With her deceased husband as her dowry, would Your Highness dare to marry her?

"Who dares to hit my cat?!"

The girl who arrived was about fifteen or sixteen years old. She wore a pomegranate-red riding outfit with a sapphire blue peacock feather cloak over it, and a ruby-trimmed riding whip hung at her waist. Her big, round eyes were full of anger, and she looked Lin Ci up and down as soon as she saw him.

"This cat was a birthday gift from my brother. Do you think you can handle it?"

The girl was arrogant and domineering.

Lin Ci didn't reply. She quickly took off her outer garment and covered the broken box with it.

Granny Qian bowed to the young girl and said, "Princess Yongle, this Lady Lin is a guest invited by the Prince."

"Even guests shouldn't hit my cat! What could be hidden under this rag that's more precious than my one and only cat?!" With that, Princess Yongle pulled the clothes that Lin Ci had covered up.

Lin Ci grabbed her wrist and said in a deep voice, "The things you've laid out can't be exposed to the light. You can't touch them."

Princess Yongle was arrogant and could not tolerate such words.

She shook off Lin Ci's hand, shoved the leopard cat into the maid's arms, put her hands on her hips, and said in a shrill voice, "What precious thing is it? I want to see it."

Having said that, she drew her riding whip and lashed it sharply at the black cloth.

With a "snap".

The whip struck Lin Ci's arm squarely, leaving a bloody mark on her white undergarment.

Everyone was stunned.

Princess Yongle was so frightened that she threw her riding whip to the ground.

"Who told you to rush over here?!" Princess Yongle stamped her foot in frustration, her round face turning bright red. "I just wanted to see what was in Buli, why are you being so stingy?"

"What are you doing?" Pei Jinxuan arrived, his voice carrying an air of authority.

Granny Qian quickly led the two maids to kneel down, bowing their heads in fear and trepidation, "Your Highness, this old servant has failed in my duties."

When Princess Yongle saw Pei Jinxuan, she pouted, her eyes brimming with tears, and then grabbed his sleeve, pouting, "Brother, she bullied me."

Pei Jinxuan glanced at the rags, the leopard cat, the stones... he guessed about seven or eight parts of the story. When his gaze fell on Lin Ci and he saw the blood-stained undergarment, his eyes widened slightly.

The lash was so severe that blood had seeped out, winding a thin line down her forearm. Yet she stood there, neither clutching her wound nor bowing her head, nor feigning a pitiful appearance.

That's really stubborn.

Although Pei Jinxuan didn't particularly like this cunning woman, seeing her injured made him inexplicably irritated.

He turned and gave Princess Yongle a cold glance.

"It's a cat..."

Princess Yongle blushed and was about to explain when Pei Jinxuan took off her cloak and covered Lin Ci with it.

"Brother Wang?!" Princess Yongle exclaimed in surprise, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"A doctor's hands are the most precious. If you break them, wouldn't you ruin me?!" Pei Jinxuan reprimanded without any mercy, and these words were also meant for Lin Ci's ears.

"Go back to your room and don't leave for a month!"

Princess Yongle refused, twisting her body into a pretzel shape and stamping her feet twice in a hurry, "Brother Wang~~"

"Can't you understand me?"

Pei Jinxuan's tone turned colder.

Princess Yongle dared not throw a tantrum anymore. She glared at Lin Ci resentfully, took the leopard cat from the maid, and turned away with heavy steps.

Pei Jinxuan sighed deeply and waved his hand, signaling Granny Qian and the others to leave.

The idlers have all left.

He said with a sense of helplessness, "What happened today is my fault for not disciplining my children properly."

Lin Ci bit her lip, enduring the pain in her arm, and ignored him.

Pei Jinxuan raised his hand in a gesture of support and said, "Let's treat the injuries first."

Lin Ci coldly slapped his hand away. "No need. First, settle my husband in. Remember, find an extremely dark place, where there is no light. No outsiders... including cats, are allowed in."

Pei Jinxuan's hand paused in mid-air for a moment, then curled his fingers and withdrew it.

Pei Jinxuan glanced at the wooden box, a vague displeasure rising in his heart. He was curious about what kind of person Lin Ci's deceased husband was, that he was still so important even after his death.

The moment the thought crossed Pei Jinxuan's mind, he was shocked to realize that he was comparing himself to a dead man—what a joke!

What he needed was the forbidden magic of the Ghost Hand, not her temperature.

How could a mere country girl be worth getting angry over?!

Thinking about it, he flicked his sleeve and left, the wind from his sleeve brushing against Lin Ci's face, completely bewildering him.

As Pei Jinxuan instructed, the coffin was placed in the cellar of the Prince's Mansion, with walls made of stacked ice bricks and a lamp lit in each of the four corners. No one except Lin Ci was allowed to enter.

After settling in, Amo went to the study to report to Pei Jinxuan. As soon as he opened the door, Princess Yongle's leopard cat darted past his feet and jumped onto Pei Jinxuan's desk.

The leopard cat has black coin-like markings all over its body, wide-open blue eyes, and two tufts of black fur standing up spiritedly on the tips of its ears.

It meowed at Pei Jinxuan, but Pei Jinxuan didn't even look up.

Amo lifted the leopard cat off the desk, took a scroll of paper from its jeweled collar, and presented it with both hands.

Pei Jinxuan ignored her and said coldly, "Ignore her. Confine her to her quarters for a month to teach her a lesson."

The person Pei Jinxuan was referring to was Princess Yongle. Princess Yongle, having been punished with a month of confinement, was resentful and sent a leopard cat to beg Pei Jinxuan for mercy. It was an old trick, and Pei Jinxuan wasn't fooled at all.

Amo wiggled his lips, intending to plead for Princess Yongle again, but seeing Pei Jinxuan's indifference, he had to abandon the idea. He stuffed the scroll back into the cat's collar and shooed the leopard cat away.

Pei Jinxuan turned a page of the medical book and asked, "Has Lin Ci made all the arrangements?"

Amo gestured: 【Safe.】

Pei Jinxuan glanced at the shadow of his hand cast on the table and asked, "Besides that, is there anything else?"

Amo frowned in thought, then gestured with his hand: "That woman... is an imposter."

"You don't believe her?"

Amo nodded, his gestures instantly becoming faster: "She's lying. Nobody knows if the Ghost Hand or the ability to bring the dead back to life is real. Nobody has ever seen it."

"I understand, but there's no time. Tomorrow, I'll take her to see..." Pei Jinxuan gestured with one hand.

Amo tensed up, shaking his head frantically, his hands moving in a blur: "If she leaks the secret, all our efforts will be in vain."

"That must be fate, but I have a way to keep her from speaking. You don't need to worry."

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Pei Jinxuan, Amo had no choice but to give up, raise his hand in a gesture of respect, and take his leave.

"Wait a minute," Pei Jinxuan called out to him, "Can I use your family's heirloom wound medicine?"

After dinner, Liufang Courtyard was as quiet as an ancient tomb and as cold as an ice cellar. If it weren't for the still-blooming red plum blossoms in the garden, there would be no sign of life at all.

Pei Jinxuan walked to the courtyard gate and stood there for a while. He was wondering why he had come. The medicine could be given tomorrow morning, and the words could be spoken tomorrow. But he still came, clutching the bottle of wound medicine in his hand, and walked all the way from the study to here.

There were no lights on in the courtyard, and the two maids were nowhere to be seen. Pei Jinxuan went straight in, lifted the brocade curtain, and found the room pitch black. The charcoal fire in the brazier was still burning, but for some reason it was colder than other places.

Pei Jinxuan stopped in front of the plain gauze screen. By the moonlight from the window, he could see a slender figure sitting in front of a dressing table. The bronze mirror on the dressing table reflected a faint light, cold and hazy, like a painting that was difficult to describe.

"Who's there?" Lin Ci's gentle voice rang out.

Pei Jinxuan's face suddenly flushed, and he involuntarily wanted to run away, but after taking only half a step back, he felt that he hadn't done anything, so why should he run? So he straightened his chest and walked past the plain gauze screen with an open and honest demeanor.

At that very moment, Lin Ci turned on the light, and her porcelain-like face unexpectedly came into Pei Jinxuan's view.

The flickering candlelight illuminated her features from the darkness. Willow-leaf eyebrows, single-eyelid eyes—a person of cool elegance, delicate as a willow, a stark contrast to her previous stubbornness.

Pei Jinxuan's eyes lit up.

The moment Lin Ci saw him, her eyes lit up, overflowing with tenderness. But in the blink of an eye, the excitement in her eyes subsided, turning into a cold, stagnant pool.

It's always like this.

This displeased Pei Jinxuan, but he couldn't argue with him. He took out some wound medicine from his sleeve and handed it to Lin Ci, saying in a low voice, "My cousin is spoiled, and it's my fault for not disciplining her properly. This is an ancestral wound medicine, excellent for treating injuries. It will heal in a day after you apply it."

"Your Highness is very kind." With that, Lin Ci placed the medicine bottle on the table, then took out a prescription from the drawer. "These are the things I need. Your Highness must bring them to me as soon as possible."

Pei Jinxuan took the list and glanced at it quickly. It included everything that flew in the sky, swam in the water, and ran on the ground, from all directions. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"What? Can't Your Highness get it?" Lin Ci asked deliberately, with a hint of cunning, intentionally putting the other person in an awkward position.

Pei Jinxuan folded the prescription again and again, neatly stacking it into a square before tucking it into her sleeve. "You said the sooner the better...it's to revive your deceased husband. The medicinal ingredient is just an excuse, isn't it?"

After saying that, Pei Jinxuan raised his eyes, which shone brightly in the candlelight.

He had long seen through Lin Ci's intentions, knowing that she was using his influence to her advantage.

Lin Ci knew he was deliberately testing her, so she smiled gently in response.

It's perfectly normal for everyone to get what they need.

"How confident are you?" Pei Jinxuan asked seriously. "If you really succeed, it wouldn't be impossible to resurrect your deceased husband as well."

"I'm not sure. Even if my master were alive, he couldn't guarantee it. But..."

"But what?"

"I have a good idea. Let's start with small, inanimate objects."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Ci lifted the bed curtain and picked up a soft thing from the couch, which was Princess Yongle's leopard cat.

Lin Ci stroked the cat's glossy fur, a hint of almost manic excitement flashing in her eyes. She smiled and said, "Your Highness, I said that no unauthorized persons are allowed in the cellar, including the cat... It didn't listen to you."