Song Yinghuai's voice was hoarse and low. "Did he touch you?"
It was already nightfall when Song Yinghuai finally stepped into the bedroom.
The whole bedroom was cold and gloomy. The fireplace was unlit, and the candles were out.
The man felt a sudden surge of anger as soon as he stepped through the door.
He had only been away for a few days, and all that had happened was that Sheng Jiangli had come to the mansion. Yet this girl had already become so neglectful!
Song Yinghuai strode into the side chamber. "Lan Caiyu! You..."
His angry voice suddenly stopped.
With his profound internal energy, even in the dim starlight, he could see the girl lying on the bed.
Her hair was in disarray, and her breathing was uneven.
There was a handkerchief on her forehead.
Was she... running a fever?
Song Yinghuai stood still, suddenly remembering that this girl had been whipped by Jiang Jinyue last night.
Although he had applied medicine to her wounds during the day, she still had a fever.
His anger was replaced by worry.
Song Yinghuai lit the candlestick on the bedside and turned to look again.
In the candlelight, her usually fair face was unusually flushed. She still wore the smoke - blue dress from the day. A fair arm stretched out from the brocade quilt. It used to be as plump as a lotus root, but now it was covered with shocking whip marks, making her look like a delicate flower in full bloom but lacking nutrients.
When he noticed the cold handkerchief on her forehead, he realized that the attempt to reduce her fever had been very hasty. Song Yinghuai's face stiffened, and it took him a while to say,
"I'm lucky I haven't been killed by your poor service as a maid."
He quickly rolled up his sleeves with his slender fingers, picked up the handkerchief on her forehead, and threw it back into the wooden basin.
He stared at the basin for a moment, then finally took it and walked out of the bedroom door.
Everyone in the Lotus Sound Pavilion had gone to bed. After confirming that there was no one around, Song Yinghuai strode towards the kitchen with the wooden basin in his hand.
Just outside the courtyard of the kitchen, he bumped into Han Fen, who was carrying a wooden bucket.
Han Fen:??!!
Song Yinghuai: ………………
Han Fen was as shocked as if he had seen his own lord return to secular life when he saw the lord carrying a wooden basin.
"My lord... What are you doing?" Han Fen hesitated and asked tentatively.
Song Yinghuai's phoenix eyes were cold, and his face was calm. "What are you doing here?"
Han Fen looked at the bucket in his hand. "Oh, Xiang Ye just woke up and said she felt uncomfortable and wanted to take a bath. So I came to fetch some hot water."
Song Yinghuai nodded. "Do you have hot water?"
Han Fen also nodded. "Yes, there's not only hot water for bathing, but I also boiled some ginger soup to dispel the cold."
"Very good. Give them all to me!" Song Yinghuai ordered coldly, shoving the wooden basin into Han Fen's hands. "One basin of hot water and one cup of ginger soup."
Han Fen: "… Yes."
A moment later, Han Fen watched as Song Yinghuai strode away, holding a wooden basin full of hot water in one hand and a cup of ginger soup in the other.
Suddenly, he slapped his own face hard.
The crisp sound of the slap echoed in the night.
Han Fen: "Ouch... Is it almost the Lantern Festival? It can't be the Ghost Festival, right?"
Song Yinghuai didn't hear Han Fen's mutterings. He carried the wooden basin into the bedroom.
Soak, wring, apply, wipe... He did it all in one go.
When the wrung - out handkerchief slid down Caiyu's porcelain - like face, Song Yinghuai's Adam's apple rolled violently. His eyes were deep, and there was a crazy urge in his body. Desire was almost breaking out.
However, when his gaze fell on the criss - cross scars on Caiyu's chest, all his desire turned into hostility.
Jiang Jinyue!
It seemed that it was too lenient of him to send Jiang Jinyue to the Yellow Fan's chamber.
Looking at the drowsy girl, Song Yinghuai took a deep breath and reached out to gently pat her face.
"Yu'er, wake up!"
In her drowsy dream, Caiyu felt someone trying to wake her up forcefully.
The voice from the bright side was familiar and domineering.
Song Yinghuai!
Her butterfly - wing - like eyelashes fluttered. Caiyu reflexively forced her eyes open. Her eyes were blurred and innocent.
"My lord...?"
When she was sick, she lost her stubbornness and became more vulnerable, which made people feel more pity for her.
Song Yinghuai sat beside her, propping up her lower back with one hand to force her upper body up, and holding the ginger soup to her lips with the other.
"Drink."
The strong and pungent smell of ginger hit her head, making Caiyu turn her head and sneeze several times. She almost knocked over the bowl in Song Yinghuai's hand.
"What is this? It stinks..."
Caiyu's head ached and was dizzy. The fever made her lose her rationality. At the moment, she was like a drunk little girl. Being woken up forcefully from her dream, her spoiled temper unconsciously showed up.
Stink?
Song Yinghuai frowned and looked suspiciously at the ginger tea in the bowl.
The strong smell of ginger could be smelled without getting close.
It was quite pungent, but where did the stink come from?
Song Yinghuai pursed his lips and patiently explained, "It's ginger soup. You're injured and caught a cold. Drink a bowl first. I'll invite Master Guangzhi tomorrow morning..."
"I won't drink." Caiyu interrupted him before he could finish, then slid down from his arm and prepared to nestle back into the brocade quilt to sleep.
"What?"
Song Yinghuai's mind went blank for a moment. He thought he had misheard.
How dare she interrupt him?
How dare she refuse his order?
How dare she not accept his kindness?
She had turned the world upside down in just eight days!
Caiyu had already slipped into the brocade quilt, leaving only a furry little head exposed. Her eyes were half - closed, and she was giving orders as if she were in the Lan family.
"There's no brown sugar. This ginger tea is too strong to drink. Boil it again!"
"You..."
Song Yinghuai was finally enraged.
For a little maid, he had rushed back day and night without sleep.
She had almost served another man!
When he burst into the Snowy - Plum Tower, he didn't think she had resisted much in Sheng Jiangli's arms.
If he hadn't burst in, they might have...
He knew he couldn't make her a real woman, so even after seeing that scene, he swallowed all his anger and doubts and just left with her.
But when he noticed Caiyu secretly looking at Sheng Jiangli, things started to feel different.
When suspicion and jealousy took root, even the slightest change would be magnified infinitely in his heart.
No matter how many Buddhist scriptures he recited, he couldn't suppress the crazy suspicion and his anger.
Coupled with the exhaustion of dealing with the Yellow Fan for days, his anger flared up again.
"Lan Caiyu! Are you going to drink it or not?"
Song Yinghuai's handsome face darkened instantly. His voice was low and full of anger. He reached out and pinched her chin forcefully to make her look into his eyes.
"If you dare to say no, I'll pour it in right now!"
A sharp pain hit her chin. Caiyu's confused brain instinctively resisted. "I won't drink! I won't drink! I won't drink!"
Song Yinghuai couldn't afford to indulge her anymore.
He was extremely tired, and the ginger soup would get cold if it was left any longer.
So he pinched her cheeks forcefully without hesitation, forcing her to open her lips. The pungent ginger soup gurgled into Caiyu's throat.
The spiciness filled Caiyu's throat and mouth, making her cough violently.
She coughed so loudly that it seemed as if her lungs were going to come out.
After putting down the empty bowl, Song Yinghuai watched her choke and cough. Her delicate body curled up like a shrimp, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes. It seemed that her wounds were about to burst.
A trace of annoyance flashed across his eyes. He poured a glass of water and handed it to her lips again. "Drink."
Drink again?
This time, Caiyu didn't dare to refuse. She took a sip from the glass and then shrank back into the brocade quilt timidly, feeling wronged.
This time, she turned her back to Song Yinghuai to express her grievance.
Song Yinghuai was stunned for a while. Anger, annoyance, worry... All kinds of emotions made the corners of his eyes turn red.
He climbed onto the bed himself, roughly turned Caiyu over, lowered his head, and with two fingers, he straightened her face and kissed her soft lips.
After a long time, Song Yinghuai let go of her lips. His breathing was a bit rapid. His dark eyes were filled with a bit of lust. His voice was hoarse and low. Finally, he couldn't help asking,
"Did he touch you?"