Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

It was already midnight when Zhang Tong returned home. He was soaked by the snow. He took off his cloak, shook off the snow, handed it to the maid, and stood by the stove to warm his hands.

Lu Lanzhi came in with hot soup and put it on the table, "You're back so late today. I made some ginger soup. Come and drink it to warm yourself up."

Zhang Tong rubbed his hands and covered his mouth and nose with them, then went over, took the bowl in his hands and took a sip.

"The provincial government has brought up quite a few cases regarding extreme weather phenomena in both winter and summer, many of which are for review. The case regarding Jiangdu Province's tax increase and the resale of autumn grain has been completed, and I'll just submit it when I have time."

Seeing his haggard face, Lu Lanzhi said, "You have to handle so many cases across the country. It's really hard work. There's no rush for my father's matter. You should take care of yourself. You are not as old as you were when you were young."

"Don't worry, I know my limits." Zhang Tong finished his ginger soup and put the bowl down. "Right now, I have a lot of complicated cases on hand. Yan Qian from the Three Courts is also deliberately delaying. The longer we delay, the more opportunities Yan Mengjiang has. I must get ahead of him."

Xiao Yan led people to shovel snow and carry out disaster relief work every day. He was not with Lu Ziqing and had not seen him for another half a month.

The busy days pass quickly, but when the night comes and I am free, the longing will surge out like a tide, invisible and untouchable, making people feel anxious and upset, as if it is more unbearable than before.

At night, he dragged his tired body to the study in the main courtyard. When he passed by the corridor of the main house, he heard a conversation coming from the house. It was Su Xin talking.

"Princess, please stop being so stupid. The Marquis has been bewitched by that bitch. He hasn't been seen in the past few months. This huge Marquisate is like a prison. I wonder why he pretended to be sick so that he could marry him?"

"He was just bewitched by the vixen for a while. When he gets tired of her, he will naturally turn back." Xining took off the pearl hairpin and put it on the dressing table.

"Since I'm married to him, I'm his legal wife. He can never get rid of me in this life. How can a mere commoner like him climb over my head?"

Xiao Yan had no idea what he was talking about after that. The words "pretending to be sick" were deeply imprinted in his mind. He closed the study door angrily.

So he was faking illness?

In order to get this marriage, he actually pretended to be sick?

Those two words, so light and flirty, had buried his marriage, putting him in shackles for no reason. It was ridiculous that he had naively thought it was an imperial decree that was difficult to disobey, but he never imagined that it was a conspiracy from beginning to end, causing Lu Ziqing to avoid him everywhere...

At this moment, he felt so dirty. He had never had such a profound understanding of these two words before, especially when they were used to describe women.

He paced back and forth in the room, becoming angrier and angrier as he thought about it. Suddenly, he clenched his fists and slammed them on the desk. It took him a long time to calm down.

After the anger, only indescribable fatigue remained. Xiao Yan leaned back in his chair, took out the small red cloth bag from his arms and put it on the table, as well as the triangular dagger in the drawer that had been scratched by bullets.

He propped up his head and looked quietly. The candlelight made the tiredness on his face more obvious, but he smiled as he looked.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Xiao Yan opened it and saw a servant standing at the door with a tray. He asked expressionlessly, "What's the matter?"

The servant said, "Master, it's freezing cold. Here's a bowl of hot wine. Have a drink to warm yourself up."

Xiao Yan didn't have the habit of drinking alone at home, but he was bored at the moment, so he picked up the bottle and drank without thinking.

Maybe it was because I was tired recently, I only drank one bowl of tea, but after a cup of tea I felt dizzy and sleepy, and my body started to feel hot.

Xiao Yan walked out of the study and returned to Chongcuixuan. The room was warm and dark. He didn't plan to turn on the lights and just fell asleep.

With the help of the light outside, he walked drowsily to the bed. He was so hot that he quickly took off his outer shirt and was left with only a thin undershirt.

As soon as Xiao Yan lay down on the bed, he smelled a fragrance that was very strange, so strange that it made him subconsciously stand on guard, but the person inside hugged him.

Xiao Yan was frightened by this hug. A round and soft object was pressed against his chest. The woman's breath and body temperature were in his arms, like a piece of super-hot iron.

The drowsiness and sleepiness were suddenly awakened by the heat. He quickly pushed people away and ran out of bed, speaking coldly to the figure in the dim light.

"Who let you in? Get out."

In the dim light, he could see Xining was only wearing a thin gauze dress and a white bellyband. She walked slowly over to coax him.

"Can we reconcile? I really can't stand your indifference. We've been married for months, and you haven't... haven't touched me. I don't want to be a widow. Can you be gentle to me for once?"

Xiao Yan felt dizzy and his blood seemed to be boiling over. He staggered back to the dressing table beside him, holding his head and shaking it.

He remembered the bowl of wine he had drunk earlier and asked uncomfortably, "What poison did you give me? Why is it so hot?"

"It's not poison."

Xining took off his coat, walked over to him and hugged him tightly, unable to control his emotions, he leaned close to his neck and whispered excitedly.

"I want you to love me, Qingjun. You are my husband. I want you to love me, right now."

Xiao Yan couldn't hear anything she said. Just hearing her voice reminded him of what she had said before, "pretending to be sick," and he felt annoyed.

He pushed her away in disgust, throwing away the last bit of respect he had for Xining, and said coldly, "You make me sick."

On a dim night, a small horse-drawn carriage was moving slowly forward in the heavy snow on North Street.

Lu Ziqing was still thinking about what Chen Qi had said until the driver knocked on the carriage door after a stick of incense had passed, and he came to his senses.

There were two big snowmen standing in front of the door, with colorful paper umbrellas on their heads. They must have been made by Xiaowu and his friends.

He tapped the paper umbrella hat with his fingertips and smiled. Just as he was about to knock on the door, it opened. Xiao Wu felt like he was saved when he saw the person.

"Oh, Master, you are finally back, come in quickly."

Lu Ziqing was inexplicably pulled in, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Wu closed the door and said anxiously, "The master is sick and almost frozen into an icicle. I put several charcoal basins in the room but they are useless. Sir, go and take a look."

"Huh?" Lu Ziqing was confused and asked as he walked, "What's going on? Explain clearly."

"I don't know either." Xiao Wu said, "I went back to the Marquis' Mansion to get something last night and found it in the snow on the side of the road."

The two of them walked to the gatehouse in the main courtyard. Lu Ziqing pushed the door open and went in. When he walked into the inner bedroom, he was shocked to see a small flame burning on the curtain beside the bed.

He immediately went over to put out the fire, and Xiaowu moved the charcoal basin away in panic.

Lu Ziqing looked at the four or five charcoal basins on the ground and said, "If there's a charcoal fire in the house, you have to stay here. If you hadn't come back just now, it would have been very dangerous. Remember this for the future."

Xiao Wu was still frightened and puzzled, "I remember not putting it that close, how did it end up next to the bed?"

"Go out first, I'll do it." Lu Ziqing said.

Xiao Yan lay on the bed with his eyes closed, his lips pale. Lu Ziqing put his hand on his forehead, and it was indeed as cold as an icicle.

How did it happen?

He anxiously felt his pulse, and after a while, he lifted the quilt and found Xiao Yan naked. This was an abnormal phenomenon of undressing due to low temperature.

Lu Ziqing let down the curtain, took off all his clothes except his undershirt, and leaned against the head of the bed. He hugged Xiao Yan tightly and wrapped himself in the quilt.