Chapter 289: Chapter 289: Being a Widow Isn’t So Bad
The flickering lamplight within the room took on a life of its own. As Cui Yun finished speaking, even the air seemed to carry a hint of something extraordinary.
Shen Hua stuttered, overwhelmed with shame. She even stuttered when talking.
"I... I didn’t mean to offend you."
She explained, "It’s just that this matter was coincidental."
Shen Hua couldn’t help but feel her ears burning; she withdrew her hand. She saw again how unaffected Cui Yun appeared. His dark eyes, which seemed to perceive everything, steadfastly gazed at the person in front of him.
She guessed: It seemed like Cui Yun was taking pleasure in her embarrassment.
The girl changed her expression.
"Isn’t it wrong for you to not dodge?"
"Why didn’t you warn me by lowering your head? If you had made any noise, I wouldn’t have bumped into you."
The more she spoke, the more confident Shen Yangyang became, glaring at Cui Yun in complaint: "I’ve thought it over, it’s all your fault. Cousin, instead of staring at me, you should reflect on yourself. I haven’t even mentioned my loss yet."
Her words were fully absorbed by Cui Yun.
The soft touch carried a faint medicinal scent from the girl’s body, as if lingering still.
Cui Yun didn’t bother about Shen Hua gaining an advantage yet playing coy.
"Shen Hua."
"What?" She sounded a bit aggressive.
Shen Hua lifted her chin: "Are you preparing to apologize?"
"Yangyang, I won’t accept it."
After listening to her, Cui Yun said, "Even if I were smarter and could predict, I would never have foreseen today’s incident."
"Even if I had known, I probably wouldn’t have dodged."
Shen Hua was stunned, looking at him suspiciously.
"Cui Yun!"
At this moment, someone interrupted the tender moment in a frantic rush.
Ji Ge burst in.
"You need to come see my Third Brother. I think something’s very wrong with him. I remember you know some medical skills."
It shouldn’t surprise anyone why he was anxious; Ji Teng was sober when the incident happened, but soon after returning inside the tent, he had fainted from pain and remained unconscious until now.
Shen Hua’s thoughts quickly drifted off topic.
"The palace brought along Imperial Physicians. They had initially seen Mr. Wei. It’s more appropriate for him to handle it."
The matter wouldn’t have been so bad had it not been brought up, which only fueled Ji Ge’s anger.
Wei Yingying had gone early to call for the Imperial Physician, but he delayed for two hours, later realizing something was wrong. He personally went and burst into Ji Shimin’s tent, just in time to see Emperor He consoling Ji Shimin.
Emperor He reprimanded him for being disrespectful. He also mentioned how delicate a girl’s body was, and how Ji Shimin, having been startled, couldn’t be left alone.
Ji Ge sneered: "While the Third Prince is nearly dead, it’s Ji Shimin who was frightened!"
So many tents and no trouble elsewhere, unfortunately, her noble provocation attracted snakes; if only she had truly been bitten.
The situation was indeed ludicrous, but Ji Shimin came from the Empress, whereas Ji Teng...
Cui Yun glanced at Shen Hua, who looked guilty.
"Even if the Fifth Princess hadn’t had a snake incident, it’s not certain that the Third Prince would have been promptly and properly dealt with."
The words were no less true.
Shen Hua felt reassured and nodded heavily: "Exactly."
Soon after, Cui Yun didn’t delay and hurried off with Ji Ge.
There, Shen Hua glanced at the untouched roast chicken, she rubbed her face, thought for a while, then stirred the charcoal fire to make it burn more vigorously.
Having done that, she left the tent.
In his anxious state, Ji Ge heard the noise behind him.
"Why has Shen also come along?"
A flicker of amusement passed through Cui Yun’s eyes.
"The girl is clingy."
"Seventh Prince has taken a wife. Surely he must be aware of this,"
Ji Ge: ...
But Cui Yun suddenly realized something, he adjusted his robe and said softly: "I almost forgot."
"The Seventh Prince is incomparable to me after all."
Ji Ge: ...
This damnable countenance, he really hadn’t seen it for many years.
Ji Ge also elaborated on Ji Teng’s situation in detail.
"He was knocked off his horse by a brown bear that Ji Wang had been chasing, thrown against a tree trunk, and then the frightened horse stepped on his stomach."
"To be honest, before the spring hunt, I was the one who taught him how to ride."
"After entering the hunting ground, he dared not venture deep into the forest, and his horse-riding skills were merely superficial, so he just let the horse graze. Who knew Ji Wang would suddenly appear."
"After the incident, Ji Wang did not even show his face."
Blame was placed entirely on Fourth Prince.
It was a wild beast that hurt people, not Ji Wang who did the harming.
Ji Teng... was merely unlucky.
Cui Yun listened and couldn’t help but scoff.
Ji Teng’s tent was rather out of the way, located in an inconspicuous corner. It was quite a distance from here and to save time, the two did not stop to wait specifically for Shen Hua.
In the middle of the journey, Cui Yun suddenly spoke out.
"Today, if you helped, have you considered the consequences?"
Ji Ge subconsciously clenched his fists.
He understood Cui Yun’s implication.
This matter, Cui Yun was acting on his behalf, and in people’s eyes, Cui Family’s son was benevolent and would surely agree.
And Ji Ge—
It was only after he married Princess Le Jia that Emperor He intended to make amends, which made his life easier.
If he got involved in these muddy waters, how could Emperor He not know? The Fourth Prince might hold a prejudice against him.
Indeed, the most appropriate person to appear, the Fourth Prince, did not show up; instead, he did. Was it to highlight Ji Wang’s pettiness?
"I did what I wanted to do; as for the consequences, I can’t afford to care about them now."
Ji Ge pretended to be light-hearted: "Actually, this prince has also been quite disgraced. I often help Third Prince because I can’t stand to see him being too honest and naive, how can such a person survive in tough circumstances?"
Cui Yun mentioned it only briefly, no longer spoke further, nor did he try to persuade.
With Yingwu taking care of her, Shen Hua took her time arriving, and by then, Cui Yun had already withdrawn his hand from taking Ji Teng’s pulse.
"How is it?" Wei Yingying hurriedly asked.
Cui Yun took something out of his sleeve.
"Feed him one pill on each of the next two days."
Ji Ge took it, he opened the Jade Bottle, and poured out a red pill. Recognizing the medicine, Ji Ge was somewhat shocked.
Cui Yun: "His limbs are cold and damp, pulse is weak and rapid. I fear that the Third Prince’s internal organs have all sustained injuries. If he awakens within three days, Ni Kang has a way. If he does not awaken within three days, there is fear for his life."
Wei Yingying covered her mouth and started to cry again. Fearing that she might disturb Ji Teng, she ran out heartbrokenly, only to bump into Shen Hua.
Shen Hua gave her a look, speculating in her mind.
She sadly patted Wei Yingying’s shoulder: "Death cannot be reversed, mourn with restraint."
Wei Yingying burst into tears, crying even louder.
Soon after, Cui Yun finished discussing everything with Ji Ge and had written a prescription. Only then did he come out.
Just to hear Shen Hua trying hard to comfort.
"I don’t know if this marriage can be annulled."
"If not, being a widow isn’t so bad."
"In the future, think of a way, perhaps she can remarry."
Cui Yun: ...
"Shen Hua."
Shen Hua looked up.
"I’ll take you back."
Shen Hua: "No, I need to comfort Miss Wei."
Wei Yingying: "Go."
"Every word you say makes my heart hurt more."
On the way back, Cui Yun was silent and contemplative; suddenly, his footsteps completely halted, a sharp glint flickered in his eyes.
If it were usual times, Cui Yun wouldn’t have noticed anything odd. But lately, he had been studying fake pulses.
"Ying Yi, keep watch."