Chapter 142 - 140: Anything About You, I Must Inquire
The bowl of medicine was brewed with unknown herbs, its taste extraordinarily bitter and pungent.
Two young eunuchs held Shen Yinning down and forced the concoction into her without giving her any chance to resist.
Shen Yinning struggled desperately, but still ended up drinking most of it.
The porcelain bowl shattered into fragments as it hit the ground, and she shoved the two eunuchs away before stumbling back a few steps to regain her footing.
She raised her sleeve to wipe away the brownish medicinal residue from her lips, her reddened eyes fixed on Lu Ying.
She remembered her youth, how Lu Ying had always been cold and taciturn, his reserved demeanor contrasting sharply with her lively and outgoing nature, making them unlikely companions. Yet, whenever they attended banquets or ventured out together, he would quietly mind her feelings.
At fourteen, during the spring and summer transition when green apricots were still small, she recalled the youth standing tall and elegant in his black attire, adorned with a golden hairpin, accompanying her on an outing to the outskirts of the Capital.
Frowning, he had admonished her not to play in the river like the other girls, warning her of the dangers of falling in. Little did he know, rebellion coursed through her veins, and the very act of playing at the river’s edge had been her idea all along.
At that time, she thought that even if Lu Ying did not like her, he must have harbored some affection for her.
Otherwise, why would he care for her?