Chapter 45

As the saying goes, “To untie a bell, you need the one who tied it.” After lying in the main hall for most of the day, Shen Yao Xing suddenly woke up with a start and stood up to walk out.

Since Shen’s mother was being stubborn and unreasonable, she decided to go find that Yin young man. She believed he wouldn’t want to marry someone he had only met a few times either. Perhaps talking to him could bring about a change.

Shen Yao Xing rushed back to her own courtyard, pacing back and forth in her bedroom, thinking that she should bring some gifts when paying a visit.

She didn’t have the patience to go out and buy something now, so she searched through her entire bedroom and finally found a gift that looked decent. Shen Yao Xing hastily wrapped it up and was about to head out.

Before she could leave the courtyard, she saw Qing Shu running towards her, out of breath. The young woman frowned slightly: “It’s not like you’re fleeing from disaster, why are you running so urgently?”

Qing Shu gasped for air, pointing towards the north with a worried expression: “Young miss, please go check on the young master quickly. He… he has fallen ill!”

Shen Yao Xing’s hand tightened on the gift, her brow furrowing deeper: “When did this happen?”

Wasn’t he fine last night?

Qing Shu shook her head: “This servant only just found out. I heard from A Qi, who serves by the young master’s side, that the young master has been muttering your name constantly. That’s why this servant rushed over to tell you.”

Shen Yao Xing glanced at the item in her hand, not wasting any more time, and quickly walked towards Song Si Nian’s courtyard.

Just as she reached the entrance, she ran into the doctor who had finished examining him. Shen Yao Xing inquired about the situation from the doctor.

“Young Master Song doesn’t have anything serious. It seems he caught a chill recently, which led to this condition. He should recover in a few days after taking the prescribed medicine.”

Shen Yao Xing responded gratefully and asked Qing Shu to go fetch the medicine.

Song Si Nian’s bedroom was half the size of hers, clean and tidy. Every item in the room was placed neatly and meticulously, just like the person himself.

On the bed on the other side of the room, the young man was sleeping quietly. Shen Yao Xing slowed her steps and even lightened her breathing as she slowly walked to the bedside and sat down. Her hand naturally touched his forehead.

He was still slightly feverish, but apart from his pale lips, everything else seemed fine.

“Zhao Zhao…” the sleeping young man suddenly murmured.

Shen Yao Xing was startled, thinking he had woken up. She lowered her head to carefully examine his face, but saw that his eyes were still tightly closed, only his brows furrowed uneasily.

Shen Yao Xing scratched her face. Just then, the servant brought in the prepared medicine. She stood up and moved aside, watching him feed the medicine. She couldn’t help but ask quietly: “When did my elder brother start feeling unwell?”

“In response to the young miss, the young master began to feel unwell since this morning. This servant kept advising him to rest, but the young master wouldn’t listen and insisted on finishing that book. As a result, he fell ill,” A Qi’s words held a hint of complaint, but the concern in his voice didn’t seem fake.

Not a single spoonful of the medicine could be fed, as the young man tightly pursed his lips, subconsciously resisting.

Shen Yao Xing sighed, taking the medicine bowl from the servant’s hands. Her movements were clumsy as she sat by the bed to feed him, muttering: “Elder brother, open your mouth. You need to take the medicine to get better.”

Whether he actually heard her or not, the young man’s resistant expression eased, allowing the young woman to feed him the medicine spoonful by spoonful. A little trickled down the corner of his mouth.

After finishing a bowl of medicine, Song Si Nian slowly opened his eyes. A soft light flickered in his eyes as he gazed at the young woman sitting by the bed, his eyes half-closed.

Shen Yao Xing quickly noticed that he had woken up. She put down the bowl and said happily: “Elder brother, you’re awake!”

Song Si Nian concealed the love in his eyes and responded softly.

“You were fine yesterday, how did you fall ill today?” Shen Yao Xing remembered the man wearing thin clothes last night and complained: “It must be because you caught the wind last night. Your body isn’t very strong to begin with, yet you were running around wearing so little.”

The young woman was completely unaware that she herself was the one who ran around the most.

Song Si Nian, having received her care, looked at her with increasingly gentle eyes. It had been a long time since they had been able to sit together quietly like this after the young woman had come of age, even if they didn’t say much.

Not to mention being able to feel the young woman’s long-lost concern.

The young man covered his mouth and coughed lightly twice, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.

Shen Yao Xing thought he was uncomfortable and hurriedly advised: “You should rest some more. After sleeping for a while, you’ll feel much better.”

But she saw the person on the bed shake his head lightly, struggling to sit up. Shen Yao Xing reached out to help him, letting him lean against the headboard.

Song Si Nian pressed his pale lips together, raised his eyes to look at her, and said softly: “I’m fine…”

“How can you be fine? Your body is so weak, you should usually take more tonic medicines. Don’t tell me your servant is too lazy to prepare them?”

After all, this situation used to happen often before.

From a very young age, Shen Yao Xing knew that some of the servants in the household were only respectful to him on the surface, but gossiped behind his back. Just because Song Si Nian wasn’t Shen’s mother’s biological son, they served him carelessly, and the more extreme ones even disrespected him.

But that was a long time ago. That batch of servants had been taught a lesson by Shen Yao Xing one by one. Logically, no one should dare to be so bold anymore. However, it was hard to guarantee that Song Si Nian’s gentle nature and kindness towards the servants serving him hadn’t made them forget their place.

A Qi, who was waiting at the door, heard the young miss’s questioning and immediately became anxious. Disregarding proper etiquette, he stepped forward and hurriedly clarified: “Young miss, this servant didn’t… It’s just that usually, the young master…”

Halfway through his sentence, A Qi was stopped by a warning glance from the young man on the bed. It was as if someone had suddenly grabbed his throat, and his voice halted.

Hearing him stop halfway, Shen Yao Xing turned around: “What usually happens?”

A Qi lowered his head, his lips moving, mumbling softly: “It’s this servant’s fault…”

A Qi didn’t dare to say directly that usually, the tonic soups prepared for the young master were smashed to pieces by the young master when he was in a bad mood. Only in front of the young miss would the young master be this docile.