Chapter 62

Chapter 62

That night, Shen Anning remained unconscious, and upon returning to the estate, she developed a high fever.

Lu Suian stayed by her side, never leaving.

He also dispatched someone to summon Imperial Physician Fang from the Imperial Hospital overnight.

"Aside from the cut on her wrist and some superficial abrasions, there appear to be no major injuries. However, she was likely severely frightened today, her mind unsettled, and the effects of the sedative have not fully dissipated, which is why she has developed a fever. You must keep a close watch tonight. If the fever breaks, she should be fine, but if it persists, extra vigilance will be necessary. I will prescribe a calming and fever-reducing formula to help your wife rest more peacefully tonight—"

"Thank you for your trouble, Imperial Physician."

By the time the physician was seen off and everything had settled, it was already deep into the night.

Lu Suian hurried back to the inner chamber, his footsteps light as he approached. He personally removed the cloth from Shen Anning’s forehead, soaked it in cold water, wrung it dry, and placed it back on her forehead.

Then, his slender fingers deftly slipped inside her collar and then along both sides of her cheeks, checking her temperature.

Her body was still burning hot.

Lu Suian’s brow remained tightly furrowed, not relaxing for the entire night.

Before long, his gaze once again fell upon Shen Anning’s face.

Earlier, the courtyard had been bustling with people—doctors, imperial physicians, and visitors from the estate coming and going. His attention had been entirely focused on her condition, and he hadn’t had a chance to truly look at her.

Even after being married for some time, quiet moments alone between the two of them were rare. Lu Suian had seldom taken the time to truly observe his wife.

Now, as she lay there quietly, he saw her face was frail and pale, yet flushed with an unnatural redness.

He also noticed scratches of varying depths covering her face and temples, and both of her wrists were wrapped in layers of white bandages. Beneath the bandages were dozens of alarming cuts—wounds Lu Suian had personally inspected. Two of the cuts, he noted, were dangerously close to her pulse; if they had been even slightly off or deeper, he dared not contemplate the consequences.

With these thoughts, Lu Suian tightly clasped Shen Anning’s hand in his.

It had only been four days since he took this case, but no one knew how he had endured those four days—especially the last one, which felt as long as a century.

This was the most difficult case he had handled since joining the Dali Temple. Never before had he felt so mentally and physically drained.

Including today, he had not slept for four days and nights, yet at this moment, he felt wide awake. His eyes were bloodshot, his nerves stretched to the point of numbness.

At one point, he didn’t even know if he was alive or dead; his entire body felt like a drifting corpse, operating mechanically like a zombie.

Every time he closed his eyes, the terrifying scene from the abandoned garden replayed in his mind. When he saw the murderer raise the axe from afar, Lu Suian’s blood froze.

He dared not imagine what would have happened if he had arrived just a moment later.

He also dared not think what would have occurred if his arrow had missed its mark.

Lu Suian never knew he could feel such fear.

He and Shen Anning had been married for barely over half a year, and their interactions had been limited. Yet, for some reason, in that moment, he felt as if his very soul had been shattered.

Thankfully, he had arrived in time. Thankfully, luckily, he thought.

His calloused, slender fingers gently brushed Shen Anning’s cheek. Before long, Lu Suian could no longer resist bending down and pulling his wife tightly into his arms, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief at having her back surging in his chest, lingering for a long time.

"I will never let you face such danger again."

Lu Suian held the person in his arms tightly, speaking each word deliberately after a long pause.

It was like a silent vow, a solemn promise.

He could not bear to experience such a situation a second time.

That night, Lu Suian personally attended to Shen Anning at her bedside, without even removing his outer robe, never leaving her side.

He kept wiping her body to relieve her sweating and replaced the cloth on her forehead to reduce her fever. However, as time passed, her temperature not only failed to drop but seemed to rise even higher.

Her body was so hot that Lu Suian’s fingers instinctively recoiled.

At first, she was only feverish and sweating, but soon she became restless, as if trapped in nightmares, tossing and turning repeatedly. Gradually, she began to mumble deliriously, sometimes seeming to call his name, other times as if terrified of something—

"No, don’t come near…"

"Why, why…"

"Lu Suian… I… you…"

But when Lu Suian leaned closer, he could only hear garbled words, unable to make out what she was saying.

Lu Suian’s expression grew increasingly grave. Just as he was about to send for the physician again, he turned to see Shen Anning soaked with sweat, her face contorted in pain. Her hands gripped the bedding tightly, as if trying to break her own fingers, then flailed uncontrollably in the air, as if fighting off something. Her legs kicked violently, and she clenched her teeth so hard that her lips were bitten raw.

Her entire body seemed to be convulsing violently. Before long, she suddenly clutched at her own throat, her body shaking uncontrollably, as if experiencing something terrifying in her dreams.

She desperately babbled incoherently, her teeth clenched tightly.

Lu Suian’s expression changed abruptly. He kicked over the silver basin on the table and shouted outside, "Fetch the physician—now!"

At the same time, he tightly embraced his wife, patting Shen Anning’s face in an attempt to wake her. But the person in his arms seemed trapped in a nightmare, unable to be roused.

In the end, Lu Suian forcefully pried open Shen Anning’s mouth by pinching her cheeks and placed his own hand near her lips.

The moment his hand reached her mouth, she bit down hard. Lu Suian’s forehead veins bulged from the pain, but he gritted his teeth and endured, afraid she might bite off her own tongue.

While enduring the pain, he held her tightly and comforted her repeatedly, "Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. I am here. Don’t be afraid—"

"No one will harm you in the slightest. Don’t be afraid!"

He murmured reassurances and promises again and again.

Finally, under his repeated soothing, Shen Anning’s convulsions subsided, and the twitching stopped, but she remained still delirious, trapped in her nightmares.

In just a few moments, she was drenched in sweat, and several of her long nails had broken.

When Bai Tao entered and saw this scene, the bowl of soup in her hands crashed to the floor with a clatter. She rushed over, examining Shen Anning’s broken nails, and burst into tears, crying out, "Madam… the madam's hysteria is back."

Hearing this, Lu Suian’s expression darkened. Ignoring the injury on his hand, he grabbed Shen Anning’s hand and saw that her fingers were unharmed, though a few nails were broken. Relieved, he shot a sharp look at Bai Tao and asked sharply, "Again?"

After a pause, his narrow eyes flickered with emotion as he asked with controlled calm, "When did Madam suffer from hysteria before?"

Bai Tao, looking horrified and heartbroken, replied, "It was the night Mrs. Luo entered the estate. Madam fell seriously ill that night, just like now. She seemed to be in a hysterical state, and was restless all night long."

Seeing the young master's concern, Bai Tao recounted the events of that day in detail.

Even after so much time had passed, Bai Tao still remembered the events of that day vividly, her heart still racing. That day, she had been terrified out of her wits by her mistress's hysterical fit. She had thought the nightmare was completely over, never expecting it to recur again today.

After speaking, Bai Tao anxiously moved closer again to carefully examine Shen Anning.

She didn't notice Lu Suian lowering his dark eyes, staring solemnly at his wife's restless, delirious face in his arms, lost in thought.

The night Mrs. Luo came to the estate?

He still had some recollection of that night. He had returned to the estate and gone to the main chamber, but his wife, Lady Shen, was ill, and for the first time, he was barred from entering.

It seemed that from that moment on, Lady Shen had undergone an earth-shattering change.

Before, his wife had waited on him hand and foot, meticulously attentive, but from that day onward, Lady Shen repeatedly rejected him, clearly drawing boundaries between them time and again. She had even wanted to seek a divorce from him.

His heart suddenly leaped. For a moment, Lu Suian felt as though he was on the verge of uncovering the truth, but just as he was about to break through, the door hiding the truth was firmly bolted shut again.

He was at a loss.

Just a little more, only a little.

Lu Suian closed his eyes heavily.

However, now was not the time to focus on these matters.

After bandaging his hand, and seeing his wife's high fever worsening, Lu Suian recalled the imperial physician's instructions and ordered water to be fetched from the lake into the room.

The weather in August had already turned a bit chilly.

Especially at night.

And the lake water at night felt piercingly cold.

Lu Suian stripped off his clothes and stepped into the bathtub, letting the icy lake water envelop his entire body. After his whole body had absorbed the cold, he dried himself off and lifted the covers to lie down.

He clutched his scorching wife tightly in his arms.

The moment he lay down, ice met fire.

The person in the nightmare shivered all over, and soon after, slowly moved closer to that icy body.

He used his own body to cool her down.

Again and again.

In the nightmare, Shen Anning, who had been convulsing, suddenly opened her eyes out of nowhere. She seemed to be looking at him, yet also seemed unable to see him, and suddenly spoke incoherently, mumbling, "Why are you treating me like this?"

The hoarse, pained voice made Lu Suian shudder.

Lu Suian was stunned, thinking she had regained consciousness, when suddenly she closed her eyes again and said with a look of hatred and agony, "Lu Suian, I hate you."

As she spoke, she suddenly raised her hands, desperately pushing him away and striking him, as if he were a monster.

Lu Suian stared blankly at his wife in his arms. The hatred in her eyes was so intense that for a moment he thought he must have been mistaken.

He gripped Shen Anning's shoulders, about to press her for answers, but then she began to murmur deliriously again, as if still trapped in the nightmare.

For a moment, he thought everything that had just happened was an illusion.

But soon, two streams of hot tears rolled down Lady Shen's cheeks as she continued to rave.

Lu Suian's heart clenched—because of those tears, because of those heart-wrenching words, and even more because of the inexplicable hatred in her eyes.

Why did she hate him?

They had already reconciled.

Even if he had neglected her in the past, when had it ever reached such a level of hatred?

Countless confused emotions churned in Lu Suian's eyes. He was puzzled, even somewhat bewildered. Soon, he gritted his teeth, suddenly rolled over, and pinned her beneath him. With pursed lips and a tense face, he said to her word by word, "Fine, you can hate me, but—"

As he spoke, he leaned in and kissed away her tears, then narrowed his eyes and continued through gritted teeth, "Just don't seek a divorce. That's all."

As soon as the words fell, Lu Suian gritted his teeth and slowly pressed into her.

Let it be a sweat-soaked frenzy.

Let them sink together.

They would continue like this, inextricably bound.

Until the world fell apart.

Until the person in his arms finally calmed completely.

Drenched in sweat, by daybreak, the sweat had finally subsided, and the fever had broken.

Author's note: The second update will be posted later.