Chapter 10 : Something Went Wrong!

Just at that moment, He Songning collected his kite and walked over.

“Your Highness,” he gently called.

The King of Wei snapped back to attention and smiled, saying, “Zhong Qian, I don’t think your sister is as spoiled as you say… She’s quite charming.”

He Songning cursed silently.

This fool wants Xue Qingyin’s favor and ended up repeating everything he said. “She’s as spoiled as you say”—didn’t he realize how much trouble this would cause? Xue Qingyin would surely be furious tonight when she hears this!

He Songning didn’t expect that…

Xue Qingyin immediately slapped her face, stood up, and said, “Brother, how can you say such things about me in front of others? I… I really…”—her voice choked, and tears flowed like pearls breaking from a string.

Then she turned and ran off.

Gone, just like that.

He Songning was left speechless.

Her temper was growing.

The scene turned into chaos.

The King of Wei stood frozen.

Just like that? She was angry so quickly?

A wave of awkwardness crossed his mind, but when he thought of her tearful face, he felt a pang of pity.

“Zhong Qian, as an elder brother, you should pamper your sister more,” said the King of Wei, immediately sending a young eunuch to chase after her.

He would’ve gone himself, but his status made it inappropriate to lower himself.

Xue Qingyin jumped into the carriage, saying, “Go, go!”

The coachman didn’t know what happened, but he trusted his master’s orders and urged the horses forward.

Meanwhile, the deputy general of the King Xuan ’s party was puzzled: “What happened?”

“Did she… cry?”

King Xuan  lifted his eyelids.

He wasn’t scared of the King of Wei, but this… had made her cry?

The deputy general hesitated: “She is a lady after all, it’s not good for her to leave like this. Should we follow her? In case she encounters any trouble outside the city?”

Someone else said, “Didn’t the King of Wei send someone to follow her?”

“The King of Wei’s men… can they be trusted?”

“…You’re right.”

While they were discussing, King Xuan  suddenly said, “Let’s go.”

“Your Highness, are we heading back to the city?”

“Follow Miss Xue.”

“…Understood!”

Xue Qingyin had climbed into the carriage and pulled out some food.

Just as she was about to eat a bit more, a sudden dull pain hit her chest.

Had she run too fast?

She pressed her hand against her chest and rolled up the curtain.

Then she remembered that her maid hadn’t kept up.

She wasn’t used to life in the ancient world; she had grown accustomed to being independent.

Xue Qingyin inhaled a couple of deep breaths of fresh air outside the carriage.

No…

Her chest seemed to tighten even more.

Looking down, her fingers turned pale.

This was bad.

Her body was too weak.

“Quickly… find a medical hall,” Xue Qingyin gasped, speaking to the coachman.

The coachman was startled.

“Something seems wrong ahead…” the deputy general murmured. “Why is the coachman panicking?”

“Let’s go check.”

“Understood.”

The deputy general quickly dismounted and walked over, “Don’t move!”

The coachman immediately froze.

The deputy general turned and saw Xue Qingyin’s condition. Her face was sweaty, her eyes shining, tears in her gaze.

“Medical hall… take her to the medical hall.”

The deputy general was shocked, quickly calling out, “Your Highness, Miss Xue might be dying from the shock of the King of Wei!”

That damned King of Wei!

King Xuan  suddenly jumped out of the carriage, took a few steps, and saw Xue Qingyin’s condition.

“Not to the medical hall, back to the palace. Ye Wei, go back quickly and send word to the imperial physician to wait at the door.”

A young man immediately rode fast towards the city gates.

“This… how can we go back to the city? The bumps will make it worse,” the deputy general worried.

King Xuan  stepped onto the carriage’s wheel and climbed into Xue Qingyin’s carriage, holding her waist as he coldly said, “Close your eyes, calm down.”

For a moment, he froze.

Her body was so soft.

Yet she seemed unafraid, leaning into him like that.

At this age, King Xuan , who had spent most of his life in the military camp, had never been this close to a lady, not even one of his maids in the palace.

As his hand touched her, it started to burn with warmth.

He quickly moved back, creating some distance between them.

But with her leaning against him, Xue Qingyin didn’t care much for such concerns.

She leaned deeper into him, trying to steady her breath.

King Xuan  pursed his lips, his expression sharp.

But Xue Qingyin couldn’t see it.

Looking down, he saw her sweat-drenched hair, her lashes glistening, her soft pink ears, and a delicate neck, all hidden beneath her thin clothes but faintly glowing.

She seemed both pitiful and captivating.

King Xuan  didn’t push her away.

“Call our coachman,” he said coldly, his voice still icy.

The coachman was trembling with fear, and the guards quickly replaced him with the royal coachman.

The royal coachman was no ordinary man—he drove the carriage quickly and smoothly.

Though the King Xuan ’s residence wasn’t as close to the palace as the King of Wei’s, it was much closer to the city gates, saving time and trouble.

The carriage sped back to King Xuan ’s residence.

But now, someone new was inside the carriage.

“Your Highness, we’ve arrived.”

A person who couldn’t catch their breath shouldn’t lie down.

King Xuan  had only been supporting Xue Qingyin’s back at first, but his grip was too firm. Before he realized it, she was completely in his embrace.

The imperial physician, hurriedly summoned, opened the curtain to see this scene.

He was stunned for a moment, almost thinking his eyes were playing tricks.

Xuan, King Xuan … holding a… girl?

He quickly recovered, checked Xue Qingyin’s complexion, and shouted, “Medicine box!”

A medicine boy hurriedly passed it to him.

The physician took out a medicinal herb, placed it in Xue Qingyin’s mouth, and said, “Hold it.”

Afterward, he hesitated for a moment.

How should he proceed?

Should he carry her inside, or would the King Xuan ?

“Bring the soft sedan,” King Xuan  ordered.

Xue Qingyin was carried into the mansion in a soft sedan.

The physician wrote a prescription and sent someone to prepare the medicine.

King Xuan  carried her.

… She was so light.

Her father was a deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue—how could he have raised her to be so frail?

King Xuan ’s gaze softened, and he placed her on the bed before turning to leave. But as he tried to pull his sleeve away, he found it was stuck.

Looking down, Xue Qingyin had tightly grasped it.

Her hand wasn’t large… but it felt fragile, as though it would break with the slightest pressure.

King Xuan  called for his deputy.

“Come here.”

The deputy general hurried over.

King Xuan  drew his sword and severed the sleeve, then turned and left.

The deputy general asked, “Where are you going?”

“Since we’re back, we’ll deal with the matters of the Anxi Army first.”

“And Miss Xue?”

“What? You want to make medicine for her?”

The deputy general shook his head. They were neither doctors nor apothecaries—what could they help with?

He focused on the task at hand and followed King Xuan  to the study.

Inside, a flower Xue Qingyin had given earlier still sat on the desk.

“The flower… has withered,” the deputy general remarked casually.

It had withered.

The petals were almost completely gone, yellowed and wrinkled.

King Xuan  stared at it coldly for a moment, swallowing hard, “Go send word. If Miss Xue is fine, have someone report back.”

The deputy general was puzzled.

Why didn’t he say that earlier?

Meanwhile, the eunuch sent by the King of Wei had realized he lost track of them and awkwardly returned.

He Songning, losing interest, followed his party back to the Xue household, two hours later.

He entered and asked, “Where is the eldest lady?”

“She was supposed to go out with you, Master.”

“She hasn’t returned?”

“No, she hasn’t.”

He Songning’s face darkened.

Something’s happened.