Jun Xin turned back around and grinned. “In that case, you should give up on the thought of ever consummating your marriage with Baili Yu.”
…
Meow a mii, what kind of threat was this?
Tang Doudou didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh. She turned around and rubbed Jun Xin’s head the way he always rubbed hers and said with heartfelt sincerity, “Ah Xin ah, if you had been born in the ancient era, you would have already been drowned in a pig cage!”
‘Drowning in a pig cage’ is an old punishment. The criminal is put in a pig cage, tied up at the opening, and put in the water to drown. A person that had committed a light crime would be given some breathing room and pulled back out once the set period of time had passed, but a person that had committed a severe crime would be drowned to death.
Jun Xin looked baffled. He clearly didn’t understand what she meant.
However, she didn’t explain either and just dusted her hands off with a heavy sigh before walking back into the carriage.
The days on the carriage were hard to endure, but luckily she had Jun Xin to bicker with so the days weren’t that boring. However, after about a week, she developed some health issues.
After all, she was no longer as healthy as before and the knife wound at her abdomen still hadn’t completely healed. After being jolted for several days, one day when she was bickering with Jun Xin, she suddenly vomited blood.
Jun Xin was terribly alarmed and immediately went to grab the doctor that was traveling with them and threw him onto the carriage.
The doctor took a look at her and said that it wasn’t a big problem and that she would be fine after resting a few days. Only then did Jun Xin rush off to find Baili Yu. When Baili Yu heard that her injury had reopened, he immediately gave the order to stop in a nearby mountain village.
It was now night.
“I really am fine. The doctor said that I just needed a good rest…” said Tang Doudou as she looked towards Baili Yu in a pitiful way. He was currently holding a bowl of pitch-black medicine. After blowing on the spoonful of medicine, he moved the spoon towards her mouth.
“Wife, be good. This medicine will help you recover. It really isn’t bitter.”
Tang Doudou pouted. Why does this sound exactly like what she usually said to persuade little kids to drink medicine?
Baili Yu was amazingly patient and he offered another pile of sweet words. In the end, when Tang Doudou didn’t seem that against it anymore, he blew on another spoonful of medicine and said, “Here, say ahh.”
Tang Doudou really wasn’t trying to be unreasonable. It was just that after drinking Chinese medicine for an entire month, she was revolted by just the smell of it.
Right now, she had already opened her mouth several times but still couldn’t bring herself to drink it due to the intense flavor.
Baili Yu saw that she really couldn’t drink the medicine so he called the doctor over again. “Are there any other ways?”
The doctor looked troubled as he replied, “Since the injury is within her body, it can only be treated with medicine.”
Baili Yu didn’t speak and simply swept his gaze over the doctor’s face.
Although Baili Yu’s gaze was mild, to the doctor, it felt like an enormous boulder was crushing down on him. He hastily knelt down and said, “If she can’t drink the medicine, the medicine can be made into a medicinal pill and taken that way.”
As expected, there was another way.
Baili Yu’s tone softened a little. Retrieving his gaze, he said, “You may withdraw.”
The doctor didn’t move.
This doctor had been serving him for many years and has never dared to disobey his words. The fact that he was acting this way undoubtedly meant that there was some difficulty in making the medicine into pills. On matters that involved Tang Doudou, Baili Yu had always exhibited abnormal patience. “If you need anything, find Ye Chuan and he’ll think of a way to get them for you.”
The doctor hastily kowtowed and replied ‘yes’ before withdrawing.
“Just wait patiently alright, Wife? The medicinal pill will be here very soon.” Baili Yu turned around after the doctor left and gently pinched Tang Doudou’s face with an expression of heartache. “Wife has become skinnier.”
Chinese culture: not living well = no appetite/no food = become skinnier. My reality: not living well = stress = stress eating = become fatter.
Tang Doudou was completely speechless. There was nothing to do within the carriage except eat and sleep. Then there was the fact that Meng Yu made the meals so everything was delicious and she always ate until she was bursting. Jun Xin had already disdainfully remarked several times on how fat she had gotten, yet when Baili Yu saw her, he felt that she had gotten skinnier…
Just as she was preparing to correct Baili Yu’s misperception, she saw Baili Yu pick up a medicinal book from the side and placed it on the bed. Looking straight at her, he said, “It fell on the ground earlier when you got off the carriage. Jun Xin picked it up.”
Oh no, how did it fall?
Tang Doudou felt around her chest and found that the book really wasn’t there. She looked toward the book on the bed and said while scratching her head embarrassedly, “Thanks.”
Baili Yu smiled in response but didn’t ask her about the book.
“Ahem, this is a medicinal book.” However, she still decided to tell Baili Yu about it since this was related to him.
Baili Yu responded with an ‘en,’ then said, “I’ve looked through it.”
A big sweatdrop appeared on Tang Doudou’s head and she felt stupid. There were big letters written on the cover of the book so there was no way Baili Yu could miss the fact that this was a medicinal book. Then there was the fact that anyone with a brain could guess that she was investigating the Hoarfrost Poison, otherwise there’d be no reason for her to keep the book so close.
“This book only mentions the Hoarfrost Poison, it doesn’t record how to cure the poison.” Baili Yu picked up the book and flipped to the page she had marked. “When you have time, have Qing Yu read it to you. There’s a lot of things to learn from this.”
Tang Doudou was very disappointed to hear this. “It doesn’t talk about the cure?”
Baili Yu flicked the tip of her nose. “Don’t worry. The little book Cang Baicao gave you last time had the cure written on it, so I’m already thinking of ways to cure the poison. Wife doesn’t need to worry about becoming a widow after getting married.”
Tang Doudou glowered at him. “Who’s going to marry you?”
“Then who does Wife want to marry?”
“I want to marry…” Tang Doudou glanced over and saw his nefarious smile.
“En, who do you want to marry?”
Tang Doudou shoved the book back into her clothes, then lay down on the bed facing away from Baili Yu. “Not telling you.”
Baili Yu poked her shoulder and called, “Wife…”
“Sleep.”
“Alright!” Baili Yu happily lay down next to her and hugged her from behind. “Since Wife has extended an invitation, this husband can only obey.”
The fudge? Did he have to be so shameless? Tang Doudou shifted uncomfortably. She had a bad feeling about him hugging her like this.
“Wife, don’t move.” His voice was low as he pressed down on her hands and tightened his arms around her again. His breathing was a little heavy. “Be good. We’re only sleeping, nothing else.”
Tang Doudou wasn’t a naive little lady and understood that right now, it was best to behave. If she taunted the fire, she would only end up dooming herself.
Hence, she obediently stopped moving. Baili Yu laughed softly, then buried his head in her hair to inhale the soft scent. Patting Tang Doudou’s shoulder, he said, “Good night.”
Following that, he started to hum a tune softly as if he was coaxing her to sleep. The languid tone combined with his low charming voice soon made Tang Doudou, who originally didn’t want to sleep, nod off.
Her breathing slowly became even as her consciousness faded. Baili Yu lifted his head. After setting her down and tucking the blanket around her, he watched her for a while longer until she was in deep sleep before heading out of the room.
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