Unable to lie down directly, she wandered around the bedroom and opened the door to find that the lights in the hallway were still on.
Walking all the way to the central hall, Jiang Lingxi glanced at the light leaking from the window of the opposite room, lowered her eyes, and asked Xia Zhi, who was cross-legged in front of the coffee table, intently selecting spices, "Your husband hasn’t slept yet?"
The tweezers in Xia Zhi’s hand trembled slightly. She instinctively looked up and, seeing Jiang Lingxi in her thin nightdress, quickly lowered her head, not daring to look again. "He’s in the study."
Jiang Lingxi glanced down at her own fully clothed self, lifted her foot, and continued walking forward.
When she reached the study door, probably because the person inside knew no one would disturb him at this hour, the door was ajar, and standing at the doorway, one could even glimpse the focused figure quietly busy at the desk inside.
Jiang Lingxi stood silently at the door and watched for a moment before lightly pushing the door open a bit more. She slipped in quietly.
In the central hall behind her, Xia Zhi also breathed a sigh of relief.
If Your Majesty had stayed in the central hall, he truly wouldn’t have been able to ignore that presence.
Jiang Lingxi continued walking until she was close to the desk but failed to disturb Shen Yunqing, who was still engrossed in his work.
However, from this distance, she could clearly see what he was doing.
He was mounting paintings.
Two paintings, in fact!
The very ones she had sent out yesterday and today!
When those busy hands finally paused, she spoke up, "Not sleeping and busying yourself with this?"
Shen Yunqing instinctively looked up, his pupils trembling fiercely upon seeing the figure standing almost in front of him, then forced himself to look away and calm down. He cleared his throat and replied, "I couldn’t sleep. You too, Your Majesty?"
"I took a bath instead of feeling sleepy," Jiang Lingxi said, glancing around at the densely packed books on the shelves in the study and waved her hand, "You continue, I’ll just find a book to pass the time."
When Xia Zhi came by the study at timed intervals to deliver a late-night snack, he saw two people: one mounting paintings and the other leisurely reading by the window.
Clearly, they were each doing their own thing, yet there was a sense that nothing and no one could fit into this scene.
So after placing the snack, he only briefly reminded the two not to forget to eat and quickly left.
Jiang Lingxi, catching the scent of food wafting in from the side, couldn’t focus on the words in her book anymore. She set the book down and grabbed a crispy, savory dumpling to eat first, turning to see that Shen Yunqing hadn’t moved, and reminded him, "Come over, eat before you get back to work."
This reminder was much more effective than Xia Zhi’s earlier one. Almost as soon as she finished speaking, Shen Yunqing put down his tools, picked up a wet tissue to wipe his hands, and walked over.
Sitting opposite each other, they ate the late-night snack until they were half full.
Jiang Lingxi took the tissue Shen Yunqing handed her to wipe her hands, got up to return the book to the shelf, and felt a wave of drowsiness after her meal.
But seeing that Shen Yunqing was about to return to the desk to keep working, she pointed to the clock on the wall, "It’s almost eleven o’clock already."
"Just a bit more, I’ll sleep once I finish the mounting."
She had just learned that Shen Yunqing had such a habit.
If the remaining work isn’t done, will he think about it even if he’s lying in bed?
"Be careful not to get dark circles from staying up late!" Leaving this warning, Jiang Lingxi didn’t persuade further, "I’ll go rest first."
After she left, Shen Yunqing sat back at the desk, staring at the paper in front of him with a flying crane drawn on it, unmoving for a long time.
The bed in the bedroom was even more comfortable than she had imagined. The calming incense on the bedside table still silently burned, with a gentle scent wafting in the air, enough to soothe the mind.
Jiang Lingxi didn’t even see the final message Lu Zhengzheng sent her, and not long after lying down, she drifted comfortably into a dream.
But while she was relaxed, someone else formed a striking contrast.
Jing Huai, with his special status, was staying in a single patient room.
It was nearing midnight, and his room was still brightly lit.
Li Yuwen couldn’t last and had returned to his place to rest, leaving an assistant to keep watch.
But as long as Jing Huai kept himself awake, the assistant couldn’t sleep either.
"Go ask again, why aren’t the test results out yet?"
The assistant blinked forcefully, wanting to say something but then silently closed his mouth, and got up resignedly.
Leaving the ward, he wandered around the brightly lit corridor, returned, and reported, "Brother Huai, the doctors in the lab have left for the day. We won’t get the results until tomorrow."
"Isn’t the hospital staffed around the clock?"
"Brother Huai, that’s true for emergency and intensive care departments, not the lab."
"The whole afternoon without any results—what are those doctors even doing?"
Assistant: "..." There are so many patients in the hospital; they can’t be expected to serve only you, right?
Of course, that complaint could only be muttered internally.
"Why does it feel like the wound is a bit numb? Look at it for me!"
Assistant: "... Brother Huai, could it be because you’ve kept the same posture for too long?"
"Oh right, didn’t you use a small account to contact Xu Qingmei’s assistant? Did she reply?"
"She did, but she said after Xu Qingmei finished filming, she returned and has not come out. She specifically warned not to disturb her, and they can’t risk breaking that rule. We’ll have to think of another way."
"Another way, another way—what other ways are there? I can’t wait any longer. I’m sure this wound was tampered with by Xu Qingmei, and only she can stop the bleeding. Come on, we’re going to find her right now!"
The assistant took a deep breath repeatedly: "Brother Huai, calm down. It’s the middle of the night. We’ll be accused of trespassing. Do you want another day trip to the police station?"
When Li Yuwen returned to the hospital early the next morning after a night of rest, he was greeted by two pairs of heavy panda eyes as soon as he entered the patient room. Fresh chapters posted on noveⅼfire.net
"What happened with you two? Did you not sleep at all last night?"
Almost broke into tears on the spot!
He had thought Brother Huai was difficult to serve on normal days until now when Brother Huai, driven mad by a little wound, proved to be a hell-level challenge to deal with!
Is it too late for him to consider a job change?