Chapter 017: You were just pretending

"Could it be that Abaoqin was pretending to be unconscious?" Zhao Ruyi couldn't help but furrow her brows.

Unexpectedly, Xulan noticed Zhao Ruyi's slight frown and gave her a look as if enjoying the show.

This left Zhao Ruyi even more puzzled.

In front of everyone, Xulan took out a silver needle about three inches long and said to Zhao Ruyi, "You massaged her philtrum and the tiger's mouth correctly earlier, but the force was not enough, so she didn't wake up. It's different when you use a needle."

With that, he grabbed Abaoqin's right hand and inserted a silver needle.

Zhao Ruyi saw that almost a third of the silver needle had penetrated under the skin, and just looking at it made her feel the pain.

At the same time, Abaoqin, who had been unconscious, let out a painful cry and slowly opened her eyes.

Xulan looked somewhat smugly at Zhao Ruyi, then proceeded to insert seven or eight more needles into Abaoqin without hesitation.

Abaoqin was in pain for a moment but dared not move.

"This needle needs to be in for at least half an incense stick's time. Watch over her here and make sure she doesn't move!" Xulan instructed Zhao Ruyi, then turned to Song Wuji and said, "While we have some time, why don't I diagnose the prince's pulse first?"

Song Wuji made a gesture of invitation and led Xulan to the study.

After the two left, Zhao Ruyi couldn't help but laugh at Abaoqin, who was lying there with needles all over her body.

"You were pretending just now, weren't you?" Zhao Ruyi asked Abaoqin, "I knew it. I put in so much effort, but you didn't react. It turns out I couldn't wake up someone pretending to be asleep."

"Who's pretending to sleep!" Abaoqin couldn't help but retort.

Zhao Ruyi quickly held her down. "Don't move. Didn't you hear what Doctor Xuan said? If these needles move, it will be troublesome."

Abaoqin had no choice but to lie still and glare at Zhao Ruyi.

However, the needles inserted by Xulan were not easy to bear.

After a while, Abaoqin felt a tingling pain at the needle sites, and her whole body seemed to be crawling with ants, becoming itchy and numb.

She wanted to raise her hand to scratch, but found that she couldn't lift it.

Abaoqin cried out in distress.

In the study, Song Wuji, who was being diagnosed by Xulan, couldn't help but worry when he heard Abaoqin's painful cry. "Is Abaoqin in trouble?"

"What could happen to her?" Xulan sneered, "Just some feigned fainting. She thought she could fool my eyes? That's why I deliberately gave her a few needles to give her a small punishment."

Abaoqin was pretending?

No wonder Ruyi couldn't wake her up no matter how hard she tried.

Song Wuji also realized that Abaoqin had played herself.

If she had encountered another doctor, even if they didn't expose her, they wouldn't have been so harsh on her.

But today, it was Xulan, who often played rough.

Abaoqin pretended to faint, so Xulan naturally gave her a few needles. Perhaps now she was truly in unbearable pain.

Feeling fooled, Song Wuji couldn't help but laugh at himself. He hadn't expected Abaoqin to start playing mind games with him.

Thinking about Abaoqin's changes in recent days, Song Wuji couldn't help but feel a little worried. He wanted to see what other tricks Abaoqin would come up with.

After making up his mind, Song Wuji withdrew his thoughts and looked at Xulan again, only to find that Xulan's previously carefree expression had suddenly become serious.

"What's wrong? Is there a relapse?" After two years of being with Xulan, Song Wuji was very familiar with him.

He withdrew his hand and straightened his sleeve. "Have you been taking the medicine according to the prescription I gave you these days?" Xulan's frown deepened, and he felt a sense of frustration rising within him.

When he came to diagnose the prince's pulse half a month ago, he thought there was hope for a recovery, but now the condition had relapsed.

It had been two years, and Song Wuji's condition had always been fluctuating, leaving people puzzled.

"Perhaps this is my fate." Compared to Xulan's frustration, Song Wuji had long since accepted it. For someone who had been ill for seven or eight years, there was nothing he couldn't accept.

Just then, a painful cry came from the main room, and Song Wuji smiled and asked Xulan to fetch the needles.

Xulan had lost his previous enthusiasm. After removing the needles from Abaoqin, he said to Song Wuji, "Let me reconsider the prescription and send it to the mansion later."

"It's okay. I've been ill for a long time, so there's no rush." Song Wuji reassured Xulan and personally saw him off from the Twilight Hall.

After seeing Xulan off, Song Wuji returned to the upper room. He didn't expose Abaoqin but instead said to Zhao Ruyi, "Since Abaoqin is unwell, let her rest more. You will be in charge of the night shifts these days."

With that, he got up expressionlessly and went to the study, leaving the two maids in the West Chamber.

Upon hearing that the prince would no longer pursue the matter from last night and even instructed her to rest more, Abaoqin couldn't help but feel secretly pleased.

Fortunately, she was clever. Pretending to be faint this morning had caused her some suffering, but it was worth it in the end.

She knelt down and expressed her gratitude loudly, "Abaoqin thanks the prince!"

When she got up and looked at Zhao Ruyi, she put on a proud look and said, "See that? The prince still cares about me. Don't even dream of replacing me!"

Seeing Abaoqin's smug look, Zhao Ruyi couldn't help but find it amusing.

Today, the matter of Lady Baoqin fainting, she had noticed it herself, and so had Physician Xu. She refused to believe that the Crown Prince would not notice anything.

Did Lady Baoqin actually think she could deceive everyone? How naive.

However, none of this was her concern.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to not go to the Crown Prince, Zhao Ruyi took several jars of pickled vegetables brought from her home to Zhou Rui's house in the small kitchen.

She hadn't even entered when she heard someone inside Zhou Rui's house speaking anxiously, "Why hasn't the Crown Prince eaten anything?"

"After Physician Xu left, the Crown Prince said he had no appetite and had me remove the dining table," Zhao Ruyi recognized the voice as Tianfu's.

"What? Did the Crown Prince's condition relapse again?" Zhou Rui's voice sounded urgent, "It's been several months since the last relapse. I thought the Crown Prince's illness was going to improve. Now it seems like he won't be able to eat anything for several days, how can his body withstand that?"

Listening to this, Zhao Ruyi silently entered the small kitchen and saw the intricately carved food box placed near them.

Inside the food box was a serving of millet, lily, and red date soup, accompanied by several side dishes. However, it seemed all the food had remained untouched.

"Maybe I should give it a try!" Zhao Ruyi said as she held the jar of pickled vegetables.