A muffled groan broke the silence in the room.
Feng Yinwan's slender figure trembled, and a large mouthful of blood surged from her lips again.
Jiang Rumuo stepped forward quickly, his expression grave. "Your Highnesses, the poison in Concubine Mo cannot be delayed any longer!"
With the only strand of purple ginseng already stolen, Ye Tinglan's eyes narrowed slightly. He raised his hand and began to infuse internal energy into Feng Yinwan's body.
Ye Tingyun's face changed abruptly. "Third Brother! You..."
Ye Tinglan pursed his lips, his palm exerting force, not yielding an inch. Seeing that persuasion was futile, Ye Tingyun gritted his teeth, clenched his fist, and quickly walked out.
When he returned, Ye Tinglan was resting with his eyes closed by the bed, his face slightly pale. Ye Tingyun cast him a worried glance and stuffed the medicinal packet in his hand into Jiang Rumuo's embrace. "Quick, these are purple ginseng slices picked from my own medicine!"
Jiang Rumuo was stunned and immediately nodded. With the infusion of Ye Tinglan's internal energy, Feng Yinwan's complexion improved considerably after taking the medicinal soup. As her consciousness just began to clear, pain immediately spread from her chest. Feng Yinwan let out a muffled groan and opened her eyes, only to meet a pair of dark, ink-like eyes in black robes.
"How are you?" Ye Tinglan's eyes hid a barely perceptible trace of concern.
Feng Yinwan shook her head, her voice slightly hoarse. "Who did this?" Before she lost consciousness, she had seen the attacker's silhouette. Although far away, it felt vaguely familiar, like the man in black she encountered at Qingpu Temple.
"It was people from Wuxi Pavilion."
Just as she suspected! Feng Yinwan's lips curled into a sneer, her expression turning cold. "Are they the same group who tried to assassinate me at Qingpu Temple before?" "Last time, Your Highness said I was blocking a calamity for the Empress Dowager. And this time, am I blocking an arrow for Your Highness again?"
Ye Tinglan lowered his gaze, his thin lips parting to utter four words. "Indeed so."
Feng Yinwan scoffed. "Your Highness isn't going to tell me this is all a coincidence, is he?" Being targeted by the same group of assassins twice, it was no exaggeration to say she was cursed.
Bathed in candlelight, her face was still very pale. Ye Tinglan's brows twitched, and he subconsciously softened his stern demeanor. "What do you think then?"
Feng Yinwan raised her eyes. "At Qingpu Temple, I only had a dispute with Qin Rulian. Apart from her, I really can't think of anyone else who could be so vicious!"
"Although Rulian has had a disagreement with you, this matter is not her doing." Only a naive girl like her truly lacked the ability for such a feat.
"Your Highness, have you forgotten the incident with the pastries at Shou Kang Palace today?" The Empress claimed ignorance of the "pregnancy" matter, but Qin Rulian might not have been so tight-lipped.
Ye Tinglan's brow furrowed. "I just said, this was done by people from Wuxi Pavilion, and it has nothing to do with Rulian."
Feng Yinwan's delicate face immediately turned cold. "I have no enmity with the people of Wuxi Pavilion. Why would they try to assassinate me repeatedly? According to Your Highness, am I just unlucky, and there's no mastermind behind it?"
"Feng Yinwan!" Ye Tinglan reprimanded her in a deep voice, his expression showing displeasure. After a brush with death, this woman was still so sharp-tongued and infuriating.
However, Feng Yinwan was not only infuriating, but she also wanted him gone! "Your Highness, please leave. I am injured and need to rest." After speaking, she rolled her eyes and turned her face away, pretending to sleep.
Ye Tinglan's handsome face darkened heavily. He clenched his fist, about to erupt, when the door was suddenly pushed open.
"Third Brother, what was that noise? Has that woman woken up?" Ye Tingyun strode into the room, but before he could finish speaking, he met his third brother's not-so-pleasant expression and immediately halted. "What... what's wrong?"
Ye Tinglan shifted his body and spoke coldly. "The purple ginseng slices were not effective enough to neutralize the poison. Send word down that the Consort is approaching her final moments. Preparations for her funeral can begin."
"Fu... funeral?!" Ye Tingyun was utterly stunned, his eyes wide. Before he could react, there was a commotion from the bed. Feng Yinwan, the "dying woman," had actually jumped up.
"Ye Tinglan, you've gone too far!" Her beautiful eyes were wide and bright, with a slight flush on her cheeks from anger, looking remarkably… energetic!
Ye Tingyun, still stunned, watched as his third brother casually lifted an eyelid. "Not pretending to be dead anymore?"
Feng Yinwan thought to herself, *'Dead my ass.'* She glared at him through gritted teeth, "I already said I need to rest. Please leave, Your Highness!"
Ye Tinglan narrowed his eyes. "Tingyun, leave."
Ye Tingyun: ??? In the moment of hesitation, a chill permeated the air. Ye Tingyun flashed a fawning smile and immediately turned to withdraw. He even thoughtfully closed the door behind him.
The room instantly fell silent. Ye Tinglan tilted his chin, his gaze subtly returning to the bed. Feng Yinwan was fuming. "Please, Your Highness, leave as well!"
Ye Tinglan's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Feng Yinwan, this is my room."
"You are sleeping in my bed."
Feng Yinwan, caught off guard by the realization that she had mistaken the room for her own and was brazenly trying to kick someone out, went from embarrassment and guilt to righteous indignation in a single second. "I am a patient with injuries. Your Highness is perfectly capable. What's wrong with you sleeping in the side room for a bit!" There's no problem with that!
Ye Tinglan sneered and glanced at her. "It seems your poison has indeed been resolved."
"Poison?" Feng Yinwan was startled. Only then did she realize that a few wisps of residual poison remained in her body. Her brows immediately knitted. Using hidden weapons was bad enough, but poisoning her too? Were they afraid she wouldn't die?
Before she could curse, Ye Tinglan spoke. "This poison can only be neutralized by purple ginseng. The people from Wuxi Pavilion went to great lengths for this very item."
Feng Yinwan knew about purple ginseng. It was said to be able to bring the dead back to life. "If Your Highness says the people from Wuxi Pavilion desperately wanted this item, why would they kindly give it to me for detoxification?"
Ye Tinglan gave her a deep look. "In the entire Jing Dynasty, only Tingyun possessed a strand of purple ginseng bestowed by the Emperor. It has now been stolen by the people from Wuxi Pavilion." "To help you detoxify, Tingyun picked out slices of purple ginseng from his own medicine."
Slices of purple ginseng from Ye Tingyun's own medicine? Could this kid be so kind? Feng Yinwan's heart faltered slightly. She decided to postpone the matter of the Sutra of Deliverance by two days. "Even so, it doesn't explain why this has nothing to do with Qin Rulian."
Ye Tinglan glanced at her and said coolly, "Didn't Consort say she needed to rest?" Feng Yinwan nodded, and under his intimidating gaze, she pulled the covers around herself and lay back down with a composed expression. "I am suffering from severe poison and am really not supposed to exert myself. I should indeed sleep." If the Wuxi Pavilion assassins suddenly reappeared to kill her, this scoundrel was powerful, so it was safer to be by his side.
Thinking this, Feng Yinwan immediately spoke again. "Your Highness is noble and precious. How could you possibly sleep in the side room?" She wrapped herself in the bedding and slowly shuffled inwards a bit, gesturing to Ye Tinglan with her eyes. "I am thin. I don't take up much space. Hurry up and come here!" She wanted the scoundrel to sleep outside so that if assassins came, he'd be the first to be attacked. Her little brain was simply brilliant!
Even with the obvious calculation in her eyes, her expression made Ye Tinglan's gaze deepen. A gust of palm wind swept past, and the candlelight was extinguished. In the darkness, the sternness on Ye Tinglan's lips quietly melted away. "Alright."