A while later. The party was now over. Lei's parents were seeing everyone off. Lei was helping the servants clean up as it was her idea. Though, she did still feel like someone was watching her. Lei really didn't have to worry a lot now that her parents are home and that no one would try anything to her. Or so she thinks anyway.
Her parents came back and helped as well. They noticed that Lei was acting weirdly.
"Lei? Is everything okay?" Mu asked.
Lei stops and looks at him, "huh? Yeah, everything is fine, dad."
"Are you sure, sweetheart?" Yawen chimed in.
"Yes. I just have an eerie feeling that someone or people are watching me from afar," she answered.
"Oh?" They mentioned.
"Yeah. Ever since I got big hints from the group of people, I feel like I'm being watched, even when I am in class," she replied.
"You're still going after them, even after you got stabbed?" Yawen said.
"Yes. I have, too. I'm kind of the only one who can do this and have the proper experience and back up," Lei said.
"Lei, your friends could have gone on the case," Mu chimed in.
"I know and they are. They're helping me. They've helped when I was resting," Lei stated.
"Good and you should leave them to the case and not be involved with it anymore," Yawen stated.
"But Ma! Pa! Professor Shiqi trusts me to do this and get it done fast," Lei exclaimed.
"Lei, that's enough! Go to your room!" Yawen yelled.
Lei ran to her room. Once she got to her room, she slammed her doors closed in frustration. "Ugh! Why can't they understand that people trust me?" She yelled. Lei knows that they haven't really been a part of her life, but she had hoped that Bai Chun wouldn't have told them. Lei picked up a stamp that her parents had sent her and threw it to the ground. When the stamp hit the ground, it shattered. Lei wasn't expecting it to shatter like that, so she went to pick it up when she accidentally got two of her fingers. "Great…just great. Can tonight get any worse?" She rambled to herself. She got up and went to get a small bandage for her two fingers she had accidentally got.
As she was getting the small bandage to wrap around her fingers, she was crying, but not because of the pain. Lei wrapped her fingers and then carefully picked up the pieces for her stamp. After she had picked up the broken pieces of her stamp, she put them on her desk and got changed for bed. Lei would just lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about why.
"Why don't they trust me?" Lei asked herself, not wanting an answer. She would just ask herself questions.
"Because you're the only daughter they have and they don't want to lose you," a voice replied, "but I guess that they don't trust you like they should when you're their only daughter. Or maybe they hate you. You should just run away and forget about your family and friends. You should join the bad side."
Lei jumps. "Who's there!?!? Come out!" She called out as she looked around.
"I don't think you want me to, especially when you're after me," the female voice spoke, "plus, you wouldn't be able to do anything to me if I did show myself."
"No. I want you to, so that I can stop this right away!"
"Well, I'm not. I'm just here to warn you if you get closer to finding who I am and why I'm doing this, just know that you're putting the people you care about in danger," the voice said as it faded away.
"HEY! COME BACK AND FACE ME!" Lei yelled.
The voice didn't answer.
"Ugh! Great. Just great," Lei rambled to herself as she got up and went outside to clear her mind.
She walked around her mansion thinking of what the voice told her. Lei was too into thinking and walked into a wall. She falls down on her butt. "Ow," she said as she put her hand on her face, "I guess everything, and everyone is after me." Lei just stayed on the ground, trying to stop thinking about what the voice had told her.
Someone was walking around and saw her on the ground. They ran over to her, "Young Miss! Are you ok?"
"Uh? Yeah, I'm fine," Lei replied, lying.
"Are you sure, Young Miss?" They stated.
"Yeah-yeah, I'm sure," she said.
"You're not fine," they replied, "what's wrong?"
"Everyone and everything is apparently against me," Lei responded.
"I'm sure no one and not everything is against you," they said.
"Pan Shi, it feels like it. I mean I know some people aren't against me," Lei stated as she looked up at Pan Shi.
Pan Shi sat down beside her, "Miss Lei, it may feel like it, but no one is against you, especially now when you're on the case that you've been on since the beginning of this college year."
"Maybe I should just give up the case and hand it over to pa and ma," Lei stated in a sad tone.
"Miss, you shouldn't give up just because you feel like everything, and everyone is against you."
"I know, but if I don't give up then something bad is going to happen to my loved ones."
"Eh? What do you mean, young miss?"
"A voice appeared in my room before I came out and told me that if I get close to finding out, something will happen to the people I care about," she said as she shook her head, "but I shouldn't have told you that. Just in case they go after you."
Pan Shi looked at her. "Young Miss, you should tell the people who you care about to be cautious about people."
"I have. I mean I did when I started this case."
"That's good, but maybe you should tell them about the voice," Pan Shi said as she got up, "it's late, so you should go to bed as you have a busy day tomorrow."
Lei smiled. "I will tomorrow when I get to college," she answered, "I'll be fine. I'm going to clear my mind first and then head to bed."
"Ok. Well, I'll leave then," Pan Shi said as she waved and left.
"Bye Pan Shi. Be safe!" She called out as she got up as she waved back. Lei started to walk around, clearing her head.
The next day. Lei was heading to college. She was thinking about the voice as she heard it before. "Where have I heard that voice?" She mumbled to herself.
Her friends and Yu Min's friends were walking to college and had seen Lei. So they went over to her, startling her. "Sorry Lei," everyone said at the same time.
"It's fine," Lei stated.
Her friends had noticed that Lei wasn't herself.
"Lei, is everything okay?" Shen asked.
"Yeah. Everything is fine, don't worry," Lei replied.
"Ok?" Her friends said, knowing that something wasn't ok.
"Let's get to college before we're late and I get yelled at by Yu Min," Lei said as she started walking again.
They nodded and followed. They were talking about how there was something wrong with Lei.
All of them get to college and Lei just continues to walk, not realizing that she was in college. When she was walking, she bumps into Yu Min. "Sorry!" Lei said as she backed up and bowed.
"It's fine, Lei," Yu Min said as he pulled her closer to him, "deep in thought again?"
Lei nodded, "yeah-yeah and I couldn't get any sleep last night."
Yu Min looked at her concerned, "oh? Why couldn't you get any sleep last night?"
"I-" Lei hesitated on telling him what happened last night after everyone had left and when she was about to fall asleep.
"Lei, is everything ok? Is there something that you can't say?" Yu Min asked, concerned and worried filled his voice.
"Yeah-Yeah, everything is fine. It's just that my parents don't want me on the case anymore and let someone who's more experienced deal with the case," Lei stated as she was still lying to him and not telling him what actually happened last night that's been bothering her.
"Oh? Well, you are their only daughter. I'm not agreeing with them, I'm just pointing out the obvious reason they want you to stop doing the case," Yu Min replied as he had a feeling that there was more to the story and what happened last night not letting Lei get any sleep.
"Yeah, I know that, but they know that I can protect myself and that I have you and my friends to help me with this case."
Yu Min put his hands on her shoulder. "Lei, my love, it's probably hard for them to see that you're not a little girl anymore from the last time they saw you."
"I know, but still-" Lei said as Yu Min interrupted her.
"Lei, you need to think about your parents' point of view on things as you are technically the only one to carry on the bloodline of your family."
Lei went silent and nodded.
"So maybe, see why your parents want you to drop the case and hand it over to someone else," Yu Min stated as he let out a small smile to reassure Lei.
"Ok-ok. I'll see why my parents want me to drop the case," Lei replied as she looked up at him. She had bags under her eyes.
"Lei, why don't you go home and get some sleep. I'll tell Professor Shiqi that you went back home because you weren't feeling the best," Yu Min said.
"No, I can make it through the day without falling asleep," Lei stated.
"Lei, we both know that you're lying when you say that."
"Fine, how about this? If I feel like I'm about to fall asleep, I'll ask Professor Shiqi if I can have the rest of the day off to sleep," Lei butted.
"Ok. I guess that'll work, but only because I know how stubborn you are," Yu Min stated.
"Good, now I'll be going to class and trying to stay awake," Lei said as she smiled and left.
"Bye Lei," Yu Min called as he watched her go to class.
Yu Min and Lei's friends walked over to Yu Min and were on to him and Lei now.
"Yu Min, you gotta explain what's going on with you and Lei," Kang Fang stated as soon as they got to him.
"Explain what?" Yu Min asked.
"You know what," He Zhihao chimed in.
"No, I really don't. Plus, you guys know that she and I grew up with each other for a few years," Yu Min said.
"You two are dating, aren't you?" Lao Mao chimed in.
Yu Min's eyes widened. "Shh, keep it down, no one can know."
"Me and the other girls already knew," Tao chimed in.
The other two girls nodded as they smiled.
"Ok, we won't tell anyone else, and we won't tell Lei that we know," Kang Fang stated.
"Good. Now, get to class," Yu Min said as he headed to class.
The rest did the same.
When the girls got to the classroom, they saw Lei passed out, asleep. They all let out a chuckle and Wenran went to tell her dad to skip the morning lesson so that Lei wouldn't miss anything. Professor Shiqi had agreed as she, Lei, did host a surprise welcome back party for her parents. Wenran headed back and told them that the morning class was self-study.
A while later, Lei was starting to wake up. It was around noon, and it had started to rain. She got up and looked around and saw no one in the classroom. "I must've fallen asleep before class started," she mumbled.
Yu Min had just entered the room when he heard Lei mumble. He smiled and chuckled. "Lei, college canceled the rest of the classes due to the rain."
Lei got startled and jumped. "Yu Min, why are you always around when I'm by myself and not expecting anyone to talk?"
"Sorry, Love. I know when you're alone and not expecting anyone to talk," he told her, letting out a small chuckle as he walked over to her.
"It's fine. That just sounds creepy and a little stalker-ish," Lei responded.
"I guess it does, but you know that I meant with care," he said.
"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to point it out."
"Of course, you did. Anyway, wanna go and play in the rain?"
Lei's eyes went big, got a big smile on her face as she nodded.
"Ok, let's go then," Yu Min chuckled.
"Last one out there has to buy something warm afterwards," Lei exclaimed.
"Ok," Yu Min said.
They counted down from ten. Lei ran out at five, making Yu Min the last one out. Lei was already drenched by the time Yu Min got out. She was smiling and laughing. Yu Min was smiling and glad that Lei was smiling and laughing, not having a care in the world about what's been bothering her. He joined her, playing in the rain.
As they were playing in the rain, it became a thunderstorm. Lei heard the rumble of thunder and got scared. She ran over to Yu Min, shaking.
"Still scared of thunderstorms, Lei?" Yu Min asked, holding her.
Lei nodded, shaking. The rumble sounds of thunder grew louder and louder, shaking the ground as well. Lei was shaking even more than she was before.
Yu Min picked her up and carried her to a classroom, making sure that she was safe. He put her down once they got to a classroom. "Stay here, I'll go and get some rags so we can dry off," Yu Min stated.
Lei shook her head. "No-No do-don't leave me," she said as she held on to him.
"Lei, I'll be fast. I can't let you get sick," he responded.
"I won't get sick. I will be fine," she looked at him.
"We can't take the chance."
"And why can't we? I'm strong enough to fight a cold," Lei stated.
"Love, I'm sure that you don't want to miss any more school. You'll miss a day or a few days of school," Yu Min mentioned.
Lei went silent and nodded. "Be fast, ok?" She mumbled.
"I will. Stay inside. It's the safest place," Yu Min said as he kissed the top of her head and left to get some rags to dry off with.
Lei nodded and smiled a bit. She watched him leave. Lei goes and sits down in a corner as if it was her safe area. She sat down and started to hum to keep her calm until Yu Min came back.
A while later. The storm had almost passed, and Yu Min hasn't come back to Lei. Lei was starting to worry, so she got up and went to go look for him.
"Yu Min!" She called out as she was looking for him.
There was no response from him, but there was a response. "He's hurt, because of you, Lei," the voice called out.
Her eyes widened as it was the voice from before. "What?"
"You heard me, Lei. He's hurt because of you!"
"No. You're just saying that to freak me out and make me panic. You just want to make me put down my guard for your people to attack me," Lei stated.
"I'm not. Though, it was my men who attacked him. You might want to get to him before it's late," the voice said as it faded.
"Come back!!" Lei yelled. She ran to go look for Yu Min. Lei had looked everywhere and couldn't find him. She called out his name again to see if he would reply and still no response. "YU MIN!! COME OUT PLEASE!!" Lei yelled, crying. "Please, answer me! I'm scared and worried!"
Still no response.
"Yu Min!! Pl-please! I can't lose you!" Lei yelled through her sobs. Right then, she falls to the ground, sobbing, shaking, scared, worried.
It had been a few minutes. Lei was still on the ground, crying. She had tried to gather her strength to go and look for Yu Min, but she couldn't. Lei had called out Yu Min's name a few more times until her voice was gone.
While Lei was trying to find Yu Min before she had lost her voice, Yu Min had been looking for some extra clothes that they could change into. He couldn't hear Lei calling for him as he was across the college. Yu Min had found some sports hanfus that were cleaned, grabbed them, and carried them back.
On his way back, he was attacked by a group of people.
"What do you want from us?" Yu Min questioned.
"We want Lei to suffer," they said as they attacked.
Yu Min got angry and wounded them. He had won the fight, but just barely. Yu Min had been severely injured, but he ripped some of his hanfu and bandaged it the best he could. He walked back to the classroom where he had left Lei in.
Once he had gotten back to the classroom, he called for Lei.
There was no response.
Yu Min walked in and saw that she wasn't there. He panicked and put the hanfus down and went to go look for her.
Yu Min was looking for her and calling her name. Once he got near to where Lei was, he made sure to look in every little crevice that she could have possibly got into. The closer he got; Yu Min could hear sobbing. So, he followed the sobbing and saw Lei. Yu Min ran over to her. "Lei!" He called out.
Lei heard him and looked over. She got up but fell back down. Lei was sick and weak.
Before she could hit the ground, Yu Min caught her. "I'm here. I'm fine. Let's get you back to the classroom and get you out of this," Yu Min stated as he lied about being fine.
Lei nodded. Her eyes were red, puffy, swollen. She had almost lost all of the color in her face because she had gotten sick from her wet, cold clothes.
"After you get changed, we can head back to your mansion to get you warmed up and treated," Yu Min stated as he walked back to the classroom, carrying her.
He carried her back to the classroom. They got back to the classroom. Yu Min put Lei down so that he could grab the hanfu for her. He grabbed it and handed it to Lei, "here. Change. I'll step outside so that you can change," he said.
Lei took it and nodded. "Ok, I'll call you when I'm done changing." Her voice sounded a bit rough, and it sounded like it was not there.
"Ok," he said as he walked out.
Lei waited for him to close the door to get undressed and to change. She got undressed and was struggling a bit to get the hanfu on, so she did what she had to do. "He-Hey Yu-Yu Mi-Min?" Lei called out, embarrassed.
"Yes, Love?" Yu Min responded.
"I need help getting this hanfu on," she said, "don't worry I have the undergarments on. I just can't get it the way I want it to be."
"You're asking me to help you get dressed?"
"Yes-Yes…"
"Ok. I'll help," he said.
"Ok-ok."
"I'm going to walk in now," with that, Yu Min opened the door and walked in.
Lei looked at him, red.
Yu Min only looked at her face, trying not to be disrespectful and looking at her body when she's only in her undergarments. "Ok. What is it you want me to help with?"
"Getting this on right. I know how to put it on, but I can't seem to put it on correctly today," Lei said, her voice still a little coarse.
"Ok," he said as he walked over and helped her to get the hanfu on. While he did that, he took the chance to see if she had caught a cold from the rain. Surely, enough she caught a cold from the rain.
"I'm fine, Yu Min. A cold won't kill me," Lei stated as she coughed and sneezed.
"Oh? But you'll miss however many days of college you'll have to miss because you're sick."
"It's fine. I can catch up wherever they are. I'm a fast learner and I'm a study bug."
"Love, what am I going to do with you?" Yu Min stated as he got the hanfu on Lei correctly.
"Absolutely nothing, because you love me," Lei responded.
"If you say so, Lei." Yu Min was starting to feel weak and lose color in his face.
Lei had noticed. "Yu Min, are you ok?"
"I'm fine, Lei. I must have also gotten sick," Yu Min lied. He didn't want to worry Lei more, even though he was probably already worrying her.
"No, you're not. Your face says it all. You're losing color to your face. What happened?" Lei asked as she didn't realize that Yu Min was hurt and bleeding.
"I got hurt while I was looking for something dry," Yu Min partly lied. He did get hurt while looking for something dry.
"Yu Min!" Lei exclaimed, "we have to get you to the doctors to get you bandaged up!"
"Lei, I'm perfectly fine. I've got it bandaged," he stated.
Lei pouted at him. "You're not perfectly fine."
"I am. Once we get you home, I'll get it properly bandaged."
"No, you can stay at my mansion and get bandaged there so you aren't losing any more blood."
"Lei, I couldn't do that, especially when your parents are home."
"You can and will. I don't want to take any chances," Lei stated as she looked at him with a serious face.
"Fine, you win, but it will only be the one time you'll win," Yu Min gave in.
"Good. Now, you get change."
"Ok," he stated as he started to take off his clothes.
"YU MIN! Wait until I leave!" Lei said as she ran out, red.
Yu Min chuckled as he took off his clothes carefully making sure that he didn't hit the makeshift bandage. He then carefully put on the dry hanfu. Yu Min got it on and headed out after grabbing Lei's and his college hanfus. "Done. Let's get back to your mansion before your parents start to worry," Yu Min told Lei as soon as he walked out of the classroom.
Lei nodded, "let's go then so that my doctors can bandage you up properly."
"Ok," he said as he took her hand and started to walk.
Lei smiled and walked with him.
They were walking to Lei's mansion, still holding hands. They were smiling, even though they were sick, and Yu Min was in pain. Lei and Yu Min were talking as they were walking.
Once they got to Lei's mansion, her servants saw them and helped them in. They took Yu Min to the guest hall while the others took Lei to her room to give her a hot bath to sweat out the sickness.
Lei's servants got the bath ready for Lei as she was worried about him.
"Hey Pan Shi?" Lei called out.
"Yes, Young Mistress?" Pan Shi responded.
"Can you go and check on Yu Min?" She asked.
"Of course," she said as she bowed and headed to go and check on Yu Min.
Once Pan Shi got to the guest hall to where Yu Min was at, she knocked.
"Coming," one of the servants said as she walked over to the door and opened it. "Yes Pan Shi?"
"Young Mistress sent me to check on Yu Min," Pan Shi stated, "how is Yu Min?"
"Not well. Whatever he was attacked with had poison on it. However, from what the physician said, it has a cure, but the herb is not in season and if he doesn't have any, he would go to a physician he knows that would have some of the cure ready," she responded.
"We can't tell Lei yet or she won't rest to get better," Pan Shi responded.
"Ok. How are you going to tell the Young Mistress?"
"I'll have to lie to her, but also tell her some truth so she's not suspicious."
"Ok, well, you can go back. Me and the others got him," she said.
Pan Shi nodded and left.
The servant closed the door and went to see how Yu Min was.
Pan Shi got back to Lei's Hall. She'd knocked to let Lei know that she's back.
Lei heard and went to her. "So? How is he?"
"He's doing well. He needs to rest, and no one should go and keep him company while he's resting," Pan Shi responded.
Lei nodded. She understood that she couldn't go and check on him or keep him company. "Ok. Will he be staying here or?"
"Once he feels better, he'll head home. We had one of the servants go and tell Master Qin and Mistress Jiang about him."
"Ok. Thanks for being on that, Pan Shi."
"You're welcome. Now, go and take your warm bath to warm you up and to get some of the sickness out," Pan Shi stated.
"I will. I was going there when you came in," Lei said as she walked over to where her bath area was.
"Good. I'll be outside if you need anything," Pan Shi said as she walked out.
"Ok," Lei called out as she got undressed. She got into the water and relaxed.
As she was soaking in the warm water, she started to think about the voice. "I hear a voice, but there is never a person around when I hear the voice," she rambled to herself. "Or could it be that there is someone around and only I can hear the voice. But that wouldn't make sense."
While Lei was mumbling, Pan Shi had asked and told another servant to watch Lei while she went to tell Master and Mistress about Yu Min. Once she got to where Master Mu and Mistress Yawen were. She knocked.
"Yes?" Mu called out.
"I came to inform you about something and someone," Pan Shi responded.
"Ok. You may come in."
Pan Shi walked in and went over to them.
"Who is it that you wanted to inform us about? And what is the other thing?" Yawen chimed in.
"It's about Yu Min," Pan Shi stated.
"What about him?"
"He was stabbed with a poisoned laced sword while trying to get some dry clothes as he and Lei were playing in the rain," she replied.
"Why was he attacked? I thought the college was well guarded and secured."
Pan Shi shrugged. "I have no idea. Yu Min hasn't woken up yet since he and Lei came back. Also, Lei doesn't know that Yu Min was attacked with a poison laced sword."
"And she wouldn't know. Is there a cure for the poison?" Mu chimed in.
"Yes. The physician said that there is a cure, but he doesn't have it on him, so he headed to another physician that he knows would have the cure," Pan Shi replied.
"What's the other thing that you wanted to tell us?" Mu asked.
"It's about the group of people that Young Mistress Lei is currently after," Pan Shi replied.
"What about the group?"
"They've been killing physicians left and right. I've been hearing it whenever I go out to get something for Young Mistress Lei."
"Why are they going after physicians?" Yawen mumbled.
Mu heard her, "maybe the leader or someone from their family is sick and none of the physicians have what they want."
"That's a good motive for the leader to have, but why would they go after Lei?"
"I don't think Yawen and I have made any enemies, besides the ones we just won over."
"Did you offend anyone?"
Mu and Yawen started thinking if they had offended anyone.
After that, Pan Shi bowed and left. She headed back to Young Mistress's Hall to check up on her. Once she got there, she knocked before entering. "Young Mistress?"
"Yes?" Lei replied as she was still in the bath. The water had gotten cold, but Lei didn't mind.
"It's time to get out of the bath or you will worsen your flu," Pan Shi stated as she walked over, grabbing her a dry cloth to dry her off.
"Ok," she said as she got up and got out.
Pan Shi handed her the dry cloth.
Lei takes it and starts to dry off. "Hey, Pan Shi?"
"Yes, Young Mistress?"
"Why can't I go and keep Yu Min company?" She asked. While she was in the bath soaking, she was confused why she couldn't go and keep him company. She did understand when she was told, but she started thinking about it.
"He got a fever, and he told us that he didn't want to get you more ill than you already are," Pan Shi said as she had to make up a lie on the spot.
Lei frowned and replied, "Oh-oh. O-ok. Can I just talk to him through the door?"
"Lei, you need to get back to health before you go outside," Pan Shi stated.
"I don't care! I want to keep him company even if I have to stay outside of his room. He's kept me company in the past when I was sick or injured…" Lei stated.
Pan Shi looked at her, hurting on the inside. She knew that Lei loves Yu Min, but she couldn't let Lei know the truth why she can't see him and keep him company. Pan Shi hugged her. "Young Mistress, Yu Min really doesn't want you to go and keep him company."
Lei started crying as she hugged back. She just wants to go and keep him company so that he's not bored and lonely. Lei wants to repay him for taking care of her for most of her life. "Why?"
Pan Shi patted her back, "because he cares for your health. He doesn't want to get you more ill."
Lei started to repeat why? and that she wanted to repay him for taking care of her. She was still crying.
Pan Shi helped her to her bed.
Lei walked to her bed, with the help of Pan Shi, still crying. She got in. Pan Shi tucked her in and stayed by her side the entire night.
They both fell asleep. Lei cried herself to sleep.