Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 119: “Let's Get Married, Okay?”

　　An Jiu stayed by the bedside the whole night.

　　Every time the poison flared up, Pei Ji wasn’t fully conscious. But maybe because she was there, he would occasionally wake up for a brief moment, turning his head to look at her as he lay there.

　　Whenever that happened, An Jiu would gently hold the hand hanging off the bed. That hand was pale and slender, cool to the touch like jade, without a hint of warmth.

　　He had gripped the bed frame so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand bulged, and the place where the rope bound his wrist had been rubbed raw from his fierce struggle.

　　He was so drained by the pain that he could only lie there quietly, his dark eyes locked onto her face, deep like the sea.

　　“Let’s untie it, okay?”

　　An Jiu asked softly.

　　Even though he was in unbearable pain, his body trembling with spasms, he still rasped out a single word, “No.”

　　When the madness began to fade, he would slowly pull his hand away from hers, refusing to let her hold him.

　　Whenever he lost control, he turned into a completely unrestrained madman. The last time the poison hit, he was the one who lost it, but she was the one who ended up bedridden for days.

　　He couldn’t bear to let anyone hurt her. Not even himself.

　　It was only one night, but to An Jiu, it felt like a lifetime.

　　Not until daylight broke and the man on the bed finally quieted down, no longer thrashing in madness like the night before, did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

　　When she got up, she realized her legs had gone numb from sitting too long.

　　Pei Ji was lying on the bed, his dark brows furrowed and eyes tightly shut. His pale face was drenched in cold sweat, completely still like he was asleep.

　　An Jiu quickly rushed over and started untying the ropes around his hands and feet. They were tied too tightly, and after struggling for a bit and noticing it was pulling at the wounds, she found a small dagger and just cut them all off.

　　Right as she looked up after cutting the last rope, her eyes met a pair of deep black ones.

　　It was unclear how long he'd been awake. He was quietly smiling at her. His face was ghostly pale, but the usual gentle smile remained.

　　He reached out a hand toward her from the bed and said in a voice so hoarse it was barely recognizable, “Come sleep with me for a while?”

　　Though it sounded like a question, his tone made it feel like he already knew she would agree.

　　An Jiu looked back at him. After a moment, she pressed her lips together, took off her shoes, and climbed onto the bed.

　　They lay side by side, with a thin blanket covering them. At first, there was some distance between them, but it wasn’t long before she felt a pair of arms pulling her into an embrace that smelled faintly of medicine. (T/N: Don't lie, there must be a sweat smell too! 😌)

　　Pei Ji held her close, burying his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply like he was drawing strength from her.

　　Morning light peeked through the windows outside, and birds were chirping busily.

　　But inside the room, it was completely silent. For a long time, just as An Jiu was about to fall asleep, a low voice suddenly reached her ears.

　　“Jiu’er, let’s get married.”

　　All drowsiness vanished in an instant. An Jiu’s eyes snapped open as she looked up at the man above her.

　　Pei Ji still looked unwell. He’d lost a lot of weight lately, and the gentle softness of his face had disappeared. His brow bones looked more defined, giving his features a sharper, more angular edge.

　　Like someone who had been sick for a long time.

　　He lowered his gaze and looked at her quietly. His eyes were calm, as if he had made up his mind about something. Meeting the girl’s surprised gaze, he softly repeated, “Let’s get married. Is that okay?”

　　Of course, An Jiu wasn’t going to say no.

　　She was actually glad he finally took action. That stalemate where he just stayed still and did nothing had left her feeling helpless.

　　“Okay.”

　　So to Pei Ji, it seemed like the girl only froze for a second before agreeing right away, without even stopping to think.

　　As if she didn’t need to think about it at all. As if she had already been waiting to marry him.

　　“You agreed that easily?” he asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

　　The girl blushed shyly, but she wasn’t the type to stay coy for long. She glared at him playfully and said, “Didn’t I already say yes a long time ago? You were the one who said you wanted to marry me, then did nothing for so long I started wondering if you’d changed your mind!”

　　Pei Ji suddenly remembered. She really had asked him that back at Qiansha Pavilion.

　　He was quiet for a moment, then said softly, “I never changed my mind.”

　　He just hadn’t been able to make a firm decision before, and that’s why he delayed for so long.

　　His poison attacks were becoming more frequent, and he didn’t want her to see him suffering, much less give up on finding a cure.

　　What Pei Ji feared most was her finding out and leaving him.

　　But now he had no choice. He had to cure it.

　　Ah Qi was right. As long as he didn’t tell her, she’d never know.

　　Even though he knew deep down there was barely any chance of her finding out, Pei Ji still hesitated for a long time before deciding to marry her first. If they got married and spent their wedding night together, then even if she did find out later, maybe she would forgive him.

　　He didn’t love Wen Yueling. He had no feelings for her at all. After the cure, Wen Yueling, who was the antidote, would die too.

　　Even if she found out and got mad, he was confident he could coax her back.

　　After all, she loved him so much, didn’t she?

　　Would she really risk his life just to save a stranger?

　　“I just wasn’t sure before.”

　　“Wasn’t sure about what?” the girl asked, puzzled.

　　He shook his head without answering.

　　He couldn’t bring himself to say it. He wasn’t sure if she truly loved him. Even though he had the love gu as evidence, he was still afraid.

　　That kind of fear and cowardice was something she never needed to know.

　　“It doesn’t matter.”

　　The girl glanced at him. Maybe she picked up on something, because she asked again, “Then are you sure now?”

　　“I’m sure.” The man in white gave a small smile. It was faint, but softer than any smile he’d ever shown before.

　　She had seen him at his worst during his poison attacks, had watched him suffer over and over, yet she never once left him. She even used herself to ease his pain, and not once did she show any disgust.

　　If even that couldn’t prove her love for him, then what could?

　　So, since she loved him that much, she wouldn’t blame him for using someone else to cure himself… right?　　　　

　　—

　　Pei Ji had a rather decisive and efficient style. He hadn’t taken any action before, but once he said there would be a wedding, the entire Medicine King Valley sprang into motion.

　　Everything began falling into place: setting up the house, shopping for supplies, making the wedding dress, sending out invitations.

　　The once quiet Medicine King Valley turned lively overnight. Everyone An Jiu bumped into outside would smile and send her their blessings.

　　As for An Jiu herself, she didn’t have much to do. She just continued being the carefree Miss An, spending her days wandering around the valley.

　　Medicine King Valley was where Pei Ji had grown up. There were traces of his life everywhere. He never restricted her movements, letting her roam freely, and An Jiu would quietly observe everything, imagining how he must have grown up in this valley and turned into the man he was now.

　　There was a pavilion in the valley filled with books. It was the place that held the most of Pei Ji’s presence.

　　Sometimes, An Jiu would go there to read too, though she only picked out travel journals or storybooks. Occasionally, she’d pull out something else by accident and find a few brief notes he had scribbled inside.

　　His handwriting had been messy at first, but over time, it grew neat and elegant.

　　It was like watching a child gradually grow into a refined gentleman, piece by piece.

　　An Jiu also overheard a few fragments of conversation from the older folks in the valley. They sounded like stories meant to stay secret. From what she could tell, they were likely about Pei Ji’s childhood. She didn’t catch much, only that he had lived in a remote courtyard when he was young and wasn’t personally raised by Pei Zhou until he turned four.

　　Curious, she went to take a look. The small courtyard hadn’t been lived in for years. It was rundown, overgrown with weeds, and completely desolate.

　　Standing just outside, she could see a peach grove on the opposite side. The blossoms had long since fallen, the peaches were all picked, and the bare branches swayed in the autumn wind. All she saw was emptiness and silence.

　　An Jiu had come here alone, and she left the same way. No one knew she had ever been there.

　　When she returned to her place, she found Pei Ji sitting in the study, writing invitation cards.

　　He insisted on writing the wedding invitations by hand before having someone deliver each one personally. There were nearly a hundred of them—it was no small list.

　　An Jiu walked over and asked, “Will all these people actually come?”

　　“Of course they will. This is already a trimmed-down list,” Pei Ji replied with a faint smile, his long black eyes glancing at her as if questioning how she could doubt his popularity.

　　In the martial world, a divine doctor was one of the most well-liked figures.

　　An Jiu reached over and picked up an invitation. Lowering her gaze, she glanced at it. The bold red paper was covered in elegant, carefully written black ink. There wasn’t the slightest sign of sloppiness—just from the handwriting alone, it was clear how seriously he took this.

　　“Your handwriting is really good,” An Jiu couldn’t help but praise. Then, as if offhandedly, she asked, “Can I see the practice sheets you used when learning to write?”

　　Pei Ji was still writing but chuckled when he heard her. “Of course. They’re all on the bookshelf.”

　　He didn’t guard himself around her at all. An Jiu rarely entered his study, though. A pampered young lady with no real education shouldn’t be interested in a study to begin with. If she suddenly got too curious, it might put him on alert.

　　As expected, when she brought it up this time, he agreed without a second thought.

　　An Jiu didn’t rummage around either. She casually picked out a few practice sheets, wrote a few characters, then tossed the brush aside like she’d gotten bored.

　　From then on, whenever Pei Ji came into the study, she’d drop by too, flipping through a book or two like she was just passing time.

　　It was as if she didn’t want to be apart from him, so she came every day just to keep him company.

　　One day, while browsing a hidden shelf, An Jiu came across a wooden box.

　　She opened the wooden box and saw a stack of letters inside. She couldn’t quite make out what was written on them, because the moment she opened the box, it was suddenly snatched away.

　　The man’s fingers were long and slender, gripping the box so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

　　His dark eyes stared straight at her, and his voice dropped involuntarily. “What did you see?”

　　An Jiu blinked in surprise, her brows slowly drawing together.

　　Seeing the unease in his eyes, she spoke up, displeased. “Pei Ji, are you secretly exchanging letters with someone behind my back?”

　　At that, Pei Ji’s expression actually relaxed a little. A faint smile even tugged at the corners of his lips.

　　“No,” he said as he casually placed the box on the table and pulled her into his arms, kissing her pouting lips.

　　“Don’t be mad. Those are medical reports from patients. As a doctor, I can’t just show you those. It’s about respecting their privacy, not about hiding things from you.”

　　His words sounded so proper and reasonable that An Jiu couldn’t argue further. This was enough for her.

　　She huffed but didn’t insist on seeing the box anymore. Instead, she said, “You better not be hiding anything from me.”

　　His Adam’s apple bobbed. After a moment, he said in a low voice, “I won’t. From now on, I’ll tell you everything.”

　　After their wedding, he would never keep anything from her again.

　　Because of how frequently his poison was flaring up, their wedding had been scheduled soon — just a month away.

　　At the end of October, snow fell over Medicine King Valley.

　　That snowy night, Pei Ji had another relapse.

　　This time, An Jiu didn’t just sit dumbly in the room staring at him like before. The man still tied himself to the bed, but this time, he wasn’t conscious at all the entire time.

　　Listening to the pained growls coming from behind, An Jiu quietly walked to the bedside and pressed a hidden latch. A small secret compartment popped open, and she found the tiny porcelain bottle that held the Twin-soul Gu.

　　With the system projection in place, there was no secret about Pei Ji that could be hidden from her.

　　She knew the wooden box held the letters they had sent via pigeon when they first entered the book. She also knew exactly where he’d hidden the Twin-soul Gu.

　　The whole performance earlier was just to patch up any logical inconsistencies.

　　That’s how An Jiu always did things—never went into battle unprepared.

　　She gently took out the bottle and popped the cork. Inside were two tiny, transparent insect.

　　The day Pei Ji met Wu Sheng, she had also overheard the explanation about how the Twin-soul Gu worked through the projection.

　　As long as both parties had a Gu planted in them and then had sex, the poison in his body would be neutralized.

　　After a quick look, An Jiu quietly put the bottle back, placing it exactly where it had been.

　　She slowly closed the compartment door, sat down by the bed again, and gently reached out to hold his icy hand.

　　The next second, the unconscious man gripped her hand so tightly it felt like he was going to crush her bones. Pain shot through her fingers.

　　An Jiu pressed her lips together but never pulled her hand away.

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T/N: Get your tissues ready, folks! Ahem—don’t worry, it’s a HAPPY ENDING, HAPPY ENDING, HAPPY ENDING!!! I have to say it three times or no one will believe me. 🤣

 

　　

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