Time Travel: I'm a Flower Thief

Xie Xiaoyi trembled all over, holding Mu Pingting tightly, crying so hard he could barely breathe.

Mu Pingting first raised her arm and gently waved to the maids inside the room, signaling everyone to leave.

Upon seeing this, the maids immediately fell silent and withdrew outside, quietly closing the door behind them.

When no one was around, she raised her hand and gently patted Xie Xiaoyi's back, letting him vent his emotions on her shoulder.

Once his crying subsided a little, Mu Pingting gently pushed him away and helped him stand up straight.

Then, she raised her hand to wipe away the tears on his face, her voice soft and steady, without a trace of panic, only a quiet sorrow.

"Xie Mo, don't be like this... I know you've guessed everything."

Xie Xiaoyi grabbed her hand: "Sister Mu, where's Sister Yaoqin? What happened to her?! I heard... I heard she—"

Mu Pingting gently pressed her hand to his mouth, shook her head, her eyes reddening, yet she remained unusually clear-headed and calm.

"Sister Yaoqin is alright. She wasn't hurt at all, nor was she wronged in the slightest. Su Mubai has already taken her away safely..."

Xie Xiaoyi was stunned, her whole body stiffening: "Then...then why...why did Bai Letian say that about her..."

Mu Pingting closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, she was completely at ease: "The ones who broke in that day were the Second Prince Wang Yu and his confidants."

They were looking for Yaoqin, so I stepped forward and said I was Fu Yaoqin. Then they... it never ended. In the end, I pretended to be crazy...

She took a small step back, deliberately creating some distance between herself and Xie Xiaoyi, her smile light yet tinged with a chilling self-mockery.

"I am a woman of the night, my body is already unclean, and now I have contracted a disease."

From now on... don't get so close to me anymore. I'm not afraid of anything else, I'm just worried about passing on my illness to you.

Xie Xiaoyi was struck dumb, frozen in place, as if his blood had frozen.

Looking at Mu Pingting's pale yet lucid face, he understood everything in an instant.

It's not Fu Yaoqin.

From beginning to end, it was Mu Pingting who shouldered everything.

Looking at his shocked and pained expression, Mu Pingting smiled gently, her voice as soft as the wind: "I was originally a courtesan, and I have no innocence to speak of."

But Yaoqin is different. She's pure, innocent, and incredibly talented. She only has you in her heart. It's worth it for me to take this burden for her."

She paused, then sighed softly, "Don't worry, go find her. She was rescued by Su Mubai. Just go to the Su family in Jiangnan, and you'll definitely find news of her."

Just... don't tell her what I'm like now, don't make her feel guilty. Everything... was my own choice, and it was all for you!

For me?

Xie Xiaoyi's heart skipped a beat.

It's not that he doesn't understand.

He understood everything about her eyes, her ambiguous demeanor, and her joking "You little devil, you're so naughty."

It turns out that Mu Pingting wasn't just doing it for Fu Yaoqin; she was doing it for him.

To spare him pain and regret, she shouldered everything alone.

Xie Xiaoyi looked at the woman in front of him, who was desperately protecting others even though she herself had fallen into the abyss, and felt so heartbroken that he could hardly breathe.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word...

Mu Pingting gently raised her hand to wipe away his tears: "Don't cry! When you cry, I don't know how to comfort you."

As she wiped away her tears, her sleeve slipped down slightly, revealing a few pale red dark spots beneath her skin.

Xie Xiaoyi was originally Hua Tianyi's disciple, and he knew what kind of illness it was at a glance.

Mu Pingting followed his gaze, gently withdrew her hand, covered her sleeve, and sighed softly, "Since then, these marks have gradually appeared on my body, causing me to suffer day and night."

I secretly spent a lot of money to hire several renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctors, and they all said that this was venereal poisoning, which could only be barely suppressed with medicine, but there was no cure.

Xie Xiaoyi's mind went blank—

He was right after all!

Venereal poison...isn't that exactly what the modern people before he transmigrated called syphilis?

This disease was rampant in early Europe, ravaging the country for centuries, and there was no cure.

The infected person first suffers from skin ulceration and scarring all over their body, and later bone necrosis, facial disfigurement, and gradual organ decay, slowly dying a miserable death in endless pain.

At that time, European nobles all wore exquisite and gorgeous long wigs and elegant white gloves.

They wore tall, straight boots, and even at banquets, they always wore exquisite masks.

People only see it as a noble and respectable outfit, a symbol of status and pomp, but behind those wigs, gloves, boots and exquisite masks lies a cesspool of corruption.

It wasn't until the advent of modern penicillin that the nightmare that swept across Europe was finally brought to a halt.

Xie Xiaoyi knew that there was no antidote for this poison; only penicillin could cure it.

Although Penicillium mold is readily available, purifying and refining it in ancient times was extremely difficult.

Even with such a desperate situation before him, how could he just stand by and watch Mu Pingting suffer in the future?

No matter how difficult it is, he will try.

Xie Xiaoyi secretly made up his mind to first cure her illness, and then seek revenge on Wang Yu, making him suffer unbearable pain and pay for his blood debt.

"Sister Mu, I will find a way to cure your illness!"

Mu Pingting was a woman of the night, so how could she not know that this disease was incurable?

Her face remained expressionless, only offering a faint, self-deprecating smile:

"I'll just have to take it one day at a time. Ever since these red spots appeared on my body, Yushengfang's business has plummeted..."

Actually, I had already planned to close down this Jade Sheng Pavilion and find a place to slowly wait for my death!

Upon hearing this, Xie Xiaoyi felt a pang of pain in his heart and pulled her tightly into his arms.

"Sister Mu, I won't let you die! I'll cure your illness! I'll avenge us all!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he put his arm around Mu Pingting's waist without saying another word and walked straight out the door.

Mu Pingting froze, both shocked and panicked. She instinctively grabbed his sleeve: "Xie Mo, where...where are you taking me?"

Xie Xiaoyi kept walking, his tone calm:

"Go to the medicine hut to see my senior brothers and sisters. We are all disciples of the two peerless medical immortals. My senior brother is even more skilled in medicine. Maybe he can help."

Mu Pingting suddenly reached out and grabbed him, her face slightly pale, and said urgently, "No, we can't just leave like this! Wait for me a moment."

Xie Xiaoyi was taken aback and turned to look at her: "Sister Mu, what's wrong? Don't you believe I can cure you?"

"No, that's not it! Yushengfang is such a big business, I have to give them some instructions."

After saying that, Mu Pingting gently called out to her personal maid, and with a few words, she temporarily handed over the management of Yushengfang to the experienced and reliable manager.

After making the arrangements, she looked at Xie Xiaoyi and smiled faintly: "Let's go, I believe in you..."