There was only one passage written on it:
"Idiot, the medicine I gave you wasn't poison. This was merely a side effect of helping your internal injuries heal quickly. With your body in its current condition, simply use your internal energy to strike the two pressure points where I often placed my needles, and you'll recover instantly.
"But I bet you'll lie there foolishly for hours, feeling that life holds nothing for you and thinking I tricked you. Consider it punishment for being rude to me that day."
The mockery practically dripped from the words.
Xie Ciyan couldn't help slamming the table. Looking out at the pitch-black sky beyond the window, he declared, "Just you wait!!!"
Only...
Not long after saying that, every ounce of his defiance vanished, and a gentle glow settled over his face.
He recalled the moments he had spent with that girl over the past few days. Being forced to lie there, unable even to speak, had clearly been miserable, yet he couldn't stop himself from smiling-a hopelessly besotted smile.
Later.
After he contacted his people, throughout the journey back to the Capital.
Xie Ciyan dreamed every night, and every dream featured that girl poisoning him.
At first, he thought he had contracted some dreadful, incurable illness.
Later, he understood. He was lovesick.
So he sent people south to search for the girl named Wanrong, while also pondering what excuse he could use to break off the childhood betrothal his parents had arranged for him.
Unfortunately, months of searching yielded no news of his beloved. When his grandfather learned that he wanted to break off the engagement, he even treated him to a thorough bamboo-cane beating.
After that.
He received word that the Fifth Miss of the Jiang Residence had returned, and knew that an opportunity