"Like how the Emperor was last night?"
"More or less."
"Whew..." Chu Chu let out a long sigh, patting her chest. "You should've said so earlier! You scared me to death!"
Xiao Jin Yu exhaled slowly. It's you who scared me to death...
Chu Chu pointed at her own nose. "What about me? Who should I pretend to be?"
"You don't need to pretend... You'll just be Chu Chu, my betrothed."
Chu Chu's eyes curved into happy crescents. "Good!"
"The journey from the capital to Suzhou will take some time. We'll occasionally take small paths, and carrying the betrothal gifts in the carriage might invite unnecessary trouble. I'll have someone arrange them when we enter Zizhu County, so don't worry."
Chu Chu untied her small floral bundle and set it aside. "The betrothal gifts aren't important. Your presence is what matters."
Xiao Jin Yu was momentarily taken aback, then smiled wryly. She's got it backwards, hasn't she...
As the carriage began moving steadily, Xiao Jin Yu pointed to the bed opposite. "We'll be traveling through the night. You can sleep there."
Chu Chu glanced at the single-person bed. "What about you?"
Xiao Jin Yu gently patted the couch beneath him.
Chu Chu frowned at the narrow bamboo couch. "You should take the bed instead. You're unwell."
Xiao Jin Yu shook his head. "I prefer it here."
"Alright then."
Last night, Chu Chu had been too excited to sleep. She had just arrived in the capital a few days ago and had already met the Emperor, who had even rewarded her—by granting her the Prince who oversaw all cases in the world. This solved both of her biggest worries at once.
Not only could she learn from the Prince and broaden her horizons, but she no longer had to worry about finding a husband. If she could also locate the Six Doors, her life would be complete!
Besides Heaven, only Wu Jiang, who lived next door to her, knew how many times she had chanted "Long live the Emperor" at her window last night—even she herself had lost count.
The consequence of Chu Chu's all-night gratitude to the Emperor was that she grew drowsy as soon as the carriage started jostling. Leaning against the round table, she yawned repeatedly, which in turn made Xiao Jin Yu feel sleepy. He couldn't help but let out a soft yawn himself.
He hadn't slept a wink last night at the Three Thoughts Pavilion either, but falling asleep had never been easy for him, especially in a bumpy carriage.
Just as Xiao Jin Yu reached for the cup on the side table to refresh himself and continue reading the anthology in his hand, Chu Chu's voice interrupted him. "Are you sleepy?"
Xiao Jin Yu paused. Her tone and expression suggested... she had been waiting for him to get sleepy?
Chu Chu straightened up, forcing herself to stay alert despite her drowsy face. "If you're sleepy, you should go to bed quickly."
Xiao Jin Yu suddenly realized something: she was fighting off yawns and refusing to sleep because he hadn't gone to bed yet.
Could she be afraid that he might take advantage of her while she slept? If anything, he should be the one wary of her.
Xiao Jin Yu smiled bitterly to himself and set the book on the side table. "You go to sleep first. I'll take my medicine and then rest."
Chu Chu rubbed her eyes and stood up. "Shall I brew your medicine for you?"
"No need..." Xiao Jin Yu sat up straighter and pointed to a large ebony chest at the foot of the couch. "Just bring that to me."Chu Chu had assumed Xiao Jin Yu stored a single bottle of medicine in his luggage chest. But when the lid cracked open, a potent medicinal odor surged out. Lifting it fully, she discovered a chest half a person's height entirely packed with bottles, jars, and boxes of various sizes. Upon closer inspection, every container was labeled with drug names. Chu Chu's eyes widened instantly, all drowsiness vanishing as she stared at Xiao Jin Yu in astonishment. "Are... all these just for you?"
Xiao Jin Yu glanced at the chestful of tasks assigned by Ye Qian Qiu. "Feel free to take any if you'd like. Don't stand on ceremony."
Chu Chu shook her head repeatedly. "I'm perfectly healthy. Better save them for you..." She turned back to the mountain of medicine in the chest. "So which ones do you need to take now?"
Xiao Jin Yu recited names one by one, and Chu Chu retrieved each corresponding item. After seven or eight were gathered, he finally said, "That's all."
Watching him swallow two pills from this bottle, three tablets from that jar, following powders with medicinal syrup, Chu Chu suddenly realized: since meeting Xiao Jin Yu, she'd only ever seen him consume medicine and water, never actual food. So this person truly could get full on medicine alone...
How severe must his illness be to require this much medication?
Yet observing him now—though pale and slender—he didn't appear critically ill.
Could it be because of his legs...?
As Xiao Jin Yu finished the last medicine, he looked up to find Chu Chu staring blankly at his legs. He cleared his throat twice. "I'm going to sleep."
Chu Chu snapped back to attention. "Alright."
After carefully returning the medicines to the chest, she turned to see Xiao Jin Yu already lying down, wrapped in blankets as if asleep. She moved the lamp from the table to the bedside, removed her outer robe, slipped under the covers, and pursed her lips to blow out the flame.
The moment darkness fell, Xiao Jin Yu's bewildered voice emerged from the blackness.
"Why did you extinguish the lamp?"
Chu Chu paused. "To sleep."
"Why... extinguish it for sleep?"
"I can't sleep with the light on."
That was why she always waited for him to sleep first.
Xiao Jin Yu fell silent.
Curled in the soft bedding within the pitch-dark carriage, Chu Chu found herself unable to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that massive chest overflowing with medicines, and Xiao Jin Yu's faintly furrowed brow as he took his doses.
The more she thought, the more unsettled she felt, though she couldn't explain why.
She'd experienced this sensation once before, in early childhood—when her pet rabbit suddenly stopped eating and moving one day. Despite her meticulous care, it had died within days.
That was her first corpse examination, and the only one whose cause of death she'd never determined.
OpenNovel