Chu Chu frowned at the plate in the food box. "Just one plate?"
The clerk forced a nod. One plate had already thrown Shangyuan County into chaos—how many more did she want?
Chu Chu pouted. "One plate isn't enough..."
"It's plenty, really..."
Carefully sealing the box, Chu Chu declared seriously, "This portion would be enough for eating, but not for a corpse examination. I still need the remaining pieces."
The first half of her sentence reminded the clerk of the beef pancake he'd eaten that morning, making his stomach churn. Hearing the second half, he shook his head bitterly. "After this incident, all households who bought meat from Full Fragrance Butchery in the past two days returned their leftovers. Now everything's piled together with all available meat from Gathered Fragrance Pavilion's kitchen in the butchery's ice cellar. The coroners can't distinguish any of it..." Glancing at her food box, he sighed admiringly. "Detective Tang truly lives up to being Prince An Manor's man—what sharp eyes to recognize it in this state..."
Chu Chu quickly corrected him. "Not at all! He didn't notice at first—he only realized after tasting a piece."
Tasting a piece...
The clerk's stomach surged again. "Well... that's still impressive..."
"But Wang Ye is the most brilliant! I held it for ages without noticing, yet he figured it out immediately!"
Held it...
A chill ran down the clerk's spine. Well, with Prince An choosing such a consort, they truly deserved each other...
"Thank you, Clerk! I'll bring this back to Wang Ye now!"
Only after Chu Chu disappeared did the clerk realize: if she wanted the remaining corpse parts and had such nerve, why hadn't she asked to visit Full Fragrance Butchery?
Chu Chu had considered it, but she remembered Xiao Jin Yu's warning: anyone investigating this case without his orders would lose their head!
Whether she could rummage through the butchery would have to wait until she'd asked him properly.
On her way back to the Ji residence, Chu Chu made a detour to handle something she'd been contemplating since leaving the capital. By the time she returned, it was already noon.
She knocked on Xiao Jin Yu's door—no response.
Knocked harder—still nothing.
When she knocked with full force, the door creaked open on its own.
Xiao Jin Yu sat by the table, slumped loosely in his wheelchair with his head slightly bowed.
Chu Chu stuck out her tongue in realization—he'd fallen asleep. Thank goodness her knocking hadn't woken him.
As she began closing the door to leave, she hesitated, then tiptoed inside.
With his fragile health, sleeping like this would surely make him catch cold. Better cover him with a blanket.
She fetched a quilt from the bed and carefully draped it over him. Looking up, she saw his face up close and froze.
Xiao Jin Yu's brow was slightly furrowed, eyes tightly shut, lips deathly pale, yet a faint flush colored his cheeks. His chest rose and fell in weak, arrhythmic motions—each breath seeming to drain his last strength, followed by long pauses before the next shallow gasp.
This wasn't how he normally slept.
Chu Chu reached to touch his forehead, yanking her hand back the instant her fingers made contact. How could someone be burning up like melting iron?She hurriedly grabbed his wrist. Through the scalding hot skin, his pulse was so weak it was almost imperceptible, yet she could clearly feel the faint tremors running through his body.
"Wang Ye, Wang Ye!"
Chu Chu shook him and called out to him, but Xiao Jin Yu remained unresponsive, his eyes shut tight.
"Imperial Concubine, what's wrong?"
Ji Dong He had come to invite Xiao Jin Yu for lunch. Just as he reached the courtyard gate, he heard Chu Chu's tearful cries for the prince. He quickened his pace but still stood respectfully at the doorway to ask.
It wasn't that he insisted on formalities during an emergency, but among the numerous precautions Tang Yan had repeatedly emphasized was one strict rule: without Xiao Jin Yu's permission, no one was to enter his room unless it was a matter of life and death.
Seeing it was Ji Dong He, Chu Chu ignored how flustered the address "Imperial Concubine" made her feel and urgently said, "Lord Ji, Wang Ye is ill—he's unconscious!"
Startled, Ji Dong He replied, "Imperial Concubine, don't panic. This official will immediately summon a physician."
This definitely counts as a matter of life and death...
By the time Ji Dong He returned with the elderly physician whose beard and hair were completely white, Chu Chu had already half-carried, half-dragged Xiao Jin Yu onto the bed. She had removed his official robes and outer garments and was now anxiously and fearfully keeping watch by his bedside.
He was perfectly fine just moments ago, speaking with such authority—how could he deteriorate so suddenly...
The old physician impatiently shooed Chu Chu away from the bedside as soon as he entered. He grasped Xiao Jin Yu's slender wrist from under the covers and felt his pulse for a while, then pried open his eyes and mouth to examine them. Finally, he reached under the blankets to carefully palpate Xiao Jin Yu's bony legs and feet. When he turned his gaze back to Chu Chu, his expression grew even more impatient.
"Are you his maid?"
Chu Chu quickly shook her head. "I'm his wife."
"Wife?" The old physician glared at Chu Chu without courtesy and snorted coldly. "Looks to me like you're a wife he bought."
Ji Dong He was startled. Given the crowded and watchful nature of the medical clinic, he hadn't dared to tell the old physician who the patient was. He never expected the elderly man to say such a thing to Prince An's consort. Recovering from his shock, he hurriedly interjected, "Mr. Gu, how is the young master?"
The old physician let out a disdainful huff. "How is he? Lord Ji, why don't you ask his wife why she hasn't been feeding her husband properly when half his body is already disabled, letting his stomach and intestines deteriorate to this state!" The old physician glared sternly at Chu Chu. "He's been vomiting blood for over half a month—and you, as his wife, just stood by and watched?"
Vomiting blood? When did he vomit blood?
"I... I've never seen him vomit blood!"
"Never seen? Little girl, there's plenty you haven't seen! At such a young age, his internal organs are already as weak as an old man's in his seventies or eighties. He's overworked and caught a severe cold, and now the cold pathogen has entered his lungs. With lungs in this condition, delaying just one more night could turn it into consumption. Hold out for another seven or eight days, and you'll be able to inherit his property and remarry!"
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