Mistakenly Treated The Princess As A Concubine - Chapter 28

Yan Qinglan suffered from withdrawal symptoms during the day.

Without Wen Zhuojin by her side, the sensations brought on by the withdrawal were amplified several times over.

Jin Rui had been instructed by Wen Zhuojin that if Yan Qinglan experienced withdrawal symptoms, she was to be wrapped in a quilt and prevented from moving around.

Restricted by her body, unable to harm herself to stay awake, her consciousness was in turmoil, desperately struggling. Eventually, exhausted, she was pulled into an abyss by an invisible hand.

More terrifying than the physical pain was the darkness that consumed her, watching helplessly as things spiraled out of control.

When Wen Zhuojin arrived at the house in Wujiao Alley, Yan Qinglan’s withdrawal symptoms hadn’t yet subsided.

“It’s been almost an hour. Madam seems to be having a fit, she started by saying something we couldn’t understand, and now her throat is hoarse, her eyes look worse…” Jin Rui nervously and anxiously explained the situation to Wen Zhuojin.

Wen Zhuojin couldn’t ask any more questions. Upon seeing Yan Qinglan, her heart felt like it was being tightly squeezed, causing a sharp pain.

All the joy from the incense competition was wiped away, and there was no chance to share the experience with Yan Qinglan.

Wrapped in the quilt, Yan Qinglan looked as if she had been drenched, her cheeks flushed, her breathing shallow and weak, her eyes bloodshot, filled with tears that spilled from the corners, resembling a rose battered by wind and rain.

“Sister, I’m back…” Wen Zhuojin reached out and embraced Yan Qinglan along with the quilt, her voice trembling as she spoke.

Yan Qinglan’s body trembled, her brows furrowed, her lips moved as though trying to say something.

Wen Zhuojin leaned in to listen.

“Don’t, don’t…”

The voice was faint, incoherent, and Wen Zhuojin could only catch a few words, realizing the woman wasn’t fully conscious, lost in some nightmare from which she couldn’t awaken.

She looked even worse than during previous withdrawal episodes.

This time, the gap between episodes was longer, and Wen Zhuojin had hoped that after enduring several episodes, Yan Qinglan would gradually improve.

Now, it seemed that the situation was still far from optimistic.

Wen Zhuojin instructed Jin Rui to prepare hot water and gently removed the quilt wrapping around Yan Qinglan, loosening the restraints on her body.

Yan Qinglan was too weak to struggle, her body limp, her nightclothes in disarray, drenched in sweat.

After Wen Zhuojin loosened the bindings, Yan Qinglan, though frail, instinctively used what little strength she had left to try to move closer to Wen Zhuojin, like a lost cat being found again.

Wen Zhuojin’s heart softened, and she carefully held Yan Qinglan in her arms.

She guessed that Yan Qinglan was having a nightmare. Despite her weakness, Yan Qinglan pitifully leaned against her, much like a little cat, and Wen Zhuojin gently stroked her spine.

Wen Zhuojin recalled the book Zheng Qianqin had given her, where she read about massaging the corresponding acupoints to help wake someone from withdrawal, hoping to help Yan Qinglan through the episode.

“Sister, those are old dreams, they’ve passed. You still have me, I’ll help you. Everything will get better…” Wen Zhuojin whispered in Yan Qinglan’s ear while massaging her.

Yan Qinglan still had a faint sense of self-awareness, watching herself fall in the dream, with the sensory distortions brought on by the incense toxin magnifying everything.

It was something she had always been too ashamed to face.

In the past, she could barely maintain some semblance of clarity. Even using extreme methods like self-harm wouldn’t pull her into this abyss.

Now, however, she was being pulled down.

The things she had long suppressed were now like wild horses running unchecked.

But this wild horse didn’t know where to go, lost, only left with endless discomfort and torment.

Until a sweet, comforting voice repeatedly called her name, and the pleasant scent filled her senses, like sunlight breaking through the clouds. She finally broke free from the endless suffering.

“Sister, please wake up. It’s my fault, I should have found the antidote for the incense toxin sooner. You wouldn’t be suffering now…”

The girl’s voice trembled with tears as she spoke.

Yan Qinglan momentarily fell into a daze, as if transported back to a night more than ten years ago, when she had a high fever and her younger brother was crying beside her, blaming himself.

It was only a fleeting moment of confusion, and her unsteady senses seemed to find some semblance of direction.

But after being tormented for so long, her body was too weak, and she could only lean helplessly against the young girl, groaning in discomfort.

Her body was carefully held, with warm hands gently massaging her.

Yan Qinglan felt like something was still missing.

But she couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

Wen Zhuojin’s forehead began to bead with sweat.

She felt her own impure thoughts resurfacing.

The woman in front of her was so pitiful, tormented by her addiction.

Yet, because of the soft hum from the other party, because of the slightly itchy pressure of the other party rubbing against her, because of the way the other party…

She gave rise to those shameful thoughts.

It was really too inappropriate.

Wen Zhuojin tried hard to control herself, holding the woman tightly, urging her to hold on, while also holding on herself.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Yan Qinglan had exhausted too much and fell into a deep sleep.

Wen Zhuojin wiped the sweat off her face, feeling that Yan Qinglan had stopped trembling. It seemed she had passed through this episode of addiction, and she finally sighed in relief.

Wen Zhuojin first called for hot water, covering her with a black veil and gently wiping Yan Qinglan clean.

After the bed was re-made with clean bedding, Wen Zhuojin gently placed Yan Qinglan on it.

Seeing Yan Qinglan sleeping deeply, Wen Zhuojin didn’t call her for now and went to freshen up first.

From the start of washing up to finishing, the temperature on Wen Zhuojin’s face never lowered.

Her mind was full of Yan Qinglan’s image.

Having not seen her for a day, she felt an even stronger desire to get closer to her.

Even in the situation earlier, she had thoughts she shouldn’t have.

Wen Zhuojin pursed her dry lips, and after freshening up, she drank a pot of cool tea, feeling a little better.

Seeing that Yan Qinglan was still asleep, Wen Zhuojin hurriedly called the people in the house and gave out instructions.

“Zi Rong, take two people to the incense room and grind the incense materials I prepared into incense paste. Jin Rui, take people outside to the shop on Shangqin Road…”

Wen Zhuojin instructed.

To open the shop, there were many things to prepare, starting with the incense.

The method for the hundred-flower incense she mentioned at the incense competition was the most complicated, but she had stored a lot of fragrant flowers, so she could use a simpler method to achieve a similar effect.

This time, with the hundred-flower incense already famous from the competition, the shop would naturally focus on it, so she needed to make more of it.

Other incense products also needed to be made as much as possible.

In addition to preparing the incense, the packaging also needed to be arranged. The shop would also need people to help with organizing, making signs, and decorating the interior.

Jin Rui had been helping Wen Zhuojin with managing things outside, so she was familiar with the shop’s affairs.

Zi Rong was strong and had worked with Wen Zhuojin on incense paste. The people in the house also often helped with making incense, so they were familiar with these tasks.

But Wen Zhuojin still felt like there weren’t enough people.

With the shop opening the day after tomorrow, there wouldn’t be much incense to produce.

If they were to continuously supply incense in the future, they would still need a bigger workshop.

All of these things needed to be planned.

After Wen Zhuojin made the arrangements, she also spent some time making incense herself.

When the silver ear porridge she had prepared for Yan Qinglan was ready, Wen Zhuojin went to wake her up to eat a little.

“Sister, wake up and eat some before you go back to sleep, be good…” The soft voice of Wen Zhuojin gently called Yan Qinglan awake, speaking in a tone as if coaxing a child.

Yan Qinglan, supported and leaning against a pillow, slowly ate the porridge that Wen Zhuojin fed her.

During the addiction episode, her body had been feeling very unwell. But once Wen Zhuojin returned, it seemed her body relaxed a little.

Knowing that the young woman was by her side made it easier to endure.

Although she was busy, Wen Zhuojin still insisted on personally feeding Yan Qinglan, giving her medicine, and helping her wash up.

“Thank you.” Yan Qinglan quietly spoke when Wen Zhuojin tucked her into bed.

Of course, Yan Qinglan remembered what had happened earlier.

She knew what was going on.

The person who had drugged her incense had also added something else to it.

They wanted to use her body, turning her into someone shameless, a mud to be trampled on.

Before this, she had been holding on, doing everything she could to stay awake.

Today, she couldn’t hold on, and if her body hadn’t been so weak, it would have been extremely difficult.

The young woman beside her hadn’t taken advantage of her vulnerability. Instead, she had been feeling guilty and trying to find an antidote.

At this point, Yan Qinglan was almost ready to trust Wen Zhuojin as someone who was unaware of the plot.

However, her vigilance hadn’t completely relaxed.

If there ever came a time to return, she would reward this little rascal for the favor she owed.

“Sister, if you want to thank me…” Wen Zhuojin heard Yan Qinglan’s words and instinctively spoke, but then trailed off.

Hmm, she really wasn’t a good person—thinking about taking advantage of the situation to get closer at this time.

“Wait until you’re better, then thank me.” Wen Zhuojin stopped herself and quickly changed the subject, gently patting Yan Qinglan.

Yan Qinglan, exhausted from all that had happened, fell asleep not long after lying down.

Wen Zhuojin looked at Yan Qinglan, who had fallen asleep, then left the inner room and went to the incense room.

At midnight, Wen Zhuojin sent everyone else to sleep and stayed in the incense room for a while longer, busy with work.

Once she finished what she was doing, Wen Zhuojin took some time to review her notes on the incense poison.

Earlier, because Yan Qinglan had been too weak to endure the incense drug tests, Wen Zhuojin had planned to try the drugs herself.

The only problem was that she didn’t have any money to buy the divine incense.

Unexpectedly, after winning the incense competition and becoming a registered disciple of the Heavenly Xuan Palace, there was a “benefit”—they gave each disciple one piece of divine incense per month.

Wen Zhuojin knew this was the Heavenly Xuan Palace’s way of controlling their registered disciples.

However, for Wen Zhuojin, what mattered most now was that she had the incense poison and could begin testing the drugs.

She lit a little divine incense, recorded any symptoms that arose, and then burned the incense formulas she had wanted to experiment with.

She wanted to see if these formulas would be effective.

If they weren’t, she would adjust the recipe.

This method was somewhat taxing on the body and would take some time.

For now, Wen Zhuojin didn’t have a better solution, so she could only use this method for the time being.

She didn’t want to see her beautiful elder sister suffer anymore.

That night, Wen Zhuojin tested three different incense formulas.

The divine incense had the ability to amplify certain thoughts, something Wen Zhuojin had experienced before.

After inhaling the divine incense for a while, the effects of the incense formulas weren’t great, but they did make Wen Zhuojin’s face flush and her heart race.

She couldn’t help but think more and more of Yan Qinglan.

The intense desire made Wen Zhuojin almost rush straight to the inner room where Yan Qinglan was, to do everything she had been thinking about doing.

Wen Zhuojin knew it was the effect of the incense poison.

After drinking a pot of cool tea and calming down for a while, she managed to steady her mind.

The next day, after helping Yan Qinglan wash up, feed her, and give her medicine, Wen Zhuojin was preparing to take Jin Rui to check on the shop. But just before leaving, she felt something was off with Yan Qinglan.

The addiction had flared up again.

Wen Zhuojin had recorded that the intervals between the addiction episodes used to be about five or six hours. Yesterday, there had been a break of over a day, but now the interval had shortened significantly.

Yan Qinglan’s body hadn’t fully recovered from yesterday’s weakness, and now with the addiction acting up again, she was still very weak.

However, this time, Wen Zhuojin stayed with Yan Qinglan from the beginning, helping her stay awake, and the episode was shorter than the one the day before.

Only Yan Qinglan herself knew how badly she wanted to get closer to Wen Zhuojin.

She fought to stay awake, so she didn’t end up shamelessly leaning on her as she had yesterday.

But it was even harder to bear.

“Sister, I’m still testing the antidote. Hold on a little longer. Once the antidote is ready, I’ll give it to you,” Wen Zhuojin softly said to Yan Qinglan.

Yan Qinglan, weak and exhausted, didn’t quite understand how Wen Zhuojin was testing the antidote. She only knew that Wen Zhuojin was still trying to find a cure.

Yan Qinglan wanted to say that Wen Zhuojin already had the antidote, but the shame from the addiction made it hard for her to speak.

Perhaps it was just the ingredients in the incense poison that had caused her to lose her composure.

Wen Zhuojin stayed with Yan Qinglan through the addiction episode before heading out.

Fortunately, Wen Heming had given her another thousand taels of silver, so she could buy more incense materials and purchase decorations for the shop to make it feel like a proper incense store.

While Wen Zhuojin was busy outside, Yan Qinglan woke up from her nap, feeling slightly more energetic.

She could hear some sounds from outside; it seemed like things were quite busy.

Yan Qinglan recalled that Wen Zhuojin had seemed quite absent these past couple of days and appeared to be very busy.

Was she still searching for the antidote?

Yan Qinglan called out, and a young maid entered.

Jin Rui had gone with Wen Zhuojin to the shop, and the one tasked with taking care of Yan Qinglan in the house was a quick-witted young maid, a little younger than the others.

“Is there anything you need, Madam?” the maid asked.

“What happened? What is Miss Wen busy with?” Yan Qinglan asked softly.

As soon as Yan Qinglan asked this, the maid’s expression immediately revealed delight.

“Madam, our young lady is opening an incense shop, and she needs to make a lot of incense, so she’s naturally busy,” the maid explained.

“An incense shop? How could she open one?” Yan Qinglan furrowed her brows.

Opening an incense shop isn’t something just anyone can do.

How could Wen Zhuojin possibly open one?

“Our young lady is a registered disciple of the Heavenly Xuan Palace’s Jiang Xiao Immortal Master, so of course, she can open an incense shop,” the maid said proudly.

When Yan Qinglan heard the maid’s words, a cold, bone-chilling feeling rushed from her feet to the top of her head.