Chapter 26: His thumb pressed heavily against her pale lips, grinding slowly.

Shen Shuyi looked innocent, her eyes filled with bewilderment. "What is Cousin Heir talking about? I don't understand. As you know, I haven't been awake since I fell asleep yesterday; I only regained consciousness a moment ago, and I am still terribly dizzy. I truly have no idea what happened in the interim. Even if you dislike me, Cousin, you cannot simply throw mud at me at will."

Pei Dongzhou wanted to hold her accountable, but he lacked evidence. As long as she refused to admit it, there was nothing he could do.

Her plan had been flawless, yet she had left a piece of incriminating evidence on the Heir’s lips. She could have kicked herself.

Pei Dongzhou’s jade-like fingers brushed over the slightly stinging wound on his lip, and he suddenly let out a soft laugh.

The sound sent a shiver down Shen Shuyi’s spine, and her palms grew damp with sweat.

The usually gentle and refined brows of the Heir were now frosted with cold. "Cousin, you were either feigning sleep, or perhaps you had taken an antidote beforehand..."

"Does Cousin Heir suffer from paranoia? My illness is no secret. With a body as frail as mine, what could I possibly do to you? Furthermore, why are you so certain that I am the one who did something? If it really were my doing, tell me, why would I do such a thing? What benefit would I gain?" Shen Shuyi interrupted his conjecture.

Pei Dongzhou’s fingers suddenly clamped down on her chin, his thumb grinding heavily against her pale lips, showing no mercy. "That is for you to answer, Cousin!"

His voice was tempered with ice, though his eyes remained dark as ink.

*Slap!* Shen Shuyi swiped his hand away with force, her snow-white wrist nearly striking the bedpost.

A couple of dry coughs escaped her throat, and her once crisp voice now sounded as if it had been rasped by sandpaper. "Cousin has always despised me, yet even the Ministry of Justice requires a joint trial to convict a criminal. For you, Cousin Heir, to act like this..."

Before she could finish, she began to cough violently, her frail body swaying. "Are you intending to force a conviction upon me?"

Pei Dongzhou looked at Shen Shuyi’s pale face, feeling that she had wasted away to nothing.

He indeed lacked evidence, but she resided in the West Wing, he had fainted in the West Wing, and the incense was from her room. Every sign suggested she had planned this.

Seeing that even playing the "delicate" card had failed to soften the Heir's heart, Shen Shuyi cursed inwardly a thousand times.

Fine, she would just go back to pretending to be unconscious.

"Then tell me, Cousin, why did your incense cause me to lose consciousness?" Pei Dongzhou leaned in, forcing her to look him in the eye, and spoke every word with deliberate weight.

"I did indeed buy some incense to soothe the nerves, only because I have been plagued by nightmares lately and my body has been in such pain that I can only find relief in sleep. But that incense is only lit at night; perhaps A-Jian took the wrong one and lit it by mistake. Moreover, I have been in a deep sleep and did not know you would be coming. A-Jian has been serving by my bedside the entire time and was also unaware of your visit. You cannot simply decide that I intentionally drugged you based on this—it is unfair to me." Shen Shuyi’s voice grew weaker, her breathing becoming shallow.

She had not eaten a proper meal in days and was starving.

To have to deal with the troublesome Pei Dongzhou on top of that—she was truly exhausted, famished, and dizzy.

Pei Dongzhou intended to continue his interrogation, but he saw Shen Shuyi’s head sway before she weakly collapsed back onto her pillows.

"A-Jian..." Shen Shuyi called toward the door, hoping the young girl might bring her something to eat.

Pei Dongzhou rose, looking down at Shen Shuyi from his height with a faint, scrutinizing gaze.

"This matter is not over. In the coming days, I shall take good care of you, Cousin," Pei Dongzhou remarked with cool composure.

Shen Shuyi had already made up her mind; since he had no evidence, she would simply deny everything to the death, and he could not touch her.

"Please feel free, Cousin. But I must say one thing: in the past, I was delusional and harbored improper thoughts toward you. Now that I understand the chasm that lies between us, I will not be so presumptuous as to hold such fantasies again. You may set your heart at ease." Shen Shuyi no longer wanted to deal with him.

Pei Dongzhou leaned down over her, his presence enveloping her with the faint scent of incense. "You had best remember what you said today, Cousin."

When she looked up, she saw that Shen Shuyi had already closed her eyes, slumped against the embroidered pillow.

The girl’s long, slender eyelashes cast two dark shadows against her snow-pale face; only the slight rise and fall of her chest proved she was still awake.

He froze for a moment, finally sensing the true meaning of the divide between man and woman.

He and she were indeed far too close.

A-Jian waited anxiously outside. Just as she was debating whether to break down the door to save her mistress, the door creaked open.

The tall, long-legged Heir stepped over the threshold. The usually gentle and graceful man appeared somewhat gloomy, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Fourth Young Master at first glance.

She dared not meet his eyes and hurriedly performed a curtsy, intending to slip past him, but she heard the Heir ask, "Did you light the incense in the West Wing?"

"It was this servant. Recently, my mistress's health has been failing by the day; she sometimes coughs until it sounds as though her heart is breaking, and she cannot stop, especially at night. Only when she falls asleep can she find any rest. My mistress said she had developed a resistance to ordinary soothing incense and ordered me to increase the dosage. I stayed by her side all night yesterday and was lightheaded, so I must have mistakenly lit the nighttime sedative during the day. It was my carelessness; I beg the Heir for forgiveness."

A-Jian knelt on the ground as she spoke, following exactly what her mistress had instructed.

"Since you have done wrong, stay kneeling. You are not to rise without my command." Pei Dongzhou still did not trust the mistress and her maid.

A-Jian only worried that her mistress would rush out, knowing that her mistress had always treated her as her closest companion.

Inside the room, Shen Shuyi pricked up her ears to listen to the movement outside. Seeing A-Jian being forced to kneel, she told herself to endure it.

As soon as Pei Dongzhou left, she would make A-Jian get up.

But she knew Pei Dongzhou would not leave.

The Heir had made it clear: he would be "looking after" her nearby for the next few days.

Fortunately, the mission had been accomplished, and she had specifically checked—Pei Dongzhou’s favorability rating toward her had not dropped. Tragically, A-Jian had followed her instructions, and she had dragged the poor girl into this.

She struggled to rise. Though the force that had held her captive had dissipated, she remained terribly weak.

When she staggered to the door, she had to lean heavily against the carved frame to support her weight.

After catching her breath, she said to A-Jian, "A-Jian, get up. You are my person; even if you have done wrong, it is I who should be punishing you."

A-Jian instinctively looked toward Pei Dongzhou, but he remained indifferent, not even lifting an eyelid.