In her arms, Xiao Ling felt a single scorching teardrop fall upon his cheek, causing his brows to knit for a fleeting second.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, and the first thing that came into view was that exquisitely beautiful face.
Shen Feiwan's eyes were full of worry, terrified that he might die.
Xiao Ling slowly raised a hand and wiped away the burning tear tracks from her cheek. It was she who had asked him to play along; how could she have frightened herself into such a state?
"Heir?"
Shen Feiwan's voice trembled. She helped Xiao Ling to sit up and, checking repeatedly as he gradually regained consciousness, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Madam, weep no more. It's likely... that the residual poison from last night had not been fully cleared," Xiao Ling said weakly. "I won't die just yet, but much like our Third Brother, I can no longer father children. I have wronged you."
Indeed!
Standing to one side, Xiao Nian'an clenched his fists tight. Joy surged in his heart, but he kept his face completely expressionless.
A physician hurried over to feel Xiao Ling's pulse, declaring only that he suffered from a deficiency of vital energy and required quiet recuperation.
The day dragged on until nightfall.
Rubbing her temples, Old Madam Shen sighed. "Yuze, you must give the Marquis Manor an explanation for today's events. Fortunately, the Heir is safe and sound. If any harm had come to him while he was in the Shen Residence, it wouldn't be something that Conubine Li and her daughter could smooth over just by making a scene. Feiwan is your own flesh-and-blood daughter! Marrying the Heir is the greatest glory of our Shen Residence!"
"If she is implicated and cast aside by her husband, how will you ever face the ancestors of the Shen family?"
Leaning on her cane, Old Madam Shen shook her head continuously. "I am old, and many matters are no longer mine to decide, but if you still wish to keep your official post and secure the future of the Shen family's sons, you had better think carefully about which matter is light and which is heavy!"
Hearing this, Shen Feiwan looked at Old Madam Shen with gratitude.
Old Madam Shen waved a hand, and supported by her personal maid, she walked out the door.
These words left Shen Lianxin unable to hold her head high. Weeping with grievance, she was rebuked sharply by Xiao Nian'an: "Stop crying!"
With that angry roar, he flicked his sleeves and walked away.
Shen Lianxin failed to catch up to him and wept until she fainted in the courtyard, ultimately being carried off by a group of maidservants working together.
Shen Yuze found himself caught between staying and leaving. He heaved a heavy sigh, instructed Shen Feiwan to take good care of the Heir, and left several maids and matrons outside to keep watch and serve before he departed.
Without needing to ask, Shen Feiwan could guess that he must have gone to Conubine Li's courtyard.
Yet, unlike his past indulgence, Shen Yuze did not stay there long. He ordered the steward to escort Conubine Li out of the city and settle her in the villa at Lin Town, declaring that unless it was a matter of life and death, they would never see each other again for the rest of their lives!
This was even harder to bear than if he had killed Conubine Li.
Word had it that as Conubine Li was being loaded onto the carriage, she wept and cried out all the way, but none of it could make Shen Yuze change his mind.
When Shen Lianxin heard the news, she rushed over in a panic, but she was a step too late and failed to catch a final glimpse of Conubine Li. By the time she returned to her room, she was met once more with Xiao Nian'an's cold face.
Throughout the entire night, the inner courtyard of the Shen Residence knew no peace.
On the contrary, the east wing courtyard remained quiet and still. Shen Feiwan stayed by Xiao Ling's side the entire time, watching him drink water and watching him eat.
Xiao Ling insisted that he was truly fine, but Shen Feiwan still could not set her mind at ease.
In this lifetime, she refused to watch anyone lose their life because of her ever again.
It was only when Madam Shen hurried back to the residence that Shen Feiwan stepped outside to exchange a few words with her.
"Your father has been deluded by that woman surnamed Li for so many years, but this time he was finally able to harden his heart," Madam Shen said, taking her daughter's hand. "I only pity my daughter, dragged into this and implicated."
Being a woman herself, she knew that since Xiao Ling's body was ruined, Shen Feiwan's life was ruined along with it.
Her eyes were full of tears, aching to the core.
"Mother, I am fine."
As she spoke, Shen Feiwan embraced Madam Shen tightly. "You must listen carefully to what I am about to say. Now that the woman surnamed Li has been sent off to the villa, this matter is for now settled. But in a few days, at the academy poetry gathering for Lang'erge, you must make sure..."
She gave meticulous instructions, and at the end, she added, "Everything is fine with me at the Marquis Manor. It's just you and Lang'erge that I worry about. Remember my words and be careful in all things."
Lang'erge was her own younger brother.
In her past life, he had died at the hands of Shen Lianxin and Conubine Li.
Now that Conubine Li had been banished to the remote villa, the situation had finally been turned around somewhat. Everything depended on how they handled what was to come.
"Alright, I have remembered it all." Madam Shen looked at her daughter, her eye rims moist. How was it that after being married to the Marquis Manor for only a few days, the daughter she had raised in luxury seemed like a completely different person? The light in her eyes had grown dim.
"Wan'er, does the Heir treat you well?"
Madam Shen looked at her with eyes full of pity.
Shen Feiwan slowly nodded. "The Heir treats me very well and considers my feelings in everything. I am already content."
Compared to that hypocritical wolf in sheep's clothing, Xiao Nian'an, Xiao Ling was countless times better.
Madam Shen held her hand and gently patted it over and over. She assumed this was merely what Shen Feiwan was saying to comfort her. Now that Xiao Ling's health had been ruined by Shen Lianxin's poison, how could he and the Marquis Manor possibly treat a daughter of the Shen family kindly?
She only feared that when Shen Feiwan returned to the Marquis Manor tomorrow, her days would become even harder to bear.
Thinking of this, Madam Shen asked earnestly, "Are your days at the Marquis Manor well-provided for? If you need money for anything, do tell me."
The money that Shen Lianxin had extorted from her in their previous life had at least been kept within the Shen Residence this time.
Shen Feiwan shook her head. "It is all enough."
"Good, that is good... Your mother-in-law trusts you and has handed the management of the inner courtyard over to you. You must manage it properly as well. If there is anything you do not understand, go and ask your sister of the Zhao Family."
Shen Feiwan nodded slowly. "I understand, Mother."
After seeing Madam Shen back to her courtyard, Shen Feiwan stood outside for a long while before returning indoors.
Zhuying had warmed a hand warmer and poured hot water. "Miss, it is time to rest."
Her young mistress had finally cleared away the clouds to see the bright moon!
Only then did it dawn on Shen Feiwan that tonight, there was only one bed in this room.
She softly called out to Xiao Ling.
There was no response from him.
Looking closer, she saw that his complexion was somewhat pale, his sharp, knife-like features carrying a quiet stillness.
Shen Feiwan blew out the candle and lay down fully clothed on the nearby soft chair. Conubine Li had been sent away tonight, but what would become of Shen Lianxin tomorrow?
And there was also the trial of Lang'erge's poetry gathering; she wondered if they would be able to avoid it.
With her thoughts swirling, she eventually drifted into a heavy sleep.
When she opened her eyes again, she was lying on the bed, and Xiao Ling was nowhere to be seen.
"Heir!"
Shen Feiwan hurried up, only to see Xiao Ling, having changed his clothes, talking with Leng Fei in the courtyard.
Through the window, Shen Feiwan let out a sigh of relief.
Catching the sound of her footsteps, Xiao Ling turned around. "Is Madam awake?"
He gave Leng Fei a glance, and Leng Fei immediately withdrew.
"The hour is late. We should return to the Marquis Manor."
Shen Feiwan nodded. Just as the two of them reached the gates of the Shen Residence, they saw Shen Lianxin crying as she boarded a carriage, looking utterly disheveled.
Xiao Nian'an, meanwhile, rode his horse with a cold and gloomy expression, as if deliberately distancing himself from Shen Lianxin.
Seeing Shen Feiwan emerge, Xiao Nian'an urged his horse toward them. "Big Brother, let us return to the manor."
Xiao Ling nodded and turned to help Shen Feiwan into the carriage.
Shen Feiwan stared at the hand he extended, paused for a fraction of a second, and then gently placed her own hand in his palm.
Behind them, Xiao Nian'an gripped his reins tighter and tighter!
The two carriages returned to the Marquis Manor one after the other.
No sooner had they reached the main gates than two small figures appeared—none other than Xiao Zhizhi and Xiao Yanran, led by Mother Meng. They greeted them with utmost obedience, "Father! Mother!"
Seeing the two soft and lovely little ones brought a smile to Shen Feiwan's face.
Yet when Shen Lianxin stepped down from her carriage and found that her own two precious sons had not come out to welcome her, the expression on her face turned even uglier.
Until Old Madam Xu hurried up to her, "Third Young Mistress, you had better go and take a look! Young Master Huanyu has come down with a sudden illness and has been burning with fever all night!"
"What!"