“If I hadn’t annulled your engagement, would you have truly married him?”
Hearing this, Ye Luan understood immediately.
Xiao Chizhan, of noble birth and high status, was not one to allow anyone to control his decisions.
He had been waiting for her to beg him these past few days, but with the wedding date approaching, she had never sought him out.
He couldn't sit still!
For her, he had compromised, willingly losing this game he had initiated.
Thus, he harbored murderous intent towards her, an unexpected outcome, yet he couldn't bring himself to act.
Had he… fallen for her?
Ye Luan bit her lip, a flicker of shrewdness in her narrowed eyes. She stretched out a jade arm, hooking it around his neck, a seductive smile on her lips.
“Your Highness, I will not marry him.”
What she needed now was to soothe the pent-up frustration in his heart.
Xiao Chizhan looked down at the woman beneath him, his expression cold.
He knew perfectly well that this woman was all an act, her compliance a pretense, yet he could not bring himself to strike her down.
His gaze grew colder.
Ye Luan’s heart sank slightly, but her face remained wreathed in smiles. Just as she was about to speak, he suddenly said, “Ye Luan, this Prince is not one to keep his word. You know what you must do.”
Damn it.
He had lost, and yet he still wanted her to return to his manor with him. How utterly shameless!
Completely inhuman!
But she dared not provoke him now.
Ye Luan bit her lip, her jade hands tightly gripping his collar, and whispered, “Your Highness, please allow me some time to think.”
Xiao Chizhan raised an eyebrow, not pressuring her, merely stating, “The Bai family’s lives hang in the balance of your decision.”
How despicable!
“Your Highness must be tired. Let us sleep early.”
To come to a temple in the dead of night to kill her – he was truly a madman.
Xiao Chizhan continued to look at her coldly, his desire undisguised.
Ye Luan took a deep breath and reached out to untie his sash.
Her hands were like tender shoots, her skin like congealed cream, her phoenix eyes alluring and captivating.
Xiao Chizhan watched her with leisurely amusement as she fumbled with his robes and sash, the corners of his thin lips curving upwards slightly.
With this smile, his eyes held a charm more captivating than any woman's.
You damned lunatic!
What's so funny?
She deliberately tugged at his clothes, pinched his flesh, and then feigned an apology in a soft voice.
Unbeknownst to her, Xiao Chizhan cherished these little actions of hers the most.
Unable to bear it any longer, he gripped her chin and kissed her, their kiss lingering and passionate.
Outside the window lattice, sparrows perched on branches chirped like orioles.
The cool moonlight spilled into the silent meditation room, faintly revealing two entwined figures on the bed.
-----
At the hour of Mao, Ye Luan opened her eyes.
She lay on Xiao Chizhan’s firm, lean chest and peered outside.
It was still dark, with only the faintest hint of dawn visible.
Yawning sleepily, she carefully got up to dress.
Suddenly, a pair of iron arms wrapped around her slender waist.
“It’s still early. Sleep a little longer.”
Ye Luan lowered her gaze.
In his sleep, his maddened ferocity had receded, leaving his alluring face appearing cold and distant. His pursed lips, bitten by her last night, were tinged with red.
She said softly, “I want to go to the front hall to listen to the scriptures.”
He frowned impatiently, pinning her down, and continued to sleep.
Ye Luan leaned in and kissed his cheek. “When I come back, I’ll bring you food. After we eat, we’ll go down the mountain.”
The iron arms around her waist loosened.
She breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed off the bed.
After dressing, she sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the sleeping man, and deliberately whispered seductively, “Wait for me. Sleep well.”
There was no response.
Ye Luan let out a breath and stood up to leave.
Upon exiting the room, her footsteps faltered. She then walked towards the front courtyard, circling behind the main hall to a meditation room where monks were meditating.
She sat on a prayer mat in the corner. Shortly after, sensing the departure of hidden guards, she finally relaxed and stealthily made her way out through a side door.
Holding up her skirt, she hurried towards Lu Feibai's room.
“You’ve come so early?”
Beneath the Bodhi tree in the courtyard, Lu Feibai sat in his wheelchair, his eyes slightly closed. Hearing movement, he opened them in mild surprise.
Ye Luan looked at him, clad only in a thin blue robe, and her brows furrowed unconsciously, though she said nothing.
“Yes, I’ll leave after I finish your acupuncture.”
Lu Feibai nodded faintly and followed her into the room.
After the acupuncture, while he was soaking in his medicinal bath, Ye Luan went to the table and wrote two prescriptions.
Shafts of golden light streamed through the paper windows, and the mountain birds chirped and cawed.
It was the hour of Chen.
She quickly picked up the prescriptions and went into the courtyard, calling out, “Qingluan.”
A dark silhouette descended from the sky, standing behind her and startling her.
“Miss Ye, what are your orders?”
Ye Luan handed the prescriptions to Qingluan. “I don’t have time to wait for your young master to come out. Give this prescription to him and tell him it’s an antidote for all poisons, capable of dispelling the toxins in his body.”
“And this prescription, have him try it. The herbs within are rare, but if found, they might delay the onset of frost sickness.”
Qingluan froze, his hands trembling as he held the prescriptions.
“Is… is it true?!”
Ye Luan sighed. “Congenital frost sickness is an incurable disease. It cannot be eradicated. I did my best.”
She had thought all night, recalling every medical book she had read, especially those concerning difficult illnesses like frost sickness.
She remembered a medical book about summer withering syndrome in her grandfather's library, which bore similarities to frost sickness.
“Try it.”
Qingluan felt as if his palms were weighed down by a mountain.
He trembled, his lips quivering as he looked at the prescriptions in his hand. Large tears began to fall uncontrollably, his ears filled with her soft instructions.
Ye Luan dared not delay any further. After a few more words of advice, she prepared to leave quickly.
At the doorway, she leaned against the frame and looked back, her eyes feeling a little sore. This parting, she feared, might be for life.
She took a deep breath, suppressed the pain of separation, and turned to leave.
Thinking that Xiao Chizhan must have woken up, Ye Luan immediately went to get breakfast and swiftly returned to her courtyard.
Xiao Chizhan was already awake, having just finished washing up. He stood in the cramped meditation room, looking out of place.
As Ye Luan pushed open the door, she almost bumped into him.
“Why are you back so late?”
“I went to get food. Eat quickly, and then we’ll go down the mountain.”
She was afraid Xiao Chizhan would discover that Lu Feibai was also at the temple.
Xiao Chizhan looked at her faintly, making her heart jump. She immediately plastered on a smile, placed the food on the table, and clung to his arm.
“Your Highness, please sit down and eat.”
There was something odd.
Xiao Chizhan’s crimson eyes deepened. He quietly enjoyed her service, asking no further questions.
After the meal, the two of them left the mountain.
Neither of them noticed, high on the mountain, a figure in green quietly watching their departing backs.
The galloping warhorses entered the city and headed straight for the manor.
Ye Luan quickly said, “Your Highness, I need to go back to the Ye family first. My belongings are still there.”
“The manor has everything.”