Shen Qingyao sat on the bed, clutching the blanket. She didn’t know whether she was embarrassed or feeling warm. From the half of her head peeking out to the glistening shoulder not completely covered, everything exuded an alluring shade of pink. Her big watery eyes followed the figure of Lu Zhao moving around the hall, her dark pupils darting back and forth.
It was really hard to imagine that in broad daylight, and Princess Duanhua had just left, but Lu Zhao dared to be so intimate with her. What if someone else walked in now…?
Thinking this, Shen Qingyao glared at Lu Zhao in embarrassment and annoyance. She thought, “I’m still a patient! Lu Xiaozhao is too shameless!! He doesn’t even spare a patient!”
As if hearing her thoughts, Lu Zhao, who had risen to fetch water for Shen Qingyao, suddenly felt something, turned back, and gave her a narrow-eyed look. It seemed to say, “Who started teasing whom first?”
Shen Qingyao felt her whole body melted again by his sticky gaze, so she quickly looked away and retreated her head under the covers. Her small body curled into a ball under the blanket, and Lu Zhao found her adorable like this.
Chuckling softly, Lu Zhao carried the water cup over. After a while, Shen Qingyao felt a tap on her waist through the blanket. Lu Zhao then leaned over and said, “Still thirsty? Or don’t want to drink anymore?”
Shen Qingyao squirmed, causing the blanket to arch strangely, and her hair to poke out. This slight movement inadvertently touched upon a sensitive spot, causing her discomfort. Shen Qingyao emerged, staring at Lu Zhao with a resentful gaze, who sat at the edge of the bed looking pleased with himself. She snorted.
Realizing his wrongdoing, Lu Zhao dared not tease her further. He gently helped her up. Seeing her unmoving, with her face flushed and pouting, he couldn’t resist teasing again, saying, “Not drinking? Or does Yaoyao want me to serve you again?”
Shen Qingyao choked up, realizing that the current situation was all because of her slip of the tongue just now!
Rolling her eyes, she leaned over and finished the glass of water with his considerate assistance, proving that for the time being, she did not want to be ‘served’ by anyone!
Especially not by Lu Zhao!
The two wasted the afternoon away. It was only just approaching dusk when they stopped fooling around. After Lu Zhao helped Shen Qingyao wash up briefly, the dinner prepared by the servants was ready. Seeing Shen Qingyao still weary, Lu Zhao bent down to carry her over without thinking.
However, Shen Qingyao noticed his movements and jumped up, saying, “No need! I’m just tired, not crippled!”
Although she enjoyed being held by Lu Zhao, the ambiguous play earlier had embarrassed her enough. Now, being carried around in front of the servants was something she couldn’t bear.
Seeing her reaction, Lu Zhao didn’t insist, but clicked his tongue, feeling somewhat disappointed.
Without looking at him, Shen Qingyao walked ahead on her own, but suddenly paused, feeling a flutter in her chest.
“Yaoyao?” Lu Zhao noticed her change and hurried over.
He saw that her face was pale, but she smiled and shook her head, “It’s nothing, really! Let’s eat first! I’m starving!”
With that, she linked her arm with Lu Zhao’s and sat down at the table. However, out of his sight, she quietly pressed her other hand against her aching heart.
“Tomorrow, let Kong Lin take a look at you again,” Lu Zhao said softly after carefully deboning a piece of sweet and sour fish, Shen Qingyao’s favorite, and placing it in her bowl.
Shen Qingyao paused, instinctively replying, “Look at what? I’m fine.”
But she wasn’t fine at all.
Shen Qingyao knew that her body was currently at its worst. Even compared to the attack six years ago, or the two times in their journey to the south, her condition was worse now. Although she appeared no different from usual, as the finale of the story getting closer, she could feel her health deteriorating.
Initially, the pain in her chest only occurred during attacks. Later, it became intermittent, and now, there was almost never a moment without pain. She had even grown somewhat accustomed to it. Yet, fearing that those close to her would worry, she endured silently, saying nothing.
“It’s just a pulse check for safety. Your body is weak, so you must be more careful,” Lu Zhao solemnly remarked, looking at her with concern. He still remembered Kong Lin’s words when Shen Qingyao couldn’t wake up: “I will do my best.”
Shen Qingyao nodded indifferently; she wasn’t worried since Kong Lin understood her condition best. At most, she would endure a scolding from the irritable old man for not taking care of herself. But…
Shen Qingyao glanced around, feeling the topic was becoming too heavy. Suddenly, she propped up her chin to look at Lu Zhao, her eyes like those of a cunning fox, carrying a hint of scrutiny and a touch of accusation. Softly, she said, “Brother Lu Zhao, you know I’m frail. But… this afternoon… you know, yet you still…”
She found it embarrassing to mention. Unable to continue, she let out a sigh of frustration halfway through.
Lu Zhao hadn’t expected her to still be embarrassed about it and chuckled, pretending ignorance, “What about this afternoon?”
“You’re still asking!” Shen Qingyao nearly threw down her chopsticks in anger, but Lu Zhao stopped her. Following that, there was inevitably a gentle rub and coaxing before they finished the meal.
After dinner, Lu Zhao left. Shen Qingyao had been unconscious for a few days, and he had stayed by her side during that time. Now that the situation in the capital was stabilizing, as one of Xiao Mu’s trusted advisors, he naturally had many matters to attend to. Shen Qingyao didn’t stop him; it was just as well since she needed time to have a good chat with her ‘long-lost’ system.
As soon as Lu Zhao left, Shen Qingyao eagerly called out to the voice of the young boy she hadn’t heard in a long time.
“System! System! Are you still alive?”
After a long silence, a small voice finally responded.
[Host…]
The youthful voice sounded somewhat listless, and Shen Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief knowing it was still there, but she also became puzzled. Unable to resist, she asked, “What’s wrong? You sound like you’ve been through the mill.”
[It’s nothing, just been dealing with some malfunctions these past few days, so I’m feeling a bit tired.]
Shen Qingyao wondered how an AI system could get tired but didn’t dwell on that question. She got straight to the point, “The male lead’s ascension to the throne plot is almost complete, Lu Xiaozhao hasn’t turned evil, the world is peaceful again… Does that mean my mission is complete?”
Shen Qingyao blinked her eyes, almost writing ‘give me the reward to cure my illness’ on her face.
Though she knew that with the system, she would surely recover, seeing Lu Zhao’s hidden concerns, she also wanted to get better soon.
But instead of an immediate response, there was a prolonged silence.
As the silence grew uncomfortably long, Shen Qingyao began to feel anxious. She couldn’t believe it and said incredulously, “No way, are you guys… planning to renege on the deal?”
—That would be too unfair!
[No! We’re not! Definitely not reneging!]
Thankfully, the system denied that, calming Shen Qingyao a bit as she waited to hear what it had to say next.
[It’s just… I’ve been dealing with some issues lately. I shouldn’t have been the one to handle them; I’m just a companion-type system. But… because the central control system had problems, we had to step in temporarily…]
“So?” Shen Qingyao interrupted. “What does the central control system’s problems have to do with me, Shen Qingyao?”
[So…] The young man’s voice struggled as it swallowed hard. [So, in fact, the distribution of rewards is managed by the central control system.]
Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
“Why are you like this? Are you so unreliable till the end?” She was anxious, almost jumping up, never expecting the system to be so unreliable! “So, according to you, if I end up terminally ill and die before your damn central control system is fixed, I’ll just die in vain? Working for you for nothing?”
—Is there anyone in charge? Where can I complain?
[…]
Shen Qingyao, who had been confident, suddenly felt bewildered. If Kong Lin couldn’t prolong her life until the moment she received the reward, she might really die.
So the next day when Kong Lin came to inquire, Shen Qingyao looked at him with unusually earnest eyes. Without waiting for him to say anything, she proactively rolled up her sleeves and stretched out her hand to Kong Lin. For someone who was normally afraid of needles and medicine, and even dragged on with pulse diagnosis, to suddenly took the initiative like this, made Kong Lin blew his beard in surprise and stared in amazement.
The examination proceeded quietly as usual, with no one daring to disturb, afraid of affecting the judgment of the miracle doctor.
When Kong Lin’s hand withdrew, Shen Qingyao immediately sat up straight and looked at him eagerly, “How is it? Grandpa Kong, is there still hope for me?”
Kong Lin paused in his packing of the medicine box, his expression towards her becoming even more strange. The girl had been ill for so many years, always calm during examinations. It could be said that in the past, everyone in this room except the patient herself was worried and anxious. Why was she suddenly so concerned?
“No hope!” Kong Lin glared at her.
“Ah? No hope at all…” Shen Qingyao’s face fell, feeling as if the heavens were about to collapse on her. I have worked for half a year in vain, what a loss!
“Hmph.” Kong Lin looked at the pale-faced girl, then tapped his cane and continued, “If you don’t follow medical advice, running when told to rest, rushing when told to recuperate, not even immortals can save you!”
It took Shen Qingyao a while to react before she understood that his earlier statement of ‘no hope’ was just to scare her.
Patting her chest with lingering fear, she thought to herself, how could this elderly man still be so childish at his age! Can such frightening words be casually said? She was almost scared into falling ill on the spot.
Pouting, she glanced over, about to complain to Lu Zhao beside her. Lu Zhao, like Cui Qiao, watched the banter between her and Kong Lin, laughing with curved eyebrows. However, unlike Cui Qiao and the others, his smile didn’t reach his eyes; in his deep eyes, there were more complicated emotions.
After tidying up his tools, Kong Lin turned and left an improved prescription on the table. In the moment he put it down, his gaze paused on Lu Zhao for a moment. Their eyes met, and after a moment, Lu Zhao followed Kong Lin’s footsteps out of the room.
Shen Qingyao inadvertently caught sight of all this that happened in the shadows.
Her heart sank suddenly. What were they going to talk about? They actually went out of their way to avoid her.
Shen Qingyao noticed but had already learned to remain calm. She only sat quietly.
Before Cui Qiao left, she gave Shen Qingyao a strange look, as if wondering why her Miss was unusually quiet today. But she thought her Miss might be tired, so she didn’t disturb her Miss, quietly carrying the prescription and leaving.
Hong Yun also left.
Shen Qingyao and Lu Zhao usually didn’t like too many people walking around in the room, so after these few people left, there was only Shen Qingyao left in the room.
She sat blankly for a while, but couldn’t suppress her curiosity. She quietly moved to the door, pressed her ear against it, wanting to hear what Lu Zhao and Kong Lin were saying behind her back.
She even found herself an excuse for eavesdropping.
—Anyway, they must be discussing my condition. My own condition, I’ll listen to it myself, shouldn’t be a problem!
With this thought, Shen Qingyao held her breath and listened intently, then heard the faint conversation of two people outside the door who hadn’t walked far. Without knowing what was said, she saw Kong Lin stroked his long beard and sighed.
Shen Qingyao’s heart skipped a beat. Kong Lin had always appeared confident and wise in front of her, as if there was no illness in the world that could defeat him. After all, he could even perform soul transference, which was already beyond the realm of normal people. So Shen Qingyao had always thought that maybe this illness wasn’t a big deal.
Even last night, she heard about the delayed reward and still held a glimmer of hope. Perhaps Kong Lin could really cure her? Then she could even exchange the reward for something else.
But hearing this long sigh now, she felt uncertain again. Kong Lin had never sighed in such a heavy tone before.
Could it be that it’s already this serious?
The pain in her heart seemed to be triggered by something, suddenly intensifying by a degree. Shen Qingyao felt a sweet sensation in her throat, bent over and covered her mouth. When she took her hand away, there was a trace of crimson in her palm.