Lan Yan spent the next few days preparing medicinal meals for Jun Yelan. Watching his complexion gradually improve, she felt a sense of satisfaction.
One day, she prepared a new meal and arrived at the palace entrance, where she saw a scout waiting.
Her gaze swept sideways, and she noticed the scout's forehead was covered in cold sweat. Looking down, she saw the hilt of a knife protruding from his sleeve. She realized with alarm that this person was here to assassinate.
The scout tightened his grip on his sleeve, glanced at Lan Yan, and seeing that she was still looking towards the palace, withdrew his gaze.
Lan Yan breathed a sigh of relief, retreated slightly, and kept a close eye on the scout's movements.
A voice from within the palace signaled that the scout could enter. A hint of hatred flashed in his eyes before being hidden again. He tightened his grip on the knife hilt on his wrist and strode inside.
At this moment, Lan Yan casually extended her foot, looking off to the side as if nothing were amiss.
The scout, not paying attention, stumbled and fell heavily to the ground, his dagger rolling out from his sleeve. He glared angrily at Lan Yan, but Lan Yan had already moved far away and rushed towards Jun Yelan.
Jun Yelan, sitting on his chair, casually spun an arrowhead in his hand and shot it towards the scout.
The scout immediately collapsed to the ground, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.
Lan Yan skirted around the scout from a distance and looked at Jun Yelan. "City Lord, is he dead?"
"Mm," Jun Yelan nodded, observing the expression on Lan Yan's face. Was she thinking he was too ruthless just now?
Lan Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great, he won't be able to hurt you anymore." She carried the meal over, sighing, "When I was standing with him at the door just now, it was a bit frightening."
"But how could I let him succeed! So after I tripped him, I quickly ran away. What if he attacked me?" She didn't want to risk her own life.
"With me here, he can't harm you," Jun Yelan replied to Lan Yan's chatter.
Lan Yan froze for a moment. Jun Yelan was indeed the City Lord here; his skills were impressive. She looked at the medicinal meal in her hands, feeling wronged, "Oh no, it's gotten cold. City Lord, I'll go heat it up."
"No need." Jun Yelan took the bowl and chopsticks and placed them before himself. He had always eaten cold meals before.
Lan Yan then went to brew a cup of hot tea for Jun Yelan to warm his stomach.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jun Yelan had someone drag the scout's body away and ordered, "Investigate anyone connected to him and eliminate them completely." He disliked the scout's gaze, the resentful look directed at Lan Yan.
The subordinates quickly departed.
When Lan Yan returned, she noticed the smell of blood was gone, suggesting that such assassination attempts were frequent. She felt a flicker of concern for Jun Yelan and quickly placed the hot tea down.
"City Lord, this was an accident. From now on, I absolutely won't let you eat cold food." She felt she needed to take good care of Jun Yelan before thinking about anything else.
Jun Yelan often found it hard to keep up with Lan Yan's words because of her sincerity. As he finished his tea and put down the cup, he felt a pain in his chest, and his hair began to change color.
He clutched his chest; the illness had returned.
From her experience the last time, Lan Yan had a plan. She crouched beside Jun Yelan, reached out, and gently stroked his head, saying softly, "It's alright, it's alright."
Jun Yelan was stunned, and the memories of the previous time surfaced. He turned his head, looking at Lan Yan's gentle actions, and for a moment forgot the pain in his chest.
Lan Yan, thinking Jun Yelan was still in pain, moved closer to him. Her cheek was almost touching Jun Yelan's nose, her hands continued their action, and she kept murmuring.
Jun Yelan remained still, watching her.
After an unknown period, Lan Yan saw Jun Yelan's hair return to its black color and exclaimed excitedly, "City Lord, it's better!" She withdrew her hand, placed it behind her back, and flexed her fingers.
Jun Yelan nodded; the pain in his chest had also subsided. This time, while conscious, he realized that Lan Yan had healed him without any tools, solely through her own abilities.
This was something that hadn't happened in many years. He was now certain that he needed Lan Yan to stay by his side. It seemed he would have to take her with him wherever he went from now on.
When Lan Yan stood up, her legs were numb, and she immediately sat down on the ground.
"Stay here," Jun Yelan said, not dismissing her. Instead, he picked up some official documents and began to read. These were matters that required his attention in the city.
Seeing Lan Yan looking bored, he brought over the pastries beside him and placed them in front of her.
Lan Yan smiled, "Thank you, City Lord." She rubbed her legs, then picked up a pastry and began to eat it with delight. Seeing that Jun Yelan wasn't looking her way, she started chatting with the system.
"System, I finally understand what you meant before. This world is really quite difficult. Before, I didn't have to do any work, but now I have to work and guard against being harmed."
System: "Host, I warned you early on. But after completing this world, there will be rewards. In the next world, you will enjoy yourself thoroughly."
Lan Yan no longer believed the system's encouraging words. "System, is there a way to cure Jun Yelan's illness?"
"This is a problem within this world and has nothing to do with the system. It depends on the host." After saying this, the system decisively went offline. It felt as though it was getting closer to completing the hidden mission.
Lan Yan fell into thought. She didn't know how to cure illnesses either. She needed to understand the origin of Jun Yelan's illness to find a way to treat it.
Jun Yelan, seeing Lan Yan so leisurely, then looked at the official documents in his hands, suddenly lost interest. He pushed them towards Lan Yan and said, "This City Lord doesn't want to look at them anymore. You read them."
"Oh." Lan Yan swallowed the osmanthus cake in her mouth, wiped her hands, picked up a document, and began to read. "Reporting to the City Lord, the city walls need repairs... He just wants money."
Jun Yelan tapped the table with his fingers and replied, "Have him report how much is needed, and he must pay half of it himself."
Lan Yan then picked up a brush and wrote it down. This would prevent him from inflating the numbers. She then looked at other documents; they were either requesting money or personnel, and she even saw one asking the Saintess for medicine.
Jun Yelan's eyes darkened. "Circle him and hand him over to the scouts outside the gate."
Lan Yan did as instructed. It seemed this Saintess was indeed quite important. However, she felt that Jun Yelan harbored more hatred for this Saintess than anything else; this Saintess must have done something in the past!
It was time for the last document. She read it through and closed it. "City Lord, this one isn't important, don't bother reading it."
Jun Yelan looked at Lan Yan's evasive eyes and almost smiled, but suppressed it. "It's another one calling me crazy. Burn it."
"Okay." Lan Yan saw that Jun Yelan's expression was unchanged and breathed a sigh of relief. After finishing these documents, she propped her head with one hand, her eyelids drooping, and was about to topple over.
Seeing this, Jun Yelan reached out, just in time to catch Lan Yan's head.
Lan Yan felt uncomfortable sleeping like that and slid down, ending up resting on Jun Yelan's lap.
Jun Yelan was momentarily stunned.