Was she dreaming? The quilt smelled sweet, the pillow was soft, and she felt as light as a feather. Dreaming! She smiled slightly, intending to fall asleep again.

  "Tian'er! Are you awake, Tian'er?"

  Tian'er? Is she being called? No, her parents and friends all call her Xiao Tian.

  "Oh heavens!"

  She couldn't help but open her eyes - it was a face that, although not young, was handsome to the extreme. She stared blankly, her mouth slightly agape, with two small red hearts in her eyes.

  Xia Jingting took a deep breath, his eyebrows furrowed with heavy worry. He still clearly remembered that the last time she woke up with a head injury, her eyes were like this too. "Tian'er, I'm your father, do you remember?" he asked anxiously and tentatively.

  She blinked, and after a slight reaction, the memories of these days were all brought back. Being flogged, being stabbed, being locked in a dark room... Her back still hurts slightly, her body feels sour and soft, and she has no strength at all. She felt lost, heartbroken, lonely and had nowhere to go.

  A warm and thick palm gently stroked her forehead, her hair. Xia Tian's heart was filled with a mix of sadness and warmth that she couldn't distinguish between good fortune and bad luck. This kind of encounter that could be met but not sought after, was it ultimately good or bad?

  Cried herself to exhaustion, in the depths of her dream she vaguely remembered the dampness on her pillow and the helpless sighs by her ear: "Child, it's Father's fault, I've let you suffer!"