Yin Chujin was secretly delighted when she heard this, but she maintained her composure.
Yin Wenhan stood up and spread his hands at Sheng Yiming. "Mother will probably nag at me for a while. I'll look for you tomorrow!"
As he spoke, he looked at Yin Chujin. "Jin'er, let's go!"
"Second Brother, your mother is looking for you. Go quickly. The Go game has been set up. I'll play a round with Prince Rui. Zhu'er will wait downstairs. I'll leave soon after playing."
Her expression changed so quickly that even she wanted to laugh.
Yin Wenhan had roamed the martial arts world for too long. Coupled with his unconcerned personality, he did not realize what was wrong with leaving his imperial sister alone with another man. He nodded, flicked his clothes, and walked out of the pavilion.
After he walked away, Yin Chujin put down the pastry in her hand and looked at Sheng Yiming with her usual indifference.
Sheng Yiming coughed again and looked at her mockingly. "Princess Jin, don't you know that a man and a woman alone will attract gossip? Your Second Brother has already left, but you still specially stayed behind. Are you trying to catch up with me?"
"I don't have anything to catch up with you!" Yin Chujin snorted coldly at him. She took out a hairpin and the title deed from her sleeve and slapped them in front of him. "I'll return this to you, Prince Rui. Please don't randomly stuff things into others' hands!"
Sheng Yiming glanced at the things on the table but didn't say anything. He just put his hand to his lips and coughed for a while before looking up again.
Yin Chujin frowned and looked around. After confirming that they were alone, she said angrily, "Stop pretending to be sick. It's not the first time you've exposed your identity in front of me. Who are you trying to scare with your pale face?"
Sheng Yiming shook his head and laughed. "Cough cough… aren't you good at medicine? Can't you tell when the patient is standing in front of you? Do you think I'm pretending to be sick?"
Yin Chujin looked at him strangely. Was he really sick? Last night, he was still energetic and lively as he pulled her along to enjoy the night. Now that he was so sick, she was really suspicious.
Out of habit, she reached out to him. Sheng Yiming understood what she meant and stretched out his hand.
By the time Yin Chujin came back to her senses, there was no chance for her to stop. She could only place her hand on his and carefully feel his pulse. Soon, she let go.
"You've just caught a cold. It's not so serious that your face is so pale, right? From last night until now, you can get better with some cold-repelling medicine." Although Yin Chujin said that, she secretly scoffed that he deserved it. Who asked him to forcefully pull her to lie on the roof in the autumn wind last night? Now, he had caught a cold. In the end, she asked suspiciously, "Didn't you say that your physique was good and you were immune to all poisons? Did you get knocked down just from the wind?"
Sheng Yiming smiled bitterly and did not answer her immediately. He coughed lightly and took a sip of hot tea.
"I remember that I said that my physique was special last night. I didn't say that my physique was good. The medicine won't have any effect on my body!" His physique wasn't bad, and he wouldn't fall just from the wind. However, he had been dealing with something previously and hadn't slept for two days.
Yin Chujin quickly understood what he meant. Medicine wouldn't have any effect on his body, so her poison powder wouldn't have any effect on him. Now that he had caught a cold, drinking medicine wouldn't help him recover. He could only rely on his recovery ability.
Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
Without the domineering aura from last night, looking at his dying appearance now, her previous teeth gritting disgust with him could not flare up. After all, a "sick beauty" would still make people pity him.
She could not be bothered to argue with him. Besides, with her status, it was not suitable for her to stay here for long. Hence, she pointed at the hairpin and title deed on the stone table and said to him, "I'll return the hairpin and title deed to you…"
"If the title deed is in my hands, I don't mind making the Benevolence Hall disappear or turn it into a cloth shop or something," Sheng Yiming threatened with his pale lips.
Yin Chujin gritted her teeth, but she couldn't do anything to him. In the end, she could only pick up the deed on the stone table angrily.
"You forced it on me. I don't owe you anything!" Yin Chujin declared seriously. She didn't want to owe anyone a favor. A favor was hard to repay.
Sheng Yiming raised his eyebrows and said, "The medicine hall is useless to me."
"You'd better remember what you said!" Yin Chujin threw this aside and glared at him coldly before turning around and walking out of the pavilion.
Sheng Yiming watched her proud back for a long time before retracting his gaze. He picked up the golden butterfly hairpin on the table and wiped the butterfly on it with his thumb. In the end, he sighed inaudibly and held it tightly as he walked to the pillar. He looked into the distance in a daze. After a while, he muttered…
"Xin'er…"
Yin Chujin left the pavilion and was about to walk around the rockery when she looked up and saw Sheng Yiming in a daze. She noticed the hairpin in his hand and a question flashed across her mind. That hairpin was very important to him, but why did he give it to her?
Forget it. She didn't understand that man, and there was no need for her to. Yin Chujin shook her head slightly and strode forward. She took Zhu'er and left Shengrui Pavilion, thinking of finding the carriage of the Xiao Manor at the entrance of the palace.
However, he had only taken a few steps when he bumped into Yin Chuyan, who was dressed in a long dress and was accompanied by many palace maids.
Yin Chuyan looked in Shengrui Pavilion's direction, then turned to look at Yin Chujin with ill intentions. The contempt in her eyes was self-evident.
"Yo, Sister, where are you from? To the left of here is Shengrui Pavilion, right? Prince Rui of Sheng Hao Kingdom lives there. You're a Princess, who is now also Princess Consort Xiao, and is coming out of there with a maidservant. Sister, you're really impressive."