Qin i patted the back of Second Auntie’s hand, laying the praise on thick. "Second Auntie, you’re exaggerating. How could I possibly compare to you? You’re the real warm-hearted, living Bodhisattva. Your spirit of selflessness is sothing we should all learn from."
"Oh, you silly girl! You’re exaggerating." Flustered by Qin i’s torrent of complints, Second Auntie’s old face burned with embarrassnt.
"I’m not exaggerating at all. Every word cos from the bottom of my heart. Second Auntie, my admiration for you is like a surging river, endless and unceasing." Qin i’s sweet talk completely won Second Auntie over.
"Fourth Wife of Jing, the dicine is about to get cold. Drink it while it’s hot." Second Auntie reminded Qin i, feeling as if she’d float up to the heavens if she listened to any more praise.
Qin i’s mouth twitched. Staring at the steaming dicine, she had the distinct feeling of having shot herself in the foot. "My hands are dirty. I need to wash them first."
Qin i headed for the water vat, but Second Auntie grabbed her. "You’re in confinent after your miscarriage. You can’t touch cold water."
Qin i desperately wanted to be honest with Second Auntie, but she was afraid of interfering with Jie Jingchen’s plan, so she held back. "Second Auntie, it’s not that big of a deal."
"It is," Second Auntie urged patiently. "Fourth Wife of Jing, you’re still young. If you don’t take care of your body now, you’ll suffer the consequences when you get older."
"Then I’ll wash in our room," Qin i conceded. Picking up the dicinal bowl, she left the kitchen. Back in their room, Jie Jingchen was sitting by the window reading. The sight of him instantly reminded Qin i of the drug ant for breeding cattle, and of his towering fury. A wave of awkwardness washed over her.
’Seriously. If Jie Jingchen hadn’t ntioned it, I would have had no idea. Ignorance would have been bliss. Now I don’t even know how to face him.’
’Besides, I wasn’t the one who gave him the cattle-breeding drug. What do I have to feel guilty about?’
’The original owner of this body was a real piece of work. A drug for breeding cattle... that stuff must be insanely potent.’
’Well, the original owner got her just deserts. She kicked the bucket.’
"The dicine is ready. It’s your decision whether you drink it or not." Qin i didn’t press the issue. Before, when she hadn’t known that the original owner had drugged him, she would have forced him to drink it. Now that she knew, she was letting him choose for himself.
Qin i turned, picked up the thermos, and poured water into the washbasin. She washed her hands, dumped the water, then poured fresh hot water to wash her face.
Jie Jingchen set his book down and rose. He walked to the desk and stared at the bowl of dicine. After a few seconds of hesitation, he picked it up and downed it in one go.
Catching his movent out of the corner of her eye, Qin i felt the corners of her lips curve up slightly. She hung up her towel and carried the washbasin outside to dump the water.
"Fourth Sister-in-law." Jie Jingshan called out to Qin i from her room.
Instead of returning to her room to put the basin down, Qin i carried it with her to Jie Jingshan’s room. "What is it?"
"Fourth Sister-in-law, I don’t understand this problem," Jie Jingshan said.
Qin i glanced at the problem, sat down beside Jie Jingshan, and patiently explained it to her.
The door was open, and Qin i’s clear voice reached Jie Jingchen’s ears. He recognized the question; it was a high school problem. ’She actually knows this?’ The suspicion in Jie Jingchen’s heart flared up again.
He had confird her identity—she was definitely Qin i. But this version of Qin i was simply baffling.
Jie Jingshan was very bright; Qin i only had to explain it once for her to grasp it. She could even extrapolate to solve similar problems. Jie Jingshan was a bona fide academic ace.
If Jing Qi kept working this hard, with her help, he wouldn’t even need to go to school. Once the college entrance exams were reinstated, he could just go and take them.
Qin i completely forgot about Jie Jingchen. By the ti she rembered him, an hour had passed.
"Crap." Qin i shot to her feet, scratching her head in frustration. ’How could I have forgotten about Jie Jingchen?’
"Fourth Sister-in-law, what’s wrong?" Jie Jingshan asked, looking up at her.
"You study on your own. Call if you get stuck on anything else." Qin i grabbed the washbasin and practically flew out the door.
Qin i skidded to a halt. Instead of rushing in, she leaned against the doorfra and peeked inside first.
Jie Jingchen was sitting calmly by the window, reading. Qin i’s eyes flickered with suspicion. Tentatively, she called out, "Jie Jingchen."
"Mm," he responded. His tone was so normal that Qin i couldn’t detect anything wrong.
Qin i straightened up, smoothed her clothes, and stepped over the threshold. She put the washbasin on its stand and sat on the edge of the bed. Planting her hands on the mattress, she swung her feet back and forth out of boredom.
"Jie Jingchen, it’s been an hour. The dicine’s effects should be kicking in," Qin i reminded him pointedly.
"Herbal dicine takes a while to work," Jie Jingchen replied, perfectly composed.
Qin i’s mouth twitched. ’Western dicine is fast, herbal dicine is slow. Such clear logic.’
"You haven’t had any... abnormal reactions after drinking it?" Qin i asked delicately.
Without looking up from his book, Jie Jingchen replied, "Haven’t felt a thing."
’That can’t be right,’ Qin i muttered, her brow furrowed. She stroked her chin and tilted her head back to gaze at the roof beams, deep in thought. ’I prepared the dicine myself, and the dosage was correct. This shouldn’t be the outco. Where did I go wrong?’
Jie Jingchen was lying. His apparent composure was the result of a desperate effort to suppress the dicine’s effects. At first, it had been agony. But with Qin i in Jing Shan’s room, his pride wouldn’t allow him to call out to her. He was also sulking. She knew exactly what the dicine did, had watched him drink it with her own eyes, and then had promptly cast him aside and forgotten him entirely.
Her disregard for him infuriated him.
Qin i was very confident in her dical skills. The problem wasn’t her; it was him.
"Jie Jingchen, don’t lie to . Answer truthfully—are you really not feeling anything?"
"Nothing," Jie Jingchen replied without a mont’s hesitation.
"Still nothing?" Qin i muttered, her gaze scrutinizing him. Jie Jingchen sat with his legs crossed, looking completely relaxed and at ease, his expression placid. She couldn’t tell if it was a deliberate act or not; she had no proof to judge whether he was telling the truth.
Qin i raised a hand and snapped her fingers with a flourish. "Jie Jingchen, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
"The bad news," Jie Jingchen said offhandedly.
"Have you ever heard of a ’paired arrangent’?" Qin i asked.
Jie Jingchen’s face darkened instantly. He couldn’t keep up the facade any longer. A layer of frost seed to coat his amber eyes as he ground out a low, "I have not," from between clenched teeth.
’As if I’d believe that.’ His reaction made it obvious he knew exactly what she ant. Qin i didn’t call his bluff. Clearing her throat, she began to explain in a deadpan, academic tone. "A ’paired arrangent’ is basically when two people partner up to eat together. Ahem. Specifically, it refers to when ancient eunuchs and palace maids would form a ’marriage.’ They were confined to the palace, unable to lead normal family lives, so this... distorted social phenonon arose out of loneliness and boredom. Get it?"
The sound of grinding teeth filled the silence. Jie Jingchen’s expression was terrifying, his icy, sharp glare sharp enough to slice through the air and dice her into a thousand pieces. ’Damn her. Damn her to hell.’
’The old Qin i was just annoying. All he’d wanted was to get away from her. But the Qin i in front of him now... he didn’t want to avoid her. He wanted to strangle her.’
"Sigh. Jie Jingchen, you have to accept reality. But don’t you worry," Qin i said, patting her chest in a gesture of assurance. "As they say, ’a husband and wife for a day are bound by a hundred days of grace.’ I won’t look down on you or abandon you over this."
Jie Jingchen stared at her, his gaze piercing. He was so furious he actually let out a short, sharp laugh. "You could have just said I’ve beco a eunuch. Why bother beating around the bush?"
Qin i scratched her head. "I was worried you wouldn’t be able to handle hearing it so directly."
"And you’re happy about it? That I’ve beco a eunuch?" Jie Jingchen glared at her, his eyes a furious, bloodshot red.
"Well, I am enjoying your misfortune a little—" Qin i blurted out. Realizing her slip, her survival instincts kicked into overdrive. "No! I an, why would I be happy? We’re husband and wife! We’re a single unit, you know? We rise and fall together. Since your body has been... hard, and I can’t just leave you, I have to be ready to share in your trials and tribulations."
Jie Jingchen had to hand it to her. That mouth of hers was sothing else.
He knew his own body best. Jie Jingchen hadn’t been fooled. Just because she said he was a eunuch, did that make it true? ’If I were really a eunuch, then how would I explain... this?’
Jie Jingchen took a deep breath, trying to quell the twin fires of his rage and desire. He raised a hand to rub the bridge of his nose and asked, "And the good news?"
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