A hint of inscrutable smile appeared on Aunt Sheng's face as she spoke coldly, "Huang Qianqian, since when did the life and death of Chun Manyuan become something you can speak of?"
"Since when does Chun Manyuan need a particular type of person to do certain things, and you must appear?"
"Huang Qianqian, don't forget your place. You are not qualified."
As soon as Aunt Sheng finished speaking, Huang Qianqian's ingratiating smile froze. She trembled all over, her eyes filled with fear. After a long while, she managed to say, "Aunt Sheng, no, I didn't mean it like that."
"Young Master Li is upstairs. If Aunt Sheng goes up, it might be… inappropriate."
Aunt Sheng, who had been about to ascend, retreated.
If Li Yuncheng was upstairs, then it was indeed unsuitable for her to appear.
Seeing Aunt Sheng leave, Huang Qianqian's fear vanished completely.
At this moment, Huang Qianqian noticed Lihua. "Lihua, have any special people appeared today?"
Lihua's face was full of knowing ambiguity. "Huang Qianqian, are you also asking if Young Master Ling has appeared, is that it?"
"'Also'?" Huang Qianqian seized on the key word in Lihua's sentence.
There must have been others asking the same question, otherwise Lihua wouldn't have said it like that.
Lihua nodded upon hearing this. "Yes, some people have asked me about him today. And they've received quite a bit of benefit."
Huang Qianqian's expression turned a little unpleasant. She understood what Lihua meant.
Huang Qianqian glanced at the bracelet on her wrist, feeling reluctant to part with it. Finally, she took off the hairpin from her head and forcefully shoved it into Lihua's hand, her face beaming as she inquired, "Lihua, who else was asking?"
Lihua pocketed the hairpin, looked at Huang Qianqian, and said with a smile, "It was Sister Qinghan and Qinghuan. This matter has become so big that everyone knows about it."
Huang Qianqian let out a soft scoff. She looked at Lihua, her mood displeased. "Heh, them? What right do they have? Young Master Ling wouldn't even spare them a glance."
"That's a bit hurtful," Lihua said, displeased. After all, they all worked together. If Qinghan and Qinghuan heard such words, they would surely feel uncomfortable.
Huang Qianqian snorted but made no attempt to retract her words. "If Young Master Ling truly cared about them, he wouldn't have let that incident happen."
"Anything they do is a waste of effort. Those who can catch Young Master Ling's eye are not just anyone. Those two will never have another chance in this lifetime."
Having said that, she glanced at Lihua, a smile on her face. "Lihua, you won't reveal what I just said, will you?"
Lihua smiled at Huang Qianqian, feigning a look of difficulty. "That depends. If there's something… if the item is valuable and plentiful, then naturally I wouldn't have the inclination to remember such 'unnecessary' things."
Huang Qianqian's formerly smiling face suddenly turned dark and grim. She stared coldly at Lihua. She truly hadn't expected to be 'schemed against' by Lihua.
In the end, she took off the gold bracelet from her hand.
Lihua's eyes lit up at the sight of the gold bracelet. She eagerly brought it to her mouth and bit down hard. Confirming it was real, her face was filled with a look of satisfied glee. Right in front of Huang Qianqian, she put on the bracelet, raised her hand high, and waved it in front of Huang Qianqian, looking utterly pleased.
"Sister Qianqian, don't you think this gold bracelet suits me very well?"
"I've wanted one for a long time, but I never managed to save enough money. I never imagined that heaven would arrange for someone to give me one. I always thought it would be some noble patron. Who knew my noble patron would be Sister Qianqian."
After her triumphant display, Lihua looked at Huang Qianqian. "Sister Qianqian, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."
Having received so many good things, she naturally wanted to leave immediately. Staying any longer here might not be a good thing.
Huang Qianqian watched Lihua, only able to stamp her feet in anger, completely helpless.
...
Feng Ran woke up.
She struggled to support herself, looking at her surroundings with confusion. She was supposed to die from poisoning.
But nothing had happened.
What on earth had happened? Had someone appeared in time to save her?
She slowly got up and leaned against the side, her body already close to collapsing from exhaustion.
"Wait a moment." Just then, Li Yuncheng's husky voice sounded. He placed a pillow from the side behind Feng Ran.
Only after watching Li Yuncheng settle down did she lean back.
She didn't say anything, just quietly looked at the person before her, her eyes filled with confusion.
Suddenly.
"What exactly happened that day? The poison in your body was about to take effect. If I hadn't appeared in time, you would have succumbed to it."
"You should know the condition of your own body."
Feng Ran listened quietly, saying nothing.
Li Yuncheng stared intently at Feng Ran. "Feng Ran, perhaps there are things you cannot speak of. However, if you don't speak the truth, the best I can do is temporarily alleviate your symptoms. I cannot completely cure the poison."
"If you tell me, I believe I have a way."
Hearing this, Feng Ran fell even deeper into silence.
Her eyes were devoid of any light.
Li Yuncheng felt that Feng Ran's emotions were truly unusual. He thought that perhaps Feng Ran didn't believe what he was saying, which was why she was like this.
In fact, it was an obvious situation.
He seemed to be quite different from the legendary divine physicians.
Divine physicians wouldn't frequent places of pleasure.
It was normal for Feng Ran not to believe him.
Li Yuncheng didn't realize that when it came to Feng Ran, he was always so patient. He would even make excuses for her, excuses he had heard before but didn't believe. Yet now, they were the words he used to 'deceive' Feng Ran. Truly, the tables had turned.
"Feng Ran, you might have been deceived by charlatans before, but I will not deceive you."
"Feng Ran, is it so difficult to try and believe me?"
Feng Ran lowered her gaze, but remained silent.
Li Yuncheng continued calmly, "You can also voice your concerns."
Others had begged him for their lives. Now, it was him begging Feng Ran to speak, him begging Feng Ran, wanting Feng Ran to live.
Feng Ran looked up. "It's useless."
Li Yuncheng was slightly taken aback, not expecting Feng Ran to actually speak.
But he hadn't expected her to say such a thing.
Was she completely giving up?
He even wanted to delve deeper, to know everything about Feng Ran. She seemed to be shrouded in a mist, making it impossible to see clearly, and even impossible to know what she was thinking.
But Feng Ran didn't know that the more she remained silent, the more he wanted to know what secrets she was hiding.
The poison in her body was something he had never seen before, and he wanted to unravel it. After all, his greatest passion was detoxifying. Faced with a new poison, he felt he had to find a way to resolve any problem.
That poison, he was determined to cure.
And Feng Ran's past, he also wanted to know.