Chapter 292: Chapter 292: Why Should a Dying Woman Like Me Hold Up My Cousin?
Meanwhile.
"Master."
Early in the morning, Yingwu sensed something was wrong with Shen Hua and hurriedly sought out Cui Yun. At that time, Cui Yun was taking the pulse of Ji Teng, who was "unconscious".
"Miss Shen is sick, and she looks very unwell."
Upon hearing this, Cui Yun’s expression changed dramatically, and without hesitation, he left Ji Teng and headed straight out.
As he left, Ji Teng slowly opened his eyes.
He watched Cui Yun leaving with an indecipherable look in his eyes.
As Cui Yun approached Shen Hua’s tent, he heard a series of weak, continuous coughs coming from inside. A sense of dread clenched his heart.
He hastened inside.
The girl on the cot appeared pale, with beads of sweat on her forehead. Her breathing was feeble, barely noticeable.
"How could this be!"
Shen Hua rested a hand on her chest as if in unbearable discomfort.
Speaking weakly, she said, "It’s my old ailment. I must have caught a chill from the breeze last night."
Cui Yun reached for her hand and carefully checked her pulse.
In recent days, the girl’s health had improved, and she had taken medicine for several days to regulate the disordered pulse.
However, Cui Yun and Ni Kang hadn’t mentioned this, so Shen Hua was unaware.
Apart from the general weakness in her body, which needed slow recuperation, everything about her pulse was... normal.
The strong pulse was even lively at this moment.
’Cough, cough, cough’
Shen Hua coughed violently.
Cui Yun slowly released her hand, gazing intently at the girl.
As someone who had been ill for many years, the girl’s act was perfect, even her hair seemed languidly ill.
Shen Hua’s voice was frail: "Cousin, don’t bother yourself. I’m afraid I can’t recover."
Cui Yun’s tone was indifferent: "Is that so?"
Shen Hua appeared wistful, her voice barely a whisper of despair: "Recently, I thought I was getting much better, but one should not harbor excessive hopes. I’ve been ill for many years; each additional day is a blessing. Now that I’ve fallen ill again, everything feels uncomfortable. Even breathing is hard; it seems my days are numbered."
"If one day I can’t make it through, my life will be over."
Cui Yun responded succinctly, as if unwilling to listen to Shen Hua’s morose words: "Get to the point."
Tears welled up in Shen Hua’s eyes.
Her brows were tightly knitted, and the next instant, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Drip-drop.
It soaked into the bedding.
Shen Hua frantically wiped it away with a handkerchief.
Pretending to be strong, she reassured Cui Yun: "I am fine."
"Indeed, you will be fine."
It’s come to this, why do you still insist? Shen Hua was at a loss for words.
She was slightly taken aback, and thus, even more committed to her act.
"Girls eager to marry you, Cousin, are everywhere in Shengjing City. I’m just a bit more beautiful, a notch above them in every aspect, but I’m an invalid. Why must you cling to a mistaken loyalty?"
Cui Yun was expressionless: "Continue."
Shen Hua stubbornly refrained from letting the tears fall, sobbing quietly: "Why should this short-lived wretch delay Cousin’s life?"
A fleeting, unidentified emotion flashed in Cui Yun’s eyes.
It was so quick that Shen Hua couldn’t catch it.
But Cui Yun said, "I will urge the Shopkeeper to finish crafting your coffin as soon as possible."
"I will command the embroidery ladies who sew wedding gowns to also prepare your shroud."
"I will consult sister-in-law about setting up the wedding hall and the mourning hall at the same time once you’ve finished your mourning period."
Cui Yun smiled faintly, sitting down by the bedside. He fiddled with the blanket covering the girl, claiming to be considerate: "These are just trivial matters; no need for tears of gratitude. Since you’ve sought refuge with the Cui family, it might be best to stay with us forever. After your abrupt illness takes you, I can still arrange a grand funeral to see you off in style."
The air grew still.
Shen Hua sat numb with disbelief.
Quickly, the girl plunged into despair: ...but I was just pretending!!!
"It... doesn’t necessarily have to be this way."
"It should be this way."
Shen Hua fell silent.
She had never expected Cui Yun to be so deeply invested.
Cui Yun’s lips were tightly pressed together, a layer of coldness rising in his dark eyes, the warmth on his face gradually dissipating.
He remained silent, too.
Who knows how long had passed, Cui Yun still could not understand. What Shen Hua had done, what was it all for.
It didn’t seem like she was bluffing.
After all, she had already obtained everything she wanted.
The girl’s reaction last night, now also seemed very strange.
She seemed to be... avoiding.
Thinking of this, Cui Yun was burning with anger, he slowly moved closer. A cold, desolate smile hooked at the corner of his mouth.
"Do you not want to marry? Or do you want to break it off? Have taken a fancy to someone else, hence unwilling to be too involved with me?"
Shen Hua was perplexed: "Someone else?"
Cui Yun’s face was icy: "For example—Heir Xie."
"How can you speak such nonsense."
"Is that so?"
Shen Hua shrank back, distancing herself from him.
"Is there not another possibility."
She struggled to say: "I regard you as a cousin."
The man’s pupils shrank abruptly.
Shen Hua spoke earnestly with her head bowed: "Cousin, I have never thought about what you’ve said before, and I probably won’t think about it in the future."
"Being so gentle and virtuous, spending time together, it’s inevitable that you might develop inappropriate feelings,"
Shen Hua restrained the triumph in her tail from wagging wildly: "For this point, you can’t be blamed for your discerning eyes recognizing a gem."
"You are not wrong!"
"But to have feelings, that is where you are mistaken."
Cui Yun’s vision darkened, finding it absurd.
The Second Young Master of the Cui family, peerlessly noble, every step he took in these years was cautious, never had he suffered such a great fall.
And now they tell him, it was all his own wishful thinking, isn’t that laughable?
Rationality burned until it dissipated into ashes.
He no longer wanted to see Shen Hua.
The man abruptly stood up and walked outside.
"Cui Yun."
Shen Hua hurriedly called out to him, asking with extreme caution.
"Can we still be cousins?"
That was met with Cui Yun’s cold laugh.
"Miss Shen’s heart is really big."
Soon, he was gone from Shen Hua’s sight.
The light in the girl’s eyes dimmed. Her fair fingers clutched the bedding tightly.
It seemed that she had still messed up.
The girl now truly felt discomfort.
At this moment, someone walked back and forth with a stern face.
Cui Yun’s indifference could not be greater. But there was not a hint of discomposure about him.
What he wanted, would he ever fail to obtain?
Including people.
He pressed against the girl’s slender back, scooped her up, and bit onto her soft lips.
A sting of pain washed over her, Shen Hua’s eyes widened in shock.
Before she could panic and push Cui Yun away, Cui Yun had already withdrawn.
"You—"
Shen Hua got up.
Her angry fingers jabbed towards Cui Yun’s face.
"Despicable!"
But Cui Yun seemed to have regained his composure.
"Your body, I am probably more aware of it than you are."
Shen Hua’s finger retracted back a bit.
Cui Yun witnessed the astonishment and anger on her face, but could not see the shame that should have been there. For a moment, he did not know how to feel.
"Since that’s the case, there’s no need for us to continue pretending to be ignorant to avoid further misunderstandings."
Cui Yun held himself with solemn dignity, his thin lips moved slightly, his tone was extremely indifferent: "I also know that Xue Tuan is you, Shen Hua is also you."
"Xue Tuan is mine, and you can only be mine."
An oppressive presence enveloped him: "I have enough patience to wait you out, Miss Shen, if you said you’ve never thought about it before, then fine, start thinking from now on."