Chapter 92: Hate Me

The dazzling flames carried by the heat wave smashed into them, casting Yu Lingxi’s sweaty face into a gorgeous red. 

Ning Yin looked at her as if in hell, covered in blood.

There was no time for pleasantries. The flames ravaged the rooftop, and Yu Lingxi watched helplessly as the beams collapsed with a creak under the weight.

“Be careful!”

Yu Lingxi instinctively grabbed Ning Yin’s wrist and pulled. Almost simultaneously, the heavy blue stone slab closed, and the burnt beams collapsed with sparks flying.

The two rolled down the stone steps, but landing didn’t bring the expected pain. Yu Lingxi found herself held tightly in Ning Yin’s arms.

Yu Lingxi quickly propped herself up, trembling. “Are you okay, Ning Yin?”

Ning Yin held her so tightly, almost embedding her whole being into his, as if building a barrier with his bones and blood.

He smiled.

The bells of the two also vibrated with the rise and fall of their chests, like two tightly pressed, trembling hearts.

“It’s okay…”

Ning Yin’s voice was husky from the smoke, echoing softly in her ears. “…I found you.”

“Yes, you found me.”

Yu Lingxi found his cheek and responded softly, “It’s all over, Ning Yin.”

His face was very hot; this secret chamber was too close to the fire, and even the ice in the corner had melted into puddles, making it hot and stuffy.

“It’s too dangerous here. I’ll take you to the ice storage room inside.”

Saying this, Yu Lingxi got up and led Ning Yin toward the inner ice storage room, finding a clean and cool place for him to sit. The bone-chilling ice chamber effectively blocked the scorching heat and stinging pain brought by the raging fire.

Ning Yin’s eyes were dark, his pale cheeks almost blending with the ice.

The faint blue light in the room enveloped Yu Lingxi’s slender figure, reminding him of that terrible nightmare, causing a dull ache in his chest.

Yu Lingxi, having survived the ordeal, did not notice anything unusual about his unusually quiet demeanor at this moment.

She placed her hand on the piled-up ice and then pressed her cold palm against Ning Yin’s burning cheek to cool him down.

“You scared me to death.”

She still felt frightened, “When I heard the bell ringing, my first reaction wasn’t happiness, it was fear.”

The fire was so intense; she couldn’t imagine what consequences their tacit understanding would have led to if they had been a step too late.

Ning Yin raised his hand, as if wanting to touch her temple.

However, seeing his hands soaked with blood, he casually dropped his hand, chuckling softly, “Forgive me, Sui Sui.”

Yu Lingxi’s breath hitched.

In two lifetimes, it was the first time she heard Ning Yin say “forgive me”. Even when he misunderstood the intention behind her sending the sachet, Ning Yin would only silently embrace her.

“At the beginning of our marriage, there shouldn’t have been any bloodshed.”

Ning Yin wiped his hand on the nearby ice until the translucent ice turned as red as agate, then asked, “Do you hate me?”

Yu Lingxi widened her eyes in astonishment, stepping back slightly to look at him.

“Ning Yin, what are you talking about?” She frowned, using her slightly cool fingertips to smooth the redness at the corners of his eyes.

“Sui Sui should hate me.”

Ning Yin smiled lightly, but there was a heavy gloominess in his eyes, “I was born unlucky, every time I came to see you, I brought with me the stench of blood all over me.”

It was he who had ruined their once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon sweetness.

Yu Lingxi’s throat choked, unable to speak for a while. The madman who used to get excited at the sight of blood was now starting to disdain the stench of death.

“You’ve come to see me several times, always overcoming obstacles and risking your life to protect me.”

Yu Lingxi softly corrected him, “You exerted all your strength just to come to my side. If love is there, why should there be resentment?”

He could have left the fire scene, just as she could have escaped from the ice cellar.

Love was like a beam on a cliff; if one end was lightened, the other end would fall into the abyss. Yu Lingxi felt incredibly lucky because at the moment she heard the bell, they both instinctively chose to run to each other.

She exhaled a breath, pressing her forehead against his, their noses touching.

After searching for so long in the blaze, Ning Yin’s sleeves were considerably burnt, his lips dry and cracked from the heat, with traces of blood seeping out. Yu Lingxi leaned over and, in this icy coldness, gently and carefully captured his lips, tenderly moistening them.

The faint blue light in the ice chamber enveloped their profile as they gently kissed, quiet and soothing.

Lingxi’s lips and tongue were warm and soft, unlike the icy silence in the nightmare.

Ning Yin opened his mouth and began to kiss her back, intertwining and grasping like offering sacrifices, relentless until death.

Yu Lingxi coughed, and the warmth that had just risen quickly faded into paleness.

It was too cold in the ice chamber. When Ning Yin withdrew his lips and tongue, his oversized robe had already covered her.

“Some things are dirty, but we make do Yu Lingxi,” he said.

Yu Lingxi suddenly recalled last spring when she was locked in the granary by Zhao Xu. Back then, Ning Yin had also untied his robe to wrap around her. He said calmly, “Miss, just make do with this.”

“Here, perhaps there is a secret passage leading to the ice collection field,” Yu Lingxi reminded.

Ning Yin nodded, bending down on one knee, attempting to carry her.

“No need,” Yu Lingxi’s gaze returned from his injured palm, shaking her head lightly but firmly. “I can walk by myself.”

The further they walked, the more ice blocks there were, and the colder it became, freezing one’s brain. She held Ning Yin’s hand, regardless of how he might detest the dirty and foul smell between their fingers, holding tightly.

The chiming of bells trembled in response as they walked through the long and winding secret passage together, never letting go despite the rough and rugged path, the dark and muddy surroundings.

…

Yu Huanchen and Chen Feng were almost driven mad with worry.

The fire was so intense that there was no possibility of anyone surviving inside. Yu Huanchen kept leading the imperial guards to pour buckets of water towards the palace engulfed in flames.

It wasn’t until Ning Yin, his white clothes stained with blood, arrived with Yu Lingxi from the northern garden that a glimmer of hope appeared in Yu Huanchen’s crimson eyes. He dropped the bucket and rushed forward, asking, “Sui Sui! Are you alright? Are you injured?”

“I’m fine, elder brother,” Yu Lingxi said, tightening her grip on Ning Yin’s hand. Frost lingered on her eyelashes, and although she was disheveled, there was no trace of fear or hesitation.

Yu Huanchen glanced at Ning Yin, suppressing his anger, and said in a deep voice, “Brother will take you back to the mansion.”

Yu Lingxi fell ill shortly after returning to the Jingwang Mansion, running a high fever.

This couldn’t be blamed on her. The cellar was so hot during the fire, and it was so cold in the ice storage afterwards. With such extreme temperature changes, even the strongest body would struggle to endure.

In a daze, someone gently embraced her, feeding bitter medicine bit by bit into her lips.

“Sui Sui.”

His quiet voice pierced through the chaotic darkness, softly calling her name, “Get well soon.”

The golden bells hidden in his clothes trembled urgently, much like his suppressed breath verging on losing control.

As the darkness receded like a tide, Yu Lingxi opened her sticky eyelids.

It was deep into the night, and Ning Yin’s face, so close, appeared pale and handsome in the dim light, with dark circles under his closed eyes. Yu Lingxi blinked, only then confirming that the cold and aloof man before her was the same unstoppable and high-and-mighty madman.

Before she could say anything, Ning Yin pressed her into his arms.

“Sui Sui’s eyes are very beautiful,” he murmured, rubbing her slender shoulders. After a long while, he continued, “Such beautiful eyes, yet it took so long for them to open.”

He lacked his usual playful mischief, his tone cold and almost hoarse.

“I made you worry,” Yu Lingxi lifted her weak arm, encircling Ning Yin’s waist. “How long have I been asleep?”

“An entire day.”

Ning Yin started kissing her, from her forehead to her eyelashes and then to her lips, his breath hot and gentle.

Clean and tender kisses, as if eager to confirm something, devoid of any desire.

“I haven’t cleaned up,” Yu Lingxi pursed her lips, stopping him from going further down, “There’s a taste of medicine in my mouth.”

Ning Yin said nothing, draped his cloak over her, and carried her to the adjacent bathing chamber.

The bathing chamber’s hot pool was always warm, with mist swirling around.

As their clothes were removed and piled on the soft bed, Yu Lingxi felt a faint sting from the fingertips scraped by the bluestone slab when she entered the water.

Ning Yin wasn’t doing well either, his right palm wrapped in gauze, sitting by the edge of the pool, slowly feeding the warm congee to the delicate beauty sitting amidst the bathwater mist.

By the tender lamplight, Yu Lingxi noticed the crimson tattoo appearing on Ning Yin’s bare chest, and she couldn’t help but pause.

Strange, Ning Yin hadn’t even entered the bath yet, nor had he… um, why would the tattoo suddenly appear?

Subconsciously, Yu Lingxi touched his chest and asked, “What’s this about?”

Then her fingertips paused; this temperature didn’t seem right. With a splash, she stood up from the pool, cupping Ning Yin’s face with both hands, bringing her face close to his with great seriousness.

Ning Yin blinked in confusion, then obediently set down the bowl of congee, raising his hand to cup the back of her head.

“Feeling playful?” he asked.

“You’re running a fever,” Yu Lingxi pressed her forehead against his, her brows furrowing tighter. “You have a fever, Ning Yin.”

“Is that so?”

He seemed indifferent, his pale cheeks showing a hint of color due to the fever, squinting slightly, “I’ve heard that having a fever can make the other person more affectionate.”

“…”

Very well, it seems he’s back to his usual self.

Yu Lingxi’s full-hearted concern turned into annoyance. She got out of the pool, trembling as she put on her clothes, instructing the palace maids waiting outside to fetch the imperial physician.

The imperial physician arrived soon, familiarly checking his pulse and stroking his beard, saying, “Your Highness is currently detoxifying, so some high fever is normal. There’s no need to be overly alarmed.”

“Detoxifying?”

Yu Lingxi subconsciously looked at Ning Yin.

Ning Yin, draped in his cloak, saw Yu Lingxi’s eyes reddening and reluctantly explained, “The poison incense prepared by Níng Xuan, I got a bit of it on me.”

He pinched Yu Lingxi’s little finger, “It’s a low blow, but it’s not enough to kill me.”

The attending physician on the side dutifully added, “Although the poisoning is very shallow, if it continues over time, the accumulation of toxins is definitely not a good thing…”

Ning Yin gave the physician a cold glance, and the physician wisely closed his mouth.

Remembering something, Yu Lingxi suddenly got up and rummaged through the drawers in the inner room, anxiously asking, “Where’s the Baiejie Pill left by the alchemist?”

“Gone,” Ning Yin stood up and pulled her back.

“Gone?”

Yu Lingxi opened her mouth, but then remembered that Xue Cen had been poisoned with the “Hundred Flowers Poison” before, yet he hadn’t died from it. With just a little speculation, she could guess where the last Hundred Remedies Pill had gone.

Feeling a sudden acidity at the bridge of her nose, she sat blankly for a while before lifting her gaze and saying, “Bring me paper and pen.”

The attendant brought the paper and pen, and Yu Lingxi closed her eyes to recall, then silently wrote out a prescription. In her previous life, Ning Yin’s body was almost suitable for nurturing qi, not much better than his current state. When he researched prescriptions, he never avoided Yu Lingxi.

Therefore, he often accompanied her, grinding ink by his side for years, and Yu Lingxi knew quite a few prescriptions with similar effects to Baiejie Pill.

After handing the prescription to the imperial physician for verification, she ordered someone to quickly gather the herbs and brew the medicine.

Back in the bedchamber, Ning Yin was smiling as he leaned against the couch, watching her.

“Really not trying it while it’s hot?” he asked.

Yu Lingxi looked puzzled. Just as she was about to ask “Try what?” she heard Ning Yin’s sickly laughter, “I don’t get sick often. If I want to behave like this next time, it might not be until several years later.”

Yu Lingxi blinked her eyes, then blinked again.

“You should speak less.”

Realizing what he meant, she was so angry that she wanted to hit someone, “Take care of your own body.”

He didn’t cherish himself; there were others who would cherish him.

Ning Yin smiled and pulled Yu Lingxi into his arms. He liked her lively and vibrant appearance. Even when she was angry at him, scolding him or hitting him, it was better than lying still on the couch.

“Lie down and rest properly for me, be good.”

Yu Lingxi gently struggled, but felt the warm breath spraying against her ear.

He smiled and said casually, “My body only has value when you’re alive and well.”

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