BDSMST -Chapter 83 Trust Proven by Testing the Medicine on Oneself

The plague-prevention decoction had been brewed—but no one knew whether it truly worked.

To send it directly to the refugee camp and have them drink it would be no different from experimenting with human lives. Jiang Suisui could not cross that moral line.

There was only one solution: someone had to test the medicine first.

But who?

Testing it on healthy people within the estate would prove nothing.

To test it on someone already infected… meant that the person would have to personally go to the refugee settlement where the plague had appeared—risking a very real chance of infection.

That evening, Jiang Suisui, Gu Yan, and Xie Zi’an gathered in the study to discuss their next move.

“I’ll go,” Xie Zi’an volunteered first, his expression calm. “I understand medicine. I’m the most suitable. I can observe the patients’ reactions after taking it and make adjustments if necessary.”

“No!” Jiang Suisui and Gu Yan rejected the idea almost in unison.

“Sir, you are a treasure to our estate—and the key to that old case. Nothing can happen to you,” Jiang Suisui said firmly.

Gu Yan added gravely, “The assassins have only just retreated. Marquis Anyuan’s spies may still be lurking in the shadows. The moment you leave the estate, you expose yourself. It’s too dangerous.”

Xie Zi’an tried to argue further, but one unyielding look from Gu Yan silenced him.

“Then… I’ll go.” Jiang Suisui took a deep breath and voiced the decision she had contemplated all afternoon. “I’m a woman; I won’t attract as much attention. And this is my prescription—I understand its intricacies best. I—”

She was cut off abruptly.

“You absolutely will not!” Gu Yan’s voice rose sharply, edged with anger and tension he himself did not notice. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there? Plague, displaced refugees, and possibly assassins hiding in the dark! What could you possibly do out there, alone and defenseless?”

It was the first time he had spoken to her so harshly.

Jiang Suisui froze, stunned.

“I can protect myself!” she protested indignantly. “I’m not going to fight—I’m just delivering medicine!”

“That still won’t do!” His tone was resolute. “There’s no room for discussion.”

“You—!” She was both angry and frustrated. She hadn’t expected him to be so domineering.

The two of them stood locked in a standoff in the study, neither willing to yield.

Xie Zi’an watched with a helpless smile flickering in his eyes. Wisely, he found an excuse and quietly withdrew, leaving the quarreling couple alone.

Only the two of them remained.

“Gu Yan, are you even being reasonable?” Jiang Suisui demanded, anxious and upset. “Lives are at stake! This isn’t a trivial matter!”

“And precisely because lives are at stake, I cannot let you go!” Gu Yan stood and walked toward her. His tall frame carried an unmistakable sense of pressure. “Jiang Suisui, listen to me clearly. In this estate, anyone can meet with misfortune—except you!”

“You are not only Xuan’er’s mother and the backbone of this estate—you are also…” He paused. The words my wife circled on his tongue, but he did not speak them aloud.

Looking at her stubborn, puffed-up face, he felt both exasperated and softened.

He sighed, his tone easing. “I know you’re kindhearted. You can’t bear to see others suffer. But everything must be done within one’s limits. You cannot place yourself in danger just to save others.”

“But someone has to go!” she argued. “Otherwise, what was the point of brewing the medicine?”

“I’ll go.” Gu Yan looked at her and spoke each word clearly.

She stared at him. “You… what did you say?”

“I said, I’ll go.” He repeated it, his expression more serious than ever. “I’m a military man. My constitution is stronger than yours. Even if I were unfortunate enough to be infected, I could endure it better than you. And if danger arises, I at least have the ability to protect myself.”

“No!” This time, Jiang Suisui refused without hesitation. “Your old injuries have only just healed. How can you risk going to such a place? What if… what if…”

“There is no ‘what if.’” He interrupted her gently, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder and meeting her eyes intently. “Do you not trust your own medicine?”

“I… that’s not…” She faltered. It wasn’t that she doubted her medicine—it was that she doubted fate itself.

“Then it’s settled.” He left her no room to argue further. “Tomorrow at dawn, I’ll take the medicine and go with Wei Ziqian. We’ll disguise ourselves as traveling merchants and head to the refugee camp outside the county.”

With that, he picked up the bowl of plague-prevention decoction that had grown cool on the table. Under Jiang Suisui’s shocked gaze, he drank it down in one gulp.

The warm liquid slid down his throat, faintly bitter with a subtle herbal fragrance.

He set the bowl down and looked at her—his eyes filled with complete trust, not a trace of doubt.

“Not bad,” he even commented lightly.

Jiang Suisui found herself utterly speechless.

She looked at him—at his calm, fearless gaze. She understood then that by drinking the medicine, he was not merely proving his faith in her. He was telling her, in the simplest way possible: Your choice and your safety matter more to me than my own life. I will take the most dangerous step for you.

A powerful surge of warmth and emotion shattered all her defenses at once.

Her eyes reddened, though she stubbornly refused to let the tears fall.

She stepped forward, rising onto her toes, and for the first time, awkwardly and gently adjusted his slightly rumpled collar.

“Then… you must be careful,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.

“Mm.” Gu Yan covered the hand at his collar with his own and responded softly.

Outside the window, the night was deep and dark.

Yet within the small world of the study, the trust they had placed in each other—entrusted with life itself—made everything warm and radiant.

Gu Yan knew that the moment he chose to drink that bowl of medicine and take the risk in her stead, he had already placed his entire heart into this woman’s hands.

And Jiang Suisui understood that from this moment on, this man had become the deepest and most irreplaceable concern of her life.