The Favored Heiress
Chapter 666: Where the Nightmare Begins

Chapter 666: Chapter 666: Where the Nightmare Begins

Shang Yu’s slight smile at the edge of his lips dimmed a bit, his gaze becoming slightly dark, and he remained silent for a long time.

Li Qiao could keenly detect any slight change in him.

All the more so for a sensitive topic like having a child.

Li Qiao, clutching the towel around her chest, sat up and pursed her lips, locking eyes with Shang Yu, "Now is not..." the right time to have children.

She didn’t have a chance to say those last few words, as the man planted a kiss on her forehead and then left the bedroom.

The air was left with his words, "I’m going to prepare the medicine."

Li Qiao gazed down at her fingertips, her expression very faint.

Did he really think it was a good time to have a child now?

With internal and external troubles aplenty, if she really became pregnant, how big of a vulnerability would that be?

By then, let alone protecting the child, she wouldn’t be able to protect even herself.

She could rely on Shang Yu, but people could never guess accidents and tomorrow.

Madam Xiao, Ming Dailan from those years, had the most formidable Guard Team of the Ducal Residence, but in the end, she was still schemed against.

Li Qiao could even imagine that when she couldn’t protect herself, she would become Shang Yu’s fatal weakness.

...

As for the matter of pregnancy, after Li Qiao drank the bowl of contraceptive herbal medicine personally prepared by Shang Yu, neither of them mentioned it again.

But not mentioning it didn’t mean it left no trace.

This was probably the first time Shang Yu had made Li Qiao take a contraceptive.

Because he suddenly wanted a child that belonged to them, a girl like her; perhaps he could see in the child the overlapping shadows of Li Qiao’s childhood.

At this moment, Shang Yu stood alone on the balcony of the third floor, the slanting sunset drenching him completely, yet he still couldn’t dispel the lingering sense of bleak loneliness.

If she didn’t want to give birth, then let’s not have a child.

The man’s hands rested on the balcony railing, he sighed softly, and before long, he returned to the master bedroom.

In the room, Li Qiao was not present; the bathroom door was open. He glanced over it carelessly, not staying his gaze, thus he didn’t notice the smell of the Chinese medicine wafting from the bathroom.

With furrowed brows, Shang Yu went down to the living room on the first floor, but still didn’t find her.

Meanwhile, Li Qiao had already left the mansion.

She briskly walked across the arch bridge and saw Luoyu, who was crouching by the creek smoking, wave at her.

Luoyu noticed keenly the slightly pale corners of Li Qiao’s mouth and the dark red at the corners of her eyes, which didn’t look right at all.

Out of urgent concern, she blurted out, "Miss Li, what’s wrong with you?"

Li Qiao looked back at the mansion and then gestured forward, "Come with me."

Luoyu, puzzled, threw away her cigarette and caught up with Li Qiao’s quick pace.

"Has Father Shang returned?" Li Qiao asked as she walked, her usually languid demeanor unusually tense.

Luoyu promptly took out her phone, "I’ll ask Housekeeper Xiao."

"Yeah, hurry up."

Li Qiao urged calmly, her abnormal behavior making Luoyu dare not take it lightly, quickly dialing Housekeeper Xiao’s number.

Having received the reply, Luoyu covered the receiver to inform Li Qiao, "The house master is back, he’s in the backyard teahouse."

Li Qiao cleared her throat and murmured in a suppressed voice, "Take me there."

...

Ten minutes later, Li Qiao sat in the teahouse as though devoid of strength, looking at Shang Zonghai, who was taking her pulse, and said in a flat tone, "Dad, thank you for your trouble."

Luoyu stood right behind her, clearly seeing the hives breaking out behind Li Qiao’s ears and on her wrists.

It seemed like symptoms of an allergy.

Li Qiao did not tell anyone that half an hour ago, the contraceptive medicine Shang Yu gave her had caused a severe allergic reaction within a short period of time.

Fortunately, he was not in the room at that time.

And because of the allergic reaction, Li Qiao vomited all the medicine.

At the moment, before Shang Zonghai could speak, Luoyu’s phone rang.

Li Qiao turned back in a flash, "Tell him I’m in the tea room asking about the details of the translation documents."

Luoyu looked at her with unspeakable difficulty, pursed her lips, and repeated the same line after picking up the phone.

Li Qiao closed her eyes and sighed, and her tense nerves relaxed considerably.

Shang Zonghai was smart enough not to ask any further questions to guess the general situation.

He gestured for Luoyu to wait outside the door and then instructed Housekeeper Xiao to fetch medicine from the pharmacy. After the two of them left, he turned to look at Li Qiao, his eyes quite shaken, "The medicine Shaoyan prepared for you?"

"Hmm, it might have allergic components. I rarely took traditional Chinese medicine before."

Li Qiao knew that she could not hide this from Shang Zonghai and decided to be upfront about it.

Shang Zonghai looked at the rash on her wrist, "Why didn’t you tell him?"

"It was an accident," Li Qiao said calmly, enduring the itch and pain of the rash, and chuckled lightly: "Allergic reactions are very common, and I’ve taken the medicine he prepared before. The problem is with me."

Shang Zonghai’s gaze deepened, as if he thought of something, and he couldn’t help but lower his eyelids, his expression indecipherable.

After a short while, he raised his eyes and smoothed his brow, soothingly saying, "Don’t worry, the medicine he prepared for you is fine, but there’s a Chinese herb that stimulates the stomach. You’ll be fine after taking the medicine."

As they were speaking, Housekeeper Xiao had already fetched the medicine and returned.

Li Qiao breathed a sigh of relief, finished the medicine, took the ointment, applied a bit to her wrist, and looking up, asked, "How long will it take to fade?"

"Afraid that Shaoyan will see?" Shang Zonghai smiled gently, "Don’t worry, there will be no trace within half an hour."

Thus, Li Qiao stayed in the tea room for forty minutes.

She didn’t return to the private mansion of the backyard until the rash on her body had completely disappeared.

Luoyu followed her with a complex look in her eyes. After hesitating for a long time, she still couldn’t resist speaking up for Shang Yu, "Miss Li, the boss wouldn’t harm you..."

Li Qiao paused in her steps, then resumed her usual nonchalant demeanor, "Of course."

"Then, earlier..."

Li Qiao curved her lips, stepping onto the arch bridge with no urgency, "Since it was an accident, what’s the need to say anything? You shouldn’t either."

Luoyu bowed her head, holding back her thoughts.

At this moment, the mansion was just in sight, but Li Qiao slowly stopped her steps.

She turned to look at Luoyu, reminding her in a gentle voice, "I have taken his medicine before on Wenxi Island. If there were a problem with his prescription, why didn’t I have a reaction that time?"

Luoyu’s head shot up suddenly, "You mean..."

Li Qiao looked up at the mansion, a hint of distress in her eyes, "The problem isn’t with him; someone is creating a problem."

A very simple truth.

If Shang Yu knew that she had an allergic reaction and vomited from the contraceptive medicine today, the chain reaction this would cause couldn’t be controlled.

The previous incident with Madam Xiao, and now her.

No matter how strong Shang Yu’s inner self was, he probably couldn’t calmly face the fact that the medicine he personally prepared had repeatedly had issues.

And here, at the Shang Family Old House, is where his youthful nightmares began.

Her allergic reaction to his medicine was someone’s attempt to have him relive the nightmares in secret.

Li Qiao narrowed her eyes, her gaze intertwined with coldness, "Luoyu, do me a favor."

"Just say it."

Li Qiao took a deep breath, her mind clear as she said, "Go buy me a box of emergency contraceptive pills, and also check who had contact with Shaoyan’s medicine preparation process this afternoon."