Chapter One Hundred and Ten: Lian Yue’s Seasickness

Before sunset that day, they had already taken shelter in the only inn in the small town.

The town probably did not see many travelers on ordinary days, and the inn itself was not very large. Once they had checked in, there was no room left for anyone else.

The innkeeper was naturally all smiles, and the serving boy was busier and more attentive than ever. Lianyue and the others rested there in great comfort.

The next day dawned anew, and Lianyue’s group continued as planned: first to Nanping, then onward to the north.

Because Lianyue’s disappearance had delayed them, the journey had become rather tight. After some discussion, they decided to take the water route from the county town ahead.

At the thought of traveling by boat, Lianyue was naturally willing. The carriage had been far too cramped, and after a full day inside it, one truly grew weary.

She had never been on a boat before, only heard others describe it. In her imagination, it was like moving an inn onto the water, so of course it seemed far more comfortable than a carriage.

But all such fantasies were overturned by the second day after she boarded.

The ship was an excellent one, elegantly furnished, with everything one could possibly need for food, clothing, and daily use. Yet if Lianyue had to choose, she would have stubbornly insisted on the carriage.

For no other reason than this: having never ridden a large vessel before, she had not known that she suffered from seasickness. After the initial excitement of boarding, her head began to spin, the deck seemed to sway beneath her feet, and soon came the nauseating retching and complete loss of appetite.

By then, her usually rosy face had lost every trace of color. Limp and helpless, she lay in her cabin aboard the ship, sipping medicine, spoonful by spoonful, from the hand of Lan Shui.

A group of people still gathered around her.

Meng Chuchen looked at the exhausted Lianyue and said to Yue Lingjun beside him, “Why don’t we take the official road after the next ferry crossing?”

Yue Lingjun had been considering the same thing. Though the water route would save two or three days, compared with Lianyue’s health, those two or three days meant very little. After all, even by water, they still needed four or five days to reach their destination.

Lianyue, weak all over, grew anxious the moment she heard this. Because of her, they had already been delayed for several days. If they suddenly switched back to a carriage, they would inevitably lose even more time. Besides, she was the only one on the ship suffering from seasickness. For the others, traveling by boat was surely more comfortable than riding horseback or sitting in a carriage.

She swallowed the medicine in her mouth and hurriedly stopped them. “I’m fine. I’m already much better than I was this morning. Maybe if I keep getting seasick, I’ll eventually stop being seasick.”

Yue Lingjun knew exactly what she was thinking and cut her off. “Nonsense. From here to Nanping, we still have at least four more days by boat. Besides, if Eldest Sister sees you looking so frail, she’ll certainly feel terrible as well.”

Yao Yao, who had been keeping close to Lianyue’s side all along, quickly chimed in, “Sister Yue, let’s just take the carriage instead. It may jolt a little, but it’s still better than this.”

Lan Shui, seeing how weak Lianyue was, also tried to persuade her. “I think the carriage would be better too. Yue, listen to your eldest brother.”

“Brother, I really am much better already. Why don’t we wait and see? If I’m still not used to it by tomorrow, then I’ll listen to you and switch to the carriage.”

Yue Lingjun thought it over and nodded in agreement. Back when he had escorted Eldest Sister to Nanping for her marriage, they had also traveled by boat, and there had indeed been similar cases among the wedding party. Some people were only unwell at the beginning, and afterward were perfectly fine.

In truth, Lianyue herself felt much improved now. She was not as dizzy as she had been at first. Her weakness was mostly because she could not keep food down and vomited whenever she ate, leaving her body drained. If there had truly been no improvement at all, then after two days of such torment she should have been so dizzy she could scarcely speak.

Besides, the young man who was, in name at least, her betrothed was clearly no fraud when it came to medicine. After drinking the remedy he prescribed, Lianyue could already feel the tightness in her chest easing considerably.

Yue Lingjun and the others remained until Lianyue had finished the medicine, then left her room.

Only Lan Shui, Yao Yao, and Zizhu stayed behind to keep her company.

Lianyue drank a little bird’s nest soup, then leaned on the bed and gazed through the window at the fragment of scenery outside. Seeing her interest, Yao Yao began to tell her about the sights and amusing incidents she had seen with her own eyes over the past two days.

On this point, Lianyue truly envied Yao Yao.

As her spirits waned, Lianyue gradually drifted off again amid Yao Yao’s lively storytelling. By the time she woke, it was nearly dusk. This time, she had been roused by hunger.

That long-lost feeling of hunger meant she was recovering little by little, adapting little by little.

Seeing that Lan Shui was still seated by the bedside, Lianyue acted spoiled and said, “Sister Lan, I’m hungry.”

At once, Lan Shui’s furrowed brow relaxed. She promptly told Zizhu to bring over the ginseng porridge that had been kept warm, and then fed it to Lianyue, spoonful by spoonful. Lianyue ate with great relish, and even after the bowl was empty, she still did not feel full. Her eyes drifted toward Zizhu beside her. There was not the slightest sign of retching.

Only then did Lan Shui truly relax. She handed the bowl back to Zizhu and said, “If she can eat, that means she’s more than halfway better. It seems this Young Master Yuwen’s medicine is rather effective.”

Seeing Lianyue improving, Zizhu’s mood lightened as well. “Isn’t that so? When Miss first fell ill, after Young Master Yuwen took her pulse, he said a few doses would do. At noon, when Miss had already taken three doses and still showed no improvement, I even suspected his skill as a physician.”

Lan Shui looked at Lianyue with a smile and teased, “The one the young lady herself chose naturally has to be good.”

Lianyue heard her bring it up again and pouted in embarrassment. “Sister Lan.”

Perhaps because she was ill, to Lan Shui and Zizhu it sounded more like she was shy.

At that moment, Yu Wen Lingxi’s hoarse, low voice came from outside the door. “If Miss Yue has awakened, I should take her pulse again.”

A rare flush returned to Lianyue’s otherwise deathly pale face. She shot Lan Shui and Zizhu a warning glare, then motioned for Zizhu to open the door.

Throughout this journey, because of the engagement between them, Lianyue had deliberately been avoiding Yu Wen Lingxi. Only after she had taken to her bed and fallen ill had there been no way to avoid him anymore. Though she had been groggy all this time, she still vaguely remembered that every hour or so, Yu Wen Lingxi would come by to check on her condition. He came into and out of her room more often than either her elder or second brother.

Led in by Zizhu, Yu Wen Lingxi approached, and Lianyue obediently held out her left hand, watching his slender fingers rest against her wrist. Aside from a touch of awkwardness, she felt nothing particularly unusual.

Of course, this Yu Wen Lingxi was still actually Yu Wen Lingxiao, the second young master of the Yu Wen family. The true Yu Wen Lingxi, also known as Dark Abyss, had already left Floating Cloud Mountain and gone straight back to the Yu Wen household.

Yu Wen Lingxiao withdrew his fingers and swept his gaze across Lianyue’s face before saying indifferently, “You still need to keep taking the medicine. For the next few days, eat only light foods. Rest for two days and you’ll be fine.”

As he spoke, he took out a porcelain bottle from his robes and handed it to Lianyue on the bed. “If the dizziness and retching return, keep one of the pills in this bottle in your mouth.”

Lianyue opened the bottle and sniffed. Indeed, her chest instantly felt much better. On the surface, she thanked him, but in her heart she grumbled: if something this good existed, why hadn’t he brought it out sooner? She had been miserable for more than a day because of it.

Yu Wen Lingxiao’s mood was no better. Just last night, after his side sent word to his elder brother that the girl was ill, less than half an hour ago his brother had ordered Meng’er to rush all the way here with this bottle of medicine.

His elder brother was as attentive to this girl as ever.

Still, this girl did have a conscience. She had never revealed his brother’s identity. Yet that also meant Yu Wen Lingxiao could not tell what Lianyue truly felt about Yu Wen Lingxi.

He had also noticed that Lianyue had been suspiciously keeping her distance from him, while spending most of her time chatting happily with Qiao Zhi. And Qiao Zhi, for his part, seemed especially interested in her affairs. In the past two days, he had come to ask after her condition quite often, and every time he did, he would make a couple of jokes about the marriage between Yu Wen Lingxi and Lianyue.

Yu Wen Lingxiao trusted Qiao Zhi’s character and knew he would not do anything improper, but he worried that Lianyue might fall for someone else. After all, Qiao Zhi was very popular with girls. There was not the slightest chance that such a possibility could be ruled out.

So Yu Wen Lingxiao was hesitating over whether he should do something to improve the relationship between Yu Wen Lingxi and Lianyue.

The problem was that Yu Wen Lingxi could only be impersonated by him, and in all his life Yu Wen Lingxiao had never once courted a girl. On top of that, he had to use Yu Wen Lingxi’s cold and distant manner rather than his own more approachable nature. That made things truly difficult.

He had only been thinking aloud when he realized he was standing in Lianyue’s room. The other three naturally felt too awkward to ask him to leave, especially Lianyue. Just as her condition had begun to improve, her heart had started pounding again. Was he going to mention the engagement? Then what would she say? How could she refuse?