Chapter 113: Jealousy Without Realization

At the dining table, Zhu Yuan quietly sized up Sheng Yu, who was sitting across from her.

The man liked her; she had always been clear about this point, but she had never delved into how much weight she held in his heart, because she harbored the thought that she would leave him one day.

She did not let herself sink too deep.

Yet Sheng Yu not only knew how many beads were on her bracelet, he even helped her restring it.

This level of thoughtfulness was, by any measure, not as simple as mere affection.

She discovered that she could not understand the person before her at all.

If Sheng Yu liked her, then why did he make her take the morning-after Medicine time and again? Did he not know that the Medicine was harmful to her body?

Zhu Yuan silently drank a mouthful of porridge, deciding not to let her thoughts run wild anymore.

The Sheng Family was too complicated; it was not something she could withstand.

But just as she prepared to withdraw her gaze, the man spoke leisurely: "Peeking at me?"

Zhu Yuan gripped her spoon tightly, her heart trembling slightly, as she tried her best to remain composed: "Looking openly, how can that be called peeking?"

Sheng Yu chuckled, and at this moment, the phone he had placed to the side rang.

Zhu Yuan did not intend to look on purpose; it was just that his phone was within her line of sight, and with a slight lowering of her eyes, she saw the three characters on the caller ID: Ning Huaiqing.

She saw that when Sheng Yu caught sight of the caller ID, his jaw tightened a fraction, and his expression turned gloomy.

He then picked up the phone and left the dining room.

Zhu Yuan withdrew her gaze, eating the increasingly tasteless porridge in her bowl.

Ning Huaiqing.

She remembered this name; Ji Xiang had told her about her—Ning Chu's older sister, a friend in Sheng Yu's circle. Two years ago, for some unknown reason, she was sent abroad, and Sheng Yu strictly forbade her from returning to the country.

She did not know if she was being too sensitive, but she always felt that Ning Huaiqing being sent abroad must have had something to do with Sheng Yu.

Ning Huaiqing calling Sheng Yu was, without a doubt, to plead for Ning Chu.

With half a bowl of porridge left, Zhu Yuan no longer had the mood to eat.

As she got up to return to the master bedroom on the second floor, she passed through the living room and heard Sheng Yu say something in a low voice near the floor-to-ceiling windows; because of the distance, she did not hear it clearly.

After changing her clothes, she went downstairs.

She could not find her phone, and thinking of the sudden incident last night, she hadn't returned to the dressing room to get it; it must still be at the theater.

She had been healthy since she was a child; even with a high fever all night, she could recover her strength with a little rest and food.

After going downstairs, Sheng Yu was still on the phone.

What a man of few words the Sheng Family Crown Prince was.

A fire burned inexplicably in Zhu Yuan's heart, and she made a loud noise going downstairs, startling the person on the phone by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Sheng Yu hung up the phone and walked over. Seeing that she had changed her clothes, he frowned slightly, "Go back and lie down."

"I'm not sick," Zhu Yuan retorted sharply.

Sheng Yu narrowed his eyes; her temper was acting up again—had she eaten gunpowder?

"Who had a high fever all night that wouldn't go down?"

"I've already thanked you."

Sheng Yu held his phone, staring at her face. Zhu Yuan's impervious attitude made him laugh in anger, and he narrowed his eyes, "Speak properly."

"Can I chop off one of Ning Chu's hands?" Zhu Yuan suddenly asked, out of the blue.

The atmosphere in the living room changed abruptly.

Situ, who was just about to enter from outside to report something, saw the situation and immediately turned around to leave.

Sheng Yu's eyes deepened, and he said in a low voice, "No."

Zhu Yuan was not surprised at all; she nodded expressionlessly, "Fine, I understand."

She turned to walk out, but was pulled back by the man by her wrist. She was pulled into his embrace, feeling the scent on his body—all night long, she had been enveloped by this very scent.

It made her inexplicably want to cling to him, yet she remained clear-headed at every moment, not letting herself sink.

"What do you understand, you think you understand," Sheng Yu said, suppressing his anger, "I have already chopped off one of her hands."

Zhu Yuan was stunned.

She understood; what Sheng Yu meant was that it was only because Ning Huaiqing had called to plead for mercy that he had only taken one of Ning Chu's hands.

She should feel content; Sheng Yu had stood up for her and punished Ning Chu.

Yet why did she still feel a tightness in her chest?

This flustered, uncontrollable feeling made her feel miserable all over. She lowered her head, forcefully pried the man's hand away, and strode toward the door.

She met eyes with Situ at the door.

"Could you do me a favor? I want to have Enzo take me to the hospital to see Ji Xiang."

Situ asked the man inside for instructions.

Sheng Yu stood at the bottom of the stairs, lit a cigarette, a layer of gloom spreading in his eyes, and said hoarsely, "As she wishes."

Enzo drove Zhu Yuan to the hospital. Outside the hospital building, Zhu Yuan told him to stop the car and borrowed some money from Enzo to buy some things Ji Xiang liked to eat.

As soon as she saw Zhu Yuan, Ji Xiang wanted to cry, but upon seeing the things Zhu Yuan brought that she liked to eat, she wanted to cry even more.

"I'm in so much pain, and I can't even eat these," Ji Xiang said aggrievedly.

Zhu Yuan sat down to wipe away her tears. Ji Xiang had been kicked in the abdomen by Ning Chu's Bodyguard, causing a severe impact to her stomach.

She sobbed as she cried, and Zhu Yuan couldn't help but feel her own eyes redden, "You can't eat them, so I'll eat them for you to watch."

Ji Xiang: "…Is that even human talk?"

After coaxing Ji Xiang to stop crying, Zhu Yuan stayed behind to accompany and take care of her.

Ji Xiang had come to the provincial capital from a county in Kyoto; her parents were ordinary workers who favored sons over daughters, and they were entirely focused on her older brother, paying no mind to Ji Xiang at all.

Ji Xiang felt a little better after taking some pain Medicine, and she looked at Zhu Yuan, who was sitting by the hospital bed, with a complex expression, hesitating several times to speak.

"Say whatever you want to say, don't stifle yourself to death." Zhu Yuan tucked the quilt in for her.

Ji Xiang boldly spoke her mind: "You and Second Master Pei, and then the Sheng Family Crown Prince... Xiao Fengzheng, you are in a very dangerous position. Neither of them are people to be trifled with; how could you provoke two at once? Would people of their status be willing to have two men serve one woman?"

Zhu Yuan was prone to thirst after a high fever and was just picking up a cup to drink water when she nearly choked upon hearing this.

She coughed a few times: "Ji Xiang, how old are you, how could you have such dangerous thoughts?"

Listen to what she just said, two men serving one woman, what outrageous words!

Ji Xiang was so excited she wanted to sit up, "Aren't you even more dangerous? I'm just talking about it, but you actually dare to do it!"

Zhu Yuan pressed down on her shoulders and patiently explained: "Things between Sheng Yu and me are a bit complicated, but my relationship with Second Master Pei is perfectly innocent; don't listen to the rumors outside."

"Really?" Ji Xiang wore an expression that said she didn't believe it.

Zhu Yuan nodded solemnly, "It couldn't be more real."

Just as she finished speaking, a nurse knocked and entered, asking in a puzzled tone: "Excuse me, are you Zhu Yuan?"

Zhu Yuan nodded, "I am, what is it?"

"Someone called the nurses' station saying they wanted to find you."

Find her?

Zhu Yuan and Ji Xiang exchanged a look, then she stood up and followed the nurse to the nurses' station, picking up the receiver, "Hello, may I ask..."

From the other end of the line came a voice tinged with a hint of playful mockery, yet icy cold: "Zhu Yuan, I've caught Ning Er for you; do you want her life?"