Without giving He Qilin much of a time to explain, Jiao Qingxiao continued with her questions, "Which family does he belong to? Does aunt know yet? How could any gentleman from a distinguished family approach a noblewoman like this?"
"Qingxiao, Qigxiao, lower your voice! Mother will have my neck if she learns this."
"As she should!"
"He is truly a good man. He took my pulse, helped me stabilise my condition by offering me a potion of his own and even….
Before He Qilin could get to the foot massage part, Jiao Qingxiao was already in disbelief.
"You trusted a stranger with your medicine?"
She knew her sister was naive, but she couldn't believe she was this naive.
Gulping nervously He Qilin nodded in a trance, no longer bringing up the latter part of the story.
Jiao Qingxiao placed Xiao Cui on the bed and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.
"Then what happened?"
"No..nothing else, then he walked away. I don't know which family he is from. He was polite and kind to help me. He even offered to walk me to my parents, but I refused."
Jiao Qingxiao still eyed her suspiciously but no longer questioned anything. She was now more worried about the next steps. In her last life, He Qilin was mutilated by the royal family yet her husband's family wasn't impacted in the slightest. In that case how could the man she had married be innocent?
She even wondered whether Chang Jing had a hand in arranging the marriage proposal. Unfortunately in her last life she had been way too focused on Tang Fanghua to take note of her cousin's marriage. She only vaguely recalled having attended it with her parents, and chit chatting with the shy He Qilin adorned in bright red wedding dress for a short while.
"Sister Qilin, you must stop taking the medicines prescribed by the medical doctor." Jiao Qingxiao said, as she grabbed her hand swiftly. Her expression was somber and her childish voice sounded unusually mature.
He Qilin was briefly taken aback and was even about to nod, giving in to the pressure she felt. However, she felt shocked for how intimidated she felt by someone much younger than her, and immediately sat up straight.
"What do you mean Qingxiao? Qingxiao, you know I am fairly ….old." She spoke, her voice trembling near the end, before she continued, "Last night, when I was going to sleep passing by mother's courtyard, she was weeping, wondering what sin she must have committed in her past life to get the karma of having an unmarried daughter."
Jiao Qingxiao was stunned. She forgot what she was supposed to say for a moment. While she was concerned about her cousin, it had completely slipped her mind to take into consideration the impact her cousin must have been suffering from due to being unmarried at this age.
Actually she wasn't old. Sixteen wasn't that old. After losing her life at the age of seventeen she was at least very sure of that. If given another chance she would very much like to wait for at least another decade before However, she also knew that to not even have a fiance at this age, was indeed unlikely.
He Qilin had always acted unothered, and never really spoke much with her regarding anything troublesome, always giving off this feeling as if nothing could make her unhappy. But how could a young woman not feel like an unwanted burden when every other girl her age was already married. Some already even had children.
"Sister Qilin…Jiao Qingxiao apologises for having been inconsiderate. However, you must not be so careless when picking a man. Won't your entire life be ruined if you were to marry the wrong man? And won't Aunt lament even more then?"
"But Qingxiao, you haven't even seen that man. Why are you so against him?"
"Ayiya, I am not against him, Cousin sister. I am precisely worried because you don't even know his identity. Moreover, if you are truly considering him as a potential partner, then without his identity, how are you going to find him again?"
He Qilin finally lowered her face, a small shy smile lingering on her lips, scaring the life out of Jiao Qingxiao.
"If he is the one then we will surely meet again."
"What!?" Jiao Qingxiao had a look of pure disbelief on her face with her brows raised and nose scrunched up.
—--------------------------------------------
Behind the racing arena of the city's most infamous underground gambling house,
five horses thundered down the track in a blur of dust and muscle.
Outside the boundary ropes, a crowd of so-called scholars shouted hoarse bets and cheered like common drunkards, their mask of dignity now discarded.
While the nobles continued to sip on their glasses of wine, pretending to be dignified while their eyes were leering on the courtesans pouring wine dressed in robes as light as as gossamer, translucent under the lantern's flickering glow.
A man dressed flamboyantly sneered as he kept his eyes focused on the thin horse, lazily leaning against the fence. While others were busy placing bets on the strong, gleaming stallions, he had easily dismissed them. His gaze stayed locked on the wiry one. It looked tired, its coat dull, ribs almost showing through the skin. The kind of horse people looked at only to scoff. He was sure the house was going to get rid of it not long after the bet was over.
But he had noticed the small glint of metal catching the light near its hoof. A sharp arrow tip. With every gallop it would press deeper, stinging, forcing the wiry thin creature to run for its life. It would run. Not to win, but simply to break free. And a deer frightened for its life could outrun a hungry Cheetah easily.
And it did.
As it leapt over the last fence, his cold lips curved upwards.