Chapter Nineteen Something Doesn't Feel Right

  Since that night, Qilin has never asked about Bai Qiyan again and wholeheartedly devoted himself to the waterwheel project.

  "Master, you should rest for a while, I see your complexion isn't quite right."

  Qilin smiled slightly, this person was Feng Changqing's best carpenter, Zhou An, just because Qilin casually said a word of praise, he was sealed as a ninth-grade official, and also because of this, Zhou An was still very respectful to her, almost treating her like a benefactor.

  "The empress's birthday is approaching, we must be careful not to make any mistakes." Although she said this, Qilin felt a bit out of her depth, and after yawning, she let Green Bamboo support her as she walked aside and sat down, massaging her shoulders. She looked at the progress of the project and found that actual operation was much more difficult than theory. Before, she had only worked on design drafts, but had never actually operated anything, yet somehow she had become the sales director.

  Green bamboo handed up a cup of tea, helping Qi Lin massage her shoulders. Seeing that Qi Lin was getting sleepy, she quickly said "Young master, why don't you go back and rest for a while? This place is being supervised by Lord Zhou."

  "Yes, young master, you haven't rested well these days. If you exhaust yourself, the Emperor will surely blame me." Zhou An also advised, after the official start of work a few days ago, Qi Lin had been coming very early and leaving very late every day, sometimes even having meals with them together.

  Qilin let out a small sigh, to others it seemed like she was being very diligent, but in reality she didn't want to stay in the dormitory with Bai Qianye. Although they were separated by a wall, she would occasionally secretly place some things at the entrance of the hidden door, but she still didn't want to meet him.

  But my eyes can't open anymore, spring has really arrived, and I'm suffering from spring sleepiness.

  A shout and let the green bamboo support him back to rest.

  She had slept so soundly that it was as if the sky and earth were dark, and if her stomach hadn't been growling with hunger, she wouldn't have thought of waking up. But as soon as she opened her eyes, she felt that everything around her was dim, only to realize that it was already time for dinner.

  She washed her face with cold water, finally getting rid of her sleepiness. Green Bamboo and the others had already prepared a table full of dishes, and the aroma made Qi Lin's mouth water as she licked her lips.

  Without saying a word, picked up the chopsticks and took a piece of osmanthus chicken to put in his mouth. Originally thought it would be delicious, but unexpectedly found that it was tasteless. Eating other dishes also didn't find any flavor. Even drinking a bowl of soup was the same.

  "Why does everything taste so bland today?" Is the palace running out of salt? Frowning slightly, he continued, "Bring some salt."

  Green bamboo stared at Qi Lin, today's dishes she had carefully checked every one of them, the taste was the same as before, could it be that the young master had been exhausted recently? Thinking so, Green Bamboo also ordered someone to bring salt.

  After adding a few spoons of salt, she finally felt that it had some flavor, and Qilin started eating with relish.

  "Hmm??" Green bamboo was pondering whether or not to say something, but was also very embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

  "Everyone can go down, Green Bamboo stays." After dismissing the palace servants who were waiting on the side, Qi Lin asked "What's the matter, just say it."

  The green bamboo hesitated for a moment before deciding to say "Young Master, where did you go that night? I'm talking about the night General Qin came over."

  Qilin paused, put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and looked up at Green Bamboo. She had a habit of not allowing anyone in the room when she slept, and if someone stood guard beside her, she would lose sleep. Moreover, Bai Qian didn't know when he would arrive, and although he could knock her out, doing it multiple times would inevitably raise suspicions. Although Green Bamboo was her personal maid, she couldn't be fully trusted either. In a way, it was also for her protection - the less she knew, the safer she would be, right?

  "Master, spare my life." Green Bamboo quickly knelt down and said, "Master, that night the Emperor suddenly arrived without any announcement, and then..."

  Feng Changqing has been here?!

  Qilin's shocked eyes didn't blink, and she asked cautiously "Then... then what?"

  "Then entered the young master's bedroom, but the young master was not there."

  "What's next?" How come nobody has ever mentioned it? Such a big thing, how come nobody has ever said anything? And even Feng Changqing didn't investigate?

  "The emperor didn't say anything, and even ordered the servant not to mention it, but...". This was also her dilemma, tightly grasping the hem of her clothes, she continued "But I think it's better to tell you, young master, after all... that night the emperor waited for a long time in your bedroom, only returning when it was time for the morning court."

  "Did you only return at dawn?" Qi Lin suddenly stood up, startling Lü Zhu so much that she buried her head even lower. She remembered that day, she didn't know why, but she fell asleep inside too. Maybe it was because she was worried that Bai Qianyun would fall into the water and drown. She only went out in the morning, if she had really gone out a step earlier, the consequences would be unthinkable. She continued to ask, "Then... what did you say? Oh no, did the Emperor say or do anything?"

  "She didn't dare to speak recklessly, only saying that the young master had gone to another palace, and it just so happened that the emperor hadn't sent anyone to invite him. When she said this, she was extremely anxious, but thinking back, wasn't it obvious that Qilin was not there? That's why she was regretful. 'However, the emperor stayed by the young master's bedside for a night, without saying or doing anything.'"

  This is even more troublesome.

  How did His Majesty suddenly arrive? Isn't he suspecting something?

  "You go down first." Letting Green Bamboo go down, Qi Lin planned to think carefully.

  After the green bamboo went down, Qi Lin walked to the bed and pondered whether or not to ask Bai Qianyun for help, but as soon as she touched the bed, she felt drowsy.

  Just as Kei Lin was about to fall off the bed, she finally realized what she had yet to do. With a swift motion, she opened the hidden door - wasn't it just asking someone for help?

  I'd like to ask, what's the thickest thing on a 21st-century woman? Isn't it her face skin?

  "Ba Qianyan, where is everyone?" The lines I had prepared in advance all collapsed when I saw the empty space. After searching around, except for the steaming hot spring pool, not even a mosquito was seen.

  He should be called Aphie, the one who comes and goes without a shadow or a trace.

  After encountering the empty city plan, he slipped out of the back door with a dispirited look and fell asleep on the bed.

  In the following days, Qilin spent most of her time sleeping except for meals, often sleeping for more than half a day. Sometimes she would sleep from afternoon to the next noon, get up for lunch, take a few steps and continue sleeping.

  It wasn't until Zhi Lin couldn't taste anything at all when she ate that she finally realized something was wrong.

  Was she poisoned?

  To confirm her own idea, she invited all the imperial physicians with various excuses, but every imperial physician said that she was fine. She subtly let them check her food, and everything that could be checked was normal.

  It's even more terrifying this way.

  She studied all the palace dramas she had seen and added to them the experiences of poisoning methods she had heard from others, but after checking everything, she still found nothing.

  "Little master, why don't you go to sleep?" After Qilin yawned a dozen times, Lüzhú finally couldn't help but say "I'll go burn some calming incense."

  Fragrant?

  How come she didn't think of this?

  "Green bamboo, bring out all the spices that are usually in the palace." This should finally reveal something.

  However, after checking all the spices and having the imperial physician check some of them as well, it was still just one.

  Nothing at all.

  "Young master, don't worry too much." Seeing Qi Lin's thoughts, Lu Zhu comforted her, "Now that spring has arrived, many concubines are feeling drowsy. I heard some even slept for a whole day."

  "Maybe." Is it the same? They fell asleep for a day, that's because they over-exerted themselves in bed and were physically exhausted.

  Damn it, if Bai Qianyan was here, I could ask him for some advice, but at the critical moment, he didn't know where he died.

  I don't know if his injury has healed or not, and I also don't know what he ate. If the injury hasn't healed, what if he starves to death?

  At night, Qilin sat on the bed with her legs in her arms thinking about this.

  "The Emperor has arrived."

  The sound of Xiaoning's voice came from outside the door, Qilin was stunned, what is she doing here at this time? As soon as she thought about what happened that night, Qilin's spirit lifted, and she put on a piece of clothing.

  "Your humble servants welcome Your Majesty."

  "How has your body been lately, my dear?" Feng Changqing went forward to help Qi Lin up, smiling and saying "I had some free time today, so I came over to take a look."

  "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

  Inviting Feng Changqing to sit down, Qi Lin had Lü Zhuo bring over some fruit plates. Under Feng Changqing's gaze, Qi Lin could only personally peel and feed them to Feng Changqing's mouth.

  At the same time, Qilin also observed Feng Changqing's words and expressions, hoping to see something from his face.

  However, after eating most of the fruit in the fruit platter, Qilin still didn't notice anything, was she just here to eat fruit?

  "I will sleep here tonight."

  "Huh?"

  "I will sleep here tonight. Help me change into comfortable clothes."

  "Oh... yeah." With a nod and a difficult expression, this time it's really bad.

  However, Qi Lin, who had thought she would be sleepless for the whole night, was overwhelmed by a strong drowsiness as soon as she touched the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

  "Sleeping a lot isn't necessarily a good thing." Zi Yun lightly blew on his tea, smelled the fragrance, and felt refreshed. "How is it? You've slept for three days, how do you feel?"

  After finishing speaking, he looked at the screen on that side. Before long, Bai Qianyan was already fully dressed and walked out from behind with a smile, saying "Everything is fine."

  Everything is fine, that's good.

  "This time, the palace probably strengthened its defenses." It was still too forced to say, so he poured a cup of tea and handed it to Bai Qianyan, saying "I heard that the emperor went to Quanquan Pavilion."

  I thought I would see a different expression on Bai Qianye's face, but he was still calmly drinking tea.

  "The Emperor truly values Qi Lin exceptionally."

  "Isn't this good?" Putting down the teacup, he spat out a mouthful of turbid air and said "Compared to this, what about that secret letter?"

  As soon as the word "secret letter" was mentioned, both of them fell silent. The last time they went there was to look for a secret letter, and it was also because of this letter that Bai Qianhe and Feng Changqing had a falling out.

  I suppose Feng Changqing has already begun to suspect his existence.

  But there was an idea taking shape in both of their minds.

  "Your young mistress sleeps so soundly?" Although he was used to getting up early, it wasn't as if she could sleep that soundly without any reaction at all. He slightly furrowed his brow and said "Wasn't the Thousand Carp Pond incident exhausting her too much? I'll have the imperial kitchen prepare some of your young mistress's favorite dishes and send them over later."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty." Qing Zhu and Jin Yu hastily expressed their gratitude.

  After putting everything on properly, Feng Changqing walked to the bedside, stretched out his hand to tidy up the quilt, but was caught by Qi Lin.

  The hand that was caught was held in Qilin's palm, put to her mouth, found a relatively suitable finger, and put it into her mouth. She sucked on it from time to time, like an infant sucking on a pacifier, occasionally grinding it with her teeth.

  This move made the people around look horrified, Green Bamboo stared tightly at Feng Changqing, secretly sweating for Qi Lin, fearing that Feng Changqing would order something to be done to her young master.

  But Feng Changqing enjoyed this feeling, letting Qilin bite his fingers for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, and only got up and left under Xiao Ningzi's urgent urging.

  "My goodness gracious, I'm scared to death." After Feng Changqing left, Lüzhú softened and leaned against the edge of the bed, wiping away the cold sweat from her forehead.

  "Indeed." Jingyu also made the same motion, looked at Qilin and said "This young master is sleeping so soundly."

  Upon hearing this, Green Bamboo looked at Qi Lin with concern.